Subject Line Smudject line... Can't think of a good one

How's life? How's work? School? The dog... oh wait no dog. 

Life in Lahti, Finland is going pretty swimmingly. From awesome neighbours who bake for us, receiving texts from people who randomly want to go to church, to stake conference in Tampere, to feeding ducks in Hämeenlinna before district meeting things are great. 

Sister Schellenberg and I have been having a lot of fun this week talking to people, and serving. And we had some cool experiences, like always! But to make it even better, last Wednesday we had district meeting, in Hämeenlinna, and the train got Sister Schellenberg and I there an hour and a half early. So we walked around for an hour and a half, trying to talk to people, but no one wanted to talk to us. We went to district meeting, had a way cool lesson about talking with people. What prevents us from doing it? We had a huge list! And then we talked about why we do it everyday all day, when it's so hard. And it kinda all came down to love, and charity. That we love the people, and Heavenly Father. And when we're filled with that love we are able to really touch people's hearts even if they don't know us, or want to know us. On the  way home, Sister Schellenberg and I got to talk to three different people about the gospel, and it was great!

One kind of interesting miracle happened this week. We had made a goal to have at least one investigator in Church this week. A bit low, but it was stake conference and we've been struggling at having them get to church. We had two of them set up to go, a mom and her son, but they cancelled at the last minute because the mom ended up taking care of her friend's children while her friend was out of town for the weekend. Then Saturdaymorning we received a text from an unknown number asking what time church was the next day, and what were good sections to read from the Book of Mormon. We told him it was stake conference and we'd be taking a bus there at 8:30 am, but was welcome to come. And he came! And we get to see him again tomorrow, and he wants to come to a baptism that's happening on Saturday. Way cool! (A note about him. He's a bit extreme looking. Younger. Not at all mainstream. But he referred himself to the church, found out about the church from the website. It was interesting because I had just read that scripture about how God looks not on the outward appearance, like the day before. And it built my testimony that really everyone has been prepared. I had been anxious about talking to younger finns about the gospel before, now though I'm really excited!)

And Stake Conference was FANTASTIC! Especially the last talk. It was a member of the Seventy speaking and he talked about how everything is built upon laws. One of these laws is that when we give Heavenly Father what we have he multiplies and adds unto it until we have so much more than what we started with. For example the story of the loaves and fishes, or the law of tithing etc etc. It is also interesting to note that the Lord always asks us for what we do have, not what we lack, It doesn't matter what we don't have because the Lord makes up the difference. In my own life I can see how that works. Like, when I came to Finland, even though I was a missionary, talking to people about the gospel, especially in Finnish, was terrifying. But I was able to start with smiling, and then saying hi, to then asking how peoples' days' were going, and now my ability to talk with people about gospel (which is by no means any where close to perfect) has increased. I'm comfortable bearing my testimony to those around me. So next time a challenge comes focus on what you do have, bring it to the Lord, and he will multiply it...or at least make up the difference. Isn't the gospel great?

Anyhow, I'd better go. I've attached a picture of myself in front of Hämeenlinna's Linna (castle) and the long list of challenges we have about missionary work... 

Love you all, Hope you have a fantastic week! You're the best... etc etc.

Sister Rachel Kastendieck

Happy Father's Remembrance Day

It's funny how you can forget what happened in an entire week. But I'll start off by saying Happy Remembrance Day!  I remembered! And I even managed to wrangle my own poppy! Yesterday at church the family that we had Canadian Thanksgiving with (The Solitts) were sitting behind us, and I noticed the Dad had a poppy. I asked him where he got it, and his mom had sent it to him, and then he gave me one! I was also  informed by the Elders just a few minutes ago that they too observed Canadian Remembrance Day and had a moment of silence at 11, and then prayed for Canada... and the U.S.A as today is also Veterans' Day in the States. 

Yesterday was also Father's Day here, which meant it was a flag day, and also we couldn't go tracting at all, or show up anywhere unexpected. Sister Schellenberg and I didn't really have very many plans, oops. We did get to meet with one older lady in our ward though, and it was nice. We didn't have any talks about Father's in sacrament yesterday though, because it was the Primary program! Which was fantastic!

Oh. I also lost my wallet this week. Good opportunity to learn basic Finnish vocab that I didn't know before. The word for wallet is kampakko just in case you were wondering. Okay don't worry I found it again. We had had a lesson with a really cool investigator at a coffee shop here in a mall. The lesson went well, and then we all parted ways, I without my wallet. Unfortunately I didn't realize until nearly 9pm that night. But I was able to go back the next day and find it, and nothing was missing! Hooray for honest Finnish people! The next day  President Rawling, my mission president came into town! But just for a few minutes to do interview with all of us here. Received some great advice, and then split ways again. This time we thought we locked our phone in the church building. But, it turned up in one of our bags that we had checked like 6 times .  So it really was just a week of lost and found.

We were able to help a member in our ward move this week, which took a bit of time. But it was worth it. She's a single mom, who was baptized a couple years ago. This week due to the move, her one son's baby blessing and her other son's baptism, she had a ton of family in town. Sister Schellenberg mentioned to her that if they ever want to learn anything, we have missionaries everywhere around the country. On Sunday she came up to us and said she had talked to her aunt in Kouvola and that she was really interested! We got to talk to the Aunt for a few minutes and she is really excited to hear about the gospel. Hooray! 

We also had a ward activity. Where everyone came together and sang old traditional Finnish songs. Really fun. Wouldn't have known what half  of them were about, except the lady beside me was translating for me a bit. There were also a ton a non-members there! The ward is really excited about missionary work, and we've had a few people come and say to us that they have friends they want us to meet! So fun! 

Anyhow, I'll wrap this up. I feel kinda scatter-brained today, so I hope this will suffice for this week! 

Love, Sister Kastendieck!

Snow? Nope. Let's talk about rain.

I just read all of your emails and it sounds like the snow has arrived. Not so much here. Today it is happily pouring rain outside. But, most finns cannot wait for the snow to arrive. Right now it gets dark at about 17:00 (5pm) When snow comes however, it seems like it's lighter longer because the snow reflects the light. But enough about the precipitation here, because it has also continued to rain miracles! (cheesy I know)

But seriously, this week has been fantastic. Not only did Sister Schellenberg find new investigators for our first time, but we also got to meet with some less actives, whom we had had a hard time contacting before, and we also had a Halloween themed district meeting (sorry, no pictures... but I was a pirate). 

Sister Schellenberg and I have really been trying hard to follow counsel, and have a lot of lessons set up for the following week by Sunday. The fun thing is that a fair few of the lessons changed, moved or got cancelled, however the Lord was able to make up the difference. For example  we had arrived at a dinner appointment to find out that the family had completely forgotten we were coming, and the mom and dad weren't even home. Sister Schellenberg and I decided to walk to the grocery store and pick up some chocolate to make cookies for a former we had plans to meet with. In the candy aisle of the store there was a man in a wheelchair, to whom I said 'Hi'. That was all I had really intended to say. But before I knew it we were teaching him, exchanging phone numbers and giving him a Book of Mormon. Say what? It turns out he's really cool. He doesn't have legs due to some medical circulation problem, but is one of the most happy, friendly people I've ever met!

The less active we got to meet was another miracle. We had gone by her house a couple months ago, and she was really grumpy and didn't want to talk to us at all, and would even take the cookies we had made for her (we make cookies a lot). Last weekend it was raining, again, and we had a couple minutes on our hands before the bus left. We decided to try and drop by her again, and she totally let us in! Although, she does not want to ever come to church, she is happy to talk to us. Crazy.

Halloween was fun. We had a Halloween district meeting. Funny story. We were supposed to get up early and play Sähly with the four other elders in my district. But between us missionaries, there's only one key to the church, and they locked us out by accident. So we went home and made pancakes! Truth be told though, they don't really celebrate Halloween here. Not too much. But Saturday was Pyhäin Päivää, which is All Saints Day in english. Finns go to the cemetaries and light candles at all of their dead ancestors' graves. It's supposedly really beautiful. I didn't get to see it, but they also do it at Christmas. Perhaps I can go then. 

Anyhow, I got to go. Have an awesome week. Be happy. Stay Safe. Remember who you are and what you stand for. 

Sister Kastendieck