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