Finland and the Olympics

Dear Family,

Sweeeet, thanks for the Olympics update. We heard about the Fin who took second place in some race. It was a pretty big event here in Finland. lol. The country is so small that everyone knows when the slightest celebrity comes into the country. Also, if someone from Finland does well in the Olympics, everyone is talking about it and we will usually will hear about it just briefly.

Peetu Piiroinen of Finland poses after winning the silver, Shaun White of the United States poses after winning the gold and Scott Lago after winning the bronze during the flower ceremony for the Snowboard Men's Halfpipe final on day six of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics at Cypress Snowboard & Ski-Cross Stadium on February 17, 2010 in Vancouver, Canada.

Thanks for sending Andrew's mail address. I just got a letter from Ryan this last week. He is doing good. He has been transfered a lot. Oohh, shoot, I am not so sure that I am allowed to go to other internet sites like YouTube to see Jason's video, but we will see if I can flip to it or not. Thanks for telling me though.

Well, this week has been pretty good, I got to teach a lot and we got one new investigator that would like to meet with us again in a week or so. Other than that nothing is new. I am enjoying my companion, and as it turns out, we have quite a bit in common. Elder Henderson indicated they have two more baptism dates set from investigators we started in Kajaani. So cool. Well, best of wishes to you all. Tell jason "hi" for me .
Love, Trev

A Baptism

From Elder Henderson's Blog:

The baptism went as followed. Our chapel is in a small building and no font, so we rented a pool in a hotel and set it up in there. We had P play his guitar because there was no piano. His friend that invited him to church from Oulu, a city about 2 hours away, spoke and it was powerful. The Branch President baptized him, he said the old translation of the baptism prayer, so I had to ask him to do it again. That is what is interesting about translations of writings, they change. But the second time was wonderful and P was baptized. We then had my Ipod playing in the background while they changed. Then we had a small testimony meeting, it was wonderful. P was so excited and so ready. He had the hotel bring down orange juice money with umbrellas on top of the drink. It was great. He also bore testimony in church and Elder Christensen confirmed him. P told me to tell you all thank you and the sun is shining here in Kajaani... a beautiful day and the snow is whiter than white.

More Tracting and Bike Rides

Library in Seinäjoki
Dear Family,

Hey, thanks for the well wishes for Valentine's Day! Thank you all for writing and remembering me even though I'm a bagilion miles away. Happy Late Valentines Day to you all too! Also, tell the Keeners "Hi" for me if you get a chance.

Let's see.... my new apartment is pretty good. I still have a bunk bed, but a different layout. It is a little bigger apartment with even more windows and stuff, so that's all good. My new companion is Elder Bradshaw. He is from Parma, Idaho. He is fun to be with and is a fairly relaxed guy. So, all in all, we get along fine and are having a good time together. We are still riding bikes. There aren't a whole lot of places in our mission with a car. President Brown is encouraging the missionaries to buy bikes when we get to an area without a car. And then, we are supposed to take them when we are transferred.

Elder Bradshaw and I are the only missionaries here in Seinäjoki. It is a fairly small branch here....even smaller than Kajaani. We had maybe 13 members this week in church and only 8 last week. There are lots of less actives here. Seinäjoki is a bigger town with more people and better stores, but its still quite a small town! The day after I arrived, our only investigator dropped us. So, we have to start from scratch. A lot of knocking on doors and street contacting.

Hey, could I get Andrew's mailing address and maybe email. I seem to have misplaced it, so if you could ask Sister Chenn for it I would appreciate it. Thanks. It sounds like everything at home is good and everyone is getting along with life just fine.
Trevor
PS I will try to take a lot of pictures.

1st Transfer -- "Kaikkein Siirtää"

Dear Family,

This last week went well. Yes...Saturday, P was baptized and Sunday, I confirmed him a member! I practiced all week for the confirmation, and it really wasn't that hard. I just had to brush up on some of the kinds of word that are used in blessings. soo, I am making a tape for you all with more details so that you all can get more details. But it is so wonderful to see the change in his life that the gospel brings.

And yup, I got changed (transferred) for the first time. I have been moved to Seinäjoki. It is a smaller town, just east of Vaasa. My new companion is Elder Bradshaw. He seems like a great guy, so I'm sure we will have some good experiences here. I'm sure I will see Jordan Ballam when he gets here. I am still quite northward in the mission. Maybe I 'll get transfered closer to the mission home by the time he arrives in Finland. Let me know when he goes into the MTC.

Thanks for the pictures. Umm, it sounds like Jason and everyone is doing well. Well, I'll try and let you know how Seinäjoki and the work is going next week.
Love, Trevor

PS Trains with three bags and a bike is killer!!! I had 2 ten minute train changes on the way here. Oh and could I send some stuff home that I don't want to tote around? Like clothes I thought I would use ...like my blue coat. lol. BTW, you were right. I'll try and send something soon.

Seinäjoki is a city located in Southern Ostrobothnia, Finland. Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra bruk iron and gunpowder factories founded in 1798. Seinäjoki became a municipality in 1868, market town in 1931 and town in 1960. In the beginning of 2009, the neighbouring municipalities of Nurmo and Ylistaro were consolidated with Seinäjoki. The Town library, Lakeuden Risti church and central administrative buildings are designed by Alvar Aalto.

Seinäjoki is known for hosting three large summer events: "Tangomarkkinat", which is a tango festival attracting more than 100,000 visitors annually, Vauhtiajot, which is a motor racing event with music and Provinssirock, which is the biggest rock festival in Finland.

http://www.seinajoki.fi/english/

Transfers? and A Baptism

Dear Family,

Wow, it sounds like a very busy week. Thanks for letting me know what has been going on. It looks like Kate is growing so fast that she will be speaking more fluently in English than I will be able to in Finnish by the time I return. It was very sad to hear about Uncle Barrie's death. Cancer can be so tough. And also, it sounds like the ecconomy hasn't improved much since I left home. 420 layoffs is a lot of people. But i am glad to hear that you don't have to worry about that too much, Dad. Sounds like jason is doing well...parties and all. :) So, I take it you got all of the last touches on the basement done. I wish I could have been there to help you with all of that. Also I would like to thank you for having me help you with the house projects, I really enjoyed learning how to do all of those around the house. Even though the only thing I used those skills for was putting a bed together.

Umm, lets see..I have about 7-8 hours of sunlight now, not really all that direct but its getting lighter now. I am also starting to understand what is being said in conversations and now talks in church, so that is really nice to be able to do that. This being said, however, I can't particularly SAY a whole lot still. Hopefully I will get there before I am moved into a senior companion position. P is doing well. We moved up his baptism to this Saturday! I can't wait. Also, just thought I would let you know, I was asked to give P the Holy Ghost on Sunday. So we will see how well I can do that with my Finnish abilities. Oh, and T isn't really wanting to meet with us anymore, but we will try to stay in contact with her every now and then to see. Sadly, she doesn't realize how important it is to be baptized. Hopefully her testimony of the Book of Mormon will keep her going.

I will let you know if I am transfered next Monday, and it might be best to send stuff next week when I find out. Well I hope you all are doing well and that you are having fun without me... I'll talk to you all next week and, Mom, thank you for your testimony.

love, Trevor