Monday, October 20, 2014

Well, there's not much time this week, and there's nothing really that I can think of about this last week, so I'm going to hop straight to the few things I've jotted down!

Sloans, and Bro. Basset

There's a great family here, the Sloans, who are just AMAZING. The wife is a Finn whose mother and father converted, although they came from a long line of Lutheran priests and it was a scandal when they converted. They are both super intelligent, love books, and are super strong in the gospel. They even gave permission for me to talk about them!

While we were there, I mentioned that I know a person who went to Finland a while ago. Sister Sloan then proceeded to pull out a book that potentially had Brother Basset in it. IT DID! He had a page with his information and testimony on it. (Mom: Bro. Bassett, I will send you a picture of the page he sent me!)

General Conference, and Nefi=Nephi

So, I have all of my notes and questions ready for the Family Home Evening Jeopardy that my Family has put together, and when I send all of my notes and questions, I feel like I need to clarify a few things. General Conference was Awesome, and I needed to write everything really fast, which means that I needed to write the shortest words and abbreviations as I could. That lended to all of my scripture cross-referencing on the side being either in Finnish or English, so places in 1st or 2nd Nephi became 1 Nef. or 2 Nef. for the sake of writing. I'm not misspelling things, just rushing them. Okay, glad we all know that now. (Mom: I'm not posting his notes or questions...if you want to see them, let me know!)

1. What is the weather like? Snow finally?!

Yes and no, again. We had a lot of snow, even though it wouldn't show in pictures, but NOTHING stuck. It was basically rain.

2. When does the sun rise and set, now?

Sun rises around 11, although it is light a bit earlier. It's at its peak at about 1:30, which is at about a 25 or 30 degree angle to the horizon. Don't ever notice when it's down, but at 4 it's not there anymore, soo, I guess that's that.

3. Any new foods that were interesting?

Nothing as of yet. Mostly just been surviving on the cooking given, which is normally pasta, fish, or chicken, and salad.

3A. Are the members feeding you?

Yes, about 1 appointment a week, and they are always very friendly.

4. Did you find anyone new to teach this week?

We found 2 new people! I am writing about them in a letter home, so I think that a small synopsis will do here. People notice us here, and we got asked to teach some people from them seeing a TV show about interesting mothers, one of which was a Mormon.

5. How are your current investigators doing?

They are doing well, we finally got to meet with the person that is closest to baptism, and we all agreed that we need to move it back a bit more. In his words, he doesn't want to feel like he's "cheating God" and not going to church. His life has been stressful lately, so this is so the rest of his life can be more in order before trying to take on a huge commitment.

6. What is something you learned this week?

I learned about the need to be spiritually open to the Spirit when you are giving a blessing. I have given 2 blessings in Finnish this week, which as you can imagine, is difficult. But, while talking as I could, I felt prompted to say things a certain way that I've never heard before (that I know of). After doing so, I found out that I specifically promised something that they had been concerned about health-wise. Really interesting!

7. When is the next transfer? How long are transfers? When do you find out if you are being transferred? Have you heard how long people usually stay in an area before being transferred? Basically, tell us anything you know about transfers!

Next transfer is not tomorrow, but next Tuesday. We find out if we get moved on Saturday, so fingers crossed that I get to stay in Tampere with all of our awesome investigators!

8. How are you doing? Mentally, Spiritually, Physically?

Pretty good on all accounts, except maybe physically... Not like, exhaustion, but elevated heart stuff and seizure like shaking occasionally, which I have informed my mission president about and has told me to send a more detailed list. So, that'll be taken care of soon! Especially since he's informed on health matters. (Mom: Ok, that freaks me out a bit. Everyone please remember him in your prayers!!)

I wish I could write more, but I feel this will satisfy what it is I need to say for now. Love y'all, be safe, enjoy your life!

Vanhin David Milligan

Pictures!

By The Way...No captions were sent...again...So, you get the creative musings of Mom...again!

The Weekly Selfie!

The Pizza From Last Week

In Greater Detail...

 I cannot believe they ate all that! 

This reminds me of Oklahoma...Wonder if it did for him as well?

 It is a curious thing that all Milligans, at some point in their life, will take a picture of someone else taking a picture...

The Daily Planner!

The Grocery List...

He got the Candy! Hope he got the healthy stuff as well!

 Does anyone know what this is? I'm getting a science fiction vibe, myself...

A side view of their chapel/ward building. MUCH bigger than ours!

 Introducing we Americans to the Kinder Surprise (I think!)

It is a chocolate egg, with a toy inside.

 This is what is inside the Chocolate Egg...Looks like a Minion! (You know you were thinking that, too!)

This was inside the Minion!

Photos of Fall in Finland

Soaking up the last bit of sun!

Looks happy, and content! And WARM! Makes Mom feel better!