saw accident

Hey!!

Well, here I am, in Vaasa. Crazy!! The transition went well. One of the Zone Leaders down in Helsinki, who was also my MTC comp, stayed with us for a day because he too was getting a new companion. It was cool to serve with him for a while before I caught my train out. He's been a role model to a lot of missionaries, especially me. So, since he had a car, we had to pick-up and drop off a few other Elders at the train station since they too were being transferred. It was cool driving all around Helsinki. One night we even had to drop off an elder to catch his train at 10:30 at night! haha, it was wierd to be up ''late''.  I caught my train on Tuesday morning and was with another elder for a part of the trip. So we stuffed our bags in a little compartment and got comfy when 2 Japanese tourists came into the same compartment . . .so we had to move our luggage around to make room for them. Then, just a few minutes later 2 Finnish women also came in! Ugh, we had to get creative and move our luggage around again and make room for everyone. It was fun though. I had one train switch, so moving ALL my stuff by myself was pretty hard . . . . I have WAY too much stuff. But i made it all in one trip. I'm so excited to serve in Vaasa. I've heard soo much about this place and no that I am here, I see that it is all true. It's nice being in the city again, with a center and good layout and everything, like Joensuu was. There are a lot of foreigners here, and a lot of Swedish speakers, since we're so close to Sweden and Swedish is Finlands 2nd national language.

There is a nice branch here. The branch presidency is made up of some brothers that come from an awesome family. There is a center for Young Adults that is run by a  nice senior missionary couple who just arrived here too, the Bergs. They actually kind of stole our car here, and now they own it and we borrow it only a couple of times a week for a little bit. It's kind of confusing to work out, but it's still nice 'kinda' having a car again. It's so wierd to drive again! haha

So, it's been a crazy week. . . .one of adjustments and new faces and experiences. The Zone Leaders already came down from Oulu and had Splitz with us, which was fun. Elder Behnke, an MTC friend, and I went to a branch activity that the branch president asked us to be at. All across the city was held a Taiteiden Yö . . .Art Night. There were exhibits and concerts going on everywhere and the church decided to be a part of it, so we were invited to see if any visitors would walk in. Well, it ended up being a Rock Concert, haha. Yeah, our branch presidency is yound and extremely musically talented and they put on a rock concert . . . .not heavy metal rock or anything . . . I'm talking Coldplay style here. It was REALLY good and there were a lot of people there . . . it was just hard being a missionary in that environment, haha, and we didn't know anyone. But, the branch president wanted us to be there and we did get a few chances to talk with people. Let's just say that right afterwards, when I got home, I read a bit out of the Book of Mormon to get focused again. :P

Another crazy thing that happened was when we were doing service. We were helping our Branch President for a little bit as he is building his own house all by himself and he needed our help. He was cutting a piece of wood with an electric saw and, while using one hand to hold the wood and another hand on the saw, the saw jerked hit the arm holding the wood, just below the elbow. It cut pretty deep, probably to the bone, and it literally sent blood EVERYWHERE. I'm talking squirting here . . . it was bad . . . .and I watched it all happen. He jumped down, my companion wrapped his shirt around his arm, we popped him in our car, and sped to the nearest health center, with me holding a water bottle to his mouth because he needed water after so much loss of blood. The health center couldn't treat him, so an ambluance took him away to the hospital, but the hospital cound't treat him so they sent him in a taxi 4 hours away to Tampere where there was a specialist that could treat him and check for possible nerve damage. Last I heard, he's STILL awaiting surgery. So, crazy experience there. I think the branch is getting together tomorrow to work on his house for him, since it still has a way to go before winter hits, and there are some things that need to get done.

 

We were teaching a family from the Congo the other day. They only spoke French so we brought a member from another city along to translate for us. They ended up not being too interested, but when I alsed them if we could help them in any way, they gave a uniquie response . . . . .to teach them how to sing some of our church songs! Surprisingly they already had some of our church hymn books in french, so, together we taught them how to sing 'I am a Child of God.' It was a cool experience.

 

Alright, time to get going. Busy busy busy. My first District Meeting as District Leader is this Friday in Pietarsaari. We also have splitz with the elders there the day before. There is so much going on, but I'm happy to be here and humbled by my new calling. I already feel a deep love for my district and hope things will go well and that together we can help the work go forward at an even better rate.

 

Out of time . . . Thank you all again for your updates, upliftings, and love. Glad everyone is safe . . . even Seth after that crazy bear encounter! Keep the faith and march on!

Rakkaudella,

 

Vanhin Watson

ps, the pics are of me in the train compartment with mine, and the other elders' luggage.  And the other pic is taken from my apartment window! The bell rings on the hour every hour, haha.