Week 62 in Rauma (Never a dull moment!)

Man, the adventures never end! We literally just taught a Plan of Salvation/What in the World is the Book of Mormon to two guys who Bishop Vesterinen brought into church! He saw them on the street, invited them in, and the missionaries happen to be there! Funny how that happens... ihmeitä, ehkä?

But this week, we had myriad of new revelations and changes from General Conference, Exchanges in Turku, and a thousand-year-old pile of rocks!

Let's see...

Pile of rocks first. Yeah, that sounds good.

Last P-day, we went to a spot called Sammanlahdenmäki(yeah, that's one word)! It's, as it says, a 'bronze age burial site,' where ancient Finns... buried people. It's a pretty ancient thing, and it was pretty cool!

Look at this pile of rocks!

neat

LOOK AT THEM

LOOK AT ME STANDING NEXT TO THE PILE OF ANCIENT ROCKS

NOW LOOK AT ME GESTURING TO THE HUGE OLD PILE OF ROCKS

LOOK AT ELDER HALE STANDING ON A ROCK WITH MOSSSSSSSS

All sarcasm aside, it was super cool. We were the only ones there, and the forest echoed whenever we yelled, so naturally I yelled at the forest for about five minutes.

Elder Hale just corrected me, apparently I yelled at the forest for about ten minutes.

Next, we had district council! It's almost our last time, so we took pictures.

Don't mind the sisters, they're weird.

I don't think we have a single normal missionary in our district.

What next? Exchanges, of course! We stayed in Turku after District Council to work with Elders Viitanen and Tracy. Love these guys. We had a ton of stuff to do, but I managed to snag a few pictures with Elder Tracy and a pig!

No no, not a real pig, don't be silly

Look at your missionary.

Now look at me.

Look back at him.

Now... at me.

See your missionary? He's not me.

BAM. I'm on a pig.

(Don't worry if you don't understand. It's just a joke. Elder Sahleen had better understand, though.)

Then, some assorted pics - Rauma has a water tower! We took pictures by it!

Uusikaupunki(Look it up on the map - that's still in our proselyting area) at about 20.00, after sunset. So purty!

We've also been assigned as the palvelutyöveljet(or ministering brothers) for Paavo and Pirkko Huhtala! You may remember Paavo as our previously-featured genius accordion player! We've helped them with a bunch of projects at their home, such as:

-helping them clean up and winterize their mökki(summer cottage)

-changing lightbulbs in their house

-helping them install(properly) their new TV

-teaching them how to use said TV(You want a language challenge? Try teaching someone who speaks no english how to use a TV in Finnish... said TV is programmed in english...)

-When I say 'teach them how to use a TV', I mean "Paavo, this button is the PLAY button. It makes the movie go. This button is PAUSE. It makes the movie stop. This button is POWER. It kills the movie."

-Sharing a spiritual thought for Family Home Evening

-Eating all their "extra" munkkis and desserts

We also gave Paavo a blessing - he's been pretty sick lately, and is going into the hospital for a knee surgery soon. Love them! Here's a picture with us and Paavo!

Didn't take any pictures from Conference - we just took tons of notes. Personally, one of my favorite parts was the music! The Choir's renditions of His Voice As The Sound, and It Is Well With My Soul were heart-rendingly beautiful!

Also, I got a haircut just about 2 hours ago, but I don't have any pics yet. Darn.

Now that I've gone through every facet of our week, I'll have you know - I've loved Rauma! The people - both members and nonmembers(but more especially the members), the work, my companions, everything's been wonderful. I write my Rauma eulogy because transfer calls come this week, and we heavily suspect that I'm gonna leave. Be that as it may, I love being a missionary. It's such a wonderful opportunity! Hope you all love your lives, and that you seek to be missionaries wherever you can be!

-love,

Vanhin Bolinbroke