In a good way! I promise! It's just that I have finally gotten so used to everything that happens in mere seconds in the office that I have determined that if I am still standing, I must be as crazy as everything happening. Which means I'm pretty crazy.
I found out that I have been secretly nominated the "Technology Master" behind my back. Anyone in the office that has any question at all concerning computers, phones, anything, come to me. Regardless of where we are, people in the Office find a way to contact me. I was washing the dishes last night, for example, and the phone rang. My companion picked up, and it was Elder Smith from the Office. He asked if Elder Frey could put me on, it was important. After turning it over to speaker-phone and hearing him out, I realized that he was calling because his screen-orientation-lock was on. He couldn't turn his phone to expand things. So I gave him directions. And then he followed them, said thanks, and hung up. Just soooo many times that I have been tasked with tech support questions. Not that I'm complaining. Just puts me in a good position of support once iPads come. (Speaking of which - no news. I'll be lucky if they come while I'm still on a mission.)
Due to the week that we have faced, I shall turn to the questions!
What did you learn this week?
So. General Conference was this week! I really liked the talks that I was able to hear. Still haven't been able to sit down and listen to Sunday Afternoon, and I was told by the head of Finnish Translating that it was the best session. So I'm looking forward to that. I think that I learned quite a bit from this one, there were so many good things said! Since there is a question about my favorite talk, though, I'll leave this partly for that.
What did you share this week?
This week, I was able to share my presence. I hope that doesn't sound weird. Let me explain. This week was Interim for the new missionaries, that thing that happened at my 6-week mark and I got to go to the Mission Home for 3 days or so? That one. So, due to the fact that we were getting a lot of missionaries within range, I suggested to President that we gather up orders of materials to send off with these missionaries. Lots of copies of the Book of Mormon, pamphlets, and what-not. It was in the midst of calling all of these people that I realized that with all but one person (Elder Frey's trainer, training someone even now), I had met and talked with extensively, even served with for some! It was really cool to reconnect with all of these people. It is very fun to reminisce over those things which you have done and those places where you have been.
As a side note, too: while I was there, I was given dinner! There was a very Thanksgiving-oriented meal. It was, like, a Thanksgiving casserole of mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, and turkey, all in the same square of food. It was AMAZING, and there was also SWEET POTATOES!!! I really wish I knew how to prepare them like my father, it tastes fantastic and is some of my favorite food. We are trying to figure out how we can arrange for us to be at the meeting that will happen during Thanksgiving, apparently Sister Watson has already been preparing for the giant meal!
What did you teach this week?
There was an interesting development in Elder Frey's knees this week. And by that I mean that he was in more pain than he's yet encountered on his mission, at least for the last few months. We think it was due to the prolonged amount of sitting during General Conference, so his knees locked up. Or something. We are just dealing with the aftermath of what's gone on. So. Pray for him, please! He is a fantastic Elder, and I've learned so much from him!
So, to answer the question, the only thing I've really gotten to teach this week is how to operate a new laptop. And that was to the Office people. That was a lot of fun, trying to explain that it doesn't have 100% of our system already on it, even though it is "our" laptop. Sigh.
Did you get the bread recipe? Did you get a bread machine?
I did! I haven't gotten to utilize it yet, due to the fact that all bread machines were being utilized for cooking Interim food this week, but I think we have things in order to get it all together this week. We are excited!
What was your favorite talk from General Conference?
Although I'm certain that I will re-evaluate my favorites once we get to listen to the Sunday Afternoon session, my current favorite is Elder Holland's talk on mothers. I just felt so good listening to it and thinking about my mother back at home, and how she has striven in doing her best to raise us all to know the truth and think for ourselves, not just take her word for it. (Insert "Reading Rainbow" reference here...) (Mom melts in puddle of mushy happiness!)
What is something new you tried this week?
I got to make, for the first time by myself, a meal that certain missionaries call "Taco-roni laatikko". Normally, I make a Finnish dish called "Macaroni-Laatikko", which is basically a macaroni, egg, cheese, and beef dish that tastes surprisingly good. With "Taco-roni laatikko", you add in baked beans, corn, and lots of different seasonings and spices to make it taste VERY much like a sort of taco-macaroni salad. It turned out GREAT, even having to make it all gluten-free. I feel that I am slowly learning how to adjust my cooking to make even Gluten-free taste good! Elder Frey really liked it, so we are going to make it again soon.
What time of year does it have to be before you can walk on water?
Hee-hee, I forgot that I'd made this joke via e-mail before... So! The car has had the windows frozen over a handful of times, now, but it keeps getting warmer as the day goes. This last bit of the week, we will be having low 40's, high 50's (F, not C!). But, today, it hits a low of 28 F. So, theoretically, I will start my water-trekking probably next change. Which, wow, that's coming up surprisingly fast! The time in the Office just speeds by, with the crazy cracking the whip forward.
That's all for this week! Thanks, everyone, for keeping up with the things I'm doing and the antics (or lack thereof) that I'm attempting! I hope everyone is safe in the coming seasons!
A Finnish joke to close us out this week.
A young man asked God what the difference was between time on heaven and on earth.
God answered, "What is to you a million years, is to me as a single second."
The young man asked God what a million Euros was to Him?
God answered, "What is to you a million Euros, is to me as a single cent."
The young man then asked of God if He could grant unto him a million Euros.
God smiled, and answered,
"Of course. Just wait a second."
There y'all go! Have a good week!
Vanhin David Milligan
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Saturday, October 3, 2015
October 3, 2015 - General Conference Approaches!
I love General Conference time. It tends to really direct the Personal Studies I get to have as a missionary, because I am thinking about things I want to become better at and things that I can study to be more ready to actually understand what is being said. It's really fun to listen while being in the role of a missionary, because there seems to be so many more things directed towards yourself and your investigators than there ever has been in previous sessions. And it's because you are serving in that role!
To the Questions!
What did you learn this week?
Like I said, I've been studying a lot for the General Conference. What that boils down to is that I am studying on how to get more out of what a prophet is saying in the scriptures. So, if John starts talking about how loving Jesus is, I start thinking more about how I can try to be like Jesus in that regard. In other words, I am trying to be spiritually open and sensitive enough to realize at what points of my character and attitude I need to improve, and what things I can learn in order to better teach others about the importance of long-lasting change, as well!
What did you share this week?
This week, I am trying desperately hard to think about what I shared. I guess I'll talk about how we, as a companionship, talk to each other to overcome personal difficulties and strengthen unity between us.
We go through something called "Companionship Inventory" at the end of our 3-hour Weekly Planning. In this "Comp Inventory" (as we so call it), we bring up the goals that we personally have, and ask if there are appropriate ways for the companion to help us. For example, I had 2 specific goals for this week, one related to Language Study, and one related to my personal conduct. I have kind of leveled off in my studying of Finnish, mostly due to almost never needing to speak in it while in the Office, and I wanted to inspire my studies again. I talked about methods I was going to go through, and then asked my companion to hold me accountable at the end of the week - see if I'm actually doing the written exercises I planned or not. That's an appropriate way. I also asked for him to understand that I'm trying to cut back on sarcastic humor. It has been increasing, as of late, and I keep on noticing (although he doesn't mind, because we know that it is in terms of a joke) that they border on, if not stray straight over into, just really harsh insults. I don't want to ever find myself thinking that I'm joking and yet be actually really rude to someone to the point that I am actively putting them down. So, the way that he could help me (because he doesn't feel he can call it out, because he sees it like a joke, just like I do) is to realize that when he shares something, I might not respond for a bit, because I am trying to not say something spiteful and mean, which generally is the first thing into my head. Even if it's always in a 'humor format', it's just disrespectful, in the end. So. Trying to fix myself.
We then go on to talk about how we feel we are doing on a personal relationship level. Does he hate me, do I hate him, so on and so forth. We always come out with just a *thumbs up* on this part.
We start to go through things that could be stopping us from working in unity, or from being obedient. If I bulldoze over my companion's comments in lessons, we aren't in unity. If I don't treasure and evaluate his thoughts, we aren't in unity. If I'm emailing from a personal laptop, I'm not obedient. This section also tends to go rather fast, as I tend to be with companions who, like myself, are willing to fix selves before others.
We name a few strengths that we have noticed in our companion that week. I like this part - it shows the progress on both the things I've been working on and the things that I have been doing without realizing, which shows a change in attitude or character that has inspired that recent change into a strength.
At this point, we go and share (so long as we are both comfortable with it) things that we could work on to improve our companionship and personal selves. This does NOT equal a list of weaknesses, like some people think. This really is just like, "hey, I have noticed that you have been saying a few more sarcastic things lately. Once or twice, they've kinda stepped over the line. Is there a problem here? How are you feeling? Am I doing something that you don't appreciate? Now that we know the situation, how can I help in this being resolved besides your own efforts?" If done right, this whole thing is very constructive! I appreciate it when I get to receive working-on points, only because that'll help me in the long run.
So, yeah. The things I shared this week are what I've been sharing every week, but it helps us both so much to keep doing!
What did you teach this week?
Once again, we haven't been able to go and teach this week. All of our potentials are saying, "sure, we can meet, just call us when you're planning on coming", but sadly Elder Frey's legs have been acting up this week. The good thing is, they have been strengthening, but that means that he is down for the count due to the fact that he absolutely exhausts them in order for them to recover the most optimally fast without injury. Which throws out lesson times, sometimes. But we agree that it is a necessary thing - he is here in the office for him to have time to recover, not to prolong it by doing too much.
What is something that impressed you this week?
I always bring this up with Elder Frey, but he does have a HUGE desire to be out and working. It always impresses me that despite how things look, he finds ways to do little acts of missionary work. His "little acts", though, tend to be quite huge. He went through and called every single potential-investigator (someone who met with missionaries and gave a phone number for later contact) in our area and the neighboring Elders', just to be able to refresh information and set up teaching appointments where possible. It has made a positive difference, and it's just really cool to see how hard he is always working.
Do we need to start asking the "how much daylight" and "did it snow" questions, yet?
Daylight is virtually gone, by this point. It is dark 'til around 9-10, and goes dark from 5-6. I don't know the exact times, it is just that I tend to look out the windows during the hour marks. So. No snow yet, looks like none for a while. Sad face.
Have you had any other chances to sing?
I sung at a baptism a while back, but that was it. We've talked with the bishop about the possibility of singing in Sacrament Meeting, since Elder Frey is a piano prodigy, but that's kinda been only ½ possible, due to little time to practice at an actual piano.
Are there any holiday choirs forming?
None that I know of, although I will start to put bugs in ears to figure this out... I'd like to participate! I love singing in Finnish, it's just such a beautiful language to hear.
You didn't explain the "Dear John" letters. Can you explain that today?
I realized this as soon as I pressed "send" last time. Whoops!
The Finnish for "to be Dear John-ed" by someone is "saada rukkaset", or, "to receive the gloves". I only brought it up to illustrate the fact that I am actively searching out more idioms, now that I have 3 Finnish people in the office around me. Even if they normally converse in English, I can still get a couple of good Finnish phrases out of 'em!
Sometimes, though, I get conflicting definitions... I have had told to me that "pata kattila soimaa" means either roughly "they are a good match for each other" OR "the pot calling the kettle black". Those are very different...
What is something new you did/learned in the office this week?
Elder Frey and I did a GIANT Office Inventory re-count. We are still in the middle of it. We are moving everything around to more appropriate places, which is really funny to bring up when you realize that it is the combination of one person forbidden from lifting heavy objects (Elder Frey) and one person who doesn't get along well with heavy objects (yours truly) trying to shift over literally tens of thousands of materials. Phew!
I have also been restructuring different people's Excel files to be a little more fool-proof. The original setup was quite touchy, which worked fine for if you were familiar with how to fix things on Excel, but worked quite poorly if someone who was experimenting with it clicked the wrong button. So, I dumbed-down some systems, much to everyone's happiness. I even attacked the Inventory System program, and made it so that we could leave tomorrow and the Office people could probably get the gist of everything. That's an accomplishment, believe me!
Well, that's all for this week. Glad that I've been able to be out here! I'm looking forward to the rest of my time here in the office, and wish for missionary efforts in the future to go well! Be safe, everyone!
Vanhin David Milligan
To the Questions!
What did you learn this week?
Like I said, I've been studying a lot for the General Conference. What that boils down to is that I am studying on how to get more out of what a prophet is saying in the scriptures. So, if John starts talking about how loving Jesus is, I start thinking more about how I can try to be like Jesus in that regard. In other words, I am trying to be spiritually open and sensitive enough to realize at what points of my character and attitude I need to improve, and what things I can learn in order to better teach others about the importance of long-lasting change, as well!
What did you share this week?
This week, I am trying desperately hard to think about what I shared. I guess I'll talk about how we, as a companionship, talk to each other to overcome personal difficulties and strengthen unity between us.
We go through something called "Companionship Inventory" at the end of our 3-hour Weekly Planning. In this "Comp Inventory" (as we so call it), we bring up the goals that we personally have, and ask if there are appropriate ways for the companion to help us. For example, I had 2 specific goals for this week, one related to Language Study, and one related to my personal conduct. I have kind of leveled off in my studying of Finnish, mostly due to almost never needing to speak in it while in the Office, and I wanted to inspire my studies again. I talked about methods I was going to go through, and then asked my companion to hold me accountable at the end of the week - see if I'm actually doing the written exercises I planned or not. That's an appropriate way. I also asked for him to understand that I'm trying to cut back on sarcastic humor. It has been increasing, as of late, and I keep on noticing (although he doesn't mind, because we know that it is in terms of a joke) that they border on, if not stray straight over into, just really harsh insults. I don't want to ever find myself thinking that I'm joking and yet be actually really rude to someone to the point that I am actively putting them down. So, the way that he could help me (because he doesn't feel he can call it out, because he sees it like a joke, just like I do) is to realize that when he shares something, I might not respond for a bit, because I am trying to not say something spiteful and mean, which generally is the first thing into my head. Even if it's always in a 'humor format', it's just disrespectful, in the end. So. Trying to fix myself.
We then go on to talk about how we feel we are doing on a personal relationship level. Does he hate me, do I hate him, so on and so forth. We always come out with just a *thumbs up* on this part.
We start to go through things that could be stopping us from working in unity, or from being obedient. If I bulldoze over my companion's comments in lessons, we aren't in unity. If I don't treasure and evaluate his thoughts, we aren't in unity. If I'm emailing from a personal laptop, I'm not obedient. This section also tends to go rather fast, as I tend to be with companions who, like myself, are willing to fix selves before others.
We name a few strengths that we have noticed in our companion that week. I like this part - it shows the progress on both the things I've been working on and the things that I have been doing without realizing, which shows a change in attitude or character that has inspired that recent change into a strength.
At this point, we go and share (so long as we are both comfortable with it) things that we could work on to improve our companionship and personal selves. This does NOT equal a list of weaknesses, like some people think. This really is just like, "hey, I have noticed that you have been saying a few more sarcastic things lately. Once or twice, they've kinda stepped over the line. Is there a problem here? How are you feeling? Am I doing something that you don't appreciate? Now that we know the situation, how can I help in this being resolved besides your own efforts?" If done right, this whole thing is very constructive! I appreciate it when I get to receive working-on points, only because that'll help me in the long run.
So, yeah. The things I shared this week are what I've been sharing every week, but it helps us both so much to keep doing!
What did you teach this week?
Once again, we haven't been able to go and teach this week. All of our potentials are saying, "sure, we can meet, just call us when you're planning on coming", but sadly Elder Frey's legs have been acting up this week. The good thing is, they have been strengthening, but that means that he is down for the count due to the fact that he absolutely exhausts them in order for them to recover the most optimally fast without injury. Which throws out lesson times, sometimes. But we agree that it is a necessary thing - he is here in the office for him to have time to recover, not to prolong it by doing too much.
What is something that impressed you this week?
I always bring this up with Elder Frey, but he does have a HUGE desire to be out and working. It always impresses me that despite how things look, he finds ways to do little acts of missionary work. His "little acts", though, tend to be quite huge. He went through and called every single potential-investigator (someone who met with missionaries and gave a phone number for later contact) in our area and the neighboring Elders', just to be able to refresh information and set up teaching appointments where possible. It has made a positive difference, and it's just really cool to see how hard he is always working.
Do we need to start asking the "how much daylight" and "did it snow" questions, yet?
Daylight is virtually gone, by this point. It is dark 'til around 9-10, and goes dark from 5-6. I don't know the exact times, it is just that I tend to look out the windows during the hour marks. So. No snow yet, looks like none for a while. Sad face.
Have you had any other chances to sing?
I sung at a baptism a while back, but that was it. We've talked with the bishop about the possibility of singing in Sacrament Meeting, since Elder Frey is a piano prodigy, but that's kinda been only ½ possible, due to little time to practice at an actual piano.
Are there any holiday choirs forming?
None that I know of, although I will start to put bugs in ears to figure this out... I'd like to participate! I love singing in Finnish, it's just such a beautiful language to hear.
You didn't explain the "Dear John" letters. Can you explain that today?
I realized this as soon as I pressed "send" last time. Whoops!
The Finnish for "to be Dear John-ed" by someone is "saada rukkaset", or, "to receive the gloves". I only brought it up to illustrate the fact that I am actively searching out more idioms, now that I have 3 Finnish people in the office around me. Even if they normally converse in English, I can still get a couple of good Finnish phrases out of 'em!
Sometimes, though, I get conflicting definitions... I have had told to me that "pata kattila soimaa" means either roughly "they are a good match for each other" OR "the pot calling the kettle black". Those are very different...
What is something new you did/learned in the office this week?
Elder Frey and I did a GIANT Office Inventory re-count. We are still in the middle of it. We are moving everything around to more appropriate places, which is really funny to bring up when you realize that it is the combination of one person forbidden from lifting heavy objects (Elder Frey) and one person who doesn't get along well with heavy objects (yours truly) trying to shift over literally tens of thousands of materials. Phew!
I have also been restructuring different people's Excel files to be a little more fool-proof. The original setup was quite touchy, which worked fine for if you were familiar with how to fix things on Excel, but worked quite poorly if someone who was experimenting with it clicked the wrong button. So, I dumbed-down some systems, much to everyone's happiness. I even attacked the Inventory System program, and made it so that we could leave tomorrow and the Office people could probably get the gist of everything. That's an accomplishment, believe me!
Well, that's all for this week. Glad that I've been able to be out here! I'm looking forward to the rest of my time here in the office, and wish for missionary efforts in the future to go well! Be safe, everyone!
Vanhin David Milligan
Sunday, September 27, 2015
September 26, 2015 - Whew, Long Week!
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... đ❄ Oh, and no snow, yet. But I'm praying.
Be safe, y'all!
Vanhin David Milligan
Saturday, September 19, 2015
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
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!
Vanhin David Milligan
Monday, September 14, 2015
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
Saturday, September 5, 2015
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. SometĂmes, 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
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. SometĂmes, 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
Saturday, August 29, 2015
August 29, 2015 - Aaaaand, the Changes are In!
You know what? I think we should just go straight to the questions. This'll be a lot more straightforward.
Are you being transferred? Where to? Who with?
Just got the call yesterday officially - I'm serving in the Mission Office with Elder Frey! The Mission Office is in Espoo, but our area is in a place called Myyrmäki. Our ward is in Haaga. Elder Frey is actually from the group right below me - another one of my "baby Finns"! I'm just hopping around to be companions with all of them!
I actually got emergency transferred last week, on Saturday. Right after the baptism we had (spoilers!), we got a call from President informing us that my companion, Elder Greciano Raiskila, would be serving in a tripe "triple companionship) with the Espoo District Leader, and I would be being transferred to the Office. Both of these emergency transfers were only officially extended for 1 week. But mine was kinda obvious that I'd be sticking around. Why train me in everything for the space of one week if I were to leave it the next?
It was really sad, actually, because I'd been planning a bunch of stuff with Elder Greciano to do during the last week of us together. We had gotten it all mapped out, and were very excited. Oh, well. I also had to leave all of my luggage in Lohja. That was kinda heavy-handed, in my opinion. I've spent this whole week bemoaning over the things that I don't have, and now it got resolved by President telling us when we were on a train, "Hey, I'll give you your change calls now, you're staying together, have a good day" as an afterthought to a different conversation we needed to have with him. Sigh...
Well, the Office is a lot of fun, though! It is interesting - the whole place has been being run by the various Senior Missionaries that enter the field, which leads to a lot of different people kinda trying to figure out how to implement these newly-put-in Office Elders. Kinda weird, kinda cool, altogether. I've already accidentally made them think I'm a "master" with the language, because 3 of them are Finnish and I started to joke around with them about the language. After making a few puns and relating a few really good idioms, they determined that the only way I could know those ways to joke would be if I was very, VERY fluent. So, they started to speak in different dialects to me. It got to the point where even they didn't understand how to translate what they were saying. So we're back to them speaking Finnish to me all the time, and them thinking I'm great with the language. Which I don't want to burst their bubble on... Oh, well!
And your companion, is he being transferred? Where to? Who with?
Elder Greciano Raiskila is still serving in Lohja. He will be serving as the Senior Companion with an Elder Kingsolver. I'm excited for him - there's so much good in Lohja! The members are fantastic, and really do deserve a ward of their own. I hope they get it!
What is your favorite memory of your time in Lohja?
This is a hard question! See, I'm going to cheat and give two, and one of them is really cheating to say. That one is, "every moment with Elder Greciano". Yes, it's vague, but seriously, every moment with him was a blast! We talked a lot about literary things and writing strategies, and just about all sorts of things. We loved stories, and it made it great to just experiment as we walked.
The other alternate favorite memory took place this last Saturday, right before the emergency change call. Our investigator got baptized!!! She has changed so much from when we first met her, and she's just so happy all the time, now! The members did a great job fellow-shipping her. She is the first convert-baptism in Lohja for over 6 years, now. And there are a few coming up right on the heels of the new change! Elders Greciano Raiskila and Kingsolver are bound to be busy.
She said I could send a picture to my family and the blog, so, here!
So happy that we could be here to help her!
What is a favorite memory from anytime in your mission?
Wow, that's a difficult question to answer... I think that my favorite memory has been from when I got a text message from our investigator in Tampere. This was my second change or so in Finland, and we had just met with her earlier that week and invited her to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. She was eager to know if it was true, so she accepted the challenge. When she sent the text, I had just walked out of a lesson where we'd been dropped pretty rough by another potential investigator. I just had thought, "Am I really supposed to be here, just to keep being dropped by people and told by them that one of the fundamental things in my life is a fraud?" Then the phone buzzed, and as I started to read and translate the text word-by-word, I realized that our investigator had just texted about the truth of the Book of Mormon and her strong desire to go to baptism. I was so happy that the rest of the day was immediately brightened. The Lord was looking out for my attitude, there!
What have you learned this week?
I learned quite a bit about how the Office breaks down into areas where I can help. I was thinking when I got the change call, "How is this going to be missionary work that furthers things beyond logistics?" It didn't help that I found out that both Elder Frey and I are pretty sickly people, and that with our combined symptoms, President was limiting us (understandably) to pretty much 0 finding time. In an area that has 7 people, total, in the Area Book. It's been closed for a while, and then consolidated into another area, and then distributed back to us with barely anyone. So this seems pretty empty. However, I started thinking - if the work that I do for 15 minutes allows all of the missionaries in the field even 1 additional minute per companionship, I've added about an hour to the mission work in general. And that's on such a low return! If I'm specifically helping in the most effective ways, I can do so much more to aid the work than I originally thought. I'm taking comfort in that right now, and hoping that we can find some people regardless of time allowed on the streets.
What have you taught this week?
I have taught one lesson this week. It was to a member family that we got ahold of, and managed to catch them at a good time to meet. They are great, and they right now are the only people that I know in the Haaga ward! I taught them the lesson that I always kinda hold in reserve because it means so much to me - the one about the attitudes that we can have as members of the church. There were enough light moments in it all that I think it really made them enjoy it, yet think about it at the same time. So, even if that's been the extent of teaching so far, it looks like it's at least effective when we find it!
What have you shared this week?
I have been able to share quite a few learning strategies with my current companion, Elder Frey. He's a lot of fun to be around. We seem to have a similar sense of carrying out our jokes, specifically by pretending like the event we are joking about is happening and voicing our reactions to the crazy events. It's been great so far! He is very interested in learning how I've learned the language, and since the Senior Missionaries at the Office keep telling him that he should ask me language questions (Finns seem to be pretty blunt about getting people to correct even small errors in speech...), he's very eager to do his best. I found out that compared to him, my teaching of investigators has been VERY different. He, for example, has only really taught foreigners, and he had 36 investigators at one time! I, however, have only really ever taught Finnish people, and have seen a maximum of about 6 investigators at the same time. So, there are things for both of us to learn!
What do you want to share with us this week?
If I could share one thing real quick, it would be to encourage people to stay in some form of contact with the missionaries in the field that they personally know. I've gotten lucky to have so many people emailing me and sending small little thoughts through the internet, but some people out here have had little to no contact with people from home outside of immediate family. They always kinda grin and say it doesn't matter too much, but it's kinda sad to see their expressions when someone around them has 60-something emails each week. You don't need to send us packages and letters - although those mean a lot - just a small thought is enough to pick them up! Especially if it is so small of a thought. Then they can read it quickly, realize that someone took time to even care about them to send an uplifting thing, and continue on just a little happier. It's great!
Well, that's all! I've got nothing else to say. If you want to send me anything now, the Mission Office is definitely the best place to send it!
Upseerinkatu 3 C
02600 ESPOO
SUOMI/FINLAND
Thanks for all of the thoughts that you all send me. It really means a lot to get so many things that are personalized messages intended to strengthen. Be safe, everyone!
Vanhin David Milligan
Are you being transferred? Where to? Who with?
Just got the call yesterday officially - I'm serving in the Mission Office with Elder Frey! The Mission Office is in Espoo, but our area is in a place called Myyrmäki. Our ward is in Haaga. Elder Frey is actually from the group right below me - another one of my "baby Finns"! I'm just hopping around to be companions with all of them!
I actually got emergency transferred last week, on Saturday. Right after the baptism we had (spoilers!), we got a call from President informing us that my companion, Elder Greciano Raiskila, would be serving in a tripe "triple companionship) with the Espoo District Leader, and I would be being transferred to the Office. Both of these emergency transfers were only officially extended for 1 week. But mine was kinda obvious that I'd be sticking around. Why train me in everything for the space of one week if I were to leave it the next?
It was really sad, actually, because I'd been planning a bunch of stuff with Elder Greciano to do during the last week of us together. We had gotten it all mapped out, and were very excited. Oh, well. I also had to leave all of my luggage in Lohja. That was kinda heavy-handed, in my opinion. I've spent this whole week bemoaning over the things that I don't have, and now it got resolved by President telling us when we were on a train, "Hey, I'll give you your change calls now, you're staying together, have a good day" as an afterthought to a different conversation we needed to have with him. Sigh...
Well, the Office is a lot of fun, though! It is interesting - the whole place has been being run by the various Senior Missionaries that enter the field, which leads to a lot of different people kinda trying to figure out how to implement these newly-put-in Office Elders. Kinda weird, kinda cool, altogether. I've already accidentally made them think I'm a "master" with the language, because 3 of them are Finnish and I started to joke around with them about the language. After making a few puns and relating a few really good idioms, they determined that the only way I could know those ways to joke would be if I was very, VERY fluent. So, they started to speak in different dialects to me. It got to the point where even they didn't understand how to translate what they were saying. So we're back to them speaking Finnish to me all the time, and them thinking I'm great with the language. Which I don't want to burst their bubble on... Oh, well!
And your companion, is he being transferred? Where to? Who with?
Elder Greciano Raiskila is still serving in Lohja. He will be serving as the Senior Companion with an Elder Kingsolver. I'm excited for him - there's so much good in Lohja! The members are fantastic, and really do deserve a ward of their own. I hope they get it!
What is your favorite memory of your time in Lohja?
This is a hard question! See, I'm going to cheat and give two, and one of them is really cheating to say. That one is, "every moment with Elder Greciano". Yes, it's vague, but seriously, every moment with him was a blast! We talked a lot about literary things and writing strategies, and just about all sorts of things. We loved stories, and it made it great to just experiment as we walked.
The other alternate favorite memory took place this last Saturday, right before the emergency change call. Our investigator got baptized!!! She has changed so much from when we first met her, and she's just so happy all the time, now! The members did a great job fellow-shipping her. She is the first convert-baptism in Lohja for over 6 years, now. And there are a few coming up right on the heels of the new change! Elders Greciano Raiskila and Kingsolver are bound to be busy.
She said I could send a picture to my family and the blog, so, here!
So happy that we could be here to help her!
What is a favorite memory from anytime in your mission?
Wow, that's a difficult question to answer... I think that my favorite memory has been from when I got a text message from our investigator in Tampere. This was my second change or so in Finland, and we had just met with her earlier that week and invited her to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. She was eager to know if it was true, so she accepted the challenge. When she sent the text, I had just walked out of a lesson where we'd been dropped pretty rough by another potential investigator. I just had thought, "Am I really supposed to be here, just to keep being dropped by people and told by them that one of the fundamental things in my life is a fraud?" Then the phone buzzed, and as I started to read and translate the text word-by-word, I realized that our investigator had just texted about the truth of the Book of Mormon and her strong desire to go to baptism. I was so happy that the rest of the day was immediately brightened. The Lord was looking out for my attitude, there!
What have you learned this week?
I learned quite a bit about how the Office breaks down into areas where I can help. I was thinking when I got the change call, "How is this going to be missionary work that furthers things beyond logistics?" It didn't help that I found out that both Elder Frey and I are pretty sickly people, and that with our combined symptoms, President was limiting us (understandably) to pretty much 0 finding time. In an area that has 7 people, total, in the Area Book. It's been closed for a while, and then consolidated into another area, and then distributed back to us with barely anyone. So this seems pretty empty. However, I started thinking - if the work that I do for 15 minutes allows all of the missionaries in the field even 1 additional minute per companionship, I've added about an hour to the mission work in general. And that's on such a low return! If I'm specifically helping in the most effective ways, I can do so much more to aid the work than I originally thought. I'm taking comfort in that right now, and hoping that we can find some people regardless of time allowed on the streets.
What have you taught this week?
I have taught one lesson this week. It was to a member family that we got ahold of, and managed to catch them at a good time to meet. They are great, and they right now are the only people that I know in the Haaga ward! I taught them the lesson that I always kinda hold in reserve because it means so much to me - the one about the attitudes that we can have as members of the church. There were enough light moments in it all that I think it really made them enjoy it, yet think about it at the same time. So, even if that's been the extent of teaching so far, it looks like it's at least effective when we find it!
What have you shared this week?
I have been able to share quite a few learning strategies with my current companion, Elder Frey. He's a lot of fun to be around. We seem to have a similar sense of carrying out our jokes, specifically by pretending like the event we are joking about is happening and voicing our reactions to the crazy events. It's been great so far! He is very interested in learning how I've learned the language, and since the Senior Missionaries at the Office keep telling him that he should ask me language questions (Finns seem to be pretty blunt about getting people to correct even small errors in speech...), he's very eager to do his best. I found out that compared to him, my teaching of investigators has been VERY different. He, for example, has only really taught foreigners, and he had 36 investigators at one time! I, however, have only really ever taught Finnish people, and have seen a maximum of about 6 investigators at the same time. So, there are things for both of us to learn!
What do you want to share with us this week?
If I could share one thing real quick, it would be to encourage people to stay in some form of contact with the missionaries in the field that they personally know. I've gotten lucky to have so many people emailing me and sending small little thoughts through the internet, but some people out here have had little to no contact with people from home outside of immediate family. They always kinda grin and say it doesn't matter too much, but it's kinda sad to see their expressions when someone around them has 60-something emails each week. You don't need to send us packages and letters - although those mean a lot - just a small thought is enough to pick them up! Especially if it is so small of a thought. Then they can read it quickly, realize that someone took time to even care about them to send an uplifting thing, and continue on just a little happier. It's great!
Well, that's all! I've got nothing else to say. If you want to send me anything now, the Mission Office is definitely the best place to send it!
Upseerinkatu 3 C
02600 ESPOO
SUOMI/FINLAND
Thanks for all of the thoughts that you all send me. It really means a lot to get so many things that are personalized messages intended to strengthen. Be safe, everyone!
Vanhin David Milligan
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