This is it. The Final countdown. In other words, I'm Dying...

This morning I was laying in bed (I woke up along time before the alarm) and was staring at the ceiling... and thinking of all the everything I need to do in the next couple days. And then I realized I'm going to be seeing all y'all in a week. And then I thought... that can't be real! But it is!  

Anyhow, so this past week was great. Actually, I don't really remember what happened. We taught our Hungarian investigator, who is super awesome! He used to be so skepitcal about everything but, his questions have been changing and although he's always been sincere, now he really desires to do all the things he needs to. For example, he was supposed to be gone the whole weekend in Hungary. He seems to spend most of his weekends in some other country, which makes it difficult for him to come to church. But, turned out his plane this weekend arrived in Finland at 1pm on Sunday. He then came to our ward at 2pm! So cool! And it sounds like he's either cancelled or shortened his trip to Rome next weekend as he promised he can stay the whole three hours next week! 

I got to spend one last Juhannus (midsummer) in Finland surrounded by some of my favorite missionaries and friends here. We played sports, games had a district meeting, The Sister Trainer Leaders (eli Sister Egan! and my baby finn Sister Cribbs) had a sleepover with us. Took a couple of pictures at midnight. 

Now, I've seen a few missionaries last emails and there seems to be a theme of them bearing their heart and soul about how the mission has changed them and all that. Sorry to disappoint... I will not be doing that. You'll hear it all from me next Sunday anyway, and if you can't make it then, well....we'll have to catch up later. And if that doesn't work.... I'm sure that 95% of the things I talk about for the next few months will pertain to my mission. It's better to hear it in person anyhow. 

So my schedule for this next week goes something like this. After email... I'm going and having my exit interview. This is a bit out the norm as I would normally be having it on Wednesday evening but, President Rawlings' term is also up, and the new mission president is coming in next week, and that just makes everyone's night crazy. I'll also be packing and this evening we have a family home evening with one of our new converts.  Tomorrow is a normal day. Wednesday I get to go to the Temple, see Sister Schellenberg (because she'll be in Helsinki picking up her new greenie!), do other stuff, eat dinner at the mission president's home. Then Thursday morning I'm shoving off. This is so bizarre. Seriously, I feel like nothing is really going to change, that I'll just always be waking up at 6:30, doing three hours of studies. talking to people in Finnish, going to church and worrying about investigators.

So, this is my last email to you. I love you! Thanks for everything!  I'll see you soon. 

Rakkaudella, 

Sisar Kastendieck

#thenewbrazil

Explanation. Since there has been so much missionary success in the Espoo District as of late we have made up this joke that we are new Brazil (since they baptize like a million people there every week). Everything is up hill from here. And so, we sign the texts that we send to one another #thenewbrazil. Not that any of us really think that hashtagging things in real life is cool but, as a missionary some things just become funny. 

This week was busy. Really busy. We were putting together a baptism for our African investigator, rehearsing for our Music and the Spoken Wordfireside, and having a zone conference and trying to remain sane. I don't know how well the last item on the list was accomplished but, nearly everything else turned out.

The baptism was really good, for the most part. I mean, the person who was getting baptized came 15 mintues late, there were only seven people (besides missionaries) who attended, both our investigator and the Elder baptizing him forgot to bring towels, and Elder Gustafson had to baptize Dominic three times before he went all the under. But, Dominic really had a good experience. He said he felt so good afterward and now he has the Gift of the Holy Ghost and it's wonderful! In his own words as he left the chapel "I leave I better man than I came". Hooray! 

We had our fireside on Sunday. After lots of practice it really paid off. You all missed my debut performance as a soloist. Sorry about that. But, the whole program went really well. The theme of the night was Niin Suuri Oot (or in English, How Great Thou Art). We sang songs like Angel Lullaby, I Heard Him Come, How Great Thou Art, O Lord My Redeemer, I Know that My Reedemer Lives etc. and members had some stories they told in between musical numbers. It was powerful. About 95 people came which was twice the number we were expecting! 

I had my last zone conference this past week. I learned that it's never to late to be better. For example, I had kinda stopped focusing on Preach My Gospel over the last few months, as I feel like I've read it a million times. But, we were told that we should be studying mainly form The Book of Mormon and Preach My Gospel. So I've changed my personal study to go in line with that. And I feel like when I have a greater focus on it I have a greater excitement for missionary work.  I also had to give my final testimony. Might have shed a couple tears. This mission has meant the world to me and I can't believe that it's pretty much over already. 

And now I get to go so hard for the last little bit. I still have time and I intend to use it in the best way possible. 

Love you all!

Rakkaudella,

Sister Kastendieck

Go so hard, go so hard, then go so hard again

Missionary work in Finland

This last week was pretty amazing. So many good things happened, including helping meeting with a lot of amazing investigators, splits with Sister Egan and just having fun in general.

SO, on Tuesday we had a lesson with our Hungarian investigator. We took him on a tour of the church, He really seemed to love it and at the end of the tour we invited him to be baptized. He accepted. It's great meeting with him. He really wants to learn and has an amazing ability to understand exactly what the scriptures are saying. He's so ready. Anyhow, that night we reported to all the people we needed to that we received a baptismal date. While talking to the assistants they told us that they wanted us to call them the next day with another one. We told them that we we had been planning on it but, our meeting with one of our promising investigators had been cancelled. So, we made a pact to try to invite someone, like on the street or at the door or anywhere, to baptism. If we did it, they had to too. Well, it turned out that we just so happened to teach another new investigator. We invited her and she accepted! So, we did get to phone the assistants again with good news.... and they on the other hand had completely forgotten their end of the deal. All well, Ei voi mitään. There just seems to be so many people all around that are 100% ready for the gospel, and they keep approaching us.

One of the cool things about serving in Espoo is that the temple is so close to us. Another fun thing is that during the summer they have tours of the temple grounds every Wednesday evening. We had invited one of our investigators to come for last Wednesday to see. He is preparing for his baptism this coming Saturday and we thought it would be cool for him to see the temple. We also, ended up last moment inviting our Hungarian investigator. Then we were at another lady's house and she brought up the temple and how she wanted to see it and learn more. And so we went with her, the Hungarian and our other investigator. Super great! There were a ton of people that night at the tour, the member leading the tour was surprised and everyone loved it.

I also got to go on splits with Sister Egan this week, She was my companion in the MTC, and is now my Sister Training Leader. We had SO much fun together! We got to ride bikes (For my first time in forever), contact this referral, play at a park, reminisce, teach some people and ponder our time on the mission and just ponder the nature of time in general. We've been through a lot together, and she is so amazing. Heavenly Father really does plan all things right. I'm so lucky to have had such a stellar companion and to have served in at least the same zone as her for most of my mission.

Anyhow, I need to go. I love you all. This week is going to be crazy. Wish me luck. I'm wishing you all luck in all your endeavors.

Taivaallisen Isän siunausta teille.

Sisar Kastendieck

EXCHANGES!

Hey friends and family

This last week was awesome. Beyond awesome. 

First off, back story. Two months ago our mission president emailed all of us missionaries here in Finland with a promise that in each area there was someone ready to be baptized in April or May. We get lots of promises from President and for some reason my little soul tends to think that they just apply to other areas. Well, Sister Johnson and I determined that we were going to show as much faith as possible and work as hard as we could towards this particular promise. After many baptismal dates falling through, stress, prayers and planning, it happened! On May 31st we had a baptism! The nine year old daughter of a part member family got to go to baptism. 

And now I really know that there are no exceptions to any rules, promises etc. In addition to this we have several other investigators who are top notch.

One of them we met several months ago but, have never been really serious about because she's quite old, and usually they have harder time accepting new things. Not so. We had a really powerful discussion about the Restoration and she loved it! She always talks about how things in her church are changing and she doesn't like it. 

I also had the opportunity to go off on member splits. Sister Johnson was a bit sick so she stayed at someone else's house while I went off to teach a couple lessons with a good member in our ward. It was scary. When you don't have the person who you've prepared everything with and your left kinda alone... it's scary. To make matters more fun, when we got to our investigator's house, he had a friend over. So, I got to try to teach about baptism, and on the side a bit about the Book of Mormon and whatnot so that his friend could understand. It went quite well, and was wonderful. I surprised myself, which is always fun to do, and then realized I deserve none of the credit. 

Also, icing on the cake for this week. In a couple weeks we're having a Music and the Spoken Word type special fireside. Guess what. I have a solo (scary) BUT, guess what song it is!!! It's Angel Lullaby from My Turn on Earth... I was the only one in my district that knew what it was, and so I get to sing it in Finnish! I'm so excited! 

So there is a glimpse into the life of me. Time keeps moving forward. Life keeps going. And miracles keep coming. 

Love you all,

Sister Kastendieck

SUMMER!

For some reason the Lord just keeps deciding to bless us more and more. Espoo is a place of miracles. Don't really know where to start but, here goes.

We went back and helped that family I mentioned last week finish moving. This time we wore pants. We talked with them a bit how God never changes, and how he still works miracles today. The husband was really interested, and actually has met missionaries before in his home country, Estonia. He said he was amazed that they could speak Estonian after being there for just a few months (Estonian is pretty much just as hard as Finnish). We explained that that's one of the miracles that God grants us today. I mean, my Finnish is far from perfect but, I can communicate fairly easily with most Finns. Many people have lived here for years and still don't speak more than a couple words. God definitely helps.

There was also a baptism this past Saturday. Really amazing. The man who got baptized is from Nigeria. It's really exciting and we hope that he and our investigator from Kenya will become good friends. They've started to sit together in church and in Priesthood meeting they get translated to by the same person (or so we hear).

Speaking of translating, I translated all of Relief Society into English for three women yesterday. I haven't translated for anyone in about six months. It was hard but, I feel like it went well. The topic was Elder Bednar's talk entitled The Windows of  Heaven about tithing. I had read that talk a bit a go in Finnish, so I was able to get some of the smallerish details I wouldn't have gotten if I never did. I felt a bit silly because there were a bunch other women in the room who could have done it a million times better than me. It was really cool experience though. I would actually like to do it again and hone my translating skills. It really helps me to know what I do know and how good my comprehension really is. 

Another fun experience. We got a call on Friday night from some leaders telling us that the mission president really wanted to have as many people as possible in church on Sunday. I really don't like when these types of invites come. There's no time to plan, and I generally feel like they lead to nowhere. Well, my companion, Sister Johnson, is a million times more faithful than me and accepted the challenge. We called a bunch of people, texted some more people, some of which were just names on lists of people who said they'd maybe, kinda be interested. None of them came. BUTon Saturday night when we were headed home we were walking to a bus stop. The only man waiting at the bus stop we were going to looked at us and said "I didn't know they sent girls out too". This started a brilliant conversation and we ended up inviting him to church. He came! and is interested in learning a bit more. And thus we see that when you put in your effort the Lord blesses you. 

Other fun things happening this past week include: a farewell bbq with my district (one of our zone leaders flew home this week), playing memory with the ten commandments, suprise dinner appointments, a heat wave, and having fun in general. 

Anyhow,

I got to go.

Love you all! 

Sister Kastendieck

Kesä on tullut

Warning: There are some cool stories contained in this letter. You might be taken aback by the sheer awesomeness and miraculous power of missionary work. Okay, maybe not but, at least I was this week.

On Saturday we had a mostly blank day, with tons of plans to visit and drop n on tons of people but, no appointments. Our first stop was our favorite older Swedish Finnish lady who lives really close to us. We went into the building and called the elevator, and waited. And waited. We then realized that someone was moving so, they were keeping the door open a few floors above. Eventually the elevator came down. There was a man and a mattress in it. We said hi and he told us his family was moving that day but, was stressed because it was just him and his brother who were moving all the things. (his wife was there too but, she's really pregnant) He then asked (jokingly) if we wanted to help. And we said "Yes!" which, shocked him completely. We ended up helping them for a few hours, skirts and all. Now, this is where the big miracle comes in. Him and his family had been potentials a few months early, we had tracted into them and they said we could come back. Upon a returning time though, he had said we shouldn't waste our time on them. Now, they love us and he just called a couple minutes ago and we're going back tonight!

Another story. On Monday we we're walking around on our way back home from the park we go to when we don't have much to do. We ended up talking to this lady from Rwanda! She has a young family and knows it's important to teach her children about God but, doesn't really know how to go about it. We offered, once again our services. So Friday night armed with our greatest member missionary, who happens also to be a mom, we head to her house. She is is SO prepared. We talked about the restoration, and she was always one step ahead of us, asking questions. Really good questions too like, "how do I know someone is a true prophet?" She loved it all but, my favorite part was when we got to introduce her to the Book of Mormon. She had just asked us, "so, what is the Book of Mormon anyway?" We opened with her to the introduction. We read just the first paragraph that talks about it being an ancient record of a people in America. As soon as we read that something clicked. She told us that she had always felt a bit distanced from the Bible because, how could after all God just love one people and talk to just them, when there his children are all over the world. I have never seen anyone light up like that over the Book of Mormon. Our member, also (without us even prompting) testified the whole time of how the gospel has helped her raise her family. It was amazing!

Also, all the members are great. We've been encouraging a lot of them to do their own missionary work. We had a good experience last night where we learned the members were already doing just that. It's quite hard to really do it in Finland  especially in the work place where it's mostly illegal to talk about religion. But, opportunities still come, and they just take them!  Really cool. Afterwards they made Sister Johnson and I play piano for them. Sister Johnson is quite good. Unfortunately all I know without music is Canon in D, which is really nice... I've just been playing it since I was 12 and it's getting a bit old. At least everyone else enjoyed it. I also got to play in Relief Society yesterday. So, that's fun.

Other than that things are pretty normal which, by the way, means fantastic. Ever since coming to Espoo my faith in missionary work has grown in leaps and bounds  The things that we're hard, are now natural. Things that seemed impossible are now in my grasp. Espoo is a beautiful place. Especially today. and yesterday. Everything is now green, and it's ridiculously warm outside.

So that is where life is at right now. Hope things are just as good where you are.

Love,
Sister Kastendieck

Moika!

Missions are weird. They change you so much. But, I feel like I expect some components of life back home to stay the same, but they change. Other components I think should change but, they stay the same. Time does weird things to everything.

Things have been going pretty great. We had planned fairly well to teach with lots of members. We were able to be with a member for a  good amount of time, teaching, nearly every day. It's not only a great time to  get to know my ward but, also a good time to show people what missionary work is really all about... not that I'm an expert at this or anything. 

Last weekend was Stake Conference. It was really good. Someone in their talk was talking about the attitude we can have towards things. We can, for example, go to a church meeting excited to learn, or we can go just because it's expected of us, or we can also go because some one made us. Those who will receive the most out of conference however, are those who are happy to be there. It's true about all situations in life. Those of us who may not have the best attitude don't get as much as we could. It's a principle I need to personally work on. We had a zone conference this last week and I didn't want to go. When I was there I didn't want to be there. And as a result did not get much from it. The zone conference before I was excited and I got tons out of it. A lot in life depends on our attitude. Life is what we make it.

This week I also met a boy on the train wearing a Winnipeg Jets hat. Now, it often happens that Finns will buy merchandise with American/Canadian League teams on it, just because they like the looks of it not because they know anything about/ support that team. But I saw his hat and I was thought to myself I should ask him about it. And then I told my companion about his hat and she convinced me to talk to him about it. So I dragged myself across the aisle and awkwardly starting talking to him. It actually went quite well, and he did know about the Winnipeg Jets, and we had a good chat. We don't have a return appointment or anything but, it's just another fun happenstance, that made me feel good.... and a little patriotic also. Look at me all Canadian, knowing about hockey teams and everything. (I also found out Team Canada lost to France in the world cup... not so cool. But Finland lost to Latvia so, our countries have about the equal amount of shame currently. Fun things you find out from random people)

Anyhow, I should go. I love you all. 

Rakkaudella,

Time marches fort

This week has been rough but, really fun. We got to enjoy Vappu (Finnish Labour day), and do a ton if random errands that came up unexpectedly and teach a little bit. 

So Vappu is red here in the mission field. Supposedly alcohol sales go way up. Last year I was right in the heart of Helsinki for this celebration, and most everyone was more than a bit drunk. Except us. This year, everyone in Espoo went to Helsinki to celebrate, so it was actually pretty peaceful here. We were able to meet with a couple members, eat some traditional Finnish vappu food (like munkeja... which are doughnuts... like mom's homemade ones), drink some sima (traditional Finnish vappu drink), and share some messages. I also got to play Yahtzee with most of my district. I got beat really bad, so nothing else is new. 

Things missionary work wise have been a bit slow. We've been kind of weeding out a lot of people who always stand us up, are really not that interested etc. It's hurt a bit but, we have really cool people that we are now teaching. One of them is coming with us tonight to a family home evening. He's from Africa and is really sincere. He reads, and prays, and is excited to meet. He also comes to church... except for when he sleeps in. But, he's a really good guy. 

I've really been impressed lately by the fact that there are really so many people ready. Everyone needs the gospel blessings, but there are people who are more ready to accept them than others. And it's those people that Sister Johnson and I have been trying to make more time for. 

Anyhow, I should go! Time is up! 

Hope you have a great week! 

Rakkaudella,

Sister Kastendieck

Ups and Downs

There comes this same moment every week. I log excitedly log on to my email, and read all of your lovely emails... and then comes the moment of realization that I need to tell you all about what has happened to ME this last week. And then I feel really tired. It's easier said than done. But I try my best.

So let's see. This past week was changes. Not that it really affected me. But we got a new Sister Trainer Leader. And we've already been on exchanges. We were able to spend a day together on Wednesday. It was really intense. I spent the whole day in over drive talking to EVERYONE... not just the convenient people in my path. It was really fun, and exhausting. We found some people who might want to learn more. We did some service. Helped some people pack their house. etc. etc. We found a new investigator.... or so we thought. She seemed pretty cool. But then the next day she sent us an angry text saying she didn't want to ever see us again. Such is missionary life.

On the brighter side I got to go to a 9 year old's birthday party on Saturday! She's the daughter of a part member family in the ward, and both of her parents want to help her go to baptism. The Dad is the member, and we had talked about it before with him but, had never met the mom. When we arrived at the house she was the only one home. She started talking with us and we talked about small chat stuff. And then she goes on and says "so, we were thinking that our daughter could be baptized at the end of May. How does this work? Do we need to meet more often?" Completely blew Sister Johnson and I away. We had no idea that the mom was that open to it. So we're going back some time this week. Also, that is not where the fun at the birthday party ends, in addition to the delicious food, and goody bags, they had other guests! Half way through the evening none other but my ward mission leader from Lahti walks through the door with his wife! It was a happy reunion. Turns out they are all family. Only in Finland. Or southern Alberta. 

Anyhow, we also got to meet our new district, and set some pretty great goals. I've learned a lot about goal setting and achieving on my mission, especially here in Espoo. When you have goals that you are really dedicated to it really does help you stretch. When you don't... you really don't go anywhere. It's one of those simple principles of life that I should have learned a million years ago. But, being on a mission there is never not a time when your trying to better yourself, or working on some sort of goal or another, even if it just is to eat more vegetables. Goals are so important. It's only through them that we can reach our potential. And it's great because we get to make them whenever we want. I find sacrament meeting the best time to think of new ways to improve. It's a new beginning every week! We are so blessed. 

Well, I hope you all have a good week. Hyvää Vappua (It's labour day here on Thursday. Hard red day. GREAT!). Hope the weather is beautiful there!

Love you lots!

Sister Kastendieck

Life is normal

This past week was really good. Not ridiculously good as the week before but, still good. We received change calls. Nothing changed. As far as my ward goes anyway. I have been sentenced to die here in Espoo, which is all good by me. 

On Friday Sister Johnson and I were at an investigators house. Our investigator asked us, as it was Easter season and all, what we had been doing to prepare ourselves for it. It caused me to think, as I really hadn't been doing anything too out of the ordinary to prepare for the celebration of Christ's death and resurrection. But, when it was my turn to reply I answered that I had the best job ever which was I got to tell all my friends, acquaintances and even strangers what I believed about Jesus Christ. I was blessed to just go around and talk about what Christ has done for me, and about how he can help others. Through doing this I felt like I was (and am) coming closer, and becoming more like Him, and thus remembering him and his sacrifice made on my behalf. It's also neat because as I've shared more and more of my testimony about the gospel and Christ that my faith has become stronger. But I have not lost anything in the process. As I have come to know Christ better, I also feel that I am becoming more and more like my true self that is on the inside. 

We have been working really hard here but, as always there is tons of work to be done and we could always be working harder. The weather her is beautiful. It's so warm. I haven't warn tights for the past four days, and haven't worn a jacket for the last three. The flowers are coming out and everyone is happy. The sun gets up long before we do, which makes waking up easy. 

On Saturday we were able to give our investigator a church tour. Church tours, by the way, are a lot of fun. We went from room to room explaining simply, what happened in each of the rooms. As we came to the end of the tour we were in the chapel. We asked our investigator how he felt being there. He told us that it felt like home. A lot of people, when they come to the chapel say something along those lines. It's a holy place, and they can feel it. It makes me wish I could feel what they feel. I mean, I probably do, it's just I've grown up with it,and so it's so normal that I don't really notice the difference. Anyhow, he then came to church on Sunday, enjoyed it and expressed he'd like to come the next week too.

Anyhow, I should go, Hope you all had a Happy Easter! Thanks for being great! Love you all! 

Sister Kastendieck

The complete turn around!

This week was absolutely the most amazing, miraculous, beautiful, awesome and wonderful week EVER. So, remember last week when no one wanted to meet with us, we had no investigators and things were going no where? Well... this week was the exact opposite! Both Sister Johnson and I were breaking personal mission records left right and center. There were far too many miracles to even count! But, I'll tell you of a couple. 

The first happened on Tuesday after zone meeting. In Zone meeting we had talked about how we can help people on the street feel more comfortable discussing things with us by inviting them to a church tour. That evening we were on our way back home from a lesson. There was a man walking ahead of us. We caught up with him and asked him how he was doing. Most people usually ignore us but, he answered! So, we started having a conversation with him, which turned naturally and normally into a gospel conversation. At one point my companion started saying "No, olisi niin kiva jos me voidaan joskus... ( well, it would be really great if we could sometime...)" she paused trying to think of how to phrase the next part to invite him to a church tour when he joined in "keskustella? Totta kai! (discuss? Of Course!)" Of course we said yes, and then proceeded to set up a church tour, and a time to teach. 

Next on Saturday we were in an area trying to visit a less active couple who had cancelled appointments with us a few times. We knocked on their door with cookies, and as our luck would have it, only the husband was home. BUT, he said his wife should be back soon, so we should come back. Well, we had no work to do in that area, so we started knocking some doors by their house. Now, no one likes tracting.  It's super ineffective and we're trying to move away from it. And for the first bit it seemed like our suspicions were confirmed. Hardly anyone was home. Those who were home wanted nothing to do with us. However, one person answered... and he was not interested but, my companion asked him if he knew anyone that might be. He replied that we should try his next door neighbor. And we did. His neighbor was a young Finn. We talked with him about the purpose of life and the Book of Mormon. He was super interested and we have agreed to come back! We were then able to also go back and teach the less active couple! Super cool! 

So, that is two Finns as investigators! Our ward mission leader was blown away! Oh, by the way, the ward here is awesome. It seems like all Finnish wards are! Tonight we have plans with one of our investigators to have family home evening with a member family! Really excited!

All this is just the tip of the iceberg. I wish I could tell you EVERYTHING. But I can't so, this will suffice for now.

Missionary work is so much fun! And I feel that I have just gotten the hang of it... and now it's pretty much time to head home. Not fair. What I wouldn't give for another six months. Elders are so lucky! Good thing every member is a missionary. I can be one forever! This coming Friday will be my last official change calls before I head back to all y'all. It's also Good Friday. Well see if something changes.

I love you all so much and I hope that you have a great Easter! 

Rakkaudella, 

Sisar Kastendieck

Hooray for Yleiskonferenssi!

So, some weeks it feels like NO one wants to meet with you. Okay, maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration. Members always want to meet with us. Investigators... not so much. Or they do, but they are just incredibly busy. Such was last week. We went a whole week without seeing our investigators. We tried. But it didn't succeed. It's times like that when you become really grateful that you have a fantastic companion and General Conference.

This past week I finally realized something. Sister Johnson and I are trying to get better at talking with everyone. We're both super comfortable talking with people, if they are being still in one spot, and we don't bring up the gospel too flashily, which defeats the whole point. We've been trying harder. Often times when we are walking somewhere and we pass people, one of us will try to stop, and the other won't notice, or we just don't stop, or we both stop we don't know what to say. Then I figured, all it takes is a bit more unity as a companionship. So, when we see someone walking towards us we'll have a quick conversation just including: Are we going to stop them? (answer is most always yes... exceptions include small children walking alone and drunk people), and then what do we want to talk about. It's been super great and fun. 

General Conference was simply amazing this past weekend. I got to see the first two sessions and most of the Sunday morning session. Not all of it. Still though, it was incredible. Can't wait to see the final session. I went with a lot of questions and came out with even more answers. My favourite talk was probably Elder Nelson's about letting you faith show. I loved how he talked about not compartmentalizing ourselves. It's something that I've been really thinking a lot about lately. He pretty much summarized, and confirmed all the hypothesis I had made up concerning the whole deal. It's amazing how the Lord can talk directly to YOU  through a man you don't even know and who lives across the world. Also, I challenge all of you to take up Elder Ballard's challenge. Study Preach My Gospel. Tell me what you learn! It'd be really cool to see. 

We are all Heavenly Father's children here on earth! As such we should all be on each other's side. We have no right to judge and should all treat each other as though we were very best friends. When we do so we are filled with the love which Heavenly Father has for us and we desire to help them on their way to more blessings! Always remember that! 

I love you all! Hope you have a beautiful week! 

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Kastendieck

Turn and face the strange! Ch-ch-changes!

This week was full of surprises, miracles and was simply incredible! 

It all started last P-day. We had finished the day and were at our apartment. The mission president had texted us saying that our numbers hadn't gone through when we entered them in earlier that day. Sister Vincent asked if we should go and do them, and I said, "nope. We can do them tomorrow. It's past time to be inside anyway." A few minutes later the phone rings, and it was none other than President Rawlings calling us. Sister Vincent made me answer it, thinking it was related to the unentered numbers. Much to our surprise, it was mid-change change calls! Sister Vincent was to go to Jyväskylä and I was getting a companion who was currently serving in the Helsinki area. Also, this change was to take place on Wednesday, less than 48 hours away. It was crazy.

So, now I have a new companion! Her name is Sister Johnson. She's from American Fork, Utah and is fantastic! We like a lot of the same things, and already have countless inside jokes. She's a master at Finnish and has been in Finland for 9 months. We are going to have such a great time together!

Less than a day after the change happened, we got to do exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders. One of them (Sister West) came out to Espoo for the day and did weekly planning with us. Poor Sister Johnson hadn't unpacked, and was thrown into straight planning. It went well though, and I was so grateful that Sister West was there. She was one of the sisters that had been transferred out of Espoo when I came in. Between the three of us we ended up with a pretty solid plan for the week. 

On Friday, we got to go to the temple! It was my first time in nearly a year. I didn't get to see the new video, as it was a Finnish session, and the new video hasn't been done over in Finnish yet. Still though, it was fantastic. What made it better was that all the sisters from my MTC district were there. I hadn't seen Sister Gasser in almost a year. It was so perfect! The saddest part of it was returning to regular life. 

Sunday though, we saw the biggest miracle. We had this potential investigator who had said he'd come to church. We asked if we could walk with him to church, and he said yes. So, as we were walking to his house, we realized that we had a lot of spare so, we went the scenic route. As we were walking we were saying hi to everyone, as per usual. There was one particular lady out walking her dog. We said hi to her, and were about to say something about her dog, and how great he is, when she notices my name tag and stares. She says "I know who you are!" Sister Johnson and I braced ourselves for something unfavorable but the lady continues on, "I know who who are! You're church is just around the corner. Wait right here! I'm taking my dog home and I'm coming with you!" And then she runs off leaving a very stunned set of sister missionaries in her wake. In the end, we found out she's a less active member. She hadn't been to church, at least in Espoo, for 10 years. However, the moment she walked into the church, people recognized her and were welcoming her. She said she had wanted to start coming to church again, and then when she saw us and decided to come right then. So cool.

Other things that happened this week include:

- We found the friendliest neighborhood in Finland last night. No one, even while we were tracting, was unfriendly at all. For the most part they invited us back.

- We found out the bishop's wife is a better missionary than we are. We went out with her and she was talking to everyone! 

- Relief Society party, where we had a dessert competition. I had made something but, it didn't turn out.

- It been super sunny!

Yup. Life is good! Hope it's as fantastic there as it is here.

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Kastendieck

To the family...and anyone else who cares to read

How is life? Things are really looking up here in Espoo. Starting with the fact that today I get to go to Suomenlinna with my district! Second, this Friday I get to go to the temple for the fist time in almost a year, and see all the sisters from my MTC district get to come. Third, we have a movie night this coming Saturday, watching The Testaments. Fourth, I'm a missionary! Should be a great week!

The past week was interesting to say the least. We had several experiences where we felt like we were exactly where we needed to be right when we needed to be there. 

Monday night we had no appointments. So we looked up a few people who had investigated the church previously. The former investigator in the one building we could get into (because the others were locked) had moved away. But, her neighbor said we could come back sometime. As we were trying to see another former, we ended up talking to a couple just outside of the building. Turns out they have member friends who have invited them to church before, and the wife was especially interested in coming to the Relief Society party this week. Later as we were on our way to see a less active, we were able to talk with more people. However, by the time we stopped talking with one particular lady it was past 8pm... so we couldn't knock on her door. We called up another member who lived in the area to see if we could come share a message. She didn't answer. We started heading back toward our home, discussing what we should do, when we run into the member we called, walking her dog. She invited us over and we were able to share a message with her before going home for the night.It was great.

We also are starting up English and Finnish conversation circle.. class things this week. Should be interesting. Nearly everyone here already speaks English. And I definitely don't know Finnish well enough to teach it but, we have the other missionaries in Espoo in on it so, it should be good. At any rate we've pasted the town with flyers inviting everyone there. We've already got a call or two of people interested in coming.

On Saturday after we had printed off all of our posters we didn't really have many appointments. We were at the train station waiting, when we heard French being spoken. The ever brave Sister Vincent started a conversation with these 4 people. They were all from France (surprise), all here on exchange studies, and were super great. We talked with them for a bit, got on the train with them. Got at the stop where our passes ran out. Turned around came back  and sat down...right by another french guy. It was weird. Turns out he lives right next to us, and wants to come to our movie night. Hopefully he does. Perhaps this is a sign I need to brush up on my French. 

At any rate things are good. I'm starting to really get to know the ward. They are all great! So generous and welcoming. That's one thing I love about the mission. There's always a new friend to make.

Love you all. Hope this week has lots of great and marvelous things in store.

Sister Kastendieck

Happy one year to me!

Guess what is coming this week? If you guessed my one year anniversary in Finland you'd be absolutely correct! Isn't that the weirdest? One year. Wow. And still going strong. One year... and still not fluent in Finnish. But, it'd boring if I was fluent. One year, and still loving it. 

This past week, I'm pretty sure was one of the slowest weeks on my mission so far. It seems like all of our appointments fell through, and we weren't able to meet with any investigators. Terrible. It's a good thing therefore that failure is not in the going down but, in the staying down. So, I'm getting back up and forging my way ahead.

Some highlights of this week included: Zone Conference, exchanges with Sister Fronk and Sister West, and getting a working DVD player... so now I can listen to music!

So here's how the mission goes. Sometimes you're at the top of your game, and you're trying your hardest, talking to people, going, going, going. And then you have moments where you sit back, a bit burnt out and wonder if you're really the missionary you need to be, and what you need to do to improve. I've been having one of those moments for a couple weeks now.

And then I went to Zone Conference. I'm pretty sure it was meant just for me. We talked about desires, and how what you really desire is shown through your actions. If you desire to be someone who talks with everyone... you need to talk with everyone.  Sometimes fears, and things try to take over and we follow our fears... which replace our desires. Yup. Poorly explained. But, it really hit me hard. We also talked about family history and how important it is, how we can implement it into missionary work. Really cool. I recommend that we all jump on the family history band wagon.  

Exchanges were really fun. I got to spend a day with Sister Fronk, from my MTC group, and with Sister West. It was really cool to see how much we have all grown. Sister Fronk has always been the kindest, most patient, loving person ever... and it's cool to see it in action. She also just happens to have the magic ability of knowing exactly what I need to hear, right when I need to hear it. 

Anyhow, I got to go. I love you all! 

Sister Kastendieck

Spring on tullut!

I think I fell in love with Espoo this week. It seems to happen wherever you go on your mission. I've never felt so determined to work so hard on my mission. At least not since Oulu. Sister Vincent and I are really getting things going... even if it is a couple weeks later than we had wanted. 

We had a miracle in getting one of our investigators to church yesterday.  She's been a bit of an eternal investigator and hasn't come to church in the last two months. We had a lesson with her on Tuesday, and she said she wouldn't be coming. We booked another lesson for the Friday and we went with a member. The member invited her to church. Our investigator expressed that she didn't really love coming to church because she's a single mom, and so she feels like she's looking after her daughters the whole time and doesn't end up getting anything out of it. Our member offered to help keep the girls entertained, and we missionaries, offered to come pick her up. She accepted. We went with her to church and everything. Yesterday at church, it felt like the ward was helping keeping the girls quiet so that her mom could have a good experience. And she did. She loved it.

Also, yesterday after church we had a ward potluck. The theme was American Food. Most of us missionaries agreed that one thing we don't miss from home is hot dogs. Unless of course, it's done properly over a campfire.

Everything is exceptional. The weather is beautiful. Having spring come is a bit weird though. I feel like we haven't even had winter and now, we get these beautiful sunny days, and warm weather. 

Anyhow, I need to go. Love you all!

Rakkaudella, 

Sister Kastendieck

No More Strangers

This is weird. Right now I'm emailing you from across the street of the temple. With pretty much everyone from my district. There are too many people here. The quality of this email will most likely not be so great. Also once again, I find my self with the usual P-Day amnesia where I forget everything that has happened the previous week.

Espoo has been pretty good. Can't complain. Things are a bit slow right now, which is to be expected. Give us another couple weeks and we'll be flying. The slowness of it though seems to be affecting my companion more than myself. She had a lot of success and was very busy in her old area... and I don't think she's ever really experienced a slow week. I've had quite a few over my mission. I think I may have become a bit too complacent. Slow weeks don't really bother me. And I do want things to pick up. But, I'm not terribly upset that things are as they are. 

We had a zone meeting this week. Which, is always a bit weird when you move to a new zone. There are lots of missionaries you've never met, and the one's you do know are now closer with their new districts, and I don't know. Anyhow, Elder Call and Elder Richards from my old Lahti district were there, and that made life better. Also, Sister Egan, Sister Fronk and I are all now reunited in the same zone. The zone meeting went well. Some general authorities in charge of family history came and talked. Afterwards on the way home Sister Vincent and I were just talking with each other on the train when a man approaches us. He asks if we are Mormons. We say yes. And he was really existed to talk with us. Unlike the last time someone approached Sister Dayton and I if we were Mormons, this man was very nice and polite. We had another meeting with him the next day and were able to give him a Book of Mormon. He has a lot of questions, and is really interested in figuring if God is really there, and how he would actually know that he is there. He's gone to Holland for the week but, we should be able to meet with him next week. That's exciting! 

We also met an old lady at the train station the next day. She had been glancing over at us every now and then as we were waiting for the train. And so I went over and said hi. It turns out she's a Swedish Finn... who doesn't really like Finnish and so spoke to us in English. She said she loved being with younger people. She also said she had seen us walking around the neighbourhood earlier, and wants to talk with us. We said we'd come over and sing to her. Really cool. 

That is one thing that I love about my mission. I make so many friends, instantly! Every time I'm on the bus, street, anywhere where there are people I don't know the scripture Ephesians 2: 19 comes to mind. (I may have mentioned this in an earlier email. Forgive me if I have). It says "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." I think to myself "I may not know you right now... but, one day we could be in the temple together. We could be friends!" And then depending on the day, or minute, or hour... I summon up some courage and I talk to them.

So that's my thoughts for this week. I love you all and hope that you have a fantastic week! Love you!

Sister Kastendieck

Shotgunning and Area. Take 2

Look at me! I'm in Espoo! Or at least try to imagine me here... since I don't have any pictures from this last week, and you can't actually see me in real life.

I am not going to lie. When I got the call to come to Espoo I was heartbroken. I was all smiles on the phone with President Rawlings but, as soon as I hung up I almost cried. I ate some chocolate, couldn't sleep, was super nervous, did not want to shotgun again, did not want to leave my ward, or my district, or my investigators. Lahti was pretty much home. I was also nervous to be in a new area with a companion I didn't really know, who also didn't know the area.

And then Wednesday came. The Elders made Sister Dayton and I pancakes. They had originally offered to get us a ride to the train station but, seeing as we lived right across the parking lot from the train station we declined.... and then we got pancakes out of the deal. I rode the train for an hour and arrived in Helsinki! Met my new companion, Sister Vincent! Saw my trainer, Sister Vath, for the first time since leaving Oulu! Had a couple other happy reunions. Got a key and a map. Sister Vincent and I got on another train, headed to Espoo. We got off, went home and unpacked. We settled in. Sister Vincent and I clicked right away, and we are having lots of fun together. I feel like I'm serving with Jessie MacMillan, for those of you who know Jessie, and it's brilliant!

So Sister Vincent has been in the country for about six months. She has crazy curly hair, and is not shy in the least. She hails from Salt Lake City, Utah and is the oldest child in her family. She's really positive, is always smiling, and is really good at getting to know people. She loves everyone and everyone loves her. She also has tons of faith and lots of missionary know how. In my opinion, President Rawlings sent us to Espoo together because, 1) I've taken over an area before so I have experience and 2) Sister Vincent has the drive, and knows how to get missionary work really moving. Of course there's probably more reasons but, that's my opinion on the matter. There's a lot of work to do here and I've never been more excited to be in a new place. There are so many people here just waiting! 

Lots of good things have already started happening. We've been able to meet a ton of ward members, receive some referrals, and find some people who are interested in learning more about the gospel. I'm so excited to be here and to really just have another chance to start again. It's really fun. 

So that's that! I love you all! 

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Kastendieck

p.s. HOORAY FOR CANADA! My new district has been ridiculous. They were determined that USA was going to beat us. My faith in my country never faltered though. We won. And then I had almost all their support for the final match against Sweden. Most everyone... except our Swedish Elder. He now owes me cookies.

Southward Bound!

So... change calls happened this week. And I'm not staying in Lahti. I'm getting transferred down to Espoo! (pronounced like S-Poe [like Edgar Allen Poe]). Not only that but, I am shotgunning an area for the second time on my mission. Which means, both former missionaries have left the area, and two new ones are coming in. My new companion is Sister Vincent, who has been in Turku for the past six months. I'm headed down on Wednesday morning. I'm a little bit terrified but, everything should turn out great! Supposedly it's a huge area, and the bus system is near impossible to navigate but, everyone loves Espoo. There are a lot of members (and missionaries too) down there AND the temple is there! So that's exciting. But, I am incredibly sad to leave Lahti. I've learned so much here in the Chicago of Finland. It's pretty much like home, and I just love everyone so much! Cheesy I know, but it's true. I'm determined to come back someday!

As far as the past week goes. It's mostly a blur. We had a LOT of dinner appointments with members. Really fun. We had African food, and Finnish food, and American food. A bit of everything. The Elders dared us to eat all the food at one member's house, who makes enough to food to feed an army. They've done it before. We failed. Valentines Day happened and Sister Dayton and had a ton of pink foods... not on purpose. It just happened. We ate borsch, and viispipurro (oatmeal... mush... berry deliciousness), and strawberry flavoured vitamin C water because I got a cold.

The Lu'au is happening this next weekend. Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to go. Sister Dayton and I spent a lot of time delivering invitations to everyone we could. Everyone is really excited about it though, and inviting friends, and making leis! One Sister even came up to us and said "I'm going to be in Spain next weekend, so I can't go. But, I'm still trying to get two of my friends to come!"  

Also, we had an investigator in church yesterday! It was a miracle! Most of our investigators, as of late, have been a bit wishy washy. Never really committing to anything. We got a bit frustrated with one who kept saying he'd tell us when he's have time to meet, but then never would. So we texted him and asked if he could meet this past weekend. He said "yeah, I'm free on Sunday"... and then we invited him to church! And we walked with him and he came! Okay there's a bit more back story to that. He's always said he wants to come but, just never had before. He's a really cool guy from Vietnam and is really sensitive to the spirit. We're planning on handing him on to the Elders, as they'll have an easier time teaching him. 

Sunday was a really sad day. Had to say goodbye to everyone! Hugged pretty much everyone. Got to bear my testimony in Sacrament Meeting. I talked about how the gospel is really a foundation in my life, and that all are invited to it. I'm so grateful for it. It really is true after all.

Anyhow, I hope you all have a fantastic week and that life treats you well. Jumalan siunauskia teille! 

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Kastendieck

p.s. Happy Family Day!

(no subject)

This week has been an adventure to say the least. I learned a lot if nothing else. I learned that missionary work is really just loving and inviting, and loving some more. No other tactic. If that even is a tactic. It's not a game. I don't need to worry about what to say. That and I really don't have a ton of control of whether or not people accept the us or not. And I don't expect everyone to. I just want to help lift people a little higher. We are real people who get to love everyone! I mean I knew this before, but it really just clicked this past week. Don't know why it took so long.

This week Sister Dayton and I had a couple of experiences this past where we invited into someone's home and then they proceed to attack, tear down and mock our beliefs. Not overly fun. But, I suppose it's part of the missionary calling. It happened to Christ, the early apostles, probably to every missionary that has ever walked this Earth, so why should we be the exceptions? Each time as we walked away we would first shake our heads in disbelief as to how people could be so rude, and then reflect on how thing they said did not shake us or our faith one bit. It brought to mind Jacob 7:5. I mean I haven't seen angels or anything but, I do know that the the gospel is true. 

One happier note, we've also had some great success this week. One night we were making our way to the church to help with preparations for the upcoming Lu'au. We were running a tad bit behind but, saw a former investigator, and chatted to him for a couple minutes. As we we're talking with him, a man that we had talked to a couple days before walked past. We finished our conversation, waved to the other man and walked a few steps further. Both Sister Dayton and I felt we needed to talk to the man but, by this time we were most definitely late. Then Sister Dayton looked straight at me and said "Time is not the issue". So we went back and talked to him. Turns out he was really happy to talk with us again, and asked if we could talk some time about our religion. Later that night he called us and asked to meet sometime! Very exciting!

I don't have time to email anything else but, I just want to let you know that you are all amazing and that this gospel is worth it.

Rakkaudella, 

Sister Kastendieck