no heeiiiiiiii

No terrrrrrve Family!

Wow, it's Monday already and here I am . . .taas (here again). Christmas is in the air and it's even tangible through all your e-mails. I can't wait to talk to all of you soon!

So . . . sorry . . .the list thing is all I usually have time for because I still have to send out my weekly letter to President Brown in the same hour I am allotted per week. soooo . . .

-Monday was ItsenäisyysPäiva . . .Independence Day . . . here in Finland. Pretty sweet. I've been told it's the only time you'll see a grown Finnish man cry. Very patriotic here.

-Tuesday was spent in Helsinki!!!! There, we had a Specialized Training Meeting for our Zone. In it, President Brown shared a Christmas Message that he, and some of the world's top Mormons in the Church Office Building, put together. It was completely centered on Christ. For a few touch ups, we watched a few music clips of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing their Christmas cheer. IT.WAS.AMAZING!!! I usually never cry for movies or anything like that, but I got pretty close there. The Spirit was strong and undeniable, testifying of the divinity of the Living Christ, Our Savior. We also watched a Mormon Message titled, Lifting Burdens . . . .WOW. Check it out.

-The snow was DUMPING down in Helsinki. We've been hearing that there is more snow in Helsinki than in Lapland . . .Arctic Circle area, right now at least.

-We have two pretty solid progressing investigators here, O and S. One has an anti husband who won't let her get baptized. Then O just won't get baptized yet. But we were able to teach them and a few other people this week with a few less active visits along the way.

- My bike is pretty much fixed now. There's another story for ya for when we are a talkin' later, but after a few hours of trying to fix it, I just took it to a shop and the guy fixed it in less time and for only 10 euros. . . .yeeeeah. :) Next step, new seat that isn't a sponge.

-Friday was the Branch Christmas Party here. We were assigned to have a little time to perform something in it. We decided to ask a bunch of fun trivia questions to the whole group about a bunch of random subjects, Religion, Candy, Sports, America, etc etc. It went really well and everyone, young and old, got involved. At the party, there was some confusion for a little bit because 2 Santa Clauses showed up, haha. Whoops.

-On Saturday we spent half the day with a now dropped investigator. She lives so far away, so we take a bus to get there, then she picked us up at the bus stop and took us to her house, where first we did some snow service, then she fed us, then we taught her. By the time to came out again to leave, there was already a good 3 inches more over the freshly shoveled yard. That same day, we hoped on a train that took us a half hour away and we taught a potential investigator. 45 minutes after he let us in, we were running to the train station to catch our train home, haha.

-Looks like a few of us had something in common on Sunday . . . yup, I gave a talk to in church! It went pretty well. I decided to talk about a recent quote from Pres. Monson that goes something along the lines of, "Why do we keep the commandments? . . . . So we can have the Spirit." Yeah, so I talked about ways to feel the Spirit and stuff.

-Eden, I wore that Christmas tie you sent me last year and it was a big hit here, haha.

-After church, we hopped on a bus to Elimäki, where some SWEET members live. The dad was the bishop here for 23 years!!! Watch out Dad, haha. Now he's in the high council and the whole family is awesome. They fed us . . .salmon . . .yes, I ate it, haha. Pretty good. :) The branch here is awesome. I love it. They even gave us a HUGE box of food after church yesterday.

- When I was in Helsinki I got that package that Sister Stoehner sent me!!! WOW. Tell her thanks. I sent her a thank you card too.

-Update on Christmas Call . . . it looks like my companion will try and call his family around 7 pm my time . . . .So that means I'll call some time around 8:30 pm my time. Next week we should know for sure, but that's what I know for now.

Well, time has already flown by, gotta go. Thanks again for all your love and support. Thanks for the updates and the testimonies. Love you all. Moi.

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Watson

P.S. Pics attached: Volswagen for Vanhin Watson, Audi for . . . .yeeeah. :) That's me, and Niina.

Moi

Hey Fam,

Well, today just so happens to be Independence Day in Finland, Itsenäisyyspäivä, so everything is closed and shut down. So we are e-mailing at the church this time. Just a note for future reference, my e-mails might come an hour earlier some p-days now . . . .just a new schedule in a new city . . . so if you've been up to the wire to get an e-mail to me . . . .watch out. :)

So, where to start . . . ummm . . . . .I'm in Kouvola! My new address is:

Kauppalankatu 10 A 9

45100 KOUVOLA

SUOMI

So packages go there until further notice. :)

Kouvola is quite a different city in almost every way . . .at least from Joensuu. The branch here is pretty strong and actually has people under the age of 50. haha The investigators are new. The city is unfamiliar. The cell phone and apartment are ANCIENT. And . . . .I have a visiting city: Kotka . . . .a city that did have a branch 6 years ago but it crumbled and now they have to travel to Kouvola for church, about a 40 minute drive. The adjustment though has been nice. I am excited to be here and serve in a new environment and with new people.

This week was pretty slow action wise, being a transition week and all, but I do have a few stories to tell.

-We stopped a lady and she gave us her phone number . . . .her business card . . . .turns out she's a belly-dancer . . .with a work name, haha. We had a good laugh about that.

-There is a man here who thinks that he literally is the King of Finland . . . . yeeeah.

-We've had 2 DA's already, which is strange for me because in Joensuu we got only 1 a week.

-A member had a graduation party after church yesterday, more like a little luncheon slash social and everyone was invited. So basically the whole branch was there and also a ton of non-members that we got to talk to. Great opportunity. A missionary here who completed his mission last spring was also there. Elder Kääria. he's from Sweden, but he's getting married to a member in this branch. Anyways, I've been on splits with him and everything so it was way cool to see him again.

-We visited our visiting city, Kotka for a day. The whole city smells like bread because there is a huge bread factory there. We were able to visit a couple less actives and members who live there. After running after our bus and helping a drunk man get out of the middle of the road we finally left, haha.

-My new companion, Elder Cassity is from the Draper area in Utah. He's around 6'3" This is his greenie city and he's been here since around June or July. The transition is going smoothly and he's a hard worker and knows the area well so he's been showing me around and catching me up.

-The church here is actually located on the lower level of an apartment complex . . .new experience for me.

-The drama slash chaos of how I got here will have to wait to be told till I talk to you all in a couple weeks. :) Speaking of which . . . . we have to work that out still huh!? umm . . . . . Christmas is on a Saturday, I'll probably have to call the conference number, and it'll be around night time for me, but with a time difference it'll be morning-noon for most of ya. As for a specific time . . . uhhh. . . i really don't know yet. But hopefully it'll work like last time, and my call drama won't happen again. I can't remember right now how I got it to work last time . . . .haha, I should get on that huh.

Time is running low again and I'll try and send pictures again. It was good to hear from you all this week. Changes keep happening and the challenges, old or new, will always come. But the gospel remains constant and His hands are stretched out still. I love all of you and wish you all a holly jolly season of cheer and gratitude. Moikka.

Raukkaudella,

Vanhin Watson

Changes

Well, lots of big news but not enough time to share . . .as always. Well, it's Tuesday, and I am now writing you from Kouvola . . .YES, I got changed!!! It all happened so fast and it was so chaotic, but I am here, in a new place, with a new companion, with new responsibilities (I'm Sr comp . . . .AHHHHHHH!!!), and new adventures lay ahead. But lets not rush ourselves shall we . . . .the Joensuu Finale is yet to be told . . . :

-We hopped off a train from Oulu where we had another amazing Zone Conference, and an hour later, we had a baptism. Niina Myller is the newest member of the church and she went in style, haha. 37 people showed up to her baptism!! That's more than that come to church! 15 of them weren't even members and we've been hearing recently that it might be a Finland record. Everything went smoothly and with some nice refreshments afterwards, it was already done. We ended up talking to EVERYONE of course and got some good conversations in, a phone number, a request to make us pie, and a teach set up with 3 of them. WOW. With that now past, and with her confirmation sealed on Sunday, 6 months of efort have now payed off. I was able to confirm her and give her the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday, and it was a powerful experience and testimony to me. I really said nothing special, but the power that was felt was undeiable and unforgettable. It felt exactly the same way when I got my patriarchal blessing, and when I layed my hands on her head. Amazing.

-With Niina now taken care of, I guess my work in Joensuu came to a close, because the same night, change calls came. I am now in Kouvola, south, bigger, and already love it. With 11 months and all my time in Joensuu, packing was an ancient forgotten practive for me, but through it all, it all fit. I might just have to finish that story in 25 days when I can talk to you in person, because through all the chaos and business, it was a miracle I made it to my train. True miracle. Talk about close, haha. Make sure to remind me, because it's quite the story!

-My new companion is Elder Cassity, from Utah. This is his greenie city, and he's been here in Finland for about 4 changes. I have been made Sr companion, and boy am I humbled. I don't know why, but I am now a senior companion and I'm scared out of my mind, haha. Talk about pressure slash responsibility. Vanhin Cassity is pretty cool though and I'm excited to begin this new chapter. My old companion will now be training in Joensuu.

-Quick story . . . . so back in Joensuu on Sunday night we were out tracting. We come to a door, it's my turn, so the man answers and I say we have a message about God's Plan. He looks at me, walks a bit closer, and punched me right in the right eye, yes, the man decked me in the face. This never happens in Finland and I cannot tell you how many times I have received apologies from the Finns (who heard about it) ever since. Both me and my companion didn't even flinch, we just looked at the man as he swore and swore and told us to leave, and tried escorting us out of the complex, pushing and shoving me against the stairwell. I finally had enough and stood my ground and looked him in the eye. . (don't worry, I wasn't about to fight back, haha). .which made him even more mad, and he tried kicking me, so we apologized for any inconvenience and told him have a nice day, said we were leaving, and left. I'm fine, I was kind of in shock for a while once we left the building and I couldn't talk for a good 10 minutes, until I suggested we leave to a whole different complex, which was nice, because when we left the premises, I felt a whole lot better . . . . something wrong with that place. Oh well, I'm fine now, no soreness or anything. Interesting experience.

Well, all I have time for. I try sending a few pics now, then I got to go. I DID get the Thanksgiving Book and am very grateful for it and for all of you. Up in Oulu for Zone Conference we did get a Thanksgiving meal. Thank you all so much. Hei hei.

Rakkaudella, Vanhin living in a dream Watson

p.s. hmmmm . . . pics won't work right now, sorry! toivottavasti next time

Kiitos Päivä!!!

When I was in Helsinki, one of the Elders I was staying with is from Great Britain . . . .Elder Gorringe (the one I went down with) forgettfully asked this Elder if they celebrate Thanksgiving in England . . . . after a blank stare and a couple laughs . . . Elder Gorringe threw in, What about the 4th of July? as a joke this time. hahaha

Well, unfortunately they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, BUT, Zone Conference is this week up in Oulu, and the whole Zone will be there Thursday Night, where hopefully a nice feast will be waiting for us. :)

It was quite the week again. We had a lot of teaches cancel on us, or just not show up, but we have some new stories and experiences to share kuitenkin.

-We got let inside at least 3 times this past week. One turned out to be crazy. Another one shut up like a clam when he found out we were Mormons, and denied us being Christian, and the last one, the finale, was AWESOME. Just last night a young couple let us in. They said they don't want to change or anything, but they are pretty interested in learning more. It was cool because they actually treated us like human beings and were honest with us and everything. The Spirit was there and we left with thankful hearts. Katsotaan . .

-we've received 2 referrals recently . . .first ones in months. One of them we set up a teach with today, and the other one we biked 7 kilometers in 5 inches of snow to contact . . . but the address was a fake . . .just 2 numbers off . . .yay. On the trek home we stopped and talked with a guy by the same name of our referral, haha . . . .he gave us his number. God works in mysterious ways. :)

-It gets dark here at around 3 nowadays, a bit worse than Alaska from my rememberence. It's dark and cold and toe freezing fun . . . . .anyone have suggestions on how to keep toes warm . . . .I try everything . . .NO, toe warmers do NOT work, haha. (I knew you'd say that) :P

-We had a District meeting in Kuopio which went well. My district has been the same, without any changes, for 3 changes now . . . .with Change Calls coming this Saturday . . . katsotaan

-Last night was a huge Christmas Lighting Ceremony here in Joensuu. it was HUGE: Santa, Frosty, Bunny and Wolf (don't ask me where they came from cause I have no idea), fireworks, makara, a childrens choir singing christmas carols, and thousands of people!! I've never seen so many people here. I got a picture of Frosty watching the fireworks, pretty priceless . . . and random. haha

-We visited a potential yesterday who was in the middle of making dinner and changing diapers and stuff. I've never seen a happier baby. :)

-NIINA gets baptized this Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!! Vanhin Ranzenberger will baptize her and I will confirm her. WHOOOOO!!!!!!

- Well, that's all I have time for today. I'm especially grateful for my family in this season of thanks. I thankful for my Savior. I'm thankful for weekly e-mails. I'm thankful for you. best wishes and love from Finland . .

Raukkaudella,

Vanhin Watson

Helsinki

Hei Family!! It was a humbling experience to read your e-mails just now. A lot of things are going on from the looks of it. These are trying times, but I'm grateful for the family that I have and the unshaken faith I see in them.

So, I actually spent this past week in Helsinki. I was able to go down with Elder Gorringe, my District Leader and MTC friend (awesome Elder). For the whole week, 30 of us (about half the mission) from 9 to 5 we received the wonderful opportunity to sit and be taught and trained by President Brown: How to become better teachers, better missionaries, better people, and the importance of the role of the Spirit in our lives. I learned a lot and unfortunately I don't have enough time to share all the things I learned, but it was fun and we all were edified and rejoiced together, haha. Each day, after the meetings, we split up and went out back to work to apply what we learned. Elder Gorringe and I stayed with the zone leaders that live in Espoo (where the temple is), so we were able to do work with them. There are a lot of stories to tell about that, but only the journal will know for now I guess (dinner appointments, chocolate milk, let-ins, car in a ditch, metro, music recitals etc etc etc) haha. Lets just say I was in culture shock because Helsinki is a whole other world . . . . .BIG.

Meanwhile, back in Joensuu news, we are down to 2 baptismal dates, one with N on the 27th (still going strong) and with J on Dec 11th (kinda iffy). We were supposed to have a baptism on Saturday, but he didn't make it to church last week or this week, AND his parents won't give permission yet (he's 16). So, there's some drama going on here too, haha. It snowed a bunch while I was gone so biking has become pretty difficult, especially without snow tires and a tired racing bike. Each day is a new adventure. :)

Yesterday was actually Father's Day here in the Scandanavian countries, so we made cookies for all the dad's at church, then gave the leftovers to people during the rest of the day. Since you already had your day this year Dad, I decided to dedicate it to my Heavenly Father instead, no offense, haha. Still thought of ya though. :)

Not much else to report on today. I love you all and I know that with unshaken faith and a firm trust in the Lord, the blessings and miracles will come to each of us. Thank you. Love you.

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Watson

moikka

No niin fämily, a week has gone by already and with the clock ticking down I should just dive into the details. . . .

-Yes, even with the snow and everything I am STILL riding a bike, haha. It's been quite the adventure. On Monday I was trying to put something in my pocket while riding, then when I looked up, another biker was headed in my direction for a collision. As quick as I could I reached for the breaks . . . just happened to be the wrong one, the one that snapped a few weeks ago. The collision was epic, but no fatalities and both victims are ok. :) Speaking of bike crashes, my companion got in a pretty epic one the other day . . . . gotta watch those turns, it's icy! I think we've both crashed 3 or 4 times just because of the slipperyness in the past week.

-So, we were supposed to have a baptism this past Saturday . . . .no go. We haven't been able to even get a hold of him for a week now, so yesterday we went over again and he was home and we had a pretty good teach. Turns out he was just busy with school and even went to Helsinki for a bit. He's from Pakistan. Speaks Urdu, Arabic, English, and trying to learn Finnish now.

-Another investigator with whom a baptismal date is set also has to reschedule his date because he didn't show up to church yesterday. They have to be at church at least twice before being baptized. It was a big bummer too because this past Friday our District Leader came down from Kuopio and had the interview with him and everything . . .AND it went pretty well . . . .still didn't show to church. Reason still unknown, but no baptism this Saturday either.

-N on the other hand is still doing amazingly well. She even took us out to eat on Saturday at a new Chinese place . . .which was also amazing. The whole time we've been teaching her she has told us that she wants to be baptized in a lake . . . . not anymore . . .we all went down to the river before we ate and put our hands in the water and basically immediately lost all feeling to our hands, haha. In the church is ok too :)

-Saturday was Pyhäin Päivää in Finland (All Saints Day I think) so everything was shut down. On this day, the Finns light up candles everywhere so it looks really cool, especially because it gets dark here at like 3:30 now a days. At night when we were biking home we went past a cemetery and at each gravesite was at least 1 candle, so everything was lit up and looked awesome.

-District Meeting was held in Joensuu this past Friday. We all went out to lunch afterward and through the window we saw a drunk guy crash his bike into a bench. We went out to help him up, then noticed it was one of our kinda investigators . . . always drunk . . .glad to see us though, haha.

-I'm headed to Helsinki for the WEEK this week. No, no transfer, just a training meeting. My comp went to this meeting last change, now I am going. It's for all the leaders in the mission and those who the leaders bring with them. Most of the mission has been to this meeting, so this should catch everyone up. But I am excited to be there and to learn from Pres Brown for a whole week!! I hop on a train with my DL, Vanhin Gorringe (MTC Bud) today and we come back on Saturday. So I have a little suitcase packed . . . . haven't done that for a year now, haha.

As always it was good reading all your e-mails and I appreciate the news and the thoughts. Your all in my prayers. Love you.

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Watson

No Niin!!

No niin fäm, are you ready???!!!!! . . . . . . . . . . . . the 6 month event has finally come to a close, Niina is getting baptized!!!! Yes, her name is Niina, not N, I figured I'd say it just this once. :) We met with her on Tuesday, where we followed up with her on the commitment we gave her a while back: about envisioning her baptism. She said she loved it and even had another vision about her going under the water and coming back up and feeling those indescribable, overwhelming feelings. At her request, we went over the baptismal interview questions again. After that she said she wanted to show us something. She went to the blackboard behind her and drew a diagram that I drew a few teaches earlier (with a line to heaven and a gate in between (baptism)). At that time we drew it to ask her to tell us where she was at on the line. She drew it right at the gate. This time, she drew it right on the gate. With smiles from ear to ear, we asked her, ''What are you going to do about it?'' . . . . .''I want to be baptized!'' She originally wanted the date to be in December, but when she found out we might be changed by then, she stumbled and decided to pray about it again (because she wants us to be there for it). The next day while tracting, she called us up, and when I answered, basically the first thing she said was, ''THE 27th!! THE 27th!!'' (of November). She was screaming and laughing and so excited . . .AND, she was outside walking down the road, so I'm pretty sure she got a few stares, haha. It's happening, it's finally happening. NOW, I know why I'm still in Joensuu. And that's not the only news for the week . . . .we set ANOTHER baptismal date as well!!! Joensuu had 3 baptismal dates! This young man is 16, open, and really trying to find his answer, so we set this vision for him to strive towards. Nov 13th!!! Kiitos Jumalalle!! THIS, this is why I am here. We have been so blessed. The drought in this city of 2 years is about to flood over.

District Conference was this past weekend, held in Kuopio (like Stake Conference). Niina was able to go and she had an amazing time. When Pres. Brown spoke, he said there were two miracles in the room at that moment. First, was a recent convert from Kuopio. Then second, was Niina!! He had her stand and told everyone of the light in her eyes and the testimony he can see. She was so surprised and very grateful, and even shed some tears. She thought we set it all up, haha.

In other news, pretty quickly:

-We tracted into a man who must have been 7 foot 5. When I saw his shadow come to the door window I whispered out loud ''Daaaaang, I hope he's not that tall.'' Then he opened it and when we saw him I almost burst out laughing because he was. I struggled through the approach with two or three huge smiles and a couple laughs. haha, hey, at least he said we could come back!!

-While in Kuopio we had a little splits, and I went tracting with our District Leader, my MTC bud, Vanhin Gorringe. It was an 11 story building and I was in awe, haha. Joensuu only goes up to 5 at least. Each floor had interesting smells and experiences, but on the very last door we got let in!!

-We heard the ice cream man while tracting in the freezing cold again, haha. Finns.

-We got let in last night by a 90 year old mummo. She couldn't hear much or do much, but we prayed with her and left her a pamphlet.

-So much to say, so little time!!!

I hope you all had a cavity-free Halloween and a blessed week ahead! Rakastan teitä! Hei Hei.

-Vanhin Watson