September 22, 2014

(Sisar Heggie will be returning January 1, 2015.  We will keep you posted on details of her return and sacrament meeting report.)

Our friend brought her daughter with her to church and she loved primary! She is excited for her baptism this Saturday, and we are so excited for her!! Another friend is continuing to progress. He takes things at his pace and he is more prepared than he knows. It's amazing to see how the gospel has influenced his life. He is more confident, smiles more, and is just happier!! As well as his roommate,who was baptized last year. His roommate commented last night after discussing building a strong foundation of faith that "Faith helps a lot, especially to be more positive" which is something we have been hoping to improve! Our friend we met 2 weeks ago also came to church again and we were able to give her a Book of Mormon and she is so excited to read it. We took her some banana bread last night and met her roommate, who is so cute as well! We're blessed and excited to get to start teaching them. The Lord is blessing us, putting those who are prepared right into our hands. I care so much for each of these people. Sometimes I feel like my heart will explode! 

It was funny this week I was talking to an older couple on the train telling them what I am doing here as a missionary. The lady asked me for which church and I told her. she replied that i should stay quiet because her husband doesn't approve of us "mormons". Well he was pretty hard of hearing so he didn't hear and just kept on smiling as we talked. I kept chatting and was telling her about my family and how my old dad just won a rodeo a couple weeks ago. She was surprised (not because you're so old dad) and asked "oh so he must not be 'mormon' " I clarified that as mormon's we can still rodeo and we did a few other clarifications. It was a way fun conversation and by the end the husband wished me a good night. It's fun to just talk with people! 

Sounds like Alberta has more snow than Finland. I guess it's supposed to snow in the north this week. lucky me, I'm in the south :) 

I hope you all have a great week! love you!! Sisar Heggie

My MTC district. First time we have all been back together since over a year ago!

September 15, 2014

This week we had a mission conference, which normally never happens. We got an exception this week though because Elder Bednar was in Finland on Friday to speak with the missionaries. It was amazing. It was amazing to be sitting in a room when an apostle of the Lord walks in. You could feel the spirit so strongly. When he testified he stated that he KNOWS that Jesus is the Christ and that He lives. He gained a testimony of Christ long before he was ever called to be an apostle. Some people talk about how us Mormons talk ourselves into believing the things we believe. No inner source can give you the knowledge you gain from the spirit. There is no way you can "talk yourself into" gaining that kind of knowledge. We were asked before he came to study a few talks he has given in the past, one about learning by faith, one about testimony and conversion, and another about asking by faith. It was amazing to see how the preparation we put into this learning opportunity greatly affected the outcome. It can be compared to preparing to learn in a couple of weeks as we hear from the prophet and his counselors. The questions I had were answered and even more was added upon that. In this life we are imperfect. We make mistakes. God still expects us to be worthy of receiving blessings. He doesn't expect us to reach perfection in this life. He doesn’t expect us to be perfect right now, but he does want us to be clean. What a blessing it is to have Christ's church on the earth today, with Him at the head. He ACTIVELY leads His church. He has a prophet, He has apostles. 

Church yesterday was a lot of fun. We had a lot of friends in church. One guy we met on the train for a split second, got his number and ran off then he came to church with us. He said when he first decided to come he just wanted to see what it would be like. Afterwards he said he really enjoyed it and wants to come back again. 

Another friend we met and invited her to church. She said she had never been before. She invited a couple of her friends and they all loved church!! The members were super welcoming. And now they want to learn more. It's amazing how the Lord does His work when we get out of the way and let the spirit work. That's one of the best things we can learn. This is the Lord's work and what can I do to make sure I don't get in the way of Heavenly Father blessing His children. 

The other day on our way to visit a family we saw a guy trying to carry a giant box the other day. It looked way heavy and he was going pretty slowly. Sisar Nielsen and I talked him into letting us help. Turns out he has lived in Espoo only a couple weeks and loves basketball. He came with us the next day to play ball and met a ton of new friends and loved it. 

It's a lot of fun getting to know new friends. People who live the principles of the gospel are happy. The Book of Mormon holds real power. I love reading it. Elder Bednar told of how he challenged his son to read the book of Mormon cover to cover and at the end write a one page summary of what he learned about the atonement. I decided that is something I want to do. My study last night was miraculous what I learned about the atonement, even though the word "atonement" was never mentioned even once. I love the gospel. I know that Christ's church is on the earth. 

Love you all, have a great week!!

Rakkaudella, Sisar Heggie

September 7, 2014

Awesome week, we did baptisms with one of our friends for the first time at the temple. I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who loves each of His children and will not deny blessings to any of us if we are willing to accept them. It is comforting to know that even those of our brothers and sisters who never got the chance to accept their Savior and make those necessary covenants with God will not be denied blessings of eternal life. It gives us an opportunity to participate in ordinances that not only open that gate for them but give us the opportunity to learn in God's temple and feel His spirit and love strongly. The feelings of the spirit are not easily forgotten and lead us to know what is truth. Once we have gained our own testimonies of this we are encouraged to "strengthen your brethren" (Luke 22:31-32) which is something we have focused on and discussed this week. We all have those people in our lives who have been a guide to us. It is now our turn to find 1 person to be a friend with. Be their guide. How would they feel at church? Sometimes as members we forget the powerful spirit that is in sacrament meeting. I have been reminded time and time again how strong and peaceful the spirit is at church. We overlook that power. Invite someone to feel it. Pray for strength to open your mouth. You will  receive guidance. And of course opposition will come because you will be opening doors for others to feel strongly of God's love, and that's the last thing Satan wants. Continue strengthening your own testimonies to the point you are converted. We are blessed this week to have a mission conference where President Bednar will speak to us. What a blessing it is to be here!!! I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is so true. I love you all! have a great week :)

Rakkaudella, Sisar Heggie

sister nielsen and i got matching rainboots after all our shoes were soaking wet and we decided it wasn't worth it to keep wearing wet shoes! we also have had a matching theme for the day for the last 2 1/2 months :) 

still matching!

September 1, 2014

I love my family. It's so good to hear from you all.

. . .

Good to hear seminary went well.  It changes lives. Did an object lesson with one of our friends from an object lesson that stuck with me since seminary. It sticks. Even if they are laying their heads on the desk sleeping, or chatting, or being teenagers. 

Saw a mom yesterday searching for her lost 9 year old. We got her number to call if we found him while we were out. Talked to her later and everything was fine and they found him.  Sisar Nielsen and I talked about how important the gift of the Holy Ghost is, especially in parenting. Don’t know how people do it without. 

We were talking last week that we missed root beer and root beer floats. They don't have root beer here, or so we thought. We were at a da with a family yesterday and I asked what kind of juice it was so they told me to try it. I was so surprised when it was root beer! I got excited and told sis Nielsen to try it. We were ecstatic. The family was cracking up at how excited we were. Then they brought out the ice cream so we could make floats. Fun to be with families. I love it. 

Good to hear that the hay is all up, and that you got some rain even if it did take cutting it before the rain came. Exciting for brain and Annie! Kansas is a good place for them I guess! 

It was really fun this week we were teaching a family and we sang "families can be together forever" and one of the little girls just loves songs and said "My family will be together forever" at the end of the song. What better motivation than the faith and hope of a 6 year old to help a family accept the blessings of eternity? The light of Christ in children is so strong. 

Oh cool news. There have been lots of articles about missionaries recently in Finland and one magazine reporter caught wind and we were asked if she could write an article about us. She came with us to appointments for a day and wrote a nice article. It came out last week which is way cool. It is in a woman’s article with over 100,000 readers so it was fun yesterday when I was talking with a woman on the train when she casually commented "I read your article, it was nice!" ha cool to see ways the church is being spread. The church is true! I love it! It makes us so happy. Have a great week! Love you

Rakkaudella, sisar heggie

August 24, 2014

It is so weird to hear that Trasie is off to COLLEGE. . . . .

Yesterday in sacrament meeting one girl gave her talk who leaves on Thursday to her mission and Sisar Cribbs gave her talk leaving to go back home from her mission. One begins and the other ends! The mom of the girl leaving was having a hard time keeping in the tears! Crazy how fast the time goes

This week has been a crazy week getting Sisar Cribbs ready to go. she is really sad to leave Finland but we remind her that it's just the next step!

We had the chance to go to the temple this week as a district. I love the temple. It is such a peaceful place and I love being there and never want to leave. We got to watch the new video and it's amazing how much we can learn from the temple. I would encourage you to see all the new videos if you haven't had the chance yet! 

I have been in the country for a year now. I've live in Finland for a year already? I think of Mosiah 18:30 and the people Alma taught. They talk about how beautiful the waters of Mormon and the valley of Mormon is to them, because it is the place where they got to know their Redeemer. Finland has become so special to me because of the people I have met as well as because I have learned more about my Savior while I have been here. 

He lives. He guides his church on the earth today. He has a prophet who lives on the earth to lead and guide us. We can find peace and comfort and guidance in the Book of Mormon. We can be a help to those who are seeking. I love the gospel. I love my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. 

I hope you have a wonderful week! I love you!

Sisar Heggie

August 18, 2014

pics of us at suomenlinna

We had a good week. Last pday we went to an old fortress (Suomenlinna) as a district. it's a cool place and really pretty by the water. 

Sometimes I wish I could remember the quotes by our friends better, this week was fantastic. The gospel of Jesus Christ is real and the power of the Holy Ghost is real. Living the way God wants us to live brings us joy and peace. One of our friends explained how ever since he has been learning about the gospel he has "more peace throughout the day and even at night when I fall asleep". Wow. His friend describe the change in him as "a drum in a night club" and how he can feel the beat in his heart when his friend is around. Powerful changes that come through living the principles of the gospel! 

One of our friends was able to go to the temple for the first time last week and was extatic!! What a blessing temples are to us and to those who passed on without the chance of accepting the gospel and Christ as their Savior.  I was on exchanges with one of the sister this week and she shared something Elder Ronald A Rasband said. "Focusing on serving our brothers and sisters can guide us to make divine decisions in our daily lives and prepares us to value and love what the Lord loves." When we focus on others we become what Heavenly Father intended for us to become. 

We had dinner with our bishop and his family yesterday and during our spiritual message one of my companions share that "Members are very DIFFICULT in missionary work" we all stopped and started laughing really hard. Bishops wife laughed and just told her to tell them how she really feels! as my companion struggled to correct herself by explaining that she meant to say very IMPORTANT in missionary work. we all got a good laugh. I guess members can be difficult, but more important than that, they are very important. Missionary work can't go on without you all! 

I hope you have a fantastic week! love you!!

August 11, 2014

Good to hear you got some rain!!  We were on our way home the other day after a lesson when the windows of heaven opened and dumped a ton of rain on us.  5 minutes later we couldn't have been more drenched. It was fun. And we were glad to be going home so that we could change into dry clothes. The rain felt good. It has been really warm lately and the other day we decided it would be better to sleep outside instead of in our hot room. It felt nice but there were more bugs than I was wishing for! Mom and Dad, happy late anniversary!! Hope you had an enjoyable day! Tell Kaysie and Quinn happy early anniversary!!! Is this 5 years???? Weird. 

Dad I had to laugh about your fruit snacks. Glad you survived the long trip even without them. Ha what is Mo going to do with all those puppies? One for everyone! Seminary starting soon already? Summer always goes by fast. I saw my fleece lined tights this morning on my shelf and I’m not looking forward to wearing those again! The hockey season starts in 2 weeks. What?!?! 

We had an awesome lesson this week and our member shared how we must lean on the Lord for strength.. She shared how she became a young single mom of 4, all under the age of 10, still needed to go to school, feed the kids, clean the house, and keep a job. She said the first thing she did was get down on her knees and pray and ask Heavenly Father for help. She knows that that is the only reason she was able to do it. She wouldn't have had the energy on her own. Prayer is powerful. The answers we receive are powerful. We had a fun week. We went "survey tracting" in some student housing with our friend. It was interesting and people were more open than if it was the typical "missionary" approach. She had a ton of fun and can't wait to be a missionary. She has been a blessing to us since the day we met her and the gospel has been a blessing to her. I love the gospel. Stay strong in the faith. Have a great week!