Footprints in Finland: #101 My last Zone Conference

This week was good... but went by super fast. Had a good zone conference, a fat service project, and just an overall really good week.

Tuesday was a pretty busy and weird day. We had zone conference so we took a trip up to Tampere to get together with the rest of the zone. It was way good to see all the other missionaries again and get to chat with them. President Kervinen talked a lot about faith and we had a really good discussion about that. Then we got some subway for lunch which was pretty good. The rest of the afternoon was spent talking about working with our members and what we can do to help them. The really crazy part was at the end of zone conference. Me and 5 other missionaries all gave our final testimonies... because this would be our last zone conference before heading home. It was kind of weird to be in that position because I had seen so many missionaries before me do it and now I was the one standing in their shoes. So that was a little sad. Then after zone conference I got a lot of pictures with some of the missionaries I had become really good friends with... because I would most likely not be seeing them again at least here in Finland.... but sometime after the mission in America. So it was sad to have to start saying some goodbyes already... but I guess the time is coming to an end. Then we went and got some kebab and then went back to Turku and chatted with the other missionaries in Turku on the train. And that was about the end of our day.

Wednesday was a pretty busy day and not all that much happened. In the morning we did some shopping for groceries cause our MSF was way weird this month. And sadly we missed the bus going back so we had to make the 30+min walk back from the grocery store. Normally we shop at a different store closer but we wanted to try the other store. Then we took Elder Dossett to the dermatologist and they had us going all over the place in that building. We went over to the bishops house after and got some traditional Finnish pea soup and some pancakes for dessert. We chatted with him about some members we could visit and how we could help the ward... so that was way good for us and it was fun. The rest of the day was contacting and studies. But contacting was kind of same ole same ole, nobody wanting to talk, and people staring. So it was a good go but not much came from it.

Thursday we did a lot of Facebook work in the morning and that was going good. Hopefully we can get something going there soon. We went out and contacted and then met the elders and sisters for a contacting activity. The elders had a "mini missionary" with them this week. So that's just when youth from around the country go work with some missionaries for a week. So on his last day he wanted to do a singing activity cause he likes to sing. So we got all of us together and we sang some hymns. One guy asked where we were from and I went over to talk to him and we had a way good chat. I had the chance to tell him about Joseph Smith and a short version of the first vision and explain the Book of Mormon to him. We had a way good chat with him and I talked for a good 20 min or so. He left before I could grab his number but he has our card. So in the wise words of my man Elder Calhoun "Please bless this young man that he may call" haha. But he was way cool and we had a few people stop and listen to the singing so that's way cool. The sisters left for a bit to go contact and left us elders just to sing. Sister Bills said I could play the guitar. I really appreciate the faith she had in me but about 5 seconds after she left I somehow put the whole guitar out of tune and well... let's just say we didn't use the guitar until the sisters came back Haha. After the contacting activity we went home for some dinner and then hit the streets again. Elder Dossett and I talked with this bro from Puerto Rico who's been living in Finland for 16 years playing american football... and also owed the entire chain of "M-Room" in all of Europe and just sold it. M-Room is a hair cutting chain in Europe and one of the biggest ones here. But he was way cool and we got his number to talk with him some more some time. And other than that we just got lots of looks, Elder Dossett spoke some Arabic to some habibis and then the night was over Haha.

Friday was a pretty quick day. The beginning of the day we did some contacting in the morning, and then came back for some lunch and weekly planning. We got ready for the elders to come over for splits and when they got here... we made some dinner and chatted for a bit before heading out to do some nightly contacting by the river. I went with Elder Pauole first and we talked with a really nice lady on the bridge who was working at a bakery. We also offered some help to a lady who was cleaning up her frozen yogurt cart with putting away tables and chairs but she didn't want us to help Haha. Then I went with Elder Melton and we didnt get to much. There was a girl who talked to us for a good while but she was pretty interested in Elder Melton which was pretty funny Haha. That night we had some ice cream and we chatted and hung out for the rest of the night.

Saturday we continued our splits by getting up at the usual time of 06:00 to go for our morning run. We went running and then came home to get ready. Elder Melton and I went back to the river to contact and found a little outdoor book fair kind of a thing. And we decided to take a look and we got a little distracted haha. They had all these Russian pins and stuff and some stuff from WWII so of course we had to look. They had some really cool stuff there. Then we went with the elders to help them fill up the baptismal font because a member in their ward was baptizing their kid and needed us to fill it. After that we went back home for some studies. The elders left and then Elder Dossett and I made some dinner and then went to sports night. We played volleyball and it was so nice cause it didn't rain this week... so we got to play volleyball outside in the sand and it was great!

Sunday we got up and went to church. We got stopped by a guy down the street of the church criticizing us because we don't have a cross on our church and how Joseph Smith was visited by Satan. Well I probably could have been a bit better at answering but he was pretty rude. He was just slamming the church and I wasn't having it... and decided to tell him the truth. So we talked for for a bit and he left on his bike because he had nothing else to say after that. Yes I will ask for forgiveness for not being as polite as I could have been, but we are all human and make mistakes and that's okay. After church we had a mini surprise birthday party for Sister Bills because it was her birthday. After church Elder Dossett and I planned for a lesson with a returning member and for come follow me with the district. We met with Jukka Pekka and we had a real good discussion about trusting in the Lord. After that we taught the come follow me this week to our district a little differently by playing "Come Follow Me Jeopardy" for this weeks reading... and it was way fun! Then after that Elder Dossett and I had some dinner and did some work on facebook.

Monday we had district council and reviewed zone conference. We had a really good conversation, but we had to leave a tad bit early to make it to a service project. Well we knew we were in for a long one, but the fact that they fed us both lunch and dinner shows how long it was and we were not expecting that. But to keep it simple, we painted and moved fences, the whole day. I had a great time, I didn't think I would have that much fun painting. But I think I'm pretty good at it now Haha. But that literally took up the rest of the day... we came home really full and then took a shower to scrub off all the random paint that either flicked on you . But I guess it's all part of the painting experience Haha.

Anywho... that's it for this week. Hope y'all have a good juan.

Elder Love Out

1)From zone conf.

2) Contacting activity

3) Sister Bills birthday cake

4) "Most muscular seagull I have ever seen"

5) A guy going for a walk with his ferret

6) From our morning run in Turku

7)Tampere

8) with Elder Stitcher

9) with Elder Aitken (MTC friends)

10-11) with Elder Kimball