TRANSFERS!!‏

Well everybody, ITS TRANSFER WEEK! I'm heartbroken to say that I will not be staying in Kuopio any more :( I'm headed to Tampere to be a Sister Training Leader with Sister Clark! I'm super excited! Sister Clark and I will also be training a new missionary this transfer! So I will definitely be kept busy these next couple of months! And my current companion, Sister Bradbury, is going to Jyväskylä, so that means that I am going to be her Sister Training Leader! YAY! My dad also served in Tampere for three month on his mission.

I am so sad that I won't be here in Kuopio any longer. Even though I was only here for one transfer I have grown to love this place with all my heart! It is truly such an amazingly adorable little town and I can't wait to come back and visit :) 

But this week on top of transfers was so crazy! On Wednesday, we were off to Mikkeli for a Zone Meeting. It was so much fun! My district and I got there like two hours early so we went to the Mikkeli Lutheran Church and got a tour by one of the Priests that works there! THAT WAS COOL! One of the coolest things about Finland and I guess Europe in general, is the amazing old churches they have. So we walked around for a while there and I took a few pictures.

We then had our zone meeting and President Watson was there. He ended up extending the meeting an hour because he wanted to talk with us and none of us had trains leaving for a couple of hours. So that was a way fun experience to have. It's always so great to hear from the President.

We went to Varkaus this weekend and we went contacting in the Center. Now in Varkaus, there is like nooooo body. But we did find five people and we handed out a Book of Mormon, which is probably the first book that has been passed out there in like ten years since they pulled missionaries. So that was cool! And it was so fun to be serving in a place where my Dad served 30 years before! 

Yesterday we had our last church meeting here in Kuopio, which was heartbreaking! The members here are so fantastic! Luckily some of them promised to show me a savu sauna (smoke sauna) when I come back :) I'm excited! Ha

Also, yesterday this lady we have been serving had us over for dinner with her and her family. It was such a fantastic time. We've grown to love them all sooo much and it was so heartbreaking to say goodbye. They have all changed so much and we have been blessed to become part of their family. The kids refer to me as Sister Jones-täti (Aunt Sister Jones) :) Seriously, it's adorable. I love them sooo much!

Now Sister Bradbury and I are in full panic-packing mode! It's going to be a crazy next couple of days with all the meetings that we have going on. But I'm excited to start this new adventure and even thought I feel completely inadequate, I know that the Lord qualifies those he calls... So here's to the craziest adventure so far! 

I love you all! Thank you for all your support!

Love,

Sister Jones

Me and Sister Adams! Our first picture together since the MTC!

Me and my District.. It took a while to get a good picture.. haha

The INSANE moon yesterday :)

Me and my Munkki in Varkaus ha

 

Varkaus Center

A cool stair case by our house..

Me being Elder Hyer.. He took the same picture by our house.. ha

The church in Mikkeli

I'm Officially Past My One Year Mark!‏

So everybody, can you believe it?! I've already been out for over a year now! It seems like yesterday that I was screaming at my Dad in the car telling him to turn around and that I was not going to the MTC (this all happened as he was pulling into the MTC parking lot). It blows my mind to think about how much I've changed and grown in the past year! It's remarkable! 

I've thought so much about the past year and I've had such a reflective week. I don't know, realizing that I've been gone for a whole year just really hit home this week. It's been kinda trippy. I'm so insanely grateful for the past year and how I've grown and changed. My relationship with my Heavenly Father has grown in ways that I could have never imagined and I just feel so much better about everything. 

This past year has definitely had its fair share of challenges, but it's definitely been worth it. What a crazy year... Literally it's been a year.. SOO insane. That's for sure.. ha

But enough of the mushy stuff... 

This past week was actually pretty uneventful.. ha

We sang in church this week and let me tell you... it was the best musical number the Church has ever seen. Now I'm not just saying that because I sang, (ha) but because it was truly such a powerful number. We sang Uskon Kristukseen eli (I Believe in Christ). It was sooo amazing! This lady in our ward is like insanely talented with music and such so we came up with the coolest arrangement. It started with her playing the violin and accompanying us on the first verse with the violin. Then we sang the first half of the second verse acapella while she put her violin down and switched to the piano. Then she slowly brought the piano in. Third verse, I soloed the first half and Sister Bradbury the second. Then the fourth and final verse we sang in unison. Tears were shed. We made the Finns who refuse to shed tears, shed actual real life tears. We win. 

But really it was a stunning piece and we had such a great time planning it and such! So it was a huge success :)

Other than that nothing really happened.. Ha this week is the last week before transfers again, so it's bound to be a miracle week! Katsotaan!

I love you all! I miss you! Have the bestest week!!

Love,

Sister Jones

Also no pictures this week.. I'm lame. Sorry

Terveisiä Oulusta!‏

Hei everybody! What a great week here in Finland! Fall has officially sprung with tights, scarfs, and coats in full swing over here! Yayyy! Its an absolutely stunning time to be in Finland! I'm soo lucky :)

So this week was really exciting! We had splits with the sisters, and we got to go up to Oulu! So Wednesday afternoon we took the 5 hour journey up north! We had such a fun day filled with soo many activites! Also I GOT TO RIDE MY FIRST BIKE ON MY MISSION! It was weird, and I'm not a fan. ha It was way fun though. I was riding one of the Elder's bikes and he's a lot taller than me, so it was quite the adventure and I've got the ugliest bruise to prove it. ha

We got to do service up there for this sweet old man! We got to mow his lawn and plant some flowers and prune his trees! He reminded me so much of my Grandpa that it melted my little heart! It was so much fun! 

I was able to learn so much from the Sister Training Leaders! It really was just such an amazing relaxing and exciting day!

This week was also exciting because VESA GOT BAPTIZED! Okay, so here's the deal. Vesa, is the Elder's investigator/recent convert, and he's just become one of our best friends! We have been so excited to watch him progress in the Gospel and it's awesome! He got baptized this past Saturday! It has been so amazing to watch how the Lord guides and directs our lives. He was truly one prepared soul! 

He was so excited about his baptism that he told us that we better send pictures home and tell all about him because he wants everyone else to know all about him and his conversion and how happy he is! Since we have his permission, we can actually talk about him! HE'S PERFECT! 

I love you all sooo much! Thank you for your support and love! 

Love,

Sister Jones

 

Fall in Finland



Fall in Finland

Don't mind our awkard lighted faces, but right before Vesa was baptized!

Right after the Baptism!

 

Me trying to mow the lawn

 

#Helmets4Lyfe

 

The Sister Training Leaders up in Oulu by the waterrrr

Me holding a slighting dead but not dead hedgehog... #HelmetHair