Great Lessons
On Monday we realized that we really didn't have much planned for the week and so we decided that it would be worth it to spend a couple of hours planning and getting some solid lessons set up. It can be really hard to get solid lessons when you are planning an entire week in advance. This ended up being one of the best ideas yet. Tuesday we got to teach our investigators Katja, Timo, and Krista. Then we had a lot of potentials that we wanted to stop by and we got Mac to come contact them with us. We ended up finding a new investigator that we are meeting with today. Our lesson with Katja went really well. She says that she knows the Book of Mormon is true but that she isn't sure can be baptized. She prayed about it and said that she felt like she should stay Orthodox Christian. We then had to tell her in a very loving way that she was wrong and teach her how we can tell if the answers we get are from God or not. We ended up having a super spiritual lesson and it was so good and she is wanting to pray about it again. We are really hoping that she will open her heart more to change. Our lesson with Timo was good as well. It was the most focused lesson we have been able to have yet. We decided to talk about getting answers through prayer, church, and scripture study. It was a really good lesson and when we asked how he felt about the Book of Mormon he said, "I know that Joseph Smith couldn't have written this book." So then Sister Dixon invited him to pray about the Book of Mormon tonight to know if it is true and guess what? .. He said no, not yet. Haha. So we asked why and he said that he is afraid to pray about the Book of Mormon because if it is true then he needs to be baptized. At least he knows that part of getting an answer. Now we just need to help him not be afraid to ask. We then had a lesson with our investigator Krista and Mac came with us! Mac was incredible in the lesson and it was such a good opportunity for him to share his testimony. She had so many questions that were kinda hard to understand but Mac was able to answer them and to really relate to how she feels learning about Joseph Smith for the first time. It was so good! Mac is really an incredible teacher!
I Just Need to Do It
Wednesday we had zone meeting that started at 10:00. They ended up throwing in a surprise language test that they didn't want anyone to know we were taking and it ended up making the meeting an hour longer than usual which put us in a really bad situation to getting to our appointment on time! We had no idea that it was going to be 3 hours instead of 2! But thankfully President offered to give us a ride to our appointment after the meeting and we were able to get there on time. The meeting was really good, all except the language test. I hate language tests. But they really are good because they can help us see more what we need to work on so that is always a good thing. I really felt a lot better about this one then I did about the last one so that was a good thing. Finnish is just SO hard. After the meeting we rushed to our appointment with President which is always a little bit nerve racking to have 30 minutes to sit and talk to your mission president about your plans for the day and investigators. We then had a lesson with a young less active girl Donna, and the Young Women's President, Sister Humphries, whom we have been working with for weeks. We talked all about how much God loves her and wants to help her. We listened to Elder Uchtdorf's talk from the Women's Session of General Conference and talked about it. It was so good. We then once again invited her to church and she was hesitant because she struggles coming back to church without her family. So we asked her to just come for one hour and then she said, "No. I just need to do it and come for all three hours. After that it will get easier." Yay!!! We were so excited and happy for her! This was the first time that she ever said she would come to church! Yes! We then had a lesson with Mac that went really well. We got to go to a dinner with him in Helsinki at a senior missionaries' home and they had invited more of the YSAs to come. It was a really good lesson and a great time for Mac to get to know more of the YSAs so that was so good for him.
What Missionaries Do Best
Thursday was planning day. This was one of our rougher days. Planning can be so hard sometimes when people aren't knowing their schedules and you are just tired and having a hard enough time focusing. We did it, though, and immediately after planning headed to a ward member's house, Sister Eklund, for her 70th birthday party. When we got there the apartment was FULL of old people and most of them were members so we really had no idea what we were doing there or why they really wanted us there. So we did what missionaries do best. We went into the kitchen and started eating food. You will never believe it. The couple in the kitchen just happened to be some of the only non-members there! So we got to have a really good conversation with them. Miracles! We then had an appointment with a member whose son we have been teaching to prepare him for baptism. We had been traveling by Metro for about 10 minutes when Sister Dixon turned to me and asked, "Wait, where are we going?" Haha, oh Sister Dixon! I love her. Mac came with us so that was good. We got to teach him about the temple. Oh my goodness. Mac is really the humblest person I have ever met. He really wants to go to the temple but doesn't want to ask the bishop for a recommend because he doesn't want it to look like he has an agenda for why he got baptized, haha. So we had to explain how happy the bishop would be if he asked to be able to go to the temple. But thankfully Bishop ended up talking to us and is going to talk to Mac about getting the priesthood and a temple recommend so it will all work out. :)
Being Bold
Friday we had a member of ours, Sister Linda Saaranen, take us out to lunch for Chinese food. Yum!! It was way too nice of her! She is the sweetest lady ever. We then had our first appointment of the week cancel but we had been trying for the past few weeks to find time to watch Conference so we finally got to. We then got to meet with an investigator that the sisters had given to us. We had such a powerful lesson. She is from Nepal and was previously Hindu but had started to believe in God and Christ and now is Christian but not apart of any Christian religion because she doesn't like what so many people do in the name of religion. It was amazing though because everything she was wanting and looking for is in our church. The spirit was so strong and she wants to read the Book of Mormon but she isn't ready to meet yet and says she is too busy but can meet in 3 months. Sad. We will see what happens in 3 months then! We then got to meet with a less active, Eila Ryyty, we had been trying to get in contact with. It was so sad because the ward has really given up on her coming to church but sister Dixon and I are determined. We went in there and were honestly the boldest I have ever been in a lesson. We asked her why she wasn't coming to church and she didn't have a reason so we told her that she really needs to come to church with us and sing in sacrament with us. She agreed to it! Not this week but the next week! It was really a good lesson and we really felt like it is exactly what she needs. We are meeting with her again this week and watching Conference so hopefully we can help her come back!
Eating Snail and Other Cultural Fun
Saturday was one of the most fun days ever. We had a lesson early around noon with Hai's (from Espoo) friend and so Hai came with us to the lesson. They ended up making a TON of food for us and one of the foods was snail. Yep... I got to try snail. I will have to admit I had to resort to my usual cut it as small as possible and swallow with juice method. I am not a fan of snail. The rest of the food was really good though. It was crazy. During the lunch there was a moment were Sister Dixon was teaching Hai's friend's friend, I was teaching Hai, and our member was teaching Hai's friend. We were all trying to talk over each other, haha, but it worked. We then up having an amazing lesson with him and Hai's friend who has already investigated. He really opened up about how he wants to be baptized but has a really hard time with the Word of Wisdom. So we are going to help him with that and he agreed to come to church! We then had another lesson with Krista which went alright. It was rough because we were planning to do a church tour but forgot there was a funeral so we ended up meeting at the library. It was still good though. After that we got to go with our less active Lelieta to a Filipino party and Mac came too. It was so much fun and absolutely hilarious. Lelieta threw in a surprise number and did this whole upbeat dance while singing in Tagalog. Let's just say we definitely didn't see that one coming!
Sunday, A Really Good Day
Sunday was a really good day. Mac got the Priesthood, a calling as a ward missionary, and a temple recommend! We are going this week! Hai came to church and really enjoyed it and we are meeting with him again this week. The young less active girl, Donna, came to church and was so happy to be there and so smiley! She did it! I love the church.
The church is true! Thanks for all your love and support!
Love,
Sister Knapp
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