Juhannus

Hey all. I don't have much time so I will be brief. 

It wasn't that exciting except my companion had My Plan on Thursday which is where all the missionaries going home next transfer get together and make a plan to go home. I got to go spend the day in Marjaniemi because of it. It was way fun. The sister who is there is in training, so it was fun to teach one of the returning members there and spend the day with a new missionary. It was hard to be the one expected to understand because I still don't really understand a lot, but we did pretty well. It was fun to see everything again. The saddest thing that happened that day came after the happiest. My favorite restaurant in the entire world is there and we got to go and eat there. The sad part was the fact that I forgot my leftovers on the train on the way home!! I was heartbroken. They have the best food and I forgot it on the train!

On Friday and Saturday it was Juhannus. Which is the first day of summer holiday here. It is really similar to our Fourth of July celebration. Everyone goes out and swims and there are parties and bonfires and sauna and swimming. Everyone also goes out and drinks, so we had special permission to spend the days with members. On Friday we went to the bishop's house and helped them in the yard and we ate dinner with them. We also got our transfer call while we were there. SISTER NIELSON AND I STAY TOGETHER HERE IN LAPPEENRANTA!!! We are so pumped. Together we will have 15 weeks together and I finally get to stay in an area. It is so nice! It is a blessing to get to stay here in this wonderful city. This was just Friday. On Saturday we had lunch with an older member here who we just love and she just loves us. We have chili con carne with her. This little Finnish old lady fed us Mexican food. It was awesome. Afterwards, we thought we had lessons, but they were half an hour away by bus and the buses weren't running. So we walked for about a half hour before we realized we still had an hour to go and we were going to be late. So we cancelled and rescheduled. So we contacted to another members house. She is from America and the most precious soul ever. We got to sit in her apartment and just chat about American things and eat some cake. It was so nice. Then the little old lady we ate lunch with took us out on a tour boat. We got to see Lappenranta from the big lake. It was way cool. we got to practice Finnish and we talked to the people around us. We also rode through one of the locks in the canal by the city. It eventually goes to Russia but we only went through one before turning around. It was fun though. Then we went home after that. We had a good weekend holiday. 

Sunday was a really special experience. I have been studying the Savior's Atonement and how he can help me. So when I went and partook of the Sacrament I really felt the Savior next to me. It was a really nice experience to know that through all my things, the Savior really is with me. And if He is with me He is with you. I know that. I love you all and hope you have a great week! Then we taught Relief Society in Finnish and it went well thanks to Sister Nielson! IT was fun to talk about missionary work and people's conversions. Love you!

Until next time! 

Love Sister McCammon

She just sends so many awesome pictures I have a hard time just choosing a few! I just think Finland is so Beautiful!

Sisar Nielsen and Sisar McCammon at the Sandcastles too many to picture here! I posted them on Facebook.

 Taking a drink break I guess!  These are so fun!!!

On Juhannus they got to go on a boat tour on the Lake and through a set of Locks on the Saimaa Canal it is a transportation canal that connects Lake Saimaa with the Gulf of Finland near Vyborg, Russia.  Malkia is the lock they went through, the firs of  3 on the canal that are in Finland, and there are 5 more in Russia.

Moomin House and the Russian Border

 Morning run at the soccer fields

Last week was pretty crazy. We had a bunch of lessons. More than usual at least. Tuesday we had 2. We taught our new friend (henceforth S) and he is way cool. He came to church yesterday too. He believes more in science than in religion, but he is really open to learning. He seems to really like what we believe so far, and it has been so fun to teach him. Then right afterward we left to go walk with the next person we are teaching, and he walked with us, and met the next man we were going to teach before he headed out. He was totally ready to just hang out with us for the night. But he left and we taught D. He is so funny! His accent sounds almost like he is from Detroit, but he is actually originally from Rwanda. He has lived in Finland for about half his life though. He is way cool. We got to teach him and he had texts and calls the whole time because he is going to visit Rwanda on Wednesday and people wanted to see him before he left. So when he left he said "Thank you for your time," and we immediately said "Thank YOU for your time. You are much more busy than us," and he just looks dead at Sister Nielson and says "There is always time for Jesus!" It was so awesome! We will hopefully get to teach him when he comes home. There is a lesson set up for him already so fingers crossed. 

Wednesday wasn't much. Just a lot of finding time, and I finally went to the bishops house. We had a dinner appointment and so it was really fun to go out and meet his family. They are all really nice kids. It was really good too. We had a fun spiritual thought about superheros and how through the Holy Ghost and spiritual gifts we can become our own kind of hero as we develop these gifts. It was really cute and way fun. 

Then on Thursday we went to district council. Just a normal day. not much to report, but we went to another members house for dinner today too. Their family is just amazing. We got to do the superhero thought with them too and they just loved it. We even dug deep into superheros before switching to the Holy Ghost, so the switch was deeper and much more prominent than before. We live and we learn right. It was way fun! 

Friday we got to go to a friend M's house. We got to see the Russian border from her house and we took a tour of her yard. She has so many cool things and knick knacks. Her mom works a loom and so they have a million rugs that her mom hand made. her dad works with wood, so all their chairs and tables and even their house is made by him. He also has a bunch of war memorabilia, so their house is almost like a museum. It was way cool. (Pictures at the end) Then we got to make Karjalan Piirahka. Which is basically a rice and egg mixture in a savory pie crust and shaped like a football. Google pictures of them. It looks and sounds kinda gross but it is actually REALLY good. After we came home from her house, we went to visit a person who just moved form Greece that the missionaries there emailed us about. We went to her and were talking. She is so nice. Because of her status as a refugee though, we can't teach her until she gets residency unfortunately. But we got to visit and she fed us a pudding type parfait. It was just unfortunate because we had two members with us who were gluten free and couldn't eat it. Then when she took us to visit her friend they fed us too, and again they had to refuse. We felt bad, but we had to leave soon after, so it wasn't too bad. It was fun for us though.

Russian Border

Saturday was crazy! We weekly planned that day and had an insane lesson. It was at their house, and they weren't really interested and in the background the radio was playing and the TV was on and it was in Finnish, so I was struggling to hear what they said and translate because of it. And at one point the radio played on of my favorite songs so that didn't help. It was just crazy. They were really nice though. Just not interested. One day they will be ready though. So hopefully in a couple years when the missionaries stop by, they will be ready. I just pray that God will grant them a change of heart. Then we waited for a bus and got to talk to the member who came with us for a while because the bus was longer than we expected. So it was fun to talk to him about missionary work and stuff!

Sunday was fun too. As I said before S was there and Sister Nielson translated for him, and in Sunday School I translated for our American member. She is way cute, and she is so patient with my poor translation skills. I had to make up a lot because I don't understand everything and it isn't always easy to hear what people say. You can hear that they are speaking, but the words blur together sometimes and some people are easy than others to translate. So she was patient and I did it. Then after church we had a little luncheon at the church and our friend stayed for that. He said he liked church and would come back next week! It will be exciting. Sister Nielson will be speaking so that means I will need to translate for him. It should be good. 😬😬😬

We didn't do much yesterday, but we had another dinner appointment and it was fun. We brought them cookies because the other day when I was making a some stress cookies, I accidentally mixed up two ingredients and put in 6 times the amount of baking soda and mixing it together before I realized what I did. So instead of tossing and restarting, I times the recipe by 6 and moved forward. So we ran out of every ingredient and now we have a lot of cookies. It has been fun though to give out so many cookies. We even brought some to our ward mission leader, and he liked them. He thought the story was pretty funny too. Not your usual missionary story. I was just a bit stressed and a bit tired and just decided to go for it. They turned out really good too, so high five to me!

I don't really know how to be brief, so I am sorry, but this week really has been amazing. We have seen so many miracles and taught so many people. We have really felt the Lord working on us this week. He has been helping us find people to teach and to help them come unto Christ. It is hard. The hardest thing I have had to do. Ever and possibly the hardest thing I will ever have to do, but there are lots of people that have really been helping. Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement. I love you and I miss you all. 

  

Love Sister McCammon

What fun pictures she sent this time. Inside a Finnish home and a Moomin House!

Moominhouse (based on the houses in the moomin story books), Inside M's house woven rugs, a field outside their house, a boat picnic table and a russian train.

 Pictures of inside the Moomin' House and inside the children's cottage.

 Gun Collection war memorabilia, Clock handmade by her dad.

A little fire pit shelter, An old Finnish phone box, some boats behind their house and the Russian train again, and fun yard decorations.

Dog Parking is a thing!

Tuesday we went and drove around the big lake here with a couple of members. We were at the more middle point of the lake as you could get. Then one member took us to his summer cabin and we drank tea, ate wafers, and looked at the lake and the gorgeous Finnish nature. It was awesome. Then we got to go with the other member to as support to see if she wants to move. She was really worried and didn't know what to do and wanted our help, as she is single and doesn't really have a lot of family close by. Then we got to go contact by the lake and found out there is an old car show every Tuesday on the Lake. So that is cool.

Wednesday we had a normal district council day and got to go contacting afterwards. It was way fun and we got to get to know our district a little better this week. It was way fun. Then we took a bus home and ate dinner then headed out to a lesson. It was way good and such a miracle happenstance. A few weeks ago, we were going to go tract in an area, and we were getting on a bus, and this young man had gotten on before us, and was staring at us really weird. I was uncomfortable, but Sister Nielson started talking to him, then he moved and sat in front of us. Turns out it's a member of our ward. I hadn't met him yet, but he starts talking to us, and we miss our bus stop and ride all the way to the university so we can talk to him, as he is less active. As we are walking back to the place we wanted to tract, we contact this man, who knows a couple of our friends! We get his number, and that was maybe 3 weeks ago. Fast forward to this week, and we finally have a lesson with him! And we invited this woman to come with us and she said yes, then we informed her it was English, she said her son was coming. Her son, as in the reason we met this man. It was amazing to see the Lord's hand in this meeting, and see how much it helped the young member. He even texted us later to tell us. It was awesome to see that and have the Spirit testify that this is the Lord's work and he really does inspire us in everything we do. It was way cool. Then afterwards he invited us to his friend, our ward mission leader's, graduation party. So we got to meet the WML's non member family. They are so cool and it was way fun!

Thursday we didn't do a lot other than tracting. It was a really hot day though. Record highs, and we forgot our water bottles and were outside all afternoon. We were lucky and knocked on the door of the nicest man, and  he gave us some water while we talked to him. Such a blessing. Then we went and had what we thought was our last dinner with a family here. They leave on Tuesday to have a 5 week vacation in Australia.It should be really fun for them. We had fun with them and it was such a blessing to see them before they left and not just at church.

Friday was crazy. We usually weekly plan on Fridays but a former missionary was here so we got to eat lunch with her and then we went and contacted a bit, and then we came home. It was over 100 degrees though so we couldn't focus on planning. Then that evening we had our ward family night, so we got to go and build up the members, all before we came back to town fro a lesson with our new friend. He is the nicest man ever and it was so fun to teach him! He is so interested in finding out more, and it is amazing how much work the Lord has done on this man. The last time he was contacted, he was not interested, but now, he has questions and he is trying to learn. It is amazing the turn around. It was such a good lesson too.

Saturday, we went and served a family that lives on a little farm on an island just north of here. They are the sweetest, but again it was so hot that we couldn't stay outside too long. We got to weed her garden a bit before lunch though and that was good. We came home and contacted a little bit before really weekly planning. We had to turn on the fan and sit in our air conditioned room for some parts of it though because 100 degrees is quite hot. But we finally got it done.

Sunday was a good sabbath. We got a text Saturday, that one of us was to give a talk in church on Sunday, soo guess who spoke.. Me. In Finnish. I was so nervous, but afterwards everyone said it was really good. They really liked it and were amazed that my Finnish was as good as it was at only 6 months. So that was really kind of them. Then in Relief Society we talked about President Uchtdorf's talk, "Missionary Work: Sharing what it in your Heart." It was really good. I invite all of you to read the talk and apply the principles he teaches about. I promise that it really will bless you and you will find that it is so easy to speak about what you believe. For example when someone asks about your weekend you could say "it was good. I had a 2 hour spiritual experience!" The Lord really will bless you to find new ways to bring up your beliefs to the right person as you pray to know and apply the principles from Elder Uchtdorf. After church we went to an area and were tracting. We got a couple new potentials and that was awesome. Then we went to get on the bus. Turns out the bus left later than we thought, so we contacted to the first stop and got on the bus. Then we had the opportunity to talk to this young woman on her way to Helsinki for the summer who got on the bus with a cockatrice. She said "I feel like Harry Potter again!" She was so cute! We missed our stop so we could keep talking to her. It was so fun! Then we came home for a yummy dinner of fried chicken and then to our ward missionary work meeting. All good things, before we headed home for a.... APARTMENT INSPECTION! It was good! We had fun getting to see the office missionaries again. I loved that and it was so nice! We also got our dishwasher fixed and my blinds! No more falling blinds!

Monday we had a lunch appointment with the members going to Australia and it was so good to see them one last time. They are so amazing and we love them! (mom= you can look at the picture just don't post it anywhere) It was such a blessing to get to share another message with them because when they come home, one of us will be gone possibly. Then we went and sang happy birthday to a member who turned 91! Then we went and tracted around our area. It was way cool! We met some really nice people! Then we came home to grab a change of clothes and headed out to serve a member. (Sister Nielson chopping wood) It was way good. Which brings me to a Finnish culture thing. Finns eat breakfast, lunch, then dinner around 5 or a bit earlier. Then around 7 or 8 they have what they call "ilta pallo" which is like an evening snack. Well bigger than a snack but smaller than a meal. It is so cool. Kinda weird, but I thought it was fun. Then home where we called a bunch of people and followed the Spirit and called someone who we set up a return appointment with! Blessings!! We also got to talk to a potential who is from Rwanda but sounds like he's from America. It is crazy fun to talk to him!

That is my week. It was full of blessing and miracles and I loved every bit of it. I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

Love,
Sisar McCammon

HAHAHA  Dog Parking this cracks me up!!!

P-day at the Lake with some members

 Service with a smile!  Chopping some wood!!!

What have I done for someone today!?

Hey mama! This week was better. Much much better, but still kinda low.. It is hard to be in an area where no one wants to learn and everyone already knows the missionaries. It is getting better. We have started trying to twirl and take a few more sitting down breaks. It helps, but missionary work is hard. It just is hard to work up all your courage to knock on a strangers door then bare your heart in a foreign language then get told no. Door after door. Place after place. Day after day. It is rough. I have learned a lot about patience and Jesus Christ and grace and His Atonement. It has strengthened me for sure, but that doesn't mean that I like it that much.

kuitenkin.... My week!!

We had district council and we thought we were staying in Mikkeli for lunch and contacting, but last minute we got a call and found out that because it was raining, we weren't. So we were already on the train and had lunch and everything. Bit disappointing, but we ate our grilled cheese and tomato soup like champs during the last 15ish minutes of district council. It was fun. Then we had to rush to the train and just made it in time. It was great. Then we came home and got everything ready and ran to the bus to Joutseno. We tracted there a little bit then went to a member's house and helped her get the trees that they had cut down sorted and stacked. They will use the wood to heat their house. It was way fun. Lots of bugs and bites, but altogether good. Then we came home tired and dirty. It was a good day.

On Thursday, we went out to another member's house and helped her get her gardens ready for planting. Lots of weeds, and we got to plant strawberries and tyrnimarja. So that was fun! Then she fed us and we had ice cream and tyrni for dessert. Then her and her oldest son came with us to hopefully have a lesson. We made it clear we were just stopping by and had not set up a lesson. But she was in the process of moving to Estonia. So.... It was slightly embarrassing, but they were chill about it. I think it was nice for the son because he got to feel his missionary days again. Then we came home and changed and went out and contacted and tracted just in the area where we live.

On Friday we weekly planned and visited an older member and brightened her day with a talk and sang her favorite hymn. It was super nice. Then we came home for dinner and the evening happened. We found some Rivitalos (row houses) by the hospital and golf course and were tracting and contacting over there. It was really difficult. We just got no after no. It was always a nice no, but still a no. After a while we left because it was not effective. So we walked over to Saimaa, but felt that we should walk by the church. We sat on a bench for a moment for me to fix my shoe, and a neighbor walked by with her adorable dog. So we got to talk to her and she asked quite a few questions about us and what we do. She wasn't interested, but it was awesome to see the Lord had been working on her since the last time we saw her. Then we walked by the school and saw all the teenage boys playing sähly (floor ball) and making jokes. We even saw a couple roll in on their bicycles. Then we continued on and as we walked down this one street a large group of maybe 7 or 8 men walked by all slightly drunk. I was a little nervous and I could tell that Sister Nielson has tensed up as well. But almost immediately one of the men raised his had and said "Kiva Nähdä" (nice to see you) then high-fived us. Then following his example, all his friends high-fived us then walked on. Then we finally made it to Saimaa and contacted this guy on a bench and talked for almost 20 minutes. he was interested enough to take a book but not to meet. It was a really good contact and all the little things led up so that we could talk to that man. we had to race home after because it was home and safe time, but we just really felt prompted to talk to him. It was a tender mercy because God put all those little people and things in our path to lighten our day enough so that we could testify happily to that man and say that it is true. It was awesome.

Saturday was a day full of finding within walkable places because my bus card was out since it has been a month and we completely forgot. Whoops. So all the plans that we had made were now kaput. As a side note it has been a very long time since we have had face to face contact with our recent convert, and it was finally time that we decided to put her into follow up, instead of endlessly sending unanswered messages and calling over and over. The same day that we updated her record and put her into official follow up was one of the most difficult days of the transfer. We had been out tracting houses almost all day. We went in some giant circles and absolutely no one wanted to talk to us. It was incredibly discouraging. We ended a large circle of contacting and noticed that we were right next to an apartment building where she lives. We decided to try to door bell for the twentieth time since Sister Nielson has been in this area, so we went and rang. And she ANSWERED!!!!!!!! We were buzzed in and as we walked up the stairs, I was excited because I have never met this member, and neither has sister Nielson  When we got up to her apartment she was standing in the door expecting a friend who was picking her up to go to her daughter's graduation party. We stood in the door and talked for over twenty minutes! She was sorry to have not been coming to church and she said she has been reading the Book of Mormon! We prayed with her and had a really good contact. She even said that this week she would love to meet with us! It was a huge mercy for that day. One of the bigger miracles that helps you notice the smaller ones as well. We are so excited for her and the guidance of the Spirit in everything we are doing, even if we don't see daily miracles, they do occur when we look for them and try earnestly to find them. (Sat is the day they saw the sandcastles in the picture below.  She said there is a huge festival there and as they all get built she'll send more photos)

Sunday we had church and one of our friends came! He is so cool! He is from Cameroon in Africa and he loves church! He only speaks English though so we had in sacrament someone translated for him and the two other English speakers. Then someone in Sunday School did the same. so sweet. After church we went to a member's house and taught her about the Restoration to practice and get Finnish help. Way fun! And she is so sweet. We talked about the 21 day challenge and she shared that she had already started it. And she shared that she wants to help the missionaries by spreading the gospel to everyone she can. She is literally probably a better missionary than me! She rocks! She goes and finds people on the street and at the events. I think she really loved having us over to talk about missionary stuff and just to hear more about her life. Then we came home and did studies and took a nap for lunch and did some calls before having dinner. Except our oven wasn't working. So we had to pack up food and we cooked at the church. It was a delicious taco dinner. Then we took everything home and headed out to an area and contacted so many people. At one point we were looking for this building and we asked a lady who was heading into her house and she said go to the side of the house and I will point the way from my balcony. So we talked to this lady from Pakistan from her balcony. After all this we were walking to the church for a meeting when our landlord called to talk to us about our oven. So we ran home really quickly and he talked us through how to check which breaker was flipped and fix it. And we fixed our oven! All in Finnish! And all before our ward coordination meeting at 8. It was a good day.

Monday I got my bus card and we celebrated by heading to a further out area and proceeding to tract and contact out there to no luck. But one person we were trying to meet with, we called and set up a lesson with! So that was exciting! Then the evening we went to another far out area and tracted there. It was a day of no success, but we had fun and it was good! It was a twirling kind of day!!

I don't think there is anything else for this week. I do suggest the talk "What have I done for someone today" by President Monson in October of 2009. It is a really good one and I really enjoyed reading it this week. As I turn toward others and look at the ways I serve people everyday, I really have felt the Lord with me. He loves each of you and I do too. Until next week! Nähdään!!

Rakkaudellani
Sisar McCammon

She sends some of the most gorgeous pictures!  Finland is a beautiful place.  

 I hope they tracted this building that seems like a sign or something! Dontcha think???

 Service!

Prepping for the sandcastle - Check out this facebook page it has a lot of cool sculptures. Should be fun for Abbie to see!  https://www.facebook.com/Lappeenrannanhiekkalinna/