12/6/16: Freezer of afflictions

Well. so right now its -22 degrees, and climbing. So its kinda chili, especially on bikes.  But its fun. So this past week I was in helsinki for 3 days for a leadership meeting, it was great to see a ton of my old companions.  If you havent seen it already, #lighttheworld, on mormon.org.  

But this week has been good. Our investigator came to church again and agreed to be in the christmas program as a singer so that was pretty sweet. Our other awesome investigator didnt get to come, unfortuaneltly because she had the flu.  But we got to meet with some members and investigators this week which was great even with the shortened work week.

Today is itsenäisyyspäivä, or in english, independence day. They had a huge military purade this morning. It was kinda sad, there was a ton of military soldiers in line, and its so cold some were passing out in line haha. I didnt have my camera on me so I didnt manage to get any pictures, but it was a cool display. And they were giving out a ton of hot pea soup for free, which is a very common dish in the finnish military.  Im thankful our independence day is in the summer, not going to lie haha.  

But the works going great.  Have a wonderful week!!

Elder Ford

Sorry for no pictures. My companion left his camera in kuopio, and my camera is partially broken -.-

11/29/16: SO MUCH TRAVEL and a cool miracle story

Dear family and friends.

Wow. So last week I picked up the person I am training from Helsinki. The travel from Kajaani to Helsinki is about 8 hours. From there I got to do splits in my old area of Neitsytpolku in Helsinki. It was AWESOME.  We ended up finding a way cool couple, the guy is from Australia, and he is married to a finn, and they thanked us sooo much for coming over and sharing the message of the restored gospel with them. I was way jealous that they got to teach them later on but its all good.  I got to see some members that I became friends with in Helsinki. Then we took a night train (which is actually my first night train) up to Oulu to have district mtg.  So it was about 18 hours of round travel. Well this week I am going back down to Helsinki to go to a leadership meeting and now I have another 18 hrs of roundtravel. and that doesnt account for the 6 hours of round travel we did yesterday to district mtg and back.  So basically like this whole week is taken up by travel because I dont get back until Friday. Kajaani is the farthest out in the middle of place in the mission so the traveling times can be quite extensive. But other then that it has been awesome! 

WOW. Miracle story of the week!!! Ok, so we found Anne when we were going through old potential lists and found her name. She was a found potential almost 2 years ago but nothing really happened. So we went back. We set up a lesson, and since then have had 3 lessons. She is doing so well. We showed her the christmas video last week, and she started crying. Yesterday she came to the thanksgiving party and loved it! Last night we sent her a scripture text with some scriptures and she sent a text back and said that she was so excited for her kids to go to sleep so she could start reading some book of mormon that night. Right now she is in 2 nephi. She is doing so well, and the branch has embraced her with loving arms. But the biggest miracle is the day BEFORE we came she had prayed and asked god to show her the way because she recognized in her church that she didnt feel the spirit. It has just been a privelage to teach her. 

My new trainees name is Elder Bowen. He is from Hooper Utah, he is super cool, we get along awesome. His finnish is great and he works super hard. We are going to have an awesome transfer together!

Other then that this past week our investigator Jenni came to church and also yesterday to the branch thanksgiving party. We have a thanksgiving party here because we have 3 americans in the ward. Us, and our ward mission leader who is actually originally from Mexico but grew up in Arizona and married a finn. 

But the work is going well!  Hope everyone has a great week! This past week it dropped down to -17 degrees so its gettin a bit chilly and it snowed A TON.

Love

Ford

I forgot my camera this week so I dont have any pics. Have an amazing week!

11/21/16: Starting the last transfer

Hey all, so this week went really well, we managed to get the most member present lessons we have had this change, and thats after we dropped our main progressing investigator so the work continues to go forward:. one of our investigators Jenni came to church and also agreed to give a musical number in the christmas program. So that was pretty sweet, because she is a singer.  

But I got my last and final transfer doctorine... and I will be staying here in Kajaani and training for my last transfer which will be super great. Its great to be able to stay here because I love the branch here!!!  And it will be fun to train a new missionary. Vanhin Naylor and I have had a great transfer together, the work has gone really well here.

So the Pictures is my brother, Elder Kontinen. He is from Finland and he is going home in a few days. He was in my first district almost 2 years ago and I got to be in his district his last transfer.

The second is my really great friends Saif and Haidar, They are from iraq, they are my brothas, They are so great. We teach them English every week.

The 3rd is my other favorite fin, veli Komulainen. He served here in Finland a year ago, and he is the first counsilor here in Kajanni

 

11/15/16: Change week

Well we are nearing to my last change call coming up this thursday. My guess is I will be staying here in Kajaani (because this is my first change here) but we will see. So just to let you know this coming week my pday will probably be on monday.  Anyway. Great week. It went by super fast, I dont even know what happened. We have been blessed to teach a lot. Toni didnt get baptized, we didnt feel like he was ready yet, but we are still meeting with him so its all good. We also went up to Oulu and had splits with the Elders there. It went really well. It was super cold but we found some great people.  Jenni our investigator is also progressing well, she came to church this week and Family home evening on monday, and she has been following all of our commitments.  

Other than then well see what this final transfer brings.

Love

Vanhin Ford

11/8/16: Lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas.

If you're wondering what that scribble of words at the top of the screen is. Its supposidely one of the longest finnish words which is really just a compound word that means.   airplane jet turbine engine auxiliary mechanic non-commissioned officer student.

So yea.

Anyway this week has gone SO fast. its been really good and super busy.  

So Brother Toni could very well be baptized this coming saturday. We will see, but if not things are going very well with him. He has a huge desire to be. We had a really good Dinner appointment at a members house last week with him..

Other then that we had 2 investigators in church. One being Veli Toni, and anothers whos name is Jenni. She is super cool, and willing to learn.  We have just been teaching so much, its been exhausting. Which is good. You then know your doing it right. 

Another cool experience. We were tracting the other night, we visited a mans door and he wasnt home. We were doing condos and they face each other. We were across from the one that we did that he wasnt home, and he suddenly came home. So I decided to go talk to him. he invited us in and said he was hoping we were here. He had seen us before, and he recognized our bikes parked outside. He is a alchoholic and needs help, so we were able to give him some help he greatly appreciated.  Addictions are a killer!  

Anyway! Other then that we have just been teaching a whole bunch. We have had several really good dinner appointments and some great investigators, members, and friends houses. One being over at these Iraqi guys house. I never thought I would come to love Iraqi people so much on my mission. they are just the best ever and there culture is so great.  They invited us over. It was super sweet, really good dinner. 

But other then that the work is progressing great here in Kajaani. The weather dropped and its been -12 degrees while riding bikes in the snow so that has been a challenge. But its all good. Anyway have a great week!

11/1/16: First snow, Halloween, teaching

Well this week has been a crazy week. We got to teach 16 lessons total and found 5 new investigators so we have been just everywhere lately.  We also had the first snowfall/storm this past week. It snowed quite a bit but its all melted now.  It was interesting riding the bike in it thats for sure.  Our branch also had a fun halloween party yesterday in which our investigator Jenni showed up to. She is a really cool new investigator that we contacted on the street. Toni is also doing very well progressing toward his baptisimal date in 2 weeks he has quit coffee, and living to everything. We are having a dinner at a members house today with toni so it will hopefully go well. The work is going great here in Kajaani, in fact the best it has been doing in a very long time in Kajaani. 

Hope everyone has a great week! 

10/25/16

Well not to much to report this week. Our investigator Toni is progressing very well right now, he has been coming to church consistently, and he is also doing family history. He is optimistic about his baptism so kastotaan!  But anyway we are teaching the law of chastity today, so hopefully all will go well.. Anyway we also found a new investigator this week, her name is Jenni. She is super cool.  She is in athiest, but she is way open to discuss. We also had the opportunity to go on splits, one being with Elder Kontinen, he was in my first district when I got to Finland. Super great guy, he is going home this change!  Then I got to go on splits with Elder Rubinstein, he is from Melbourne Australia. Both super cool Elders. But other then that the work is doing well here. The 430 am bus rides are a killer. 

ALSO, good news is my recent convert in my last city proposed to his girlfriend and there getting married, probably around right as I go home!!! so they well be getting married in the temple sometime next year, but it was awesome!!!!

Love

Elder Ford