Week 40 in Helsinki (God is like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but better)

So... we shaved a man. Here's the pics:​

His name's Henrich, he's an investigator, and he asked us to come help him shave his hair/beard, so we obliged. It was hilarious.

Quotes from that evening:

"I look like a skinhead viking!"(on account of his shaved head[which was at his request] and big, floofy beard)

"God is like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but better."(completely without context)

Like I said, awesome.

Let's go over the other things we did this week:

-We helped a nice(and slightly lost) Malaysian teacher named Alex find his way to his place! He was quite awesome! Here's that pic:​

​-We had interviews with President Aura! They're always so fun, and he's an amazing man.

-So we were waiting for one of our buses to come, and we see this little Toyota Yaris turn the corner, aaand the rear left tire flew off. The poor lady driving the car was so bewildered when her car disappeared, but perhaps even more so when two American boys in white shirts and ties brought the tire back, and helped her put it back on without any hesitation. Awesome. Still dunno why the wheel wasn't on the car properly...

-We also just finished playing our bi-weekly Sähly(hockey without ice, remember) tournament with the other Elders in the district!

-We also babysat the Kontinen's hamster for a week, they gave us their house key and we fed him while they were on vacation in Greece! Adorable pictures and videos included.

It's been a hilarious week, and there's surely more to come! There are more pictures from the past weeks, but Elder Jordan's camera is being a brat, so I can't upload them yet. I'll see what I can do, but if I can't get to it, we've had a ton of awesome adventures anyways! The coming weeks are sure to be filled with more spirit and fun! We have a few baptismal dates approaching the near future, so pray that all goes well there! Love you all, stay strong!

Love,

Vanhin Bolingbroke

Week 39 in Helsinki (Vappu, the day that Finland gets drunk)

Good morning evening afternoon everyone! As all the other missionaries have been commenting on how warm it's been getting, I think it's my turn: Wow, it was TEN DEGREES CELSIUS TODAY. We gettin' nice and toasty out here. I think it's almost time to take off my eightypercentwooltwentypercentcashmere heavy coat. (Can you taste the thinly veiled sarcasm?)

Aaanyways, let's go over our week!

-We had two district meetings this week, because of crazy scheduling. Here's some pictures!​

-We took a few trips far out to the northernmost part of our area(almost to Tikkurila) and I was surprised that we were still in Helsinki...​

-While we were walking, we saw some Arab guys struggling to move a huge fridge into their shop, and so we helped them, and they gave us some Baclava and root beer as thanks. It was my first time trying baclava! So good!

-And, probably the highlight of the week - Abdi!​

​Abdi is our friend from Somalia, we met him at a travel office, renewing our bus/train cards, and now we're best friends. He insisted that we come over last night(which was convenient, because the laws are such that we can't really proselyte on holidays like Vappu), and his wife made us a fantastic meal! He's such a good man - and he comes to our Finnish Hours and Sports Nights!

-Also, public holiday time - Vappu is today! Yesterday evening, Vappuatto, was a huge party in Helsinki Downtown. Vappu is kind of like our Labor Day, but it's really the day where literally everyone gets drunk out of their minds. In the evening, we walked around downtown a bit, and the people were hilarious. And because of that, today, everyone's ridiculously hungover, so the streets are pretty quiet right now...

-Also, we fixed Veli Lindholm's car - the key was stuck, and we worked on the car for an hour before we realized that the shift lever was still engaged, so the lock wouldn't come out. He took pictures! (And I'm not really sure what I'm doing with my leg in that second one)​

And, that's our week for you! Hope everything's going well at home, I hope you aren't getting insanely drunk, and I hope spring is awesome!

Rauha ulos,

Vanhin Bolingbroke

P.S. - P-day is on Monday next week, due to Zone conf.

Week 38 in Helsinki (Marriage advice from Arab men, Oven Bananas, you know - the usual)

Well well well, we've had quite a few funny happenings this week:

- Henrick had us over for a lesson. During a call earlier that day, here's the conversation that happened:

"That was Henrick, he wants us to come over in a few hours."

"Okay! Where does he live, again?"

"Pasila. And he said something about food..."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I think he said 'oven bananas' but I must have misheard him."

Nope. He fed us oven bananas. When we got there, he took some bananas straight out of the oven. They were freakin' delicious.

We also talked with a few Arab dudes yesterday, and they gave us a ton of marriage advice - most of which I shouldn't repeat - and they also thought I was 24! Ha!

Also, the sun's been rising earlier and earlier(like, 5.30), so we're rearranging the flat to give us a darker space to sleep, so that we don't wake up so early!

Also, I tried to take selfies with my foot working the selfie stick. I mean, it kinda worked...​

But, that's all of the random, fun stuff we did this week! We've got a ton of lessons lined up for this week, and I'll try to sneak in a few selfies so that you can all enjoy my non-photogenic-ness...

Love you all! Stay strong! Keep on keepin' on!

Sincerely,

Vanhin Bolingbroke