getting colder

No heiiiii!!

 

Another week of thrills and chills has past in the adventures of Elder Watson and Co. Time for a lil filler-in of the highlights of this past week:

 

-It was my birthday!! I took myself and my comp out to lunch at a restaraunt called Amarillos . . .it's kinda like a Mexican Grill. Pretty good. All in all, it was a good one. I'm especially grateful that I was able to spend it here in the service of others. I can't believe I'm 21 . . . like I said in my most recent letter home . . . I think I could still pass as a 16 year old, haha.

-I had to translate one day for the seminary class. The usual teacher was sick, so Elder Berg, the senior missionary here, was asked to teach . . . .so I had to translate for him, both the things he taught, and the things the class would say back to him. It was pretty fun.

-I think I have mentioned in the past, but we have a great group of recent convert members. We were able to meet with a few of them this past week and just refresh their minds of the things they learned before their baptisms. One of them just came back from China, and he presents the most heartfelt questions about the gospel I have ever seen. It's noticable he thinks about this all the time. Another convert from Africa is struggling to make a living here and won't ask for help. He starves himself because he has no money and he is waiting to be accpeted in the local university in the winter. The branch brought him groceries and will continue to do it. I think he is one of my most favorite people I have met on my mission. His name is Prosper, from Tanzania, and he is extremely musically talented at the guitar and piano . . . . he can just listen to something and mimic it on the guitar or piano perfectly! He is so humble and so nice, a great example to me. I'm glad to see he is getting helped out.

-We found out that one of our investigators, Deo, plays basketball once a week with a bunch of friends . . . so . . .in an effort to meet these friends we tagged along with him on Friday night. Most all of them are foreigners, but most all of them were pretty good at basketball. We made good friends with them and hopefully we can meet with a few of them soon. My comp and I even got to shoot some hoops with them and I have to say, even though they were good . . . we still represented the USA pretty well, despite the fact that it has been nearly 2 years since I've played!! haha

-We had a DA with a part-member couple that served us Root-Beer Floats for dessert!! It was a big surprise and very yummy. Root Beer is scarce here, and many don't even know what a Root Beer Float is. haha, random thought I know

-We set a Baptismal Date with one of our newer investigators!! For now it's just set as a goal. He's from India, and he's been coming to FHE and YSA activities and even came to church yesterday!

 

I think that's enough updates for now . . . . .time is always short.  This week we are driving to Oulu for a Specialized Training Meeting for the whole zone. I'm excited for that! Then, of course, Yleiskonferenssi!!!! (General Conference) I'll only miss the Sunday Afternoon session.

 

I've been humbled a few times this past week to see the hand of the Lord guiding me in this work. In one instance, at a door, there was a woman whose mother had just died the night before. I tried to tell her of our conforting message about eternal families, but she graciously declined. He can place us in the right places, but He cannot force the results we always desire . . .people have thier agency. But it was cool to see how we were placed there for her at that time. Another instance was yesterday. Our plans got all mixed up and we ended up driving around looking for places to knock doors. I almost parked in one place, but didn't feel good about it so I drove on and finally ended up parked in a big parking lot in front of a huge apartment complex. Instead of starting in the A stairwell, I felt we should start in the B stairwell instead. The first door we knocked just so happened to want to let us in AND she was a good friend of the man with whom we set a baptismal date the day before! 

 

I know the Lord stands at the head of this work. I bear witness that it is true. I love it. I love my mission and the time, lessons, and experiences He has given me. I know Jospeh Smith to be the Prophet of the Restoration in these latter days. The Lord took a boy who had never prayed vocally in his life (see JSH. . .I never knew that!) and turned him into a powerful instrument in the hands of God.

 

Love you all. Kiitos kaikesta!

 

Rakkaudella,

 

Vanhin Watson

21 huh? tuota tuota

Wow, I can't believe that the Alaska Crew got my letter already . . . i sent it less than a week ago!! Fun stuff. yay for Finnish Posti. :)

 

Well, here we go again . . . . . What a week. We had some interesting experiences this past week. Just to show you how interesting they were, I'll list a few, in no particular order:

- After a long day of finding, we were walking around the streets of Vaasa looking for people to talk to when a car pulled over to talk to us. You will never guess who it was . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .the Red Bull Girls, hahaha. Yup, the car was decked out in Red Bull advertisements with two girls driving around handing out free Red Bulls. For us Die Hard Mormon people let me explain, Red Bull is an energy drink. . . . . . .'it gives you wings.' . . . .ohhhhh. Yup. Pretty funny experience. 

-We got my companion his first ever let-in of his mission. The man ended up not being interested, but we had a good little lesson with him. He even had a Book of Mormon from years ago, and was quite a fan of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

-we had a DA . . . . a typical Finnish meal before going to bed, sandwiches and hot chocolate. us Americans would call that a bed-time snack, but these Finns called it dinner. At the end, the teenager popped out some of his A&W Root Beer (Root Beer is pretty rare here and really expensive) and he shared his last can of it with us, haha. Soem Finns think Root Beer tastes like toothpaste . . . can you believe that!? What toothpaste are they using?!

-No Change Calls came. I now know where I will be for the last 6 weeks of my mission, Vaasa. Weird thought that there is going to be no more transfers. 

-we spent our Sunday in our visiting city, Seinäjoki. We went to church there, so with us a a couple guests, our total number of people present was around 12. After church, our Pres. and Sis Rawlings came and held a fireside with the members, so we were able to be there for that too. They did it all in Finnish, can you believe that? They have only been here for a couple months!! I love them, they are so great.

-There is a sister coming into Finland from Alaska! She is from the Denali Branch . . . apparently her Dad is the Branch President there. fun stuff. Finns love Alaska.

-We were able to got in some teaches this past week too, and even picked up a couple new investigators! Sibi is a young man from India. he has been coming to FHE and the YSA activities, so we were finally able to teach him. Pentti has been taught before, but not for a few months. He is old and has cancer . . . that man loves to talk. Then Deo is an investigator who is progressing quite well . . . just needs to get married before he can get baptized. Then Lin Yu is a recent convert from China. He has awesome questions and insights. Since he was in China for 6 months, we are teaching him again to refresh his memory.

 

Sorry for just sticking to the list format every time, but I find it easier. :) My fingers are cold, so it's slowing my typing. Yep, it's getting cold here. I should get going, but ensiks . . . . . Paljon kiitoksia teille kaikille kaikesta. Arvostan ja rakastan teitä koko sydämestäni. Toivon kaikkea hyvää teille tälle tulevalle viikolle.

 

Thank you for all your birthday wishes. I am humbled to spend it in the service of my fellow beings. Love ya more than MoTab on Sunday car trips and missions.

 

 

Rakkaudella,

 

Vanhin Watson

Sprint to the End

There is an elder in my mission who calls me every once in a while to fill me in on District Leader responsibilities . . . but everytime he calls he just has to tell me the number of days I have left as a missionary. Ahh, I won't tell you, but I can't believe it's ending so fast! Pres Rawlings sent us all a letter this past week, to those who will be leaving with me, and it basically entailed his encouragement to 'sprint to the end.'  There is still lots of work to be done, so I am trying my best to 'sprint to the end.'

 

It was a week full of ups and downs. It was only down because we are in a bit of a finding drought right now. We keep finding new people that become good potentials, but we are just trying to find people that will become new investigators! Even our teaching pool at the moment is shrinking, since our current investigators are leaving, dropping, or just can't meet right now. So, we do have a lot of work on our hands, in a sense, to FIND. I am optimistic though. From day 1 in Vaasa I could feel the potential and the hope in this city. It feels as though something big is about to happen . .  .don't you love those feelings?!

This past Wedesday, our Zone Leaders drove down to Vaasa and together, we went and held a counsel with the District President (like Stake President but we don't have a stake up here) who lives here in Vaasa. It went quite well. It was cool to relay our goals and hear about his and try to unify ourselves to furthering the work here in the district. He is a great man, President Näsman.

 

On Thursday we drove down to our visiting city, Seinäjoki, to give a presentation about our church to a high school class. Seinäjoki used to be open to missionaries, but the work was slow and the branch there is super small and the number of missionaries in Finland was shrinking, so they had to be pulled out. The school present went well, probably one of the best I've been at. It was the oldest group I've ever taught, they being a group of about 15 averaging around 18 years old. We didn't have any pictures or a powerpoint or anything to show them except a copy of the Book of Mormon and ourselves. We followed a simplified version of the First Lesson and threw in some facts and basic beliefs that we had. In the end, about 10 of the 15 accepted a free copy of the Book of Mormon!! Good experience.

 

On Friday we held my second District Meeting as a district leader. it was here in Vaasa. I think it went quite well. I titled it 'Consecration Determines Elevation.' . . . me speaking about consecration obviously. Elder Christoffersons conference talk 'Reflections on a Consecrated Life' was a good guide for me and a few other things were used as well. Afterwards, a recent convert, who is also a chef, made us lunch, . . . . a delicious cabbage soup. It really was pretty good. . . . doesn't sound good I know, haha.

 

Speaking of food, we had a couple of interesting DA's this past week. In one, only crepes were served . . . .yummmmm . . . and the other was with an awesome family. In this family are 2 blind boys .  .both extremely talented and cool. They were such a happy family I think it just made my day watching them. :)

 

This coming Sunday we will be back in Seinäjoki since the branch there wants us to give talks. That same night, Pres and Sis Rawlings will be holding a fireside there . . . introducing themselves to the members, pumping them up for the work and the miracles about to happen here.

 

We have an investigator, Deo, who was in church yesterday. He should be baptized but since he is not officially married, it's preventing him. We had a teach with him and the branch president was present. We talked about marriage and plans are under way to get a civil marriage done so that he can be baptized!

 

Time is short again. But thank you again for your updates, encouragement and love. I admire each and everyone of you so much and send my love.

 

For you anxious souls, since I've been asked a few times recently from a few of you . . . . . . I fly home November 3 and will probably be traveling for a good 24 hours before I land in Anchorage because of layovers and stuff. I don't have any more details yet . . . just what I've heard so far. So the secret is out, but my heart is still here in Finland! Who knows, Change Calls are this Saturday . . .maybe I'll be transferred again, haha. We'll see. Lord, Thy Will be Done.

 

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Watson

Spiritual Overdose

Well, this past week was honestly one of the coolest weeks of my mission . . . how many times have I said that before?!  The title of my e-mail says it all, ''Spiritual Overdose.'' On Wednesday we were in Helsinki at a leadership meeting that lasted most the day. Elder Texiera of the 70 and the Area Presidency was present and was able to train us and teach us. As much as I'd like to transfer my 12 pages of notes over to all of you . . . I can't, so you'll have to take my word for it when I said that it was great!! To make things even better, that same night, we were placed on a night train (yup, a train with beds and all) and sent up to Oulu where our Zone Conference was going to be held the next day. Elder Texiera was also present there, so for 2 full days we were richly instructed, trained, and edified by a general authority and our leaders, namely Pres. Rawlings . . .who never ceases to amaze me as he leads us here in Finland. As the meeting was coming to a close, Pres. Rawlings pretty summed it up quite nicely when he said, ''It is a rare opportunity to sit at the feet of prophecy (as you have today . . . embrace it!)'' Throughout both of the meetings, a lot of blessings, promises, and challenges were made, a few even stated by the power of the priesthood. It was such a great experience family, I'm telling you. Even all the Elders from my MTC group were there!! (see pic)

Even at the start of the meetings, when Pres and Sis Rawlings and Elder and Sis Texiera walked around and shook our hands, Sis Rawlings stopped at me and gave me some really nice, sincere compliments which I really treasure now. That was nice of her.

Just when I thought it was all over . . . .it wasn't. I was able to get an interview in with Pres. Rawlings so that I could renew my temple reccomend. Afterwards, we got to talk and I got some good advice and updates and time to talk with President. Then from there, he walked me down the hallway and told me that I'm next in line, pointing to the closed door, and he left. When the door opened, there was Elder Texiera inviting me in for an interview!!!! Turns out he was able to interview a few of us, but not all. I never thought I'd get an interview with a general authority!! It went quite nicely. I was able to ask him questions and he answered, and he gave me some counsel and advice. At the end, he told me to tell the family back home hi for him, so, ''Hello, from Elder Texiera to you all!''

It's not over yet. That same day, instead of heading home, we went to Kokkola so that I could hold Splitz there with the Elders the next day. So I was able to learn from that experience too.

So, back in Vaasa, finally, we were still able to get a couple teaches to end the week and then get a new investigator to church on Saturday! That's always a good feelign to see someone NEW in church! :)  There was a baby blessing so a lot of non-member visitors were present for the Fast and Testimony Mtg. I have to translate the meetings into English for the English speakers . . (not many of them) . . but regardless of that I went up and too kmy chance to testify, especially to all those non-members. It was a gooood day. :)  

Random: Last P-Day we were walking by a shop when I took a double take and saw a Christus Statue in the window . . . . . I bought it!! haha . . awesome!

Well, time is short, again. Another week ahead . . .and I'm kinda getting sick, ug. But, we have a District meeting this coming Friday here in Vaasa, so I've also got to prepare for that. But, anyways, thank you all for everything! I'll leave you with a short phrase from Jeremiah 20:9 . . . . fire in your bones . . . yup, that's what I feel like right now . . . excited to build the Lord's Kingdom here on Earth . . with fire in my bones! May we all feel likewise!!

Rakkaudella,

 

Vanhin Watson

Elder Watson sang as he walked, and walked, and walked, and waaaalllked

Well, It was a week of hard work and lots and lots and lots of walking. Yup. We tried hard this week: visiting a less-active, potential investigators, former investigators, other investigators, etc etc etc. In the end, hardly anyone was home or no one could meet this week, so, we went with Plan B and went Finding. Since we don't really have a car anymore, and no bikes, we had to walk a lot. One day, we had a teach set up a 2 and a half hour walk away and we were 15 minutes in to our walk when we finally found a ride with a member, whew, haha. There were many fruits for our labor though. We did collect some more potentials and hopefully when we go back we'll be able to harvest. Tis the season, right?! Speaking of which, get this . . . . . the Finns celebrate the END of Summer . . . . . .and not even the END of Winter . . . . . MITÄ?!! haha  It was crazy to see. On Saturday night fireworks were going off into the early morning. We had no idea why until somebody explained it to us in church. Welcome to the North, haha.

We've got a busy week ahead. Elder Texiera (sp?) of the Area Presidency, and also of the 70 I believe, is coming to Finland to tour the mission. All the DL's and ZL's are being called down to Helsinki for a leadership meeting with him. Then, the following day, he will come and visit our Zone at a Zone Conference . . . .which means after my meeting in Helsinki, I will catch a night train to Oulu to be at the conference the following day . . . .whew. Should be awesome.  Then, after Zone Conference, we'll be spending the following day in Kokkola so I can hold a Splitz with the missionaries there. 

 

School is starting up here in Vaasa too. Which means a bunch of the converts that were taught here are coming back to Vaasa after going home for the summer. Most of them are Chinese. There have been TONS of Chinese baptisms here lately. They keep inviting their friends! :)

That's all I have time for for today. Gotta go. Thanks for your updates and love. Keep it coming! :)  I'll leave you with a quote I found this morning from Pres Harold B. Lee, ''Happiness comes not from what happens on the outside, but from what happens on the inside.''   Remember that the Lord looketh upon the heart, so we should start there and then work our way out. I love you all and wish you another happy week. I sent some pics. Eden is still the ONLY one that returns the favor. tisk tisk

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Watson