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
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