God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again

Moikka!!  

The Time Has Finally Come

18 month mark celebration

I can't believe that my final email has finally come. Time is such a weird thing. There are moments where if feels like it is barely even moving forward and then there are moments where it just flies right on past you and you don't even have time to realize what happened. I have experienced so many ups and downs on my mission and I wouldn't trade them for anything. I learned so much more about myself, about my Savior, about the gospel, about loving and serving others, about being a mom (even how to potty train children), about listening and caring, about cultures, about family, about missionary work, and about so much more than I probably realize at the moment.  I think one of the best things that I have learned is that I can do hard things. All of us can. We all face trials and some that we think we won't be able to get through. Some that make us want to just shrink into a ball, but really we CAN do hard things when we have the Savior with us.  He really does pick us up whenever we fall and is there for us every step of the way. It reminds me of this poem that I am sure most have you have heard but I absolutely love it and really have seen this in my own life. It says, 

"One night I dreamed a dream.

As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.

Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.

For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,

One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You'd walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."

He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you."

with our American children, Jane and Patrick

His Plan is Better

He really never does leave us alone.  He knows exactly what we need and who we need. That is also something that I have learned since being on my mission. Our Heavenly Father and the Savior really do know us perfectly.  They KNOW who we need in our lives and what we need. Trust them. Their plan for us is so much better than the plans we make for ourselves and when we can learn to really give our lives to them then they will make something so much better out of it than we could. 

Our district in Marjaniemi

Best Place, Best Companions, Best People

I have had the chance to serve a mission in Helsinki, Finland.  It my eyes its the best place in the world where I could have served. I then got to serve in 3 amazing places with 3 incredible wards. I had the chance to meet people who have impacted me and my life more than I could ever imagine. These people are incredible!! I think one of the coolest things has been meeting people from all over the world!  Thailand, Vietnam, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Philippines, Sweden, Norway, Russia, Austria, Spain, Estonia, Lithuania, France, Italy, Canada, USA (I already knew these pretty well), Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Ukraine, England, Ireland, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Israel, Iran, Cambodia, and of course FINLAND! I love these people. I love this country. I really just love this world.... well all the good things in it.  I am so grateful for all the people that I met. They taught me so much. Then I got to serve with some incredible missionaries and 8 incredible companions.  I LOVE THEM!  I was put with the perfect people exactly when I needed them. Some taught me to grow up. Some taught me to be me and to have fun doing the work.  Some taught me to work hard.  Some taught me to laugh until I would cry. Some taught me how to compromise. Some taught me that I am not always right...  But all taught me how to love, care, and serve others. I am sure that some of the biggest impacts that I have had on my mission have come from my companions. Because of my mission and the places I served and the people I met, I have some of the greatest friends that I could have ever asked for and who I really needed in my life. Not only because of them, but also my friends back home and my family, I am who I am.  I really wouldn't give up my mission for anything. This past Sunday the ward did there usual tradition of singing, "God be with you til' we meet again" at the end of church for the leaving missionaries. This time it was me.  I never thought that would happen. Everyone came back into the chapel to sing to me. I cried. I love this country, I love this language, I love this culture, and I love these people with all my heart.  I am really going to miss them.  

Filipino investigators

The church really is true. It has made my life so much better than it ever could be without it.  I am forever grateful for the opportunity that I had to serve here in Finland.  I am so grateful that I have the Gospel in my life and that I got so share it with others. Thank you everyone for all of your love and support. Just like those who have impacted me here, you also have impacted me from an ocean away. I love you all so much!!! See you soon!!!! 

Rakkaudella, 

Sisar Knapp

P.S.  All of you still of mission and wanting to stay in touch here is my home email... hayleykknapp@gmail.com

p.s. Just a couple of funny stories from the week:

As I was leaving the church Jane who is the cute little american girl in the picture said, "Bye forever Sister Knapp I hope!!"  Haha So sad!! but then she correct herself and said I hope not.  :) 

Then Sister Angelosanto handed me her Baby since I am going home and at first I was way excited about it but then as soon as I had the baby in my arms I was like "Ah!  What do I do with this thing?!"  I was fine after about 5 minutes though. haha :) 

Happy Friends' Day!

Hei!! 

I am sorry, but I ran out of time!  It was a pretty good week even though basically no one wanted to meet with us. Sister Seegmiller and I had a good Valentines day, which is "friends day" in Finland and celebrated but not really. She got me Dr. Pepper and I got her flowers. So sweet! ;) I have to say that I am so thankful for my mission though. It has been one of the greatest experiences of my whole life. I have learned so much and I have grown so much. I have met so many people that I absolutely love and  have made SO many friends. It has definitely been one of the most worthwhile things that I have ever done. 

This gospel really is so true. I love it and I am so lucky that I have it in my life.  It really does make my life so much better. I have really learned that the best thing we can do is trust in God and the Savior, Jesus Christ. They have WAY better plans for our lives than we could ever make for ourselves. The church is true!  I love you all so much and I am so grateful for your love and support as I have been on a mission in this amazing country of Finland. You all are amazing and I am so excited to see you in just a couple weeks! 

Rakkaudella, 

Sisar Knapp

Short but Sweet

Well, this is probably going to be really short, mostly because I just don't have the energy and I am coming  home soon anyway so I can tell everyone about the last few weeks of my mission when I get there. :) This week was kind of a wash too.  We had such a good week planned out and then everyone cancelled.  I swear that this happens after every good week. A miracle did happen this week though!!!  We were on our way to an appointment when we ran into one of our investigators from Nigeria,Tochukwu. He is so cool. He was the one that was way excited to come to church a couple weeks ago and came. He loved church but then for the whole next week we were not able to get in touch with him at all. He was always busy at work and told us that he would call us back later. Well, a miracle happened and we ran into him at a metro stop and got to travel with him for a bit. He told us that he has been really busy with work but that he is trying to get his schedule situated to that he can come to church with us and meet with us during the week.  He said that the week before on Saturday before he went to church, he prayed and "challenged" God.  He really needed a job because at the time he didn't have one and he wanted the job by Monday. It was Saturday. He said that he told God that he was going to church and that if this was the church that he wanted him to stay in He needed to give him a job by Monday. Then he would never go to any other church. This would be the church that he would stay in for the rest of his life. Well, he came to church and really enjoyed it. He then went home and as soon as he got home his friend called him and told him that a miracle happened and asked if he could come over.  His friend then came over and proceeded to tell him that his boss wanted Tochukwu to come and work for them and that he would start tomorrow (Monday). AMAZING!!!  Tochukwu then told his friend that this church, our church, is the best church in the world. He told us that he is now a member of our church and that he will never ever go to any other church for the rest of his life.  Can I just say, the church is true! God never lets you down!  He really is always there for you!  It was such a cool story.  We are starting to meet with him again this week and help him to prepare to actually become a member. We are so excited for him!  Thanks for all the love and support! :) 

Love,
Sister Knapp

Thank My Lucky Stars!

He Was Hooked

With Sister Seegmiller

This past week was such a good week!  It was so busy and we have seen a lot of miracles this week. We have been going through our area book a ton the past couple of weeks and as we have been doing that we have been able to see a lot of success in finding. It has been really amazing to see. Then on top of finding from the area book we have been able to find from those people!  This week we had a lesson with an African man from Nigeria who we had called and he was willing to meet with missionaries again. We had a lesson with him and it went alright but his friend was there, Tochukwu and was hooked to what we were saying. It was amazing. He had so many questions and really liked what we had to say. He then stared asking us, "Is your church in Finland? Where? What time? Can I come? Can I get a ride?"  It was so cool. We are now teaching this friend who also came to church this week. That was pretty miraculous. We had been having a really rough day too and this guy really was just a tender mercy. 

She's Back

This week were were also able to get in touch with a previous investigator that I have already taught. She is from China, Wu Keer, and is so sweet. The only reason she stopped meeting with us is because she had to prepare for a Finnish exam to try and get a longer visa here in Finland. Understandable. But when we called her she was really excited to hear from us and really wanted to meet with us again. Apparently her friend in Espoo is taking the lessons from the missionaries and invited her to join but she told her friend that she belonged here with us. Sweet!  We are really excited to be able to start teaching her again and she has a lot more time so hopefully now she will be able to progress and meet more.  

Stubborn & Sassy 

Fai's family continues to do ok. We don't want to give up on Anu since she did really want to be baptized at one point but then her dad wouldn't and won't let her yet. So we want to at least help her to learn more about the church and be a good influence in her life while she is growing up. She is so stubborn and sassy and can be a little difficult to teach but I love her. Really, I just love this family so much and wish that they could all have the gospel in their lives. They are amazing. 

Lost in Translation

We were also able to meet with a couple of less-actives this past week.  We were able to meet with again with Eila Ryyty and it went well. Since we had not been able to meet with her in awhile she had stopped reading and praying again but has now committed to start doing that again and has put a reminder on her phone. We are really, really hoping that we can get her to start coming back to church again soon. This week we were also meeting with our less-active Lelieta from the Philippines. She is so sweet and she came to church this week!  She even got up and bore her testimony!  That was really exciting. The poor elder who had to try and translate for her. She says a million sentences and then expects him to translate. Also, he has only been in the country for 5 months... yeah.. the translation didn't go very well.  Later, Lelieta talked to me and told me that she really wanted me to translate for her but she couldn't find me.  All I could think was "Thank my lucky stars!"  I really do believe in miracles. :) 

With Sister Seegmiller and Elsayed

Great Crazy Sunday

Sunday was crazy. We had 3 people in church:  the African guy that we talked about, Elsayed who is the guy from Egypt, and also our Filipino investigator, Nilma, who is friends with Lelieta It was super exciting but kind of stressful.  Elsayed is one of the most prepared people I have ever seen in my life.  He just moved to New Zealand today which is kind of sad but we are really excited for him to meet the missionaries there.  He has been doing everything humanly possible to make sure that he can find the missionaries there.  He already knows the church is true and really wants to be baptized.  He was so grateful that he had met us and told us that he was never going to forget us.  It was super sweet.  Our Filipino investigator is really amazing too.  After Lelieta got up and bore her testimony then our investigator Nilma did too!  I have never had that happen before! Our investigator bore her testimony in sacrament meeting and it was the first time she was at church!!  She is so amazing.  We absolutely love her. She was so sweet and just kept thanking everyone and us for teaching her. Super cool. This then made Elsayed want to get up and bare his testimony.... What?!  Unfortunately, time had run out and we were already 15 minutes over so he couldn't.  It was kind of sad. Over all, it was an amazing week though.  We saw so many miracles and had so much help from the ward and it was amazing!  

The work is going forward. Thanks for all of the love and support!  

Rakkaudella, 

Sisar Knapp

"It Has To Be True!"

I'm On The Juice Aisle

Hopefully this will be a good email, but I feel like the closer I get to coming home the less I really have the energy to write long detailed emails. This week was a better week and things are going really well.  We are still teaching our investigator who is Egyptian, Elsayed, and he is one of the most prepared people that I have ever seen.  He is so humble and so ready to hear the Gospel. We told him about the restoration and how he can know if it is true and he just kept saying, "It must be true!  It must be true!".  He is amazing.  He is so nice and willing and ready to learn.  He came to church this past week too and really liked it. He said that it really touched his heart.  The only sad thing about all this is that he is moving to New Zealand! So we are going to have to help him get in touch with the missionaries there so that they can teach him and baptize him because he is so ready.  He is also one of the nicest people ever. Giving us a ton of juice and pastries.  Yum!  He is great. :) Small side note.... Have I ever mentioned anything about Finns and juice? Oh my word!  They love juice!! Seriously, you can go into a grocery story and they will have an entire aisle of juices. It just reminds me of Brian Regan, "I'm in the juice aisle... slumped over with juice people." Good ole' Brian Regan. :) 

So Many Questions

Things are also going alright with Anu. She decided that she wanted to get baptized in June but now her dad, Tero, is saying that she needs to wait until she is older. We are going to keep working with her and her dad though and hopefully over time she will be able to be baptized and her parents will be ok with it.  She apparently watch a movie about Christ with Mac and her dad and really liked it. She had so many questions after that and now she says that she believes in Christ so that was pretty exciting. She continues to be my favorite person that we are teaching right now. Her dad is doing alright.  He is having a really hard time caring right now and seeing a point in believing in this. So we are trying to help him build a greater desire to change.  

Less Active Work
We also were able to meet with a few less-actives this week. Sisar Aalto is great. She is from Chile and has been living in Finland for 25 years. She is so nice and you would never guess that she is less-active by the way she talks.  She really seems to understand the Gospel and what it teaches. It's just hard for her to come to church since her husband left the church and wont have anything to do with it. We are meeting with her again next week. We are also still working with Sister Ryyty. She is doing ok. We hadn't been able to get into her house for the past few weeks so it was nice to finally be able to meet with her again. She really just has a hard time coming to church and giving time for the Gospel but she is still praying and reading with us. So hopefully we can continue to help her.   

Success From Planted Seeds

Sister Seegmiller and I have also been going through our area book like crazy. It has been our biggest success in finding new people that are willing to meet with us that we can teach. We have gone through about 30 people who were former investigators in the area book and are now meeting with 3 of them so that has been really exciting. We have a goal to have contacted every single former in the areabook before the end of the change and so far we are doing really good. :) 

Nothing much more to report!  Thank you for all of your love and support!! 

Love, 

Sister Knapp

Teaching When We Really Trust

Being Taught
This was a lot better week than last week. I still have to admit that I don't remember much at all about what happened but it was a good week none the less. The weirdest thing is not having P-day on Mondays anymore and instead having it on Tuesday. I would have thought that it would make the week feel shorter since we have a break in the middle, sort of, but its not!  The weeks seem to drag on and on and on.  I miss my Monday P-days if you can't tell. I don't remember if I wrote about last Monday or not last week... so you might get to hear about it again. It was a really good day. We got to go and visit a less-active, Sisar Kiijarvi. That was an experience. We were in the middle of a spiritual thought with her and testifying about the Book of Mormon when she cut in and asked "Do you like Karjalanpirakka?" Um... Yes?  Well.... lets just say... that was the end of our spiritual thought and we got to eat food instead. We are still trying to work with her though. She really is super sweet. We also had a lesson with Mac that night. Mac taught us and made it super fun for us  He brought play-dough and told us to make something out of it. So, we did. I made a cake and a heart. It was super fun. He then gave us a lesson from Elder Eyring's talk, "Mountains to Climb" and talked about trials and the refiners fire, basically.  He then related it to us tearing and reshaping the dough into something better. It was a really good lesson. He is an incredible teacher.  Sometimes I really feel like we have so much more to learn from him than he does from us.   

Teaching the Stubborn and Sassy

Tuesday was P-day and that was a decently good day. P-day's always feel so short. But it was good. We got to go and visit a member's home and that was fun. We have some really great members here in Marjaniemi, despite the fact that they are so busy. Wednesday was a good day. Zone meeting went well, though more and more I really don't like sitting through long meetings. We did get to teach Anu that night which was fun. I love her. She is so sassy and so stubborn. We taught her all about repentance and had a member Paivi come with us, who just recently got home from her mission. We then got to play Afrikan Tähti (African Star) and Anu cheated like crazy, haha, but it was still fun. I love teaching her. She told us that she wanted to be baptized but that she wanted to wait until October. Then when I told her that I wouldn't be here anymore she told me that she would just wait until I come back, haha. Oh my word. We are still working with her. Now she is saying that she is wanting to be atheist.... but she was in a stubborn and sassy mood so we will see if she stays that way. 

Awkward aching Moment

Thursday we got to go and do service at a member's house, Sister Angelosanto, and she ended up leaving... so we were just alone in her house cleaning it. I am not sure it was the best use of time but we got to show her that we really cared and then she gave us a referral so that was a good thing!  We also taught a new investigator of ours. That was an interesting experience. He is our neighbor but doesn't want us coming to his place so he wanted to meet at a Chinese Restaurant right next to our apartment building. So we did.... It was SO awkward.  He has met with missionaries before so he knows what we do but it just felt so weird. We ended up having to order something small and then we taught him. The member didn't have anything to eat and it just over all felt so weird. He was super nice though and is willing to meet again, but he is going to be gone for the next month so we will see about it afterward. Then he paid for our food. We didn't know what to do!  So we just left and laughed about the whole thing. We will see what happens in a month. :) 

Teaching With Help From the Spirit

I am running out of time... But Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were all good days too. Quickly, we got to teach Tero and it was such a good lesson. I learned so much from it.  It was one time that I really just stopped worrying about what we had planned and just listened to his concerns. I stopped worrying about what I was going to say in Finnish and just spoke, and it was such an amazing experience. I really felt like I was saying exactly what the Spirit was wanting me to say. I don't know if he felt the Spirit like I did. But I really felt the Spirit and it really helped me realize that when we just listen and trust that Heavenly Father will fill our mouths with what we need to say, He really does. It was amazing. He is doing good, we think. We are just trying to help him get a greater desire to learn and change. We also got to meet with another less-active this Sunday and she introduced us to her friend who is Filipino and so sweet. We are now teaching her and so excited about it!  We also are teaching another Egyptian guy that just walked into the church last week when they had an activity going on and wanted to learn more. Miracles are happening. Thanks for all your prayers, love, and support! 

Love, 

Sister Knapp

Some Weeks Are Rough

This week was was once again a bit of a rough week. Things are changing a lot in the mission and have been making things really hard and not as fun to do the work. But we keep going anyway. 
Loud Reminder of Home
We got to meet with one of our investigators. Kastehelmi this week and had a really good lesson with her. We ended up inviting her to be baptized and she agreed to it and was going to pray about a date, but sadly about two days later ended up dropping us. It was kind of sad. We also got to go to a family night with an American family in the ward. I love Americans. They are so outgoing and loud and it is kinda fun. It reminds me of home. They actually taught us a lesson on new year's resolutions. That was fun. It is so nice to actually be taught something every once in awhile!  

My Favorites :)
We also were able to meet with our 9 year old Anu a few times this week. I love her!  She really is the highlight of our day sometimes. She is so stubborn but so much fun. We got to teach her about baptism this week which actually went pretty well since we had a big box of chocolate at the end. We are really hoping that we can set a baptismal date with her this coming week. Things are also going well with her dad, Tero, and he has started to seem more and more open with us which we are really exited about. We are also finally able to get back in with one of my favorite less-actives who is Filipino.
When The Teachee Becomes the Teacher
Things are going well with Mac too. He is the best. Literally. We have decided that he is going to start teaching us and it has been so good.  He is such an amazing teacher it is ridiculous. I have been a missionary for like 17 months and I am not even half the teacher he is. He gives us amazing lessons and even made Sister Seegmiller cry.... it was because of the spirit. :)  Its been fun to actually be taught something and I learn so much from him. He has such a strong testimony. Stronger than I think he even knows that he has and it is pretty amazing to see. 

The work is going forward. We have a goal to have our name on every record in the area book and so we are trying to contact all the former investigators that are in there. We ended up calling a ton of them and now have 2 new investigators that we are really excited about. Sorry this is once again such a lame email.  Weeks are really starting to feel like the same and that there is not much variety at all.  I will try and write a better email next week.  Thanks for all the love and support. 

Love, 

Sister Knapp 

New Companion

Hei!!! 

with my MTC group--Sister Nyman (who was also my companion in Oulu), Sister Hansen and Sister Ross (who was my companion in the MTC).  Probably the last time we will all be together.

Train Station Transfers

Sorry, this weeks email is probably going to be a shorter email than usual.  Not too much actually happened last week. Transfers happened.  It was so much fun.  We ran into a huge group of missionaries all at the train station to pick up their new companions and some coming to pick up trainees the next day. So I got to see SO many missionaries that I absolutely love.  I got to see Sister Ross, Sister Hansen, and Sister Nyman all together again for the first time really since the MTC, or I guess mission conference. It was so much fun.  I also got to see so many missionaries that just were going home and got to say goodbye.  I really have had the opportunity to serve with some of the best people and missionaries in the world.  It is crazy how fast the time has gone.  I never thought I would make it this far into my mission.  The time is going by so fast and I can't believe it.  

New Companion

Things are going pretty well in Marjaniemi.  I have a great new companion, Sister Seegmiller.  She is so obedient and hard-working and really an incredible missionary.  She is a lot of fun to be around and we have a lot in common from back home life so that is fun. She has only been in the country for 4 months but she speaks amazing Finnish.  Really, she is incredible.  Right now we are still teaching Anu. She is so much fun to teach, even though sometimes she can be so stubborn.  She actually kinda reminds me of Cass, haha, so she really feels like my little sister. She is doing really good and when you can get her to focus she seems to understand things really well. She was WAY excited to come to church this week and by doing so got her dad to come too, who we are also teaching.  Miracles!  But sadly, the novelty of church wore off and she didn't like that the other kids steal her attention. So we are going to have to figure that one out.  Otherwise she is doing so good and really progressing.  I absolutely love teaching her and spending time with her, Mac, and Fai. They feel like family here.  

Sorry, this is really short.  I don't have much to say this week!  I love you all so much.  Thanks for your love and support throughout my mission! 

Love,

Sister Knapp

My Last Transfer

Hei!! 

With Mac and Sister Raphael

Christmas Means Dessert & Flowers

This week was such a great week!! Naturally, since it was Christmas week. I swear I got so much chocolate it is ridiculous. Good thing I decided beforehand to save it until I go home. So all of you will get to enjoy it too!  So much happened this week and it was so much fun. Monday we went to a member's house in the evening to share a Christmas message with them and talk with them. They are really so sweet and they gave us flowers for Christmas....which, "shhhh", but we may have re-gifted them. :)  It was really sweet of them, though, and we did enjoy them for a few days. Tuesday we spent the evening visiting another member family who invited us over for dinner. It was a good thing for Sister Raphael since she had known these members in Neitsytpolku ward and they had just moved here a few months ago. It was fun to get to know them and for the first time we realized that it really was Christmas. You know that it is Christmas when you have someone bring out 3 desserts before they even bring out the main one.  We had a chocolate and licorice, then caramel popcorn, then a small pie and then there was a main dessert too but we had to leave before it was done.  After we visited them we decided to stop by a member's flower shop to see how they were doing since they are always too busy for us to meet with them.  They were SO excited to have us there and yep... we left with 2 more arrangements of flowers, only a lot bigger this time. (We still have these ones though. :) The rest of the night we just got to snowflake members' doors, which was fun and cold. :) 

Christmas Caroling on the Metro

Cold Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve Celebrations

With Gisel on Christmas Eve

In the "Big White Church"

Wednesday: CHRISTMAS EVE!!  I never ever thought I would be more excited for Christmas Eve than for Christmas day until I came to Finland. I still don't understand why they decided to make Christmas Eve the bigger celebration of the two days.  I guess they get their presents earlier.  We first got to go to a Lutheran Church, "The Big White Church," in Helsinki, and listen to a session there.  It was really cool and good cultural experience.  They did the nativity and  even though it was a different church it was once again a good reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. Mac came with us which was a lot of fun... I didn't think it was weird to bring my recent convert to a different church until afterwards, haha, oh well. :)  We liked having him there with us.  We then got to visit a former investigator who had called and asked for a "Joy to the World" DVD. That went well, though she didn't let us inside.  We did get a return appointment set up with her and we are now starting to teach her!  After that we got to go to Fai's house. That was so fun. Even though it is crazy to be in their home with like 8 other people plus us and their grandma and uncle, I love it!!  Sometimes I miss just being around big families. It was super fun and its also really nice when 3 of the people you are teaching and Mac all live in the same house.  We could practically live there. haha.  We basically had dinner, which was a traditional Finnish dinner (Lots of casseroles--which last year I absolutely hated and could barely get down--but this year I loved them! ) Amazing how much can change in a year. ;)  We then opened presents, and Sister Raphael and I got a lot more than I expected!  SO much chocolate and lotions and things. It was a really great last Christmas Eve in Finland! 

With Sister Raphael & member on Christmas

Christmas Visits

Thursday:  CHRISTMAS!!!!! Was also a really great day!  Mac once again came with us all day. We first visited. Sister Saaranen, who is a older member in our ward and didn't have anyone visiting her for Christmas day so we got to.  She is so sweet and so funny. Oh my goodness. Some of the things she says.  Lets just say that she is always trying to match up missionaries with people in Finland.  Sometimes I think she forgets that we are missionaries!  She gave us the traditional Christmas Porridge, which was really good, and a ton of other food. We then got to talk to her for a little while and share a Christmas message before we left. We then when to another member's house, the Maata's and that is when I got to Skype home!  Best thing ever!! I love my family so much!! It was so good to see you and talk to you!!!  I have to admit that its crazy to think that the next time I will be talking with you is in person in just two months. It is crazy how fast time goes! The rest of the night we ate and played a pinball board game. It was a really good night and a great Christmas. :)

Staying In Marjaniemi!

Sister Raphel & I and our sister
missionary ornaments that look like us!

Friday:  We got to go and visit Fai and her family again. We are teaching her little sister Anu and little brother Aleksi. They are so cute and so fun to teach. We are also teaching her step-dad Tero, so really we just wish that we could go there everyday.  Practically everyone we are teaching is in that home!  We were supposed to go to a member's later that evening but they decided last minute to go to Tampere. So, we spent most the day at Fai's house since we are not allowed to do any proselyting on the 24th, 25th,or 26th. We are only allowed outside if we have appointments. We also got change calls on Friday!  I am staying in MARJANIEMI!!!!!! I am so happy about it! My new companion will be Sister Segmiller! 

So much chocolate & so many gifts!

Saturday was a really busy day.  We got to go and visit the members that we were supposed to on Friday and Mac came with us. It was a lot of fun and I got to play Mac in chess.... I won.  He was pretty embarrassed, haha. Then I got killed by one of the kids.... embarrassing.  We then got to teach our new investigator K.H who was the former we visited earlier in the week. We then had a dinner appointment with another member family. That was really good and Mac got to meet new members that he didn't know before. :) 

A Family At Church

Sunday:  It was a really good Sunday!  Fai's two younger siblings and step-dad came to church!  It made me so happy! I have never had a little family in church before. That was super exciting for us and a really great last Sunday for Sister Raphael. She got to go to primary with Fai and her siblings and I was with Tero. Apparently, Anu loved church and wants to come again next week!  Yes!! We are so excited about her and her family!! It was a really good week! 

Last Change Reflections

Since I am now going into my last change I have been thinking a lot about my mission. The time has gone by so fast and I really never thought that my last change would ever come nor that I would ever want it not to come. I love my mission. I love it so so much.  It has tried me more than anything else in my life.  It really have never had so many hard times but I really have never been so happy nor so grateful in my entire life. It has changed me and helped me to grow so much.  I am so grateful for a Heavenly Father who has such a better plan for us than we could ever make for ourselves. I really wouldn't give up my mission for anything. It has changed my life. I am so grateful for this Gospel, that I have it in my life and that I have had this opportunity to come to Finland and to share it with others. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by Elder Ezra Taft Benson,

"Men and Women who turn their lives over to God will discover that he can make a lot more out of their lives than they can.  He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace."

It really is so true.   I love my Savior.  I know that He lives. I know that he is always with us and that he is always there to lift us and walk with us.  I know that the Church is true. Thank you all so much for all your love and support as I have served my mission. I am so grateful for it. This really has been the best experience of my whole life and 100% worth it!

I love you all so much!!! 

Love,
Sister Knapp

He Is The Gift

Hei!! 

With Sister Raphael

  Referral Week

This week was a pretty great week.  At first I was thinking that not much had really happened this week but actually quite a bit has happened this week! We have been really focusing and doing our best to try and as many people to watch the "He is the Gift" video as much as possible. We have been handing out so many cards to people and watching it with all of our members and investigators. It is such a good video and a nice quick reminder that he really is the true meaning of Christmas.  It has also made talking to people a lot easier which has never been my forte. The amazing thing is that as we have been doing this we have been seeing so many miracles.   I have never received many referrals on my mission from members or investigators or from other missionaries.  Probably partially because I always forget to ask...whoops. This week we just had so many referrals come in.  I know that doesn't sound like a lot but it really is.  We got two from members. One of those we contacted and she is a sweet old lady that we are now teaching (I actually don't know much about her because we were on splits that day when we contacted her). We also got a referral from Fai, a member in our ward, and we got to contact her this week too.  Her friend was so cute and so nice.  We got to share the video with her and Mac was with us. Mac is SO good with kids!  It is super nice. We got to talk to her and Mac got to distract her super cute little boy. We later found out that her friend was really happy that we came and reminded her of the true meaning of Christmas and that she wants us to come back sometimes soon! :) We also had another referral from a member and we got to get to know her friend which went really well.  Then we got a referral from other missionaries that we are still trying to contact.  It has been really cool to see the miracles from us working hard even if they aren't directly related to what we were doing.  

This week we also got an investigator transferred over to us from the sisters in the center of Helsinki.  He had just moved to our area.  He is from Canada but his native language is french and he is great.  He has already read the entire Book of Mormon and has a burning testimony that it is true. We are just trying to help him understand what that means for him.  Also, he came to church for the first time this week and is really wanting to learn more.  He wants to know "everything" and so that he can tell other about what he believes in because he does believe in and want to follow the Mormon Church. Apparently, he currently has a baptismal date for the 10th of January that the other sisters set but we haven't talked to him about it yet.  We are hoping to do that this week. :) He is really progressing though which is really fun to see.  

My Finland Family

With Sister Nyman (former companion) and Sister Hansen, who
were both in my MTC group

We had splits this week and I was with Sister Neilsen. She is great and it was a really good day. We got to do a lot of service and then we got to teach Mac, and she was pretty bold with him.  At least I thought so anyway.  It was a good lesson though and Mac is doing good.  He is helped us go and do missionary work this week which was a lot of fun. :)  We are SUPER excited to get to celebrate his first Christmas with him this week and we are taking him to all of the members houses with us.  It is going to be so much fun. Sister Raphael and I are so excited that we get to go and spend Christmas Eve with Fai's family.  We are currently teaching her little sister and her step-dad.  Yesterday we got to randomly stop by after we were done caroling at an old folks' home and ended up being able to teach both of them.  Her little sister is so cute and actually started asking a lot of questions about what happens after this life and where Jesus lives. It was a really good lesson and we are starting to find things that she is interested in so hopefully this will help her want to meet with us more.  Fai also made us dinner and then we read the Book of Mormon with Mac and occasionally Fai's little sister and brother would participate. It felt so good and I felt like I was part of a family again and that we were having family scripture study.  I just loved it.  We both just left feeling so good and happy and excited about them and really think that her family can progress and the craziest part is that it actually might come from the children. :)  They really are becoming more and more like my family here and I love it when we get to visit them.  Its a lot of fun and we get to teach a lot of people and all we have to do is stay in the same house!  Fai always jokes that we could just live there and we would never have to go anywhere.  It is so true! 

Serving With the Most Amazing Companions

Helsinki Zone Sisters

We also had Zone Conference this week which was good. I realized that it was probably my last time seeing my former companion Sister Nyman.  I love her so much and I am so so grateful for her.  It was an amazing and unforgettable 10 weeks that I got to serve with her in the blessed place of Oulu. I really am so grateful for her example and for her amazing friendship. I really have been so blessed to have served with some of the most amazing companions and hope that I get to visit this one in Norway sometime soon! :) 

Testimony

I just want to add a short testimony about how grateful I am for the Savior and that he came into the world and lived and died and lived again for us.  I am so grateful that because of him we can all be forgiven and find peace and happiness. I am so grateful for eternal families and that I will get to be with my family for all eternity.  I love them so much.  They really do mean the world to me and I don't know what I would ever do without them. I love this gospel and I am so grateful for it.  It really has changed my life and given my so much hope and peace that I will forever be grateful for. This church is true.  Jesus Christ really is our Savior and Redeemer and he really does know each one of us perfectly. "He is the Gift" and we could receive a better one.  All things are possible in and through him and we can all experience and partake of that as we do our best to learn of Him and trust in Him. I love you all so much! 

Love, 

Sister Kanpp

Missionary Work Is Friendship Work

Hei! 

Small Simple Acts of Kindness

P-day Christmas shopping

This week was a good week though not that much actually happened.  Everyone has gotten busy with the normal craziness of Christmas so it makes it really hard to be able to talk to people on the street because they are rushing from one place to another and it has gotten hard to meet with members too. So we decided that we just needed to do our best to show people that we love and care about them. We decided that one way that we wanted to do that was to send Christmas cards to members we have served with in the past and people we have taught. It is so nice that both Sister Raphael and I served in Oulu at the same time!  We are able to send them a picture of the both of us and write them a short Christmas letter. It has been super fun and feels so good to be able to express at least in a small way what these people have meant to me and how much they have influenced my mission and my life. I have really come to love so many people in this country and feel so blessed by it.  

"Snowflaking" doors!

The Biggest Part of Missionary Work

We are also snow-flaking members and less-actives doors and leaving them a small Christmas card as well to thank them for all they have been doing for us. It has been super fun and really rewarding to do small simple acts of kindness for people.  It has helped me to realize that the biggest part of missionary work is really just showing people how much you love and care about them.  It is amazing the change people can experience when they really do feel loved and cared about and that there is someone there that appreciates them and wants what is best for them.  When it really all comes down to it... missionary work is friendship work. Its about loving and caring and reaching out to people.  Its about making new friends and new life-long relationships  It really doesn't get better than that!  I have noticed that so many people think that missionary work means knocking on doors and talking to strangers in the street and inviting people to church--which inviting is a huge part of missionary work and is a super important part--but also it really come down to making friends then loving and serving them.  I have been able to see so many people's lives changed and blessed by becoming friends with people.  I get to talk and laugh and have fun with them and also get to share something that is so important and means so much to me. Of course they are never surprised when I do that... I do wear a nametag around telling the world that I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. The difference is that people are so much more willing to listen and receive it from you when they first know that you really care about them.  Missionary work is also just strengthening and caring for those around us and it is the best thing that I could be doing this Christmas! 

Can you tell that I love the snow?

He Is The Gift

I am sure that you have already heard or seen the video "He is the Gift"  on christmas.mormon.org.  It is something that is really big in missionary work right now.  We are trying to share it with everyone because Christ really is the true meaning of Christmas and sometimes it is so easy to forget that.  So Sister Raphael and I have made a lot of cute pass along cards with the address and chocolate attached to it.  It makes it so much easier for us to hand them out.  It is a really great video and if you haven't seen it, then I definitely suggest watching it!  There really is no better gift in the world then that of God's son, Jesus Christ.  

Investigator Updates

This week was a little rough with investigators.  We were able to meet with our sweet Chinese investigator, Wu Keer, but sadly she doesn't want to meet with is right now. She is preparing to take a Finnish test so that she can possibly get a full-time or at least longer visa to stay here in Finland. So, she wants and needs to study. :( She does want to meet with us after her test though so hopefully we will be able to do that and that I will still be here in Marjaniemi!  We also were able to meet with another one of our investigators. She is expected to have her baby any day now so we aren't able to teach her but we are super excited for her and her family. Then we got to teach Fai's step-dad.  It was a good lesson.  We are just really trying to help him see why this is important for his life and for his family, but we think that he is starting to think about it more and more so that is a really good thing. Other than that we don't have many we are teaching. Christmas time is always hard but hopefully we can find more people that we can teach that are prepared!  Mac is doing incredible and is SO happy!  It makes us both so happy just to be able to see Mac as happy as he has been. So that has been really good.

Getting ready to sing at ward
Christmas party

Ward Christmas Party Finland Style

Friday night we had the Christmas party.  It was good.  They gave us the traditional Christmas porridge and then they had a bunch of little performances by the Primary kids and Young Women and things.  We missionaries did this cup thing to the song "Hark the Herald Angels Sing"  It kinda... well.... didn't go as well as we planned.  Fortunately, no one will probably ever remember anyway. They also did their traditional Finnish skit about King Herod and not sure what else.... I didn't completely understand what was going on and neither did Mac, who was trying to help explain whatever I didn't get.  I think it is something to do with King Herod and the 3 kings along with the order to kill all the babies.  Kinda weird, I know.  Apparently there was also a desert contest that I didn't know was happening.  Not many members brought things and I just brought good ole' American Peanut Butter Bars out of obligation of being a missionary. Guess what?  I won!  You gotta love America. :)  I think that is all to report!  Thanks for all your love and support!  I love you! 

Ward Christmas party

Ward Christmas 

Elders McKnight and Wilson

Our attempted "cup song"

Love, 

Sister Knapp

Christmas markets!