Week 70 in Lahti (It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!(about dang time, too))

Everything's Christmas-themed with me today, I'm just feeling the holiday cheer!

Let's go through this week's picture album....

Mission Tour! We had amazing conversation and conference with Elder Enbjerg, had some reunions, and naturally we got a ton of good pictures.

The attending members of my MTC group. Look how much we've grown!

My dear Elder Jordan(what the heck is Sister Huber doing there?)

The goofballs themselves

Elder Crump, one of my favorite people!

Elders Viitanen and Tracy(remember them?)

A few goofballs

Aaand, we all got our Christmas packages delivered! I also got a bit more for Christmas - a bunch of weights from the Tampere apartment! Us and the Sisters had a grand old time lugging 50~ kilos of weights plus a bar all the way via trains back to Lahti.

And now, it's time to get swole.

On Thursday, we got to see Elders Ames and Krause as they came to Lahti for a certain baptismal interview... Elder Krause and I got to do a bit of work together, and we took a cute picture!

Speaking of baptismal interviews, we had a miracle on Saturday!

Our friend Toni went to baptism! Here's a picture - he's a super shy guy, but he's taken the gospel by storm. He's got a heart of gold, and we've had a blast working with him and getting him ready for his covenant with the Lord. I'm so happy for him - and he has such a strong testimony!

We've been keeping up the happy feelings all week - and I also opened my Christmas package! Worry not, my family told me to. There were a few open-before-Christmas gifts. Like THIS!

I feel FESTIVE!

What better way to celebrate the holidays?

Aaaand speaking of festive, the Christmas tree that we got a few weeks ago was too big for our apartment, so we got another one. Aaand the sisters wanted one as well, so we got another one.

Naturally.

Why not?

Thus ends Elder Bolingbroke's weekly picture journal. Hope that you all have an awesome, Christmasy week!

Love you all!

-Vanhin Bolingbroke

Week 69 in Lahti (Snow, snow, snow... it won't be long before all we have is snow!)

Seriously though, they always say "winter's coming", but I think that winter's taking a nap in Finland.

Case in point: dramatic forest photoshoot.

Yeah, there's a bit of snow, but not enough... yet.

Let's see... lots of work this week. We've got a friend who's going to baptism on Saturday! Pray for him, he's the best!

We've also been doing a ton teaching to other people. Yesterday, we decided that we needed a Christmas tree. Apparently, Elder Owens has a large hunting knife that he just happened to have on his person(nope, not joking), and so we...

got ourselves a dang Christmas tree.

And took it home.

Aaand found out that it's too big for the apartment... so we put it on the parveke and cleaned up.

(deeeeck the haaalls with boughs of haaaaally)

Oh yeah, we also did haircuts on P-day.

Don't tell mom.

Just kidding, we actually just did a trim on the sides. Nothing too drastic, just cleaned my hair up a bit.

And we had a contacting activity in the center of Lahti with the sisters! Unfortunately, we got kicked out, 'cause apparently you have to vuokrata paikkan torilla. oh boy. But we got some pleasant pictures!

If you look to the left and up, you'll see my strange, hilarious companion. If you look behind him, you'll see the huge Christmas tree that the city is putting up in the center. More pictures of that once it's been decorated!

That's about it for this week. I notice that I'm just getting more and more picture-based in my emails... aka my scrapbook journal. Heh heh.

Well, I love you all! Keep me updated on life, and how things at home are going. Lots of new stuff goes on, and don't forget to be festive!

Side note: We've been on the lookout recently for Christmas-themed stuff(cards to send to family and friends, decorations, food, etc.) and I've noticed something that has troubled me. I have yet to find a Christmas card that has any reference to Christ. Nothing in the stores. Not even in the tourist shops or side stands. It's all Christmasy and beautiful, with trees and tinsel and Joulupukki and even some little angels, but beyond that, I have yet to see reference to Christ during this season. I dunno if it's just a Finland thing, or a Europe thing, or if it's the same in America too, but it troubles me. If I may, I'd encourage you to remember Christmas, but especially remember Christ. His name is in the holiday, and we should remember Him. His birth, His life, His sacrifice. That's all I'll say for the moment on that.

Love you all!

-Vanhin Bolingbroke

Week 68 in Lahti (Long-exposure cold, I haven't gotten frostbite yet!)

Well, what have we here this week? Lots of cold, and lots of good missionary work, some kebab, some awesome photos, you know, the usual awesomeness. Let's take a look!

There's my dear Elder Ames, being inspirational and photogenic at District Council

We ate kebab on Tuesday as a quick dinner. Gotta love the mystery meat of the Arabs...

We did some work in Hollola, and it was super pretty out, so naturally,

We took some pictures.

of us.

LOOK AT THAT SUNSET

Elevator!

Then we were doing some work in the opposite corner of Lahti in the night, and found a freeway, and my camera has a long-exposure function, and so you know what I did?

I learned how to take these pictures and it's so awesome!

As far as pictures, that's our week. In other news:

-I gave a talk on Sunday! I spoke about light, and how we can be reflections of Christ's light!

-We've actually taught a ton of lessons this week. We've been finding a ton of people, and we're testifying day and night about the Book of Mormon!

-And we're starting the Light the World campaign! We've got a ton of ideas for what we can do regarding this campaign, and how we can work with it in Lahti. I'd totally encourage everyone to participate in it, and see how you can light the world this Christmas!

Well, I'm off for the week. I love you all! I love serving my Lord, especially here in Lahti, Finland! He's preparing people for this Gospel, and we just need to be worthy and be active and find them!

Love,

Vanhin Coldingbroke