Week 97 in Mikkeli (Missionary Mojo)

Dear friends, the mojo is strong this week. Up here in the lands of the north, we've gotten to the point where the sun rises before we do, and sets after we do. Tired though we may be, we get up in the morning and go for a nice run, soak ourselves in sweat, and energize for the day. The constant sun has been pretty awesome, and it reflects in the people here, too! Many finns are more than willing to talk for a lot longer than they are in the winter, which has led to a lot of good conversations!

The mojo was strong this week, as we had exchanges in Kouvola, one of my old cities! The Elders there, Carter and Harlow, are very dedicated, and have done a lot of good work. For dinner, we ate at the restaurant owned by one of the guys they teach! His name's Bikram, and he owns a sweet Nepalese cuisine!

As the sun comes out, so do the nice cars. No, this isn't the only nice one I've seen cruising around(think old Chevy Bel Airs, Mark I Mustangs, tons of Volkswagen Bugs, and even the occasional Pontiac Bonneville), but it's one of the greats. Finns really love their America around here..

We had a great Sunday afternoon lunch with the Sohkanens, featuring some awesome people, awesome food, and a really great spiritual thought about spiritual experiences, and how they help us to grow our own testimonies. 

But the strongest missionary mojo of the week was with Jyri!

Jyri's just gotten his own mission call to good ol' Ruotsi(Sweden)! I can say, I've never met a young man who's as stoked for his mission as Jyri. His older brother, Willi, is a great example, having served in Switzerland. Jyri's currently in the Finnish Army, and thus quite busy, but has requested of us that whenever possible, we ask if he can come on a lesson with us. So on Saturday, we did! We tried to take him on a lesson with a Polish guy we had recently met. Unfortunately, our friend was a little more than intoxicated. Here's how it went:

Friend: *smelling like a vodka factory and barely able to stand* come in, friends! I have drink, little bit.

Me: (in finnish) Would it be best to give him that polish Book of Mormon now, or sometime else?

EJ+Jyri: (in finnish)Maybe sometime else.

Elder Jordan: (in english)Maybe it would be good if we came back later, when you're sober. 

Friend: No no nono! Ehh... maybe.. *he sees polish Book of Mormon in EJ's hand* Ohh! 

At this point, he tried to grab the book, and Elder Jordan wouldn't give it to him, so there ensued a wrestle/hide-the-book contest that was really funny for Jyri and I to watch. Eventually we just gave up and gave him the book...

Jyri: Read it!

Friend: yes yes!*stumbles down the street with us as we leave, talking in polish the whole time*

Gotta admit, it was pretty dang funny. Afterwards, we went back to Jyri's house and practiced english with him. He's going to be a very powerful missionary!

I'll have to say, the missionary mojo is pretty strong this week. I've been pondering a lot, and Elder Jordan and I have been discussing a lot, about the Holy Ghost and His influence on us. I've been looking for study pursuits... like D+C 50, for example. It's still a work in progress. 

Well, I love you all! Hope all's going well, and that you can feel the missionary mojo in your own life ;) Keep your flag high, and remember to smile!

Rakkaudellani,

Vanhin Bolingbroke

Week 96 in Mikkeli (Through another's eyes)

I'm considering changing things up with this email a little bit. I'm going to try and have more coherent themes throughout these emails. I'm trying to look with a new perspective on my communication methods. 

This has been a week for the books! We had a great series of events transpire, starting with lots of inspiration at MLC - we discussed a lot about the most important part of repentance - which is developing our relationship with the Savior. I've been thinking about that a lot - He said, in the Bible, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Having set the stage for our eternal progression, Jesus turns to us and asks us to follow Him. But in following Him, are we simply walking on the same path He walked, looking down to track His footsteps in the dirt? Or is He leading us by the hand along that same path? That's some nice poetry, Elder Bolingbroke, but what does that mean in real life? For me, right now, it means studying more intently, it means talking to one more person when I could just be quiet, and it means trying to look through that person's eyes, and trying to see what they need, how the Restored Gospel can help them.

We also got to travel to Kuopio again for District Council! We have a wonderful group of dedicated missionaries there, and we discuss much ado about the premortal existence, and foreordination. How does that relate to the mission-wide topic of repentance and our relationship with the Savior? Well, let's think about it - in the life previous to this, living with God, we developed as Spirits, and developed gifts and attributes. That progression continues here, and it happens by following Christ. Boom. I felt extremely inspired by these talks.

Also, Kuopio's a pretty dang beautiful city:

But regarding Mikkeli, we're still working hard out here - not even the heaviest of rainshowers can stop us and our bikes!

And I'm still becoming more of a chef day by day - this one's a kale salad recipe, courtesy yet again of Aunt Lexie! Delish.

Now, how about a little piece of the eyes of history for y'all? Today was the birthday of Gustav Mannerheim, the general for Finland in the war years of yore, particularly WWII. Here's the interesting part:

Here he is sitting in his personal train car with Adolf Hitler, on June 4, 1942.

And here I am, standing next to that same spot, about 77 years later. That's a bit of a fun perspective for a history nerd like me, eh?

Well, I think I've talked enough, I'll sign off for now. I hope that you, dear reader, will ponder what 'daily repentance' means in your own life. And I hope that you will enjoy that repentance, and enjoy your adventures!

Mikkelistä rakkaudellani,

Vanhin Bolingbroke

P.S. - As demonstrated by the above picture, never take me seriously.

Week 95 in Mikkeli (Fear no Man)

The ride continues, and another week goes by at such a speed that I don't even recognize where I am. It's slightly concerning/entertaining that I have to look back on my planner, day by day, to remember what I've done the past week. Nonetheless, we've cataloged our escapades and goings-on to the T, so I can read 'em off pretty well. 

Let's get the highlight reel going: Let's start with some missed pictures from zone conference - look at this bunch! I'll reiterate in saying that the conference was awesome, and I'm well on my way to applying more fully the principles discussed there - such as being more me in my contacts and discussions with people...

In smaller, more planty news: Two of our pea plants have rakastuneet toisiin. We put in some supports for their vines to grow on, and viola:

Look at them, they're holding hands! One of the bigger events of the week was our exchanges with the Kuopio Elders. They have a way cool city in their hands, and we have some way cool Elders we're working with. I got to reunite with my beloved Elder Viitanen again for some lessons in the afternoon, and Elder Hall and I got to talk to some amazing finns in the evening. Some highlights:

Pasta dinners are the best

Beautiful guitar songs are also the beest We also went fishing for our "morning run"...

Caught some decent ahven...

And guess who caught the big one(lahna) of the day - that is correct, ladies and gentlemen, yours truly! So, naturally, we fried it up for dinner!

I love those two elders, though - I was able to learn a lot from them. Plenty of discussions taught, plenty of people met on the bus, plenty of Kuopio.  In other news:

We found a pretty cool sign. SELFIE TIME.  Frisbee-golf Friday! I lowered my score by 2 points - that puts me to a whopping +4! I'm ready for the big leagues - or the next Tron movie. Whichever comes first.

Now THIS, my friends, is a rarity - for some reason, the doors here in Finland don't regularly feature handles. I'm not sure why, but every time we go knocking on doors, I feel like Jesus in the picture where he's knocking on the knobless door. Knock and it shall be opened unto ye, o ye inhabitants of Finland.

Our bulk-shopping goal is still successful, still fun, and still fresh. A bunch of my food went bad last weekend, due to me not preserving it as well as I should - but the Lord provided via some members who graciously fed us(Okay I'm slightly exaggerating, just my bread went bad).

But onto the subject line: Fear no man. I've been reading a document recently that tells about a missionary whose 'catchphrase' was "I fear no man!" Many of the stories in this document were very inspiring - and I've decided to start using that. Fear and Faith are opposites, just as Dark and Light are. Accordingly, they cannot exist in the same space at the same time. And accordingly, darkness is banished by the presence of light. I'm trying, very hard, to change my perspective even more to, rather than fearing man, having faith in him. And rather than fearing what God has sent me to do, I have better faith in Him, and myself. Am I a missionary who cowers at every contact in terror? No - but I'm not perfectly faithful in that sense. I've felt a sort of inner clarion call to improve my own boldness - and we have a story to back it up, too. When talking to people, it's far too easy to say, "can we come by sometime later to share a message?", but very hard to say, "can we come in right now to share this message?". We were knocking doors, and I simply decided to be as bold as possible, and as loving as possible. We shared a five-minute restoration, and we're going back tonight to share more! That's been the subject of my studyings and ponderings this week. 

I hope that you as well will be able to be bold, loving, and faithful in God and His power in our own lives!

Love always,

Vanhin Bolingbroke