:)))

Hei! Mitä kaikille kuuluu??

Here is Oulu it has been warming up a bit from last week! At one point it got to -15c but now it is at a much more reasonable temperature for November about 3c. HAHHAAH so last week it was very difficult washing the car. yes– even when it is below freezing we need to wash the car. So we took some nice warm soapy water and started to scrub it down. I learned something new that day, that bubbles FREEZE. Hahah it was a catastrophe trying to get the frozen bubbles off the car without the other water also freezing onto the car. I think that our car ended up looking worse after we washed it than before. Luckily today it is not so cold.

We had missionary leadership council this week in Espoo and so we were able to visit the temple. I am really thankful that I have been able to attend the temple so much on my mission. I have been able to go every single transfer except for 1! While I was in the temple I was able to see a member from my rakas Lahti ward (the place I served before Oulu) It was a tender mercy for me. I was able to ask her all about how the people in Lahti are doing. She told me the man Sister Cimbaraite and I found and taught will be baptized in a few weeks!! That was great news to hear, I remember when we first met with him, he didn’t say a word all lesson. We would ask him a question and then there would be about 1 minute of silence before we just started teaching again. But by the time I left he had opened up SO much. Sometimes our lessons would even go over time because he would talk so much. The gospel really does change people. It makes people happier and gives people hope. The member in Lahti also told me that the older woman sister Cimbaraite and I taught and baptized was very very sick and has been in the hospital for awhile. She is 87 years old now! She may not have too much time left and that at times is really hard for me, but I have become very thankful that we were able to teach her the gospel before she was not in well enough condition to do so.

We have been trying to teach someone English. ENGLISH IS SO HARD. I think the hard part is teaching someone not roll their r’s. It is near impossible. Also the word "wasps" is VERY hard for non englsih speakers to say. HAhaha once you say it a few times it just sounds so funny.

This past week it was Pyhäin Päivä. Everyone goes to the cemetary and puts candles on the graves of their loved ones. Sister Holbrook and I decided to try and be creative with our finding and went to the cemetary that night and just went round and talked to people about what Pyhäin Päivä was and why is was important. it was really nice to just get into some conversations with people. At one point we were talking to this woman and 2 other people wanted to just join in on our conversation!

I have been thinking about President Monson’s quote "Whom the Lord calls. He qualifies." a lot lately. I truly do know that this quote is 100 percent correct. I have been thinking a lot about what kind of missionary I was at the MTC and now. And the truth is I myself I am not anymore qualified to be a missionary now, than when I was at home filling out my papers. I am still not prepared to do all the things that missionaries need to do each day, but somehow it just works out. It reminds me of a statement in Preach my Gospel that says "Remember that your confidence and faith should be in Jesus Christ, not in yourself." When I have kept this in mind it has been much easier for me to put my fears away and just go do missionary work. It is still scary everytime I need to go start conversations on the street and often times I don’t feel confident in that. But I have learned on my mission that the only thing I need to be confident in is the Lord. And then things will work out! And this can apply to anything! Not just missions but church callings and facing trials as well! I am so thankful for my mission and the things I am learning from it!!

Love you all so much!!

Sisar Wilson