Still the same me!

Just so that you know, I'm still me! Some things never change. In the past two weeks or so I've exhibited my graceful side of myself in many different ways. First in accidentally ripping a cupboard door off the wall (don't worry the mission office knows... and it was a complete accident, and no one got hurt), and second in completely destroying my boots which caused an emergency run to the store, where I came back with new boots and 70 Euros lighter.. How fun! I've also managed to shatter a bottle of nail polish on the bathroom floor... but that was months ago, so it doesn't count. But it just goes to show that some things remain quite constant.

As far as missionary work goes though, this week has been really good but, really slow at the same time. We seemed to get caught in tons of appointments which lasted for hours and we couldn't escape. One was because we we're making korvapuustit (cinnamon buns) with a member for her friend, and then delivered them to her neighbour. It was actually really cool! Her neighbour was the most unfinnish Finn I've ever met, in that she was not reserved at all! Just really fun! Another appointment that went over was a dinner appointment with an older lady in our ward. She makes the best food (lots of it), and loves to talk. And the third was one with an investigator just last night. She's a talker, and is super excited about everything. Really sweet. It's just hard to focus in sometimes. People just love us Sister Missionaries way too much!

Another funny cultural thing here. So, when you are eating dinner at someone's house, once you get to the end of the first plate the Finns will always offer seconds. However, the way they say it is "Otakaa lisää jos maistuu" which being translated directly is "Take more if it tastes good". Most Finns claim that it's just a saying and that you don't have to take more even if it does maistuu (taste good). Which, in theory is good. But in reality... most (not all) of them do want you to take more... and if they dish up your plate... lets just say the Finns are very generous. At least the food is always delicious and if I do roll home it will be for a good cause right?

The ward here continues to amaze me. Every week I feel like we get more and more invites from members to do missionary work with them. Or someone telling us that they have a friend they're working with. I could brag about the Lahti ward forever! They are really all amazing!

I love you all a lot. I hope you all have a great week! The gospel is true and I am happy!

Rakkaudella,

Sister Kastendieck

Letter Day!

Letter day. The day of the week when I get to summarize, edit and record roughly 168 hours of my life into 2 to 3 paragraphs. Always fun. Sometimes, I have no idea where to start or what to talk about. This is one of those days. Here goes.

Life is good. The food is better. The members in Lahti are the best. Finns are fantastic.

Seriously though, the ward here is lit up with missionary work! They are on fire! On Saturday Sister Dayton and I spent a good chunk of time at a member's house, learning to make karjalan pirakka, with TWO of her non-member friends. It was pretty much amazing. Unfortunately I don't know much about the politics here in Europe... or the Finnish vocabulary for politics... or even for baking (working on that) and neither did my companion. So, following along and contributing to the conversation mostly did not happen. We were able to leave a good spiritual message though and everyone had a great time. 

This week I also got to visit my tenth Finnish city. Maybe it's eleventh. I'm not 100% sure. At any rate, I got to go to Jyväskylä for splits! It was weird being there, being the only one who did not know the city or the members (Sister Dayton was trained in Jyväskylä) but, it was a really good time. I was on splits with Sister Dixon (who is actually cousins with a ton of people from Edmonton). She's been in the country for roughly a month and is doing great. It was a great reminder to me, being with a younger missionary, that regardless of language ability or experience in the field we still have the same calling, and we can all fulfill that calling just the same. We fulfill our calling as we are filled with love and want to help those around us draw closer to Heavenly Father. It's something that I forget a lot, and I get lost in all the technicalities of teaching and everything. 

Good things are happening here. I'm glad to be in Finland, and I'm thankful to be surrounded by so many great missionaries, members, and people in general. As I said earlier: Life is good. 

Love you all immensely. Hope you have a great week. My companion also would like to wish you a Happy Martin Luther King Day! 

Rakkaudella,

Sister Kastendieck

Walking in Sunlight!

Lahti is great today. The sun is shining. And there's snow on the ground. And it's below 0 degrees. So I can't complain. All the Finns are also really excited that winter has arrived (even if it's over a month late).

The work is going well. Sister Dayton and I have lots of fun all the time! We're finding lots, teaching lots and are not overly stressed. It's the best of all the worlds. 

We had a zone meeting in Tampere this last week. I was dreading to go down to it. First off, we had to get on a train at 5:44 am to get there in time. Second, it was to discuss a 'mission fast' to kick off the new year. I wasn't overly enthusiastic as my last mission wide fast ended in my companion getting sent home due to nerve damage, and my area being closed. But, we wen tto Tampere anyway and it was actually really good. We're focusing on each district in the mission, one disric per week for 12 weeks and it's going to be great! I'm ready to get going.

We're also planning to have a lu'au in Lahti as a ward activity. One of the elders serving here actually worked at the polynesian cultural centre and so he's heading it off. We're really excited and we hope it will help us find a lot of young people and get them involved. The youth program here is fairly small, and we have no young men. It's going to take place the week AFTER transfers... so we hope we're all still here for it but, we'll see.

I don't have anymore time this week! Sorry it's short! Love you all! 

Sister Kastendieck

8 Day Recap and Happy New Years!

Sorry I didn't email yesterday. The Finns have this holiday after Christmas where they go shopping and take down their Christmas decorations, and close the library. 

It has been the longest week ever! Don't know why, just know it has been. Sister Dayton and I were recapping on the way to the library. This is what happened.

Monday 30th. P-Day. Hit up some after Christmas sales. Got a couple new sweaters, some pants (can't wear them for another six months), missionary work was a bit slow but, we were still able to visit a less active.

Tuesday 31st. Had two dinner appointments. Ate a lot. Fireworks started at about 4pm. Our district leader told us to make sure we had a ride everywhere as they experienced some sketchy things lately. Unfortunately it was too late in the game plan. We walked home. Saw practically no one. Watched Fireworks.

Midnight! Had a conference call with our whole district! Fireworks were crazy! Every one was setting them off from every direction! Off balconies, in the parks, where ever! Felt like we were in a war zone. Amazing. Not sure what time they stopped at. 

Wednesday 1st. Red day and District Meeting! Followed by district sähly! Pretty sure Sister Dayton and I surprised the elders with our skills (secretly honed)... or at least our desire to not be treated like girls in the game. It was so much fun. We were also able to teach one of my favourite less actives. We gave her lemon squares and she said that one of her New Years Resolutions is to come to church more often! 

Thursday 2nd. Year Mark. We met a former investigator. But, it was a bit miraculous because we had visited the address on his record. He didn't live there anymore. So we were in a different area looking up someone else. But it was this original former who ended up answering the door. He doesn't live their either, and had no idea that his friend had investigated. Said he was open to come back again.  

Friday 3rd. Long empty day. Our only appointment fell through. Sister Dayton took it upon herself to call all the formers that don't have addresses while I wrote everything I knew about each person in the ward on the ward list. She didn't get very far because a lot of them were still actually interested in meeting. One even said he'd tried to call the missionaries in Lahti last year but, no one had ever gotten back. We have a meeting with him and his old member friend next week! 

Saturday 4th. Made cookies with a member. Had a church tour with an investigator. When we first started teaching him he seemed just interested in getting information. He doesn't really like organized religion because he feels like their bureaucratic, and that scriptures are not really that important, that their just man's word, nothing else. We were able to take him around the church with a member, show him what we believe, and he definitely felt the spirit. At the end he said that he really would like to read more into the Book of Mormon, and visit church sometime (it's difficult for him as he gets only one Sunday off work every month). Can't wait to see how things progress.

We also found out the elders visited and sang to our less active who wanted to come to church more! We believe this is the push that actually got her to come! 

Sunday 5th was a beautiful Sunday. Testimony meeting was great.  All three of the less actives we've been working with since I came to Lahti were in church! Really special. 

Monday. Weird day because it wasn't a P-Day. No one was home due to the holiday. We did get to see a couple investigators, which was great. We taught a man at a bus stop. After he left we took some great pictures.

So that was my week! It felt super long but, it was great. Love you all hope life is going great! 

Sister Kastendieck

Year mark?

This week I hit my year mark. One year ago today I had just started packing. One year ago I didn't know a lick of Finnish. And one year ago I

That's mostly changed. I'm after in Lahti, speaking some Finnish and doing missionary work. It's changed who I am too, which is okay with me. There was a lot about me that I didn't really like before my mission. I'm excited to see what other changes will me made in the new year.

Also, it was fantastic to see you all on Christmas! We're half a world apart but, we're still family and that's all that matters.

We had a musta joulu this year (a black Christmas), with no snow. Just Rain and dark. Missionary work was fairly slow due to the 2.5 red days followed by a zone conference. We did get some great bonding time with members though. I probably ate my weight in Christmas food, and received my weight in chocolate. It was delicious.

The highlight of  the week though, was Zone Conference. First off most of my MTC district is in my zone, so I got to talk to them. Second, I got to finally meet the only other Canadian in the mission (he's from Quebec).Third, the Mission Office senior couples made us a delicious lunch. Third, my mission president is amazing at making us all feel loved, while giving us everything we need to do. I learned a lot and now feel like I have a lot more direction, and know where exactly I need to help point the people I teach. Fifth, we had a testimony meeting, which was incredibly powerful.

My favourite thought from zone conference was how much a blessing prayer is. In the church we don't just "say a prayer". We actually pray. It's not just something we say, and then we're done. We know that it is direct communication to our perfect Father in Heaven. We also know that he anwers. We have a very personal connection to the most powerful being in the universe, and he not only hears but, he cares and loves us too. If everyone in the world knew that one fact just think of what a better place the world would be. And that's why I'm in Finland. To tell people this. I hope that people will listen!

Anyhow, Happy New Year to the lot of you! Miss you! Make some noise for me because, I'll probably be sleeping when midnight on the 31st hits!

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Kastendieck

Hyvää Joulua in two days!

Rakas perhe,

Once again the missionary life is going well. Changes went over pretty smooth, and I'm still Lahti, so life is good. 

My new companion is Sister Dayton. She's from Logan, Utah and our birthdays are only six weeks or so apart! We've already had many adventures together, including walking for 12.2 km after accidentaly getting off a bus way too early, receiving our weight in christmas chocolate in gifts from everyone, and me trying my first glögi (delcious Finnish holiday drink!). She's also my first companion I've had who enjoys running (finally!) and sometimes we practice sähly for excercise. We're honing our skills. And of course we did some missionary work too! I've got a feeling this is going to be an epic change! 

I think though Saturday night has been my favourite so far though. We had had a lesson with an investigator set up but, had missed our bus meaning that we'd be late. We called our investigator, who in turn said that he was not home anyway, and could we meet after Christmas. So there went all of our plans for the rest of the night. Thankfully we had remembered to grab some former investigators' addresses before we left the apartment, and we set out. We had never had any success previously contacting any of the formers in the area, and they all live in locked buildings. That night we met with two of the three, met a referral the Elders had given us, talked with a member AND got in with a less active (who kinda intimidates me). We taught and taught and taught. It was so amazing to see how the Lord helps you be where your needed and when your needed.

I hear that you've been having a pretty cold, slippery, windy, white winter. It's mostly the opposite here. The wind comes at times, but the snow and ice are virtually non-exsistent. Mostly it's just dark and lately rainy. Which, is okay with me. At least I'm not freezing things are going great!  Still it would be nice to have some snow for Christmas. 

One of the other things I love about Christmas here is the Christmas songs. They are all so beautiful. Last night at the chapel we had a Christmas song night. And tonight we are going carolling. And again tomorrow. It's funny though, because carolling really isn't a Finnish thing and mostly Finns just get confused when we try to sing to them. Still, it really brings the Christmas spirit around. 

Anyhow, I'd better wrap this up. We have some great P-day plans coming.

Love you all! 

Rakkaudella, 

Sisar Rachel Kastendieck

Christmas time is here again

Guess what! I'm staying in Lahti for Christmas! Yay! Guess what else? Sister Schellenberg is not. It's so sad. She's headed to Turku, which is another wonderful city but, it's not quite Lahti. This is the first time that I've been the one staying behind in an area while my companion moves on, and it's really weird. I have to be more in charge or something. Also, Elder Call, is leaving to Hyvinkä, which is weird because he's still in training. Lahti is going to be a different place after tomorrow, but still good.

This week has been really great though. A few things that happened were the ward christmas party, moving (not us) and lessons! 

The ward's Christmas party was a blast. The bishop made joulupurro, which is rice pudding, and is traditional Christmas food. We missionaries did a skit, the primary did the nativity and there was a lot of other fun acts and presentations, and songs. At the end Joulupukki came (aka Santa) and everyone got a present. That was all well and good, but the best part was that TWO less actives came, and also our recent convert's daughter, and investigator's son (the recent convert and investigator couldn't make it) and they had a great time! 

Also, Sister Schellenberg and I spontaneously, helped move a bed frame and a table part way across Lahti. It all happened Tuesday, we had a lot of good ol' missionary zeal that day and we were talking with everyone, looking up formers, inviting people to the Christmas party, when we see a man on the sidewalk just standing by a bed frame. We stopped and talked, and asked him if he needed help. He said "well actually yes. My friend and I are trying to move a bed and a table to our new place, and we were supposed have more friends to help us move but, who knows where they went" or something like that. Right then his friend came up rolling a table on cart. So we helped them! They were students from Vietnam and were really cool. And they said that they wanted to come to our Christmas party... even though they never did. 

And by popular request, yes we did get to talk to the bus driver again. He is now our investigator. But it's a bit hard to meet with him as he lives out in the country, is a single man, and has an odd schedule due to his work. This being said, he's the most solid investigator we've had a chance to find in a long time. He's really cool, and probably the most positive man I've ever met. He's one of those guys who kind of teaches himself. We still need to set up another meeting with him but, we are really excited! I'll keep you updated

  

Anyhow, that's all for this week. Jumalan siunauksia teille! 

Sisar Kastendieck

Hyvää itsenäisyys!

Okay, so Itesennäisyys päivää was on Friday, December 6. Which, for your information, is Finnish Independence Day, and a hard red day* for us missionaries. Fortunately, Sister Schellenberg and I didn't realize it was a hard red day (we thought it was just a soft one), and we booked appointments from morning til night! Hooray! We left the apartment at 9:30 and didn't get back... until past 9:30 at night... ya we we're a bit late. In that long day though, we were able to celebrate Itsennäisyys Päivä with real Finns, and though we couldn't watch the President's speech, we did get to light candles, and it was great! We also were able to make French toast as a district, and eat a ton of other good food. So no complaints. 

The snow has really come now and it is gorgeous! My pictures don't even do it justice. It's like walking in a fairyland or something, and I agree with my companion in saying that I'm never going to get used to how gorgeous it is. 

A fun discovery. Missionary work goes a whole lot better when missionaries are in the same town. Sister Schellenberg and I had a hard week. Elder Call and Elder Jeffries (The Lahti Elders) were out of town, due to Elder Call's six week training. Nothing happened the whole time they were gone. Our investigators got flakey, 99% of our appointments fell through, no one was home... until right around the time the Elders arrived back in Lahti. Then our appointments started working out, people we're home. Weird but true, when missionaries come together, magic happens! 

On the other hand we've been focusing a lot on trying to meet the less actives in the ward. We've been taking cookies to each of them, sharing a short Christmas message, and singing them a Christmas song. It really works! There was one sister on the ward list that missionaries had suggested not visiting, Sister Schellenberg and I decided to visit her, on the basis that there had not been sisters in Lahti for a long time, and she probably just needed a sister's touch. When she answered the door and saw who it was she was ready to flat out reject us. But we just gave her the cookies, and chatted about Christmas in general and the ward Christmas party. By the end, she was really friendly with us. We are now praying what the next step is but, now at least this less active sister has had a positive experience with the missionaries.

Anyhow, I should go. I still have things to do... as always. Love you all. Have a great week! 

Sister Kastendieck

*Hard red days are the worst when you don't have appointments, you are not aloud to go outside, knock on doors, or talk to people on the street, in other words you can't do anything, except area book work... and no wants to spend the whole day doing area book work, believe me. It's a kin to shelf reading in libraries. Not fun. 

Lumi on tullut!

Snow has finally arrived (and stuck around) in the wonderful city of Lahti! It was clearly just waiting for the first of joulukuu (December).

On Monday we had a really neat experience. We were out in another town visiting a member and we had to catch a bus to come home. We ended up running for this bus, catching it, and after a couple minutes being the only people on it. But of course there is at least always ONE person to talk to on the bus, eli the driver. So we went up and started to talk with him. He was super friendly, and he started about talking about how after he gets of work he'll go home and take care of his cat. We small chatted about his cat for a bit, and then out of the blue he mentioned that how things had been lonely because his wife had died just a month before. I mean, who mentions that their wife just died to a couple of strangers. Definitely not Finns, but hey that's cool. We didn't really continue the conversation after that, because more people started to get on and it was personal, but Sister Schellenberg ended up writing a note with her testimony about the plan of salvation, talking about how she knows that he can be with his wife again, that he's God's son and so forth. When we got off we gave him a plan of salvation pamphlet and the testimony, and we went off and continued to do missionary work, and didn't think much more of it. Later that night we received a text from this bus driver thanking us and telling us that we were a huge comfort in a time of need, and that he'd be interested in meeting with us later on. Really cool experience. Made our week, although it had just begun.

Thursday, was American Thanksgiving. Not that it meant much here. We still had a Thanksgiving dinner though. Made of stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce and some sort of chicken sauce. Half of it was sent by Sister Schellenberg's mom, but it was really great and filling. We were just missing the pumpkin pie, but pie isn't really something they do in Finland. We also made a 'Thankful turkey'... which turned into the "strange-happenings-of-missionary-work Turkey, including being taught to crochet by a Russian who doesn't speak finnish or english, and watching 80s liberian family, christian, music and dance video along with many other strange, but true tales of life in Lahti.

We were also able to get into contact with a less active member, who had before refused missionaries. Sometimes, it just takes a couple of sister missionaries. This lady is really cute, and really old, and can't really go outside her apartment anymore. But we got to sing songs with her, and read some scriptures, and even light a candle for the advent! The Christmas season has begun, and we are excited to exploit it! Okay, that sounds bad, but it's Christ's season. What better time to talk to people about Christ?

Okay, so I need to go. I hope that this week is the best week you have all ever had. Be happy. And remember to look up! 

Sister Kastendieck!

Just another week...without snow

For all of those who are wondering. There is still no snow here in Lahti. Well, I guess there's a little bit, which looks like icing sugar. And we did have a good snowy day last Thursday, but then it turned into rain. So for all y'all who believe Finland is a snowy, cold place... I think Canada has it beat. At least for snow, for now. It's been getting colder though. I've started to use my big winter coat, and a hat, and gloves, and boots. And the darkness is pretty intense. The sun starts setting around 4 in the afternoon, maybe a bit earlier. Not sure when it rises. I think between 8 and 9. I'm indoors then though, so I really don't notice. But no fear! I have vitamin D which, (mom you'll be happy to hear) I'm actually taking! Mostly because I don't want to have to lug it around anymore.

Now as for events of the past week. It has been a week. Fairly average. Nothing too spectacular, but here's what happened anyhow.

My mission president put out this document a while ago called A Day in the Life of a Finland Helsinki Missionary. It goes on for at least three A4 sized pages, and is a bit intimidating to say the least. Sister Schellenberg and I have recently been going over together and we decided to start applying counsel. Funny things happen when you do that... eli it actually works. We decided to start making small changes and have now been watching the these missionary training videos they have consistently daily, during breakfast (as we are told to in the document). We had been having a lot of trouble effectively planning for effective lessons. And then we watched the segment on it. And then had our studies, followed their example. That night we had a lesson with an investigator, who is normally unfocused due to some meds she has to take. We had a bunch of stuff we had been trying to cover with her forever, and that night the lesson went beautifully. We were able to cover everything we had planned, the spirit was super strong, and she was able to focus. The moral of the story is, always follow the counsel of your leaders. It ends well when you do.

Another fun thing we did. We've been trying to work more closely with church members, to help them help their friends see how the gospel has helped them. We had a dinner appointment with the bishop this week, and we decided to do a role play with him and his wife. The idea is, everyone writes a normal everyday situation on a piece of paper, and then fold it up and put it in a bowl. Then everyone draws a situation, and they have to act out how they would get from that situation, to mentioning the gospel, normally and naturally. It was really fun! Afterwards we were able to play sähly, which also makes for a good evening.

Things are really going good. I guess that's what happens when you put your whole heart into it. You can't do much if you don't have your whole heart. It's a hard things to do, but way worth it.

You are all the best! And I hope that you have a great last week of November!

Rakkaudella,

Sister Kastendieck