Sunday, August 24, 2014

August 21, 2014 Letter & Audio Files

Hei Mother!

I can't WAIT until Finland. It's so close!!! September 1st! I want to get a call-card, one of those pre-paid thingamajiggies that allow you to call your family from the airport? That'd be fun to do while waiting! We get our Flight plans on Friday, I've heard, so I'll try to get that information to y'all soon somehow!
I have run into Elder Pratt a few times now! He leaves the 4th of September, so we're heading out around the same time. I'm glad that you told me that I could run into Elder Tanner, I'll keep a lookout now! Won't be too hard to find him, I think...

Tell everyone that I hope that their High School year is fun! I'm trying to write all of them today, but we'll see if I have time. I've only written Zandi so far today. My companion is a bit of a stickler when it comes to monitoring my time, since he's District Leader right now. Too bad he can't do the same about his own... But I digress.

I had NOT heard about the new Seminary requirements! I think it makes sense after last year. Tell Zandi to stay strong, I'll pray for her...

I will be getting on later to send pics, around 3:00 here, so if you want to send a lot of questions again, shoot them out! I can't wait to see the new kid car...

Oh, one thing that I MUST send before I log off! I found out the perfect Ratio of Root beer to Chocolate/White milk (I know it sounds really gross, but it tastes REALLY good) to make a nearly flawless creation of goodness. The only thing that is "off" is that it doesn't have the ice cream chunks that I love to find, but with Ice cream only served on Wednesday and Sunday and the lines being SUPER long, this is the best I can get! Everyone in my zone has tried it now (except Vanhin Hastings, who doesn't like soda) and has been very surprised to REALLY like it. I've been dubbed the "Mix Master" now. I think that's good...

Signing off! Love you all,
Vanhin David Milligan
 
Mom insert here! David asked me to come up with more questions for when he got on to upload pictures. I am good at coming up with questions, but maybe not GOOD questions... I asked a question about a picture, so I will insert the picture here. Here are the latest in the Q&A series of Vanhin Milligan!
 
What is your favorite thing about the MTC now?

My favorite thing now is my Zone. It has grown so much, and I feel so close to everyone in it! I think I like the Albanians we got the most, because they were pretty reclusive until I convinced a few of them to play Volleyball with us instead of just lifting in 2M, and from there I've gotten really close to all of them.

What was the blanket toga for? (I loved it, just wanted to know if something inspired it?)

Nothing really inspired it beyond picking up the blanket and realizing it was the perfect size for me... Then, the ping-pong ball came in a few times because I remembered that Studio C sketch where the Social-Analyst tested the degredation of the male mind when put in the same room with a Ping-Pong table. One of the parts had them making a society entirely based off of Ping-Pong terms, with a government structure and everything! It was funny enough to remember, so I just copied it. :)


What is your favorite Finnish word? (besides pekoni!) pekoni = bacon

I think it's probably Voida - to "can". I use it so often that it is hard to imagine a sentence without it! Plus, isn't that pretty uplifting to an investigator- "you CAN"? I have fun using it!

What is your favorite Finnish phrase?

Hmm, if I had my notes I could write a better one... The 2 that come to mind that I like (cuz I use them in conjunction) are "En valita" (with the lines over the a's)(I'm in a room without the ability to change keyboard languages!) and "Annan Periksi" (no lines). They mean "I don't care" and "I give up!" Yes, that seems rather down-putting after "to CAN", but I also use them quite a bit when it comes to using the language! :) I'm kidding, of course. They're just the only funny phrases I can think of right now! I'll send a legit one once my mind comes back!

What is your favorite hymn to sing in Finnish?

"Called to Serve"! We sing it a lot, and I have it memorized now - at least mostly! I haven't really tried... I'll put that on my bucket list for tomorrow.

Have you learned any Primary songs in Finnish?

Only if you count "I Am a Child of God"...

Do you speak mostly Finnish with each other now, or do you still speak English a lot?

Funny that you should bring that up... One of things I forgot to say was that our Consecration Week starts today, because we wanted to be able to say goodbye with some English words! We are from today to Thursday morning next speaking ONLY in Finnish, with the exceptions of translating each other and saying something really crucial to another, like, "That might kill you if you do that, DON'T".

What will you MISS about the MTC?

Hmm. Good question. All of the time to study the language! Or volleyball with our zone. Or just our zone. Any of those!

What will you NOT MISS about the MTC?

I think I will be able to gladly let this limited e-mail time go away... Especially if I don't have as strict a companion next time around... When it's more polite and personal and NOT going on a blog, I'll talk about him more, most likely in how much I'm content with my Finnish companion!

Are you getting tired of your tie selection? Would you like a couple more?

I think that a few more ties would be fun! I really like to wear the blue ones I have most. I would love a few blue-oriented ones!

Who do you wish would write to you? (I will hunt them down!!)

Umm, anyone and everyone? :) I guess that I'd really love to have everyone from Symphonic Orchestra that remembers me writing me (including Mr. Koehn!). Thinking about Zandi being in Symphonic orchestra has brought back some fun memories...

What color eyes do your siblings have? (Just to see if you still remember them! ;))

Well, Megan is the exception with Hazel eyes like Dad, and the rest of us have Blue/Greenish/Gray, depending on the lighting!  (He got it right!)

What do you want to tell other missionaries who are preparing to serve in Finland?

I think that the thing I most want to tell them is try to utilize the language the MINUTE you start to learn it! The faster that you learn it, the more prepared you'll be for when you're using it ALWAYS.

What is your best "What to expect in the MTC" advice?

Hmm. What to expect in the MTC? The companion will NOT be perfect for you. Don't listen to everyone that says "I still am in contact with my companion from the MTC", because most of them are LIES. Kidding! But seriously, your companion will test you with your life, so learn to better the parts about you that chaffe with them, like learning patience for companions that are slow in EVERYTHING. :)

Is there something you wish you had packed?

Umm, maybe more paper... I didn't realize how much in the way of notes I would take! Don't worry, I bought Notebooks here with the allowance they gave us. Or, more sugar treats! I've been rationing what you've sent!

Something you wish you hadn't packed?

I haven't really encountered that problem yet... I haven't had really a chance to use the bathrobe, yet, so maybe that? But I know that I'll love it in FInland! :)

Have you done anything goofy lately?

Other than create the perfect Ice cream-less Root Beer Float? Not really!

Has your district/zone done anything goofy lately?

I think that it's safe to say that the goofiest things that have been done are language mistakes, like saying instead of "your life can become clean" saying "your life can become a garden"...
And the inside-out suit coat day...



How has your testimony been strengthened this week?

I would like to think that the activities I do everyday strengthen it, so I can't think specifically how or where or what... I think that reading from Mosiah was good today! At the temple, I was reading about the people of Limhi in Mosiah, and 12:33 (or something like that) is when Ammon and the other missionaries have arrived and started to teach them. It says that they were desirous to be baptized, but they had no authority to baptize them. It was cool to think that even if the Lord specifically calls someone, which he had with Ammon especially, that does not mean that the authority to have all of the keys of the priesthood come with it. It sounds strange when I say it like that, but it shows that once Peter died and God didn't pass on the keys and authority, there's a reason why the next of the Apostles didn't just start dunking everyone in the water and calling it "baptism". They knew the authority was gone, which is partly in my opinion why Revelations was written: John (I think it was John) wrote it knowing that the next time we'd have His authority on the earth, it would be near the Second Coming. I don't know, maybe that's just me speculating, but it's fun to consider. You can delete that from the blog, if you want!

Who has been your favorite speaker in the MTC?

Elder Andersen of the 12. If only another apostle would come...

What is your MTC mission president's name?

Do you mean our branch president? President Hutchings! If you mean the MTC itself, then that's... oh snap. I don't really know... I remember one of the counsellors is President Roach!

How many days till you leave for Finland?!
Hold up, I'm not counting... I want to be surprised when it happens... JK!
We have 10 days left, if you consider that we are leaving very early Monday, most likely, and not including today. 
 
A couple audio clips for all y'all today! The first one, I shared on Facebook, so you might have heard it already!
 
 David singing How Great Thou Art in Finnish

On The Charp: We Are All Enlisted

On The Charp: The Great Sea: Windwaker

On The Charp: He forgets the name of this, but it reminds me of Inspector Gadget and Mario games.
 
He did not send any captions for his photos this week, so you get my creative interpretations...
 
 This weekly selfie I send you: I do not think it means, what you think it means!

 Vanhin Bailey's Peter Pettigrew imitation?

 The strait and narrow path?

 Vanhin Smith has creative present-givers?

 Continuing the Milligan tradition of taking a picture of someone taking a picture

 Do you think our moms were serious that 
grass stains are hard to get out of  white shirts?

 Teaching pattern for teaching by the Spirit and with Love!

 Can we leave for Finland, yet?

PLEASE??!!
 

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