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.

. . .

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!
 . . .
 
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

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!