October 21, 2014
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It has been a really great week. We went to the temple to do baptisms for the first time with one of our friends. She loved it. She actually lives about a 10 minute walk from the temple so that is awesome. When we were waiting at the temple we walked into a full room with no seats available and the temple worker looked at us (3 women) and gestured to the full chairs where a couple young men were sitting suggesting that he thinks there are a few open seats. The boys got up and gave us their seats. Our friend remembered that when we talked with her later and she mentioned how the men take good care of us. I love the priesthood. I love the gospel! Then one of our friends was back in Espoo for the weekend and was able to go to the temple for his second time!! The gospel is so amazing. 

We tried authentic Indian food! It was so good! And sooooo spicy! There was one dish that had peppers in it and they warned us not to dare try them (they eat them no problem) so when Sister Nielsen wasn't looking I squeezed the seeds out of the pepper and put them in her chicken. I think she really enjoyed it :) she couldn't seem to drink enough water. But I decided I should try it as well. Wow. I don't know how they do it without almost crying. It was a fun night. 

Our friends from Taiwan are fantastic! It is so much fun to be with them. The other night we had a party at the church where a couple missionaries sang a song with the ukulele about characters in the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, and Jesus Christ. It was fun to see them light up when they heard names they recognized and just barely learned. 

I hope you have a great week. Thanks for you love and support. I love you all. Take care :) 

rakkaudella, sisar heggie

October 13, 2014

 . . . . . There is a guy that just moved into our ward, from Finland, that served in the Vegas mission and has been in Ely a few times. That was exciting! No one knows where Ely is!  It sounds like you all had a very busy Sunday! and successful. good to hear.  How old is Nathaniel? Do they still have the Nichols kids? 

Congrats to the football team! Surprise to hear that seniors didn't win the macho man as well! Homecoming is an exciting week. 

There is a couple working at the temple here from Alberta, one of their sons just got married so they went home for a couple of weeks while the temple was closed for the wedding. Funny to talk with them last night and say that it's thanksgiving. 

I remember standing at the Herder's house after her open house before she left and thinking I wasn't actually ever going to leave. Now she is almost home! 

This week has been a ton of fun. Yesterday we left an appointment with a family running down the street to catch the bus while the mom walked out to make sure we caught it. We were laughing so hard as we were sprinting to the bus stop in our boots and skirts and we got there in time and starting talking to a lady that had watched the whole event. We were talking to her on the bus when a couple other people got on and we started talking with them. It was fun because 2 were from Finland, 2 from America and one from Chile so the conversation was in Finnish and English. There were 5 complete strangers all chatting and it was so much fun! Said who Finns are shy? 

Earlier this week we taught one of our friends how to pray, a completely new concept to her. She felt the spirit really strong in our family home evening lesson we had at a member’s house. She tried praying and told us about her experiences. She prayed before she left for school asking why it was so dark and cloudy. The rest of the day was sunshine. She had a headache after school and was thinking about what she could do. She prayed and a few minutes later her headache went away. She got home that night and was really cold, so lit a couple candles and plugged in an electric blanket and blew the fuse. Couldn’t figure out how to fix it and decided to go to sleep and fix it in the morning. before she went to sleep she prayed and was slightly upset knowing that God could fix it if He wanted to so she prayed "I am here alone and cold in the dark, why have you left me alone in the dark" and she said that even though she was upset she got a distinct sentence in her head to the effect of "You aren't alone, I have at least given you candles to give you light." then it was cool to see how she recognized that as an answer from God and applied it to more than just that situation where the lights in her room had gone out. 

We watched the last session of conference this week. Great talks. Elder Bednar's address to non-members was fantastic. Now what will we do with the things we have learned the next 6 months before the next conference? 

It’s been a good week. Got a good email from Tras. 

Thanks for figuring out the housing. Sounds good :) 

Have a great week! Love you!

October 6, 2014

Dear Family!
 

What an amazing conference!! the church is so true! and so worldwide. i love the talks with church leaders speaking in their native tongues. I have not seen the last session of conference yet but to answer your question of if I noticed a theme, yes!  The first session it struck out to me how strength in the church does not come from numbers but from individuals. we each need to have solid foundations and help those around us once we ourselves have become converted. the second session stuck out to me with how big a problem anti material is to members of the church. Elder Bednar also mentioned it when he was here with us in Finland. Those who allow half truths to destroy the testimony they had never were converted. We need to pray and study and work until we are converted, not relying on others. Reminds me of Elder Holland's "doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith". Then the third session had a definite theme of the blessings of a modern prophet. He is just a man, but a man called of God to fulfill a very divine purpose. A prophet of God speaks to us today, are we aware of what he speaks?

I thought the closing prayer of the first session was nice, a blessing of peace on the families of all the missionaries. I hope you know how happy I am here. I love the people here. I love being a full time missionary. I love the gospel. I hope my small boat of a testimony is becoming a ship able to bare the storms of the sea. I love the scriptures. Mom I hope you challenge your seminary students to take Elder Neil L Andersen's challenge to share their testimony or favorite scripture. so much is learned in trying to voice the feelings of gratitude and love for God and our Savior. "More testimonies have been found in standing up trying to share it than kneeling down praying for it".

Sounds like the funeral was a peaceful and comforting ceremony. the gospel offers a perspective of peace that cannot be found anywhere else.

Sounds like we will both be speaking in church on the same day! I’m sure it will go great, I would love to hear what you speak about. They didn't give me a topic so I'm still putting it together.  I was struck by what Elder Bednar taught when he was here, that we shouldn't go off of a written script but study our topic and prepare so that we speak by the spirit to the needs of our audience. It takes more preparation this way but the way he asked that we give talks for the rest of our lives. Give the spirit more room to teach and to edify.

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I love you:) thanks for your love and support. Have a good week. Take care :)

rakkaudella, sisar heggie

September 29, 2014

 . . .  this week I have tried an array of foods! benefits of having friends from all over the world! Tried some Taiwanese food, Vietnamese food, and next week we will learn how to make Indian food! Tough luck for the football team. the biggest battle seems to stay mentally tough and positive after that. what is the story of the guy that was told to push the rock and he tried his hardest for a long time and it never budged then reported back that "what was the point? the rock never moved!" but in the end made him stronger? It's like that. Good to hear you are getting lots of rain! Congrats to Shad and Kim! Busy time of year to have a wedding!
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We had a fun week. It's hard to write detailed emails without using names of people and whatnot :) I'll be excited to just show pictures and tell stories when I am home. This week we had FHE with the family of the mom that just got baptized. We played hot and cold for our game. It was the mom's turn to find the object so she went out of the room. The oldest daughter is 6 and thought it would be clever to hide it in her pocket. As soon as her mom walked in the room she unconsciously covered her pocket. Her mom picked up on her body language immediately and walked straight to her and found it! Mother knows everything :) You can't hide anything from her! Her mom made a similar comment. Later that week while we were there we were watching as her youngest daughter who just turned one was practicing walking. It reminded me of Kambrie and Anbri and even though I'm missing their cool new tricks I am so blessed to be here and know my friends here. They feel like family.

Remember the etch-a-sketch you sent me in the MTC? I used it for the first time in a lesson to explain the atonement and repentance as we make marks on our clean slate but can continuously wash it clean. It was powerful. Thanks for sending that.

It was way fun this week. We had a lesson with a guy and hadn't been able to find a member to come with us, but one of our other friends lives close by him. We asked her what she was doing and if she would come to the lesson with us:) We had to have a woman come with us or we wouldn't be able to teach. The lesson prep went like this. "Remeber how we taught you about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon a couple days ago?" "Yeah!" "Ok we're going to teach him about that" "OK!" and in the lesson she even testified about the Book of Mormon!! It was so cool!! The Lord is leading us to such prepared people and the ward is amazing at becoming their friends. Missionary work really can't move forward until the ward is ready.

I am SO excited for conference this week! Because of the time change we haven't seen the broadcast yet. they will show it this Saturday afternoon. I am excited. When Elder Bednar was here he taught how we can prepare for conference by choosing a topic we want to learn about then studying it out before, and every talk given at conference will be about that topic and we will feel as if the speaker is speaking to US. What a blessing we have to listen to a living prophet! and be guided by leaders chosen by Jesus Christ. I hope you have a great week! Love you

Rakkaudella, Sisar Heggie