2 years

I feel like after all the e-mails about ranches and cowboys I should say, ''Hey howdy hey y'all!''  It sounds like it was a good experience for all.

This past week we had a few new adventures, and some of the quite unique fashion. . . . . . . let me explain . . .

So, we go to do our laundry and we come to find out that our laundry machine is broken! After lots of calls and searching, we ended up buying a new one. Miraculously it fit in the back of our car and we were able to take it home and install it. It must've been a funny sight to see: two missionaries carrying a washing machine down the street (because we couldn't find a closer parking space. Then the tricky part was installing it. Our bathroom is what we americans would call a closet . . . .I have no idea how the other people got that old machine into the bathroom in the first place! The sink and the shower and the toilet were all blocking the way from sliding it out! We ended up tipping it over and skillfully maneuvering it through the bathroom and out into the hallway and doing the same to get the new machine in. The story is not over yet. A few days later, with the old machine still sitting in our living room as we were waiting to get rid of it, we looked at it and joked about how funny it'd be if it all of a sudden worked! So we plugged in the power cord and IT WORKED!!! We have no idea how. So now we have 2 laundry machines! The Mission Office has told us just to donate it to the branch and see if they can find a need for it.  Just a fun little story about the random experiences in missionary service. :P

As far as the rest of the week goes . . . .

We were able to go to a tiny tiny town called Teuva and be at the local high school . . .complete with all 80 students, haha. We sat in on 2 English Classes and were able to answer questions and talk about American life, then lastly, we got to be in the Religion Class and present about our church. It was a pretty cool experience.

We did some work in an area known to have a lot of college students and found a new investigator AND set a baptismal date with her! She is from Vietnam, has been here for 4 years, and is about to graduate. She has absolutely no religious background so we are teaching everything from scratch, just like I did in Espoo with Jing, a Chinses investigator that got baptized right after I left. It's cool to have stuff like this going on still, even in the last weeks of my mission. I hope it helps me stay focused. :)

A previous investigator that we had randomly showed up for institute this past week! He was way solid, then he just disappeared and no one could make contact for over a month. We still haven't seen or talked with him, but it sure lifted our spirits to hear he came back!

We are teaching a recent convert from China and we had a really good teach with him this past week. He is soo stressed out with school and life that he is unintentionally neglecting other parts of his life. For example, he studies for up to 10 hours a day every day!! And he only has 3 classes!! His sleeping schedule is all messed up too. We were able to talk to him and remind him of how the gospel can help relieve the stress and bring the peace that we all need. It went really well. I even learned some things too.

While we were out on the streets searching, a lady stopped US. She told us that in high school a member of our church had given her a Book of Mormon, but over the years she lost it. We happily gave her another one and she was extremely grateful for it. We are in high hopes that we can meet with her soon and continue sharing the message that good member missionary started all those years ago.

Time is running low, literally in 2 senses. Can you believe that I hit my 2 YEAR MARK as a missionary this past week?!! Unreal.  I'm grateful for this time I have had and for the time I still have to make a difference in someone's life in this part of the Lord's flock. Best wishes to all,

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Watson