Week 79 in Lahti (Hyvät matkustajat, junanne on mennyt hulluksi. Tervetuluoa mihin tahansa.)

Buckle up, kiddos, we’ve had some adventures this week. Remember how I said that last week we had a lot of cold and snow? Yeah, that was just the beginning.  So last Monday evening, we trekked through a windy blizzard to teach a friend of ours. The lesson went well, his roomba kept trying to vacuum my feet off, and our friend was relieved that the popcorn he made was ‘up to American standards.’ It was, don’t worry But the real business began on Tuesday, when we took a train down to Espoo! While I’m here, lemme tell you a bit about train contacting. I realize that in my weekly emails, I haven’t stopped to talk much about the stuff we do every day - you know, the missionary part of my life. Travel is organized. You get on to your train, spot your seats, and try to strike up a conversation with someone in the adjacent seat. Often times it’s tough, because finns are shy/don’t want to talk/etc., but ya do your best, and you often get gold nuggets of people to talk to!(I’ve conversed with such characters as a raging drug addict, a retired lutheran priest/theologian, many businesspeople who work in Helsinki, etc.) Our train lasted a whopping 45 minutes, and we were at my old stomping grounds, Helsinki! From there we took a series of lähijunat to Leppävaara, where the Temple, and the mission home are. From there began three days of discussion, roleplays, planning, and general missionary greatness. For the new missionaries, they have Return and Report(I’ve been to three of those now), which is a few days of this kind of discussion, and a Temple trip!

Discussion and topics at the mission home

Temple trip!

Upon our return, we had a series of crazy service projects: Friday: Patomos. In finland, it often snows so much that it becomes necessary to clear the snow off of your roof so it doesn’t have the chance to cave in. No, mom, we didn’t get on the roof, but we shoveled a ton of snow into the piles that were in the backyard! Let us say, olen mäen kuningas. 

Saturday: Katajas. They live out in the middle of nowhere, so we took a train out to them, and did a ton of wood work! Nothing makes you feel manlier than woodwork in the middle of a finnish forest in the dead of winter! Sisu sisu sisu.

Sunday: Jäkkös! Our friends had us over again, and we shared their time and food! But the miracle happened when they prayed at the end of our spiritual thought that we might find someone who wants to hear the message of the restoration, and that very evening, on our way home, we talked with two great people who would love to hear more!  Monday: Hämeenlinna! We traveled out there in the afternoon, and were able to teach 2 great discussions, one with a recent convert, and one with a friend who’s just moved from Helsinki! Our trains were crazy on the way back, so delays got us home at about 9.29. Whew, just in time. Well, look at that, that’s our week! A few funny happenstances:-while traveling back from R+R, I squatted down to pick up a box of Books of Mormon that the Kajaani Elders were delivering, and the butt of my pants ripped right there. Good thing I wear a long pea coat, so that nobody could see, because I went the whole rest of the day with a nice little winter breeze flowing through my nether regions. I’ll see if that can be repaired, but if not - well, goodbye to one of my suits!-We had kebab for dinner in Hämeenlinna. Good stuff, the mystery meat of the Arabs.

While teaching in Hämeenlinna, our appointment was in a library. We were sitting next to a bunch of books, discussing the good ol’ pelastussuunnitelma, and I bore testimony that the Book of Mormon was a very virheetön kirja. Right after saying that, I pulled off of the shelf a copy of fifty shades of grey, and said to our friend, “unlike this one, which is not so pure.” Yes, I compared the Book of Mormon to fifty shades of grey. That’s a legendary moment in my life that I’ll never forget. 

Ah, in any case, I’m writing a ton, so I’ll just let y’all enjoy the pictures and the winter! Remember, I love you, stay warm, and read your scriptures! I do, and it helps me understand the secrets of God, and my part in His plan!

Love,

Vanhin Bolingbroke

Week 78 in Lahti (Help me, I can't remember what 'warm' means)

Trust me, right about now it's the difference between 'really cold', 'cold', and 'less cold'. 

Do we, lähetyssaarnaajat, care about that?

Nope! The work continues on, despite the frostbite and waist-deep snow!

I'm just kidding, it's not all that bad. I mean, this was the thermometer last night...

But yeah - it's been a fun week! Let us see what we've done!

Well, here's to the only pictures taken during the week: We went up to Jalkaranta, and tried to find people to teach, but we got lost in a forest of waist-deep snow. So, let me pose the question: What do you do when you're stranded in the middle of the finnish forest, it's -20 degrees celsius out, and you have no idea which way is north?

You take sweet pictures, duh.

Yes, my ankles were frozen within a few seconds.

But what do you do next? Call for help? Build a survival shelter? try to make a fire for warmth? begin hunting for wild hares and reindeer so that you can survive the winter that is utterly impending at the beginning of your hopelessly lost trek through the uncharted finnish forest?

Nope, you start running through the shnow like a charging moose. It was so fun.

No worries, we found signs of civilization(a.k.a. the highway) and trekked our way back to Lahti. 

Actually it only took about 5 minutes to find Lahti again.

But yeah, that was eventful. What else did we do? We went to Hämeenlinna! It was a pretty busy day, and we taught a few discussions there! Really fun stuff. We had to hurry for the train, but we made it home on time. 

We've also had a bunch of other work to do with the ward this week. We've been teaching many lessons, working with the amazing members, you know, all the great stuff of this wonderful work! 

Not much to report specifically, though - but tomorrow morning, we're heading down to Espoo to have Return and Report for Elder Vawdrey! We're so excited, and we're gonna get to go to the temple again! Anticipation galore. We'll see what life has in store then!

Stay strong, study your scriptures! Love you!

-Vanhin Boilgnbroke

Week 77 in Lahti (NHL, Here we come!)

On the odd occasion, family members or friends take the chance to ask me, via email or letter, "What kind of cultural events do you get to participate in in Finland?", to which I am now able to respond, "ICE HOCKEY WITH THE WARD."

That's right! It was probably the funnest(if not the scariest) part of our week! But we'll get to that in a moment. You see, we have a bunch of other stuff that's happened this week, as well! Mostly involving snow.

First, Elder Vawdrey made bread! It looks pretty nice, too!

We also had exchanges in Kouvola! We got to do work with some pretty awesome Elders, and I got to reunite with my old city!

It's funny, because I was in Kouvola exactly this time last year...

But after those, on to the highlight of the week - JÄÄKIEKKOA! I didn't believe it when we were actually allowed to go, but President Aura gave permission! And what a cultural experience it was - a scary one. We borrowed some good skates, and I tried to skate, and then I remembered that I'm really inexperienced at skating... Maybe I'll just let the pictures and videos speak for themselves.

But it was pretty dang awesome. And I actually hit the puck into the goal a few times, so I'd say I'm not too shabby! Of course, the 12-year-old kids skate and hockey better than I ever will, but for a 20-year-old american who has never done this before, I'm pretty impressed with myself!

It's also been pretty snowy and cold these past few days(a balmy -23 degrees celsius yesterday, for anyone who's curious), and the snow's been a-blowin', so we've taken the opportunity to snag some snowy photoshoots:

Ain't we cute?

Aaaand, here's a fun text we received from one of our members, the day before a nice dinner appointment:

Now that's something everyone loves to hear.

But in non-picture news, the work's been going ridiculously well this week, despite the cold! We've been getting many referrals to check up on, and we've also been doing everything we can with the ward to further the work! People often think that cold and snow means less missionary work, because people aren't out as much, and they don't want to talk when it's so cold, but that doesn't bother us - we do the best we can with what we have, and God's giving us success. Prayer has helped a ton - I feel like my mission is teaching me to - among other things - pray specifically and powerfully. I'd encourage you, dear reader, to do the same.

Love you! Have a great, snowy week!

-Vanhin Bolingbroke