Underwater Rugby World Championships!

      We had our one month anniversary this week...18th of August. Time has flown by.  The office is settling down some...although the amount to learn is still tremendous. We are trying to take one day at a time, prioritize what needs to be learned and put out fires along the way.  We are confident that the Lord will help us and guide us. "For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake, lead me and guide me." Psalms 31:3

      I wanted to show you some photos of the streets of Helsinki...last blog entry I mentioned it was like Pittsburgh.  Now you can see what I mean.

Crazy!  Very narrow city streets and Grandpa Finland manages without hesitation!  I bet he could even do it with a bus...

       We took a drive down from our office and saw some big cruise ships.

      We had a picnic for one of the sister's birthdays.  Attended the temple again on Friday night, but got caught in traffic due to a bus breaking down.  We made it in time to do sealings for eternal families...mostly all in Finnish. Eternal Marriage One of the most beautiful temples inside we have ever been in.  Went shopping after and took these photos so you could see how these clever Finnish people make sure everyone returns the grocery cart.

You put the money in to unlock your cart from the other carts in the row.

                                   
                                 Go shopping and when you come back put the lock back.

                                                        Take your coin...cart returned!

      Saturday was a great day!  We went looking for a swimming pool closer to our apartment and found much more than we expected.  It was a huge Sports Park with ice hockey, swimming and basketball.  The grounds are acres of trails and tennis courts.  We were able to catch a hockey scrimmage with young men in their twenties.  We were unable to swim because the pool was closed due to the UNDERWATER RUGBY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!  We stayed and watched and were amazed! We had never even heard of the sport...so demanding physically.

                                                                Referees wear scuba gear.

Italy won the match!  Both teams link arms and Italy sings their song...with great fun and vigor!

Women played too!

This is what they did before the match began...they clapped really loud (pictured above) while a swimmer from each team swam across carrying a small flag from their country...exchanging them in the center of the pool.  Swam back and the match began!  (pictured below) They are congratulating each other after the game.

Here's the hockey! There were two rinks this large...the other one had little guys playing.  Hockey is VERY BIG in Finland!

Also visited a beautiful cemetary...every headstone is granite!  

Of course, then in the afternoon we were able to find a great golf course.  How long did it take Grandpa Finland to find his favorite sport?...only two weeks.  

Notice where the golf club is pointing...YES, IKEA!  It was three stories high...we went there and ended our day with shopping.  What a fun day!  

First Train Ride!

      This was a busy week.  On Tuesday we said "Goodbye!" to five Elders and  welcomed seven new missionaries to our mission.  It was a day filled with activity which kept us fully awake!  It was "change" day and therefore, missionaries were transferred around the mission, including those who had been keeping things running in the office until we arrived to take over.  We only knew these young men for a week, but they became our heroes for what they had done when asked to.  There are five of us now in the office who will work hard to keep up with those two Elders accomplished. Their testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ are on fire and they were anxious to return to the field to spread His word.  Here is a cool photo of them that they had hanging on the door welcoming all to the office!

      We worked hard for the remainder of the week to learn and glean needed information to perform our duties.  We also found that we were organizing and cleaning.  The library was in need of work so lots of filing and rearranging is being done.  Finland is a country of many diverse languages thus the library is also very diverse in languages, a formidable task to keep it in order.
      We took the opportunity then on Friday to attend the temple in Espoo, a suburb of Helsinki.  It is located in a beautifully forested area.  Finland is known for its lumber production and cultivation of their beautiful forests. They know how to live "green" and save the trees!

      The temple is built out of lovely white, shiny granite.  This photo does not do it justice.  We attended in the evening and the light was almost gone.  Much of Finland is made of ancient granite bedrock , which has been shaped and fractured by several ice ages.  The temple is surrounded by tall evergreens and the gardens are planted with lots of flowers. I especially liked these purple daisies!
      Saturday, our personal day, we decided to travel by train, for the first time, to Helsinki and go to their premier shopping store, Stockmanns.  It is eight stories of store...with everything you would want.  It is like one of our sprawling malls but built "UP"!  It was a fun day... here are photos of our trip.

      In the background of this photo are buildings very close to our apartment building.  We live a stone's throw from the train stop.  The glass walkway you see takes us over the tracks so we can get on the train.  The first photo is our train coming; the second photo is one returning from Helsinki, like the one we road to end our trip. 

      The trains were very comfortable, smooth and fast!  It cost us about 2.5 Euros...or $3.50 each one way. It is less to buy a month's pass. Our money is not valued at its face value.  This is the train station...lots of flowers hanging in gorgeous pots all over the city.  The Finns love their flowers...the second photo is the back door of the train station and the third photo is the amazing front door.

      As we walked through the train station I took a few photos of what we saw.  Inside the train station was fine architecture.  There are several levels with lots of escalators, up-down and cross-wise.  As we entered one escalator I spied something really American.  Can you spot it?  No, it's not the donuts.  No, not the flower shop.  As we left the train station we saw many entertainers trying to earn a coin or two. The little girl was eight years old playing the accordion at a skill level far above her age.

       Inside we found anything a heart could desire...the basement floor was the biggest grocery market we ever saw with foods from all over the world.  We bought salmon for about $4.50 a pound (I cook it for our dinner today and it was yummy!) See the floors...

      Of course, one of our favorite floors was the toy floor.  Look at the amazing "Star Wars" Lego figure and the Lego city!  "Star Wars" is loved by kids all over the world...

      We went to the 7th floor, chose from several restaurants and had a delicious lunch! I was caught with my mouth full...opps!

      Our trip home on the train was quick and comfortable.  Did you see what was truly American in the train station photos?  Here's a hint...look for the "golden arches"!
      We ended our Saturday by driving to a pool nearby to get some exercise.  It was a modern, clean facility and we hope to attend a few times a week.  While there Elder France (Grandpa Finland) had to take this photo of the ingenuity of the Finnish people again.

 Notice how the chairs are up so they can be swept under...pretty smart, right?  Do we have these in America?
      Bye for now...

Getting Settled!

This is a photo of our bus at the MTC taking us to the Salt Lake City airport Monday, 18th July.  It was very touching to see the districts of missionary up so early, 4:00am, to see their companions off to their destinations all over the world. Ours was the first bus in line and we had 31 missionaries on our bus.  At the departure devotional there were 488 missionaries who left the MTC the same week we did.  The devotional was filled with an indescribable energy imminating from all those young missionaries!  And, even some energy from the seniors came pouring out...we were all filled with anticipation and the desire to do our best for the Lord!

We had excellent flights from Salt Lake City, Utah all the way to Helsinki, Finland.  We worked hard on our bags to have them weigh just what they needed to and were blessed that we were right on. We did have an extra long layover in Washington, D.C., part of it planned and part of it unplanned.  The photo you see here is us meeting Gary, our eldest, for lunch.  He is in Washington, D.C. on assignment with the FBI.  It was a delight to see him and we had a delicious lunch at the Red Robin thus the "thumbs up" over our heads.

Then we returned to the airport and waited to board this big baby!  We were asked to check our carry on baggage through to Helsinki and we did so with relief.  I hand carried my laptop and purse...no heavy carry-ons to lug on the plane or around the airport in Frankfurt. Our airplane was a 747 and had seats for ten people in one row.  We sat right in the middle of the center four seats.  What a huge airplane...

We boarded and then we sat on the runaway for one hour...two hours...three hours before we could take off due to thunderstorms.  We were the first plane in a long line of planes waiting so there was no going back...but finally we were airborne.  The flight was uneventful and no turbulence at all!  We had missed the storm.  Isn't that like life...if we sometimes wait patiently when we feel angry, upset or in crisis, then when we move forward...no turbulence!

We both slept some on the plane and arrived safely in Frankfurt Tuesday, 19th July, 4:00pm and went through getting our flights rescheduled to Helsinki; we arrived to late to get the original one scheduled.  We flew Lufthansa and they treated us magnificently! We waited in Frankfurt for a few hours...our sleepiest time...and then on to Helsinki.  We were picked up at the airport by the mission president, his assistants and two office elders.  We were driven to the President's home and fed a delicious meal prepared by his wife.  Also in attendance at the dinner were the two other local (Finnish) sisters working in the office and another senior sister from Utah.  We had good food and good conversation and then were taken to our apartment.

From the photos below you can see how delighted we were.  It is a new apartment furnished comfortably, just lovely. I was so happy and relieved to see the apartment was so beautiful! Our apartment is the one on the first floor directly to the right of the front door.

This last photo is what you see out the back of our apartment.  It has a trail for walking through this wooded area.  Quiet place...we spent much of our evening time and Saturday time buying things needed for our apartment and our groceries.  Not so easy to shop when you cannot read anything!  We could ask at any time and the store workers were most helpful.  90% of the Finnish people speak some English.  See the photo below of the escalator for you AND your cart!  I had never seen one before.  We ate a sandwich up stairs and just took our full cart with us!  Elder France believes that some of the smartest people in the world live in Finland.  Check out the dish drainer photo...You wash the dishes in the sink and place them in the cupboard above which can be closed to conceal the drying dishes until you want to put them away.  It works amazingly well!

Here is a photo of the office we will be working in.  We both have been working hard to learn what we need to but the jet lag has been a detriment.  We will be doing just fine and then the tiredness hits you like a ton of bricks.  The worst thing about it is your brain stops functioning completely!  For us that is not good...regardless, we accomplished some good and learned some.  First desk pictured is Elder France's (alias...Grandpa Finland) and mine is the second photo.  We are all still in transition without duties clear, but that will come soon. Tomorrow we have our first staff meeting.

The day before leaving the MTC we were introduced to the "I AM A MORMON" series.  Here is a link ("I am a mormon.")...they are worth checking out.  I also found the Homefront Commercials that I mentioned we had seen during a devotional. (Homefronts ) Hope you enjoy all!  We found them at the lds.org media library which has wonderful videos (some are for all Christians to use when teaching the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ). The grandkids will love some of them!  (Media Library)

We now have our own car...four passenger purple Volvo.  We purchased a Garmin GPS (Love technology!) and we will find our way around now; named her Isabelle...had to leave Henrietta in Kanab; she only knew how to get around in America. We hope to find a swimming pool for exercise and fitness this coming week.  It will be a busy week!  We have eight missionaries going home from our mission and ten arriving.  I hope we can stay awake for the activities!  (It is 10:00pm here and still light outside...sunrise at 4:00am.) Love to all...