Week #whoknows...NO, That's NOT a Hashtag!! It's a number sign! - October 13, 2014

Well, another week, another e-mail for everyone! It is weird being able to have so many people emailing me now, I like it a lot! It also means I have more questions, so bear with me a bit here...

Paper is a different size here. Not much more to say about that. It's longer and skinnier, probably because they use some kind of metric system measurement and we Americans have to be "different"...

We had Interim last week! More on that in the questions, because a lot were oriented around that.

I found the Finnish Dollar Tree. It's not really, because it's not even remotely the same in any way except prices. It's Tiger, and they have lots of cool little arts-and-crafts things as well as just little fun trinkets. They are really cheap and almost all recycled. I have a few ideas for things I'm going to get as light, enjoyable presents for my family. Light, because it costs an arm and a leg to send packages from here...

I got to eat an 80 cm pizza with another companionship. It was HUGE. I plan to actually attach pictures to these emails, so hopefully that happens...

By the way, family and missionaries, did you know that Finnish apartments come with portable DVD players inside? They play all the music we have, they let us watch the District videos required for training on them, and they're just very efficient.

So, the companionship in Rauma had to stay with us Friday night. Why is that? Because an Elder that is in Pori decided that it would be a funny trick to play if he took Rauma's cellphone and put it in another companionship's pockets. AND NO ONE FOUND OUT. So, when leaving, Rauma discovered the lack of communication, and we had to coordinate the receiving of the phone with Elders that were coming back down south, for some reason... It was a lot of hectic craziness that ended with me being with one of the Rauma Elders studying my Kieli stuff (language stuff) as my companion and the other Rauma Elder rushed off to the train station at untold speeds... I say untold, because the trip was supposed to take about 30 minutes, but the train was stopping only for a brief bit 15 minutes from then, and they still made it "with time to spare", in their own words... I'm not questioning it! Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil... Wait, write no evil isn't there. Guess I'm in the clear, then.

To the questions!

Did you enjoy being in Helsinki for a few days with your MTC district?

No, I despise them. Next Q. Just kidding, I had a TON of fun exchanging fun stories and experiences with them, and reminiscing about the days when we thought that the Finnish language could actually be understood if a Finn said it!!! 

Did you have a zone conference/meeting type with them? What was something you talked about?

So, for Tuesday and Wednesday, it was a very meeting-type structure. We learned about different things that we should prioritize, we did some role-plays, and we even had a part when we focused on the language and difficulties that were included with it. I was lucky, and got in a group with a native Finn that was at Interim because he was waiting for his visa to Ukraine. I wish him the best of luck...

Do you have investigators that you are teaching regularly? I liked hearing that you had one almost ready for baptism, but were making sure they were truly ready before going ahead with the baptism. What an important lesson you taught them!

Yes, we have a number that we are meeting every week. I believe right now we have the 1 with the baptismal date, 2 that we are confident will accept a baptismal date once we extend it to them, and 3 more that we have tried to extend baptismal dates, but want to be certain before making a commitment like that. I want you to know, though, that when I thought of these people I didn't divide them into the categories that I just did. I just couldn't think of another way to describe them! We meet with them all about the same amount, 1-2 a week, and they are almost all having progression. I'm so happy to learn from these peoples' testimonies!

Have you tried any new Finnish foods?

I cannot say yes to that, really, because most of the food that I've had lately has been the Finnish twist on other foods. Finnish pizza is interesting, it's a really thin crust all the way around the pizza, so you have to eat it with fork and knife!

Some of the pictures you included were beautiful churches. Are those in Tampere?

Yes, they are all in Tampere. I think the architecture of churches is fascinating, and sometimes you get a Finnish twist in the original style of building!

How cold is it usually, now?

The lows hover above and below the 0`mark, and the highs around 7, but soon to be around 4. It's pretty cold, but no snow has stuck. More on that later.

How much daylight do you have most days?

That's tricky. Technically speaking, there is light in the sky finally around 7:30 am, and there is no more light around 6:30. However, the sun has still not made an appearance today, and it is 11 am. I haven't looked for its disappearance lately, so I'll make a note of that to remember!

Is there snow?

That's the question that's easy to answer and hard to hear, for me included. Yes, there has been a bit of snow. No, it's not thick, it comes with the misty rain and you have to look hard for the snowflakes. What's making me frustrated is that this week, places further south than us have Snow forecasts, but we are "sunny" (if you can still call a lack of sun sunny) all week. GRR. Places up north have had snow, people in Interim were talking about it, but it also hasn't stuck there.

Are you staying warm?!!?

Yup! No frostbite here.

Have you had a snowball fight, yet?

...No... But it's high on my to-do list once the snow comes!

Wow, that was really quick to answer! I still have a lot of time left, so I think I'll be trying to write some personal emails out. I've already written a handful today, but this is good enough for now, I believe. Hope everyone is safe and doing alright, talk to you all next week!

Vanhin Milligan

October 6, 2014

Not too much to report on this week either! Our investigators are progressing well, and we have moved the baptismal date of one to accommodate both his and our needs in continuing to prepare. It was quite interesting how the Spirit confirmed the same thing to all of us, and I think it was powerful to that investigator to see that before we take upon us the covenant of Baptism, we must truly know and desire to follow all that it entails. The importance of conversion rather than just knowledge is essential.

Elder Nemelka and I have been getting along alright, in my opinion. There are times when we get frustrated with each other (specifically when our opinions on the importance of things disagrees, or when we are in something, like a game, that has the potential to be competitive) but it does not interfere with the work that the Lord has assigned us to. It is rather interesting to hear his experiences out in the field, and although those experiences do not aid the learning of language principles or strengthen  my testimony in any way, it is good for building what companionship unity we can, and strive to always know the needs of our companion that we may address with them the needs of others.

I feel prompted to add in a little bit of what we learned in this last General Conference. The Saturday Morning session was quite inspiring to me, and it may have been my favorite. I especially appreciated the talk given by Chi Chong (Sam) Wong in his native tongue of Cantonese. The fact that it was in another language for the first time in Conference history is rather amazing, but the content spoke to me and my questions personally. I have been wondering how there might be a good way to get the members involved in this great work, and inspire them to take upon themselves the role of member missionaries. This talk addressed the importance of the Ward finding and preparing those that may be inaccessible to the missionaries, for if the missionary is on the thatch roof trying to receive the man of palsy, he may not be able to reach out alone. He needs the aid of members, Bishops, Relief Society Presidents, and Youth leaders to bring those unto them. This, though, does not lessen the need for us to try to find others. We must always seek for the ones that we can prepare, and perhaps even ready them to be received by the members. General Conference was quite good, and I'm happy for the opportunity to have had it add to my testimony in new ways.

There's not too much more that I can think of about this week, but all of that was sent to President that is above, so let me open up my planner and see if any really funny things happened this week! 

All of the pics that have the date and time on them have been off by 9 hours, all the way up until the 30th of September. Whoops! So, since a couple of the pictures show things as how dark it is at each time, please understand that the time needs to be corrected.

I got a really nice vest that should have cost 50€, but instead was 5€, since the store manager was really nice to me. It was really small, an XS size, that no one was buying. It fits me only because of the strap that tightens it even further in the back, but I finally have a vest now! And it looks good! You can only wear vests with suits out here, so I've broken out the black suit again to complement the dark grey vest.

I also now have a few snow coats, all given FREE to me by the Elders that are about to die off. That's, of course, to say, about to go home. One of the snow coats is a bit big on me, but when I saw the same coat at a generic store (so not even as expensive as the brand name stores) it was in the 190€ range, so I'm really excited to wear it! From the few times I've put it on to brave the oncoming cold (it's been 0 degrees quite a few mornings, but that is Celsius) it is REALLY warm and comfy! So happy for the generosity of missionaries, and hope that I can be like them when I'm about to go away!

By the way, President required all of us to find out our Release Dates, saying that much like your call date, it is prayed over and determined from the promptings of the Spirit. My release date is June 21st, 2016, although the email back technically said June 21 2106. I don't think he really means that, though... right? 90 years out here is a bit long...

A little bit of road sign humor for you! My camera was not on hand when I saw this on a bus, so I missed the opportunity there, but there was a sign in English outside of a restaurant. I can only assume it was something like a Steakhouse from the sign outside:

"Vegetarian" is an old Finnish word for "Bad Hunter".

I cracked up when I saw that, hope that the little bit of humor there brightened your day!

That's all. My brain cannot think of more to say than I am SO glad that we got to listen to Conference. We watched the Live Satellite broadcasts of the Saturday and Sunday morning sessions, but had to watch the Priesthood and Sat. Afternoon sessions the following Sunday, and we had to also come to the church early this morning to go and listen to the Sunday Afternoon on our own P-Day time. It was worth it, though, and I'm so happy that it was in English! (They had the chapel in Finnish and the Young Adult room in English.)

Moro Poro, all,

Vanhin Milligan

 The Selfie

 Dates & Times for General Conference

 

The Church building they meet in

Kebab = French Fries, Meat, Cheese

1.MONTH.IN.FINLAND! 9-29-14

My goodness, this is the 1 month anniversary of getting on a plane to go to Finland! Tuesday will mark the month of arrival, and Wednesday will be the time of 1 month in Tampere! WOW. Doesn't feel like I've been here that long at ALL. Really crazy.

You know, sometimes, there is absolutely NOTHING to talk about? This is one of those weeks. We had a lot of appointments, they almost all fell through, and the contacting we did was mostly with people that were only interested in our American accents. Anyone that talked to us for long periods of time were often sharing their philosophies on religion, and although that's really fun to hear, they would reject us wanting to come talk with them more. Makes sense, 2 foreigners asking to come into your house and talk about one of the things you just don't talk about in Finland (religion) would freak out most Finns.

We've been getting a surprising amount of progress with our investigators that are more foreign. I think that the one I like most is from Zimbabwe, and has had some way awesome experiences. One that he just told us about was when we complimented him on all of the charity he shows to others. He then started to tell a story about when an act of charity from him started going south. So, to condense a really long story into a few sentences, his friend asked for him to temporarily house some friends of his from England and Africa. These 2 friends were supposed to be there for 2 days, but as 2 days turned into 2 weeks, he got very frustrated. Mostly because these 2 people kept on having TONS of people in his fairly small apartment, like 15 or so people crammed in, all speaking in a tongue he doesn't know or understand. He found out that the 2 people were dealing with drugs (taking advantage of the fact that another "friend" that showed up looked like a medicine man, so apparently the airlines didn't mess with him? Weird) and the whole operation was starting to go south for them, which ended causing a 15-person fight in our investigator's apartment. Well, apparently our investigator had some police training, so after futilely trying to get the 2 men's bags out the door (they kept bringing them right back in while fighting), he gave up, went to his kitchen, and got a wickedly sharp knife out, took one of the 15 in a headlock, and shouted that he didn't care what they did right now, but no matter what, this man (in the headlock) was going to die. Everyone started to get calm, they all filed out after he sternly said that the matter could be dealt with outside, and then he kicked out the bags and the men at the same time. I'm very happy that I've never had to deal with that!

I got to go on another split this week to Rauma and go contacting with another Elder. It's really fun to take part in the progression of another area, and then see how I can better help my own. So glad that my companion is the District Leader, but I don't want that role myself!

That's about all I can think of, so now I have a few questions to answer!

How do you say, "Nathan is my favorite brother"?

Well. Guess who asked that one. My ONLY brother. The Finnish for this is pretty easy to make and say, so I shouldn't complain. If ever someone wants to know how to say something in Finnish, probably don't break out Google Translate. It doesn't take into account that Finnish doesn't have a future tense and that a single verb normally means very different things then a strictly literal English equivalent.

"Nathan is my favorite brother" becomes "Nathan on minun lempiveljeni". Lempi- is how you make something a "favorite".

Has there been any snow yet in Finland?

It started to snow when it was raining one day, but it was really like a light fog-snow, and quickly was replaced by the continuing rain. :( We've been told, though, that since we had a hot summer (up in the 70¤ F, oh so hot) it'll be a very cold winter. I'm a little concerned about that, but I have the proper gear now! Except gloves/mittens. Kinda need those if I want my fingers too.

How was your week?

Relatively good, relatively uneventful. OH! Just remembered something! The Tampere Wards are putting together a bit of a Restoration musical event, like the Cantata back home, but a little less large-scale. It's being created by the Sisters in my ward. They're doing it because we are having a Ward Fasting month during October for the missionary work. How interesting is that? People pick a day they want to fast, and then do so for the missionary work here. I'm hoping that we can hear about some interesting experiences from this. The idea of the pageant-esque event came from the desire for each member to consider a friend to hear our message, and to be with us for the first teach and hopefully more thereafter. The musical event would be a good way to specifically invite people, the Sisters think. It sounds fun, I'm game, a few of the Brethren have asked me to join them in a musical number or two, so I'm hoping that I don't get transferred away from Tampere before November!

What did you learn this week? 

That's a very broad question! One thing that I liked in my studies this week was how closely linked the attributes of Patience and Humility are. Kinda weird sounding at first, but let me break it down a bit. Humility means accepting that all is made possible through God's efforts, not so much your own. It means not taking credit for the work of the Holy Ghost, either, when our investigators progress. The humility that we feel leads us to act upon the words of Christ to a greater degree, either because we accept that he will and wants to offer us aid, or because we know that he has commanded it, and if that is so, then it is for our own good. So, to sum up, Humility leads us to actions of faith, because we trust that the Lord can see the end from the beginning, and we need to just act upon it with a knowledge that it will help. That leads to 2 ways patience is involved. It means having the patience to endure whatever struggle you are going through during your actions made with humility, or it means being patient for the consequences (blessings) to make themselves either apparent or great enough that we can start to see His hand in all things. With that confirmation of the Lord's help and His answer to our concerns, we gain even greater humility and patience, because we have seen His works and we know that they will come, and that we can endure whatever we need to if we desire to have the blessings. That was interesting to me, because I never connected them like that before.

What did you share?

Hmm. We shared cookies in Rauma! :) Lesson-wise, we shared about the upcoming General Conference, and how it is we can better prepare for it. I brought up the fact that Mother has been sending me a spiritual thought in E-mails every day, and when I get to read them all, I feel edified by what it is that she thinks can help me in my mission, and help me in my life afterwards. The involvement of our families in our spiritual progression can act as a catalyst in bringing that conversion that we desire, not of our investigators, but of our own testimonies.

Well, it's time to wrap up from here. No more pictures again, drat... The amount of time it takes to upload anything is quite ridiculous... But, I love you all, and want you to eventually see what it is that I am seeing! Maybe next email, I'll just combine a bunch of pictures from this next week and tell the events based off of those? I'll try to get more specific pictures this week, then! 

Write y'all later,

Vanhin David Milligan

P.S: The mark of a true Oklahoman can be found in their writing of the word "y'all".

September 22, 2014 ~ Week 3 in Finland

I have decided that I should probably change the formatting of my letters: Talk about what I want to, and then answer questions. But, the number of questions you sent were less this time, so that's good too!

Idioms here are beautiful.

So, my companion has an Idiom dictionary. It has been the subject of much controversy as we attempt to translate why the idioms are what they are. The cool thing is, the idioms it gives aren't just a straight translation. It actually gives a Finnish-known parallel, which normally is similar to our English idioms. Like, it might just give a spoken equivalent of something, or it might just give a whole different idiom that makes sense to Finnish people, but not to us if you translate it back to English. For example! "Cleanliness is next to Godliness." Good little turn of phrase for all the germaphobes in America. HOWEVER. Finnish. The English, literal translation is "Cleanliness is half food". Hmm. Not the same to me at all. I got pictures of some really good ones, like "In Death's Beard" instead of "At death's door"!

We jogged to Provo! Wait, what?

There is a Beauty Lounge in Tampere named Provo, so we jogged there with the Zone Leaders for exercise when we were on splits and got some pictures. Way cool, but I don't have any of them! I need to get them from the Zone Leaders...

Artificial Sun: The basic necessity for all Finnish apartments.

There is a little light in our apartment that actually is quite a VERY BRIGHT LIGHT. It hurts to look at. It provides many of the same things as our sun, gives the same vitamin-producing rays and stuff to help prevent things like deficiencies and depression. It's gonna come in handy, it is way dark here already...

Elder Bednar came to Finland!!!

So, this is something that I have kept meaning to write about, but Elder Bednar came to Helsinki and spoke at a Mission Conference for us. He came on Friday the 12th, and it was really insightful. The things I want to share to everyone are 2 things specifically. First, he gave us reading material ahead of time, and asked that we all come to the Mission Conference prepared, having read all of what he gave to us. As you can imagine, we ate it up and loved the talks. The important thing is that when he came, he made a point to say that he felt we were prepared, and thanked us for doing so, because then he could talk about everything that he wanted to. That is what I want to mention, that I feel that we should strive to be prepared for every meeting, every General Conference, as best as we can, so that we can be as fully enlightened as possible. The second thing that I want to share is that he had a specific teaching style that day that he told us to try to use in our teaching. It was 3 parts, specifically.

1) He asked for us to bear testimony on what we read, and then asked little questions, not trying to force a specific answer out of us, but out of an honest desire to hear what we learned. That's important, because sometimes we play the "guess what's in my head" game with people. We keep asking and asking until we wrangle a very specific answer out of them, when the testimony they have about something might actually be very good and insightful.

2) He then opened up a questioning time, asking for us to abandon pre-prepared questions and follow what the Spirit told us to ask. He then turned the time over to various others, like the Mission President or Stake President to answer, following up with his own comments and testimony on what was said.

3) He then linked all of the testimonies we bore and the questions we asked together, pointing out that the Spirit was always involved in our discussion. We were either allowing the Spirit to help us answer his small questions, or letting the Spirit guide us to questions to ask. That taught me to get out of the way of the Spirit! Don't stick to one specific thing you want to talk about if you have the impression to go another way on the new needs of the investigator.

In short, this was a great experience, and I learned a TON. My notes are in my journal, so I will hopefully never forget my thoughts and impressions.

Now, I have some time to compile questions!

How many missionaries serve in Finland?

I don't quite know, for sure... let me ask...

Are there any native Finnish missionaries?

Yes! I know one, and also a Swedish missionary here. The Finnish one I know has family all over Finland, and he is currently serving in Pori. I got to go on splits with him last week, and it was fun to contact in either really good Finnish or really good English, depending on what they answered us with!

Did you have any opportunities to teach this week?

So weird, we have come into contact with SO many Jehovah's Witnesses this week... There were some when we were on splits in Pori that knocked on the apartment complex and rang us up specifically, because the last names listed were American and they wanted to add to their English speaking congregation. And then, that same day with the Finnish Elder, we ran into who apparently was a pretty big leader while we were Tracting our 10 doors when a potential doesn't answer. She was really nice and fun to talk to, even if it was in Finnish... And then, we found some here in Tampere the other day, just while walking! So crazy.

Any interesting foods added to your diet?

There are quite a few good foods here in Finland. I have especially liked the Kebab here. The kind I have had is all kinds of meat over French Fries with a cool sauce. Today, to celebrate my companions Birthday on Saturday, we ate a Kebab BUFFET. There was Pizza, Chicken, and Kebob, and I am SO content right now.

There's nothing else that I can think of to say, so I guess I'm done!

Vanhin Milligan

 This is the British Airways airport in Chicago. That was Gate MI-6, I believe... :)

​Well, despite the British Airways flight being an overnight one, I didn't sleep more than an hour. I was super-awake. But, I think that it was good for eliminating practically all forms of jet lag as soon as I fell asleep the first time in Finland!

I wondered at first why a map was on the ticket. 

It's a small enough airport, right? 

Then I realized: It's so you don't vanish into... Finnair. .................

​I love the Finland Temple! Even though I haven't been inside yet, 'cuz we can't go if we're in Tampere... Missionary trips to the temple need to be able to happen in under 6 hours, travel time included. We take 7. Arghh... But, it's still beautiful!

 When I was on splits in Pori, due to my companion being the District Leader, I saw an Angry Birds themed-playground! Did you know that the Angry Birds app was created by a Finnish developer? I learned that my 2nd week at the MTC during the visa trip, but forgot all about it until now! I couldn't get a better pic, 'cuz we were contacting at the time, but this is pretty good.

​This is in memory of you, Mother... The Adventures of Piggley Winks! Correct the name for me, I know that the Vekarat! part is an exclamation, like Jenkies!, but I forget what the actual TV show was called! I have seen this here surprisingly quite a few times... I looked in the window of a bar and saw it on one of the TVs, and then saw this in a store we visited. Had to take a picture to remind you, Mother!

 Mom: Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks. I just find this show adorable and couldn't get enough of it when it was new!

September 15, 2014

I Think I'm Gonna Change This Up A Bit!

Family, friends, fellow missionaries, I need to talk to y'all.

Now, I love you all. I really do. But there are a TON of you that have requested that I write or that I can't imagine not writing. And, after only READING everything I was sent and sending 2 very short emails to people, it has been ½ hour. That is not enough time. SO.

I have decided that I am going to be taking the email questions that you all send me and then compile it all into the SAME email, and then widely distribute it to the masses. Hope we're all cool with this.

Don't think I'm being personal enough? I agree. So, in addition to the widespread e-mail, you'll hopefully get a paragraph or to from me directly to you. Can't promise it, but if you ask (real family, you don't need to ask, I'm doing it anyways) I will do my best to individually address you.

Rules sound good? Acceptable? Any counter offers? Great. Love y'all, and so starts this weeks email.

Also (I lied about starting, sorry) this email will be going on my blog. Just so all of the missionaries know. If you want to know my blog page after the mission, just shoot me an email! A copy of every email I've sent about my time here will be there. It's like a journal. It's great.

Location: Tampere, Finland.

Attitude: Super enthused.

Stardate: NOW. (Thank you, Vanhin Hastings for that)

Finland has been AWESOME. Any of the Vanhimmat and Sisaret (well, one Sisar) can tell you that it is pretty sick here. I love it so much. Now, the Q's will take care of most of my new experiences, but I have created a list of things I want to share that WILL be on this email. Like, they HAVE to be.

What is your address?

That's a good question! I forgot to say last time what it was. Here it is:

Kyttälän Katu 4 A 4

33100 Tampere

Finland

What is your apartment like? What do you call it in Finnish?

Okay, this apartment is awesome too. We know that there is a word for it, but we don't call it that. It's just our apartment, or "home". Gets kinda confusing when you're referencing your actual home (e.g. Oklahoma) and then talk about "home" right after. The Finnish word is asunto. Well, the apartment is pretty nice: it has a main room, with the kitchen as part of it; the bedroom, which is small but plenty of room and a set of closet cabinets for us; and of course the bathroom. They have given us the horrible temptation of a Sauna in the bathroom. It's actually never been a temptation, but we joke about it all the time. That's where we put our luggage.

Where do you go to send us email?

We go to the Family History Center, which is part of the Ward Building. We never really have a set time, we just conference with the other 3 sets of missionaries to figure out about when everyone wants to go.

Were you able to teach anyone this week?

We were, we taught quite a few lessons. The members are really good at bearing their testimonies, so we try to get them out with us. We've had relative success with getting members to teach with us, mostly cuz we've invited the friends/fellowshippers of our investigators and the returned missionary in our area. The investigators we have are so much fun, I feel like we're already good friends.

Did you have any funny experiences with people?

Hey, one of our investigators lived in Oklahoma! She went there as a teen and graduated from college at OU. She's a Finn, but she loves to speak English to us. She knows a ton about things that I call *Mormon culture* (like, having tons of kids, debating over caffeine being in the Word of Wisdom guidelines or not, no wine in the sacrament, etc.) and has made some really funny jokes. She's really sarcastic in her humor, but is so funny all of the time. Surprisingly, when she read the wrong chapter before my first lesson with her, she got a TON out of reading about the chapter with the 3 Nephites. Kinda weird sounding, but it was like, everyone has their own calling and responsibility, and we can feel like we're called to different areas of responsibility. It was cool, I just wish she got the same amount out of what we bear testimony on!

Any funny language barrier moments?

Not so much... I didn't know the word for Calender when I was talking in the Priesthood Meeting part of Sunday before class, cuz I was trying to say that we have a calender about fasting out in the hall that we want people to sign up on, and while I was explaining what a calender is, saying stuff like, "It's like an aikataulu (schedule) but with weeks and days and it only shows one month," someone in the crowd spoke up and said, "Calenderi?" Yes, the word for calender is calenderi. I have discovered that most words that are really long, intelligent, and with a Latin base go into Finnish by adding an "-i" at the end. It's been fun to sound like I have an "akademiki" vocabulary.

What is something new you learned/experienced this week?

We gave 2 church tours to people that literally walked up to the church when we happened to be in meetings. They felt "guided" to come at those times, and it was probably because the best people possible to tell them about it were there at the time! It's been fun, one is likely becoming a new investigator of ours. We'll see today.

What was the hardest part of your week?

Getting out of bed every day. Elder Nemelka is sick right now, so we have been given instructions for him to sleep in instead of exercising for the next while, which means I need to try to wake up quietly and without the benefit of exercise to keep me awake. 

What was the easiest part of your week?

We did a language study in the library, and (this might not be with the rules, so I'm not doing it again) I cracked open a Charlie Brown Classic comic book (you know, the one that is literally the first few strips he made?) and was surprised to recognize a ton of what was being said. There were a few things that I didn't know, and when I asked about them later, it was cuz it's conversational Finnish, like *voi etta* and stuff. Don't worry, I went right back to my own work after!

What is something unexpected you have learned about missionary work?

Sometimes, the testimonies of a single righteously living member that cares about the investigator does more good than all of our talking at. (Our talking with is pretty exceptional, though!)

Have you eaten anything strange?

I have eaten KEBAB. It is the most delicious thing so far. Meat, French Fries, and a sauce on top. Beautiful.

What is the name of your ward?

Tampere 1.

Do you share your ward with sister missionaries, or the other elders?

We share it with a set of Sisaret, so both wards have a Sister and Elder companionship set.

How much daylight do you currently have?

It's dark around 7:30 PM, it gets light around 6:45 or so. So, 11 hours? Give it time, it'll shrink, my companion says.

What is your favorite thing about Finland so far?

All of the FOG. The fog in the morning (because of all the lakes and rivers and such) makes such an eerie, awesome-ly pretty sight as it rolls through. Also, NO ONE is on the streets out after around 6 or 6:30, and it is DEAD. Doesn't feel like a city, even though it looks like one.

Is there rootbeer in Finland? (I heard there isn't!)

There is not. It apparently tastes like the Finnish cough-syrup. Their sodas are also pretty low quality, in my opinion... I just have been having water everywhere, it's healthier.

You'll notice: all of the last entries are really short. I'm actually in overtime with this email! There's no time left! Sorry everyone, no pictures this time, but I love you all. Stay cool!

Vanhin David Milligan

September 8, 2014 - First P-Day IN FINLAND!

Okay, this first week has been pretty fun/exciting/crazy all around. So, I'll answer the questions first, and if I think of anything else to add, it'll go on the bottom of the letter as I write.

How was your first week in Finland?

My first week in Finland has been super fun. The flight was way long, and I didn't manage to sleep much, despite the fact that it was a ton of flying. Interesting thing: I have all of my big luggage, since that all arrived on time to Finland with our flight, but I do not have my carry-on. Yup. So, the airport in Salt Lake City let us check our big luggage and keep our carry-on, like normal, right? But, once we got to the actual plane, they said that the overhead was full, and that they would put all of our carry-ons into checking for free. They took all but 2 (2 missionaries in our group had already got on without hearing the instructions) and said they would be at our final destination. Well, final destination comes, and no carry-on. Hmm. Kinda destroys the purpose of everything I put in there, including the pounds of food and candy that I took to avoid paying in the airport. It's all cool, though.

So, the APs (Assistants to the mission President) and President and Sister Watson all picked us up around 3:30 Finnish time and took us to the temple. It was really cool. I don't think that the pictures of it do it justice, even though I always thought the pictures made it look pretty. 

Then, they brought us to the super-sweet new mission home. It's so big! They served us a dinner of 2 different kinds of soup: Broccoli-Chicken-Cauliflower, and Taco, rather like 3-bean soup with salsa added in. After the Pres interviewed us and made sure that we had a chance to send our folks a quick "We're alive" e-mail, we were sent to bed around 10 or so. Finnish beds are interesting- they have the normal pillow and bottom sheet combo that Americans do, but the blanket is the weird (but really cool) part. They put their comforters inside what is essentially the top sheet (if the top sheet felt really, really soft) to make the form of a bag-like mattress. It's SO comfy and nice.

The next day, I took a shower, and decided that I am never leaving Finland. Ever. They have 2 knobs, one for pressure and one for heat, that if you don't think the water's hard/hot enough (which it gets really hard/hot), you can click a button and keep turning the 2 knobs. It is heavenly. Plus, the water in Finland is, like, SUPER pure. Like, even if you filter the water we have in America a ton, this is still more pure. Apparently, not only is it some of the purest in the world, but they also don't bother to pipe different "less-clean" water to the other things that use it, like the shower, washing machine, or hose. It's a humbling experience to realize that even the toilet water is cleaner than most of what you've had in your life. After dedicating my heart to Finland for eternity () we had breakfast (just like cereal and bread) and then went to Immigration to submit for a Finnish SSN. You need that, like, everywhere here: Post office, Bank, even Grocery store. After that and after contacting a little bit, we headed to the Mission Office, where they talked to us a bit about finance stuff and gave us our cards for funds. Then we went to the Mission Home again for lunch and pairing up with new companions! We had this bread with rice porridge inside called riisipiiraka or something like that. Literally, Rice-Bread. We then had a little fireside and then paired up with new companions, followed by us traveling over to the trains and shipping out. The trains are REALLY quiet, like, when the AC turned off, it was completely silent. It was awesome.

The first thing that we did when we got to our mission area (I'll say where it is later, so you have to keep reading, hee-hee!) was put my luggage away, change into casual-er clothes, and go to play Sähly. Sähly is sort of like Floor Hockey, but when you play with Finns, it gets ridiculous. I actually put up a pretty good defense (we played Missionaries vs Finns) and got complimented quite a bit. Can't make a goal, though. They use, like, way tiny goals and have a rule where you have to pass it before you can shoot it.

The following days have been pretty much contacting and riding buses/driving the car (this mission area has a car!) to the areas of investigators and less active members. Church was good too, there are 2 wards here and our ward almost needs to open up the overflow! It's awesome.

What is your location?

Oh, that wasn't too long of a wait. I am currently serving in the Tampere 1 area. That's basically about 1/4 of Tampere, a city in the middle-ish of Finland. 

(By the way, the Finnish keyboards are awesome, they have way different stuff then ours, which makes it hard to find/hit the apostrophe and quotation mark buttons, and the slash too.) 

Should we send snail mail to you at this location, or through the mission home address?

It would probably be best to send it straight to me, unless it is near a change time. The thing is, it takes about 10 days for snail mail to get to me, so if I get a package or letter when I'm not in Tampere anymore, I won't get it for about 2 months, 'cuz the Zone leaders need to come get it and deliver it. So, it's fine to send snailmail to me directly, but if it's anytime close to a change, mail it to the Office/Home.

(Mom interrupts here...Can't send mail without an address...Oi Vanhin Milligan!)

What is your companion's name?

My companion is Elder Nemelka, District Leader of Tampere.

Where is he from?

He's from Springville, Utah! I don't recognize him, though. He's 2 years older than me.

How long has he been on his mission?

He only has about 16½ weeks remaining now out of 2 years. He claims he is getting "way trunky". "Trunky" is apparently the term for looking forward to home a LOT.

Is he the first missionary in his family, or does he have older siblings who have served?

His dad served a mission, but he is the eldest of his siblings.

Do you have any pics of the two of you, yet?

Totta kai! Of course! Actually, just the one that I just barely took, but hey. I have a few of him walking ahead of me!

What is something interesting you have seen since arriving in Finland?

Something interesting. Hmm. I guess that the sheer number of cyclists has really surprised me. Even though this is a walking/bus-ing/driving district, I think that if we got on bikes, no one would look twice at us.

Is there snow, yet?

No, but I've been told that the snow will come by the end of the month!

What does your bike look like? Picture might be easier!

I don't have a bike yet... I've been told to just get a bike when I go to a biking district. My companion says if I kill him (that's terminology for "if I'm his companion when he goes home") that he'll give me his bike to fix up out there.

Is your new coat warm?

We're going shopping for it later today! I haven't needed it yet, although I have pulled out the sweater a few times already.

Are you sore from biking?

Nope! I love contacting in the buses though. They're fascinated that I know this much Finnish after only being in Finland for a handful of days, and that's a great conversation starter with older people. The younger people all just listen to music and turn it up when you sit by them... Oh, and by the way, the language is pretty sayable, but rather hard to hear. Everyone speaks really quiet and fast, which makes it difficult to understand, unless they are yelling at you. Then, I understand perfectly, cuz they're normally saying "You aren't Christian! Go home! You're crazy!". Yes, we've ran into those people so far. Most of them were drunk. Fun, fun. 

What is something interesting you have eaten since arriving in Finland?

We had a Russian-style pizza yesterday with some members. If you're wondering why I'm not sharing too many names in this, it's because the Finnish government has a lot of privacy rules. You can't really use names in e-mails unless you have their permission, so I'm only using the missionaries names that I know I can!

Have you met many members, yet?

A few, yes. It's mostly been less actives and investigators, but a few members, too.

Are you serving in a branch or a ward?

Ward! So big, for Finnish standards.

Have they been feeding you, or are you cooking for yourself?

Mostly feeding ourselves, with a few exceptions like yesterday and with a less active family. By the way, there is a family here that's pretty fun. Sister Partanen gave me permission to use her name, so I will. When she was on her mission, she had an AP from Oklahoma. When she showed me him, he had written his address, and he was from Edmond! It was about 14 years ago, but it is Keith Mehner. How cool is that for it being a small world? When they know each other, she was Sis. Peralta.

How is the language? Does it sound anything like MTC Finnish?!

Oh. I answered this. Whoops. It does, kinda, but they speak really fast and use lots of synonyms that I don't know yet!

How big is your area?

It's basically all of Tampere, but our assigned area is about 1/4 of it. We share with 2 Sister groups and 1 Elder group.

Did anything interesting happen during your many flights before arriving in Finland?

Ahh. Talked about this too. But, it was fun to call my family! Love y'all!

Well, that's about it. I'm out of time, too, so I think I'm gonna forward this to my MTC buddies too. Hope you don't mind, real-family/zone-family!

Not sure if I have time to send pics, I'll see in a bit! You're all awesome! Bye!

Vanhin Milligan