But, there's not anything I really want to say, beyond what I'm going to talk about when I'm answering questions, so, here we go!
Who did you meet this week?
Let me think... I got to meet 2 really cool people, one that is a Finn that speaks English to us and absolutely loves what we have to say about family, and another that is a Swedish-Finn that was going to speak in English to us until our member present hijacked the lesson into deep doctrine in Finnish. But, he still wants to meet with us, mostly to talk about the Plan of Salvation and what it is that we believe happens after death, and why it is that God allows things to happen in our lives that we don't think are good for us. Good conversations and lessons are bound to start up soon, between us and... everyone!
Are your legs getting tired from all the walking?
YES. We walked a lot this week too, as well as went through a forest to get to a set of potentials. There was an awesome sunset at 2:53pm, and we happened to go right on top of a hill during it, and I got pictures!!!
I have a lot more like this, but I think that I want to have time to upload a picture of something else too, so just one pretty sunset picture. Yes, that is the ocean on the other side. Or an inlet. Either way.
Do you have real snow?
YES! And a LOT of it. We have had a lot of fun tromping through the blizzards... And wind...
Oh, and, all of the rivers flooded over and then froze solid, so a ton of the pedestrian roads we take were frozen into part of the river! We had a lot of fun sliding around, I'll see if maybe I can send a video via email about it later? But, here's a picture about it!
Yup, walking trail on the left, frozen river further over, and giant flooded area straight ahead!
What did you study this week?
Quite a bit from General Conference, actually. I have been reading a lot about Justice and Mercy and the roles of Heavenly Father and Jesus in administering both to us. Also, I keep revisiting the talk by Pres. Utchdorf, about "spiritual instruments" (like, prayer and scripture reading) and how they help us with spiritual discernment. The whole light-of-stars analogy and the explain-technology metaphor makes it really understandable!
What did you teach someone this week?
We taught a lot about the Plan of Salvation, and why it is that our Heavenly Father wants us to be happy. Specifically, because he is our Heavenly Father. I have found Matthew 7:7-11 quite good at responding to almost all concerns about this. If someone wonders how to receive aid or comfort, the first few verses. If someone doubts that God loves them or that he'll involve his aid so personally in individual lives, the last few verses!
What did you learn this week?
Mostly, I think I learned that it is good to always be acting in the role of an example of the believers. So many times as missionaries, the only contact that we get with some people is as we're walking by and they bike past in a rush. If we're goofing off, or just being loud and obnoxious, what is going to be the split-second assessment from these people? Will we seem like men who are believing that they have a responsibility to share God's message to others, or will we seem like boys on vacation in Finland? It's important to remember that people are always watching and aware of our example, seeing if our words meet our actions.
I actually have run out of time this week, we only had 50 minutes today because we are going to play VOLLEYBALL! Woo-hoo! Write y'all next week!
Vanhin David Milligan
P.S. Elder Saunders, my companion, is from Georgia, so I keep hearing familiar Southern phrases, like "y'all" and "fixin' to do" and all of these really fun ways to speak! So reminiscent of home! Ooooooklahoma!
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