September 26, 2015 - Whew, Long Week!

Thank goodness I got so many questions today, otherwise this email would be very, very empty. Sounds weird right after saying that it was a long week, but that's how it went - a whole lot of chaos that really resulted in nothing significant. But that's okay.

We've been trying to organize bits of the office at the request of other people. It goes rather well now, especially since we got an AWESOME set of desks in at the office. They are those standing-desks that are recommended for writers. They can be electronically elevated and lowered to custom heights, and really are amazing! We don't have some, of course, 'cuz we are likely a temporary fixture here, but it's still cool to be helping someone and just raise up the desk so you aren't both leaning over the computer nearly breaking your back.

It's really fun to be in the office, despite whatever chaos I bring up. There are a lot of great personalities bouncing around all the time, and all of them think that I am a master of Finnish, which leads to some interesting idioms being thrown at me. At my request, of course. But it is rather confusing when you get conflicting definitions for an idiom...


Megan has a serious question for you. If you fold your middle and ring fingers downward into your palm and hold them there with your thumb, can you touch your pinky with your pointer finger?

I invite everyone to try this feat right now. I managed to do it. Only by using my other hand, though, and forcing them to touch. Try to do it without doing that!

What fight did you have with a pair of clippers? The little teaser from last week has a lot of us curious!

Ja-haa, okay. I didn't realize that I haven't told this story yet! It only happened, like, last week, but still. I've told it far too often.

So. I decided that it was time for a haircut. I normally decide that it's time to do so just after I start to have to make sure that it is arranged just right to still look mission-appropriate. I'm rather bad at working up the energy to cut my hair. But it gets done.

It was Monday, I got out the clippers that our apartment has. I figured, hey, why not, we're stuck indoors for about an hour, that'll be long enough. Tried to turn on the clippers. They were basically dead. Plugged in the clippers, tried to turn it on so I could charge it while trimming. Didn't work. Read the instructions. They said that you can't do both, and that it takes 16 HOURS to fully charge. So Monday was gone with that one.

Tuesday. Unplug the clippers. Start to cut. Do all of the sides, start on the top, and the clippers start to slow down. This is about 20 minutes in, tops. Quickly finish the top, start to blend the sides, finish that. Go to work on the back. Get about ½ of the way done. CLICK. Clippers die. I read the instructions. 16 Hours of Charging = 30 Minutes of Clipping. WHAT.

Wednesday. District Meeting. Get complimented on my haircut by people, then I laugh, and turn around. People laugh with me. Got it finished that night, after having spent Tuesday and Wednesday in the office, in full sight of everyone there. But it's okay. I finished, and people think that it looks good. So I'm content. But I'm trying to get our clippers replaced. (Mom: I had no idea they have been CUTTING THEIR OWN HAIR!)

What is a goal you have set for yourself?

Get new clippers. Just kidding! Partly.

I have realized that this change will not be as full of missionary work as I would like. That is to be expected. So, my goal this change is to really find the most effective ways to share the gospel with the little time that we do have. I've always kind of been content to label the actions I was going through "missionary work", because at the root of it, it always was. But, I can't promise that I've always been doing the best thing to do in each situation. So, we're working together to coordinate the most effective teaching vs finding plans, and trying to work better together in that regard. I think it's good, to try to make sure that I'm not just coasting, but seeking betterment.

What did you learn this week?

Might be getting a bread machine, and how Finns say that they've gotten Dear John letters. Let me explain.

We were sitting in the office, having lunch with everyone there. They have started up a calendar where different people are in charge of bringing lunch for different days. It's really fun to be able to eat so much good food! I've gotten so many filling lunches, like pot-roast, and things that it takes far more than an hour to make. So, we started talking about the foods that Finns have that are better than the American counterparts. The only thing that we could all agree on was the quality of Finnish bread. I only consented on that one because they were talking about store-bought breads. I told them that my family could make some of the best rolls ever, but that might have been because we had a nice bread machine for getting the dough all prepared. Which prompted one of the office workers to look at me and say, "I have a bread machine that I never use. Would you like to use it and make us bread?" That got all of the office thinking about how cool it would be to have the smell of bread going through the rooms, especially since our "office room" for us 2 Elders is the kitchen. They are trying to get it all brought here, so we'll see how that goes.

In closing - Mother! Can you send me a bread recipe? Like the one that we use? I can get all of the ingredients here, I believe, and I know quite good Finnish-Baking-Ingredients-Vocabulary. I even know the difference between types of yeast. I can find everything, as long as I know what I need to get and what to do with it all! Thanks! (Mom: He forgot to include the Dear John part...I'll try to get it next time!)

What did you share this week?

I guess the thing that I've been able to contribute most this week was answering a set of concerns that Elders put forward during District Meeting. President made a surprise appearance, so most everyone there clammed up, bar me and my companion - we are far too used to seeing and talking with him. When the Elders brought forth a question about an investigator's lack of desire for a member to be present, it first came up to me as a thing that I couldn't answer, because I've never had that problem. I've almost always taught in Finnish, and the investigators like having someone there who understands 100% of what they say. At least, I thought that was the only reason that I ever managed to ask investigators to let us bring a member over. I was a little shocked to hear myself asking them if they had brought up the reason as to why they were all meeting. They said that, simply, the man wanted to see if he could find and develop a testimony of Christ after meeting with them. I responded that if that was the case, they should bring up that if he is looking for ways to receive a testimony, he should really be open to the different perspectives that members have with their testimonies here in Finland. Yes, the gospel is the same, the truth is the same - but it touches different people in different ways. There is no way that every members' testimony can be exactly the same, and if we are all meeting so that we all grow, there's no competition for testimony, and there isn't a finite amount of "belief" to go around. So, why not have a member? Apparently, the advice worked perfectly for their situation, so I'm happy that I was able to contribute a little to someone's day.

What did you teach this week?

This week, we haven't had a single lesson. It's a little discouraging, especially since the 8 that we planned for last week all fell through, bar one. And then we taught Sunday School again, about the roles of family members. So, chalk up another point for me talking about things that I'm not able to speak personally about, like the roles of parents... We are a little sad about it all, of course, but the thing that gives us comfort is that we are trying our hardest. We do have investigators, still, and we are in good contact with them all, but our schedules don't line up. I'm glad, though, that we do the little bit of testimony-sharing that we can. We actively seek out ways to teach, they just don't happen in the ways we expect.

What are some of the blessings and lessons that you are learning right now while serving in the mission office? In particular, ones that will help you later in life as a student, as an employee, as a father, or as a priesthood holder in the church? 

I think that the most obvious blessing/lesson that I am noticing is that I have had to grow a lot of patience in different ways than before. With companions, I've gotten really good at the one-on-one patience: they do something I don't like so much, I think about it again, and I think if I would act any different, given the circumstances. Generally, the answer is no, I would do the same, which helps me to avoid a fair amount of hypocrisy. However, in the office, there are so many people and so many things happening simultaneously that it sometimes get pressing all around with patience towards 3 people being pushed to the max at the same time. The way that I think I've normally gotten around it in the past is by slightly manipulative means - getting one person to focus on someone else instead of me, getting two of them against each other, and then playing the "I'm a victim right along with you"/"blame-game" with the other parties. That might work in a short-term sense, but in the long term, it is destructive and dangerous. I have had to do what my parents have always told us will be the hardest, yet easiest thing to do - take blame for your personal mistakes. No pointing fingers, no conditional clauses of apology, no walls of resistance. Just plain, outright asking for how I can do better in the role I'm in right now. Man, it was hard to do the first few times. But, once I gained the trust of people there, mostly due to my owning up to the things I did a little differently, they started asking how they could learn from the same thing. So, yeah, what I'm doing for my job is good, but by getting us all on the same page, whatever I do is something that we can be unified on. We're not acting with different instructions - we are together on the projects for each part that we can be of assistance with. I think that helps for any multi-person setting that I'll face in the future!

What is the oddest thing you have been asked to do in the office?

First thing to say - I am SOOO glad that I have a working knowledge of Excel. Because that is guiding almost every way that I can organize stuff here in the office.

The oddest thing, though... hmm. I think I've got a good one. One of the couples asked for us to help them set up a DVD player in their apartment. I didn't know if we could go, but after a call to President, we got the okay. We went over, turned to the TV, and just stared. It must have been one of the oldest mechanical things still in operating order. After about 15 minutes of trying to figure out if we should be routing the output/input cords through the back (no place for them) or through their DigiBox (no way to find the input channels), I was just about to give up. I was honestly about to slap the front of the TV, and then looked a little closer. There was a small indentation, unmarked by anything. With no manual to go off of, I just decided, "why not", and tried to pry it open. Didn't work. I then pushed the front panel. Out popped the now-identified-COVER-panel, and the necessary input was right behind it. Yay!

However, during our search of getting the TV to work, we were required to have the TV running. That was a weird incident in and of itself. The Elder of the couple was watching us try to find the input on the DigiBox, and in my random button-pressing, I managed to get the quality of the picture to improve ten-fold with the press of a single button. He was quite impressed. That night, we got a call - the TV hadn't kept the improved setting on after we turned the DigiBox off. Which button should he press? I identified the right button over the phone, but he said it didn't work. Which led to us being told to drive over at 9 o'clock to get their TV to work for some Finnish broadcast, get there, press literally a SINGLE button (the one which I had identified by both placement and text correctly), and then leave. We got drinkable yogurt out of it, though. So, yeah. We get weird responsibilities occasionally.

Well, I think that's all! Thanks for all of the ways that people are reaching out to me! I wouldn't mind a letter or two, by the way, when the coming CHRISTMAS season approaches. I'm only thinking about it because it's the next Finnish Holiday - there's no Halloween or Thanksgiving here, remember? So we're playing Christmas music in the car. Just getting ready...  😜❄ Oh, and no snow, yet. But I'm praying.

Be safe, y'all!

Vanhin David Milligan

September 19, 2015 - Chaos is my Every-Day-Encounter

I promise - I'm not depressed when I say that! Normally, I'm just laughing over how INSANE everything can get in a matter of seconds.

For example - there is a missionary pamphlet that the mission releases called the Suomen Valo (Finnish Light). It's now our responsibility to start making it. How it normally goes is that we finish the outline for it a week before the new month that we want to release it in, and then we wait long periods of time for all of the contents to be given to us - new changes in location across the mission, the President's message to missionaries, the pictures of baptisms for the previous month, the message from the Assistants, the numbers that we hit as a mission for the previous month - there's a lot. So it's mostly a waiting game on our part.

Now for the chaos. President told us that he wants it done by the end of the first week. We informed him that he could get everything on his side done, and we would urge others to get their part to us, and all would be good. President got his stuff to us rather quickly, and eventually, the other parts came in, too - like the new missionaries and their pictures, for instance. Everything was ready on time - and then the printer ran out of yellow ink. And then we found out that the whole of Finland doesn't have any of the specific ink cartridges in stock for Yellow. So we had to order it. It came in a week later, yesterday. We got everyone to look at a sample, approve it, and then rushed off the rest and put them into envelopes. Only at this point did one of the people notice that we had a misprint of an incoming missionary's name. Yikes! We reprinted hers and her companion's alone, and then sent them all off. There was SOOO much chaos about it, though!

Phew, that might have been rather therapeutic. I'm ready for the questions, now!


What did you learn this week?

I learned quite a bit about how I have changed in my perception of people around me. I made this thing to talk to Nathan, my brother, about, but then it was just too interesting to not share as this for this week, because it made me really think.

As a missionary, I have started looking at people that pass by quite a bit differently. You know, we try to talk to each one, right? So, I have gotten quite a few conversations that go to show just how different and yet the same we can approach things. It has gotten to the point that I'll look out over a crowd in, say, a store, and realize that everyone, EVERYONE, has a purpose to being there. It doesn't have to even be seen as a religious purpose - just, 'hey, I need food', which them stems into that one chance-encounter that you have with someone that you may never see again because their situations are TOTALLY not aligned with yours.

It's a bit vague and abstract of a comment, but it's cool to think that you can even just stare at a row of cars and realize that likely, all of those people have a different destination and intention behind it that makes sense in their own little world. Just being open to the person that you only get to see for two seconds can really make you think!

What did you share this week?

These next 2 sections are gonna be a bit of a shocker section.
Crazy stuff happens - the church is true!

Last Sunday, I was assigned to give a talk in church. No topic attached, just told to say what I wanted to say. I made a plan based off of what Elder Bednar said when he visited us last year - make plans and study a topic, but don't write up the whole paper and just read it off. Bear testimony about it at the stand, and let your studies and the Spirit work to the opening of your mouth. When I got to the pulpit to start my talk, I realized that no matter what, I had to do that - the little paper that I had planned as a cheat-sheet with little Finnish phrases to direct my topic was left at home. So, I did my best. I think it was mostly understandable, although I did notice a few grammar mistakes on my part. Whoops. But Finnish.

After the talk, a member that I hadn't met yet came up to me and started speaking in very American English. He highly complimented me, saying that after his mission in Finland, he wasn't as good as I had been. I'm sure he was exaggerating, but I accepted the praise with gratitude. At least a few people understood me, right?


What did you teach this week?

Continuing the story - I get to go in the English class on Sundays (first time I've attended the English class of church in FOREVER) and actually was also delegated to give the lesson about Eternal Families last week. As I was talking about everything and then started to give a personal story in the lesson, I briefly mentioned Oklahoma. At that point, the member that complimented me and talked with me for some time interrupted. He asked if I was from Oklahoma. I pulled out my little OU keychain, and said yup. He asked what area, and before I could say anything, he added in that he first encountered the church in Oklahoma, and that it was where he joined. In my dumbfounded shock, he said, "I went to Edmond 1st Ward." So, imagine my gleeful yell, "THAT'S MY HOME WARD!!!" With a slight amendment, "or, was, they changed the boundaries" followed by him mentioning "oh yeah, I saw the new Stake President and recognized him. I'm pretty sure he'd recognize me." We paused so that we could finish the lesson, but afterwards he and his wife came up to me and we had a LONG talk about Edmond.

His name is Ed Rogers. (Edward, but he flinches at that!) He got baptized in 1986, I think he was about 22 then. He knows SOOO many of the older families in the Edmond area, and they are in our area, so we are gonna get to have a dinner with them sometime so we can talk even more.

How awesome is that! Finding a fellow Okie in Finland from your home ward! He has an awesome conversion story, I can't wait to talk with him about every part in even greater detail!

What is your favorite Finnish restaurant?

I both love and hate Kebab restaurants. I put Kebab itself comparative to the Stuffed-Crust Pizza at Scout Camp. It tastes fantastic when you're eating it, and you feel so happy that it's so meaty. Then, about an hour later, the stomach reacts to it. Ugghh... The best Kebab deal I've gotten was the one in Tampere, which had a buffet for just 7 Euros.

What is your favorite Finnish food?

NOT Kebab. It's not even technically Finnish, I just haven't eaten at any restaurants that are really Finnish...

I think that it might be Riisipirakka. I totally spelled that wrong... Riisipiirakka. There. That's the good thing about Finnish - the double vowels are said, and I can remember how to spell it so long as I say it right. It's a really cheap dish - available with almost every meal - but it is really good! Rice porridge baked into a bread pastry. Soooo good.

What is a popular Finnish toy?

Hmm, you've got me with this one... I don't think I've seen a Finnish toy, really! There isn't anything that I can think of right now that would fit the Finnish label. I'll keep an eye out in church, though - I'm bound to see something!

Here's a good substitute - instead of teething rings, some Finns give their babies ruisleipä, or rye bread. Really dark stuff. Pretty good.

How many pairs of shoes have you gone through?

I haven't even killed off my first pair! I haven't bought Finnish shoes, yet - I still have another missionary set that we bought before I can even think about it.

How many pants and shirts do you need to replace?

Umm... It would be nice to have a few more Sunday shirts, but I'm planning on getting them here during the Stockmann/Dressmann sales. As for pants - there are some pants that I haven't even pulled out yet! I'm fine on those!

Yeah, I've been really lucky with clothes in general.

Did you get a car this week?

...Yes... How did you know?... President has determined that we would benefit from a car in this area. Do you know what that means? 100% Car-Area-Mission. Yeah, it's been something that has been deemed necessary, but still. Weird to see it actually happening.

Well, that's all! I have a good picture of me and my companion, so I'll close out with that. Be safe, all!

Just recently got in a fight with a set of clippers... Pretty sure I told that story... Stupid 16-hour-charging... But it looks good now! (Hmmmm...No, he didn't tell that story! Maybe next time...~Mom)

Vanhin David Milligan

September 12, 2015 - Voi ei, Aika kului siivin

 Elder Milligan & Elder Frey

Oh my, time flew. (Literally, 'time wore out on wings'.) This week just zoomed on by leaving barely any impression of its passing. So, pardon me, but I'm just hopping straight to the questions to inspire me.

What have you learned this week?
I have been going over quite a few sections about the attitudes that we carry around when we are acting upon certain responsibilities. I've been studying this for a while, so I'm sorry if you just are hearing this for the umpteenth time! It's just so interesting to think back and look ahead on why I act the way I do, and how I can improve my very nature through trying to have a better attitude all the time, in all things. It's really cool to think about. I'm hoping that if I am acting with more charity and love that it will seep into how I start thinking, even about the things that I really dislike.

What have you taught this week?

We taught one lesson this week so far. That's it. We will hopefully have a lesson today, though, with someone who will become a new investigator! Yay! I'm glad that we can get even just some missionary work up and rolling. The lesson that we taught was with a family that is a little less-active, mostly due to the fact that their company has to work on Sundays. They are fantastic members, though! We spent the night speaking with them and the bishop, and we all shared mission stories and experiences that were pretty cool. It's fun to think that the stories that I've always heard of happening to others have happened to me, now! I have so many fun and crazy stories from being a missionary!

What have you shared this week?

This week, I decided that if we were going to have 'dead time' for recovery from Elder Frey's Cortisone shot, I would make a cheesecake to share at the office. The day that I brought it, we happened to have TONS of people keep coming through the office. Almost as if they smelled my cheesecake... Hmm. Have to temper the radius of temptation on that recipe. Well, I got to share it with everyone in the office, 3 different random people that were dropping off packages, 2 sets of missionaries, and our member-package-deliverer who stops by the office most days. He has taken to calling me the 'kakkumestari' (yes, 'cake master'). Everyone really liked it, and was surprised that a 'mere Elder, not even a Sister' had made the cheesecake. So I think it was a hit, overall. Although I'm a little jealous that everyone thinks only Sisters can cook and sing...

What is your apartment like? Do you have another sauna for your luggage?

This apartment is really nice! There is no sauna, but there is a giant walk-in closet that houses all of our luggage with no infringement on the walk-in part of the closet space. The apartment is big and there is a really nice shower. That's the highlight of it versus other Finnish apartments, I think. The showers are always nice, but not the space to shower in. This one has both being fantastic. The only draw-back is that it is on the 4th floor of the apartment with the world's slowest elevator. I have never been in a slower elevator, period. Most people in the building walk, even to the top of the 6-floor building! We have to take the elevator, though - my companion is a cripple!

Do you need us to send a new sd card reader, or can you get one pretty easily there?

I was about to say, 'don't worry about it, I'll find one'. Then I remembered searching for it last week. Couldn't find one anywhere. So I'll say 'yes, please!' to that one!

Do you get a real Fall/Autumn in Finland? Or does it go from Summer to Winter overnight?

Hmm, I'd say yes, we generally get a Fall period. The trees will turn really nice colors! The only downer is that it becomes pretty miserable if it rains. 'Cuz it's not snow, and then all of the pretty colors go a little mushy. However, the window of Fall is pretty short - it's already pitch-black outside during pretty early times of the day!

What is something that made you laugh this week?

Hmm, this week... I think the thing that I took the most humor out of this week was speaking with the new trainee here in Haaga District, Elder Grooms. He is a really cool guy! The reason why I give that as the thing that made me laugh this week was over the fact that we thought exactly the same things out of our first week in Finland. When he was talking about his first impressions of Finland, they lined up so well with what I had said that I couldn't help but laugh along with him! He's a great guy - and he knows everything that has happened in the video-game-world for the last year, so I'm bound to have some fun conversations with him.

Well, that's about all! Sorry I'm so boring, but this week has mostly been filled with us trying to fill out the Mission History pages for 2013. It wasn't ever submitted, and neither was 2014. So we are hard at work getting those underway.

If there are any other fun things that happen this week, I'll make sure to write them down for the email! It'll be good practice for doing the history-recordings of the mission for 2015.

Be safe, everyone! Love y'all!

Vanhin David Milligan

September 5, 2015 - Office Work Continues On

Seriously, my life is Office work right now. Not complaining! Just a little interested in the fact that so little seems to happen to progress each day forward until someone asks for the Office Elders to do it instead. So, I've been trying to convince people to let us do more of the jobs around the Office. It's been going all right, 'cuz they all already have quite a bit of trust in our capabilities with computers! So, we will keep going on with the work in our own little way.

Let's go to the questions!

How is the Office?

So, it's pretty fun altogether! Like I said, it is just about all that I get to do as a missionary, but it is still rewarding in its own little ways. It's a lot of fun to be around the Senior Missionaries so often, because they all have a lot of interesting little tips about how things should work. Sometímes, it's a little out-dated, but often it is really insightful in its own little way.

Here's a good example of one of those moments. I was tasked with organizing the contact information of Missionaries here by alphabetical order of last name. No biggy, wasn't that hard, just cut-and-paste the name over to the front of the weird system that they use here. I was going through it very quick, and the Senior Missionaries were surprised by the speed at which I finished. I guarantee you, it wasn't absurdly fast. They have just gotten into the habit of going into each individual contact and typing up all of the information from scratch whenever they need to alter data. I was a little shocked by that reveal, but kept working on. Once I was done, I asked Elder Smith why exactly there was an extra Group-category on the contact lists. It wasn't used to organize the system at all - it just merely was in existence. The group was "A Very Special Missionary", listed on every single missionary's contact information card. I asked what its purpose was, intending on deleting the extraneous information unless there was a good reason for it. He then proceeded to inform me that every time that they wanted to think about the missionaries, he felt that the title "A Very Special Missionary" would direct them to remembering just how important all of us are. I opened my mouth to say something, but couldn't. I realized that every single time that they re-did the information from scratch, there was always this little thought of "this missionary is important to us" attached to each additional write-up. I, needless to say, have left the category intact, even if I've taken out the need to re-do the information every time. It's just a small thing, but it means a lot more now!

What did you learn this week?

I had been going through bits of the book of Alma, and been thinking about the teachings that Alma the Younger was giving to his less-faithful son. The part when Alma goes on about the restoration (not of the gospel, but the body in that time of resurrection of everyone) spoke to me quite a bit this week. He basically says good will be restored to good, evil will be restored to evil, righteousness to righteousness, and unrighteousness to unrighteousness. It made me start to evaluate how I've been acting at different points of my day. If my actions right now were being compounded into one final result, would I be happy with that result? In other words, if the last sentence I just said determined and defined how others perceived me and how I was able to perceive myself,would I be pleased with it, and would my Heavenly Father be pleased as well? Kinda makes you start to re-evaluate your actions and attitude!

What did you share this week?

There is an interesting situation with our area. We have a set of members that actually aren't members. They got baptized, but left the country before they got confirmed, among other things. It is all kind of interesting, as they are in the ward roster, they are very active, and they act like members in every single way - except they technically aren't. So we're getting it all sorted out. But, how that relates to "what did I share this week", I was talking with them about what they believe - what they had as a testimony. I was surprised to find out that one of the things they wanted to know more about was what exactly the modern-day prophets and apostles say. I asked if they had ever seen General Conference. They had not, and they actually can't understand it in to its fullest in English or Finnish, really. When I brought up that it could be accessed in more languages than just those, they got excited and pulled it up on their phones (they have the Gospel Library app on their devices). I showed them how to switch it over to French, which was the best common language between the family, and then they proceeded to hop over the whole set of talks through the rest of the night, even after we left. They were so excited to just be able to hear everything that we hear in General Conference, I'm now looking even more forward to the next one!

Were you able to teach anyone this week?

Other than that lesson, we weren't. We do have a few potentials that we have called, but it's really hard when you've only got barely over a handful of names and numbers, mostly from 2005. We do have some people coming to church this week, though! Looking forward to meeting them there!

Do you live in the mission home or have an apartment nearby?

We have our own apartment rather nearby. The Mission Office is in Leppävaara, Espoo, and we live in Myyrmäki, Vantaa, but it's only around a 15 minute travel by train, if you catch the right ones. First area that I've gotten where the transportation is by train! We may be receiving a car soon, though. That would keep my only-car-areas record intact, so I won't complain!

How is your health doing?

Mine is going alright, honestly. There aren't too many dangerous things going on with me, just the whole "be safe so you don't die" situation that's been going on my whole mission. My companion, however, has quite a few problems with his knees, and they don't seem to be getting better... So we are praying for him pretty regularly! I hope that he's doing better by next P-Day so that I have better news then!

Can you believe you have been in Finland for a year now?

NO. I can't! I still am shocked that I've been here SOOO LOOONG and I haven't even realized it! Elder Frey is the same way - to us, we've been out here for a few weeks, tops. Maybe days are better to count by. But still. We have progressed a lot, so that's good!

Can you send a picture of you and your new companion? We need more pics on the blog!

I'd love too... If my SD Card Reader hadn't gotten lost somewhere in the move, along with a MicroSD card that I was planning on using in my recorder... So right now, I'm kinda helpless to attach pictures of us! I'm hoping that I can send a few next week, provided that I am re-equipped with materials. Sorry that I've been so bad about pictures!

Well, that's all, I guess! I'm glad that I'm able to serve here in the Office, I hope that it lasts for a while! Thanks for all of the support, signing off!

Vanhin David Milligan

Vanhin Milligan and Vanhin Frey