Pori Finland Here I am!!!

This week was absolutely insane! Last time I wrote, I was living in Lappeenranta and seeing a Russian every other person almost. Especially when we got to go to the Russian border! 😉 just kidding, we didn't see any Russians but it was awesome! I miss that place so much!! The known streets and trusty members and beloved friends. LPR was seriously home. But on Tuesday I shoved the last of my belongings into my bulging bags and headed to the train station. We were met by a member who drove us over there. I cried a lot when I said goodbye. And then I cried some more on the train and slept a bit and  talked to my sweet companion. I had roughly 20 minutes at the train station before bidding a bitter sweet goodbye to my dead sweet Sister Miller. 😥👭 I was sad to see her go but shes gonna be an amazing trainer. She's seriously amazing and LPR is gonna thrive. I boarded my train though, and rode to Tampere by myself. I cried quite a bit and tried to hide it from the few other passengers nearby. But it was a bit weird to travel by myself.

But I made is to Tampere and was met by Sister Allen 💕 from the MTC, Sister Middleton 💖 my new companion, and Sister Forrest ❤ who I was companions with for the day when Sister Nielson went to my plan. It was way fun. Then we hung out in the train station for roughly 2.5 hours before boarding the train to Pori with the Elders. Elder Hall (MTC) and Gatrell who was in Helsinki zone with me. I also got to meet my district and see Sister Broderick (also MTC [that makes 4 of us in the same district!]) Then Sister Middleton and I went and started working really. We bought some groceries and had dinner but just started working. We got to meet the most amazing members that night. It is the branch president and his wife and their one son. They are literally the best people ever. They are already good friends to me! 😁 They are so compassionate and loving. They are amazing!!!

That was just Tuesday. Wednesday we did a lot of finding then in the evening we got to go out and teach a recent convert. He is was cool. He has such a strong testimony and it was amazing to teach him and meet him. I really enjoyed my time there. That plus he gave us some chocolate and snacks. He is seriously super nice. Plus he is a professional piano player for the Lutheran church and he plays the piano amazingly. It is incredible.

Thursday was our ward coordination meeting. Which means we get to be with our Branch President for a while and he teaches us Finnish by having us go through an essay we write in Finnish prior to our meeting. So he teaches Finnish then we get to discuss about our friends and how we can help the ward and so forth. It was absolutely amazing. Then afterwards, the elders were kind enough to serve us by putting winter tires on our car. Here come winter. I am partially scared for winter driving but bring it on Finland. This Idaho girl is ready to take you on!! 🦸‍♀️💪

Friday I went to TAMPERE! And it was legit the best. We got there and found our way to the chapel. (Halfway across the city) so we got to see a bunch of stuff. And i bought ice cream that is lemon flavoured and delicious. Absolute heaven. 🍋🍦we has district council and I was excited to meet our district. Although I know most of us already. It was way fun! I love to see other missionaries although district councils are sometimes difficult. I feel guilty a lot during them because I never feel like I'm doing enough. It feels like chastisement a lot. I hope that can change too because it puts a downer on the excitement of seeing other missionaries. After council we had like and hour and a half in Tampere. So we wandered towards the train station. We took pictures by the church and by some statues and we took a picture that looked like the paper mill. It was cool we walked around a while before going back to the station and getting on the train to go back to Pori. We got to go back with the Elders. It was seriously way fun.

Saturday we did some following. We met a bunch of people who we interested in the morning and got to teach our other recent convert. He is so cool. He is pretty busy, but has already read the Book of Mormon is his three months of being a member. His conversion is so strong and he is dating a member, so we are praying really hard on his behalf that it goes well for both of them. People here deserve eternal marriage and families so much. There is so much these people don't realize they are missing out on. Only when we go through the temple and are sealed can we really live with our families after we die. Only through Jesus Christ can we feel completely forgiven and become like Heavenly Father. Heavenly Father wants so much for us to be close to Him because He wants to help us out so much!! Anyways, we also got to drive out to Reposaari. That's where the ocean (Gulf of Finland?) is, so of course I took a picture. Then when we followed up at the next person, we were so far from the city that the stars were so clear. We also got to walk out to a little beach like 10 meters from our car, and saw the ocean and the stars and i just felt so happy. I wish i could have laid down on the sand for just 5 minutes and soaked in the evening and appreciated.  It was good for the moment we were there though.

Sunday I bore my testimony in church!!! 😬😬 it went well though. The biggest mistake I caught. I almost said I had been in Finland for 10 years and not months. Even though we are a Branch and we didn't have that many members at church that day, I was still pretty nervous to talk in front of everyone. But church was really good. I understood pretty much all of it and that is still something I am getting used to. I remember still remember sitting in the chapel in Espoo and thinking during Sacrament, "the only thing I understood in that was 'dear brothers and sisters' how am I going to ever learn this language?" And yet here i am almost a year later. It's incredible what the Spirit can teach you. Another fun thing and merciful thing was our branch President and his wife feeding us dinner. It was the best dinner ever. They asked about the food I missed most which was funeral potatoes so we got to eat funeral potatoes!! 🥔🥔🥔 I love them so much! They take such good care of us!! (They gave us the leftovers!!!)

Monday was okay. President gave us permission to go and get to know Pori a little. So we went to the tourist place and learned a bit about what there is to see for the next couple months then we went and found a book at the public library about Pori before stopping for burgers on the way home. Then we finished planning for our week before heading for some more finding. Lots and lots of doing this week, but it isn't terrible I guess. I'm still new here, and I'm driving, so that's crazy. All has been going well, and I'm really excited for the rest of my time here. I hope I can love it just as much as I loved LPR!!

I love you all and hope you have a good week. Feel my love!!!

Love Sister McCammon!! 💖💖💖

Bittersweet Goodbye's

Hey there. Sorry I missed yesterday. It got kinda crazy with packing, but I hope you like the Russian border pictures. It was a really beautiful drive and I'm glad I went. Afterwards we went and ate pizza, then E. took us to her art studio before bringing us back to Lappeenranta. I cried so hard when I said goodbye to her and R. It was so hard to leave the both of them, and I'm gonna miss them. We need to come back and visit mama. Then later we met with J. and when we said goodbye to him, I cried just as hard. I probably cried at leaving Lappeenranta just as much as I cried when you took me to the MTC. These people are my friends and I am going to miss them so much.

Our week was good though. We gave a school presentation last week, and that was another cool thing. This class asked a lot of questions and were really interested to listen. They were a good group. We weren't as prepared as we thought but it went really well. We later had dinner with a member's family and it was fun. Sad to go, but we had a good time with them. They feed us every week, and they are so glad to do it!

We had district council on Wednesday. It was sad to say goodbye to everyone. There are some people who I could never see again, and that is honestly really sad. I really like a lot of the people here that I have met. I know I can't keep in contact with all of them, but my Christmas card list is just getting longer.

Thursday we had a morning lesson which went well, then we got to serve a member. She had a group of men moving a piano from her childhood home to her home, and we got to help her make dinner. After dinner we got to have a little family home evening. We played a game called Ligretto. Similar to Nertz or Wacky 6 if you've played either. Or maybe a speed SkipBo if everyone plays at once. I don't really know how to describe it. It was really fun, and her kids loved to be with the missionaries. They all have special spirits, and it was fun to friendship the non members in her family that were there.

Friday we had a lesson in the evening. It went well. Kinda we started sharing and then she started asking us for proof, so I went to look up a scripture and she just started throwing so many scriptures to tell us we were wrong. I know we weren't, but she Bible Bashed us for close to and hour and a half. I got fed up and finally pulled out a scripture that says something like "those called of God aren't called to be taught but to teach." I basically said that my time is important and I have a message to share. I know I have the trust and you obviously have a lot to say too, but maybe we can come by another day." I tried to end on a good note. The woman and her son were really kind people. I'm friends with them both, but I just really don't like being bashed in English or Finnish. It hurts, you know?

Saturday we had our English class which was so fun. We read the story of Rip Van Winkle. It fascinated them and we had fun talking about what kind of future we would find if we slept for 20 years. I think it would be quite different. As they left, one of the women who comes gave me a gift and said she was grateful she knew me and honestly, me too. She is so precious and I will miss her and everyone else too.

Sunday went well. We taught a lesson and I spoke in church. It went really well. I didn't cry although I felt like I could have. I sure have cried enough since. I really don't like goodbyes. They are an unfortunate necessity in this life. We also had our last meeting with our ward mission leader. I seriously will miss these members so much. They have become such a big part of my life, and I love them so much. It's hard sometimes to get so close and know that one day you will leave. I was in denial that it was ever going to happen until I'm not on a train heading to Pori. I am sure it will be great. It's definitely a new adventure, but I will miss the door I just closed behind me.

I hope that your week went well. I love you and I miss you. Until next week!

Love Sister McCammon

P-day was on Monday because transfer calls came. She has been transferred from Lappeenranta to Pori. A few of the members took them on a trip to the border so they had a fun day of sight-seeing on Monday before she left.


Day trip to the Russian border crossing

 If you look real close you can see the border fence across the road.

Nuijamaa - At the edge of the square in front of the church of Nuijamaa, the war veterans and reserve officers of Nuijamaa have erected a monument to the Free Motherland.

This is called the Ringstone there are a few different stories. If you want to read about it a little here is a blog post from someone in Finland that tells a little history of it.   https://maurikin.blogspot.com/2015/05/nuijamaan-sormuskivi.html

Ready to Roll!

To be transferred or not to be transferred that is the question!

Hello All,

This week was a lot better than last. I am fearing transfers quite a bit to be honest. We get calls on Friday.  I am anticipating that I will be transferred though and I am really going to miss Sister Miller, but it's for the best I suppose. She keeps telling me that I am going to stay and we are just going to become a trio, but that doesn't seem quite right. It's alright though. I will miss everything about this place (except the difficulties that were shuffled as I was here), but I love Lappeenranta and the people here. I know that no place will be quite the same or hold the same place in my heart as did the people and places here. I remember when I was in Lohja and President told me to make memories in the places and remember who you contacted and what happened, and I can sure say that a lot of things happened. I can recall quite a few benches I cried on... And talking to quite a few people as I cried!! Not quite the best time to contact, but always a missionary!! But I really will miss this place. It will be hard to say goodbye to both Lappeenranta and Sister Miller, but I know I leave it in capable hands.

My studies have been quite peaceful. Lots of the happy light and lots of the Spirit. My transfer goal has been to become more virtuous, and I feel like I am more virtuous now than before. It really has helped to study that because I can control my thoughts much better now about home than I could in the beginning. I thought about home and how much I missed it a lot, and I couldn't stop. It is so much better now though. I still miss home and think about coming home, but I can stop myself and focus on something else. Even if I have to open the Book of Mormon for a second and read some verses. I am continually impressed with my Finnish ability when I read the Book of Mormon in Finnish. I have learned so much, and I realize just how much Sister Kristensen and Hansen knew when I was their companions. It seemed so unreachable when I was in training, but now I am right up there with them. Pretty amazing as I look back. The Book of Mormon has been a huge help too. I haven't quite started reading it from the start again, but just studying bits and pieces, and it is the most amazing book. I am grateful for how much power I have felt from it as I have been in Lappeenranta.

My health is good. Physically as always is fine. I am better this week than last week too. Although maybe that wasn't so hard, but it was a really good week. I use the happy light every day pretty much. Plus I think I allowed myself to be happy more. I realized this week that I was mentally at home. I had physically decided to stay, but I had mentally gone home (as characterized by going home dreams) and it wasn't helping. While I don't think I'm fully back or permanently here, I'm here now and working on staying. Now that I have realized this, I think the Savior can help me more. I know what I'm fighting against a little bit better. I have really felt the Savior a lot here and I truly know how much he saves us from. He is really a miracle worker and is working miracles inside of me everyday. I am grateful that I have learned a little bit better how to rely on Him.

Our friends are doing really well. E, I think is a little bit scared and backing off again, but she loves church. Plus, she was really excited to watch conference. She wants to watch it in peace because she was in Russia during the broadcasts. It was really fun to see how excited she was for it. Then our friend H. She is doing well too. Our miracle first lesson was great but the second lesson was less miraculous. We did get to show her the video Because of Him, and it went really well. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she felt the Spirit. I think we are going to extend a baptismal date next time. We are excited for her as she progresses. Our friend R. in Imatra is doing well too. She really likes the Book of Mormon and has been reading quite regularly. I hope she can come to church and get to know some of the members though because I think she would really get along well with them, and they could help and encourage her. We will see though.

I think the biggest tender mercy is watching a returning member we have been working with go back to the temple. When we first started meeting with him, he didn't have any desire to read the Book of Mormon or pray or come to church, but after meeting and talking and inviting and influencing and asking, he found the desire within himself. It was amazing to watch that change in him. To have him go from thinking Heavenly Father hates him, to realizing that life is hard, but the Savior is with us helping us always, was amazing to witness. He has always had strong faith, but now he has decided to act on it. It has made such a change in his life too. He was always melancholy and sad before, but He's been really happy these past couple times we have seen him. It is simply wonderful.

I think another tender mercy has been to help a member friend as she has been dealing with the death of her beloved dog and grandmother. They passed away within two weeks of each other, and it has been really hard. Especially because she doesn't have family around just some close friends, and to have the missionaries with her and sharing scriptures and testimonies of love has really helped her. It has helped me to see that missionary work takes many forms because it isn't missionary work. It's serving and loving everyone. We emphasize helping those who aren't part of our faith but members need the help, love and contact too.

Last tender mercy was in church. So the member, E., who's dog passed away, gave a talk in church. She speaks only English though, so I had the opportunity to translate for her. Not only did I translate, but I offered support as she talked about the loss the has recently touched her life. It was a special moment for both of us. When we sat down, I translated the next talk for her, which was difficult a bit because the man who spoke talks really fast, so it wasn't perfect translation by any means, but it worked. Then I translated for her in Relief Society which wasn't too bad. The talk (President Nelson's from women's conference) was a big focus, so it wasn't too bad. But after church we were invited to a member's house for dinner, and E. was invited too. It was a blessing to her for the invitation because she appreciated the support. But these members only speak Finnish, so I translated there too. I really felt the Spirit because I know I couldn't have done it all by myself, but by the time we got home, i was exhausted. It drained my energy to do that, but it was a blessing and a tender mercy from the Lord that I was able to serve her in that way and I know the Lord was helping me SO MUCH!

I think that's all for this week. We were busy with trying to finish follow up and calling and inviting and working. We had a school presentation this morning at Lyseo again. They had a lot of questions and I'd say it was our best one yet. The teacher even seemed impressed by what we had to say, and R. has told us that in the past, she has been pretty aggressive, so it's nice that she has softened a little bit. I love you all!

Love,
Sister McCammon

I love this picture so much!  Its gorgeous!

I have so much love for someone I don't even know!  How is that possible?!?! Sisar Miller 💛

 I have a really good idea! Donuts! Abbie and I were at Walmart once and we overheard a little girl tell her mom "I have a really good idea! We should get donuts!"  Now that is a running line between us! Looks like she's carrying on the tradition!!!

 She said they were told it was a tick, but its not. Its a psuedoscorpion - Google it! We did! So Gross!

Bus rides and missionary work = sleep

Grocery Shopping

Zone Conference, Exchanges and General Conference...OH MY!!!

Good morning!

So, this week was more difficult. There's a short film in our apartment called "Our Heavenly Father's Plan" and at the beginning the narrator is asking people what the purpose of life is. There are all sorts of answers but the one that describes my week is by a construction worker that says, "I don't know. Just working towards retirement is all." That pretty accurately describes this week I think. Just going through the motions sometimes. I was really excited for conference and that was a highlight.

My studies are good though. I finished the Book of Mormon this week. It felt really good and I know my testimony was strengthened. I prayed about it a lot, and wrote my testimony down. It was definitely a highlight of the week too. I also found out my dad finished on the same day as me. It definitely strengthened my testimony of Heavenly Father being aware of me. Another thing that strengthened my testimony of that was in conference. When the choir stood up and sang How Firm a Foundation, I was brought back to another time when I heard that song. I was struggling in the MTC and had a blessing that directed me to a scriptural cross reference to that song. I found comfort in the scripture and while in Californian airport, the Elders sang How Firm a Foundation. The third verse really stuck out to me and reminded me of the scripture. It brought an added strength to a rough time, and here I am almost a year later. It was a blessing to have them sing the song at conference. A little reminder of God's awareness and love.

Our friends are good. We had H., the referral from Veli K. come to conference. She said she really liked it, and we have a lesson set up with her for Friday, so we can talk more about it then. We also got to teach E. and she really felt the Spirit. We really tried to help her understand, and she prayed and felt the Spirit. She is so close! We are excited for her, and I hope that conference answers some questions for her. Helps her get to baptism.

My tender mercy this week is seriously got to be my companion. She is such a strength. She hasn't been here too long, but she takes charge, and is so ready for everything. Her missionary skills have grown so much, and she helps me more than I help her I think. Her testimony is so strong, and she is such a  light in my life. I can really tell she cares with how much service she does for me. I love her so much!!

Another tender mercy happened with Sisar S. We have a dinner appointment with them every week, and when we were in the car on the way to her house, we were just talking. I asked her some questions about missionary work, and she just shared her motherly wisdom. She talked about her daughter, being on her mission, and about her mission. It was a really Spirit led conversation for both of us, and was really good. I was grateful for it.

Last tender mercy was on exchanges. We had a plan, but because of a member being home at a different time than we supposed, we switched the plan a little bit, so we could stop by for a few minutes and talk about her daughter in law and recent convert. Because we switched our plans last minute, on our way to an area, we got in contact with a potential that Sister Godfrey knew and I hadn't met; we met a less active who we have been trying to get in contact with a lot; gave a man a Book of Mormon; and met and talked to a woman from Mexico- in Spanish; taught a new investigator; uplifted a member and asked her to invite her daughter in law to conference; and so many other things that happened just because we followed the Spirit. It was really good, and a blessing.

That's all for this week.

Love,
Sisar McCammon

Zone Conference Pic

Help the Missionaries Serve

I am almost done with the Book of Mormon!! I am in Mormon, and I love the Book of Mormon. I have drawn so much strength from reading it! I absolutely know that it is true. It has so much power. I woke up very angry a couple times this week, and by the time studies came, I was ready to go to Hyvinkää and use the Elder's punching bag. But I read the Book of Mormon and the urge was gone. I felt a lot more peace and a lot more in control. So I really know that it is from God because everything good is from Him, and the Book of Mormon is very good!!!

E (from Slovakia) is doing well. She is really busy while here. She is trying to sell and get rid of all her stuff, and completely move to Slovakia, so she's always really tired, but she comes to church. She is going with a friend to Russia this weekend so she won't be at conference, but she said she will watch it when she gets home. We have really caught the conference bug. We are inviting everyone to conference. We ended up meeting this one man, who basically took the words out of my mouth. He offered his number and asked to be invited to church and activities. So that was cool. He came to church yesterday, and said he wanted to meet, but he's really busy. It was exciting though. We also are going to teach a woman on Wednesday who is a referral from a member, and are hoping that she will be able to attend conference with the members who referred her. It is really exciting. She already promised to read the Book of Mormon! It's awesome! If you could pray for E to have her concerns be resolved and that she can have clarity on if baptism is right for her, I would love that! She is amazing and is just a bit afraid to accept a specific date. BUT SHE IS READY!!! Also pray that everyone who comes and listens to conference will feel the Spirit and find answers to their prayers.

Tender mercy this week was probably the hand hug last night. I was ready to just give up and go home. I was really sad, and it was a really bad day yesterday. I shared a lot of struggles with Sister Miller, but I still was struggling. We went to our ward coordination meeting anyways. Which was good. We got there, and the Ward Mission Leader had brought a treat, which was really nice. The ice cream soothed my sadness a little bit. But as we were discussing, we started talking about me, and how I am doing, and with both him and Sister Miller, they were able to really help me out. they helped me and answered a lot of prayers. Then I shared some insecurities about my relationship with members, and the Ward Mission Leader shook my hand which is a rare occurrence, then said "This is something I learned on my mission" and he gave me a hand hug. I really appreciated it, because I really felt like I was his friend and he cared about me enough to help more out of friendship more than responsibility. It really helped me to see clearly that people do care about me. It was such a tender mercy that I really just knew that Heavenly Father is looking out for me. He's sending so many angels to support and help me out. It is really nice.

ANOTHER AWESOME THING!!! SISTER NIELSON IS BACK!!! She got here to LPR on Saturday. She is staying at a member's father's house, and we were with the member when she got there, so we got to see her! It was awesome! She looks so good, and it is so weird to see an old companion in normal clothes and hugging boys and stuff. It was good to see her and meet her parents. they are really nice. Plus we got to see them at church and we got to go to dinner at a member's house with them and help translate! It was so much fun!! Plus we are having a ward family home evening night tonight so I will see her again. SO FUN!

I also made chicken pot pie this week. And fudge. I am really enjoying being in the kitchen. It is really relaxing. I love it a lot. I also made this thing called taco lasagna. SO GOOD!! It sounds really weird, but it was delicious. If you didn't know, before my mission, I couldn't do much more than boil water and stir when my mom said stir. So I have grown a lot. I am experimenting and finding a lot of really good and pretty easy recipes. I am having so much fun learning! 

We rode our bikes this week too. We took an adventure on flat tires and forgot our pump at home... It was a bit sad because even though we both like biking it was made a lot more difficult because of that. So I was really sore, and it took much longer than was necessary. We just need to air up our tires. Maybe one day.... It was lots of fun though! I LOVE biking! I am so exciting to go home and ride my bike again!! 

The last thing I want to talk about is members meaning YOU!! Here in Finland there are a set of missionaries per ward. But in Utah and Idaho, there are one or two companions per stake. THAT'S A LOT OF MEMBERS! The missionaries love you! Next time you see the missionaries, stop and talk to them! Tell them thank you for what they do. Ask them for advice on how to invite your friends to church. Ask them what their favorite scripture is. Invite them to dinner, or ask them to teach you the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, ask them to help you finish up the garden or do some yard work or put up the Christmas lights. THEY LOVE YOU!! They might be busy, but they want to strengthen you and if you have a friend that they can help by service or teaching or friendshipping, TELL THEM!! They are only there fro a short time, help them out! Ask them if they want to go on a hike for PDay or if they want to go bowling or something. Invite them because they miss their families. They miss their friends. Become their friends. It will benefit the both of you so much more than you can imagine. I love you all so much and I promise that you will receive so much strength in your testimony and life. I have felt so much love and happiness with members. Who knows, maybe you'll make a lifelong friend! 

Love you all!! Talk to you next week!

Sister McCammon

Cute street art

Chicken Pot Pie....I guess a christmas cookie cutter is all she had LOL!!!

Cute girls enjoying the fall day