December 16, 2013

I'm staying in Turku!! Sister Kunz will be flying home on Wednesday, pretty crazy that I have been out for 6 months now. Time flies and it is a bit scary my trainer is leaving me. This is when she said her language skills improved is when she couldn't depend on her companion to understand everything. My new companion is Sister Scellenberg, I am really excited to serve with her. We were in the same MTC group and she is great. I met her the first time in Provo at a breakfast we did and when I dropped her off at her house afterward I decided she is one that I would love serving with. In Finland Christmas Eve is the big celebration day so I am spending Christmas Eve with the family I told you about a couple weeks ago. 

. . . . Hockey is huge here and the other day we were talking with a family and they couldn't believe I didn't grow up watching hockey. I explained the NFR to them which was quite entertaining. . . .

Hahaha I love the fish, thank you. I heard from my companion today about one of her friends serving in Zimbabwe who ate rotten goat because that was the best they had. I will be happy to be eating yummy fish from now on :) I did get Aunt Lisa's package and have been using my new pillowcase :)  . . . hahaha good that Riley's companions are getting good use out of his skills, there probably aren't going to be too many like him that they will get to serve with!

. . . . Actually before I come home I am going to have to find fur something for you all. I thought it was hideous when I got here but now I love it. And I saw some fur scarf things for little girls the other day and almost had to get them for Kambrie and Anbri.

It is good to hear from you all. I am excited to talk with you in a few more days! I love my Savior. I love this gospel. I am so grateful for a living prophet. I hope you all have a great week and remember to be an example and light in sharing the gospel. I love you all!

Rakaudella, Sisar Heggie

December 9, 2013

Sisar Chelsie Heggie
Finland Helsinki Mission
Neitsytpolku 3A4
FI-00140 Helsinki

I GOT MY CHRISTMAS PACKAGE!!!! And I have to admit that I opened up the stocking and have already gone through some gold fish and jerky. I am excited to use the moustache ice cubes and believe it or not I will finally be able to set them outside to freeze! Turns our Turku is a lot warmer than Ely or St George or Cardston! Who would have guessed?! We have a little bit of snow on the ground, just enough to stick and light everything up. It is very pretty. I will save my presents for Christmas day ;)

Christmas is a huge deal here. Everybody gets together with their families which make it difficult to plan lessons with investigators but also people are home with their families as well as in the Christmas spirit! People are very approachable (for the most part) and love to talk about their Christmas plans and family. So yes, we are full of the Christmas cheer here!! There are a lot of different kinds of people so it is interesting to talk about Heavenly Father's plan for us and Christ. People are a little shy but eventually will open up.

Wow sounds like things are doing great in McGill!! That is way exciting that we have a young adult branch! I love to hear how missionary work is moving forward!

The FHE we had last week turned out to be awesome!! We talked a little bit about the plan of salvation focusing on families and we now have a new family to teach. The dad was asking good questions and we are headed out there again tonight. It is so exciting to teach. Mom and dad I can't tell you how much I love the people here. My heart is 100% completely right here right now. I love the mission work. Thank you for helping me to be here right now. The language is coming along. Have you ever seen those commercials for the never ending swimming pools? You keep swimming and swimming but feel like you haven't gotten anywhere but really you have, it just means you have gotten stronger? That's what the language feels like and yesterday I loved to hear from one of the members tell me my Finnish has improved a lot. I have learned that I just can't be afraid to make mistakes. People are patient and willing to figure out what I am trying to say. It comes from practicing and studying and the gift of tongues.

I find out if I am staying this Friday, I will let you know next week my change call. My guess is I will be here in Turku but I'll let you know if it changes :)  Thank you for your love and support and the package of Christmas from home! I love you all, hope you have a great week.

Rakaudella, Sisar Heggie

December 2, 2013

It sounds like you all had a very eventful week! I do love good stories!! Even better when they involve flat tires! For some reason when I heard you were going to Brian and Annie’s for Thanksgiving I forgot the fact that they are actually half way across the country now, not just in Logan! haha and just to remind you American's that thanksgiving isn't exactly a Finnish holiday (I'm not sure how much they know about the Mayflower and the Indians teaching the pilgrims how to farm) but we did cook a dinner as a district and had some members over. We also lucked out with some thanksgiving leftovers at President's house when we had leadership meetings! Dad you are one lucky guy pulling favors from Santa like that! I want to see a picture of your 3 wheel trailer ;) Trasie sounds like she was really concerned sprawled out on the back seat. Glad you all made it home safe. That's a lot of miles! . . .

Trasie I am way proud of your planning skills with your twirp story! Way to be spontaneous and ambitious! Fun that you made shirts for his sisters as well. Way too good! If only you could all have had camouflage bear shirts...;)

I am doing fantastic. The weather is great; the Finns can't wait for it to snow. I still haven't decided. Had a great appointment last night. They are an awesome family, met a lot of their friends. Probably who I will spend Christmas with. . . .  reminds me of Mr. B. He is also a 5th grade teacher and bald.  Funny guy.  We have an appointment tonight with the family we met one of my first weeks here. They have 2 kids and I am very excited. Hopefully it goes well!

Dad what would a visit to Brian's be without some kind of project?!?! Always sure to be quality time.  Mom for thanksgiving Sister Mortensen (the couple missionaries here) made yams with apples. Reminded me of the one you do, it was really good! . . .

This past week I was able to go to the temple with sister kens for the last time before she goes home. This week she is gone for a few days to help with Training in Helsinki with President Rawlings so it is up to me and Sister Bunting to take care of Turku for a few days! It's a miracle to realize how capable we are and yet how young we are. The Lord truly does work miracles. We're looking forward to an exciting week! I hope you all have a great week, I love you.  Rakaudella, Sisar Heggie

                                 Sisars Heggie & Kunz, Helsinki Finland Temple

                                                               November 2013

November 25, 2013

. . .Tras that s awesome that you got to share your testimony. Keep it up. Wow! big snow storm. It snowed a little bit but not much. It's getting slightly cold. Nothing to fear yet thankfully :) I did wear big bertha to take the trash out though. My companions got a kick out of that. We had a mix up with keys and library cards today so I am just going to write a short note before I hand the computer over. I'll try writing a bit more when we are at the church tonight. The scriptures are amazing. Maybe what is more amazing is the gift of the holy ghost which allows us to access the information that Heavenly Father wants us to have. Things are going awesome here. Can't wait to get the package(s)  :) I'll let you know when they get here. I love you all

 

Sisar Heggie

Sisar Chelsie Heggie, Turku Finland, November 2013

November 18, 2013

. . .  Things are going great still here in Turku!! Sister Kunz and I have Sister Bunting (my mtc companion) with us for the next couple of weeks so this will be exciting. Sister Kunz is such a great trainer and has always said how she loves 3somes . . . ! We had stake conference this weekend and it was really good. Learned about ordination and how we were all ordained before we remembered. Ordination here on earth is the power to organize and receive power. Don't wory I'll find a Turku sign and get it to you as soon as I can. Look at you getting a Christmas letter out!! Feel free to send one to me :) I'm happy to report that we still have no snow on the ground and I am even wearing flats today, and only one pair of tights . . .  Our BML, Veli Merenluoto is awesome we love him. There are so many awesome families in our ward I just LOVE my area!! Anyway. Veli Merenluoto's wife (she's prpbably 75ish) has been running half marathons and they have one in Turku every year. They have all kinds of races so I told her when I come back with my family for Juhannus (when the sun doesn't go down) I want to run one with her. . . . .  Ah the people here are great. Thank you for your love and support. I hope all is going well. Rakastan teitä!

Rakkaudella, Sisar Heggie

November 11, 2013

Another great week here in Turku. The days are getting shorter it will be weird to see how it is on the shortest day of the year! It's cooling off but still hasn't snowed. There have been a couple nights where my companion thought it was pretty cold but luckily I haven't felt too chilled. I think heavenly Father is blessing me with thick skin.

Dad sounds like Kaylee gave a great talk in church. I always enjoyed when she bore her testimony at girls camp or in sacrament meeting. I have looked up to her ever since I heard her bear her testimony the night she received her young women’s medallion. She is a rock star. Reno is blessed to have her.

Mom I think Kambrie might just like you. I want to see a picture of that spoiled little girl and her new red shoes. Hey maybe you could find her a nice black coat to match mine ;)  Weird to think you have no more Ladycat volleyball players! We have had a Heggie on that court since 2004!

The girl we did an activity with..not sure who you are referring to but We had a young girls get baptized. She was so excited she couldn't sit still. It was way fun to see. . . . The guy at the wrong bus stop hasn't been able to meet but we have been in contact with him a lot. he is excited to talk with us.

Not a lot of news. We talked about the importance of creativity in mission work. people don't respond to the same things they have always heard. Service. Creativity. Really showing that we care and taking the time to do that. Hope you have a great week! Love you

sisar heggie

November 3, 2013

Family,

            Sounds like things are busy back home on the range!! . . . Speaking of, we taught Relief Society this Sunday and that was fun. Scary but fun. It's a different dynamic than teaching the 10 people investigator class.
             Fortunately I still haven't seen snow! Daylight savings was a little weird at first but I think we are used to it. It gets dark around 5 ish maybe? Not crazy yet. I'm telling you, Turku is the best! . . . . . .Amazingly enough Halloween isn't a huge thing here! It's weird because they are always having some kind of party for this or that. Seams like any opportunity they get they throw a party so I was surprised I didn't see a lot of people out on Halloween. Maybe us sister missionaries were asleep before the parties began :)
             The ward I am working in right now has about 215 people and is part of a stake but there are 2 districts up north, we are the only stake.
. . . . . . .
              Well it's been a very busy and exciting week! I will send pictures next week! Love you all, have a great week.  Sisar Heggie

October 28, 2013
Perhe,
. . . . .
     This week we were in Helsinki again for meetings with President. While we were there we got to attend the temple.   . . . We have been talking with a lady who belongs to the Free Church. She invited us to an activity at her church so we went to it. It is good to see people who believe in Christ but it is definitely a different feeling than it is in our church. It's still a good feeling but you can tell something is missing. It was better than being out on the street hearing and seeing all that goes on but still, something missing. I couldn't help but compare that to the kingdoms of Heaven. the world is the telestial kingdom. Beautiful but not to its potential. Inside the church is like the terrestial kingdom. People are doing good things. They believe in Christ but still have not accepted His gospel. They are missing the authority and gift of the Holy Ghost. And then I took that and compared that with the feelings I had while we were in the temple. What a huge difference!!!! We are so blessed to have this gospel and the knowledge and blessings we receive from attending the temple.
       It's been a great week. Recognizing and responding to the spirit has been one of the biggest gifts I have obtained and continue to work on. My companion never fails to make me laugh every day and teach me something new about missionary work. She is open and accepting. Her mind is open to understand people and learn where they are coming from. Our companion unity is such a blessing! We're looking forward to another great week.
     I hope all goes well with you all! I love you, take care.

Sisar Heggie

October 21, 2013

Moi! Kerto Veli Bridge että mina sanoi terve! Ask him who he knew here, I asked Veli Karhunen if he remembers an Elder Stewart, he has lived here awhile.

   I am so blessed! The people here are so obedient and hard working and diligent! They were already great missionaries and after general conference we have seen even more member missionary work. Great things are happening.  We had a very busy week last week. The way things worked out we ended up having splits 3 times last week in our area so we had 8 different sisters in our area with us at different times. It was crazy! And we got so much work done. Slightly stressful planning that much but it was worth it. The Lord is blessing us with people and families to teach. We had change calls this week and luckily I get to stay :) I know the Lord knows what is best so I was trying to be ok with whatever happened but didn't want to leave my companion yet so I was really excited when I found out we were staying, we have a lot to do.
   This week we were out at bishop’s house doing service. His wife needed help in the yard and we were digging a hole. She handed me a pitchfork and said that should work....I don't remember the last time I dug a hole with a pitchfork but I don't imagine it went very well. Sister Kunz was laughing (shovel in hand) as we started in on the hole and about 5 minutes later bishop’s wife came back with a shovel for me. The hole got a lot bigger a lot faster after that. Ha it's amazing what service will do. Not only are we a lot closer with the bishop’s family but we had a blast and couldn't stop laughing for about an hour.
  Yesterday we were preparing for a lesson and found a story about a man who was praying to find someone for the missionaries to teach by a certain date. The day was getting closer and he still hadn't found someone so he prayed that the Lord would put someone in his path because he was so busy with church callings and work already that he didn't have time to go out and find someone. After teaching institute one night (3 days before his deadline) a girl came up to him and asked if she could receive missionary lessons in his home. We discussed the story and how the Lord makes up when we are doing all we can do. Shortly after talking about this we got on the bus and were busy planning, missed our stop and so we got off on the next stop. As we were getting off there was an older man getting off at the same time so he smiled and motioned for us to go first (smiling is a rare thing between strangers in the Finnish culture). We were going to be a bit late to our appointment at this time so we started walking when my companion dropped back and started talking with him. Turns out he has seen missionaries around and has been praying for the opportunity to talk to us. He gave us his address and asked us if we could come teach him. WOW!! So thankful for my companion following the spirit. She is such a great example to me.
   A new member just moved into our ward. She was nannying in New York for a year, met a member family and the rest is history. She got baptized about a month ago and just got back to Finland (she is from Turku). She is a lot of fun and we are way excited to have her!
. . . .We finally saw our first snow here but it didn't stick. It is starting to feel like Finland and I am beginning to believe all the things people say about how cold it gets. Not too bad for October though :) ….
   Tons of good things are happening. The Lord blesses us when we put our best foot forward. Like I said, the members are working hard, we're working hard, and the Lord is working hard. People are ready to accept the gospel. Life is wonderful. I'm so grateful am serving a mission. I äm so grateful I am in Turku working with the people here. I hope you all have a great week, love you!!!

Sisar Heggie

On the way to the Bishop's house 10/13

 

October 14

Dear Family,

  I am happy to announce that you all have seen more snow this year than I have!!! I'm just enjoying the balmy weather here in Turku. Thanks to the sea and islands right by us. Someone explained why Turku is warmer...something to do with all the water...but that makes no sense to me. Either way, Turku is definitely a blessed place. I love the people here. We just got done with the musical "Joseph and the Technicolor Dream coat". It turned out to be huge. All the members were good about inviting lots of people and we had a lot of investigators and non-members attend. It was fun to see all the talent here as well.
   This week I had another opportunity to eat fish. I am determined to learn to like it. But dad your genes are sure making that tough!! Also, how do you go about eating it without getting all the little bones in your mouth and "casually" spitting them out? It's a fun challenge. That family is so great. I wish I understood more Finnish but what I do catch they are hilarious. Such strong testimonies as well.
  Yesterday my companion and I were teaching Sunday school and the lesson was on Eternal Marriage. One brother who has a sail boat and loves sailing commented after testifying that his 40 years of marriage are the best experiences in his life that "Marriage is like sailing--some days are sunny, nice wind, and sometimes we have storms". No one gets by easy. It was a fun lesson, and even more fun to teach to investigators learning things for the first time.
   Sunday morning during our studies my companion and I found out that we were supposed to make something sweet for an activity that night. Our options were quite limited but we decided on banana bread...only problem was we didn't have any sugar. So what do you think we did? What a Mormon American would do. Borrowed from the neighbors :) It was a good excuse to talk to one of our neighbors (and learn more vocabulary). Only other problem...sugar cubes are not the same as baking sugar. Don't worry we got creative and made it work and the banana bread tasted good :)

Love Sisar Heggie

October 7, 2013

Hello Family!
    Life sounds as exciting as always! Glad you got to enjoy your traditional caramel popcorn! It's hard to find the ingredients for it over here so I didn't make any unfortunately. Fortunately, they have this wonderful candy called Susu. It's worth it to miss out on the popcorn. Funny you asked about my internet connection this week :) We usually go to the library and if not then we just use the computers at the church after we play some p-day basketball with our investigators. Today my computer has been giving me fits so hopefully you get this email!

    It has been a great week. A lot of wise counsel from the President this week and I got to see everyone from my MTC group! They are all doing so well in their new areas with their new investigators and picking up on the language. The adventure of splits continues this week as we have over a couple sisters.
     Conference was great!! It was fun to hear investigators talk about seeing the prophet for the first time. With the time change we watched Saturday morning session Saturday around 7 then Saturday afternoon session we watched Sunday at 3 then Sunday morning session followed at 7:00. So I still have one more session to watch!! It's like how mom would hide presents in the closet for Christmas and forget about them until a month after Christmas and it was Christmas all over again!
. . . .
  The weather is still good here in Turku! When we travel to other cities I am reminded of how much I love my city. Definitely need a jacket but not too bad! We do get a few dinner appointments and that is a lot of fun...last Friday we had a double DA....wow. haha the members are so good to us.
. . . . .
     Conference was so good. I loved the talk on tithing and the subtle blessings of paying it. Gratitude for what we have and living a satisfied life. It couldn't be more true.
     We are teaching a mom and trying to help her see the importance of baptism and think it is through focusing on the blessings of the gospel, especially from the temple and eternal families.  . . .
     I am loving life! So many good things to be learned in this life. I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father who knows me so perfectly. Who knows how to strengthen and comfort me. I love this gospel and am so grateful for the knowledge I have of where to find truth. Thank you for your love and support, I hope you have a great week!!

Sisar Heggie

September 30, 2013

Hey Family!

Good to hear from you! Thanks for the news of the week. . . . . We were teaching a lesson at a member’s house and so I started off by talking about character (intending to discuss Christ-like character) so I asked them what came to mind when I said "character". They started giving answers like Donald Duck . . . I was way confused and my companion was trying to find some way to connect their answers with the lesson when the mom spoke up and said she didn't see where this was going ha then we figured out I used the work cartoon instead of the word character so that was pretty funny. My companion was trying to find some sort of Christ like characteristic Donald duck possesses to tie the lesson together.

. . .We got a baptism date with our investigator (I was reminded this week that I’m not supposed to use their names according to Finnish law) so we are way excited. The makeover with her was fun but it wasn't going how we planned at first. She had fun and at the end we shared a scripture and I started to talk to her about my baptism day. We kept talking with her and eventually set a baptism date. Cool miracles going into that with inspiration and listening to the Spirit. They have talked with her before about baptism but this is the first time she has opened up! We're really excited. This is going to be such a blessing in her life. . . .

Another miracle day of splits this week. My companion decided again to have me go with the junior companion. She was telling me how the whole time she had been there she hadn't been able to give out a Book of Mormon. Through guidance of the spirit we were able to contact 2 people who we gave books to that day. We role played for that morning and the teaching went a lot like the role play. That was awesome, amazing how the spirit can guide role plays when you take it seriously. What a blessing.

. . . Funny that I was in my companion' home town when I found out about the age change. Little did I know I was in my trainer’s home town!!

. . . And this week we have our 6 day training with my district form the MTC and President. We are all in Helsinki until Thursday night. It was way fun to see them all again today. President is a genius. What a wise man. I feel a bit like my apartment is a hotel room. Stop in a couple nights and leave again! But it's for good reasons. I just miss our people. We have a less active family we have been working with. Amazing how I have grown to love them more and more. They are doing awesome. Great week. Lots of training this week. I hope you are all doing well. Have a great week! 

Love Sisar Heggie

September 23, 2013

Dear Family,

. . . . . It is so true that your actions now carry into the future. When you talk about consequences sometimes you don't see the immediate effect but they come, good or bad. Character is composed of consistency. So when you are consistently good it pays off.

. . .  We are so blessed to live in the land that we do. The other day we were on the bus and I was looking out the window at all the homes and thinking about how my life would be different if I grew up in different surroundings. I got thinking about the details of it and what I came down to is that mom and dad would have made everything work wherever we were. No matter what our circumstances would have been I would grow up in a loving home being taught the principles of the gospel and how to function in the world. I would still have received all the blessings of our family no matter where we lived. So after thinking again about how blessed I am to have the family I do, I added to that list of blessings the blessing it was to grow up in Ely; a small town where my friends are like family. Where I have my freedom. Where I could play all the sports I wanted. Where I could be a kid and not have to worry about growing up too fast and taking on responsibilities that no 9 year old was ever meant to have. Our blessings are stacked!!!

Hey guess what? I found some little children's books in Finnish the other day so I picked them up. I might even learn a few new words by reading them! We are teaching a 10 year old girl, and this week we are doing make-overs which is going to be way fun. We are struggling to get her to open up to us, especially with baptism. We thought it might help if we had pictures of our baptism day to show her. . . . We are teaching another 11 year old girl and it is so great to be able to connect with her. This Sunday was great, we had all of our investigators in church and one of the less active families come with all the children! It was awesome! Slow and steady steps.

Sounds like you have a fun lunch coming up!   Ah all my favorite people at one lunch. Make sure to tell them hello and that I love them. I think of their examples often and share the things I have learned from them with my companion as well as in some of our lessons. Another blessing of growing up in Ely. Such great people.

Thanks for the football updates ha that is rough. good thing I will be gone for half of the time BYU has to think about that loss.

The days are starting to get shorter, it's starting to rain, and I heard rumor that it will get below freezing this week. WHAT?! Mom, I will have you know that my companion thought that big ugly coat was cute. She did admit that before her mission she would have never thought that. But after surviving a winter here she commented on it being cute. great. hahahaha

We had a good appointment with one of the families in the ward last night. We are serving in such a great ward. The ward has maybe 150 come every week, but I believe there are about 210 or so on the ward list. And there are 2 wards here in Turku. The boundaries are huge which is part of the reason church attendance is so low. People live pretty far away. The members are great though. They are all involved in mission work and willing to help wherever we ask them. Very dedicated people.  . . . This week we spent 2 days in Jyväskylä. It is such a blessing to be able to go around with her and learn all these new things. How other sisters do mission work, study habits, character traits, and how to work with them. My companion Kunz is great at pointing out peoples positive characteristics and she shares her thought with me whenever she thinks of something. It is SUCH a blessing to work with her every day.

Dad you said the city looks a lot like America. It does in some senses; I was surprised at how much it has in common. Building structures are slightly different, lots of apartments. Every apartment has a sauna and a paarvekei (balcony). Some of the streets are cobblestone. Public transportation is very common. Cars are smaller. Mostly all stick shift. No mountains. Then the country parts are really pretty also. Very green right now lots of trees, beautiful homes, fields. I have seen a lot of tractors here. We were walking along the street when we saw a John Deere. I turned to my companion and asked if that was a common thing to see. She said not really and that she had only seen about 2 or 3 before...we have seen about 11 while we have been serving together. We think it's a tender mercy Heavenly Father showing his sense of humor to his 2 small town country girls.

The language is still coming. Last week when I went on splits I went with one of the sister from my MTC district.  This means we have both only be out for a month, only learning the language for three. Which is fine when you have a companion to step in to save you when you get stuck in a conversation.  So we had planned to go to a few less actives but mostly tract that day, but we planned to have a lady from the ward with us. Well the morning before we went out the lady called and said she was sick and couldn't come with. We just had to laugh at our situation but we were both way excited to make it work together. That was the best day ever!! That day we taught more lessons in a day than I have on any other day. We got a new investigator.  Gave out some Books of Mormon to people who I am way excited to hear updates us.  We had awesome conversations with people and the Lord blessed us with understanding and the ability to form responses and teach. It shows how the gift of tongues is real and that the Lord is in on this work. It was a miracle and such a testimony builder for Sister Curtis and me both.

I love this gospel. I love learning. I love teaching. I love the people. I love my family! Thank you for all you do, I hope you have a great week!

Rakkaudella, Sisar Heggie

September 16, 2013

Terve Perhe! . . . . . Finland is great. I love Turku so much. My companion is Sister Training leader so we have been able to travel around a bit to other areas and go on splits with them. It is fun for both of us to see how other missionaries do mission work. Our companionship is funny because both of our personalities are pretty similar.  We will take the lead when a leader is needed but neither of us like to call the shots on everything so as a newbie it has been fun to be in this equal companionship where both of us pull our weight. She is a great trainer, and the more we do the more I realize that. .

Good to hear Riley is doing good, I was thinking of him and Tanner this morning. How is the project going at grandma and grandpa's house?

. . .  Which just reminds me how blessed I have been with the people I work with. I love my MTC district and was a bit hesitant coming into a new district here in Turku but I have grown to love them here almost as much. It is amazing the people I learn to love! . . .  People have their faults and weaknesses, we all do! It is only a matter of getting to know them and their strengths and being able to understand them and look past the weaknesses. I have become great friends with people I would never have dreamed of becoming friends with before.  It is amazing to see charity playing its roll in my life. It truly is a gift that comes by the power of the atonement. One of the first families I met here came across to me as hard to love. Well, I love them!! I care so much about them now and I'm excited every time we go teach and every time I see them take steps toward Christ in their lives!!

. . . It is cooling off a bit here but I came in the best summer I think! We were riding our bikes and we were stopped at a cross walk and as I was waiting for the light I realized that it is September in Finland at 8:00 at night and i wasn't even wearing a jacket! Pretty good I would say.

Life is good. The spirit is so strong in everything we do!! I see awesome things happening all the time and sometimes I forget to recognize that Heavenly Father set that man on that bench at that moment that we would be walking by, or that lady on the bus while we were on, etc. We were on our way home the other night and walked by a lady in her yard. We said hello and kept walking then felt like we should go back, so we did. We had an awesome conversation with her and got her number so we can meet up with her again. I have learned a ton about faith and prayer. The more specific we are with prayer the better Heavenly Father can help us. He is always by our side but I realized when I ask Him more specific questions I recognize the answer better.

It is always so good to hear from you all. I am doing so good. Thank you for your prayers in my behalf and know that you are in my prayers as well. The Lord has blessed us with so much. Thank you for all that you do. I love you!!

Rakkaudella, Sisar Heggie

 

Castle in Turku

September 9, 2013
. . .  I am in a bike city right now and they don't do chains just snow tires but my companion said last winter she didn't put snow tires on her bike but she did wreck a lot ha so I think I will invest in some. The traffic isn't bad because a lot of people us public transportation. Biking isn't bad I’m just glad I don't have to drive or find a parking spot in all of this ha. There are some really pretty areas that are part of my area just outside of Turku. Raisio is way pretty, really pretty homes and really green. The river is beautiful. The sea is beautiful. A lot of fun and the members are really nice.
. . . .

The weather is awesome. I haven't needed a jacket yet but it's starting to get foggy in the morning (which is when we do our studies) but it clears up by the time we go outside. Everyone is just hoping that winter holds off for another while. Our apartment is really nice I love it. One of the senior couples that is in charge of housing came over to check on us and took some pictures to send home to our parents. I couldn't remember mom's Gmail ha-ha so I wrote down the school email. Hopefully you got those. The language is still coming ha it's going to take awhile but I’m starting to understand and speak more. Every week I understand more of what is being said in sacrament meeting. I just have to laugh when I try talking with 6 year olds and still can't even understand all of their vocabulary! Most importantly though I am learning how to speak the language of the spirit better. I had a cool experience on Sunday.  My companion and I taught a Sunday school lesson and before class I didn't get a chance to read over the lesson so during the opening prayer I just said a short prayer that I would be inspired to know what to teach and from there on out the ideas started flowing. It was a blessing and the lesson went well.

The food is all pretty normal. Simple foods. Finns aren't huge on sugary treats (except ice cream) but they are good cooks. It is true, my mission president is so great. He has a huge heart and gives us very wise counsel. He is great and you can feel how much love he has for people whenever you are around him.

. . .

We are teaching a 10 year old girl and my companion and I are struggling with fun ideas on how to teach her. If anyone has good ideas on how to teach a 10 year old girl the principles of the gospel, please let me know:) I know how to give her the doctrine straight, but I’m afraid she won't love that. I lack in creativity sometimes.

Ha mom! You will love this. My companion and I were telling stories of growing up and I was telling her my "change your ways" story and she has one too. She came in her house and her mom overreacted about something and told her "God will smite you!" she couldn't help but think her mom was crazy at that point either so now we say "change your ways...or God will smite you." in memory of our crazy mom's who aren't so crazy, I just took us awhile to get that figured out :)

One of my favorite things to study is the subject of Faith. I feel like you could study that topic forever and still have something to learn. This week I learned about faith in light of offering specific prayers. Multiple examples in the scriptures talk about miracles happening only after the act of faith. We went to teach a family on Saturday night that we are way excited and maybe slightly nervous about. In my prayers last week I asked Heavenly Father that they would be home and that their hearts would be open. We got there and the dad invited us in. They were curious and their hearts were open. They were all there and ready to learn. It was awesome. The Lord answers prayers. I love this gospel. The Church is true. Jesus is our Savior and older brother. He knows us and loves us. I hope you all have a great week!

Sisar Heggie

September 2, 2013

Moi! . . .  Yesterday the bishop asked me to say the closing prayer in sacrament that was a good experience. I finished the prayer and there were still no reports of lightning striking so that is good. The ward is great. I'm still getting to know people and it is a lot of fun. We taught a lesson last week to a part member family using the plan of salvation puzzle that Aunt Lisa and Jen got for me. It turned out awesome! . . .The dad is a funny guy. We had dessert with them and then he was getting me to try all these weird foods. They all have words in Finnish but I can't remember or spell them so I’ll just say in English ha raw milk, new milk, blue cheese, and I’m not sure what else. But dessert was way good. She made rahka which is famous in Finland. So I had that for the first time. Then riisipirakka with egg butter...also has a Finnish name I don't have down yet. And the juice here is amazing. And the chocolate is amazing. And the ice cream is amazing. And the summer is amazing. And the people are amazing. And my companion is amazing. And the mission president is amazing. And I love it. . . . .

Most of the ingredients to make American cookies here are lacking. But I tried my shot at baking some for a lesson we had. Haha they looked disgusting. Can’t even blame it on the elevation :) . . . . It has been a good week. Lots of laughs and good things happening.

We met a family last week that I am way excited to go teach on Saturday. Finland is a special place. We taught a boy and his mom who are from Kurdistan and he was a refugee in Turkey for a year. Finland is peaceful. I was blessed to grow up in a place of freedom and peace. I am blessed to serve in a land of peace. I was studying a talk by Brad Wilcox this morning called "His Grace is sufficient". Most Christians understand we are saved by the grace of Christ. But latter day saints understand not just what Christ saved us FROM but what he saved us FOR. Moroni 7:48. He paid the price. Rather than paying off a debt to Him, we are investing. We could never pay the debt and he knows that and that's why he paid it then asks us to follow him and become like him. Find that talk if you can and read it. Things are so good. Thank you for your love a prayers and support. Love you all, have a great week!!

Scarves from Aunt Wendy

Cookies?! - not so hot:-)



August 26, 2013

. . . . . I LOVE FINLAND!!   P days are now Mondays.  . . . . . Everything is so great. I bought my first Finnish chocolate bar. And the chocolate here is just as everyone says...AMAZING. Mom you will love it. There are so many good people here. It's awesome to contact here because people don't generally say hello to each other so as soon as you say "moi" you already have their attention, then when you say "mitä kuuluu" they are stopped talking to you.  Nobody asks "how are you" unless you are really looking for an answer. Ha learned that when I asked then didn't have anything else prepared to say to a girl the first day I got here. The members are great. The other missionaries are great. We have a couple missionary serving in our district and they take good care of everyone and everything.

My companion is great!! Get this. She is from Montpellier!! she is the youngest in her family  . . .  She is the Sister Training leader right now as of last week so president decided to only give her 1 trainee as opposed to 2 like some of the sister are doing. Quite a few are in trios and I have to say I am very grateful that I got to be one of the few that is just in a 2 person companionship. She is very aware of other people, very caring.  She is adventurous and curious.  Loves to learn and she is a great missionary.

Oh I am in Turku by the way:) about a 2 hour train ride from Helsinki. It’s a bit smaller but still pretty bit. They just opened this area 9 weeks ago and my trainer helped with that so she is good with people and she is ambitious.  Because she is sister training leader I get to go with her to her meetings which means I get to go to the temple when we go! So I get to go through the Helsinki temple for the first time this Friday and hear a session in Finnish. I’m so excited.

Our apartment is great! It is new since this area was just opened and everyone that was in charge of housing did a fantastic job. Our apartment is adorable, very clean and tidy. Oh and we have a washer! Score! No one here has a dryer.  . . . .  The other night while we were planning there was a hot air balloon just outside our window.  We got a kick out of that. She likes to be active (adventurous) so we have played basketball and run stairs so far for our workouts. Super grateful that she is up for it. OH! And I am in a bike city! I was surprised because a lot of the people I talked to said chances are low of getting a bike city which I was happy for at first but now I love that we are on bikes!! I think I have ridden a bike once in the last 7 years. But it's just like riding a bike. I figured it out:) in a dress!! Haven’t even wrecked yet. Just wait for next week’s email I’m sure ha-ha.

Oh and my MTC companion is in my same district! So I get to see her here and there. Now she is the one with the bike wreck story. She learned how to ride a bike the week before she came to the mtc :) and now she's figuring it out on busy sidewalks.

If I were to compare Finland to Alberta, it is more like Raymond. No mountains. Lots of water. Lots of trees. Lots of boats and bridges and green. The sun is shining and it's been beautiful weather. We mostly cook for ourselves but like I said things are starting to role so we are getting more dinner appointments. Ha I go up to a family and let them know I am new in the ward; tell them we would like to get to know their family, then get an appointment. It might be that they have pity on my poor language ability or that they are just super nice but it is working so far :)  . . . . .

I am so grateful for this gospel. The Lord is preparing people to accept His gospel. The enabling power of the Atonement is real. Gifts of the Spirit are real. Heavenly Father loves us. I love you, thank you for all your love and support and the things you teach me. Talk to you next week! Good luck with the first week of school!

Rakkaudella, Sisar Heggie

Helsinki !!!

Sisar Heggie & President Rawlings

She is on her way!!!  Salt Lake to Chicago to London to Helsinki!!

 

August 15, 2013

Rakas Perhe,

. . . . You will be busy your whole life. You will feel stress but as you trust Heavenly Father and learn to rely on Him, he will help strengthen you. Work hard. Do good. You are going to love it. :) and don't forget to write in your Journal!!!  . . . . The skirt is great!! So grateful for her and her love and willingness to help me :)

I'm excited to use the alpaca duvet. Ha I do have to admit I was a little confused when it didn't look like a furry dead alpaca was vacuum packed into my package hahaha  the socks have been great. Not a night  I haven't used them yet so thank you thank you thank you. 

. . .Consecration week went great. It was very hard but I learned so much. The Lord knows our strengths and He also knows how to strengthen us. I was definitely strengthened and learned a few things.

I can't believe I will be leaving for Finland on Monday. Our flight leaves the SLC airport around 11:30 so I should be calling around 9 your time I'm guessing . . . The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints contains the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is true. The Savior lives and loves and supports you. I love you. Have a great week, talk to you soon :)

Rakkaudella, Sisar Heggie  

August 8, 2013

Terve!

. . .It is true, friendships are the start, good to hear the goals of their branch. I really like what Dianne Hanson said to Aaron "Just go out and make friends". . . .I was telling my companion that being on the MTC west campus is a lot like growing up in a small town. You know everyone and everyone knows you and we're all friends.

We started "Consecration Week" last night.  We won't be speaking any English until next Wednesday night and we all chose things we could consecrate to help us be especially focused this week and show the Lord our dedication. We did 3 days in a row last week of "SYL" speak your language days and that was pretty tough. It's humbling and really makes me put my faith in and rely on the Lord.

I love this gospel. It is the only source of true happiness. The gospel is simple. Follow Christ and you will be happy. Endure to the end. Like my teacher Veli Christiansen said "The Plan of Salvation is progressive, and if you do it right it just keeps getting better" He was a great missionary and now is a great teacher.  He is getting married in 2 weeks and is an example of the progression Heavenly Father intends us to make while we are here. The Savior lives. He atoned for all of us. He loves us. The Book of Mormon is true. This is the true gospel of Jesus Christ, restored through Joseph Smith.

Study your scriptrures, pray, go to church. Do the small things. Do the big things. Go to the temple. Serve. Strive to be more like Christ. I love chapter 6 in PMG which is the attributes of Christ section. Attaining all those attributes is a challenging balancing act. It comes bit by bit.

I love you all. . . .  Have a great week!!

Rakkaudella, Sisar Heggie

August 1, 2013

Rakas Perhe,

Mitä kuullu? . . . . . It rained a couple times this week here, did you get any rain? One of the days it rained was during gym time so I got to stand out in it and get soaked. It helped that I got a super hard block on one of the elders that is pretty good at volleyball in my district. It was an especially good day. . . . . .. You have to let people know that you really do care for and love them before they will listen to what you have to share with them. My comp and I helped with a "How to begin teaching" thing for new missionaries coming in. Only 12 companionships get to do it each week so that was humbling. It was a good experience. I really just need to figure out the needs of people by showing them I care. And that their Heavenly Father cares, which is what our message is. Ha the new cafeteria opens today!!! . . . . . I love you all. the church is true. Heavenly Father loves you and is aware of you. He is all knowing. He know what you need. Have fun in Kansas! Love you.

Rakkaudella, Sisar Heggie

Terve Perhe!! (Hello Family!!)

Minä rakistan teitta! The MTC is great! ,. . . . . .The cafeteria should be open next week!! we're pretty excited. The other day we went to main campus for breakfast and as I was wondering around amazed at all the options a sweet lady came up to me with a pear informing me she got it for me. It wasn't until later that I realized there are no pears in the whole cafeteria. When we got home that night I still had the pear in my bag and told the story how I got it (fruit is limited around here) and concluded that it must have been one of the three Nephites, in the form of a lunch lady. ha i put it in the fridge for later and when i went back to eat it...it was gone ha come to find out one of the sister ate it assuming I wasn't going to. I don't know why it was so funny but it is so now whenever food seemingly comes from no where we just know it's probably our Nephite.

. . . . . .
I'm glad you enjoyed the 24th celebration. I thought of you all enjoying the event of Lund, Nevada. ha you're probably right about fireworks freezing in the air. My teacher, Veli Boyer was telling us about the coldest 2 weeks of the year in Finland (in January) where you can see water particles frozen in the air. IN THE AIR!!! It's like walking through liquid but not so liquid ice. ha is word of advice that day was "don't close your eyes while riding your bike downhill" and the reason why??? YOU'RE EYES WILL FREEZE SHUT! uhhh yeah big Bertha is my new best friend. hahahahahahaha The mission is so great. I'm going to try to send pictures now sorry to cut it short.
 

I love you all, have a fantastic week!! The gospel is true. It brings us so much joy and comfort and peace. Don't ever forget that. Rakastan tietta!

 

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Heggie

 

Picture sent by an investigator who said Sisar Heggie is doing well with the language.

. . . . Mom I love being a missionary. It's up and it's down but overall it's just all up. The language is hard but I love learning hard things and knowing that I can do it. I love the Gospel. I get it. There is so much to study and understand but every once in awhile I have a "lightbulb" moment where everything makes sense and that it must be what you were hoping I could understand all along. The Savior lives and loves us. He atoned for us when He came to the earth. He stood in our place and took the punishment for our sins to make it possible for us to repent and be forgiven and pray to Heavenly Father and receive blessings. Heavenly Father is aware of each of His children. He is in control and works in mysterious ways. His hand is in everything that I do as a missionary. Oh I love it.   . . . . .

In the lunchroom they have gluten free bread for the unfortunate souls who can't have gluten. We also have access to peanut butter and jelly (just no normal bread) I kept my hands off for a few weeks supposing that I don't need gluten free bread so I'll leave it for those who do. Well one day I couldn't handle it. I made a pb&j out of the bread and sin never tasted so good....but really it was disgusting. haha let's just say that gluten is everything good in bread and when you take that away...you have a sand-which. Seriously. It crumbles apart regardless of how much peanut butter you stick on that stuff. Hahaha sooo I learned my lesson. don't steal bread that isn't meant for you. but now every sacrament meeting when they ask over the pulpit if anyone needs gluten free bread for the sacrament bread we can't help but die laughing thinking of the fond memories of me doing all I can to hold the crumbly sandwich together, trying to choke it down. probably funnier in real life but just laugh. It was hilarious.

Life is so good. Email time is so short. Know that I love you and know that the gospel is true. Live it. Every aspect of it. Become like Christ. We all have something we can work on. The Savior lives and God is our Eternal Father. Kirkko on totta. Mina rakastan tietta. Have a great vikko!