10/25/10 4 Changes with Elder Slade!

Hey family,
Well as it turns out the unthinkable happened. Elder Slade and I stayed in Savonlinna. So we will be here for another 5 weeks.... 4 changes, that's the longest I've ever been with someone. Yeah, I did get your package. Thanks for the razors and the gum. I am on my last razor head, and they are really expensive here in Europe for some reason. Anyways, thanks also for the tape. I enjoyed it quite a lot and am going to try and get one back off to you in response to some things you asked on it.

As for pictures and stuff, I am also sending with the tape my SD card with all of my photos for the past while. Sorry, if I didn't take a lot of photos, but it seems not a whole lot happened that was picture worthy. I took some funny ones of Elder Slade on it ......so have fun laughing.
Wow, I can't believe that Brandon Johnson and Jordan Call have gotten their calls already. It just doesn't seem like they should leave before I get home. Weird how everyone sort of freezes in your mind when you leave.

The new coat that I found is from a missionary, so its all good. It doesn't look great but it is warm and good for missionary work. We haven't had any reports about a break out of bed bug here in Finland. ...Nor do I think we will. For some reason, Finland doesn't have too many problems, I blame the government. Either way you don't need to worry.

So you got Jason to say he would play the violin after I got home? how did you get him to do that? I suspect you bribed him with a car or something. (Trevor knows Jason all too well. lol That is exactly what he tried to get out of us.) All the same though, I would like to hear him play for the family or something. Gosh, I miss playing the violin even just a little, maybe I'll play something for myself upon returning.

This week, we have had some well "let downs" happen to us. Our investigator, "B" is really dragging his feet, so we are going to back off him for a while. ...you know, a week or two at the most. He just doesn't seem to want to come to church at all. It seems that has been the big clincher for all of my investigators, coming to church. Anyway and sadly, our other investigator family that we found is also on the back burner. They told us that they didn't want to be re-baptised. But at least we did what we are out here to do....offer people the gospel and invite them to come unto Christ.

Another thing that happened this week is that we got in contact with a less active member that moved into our area. She is super cool, and is going to meet with us in the next week or so. Yeah!! Some less active activation action. lol. and lastly this week, I went to visit some ill members at their homes and the hospital. I was fortunate to have the experience of giving a preisthood blessing to one of them, and it was a neat experience for me. The details aren't important but ...normally I am nervous about these sort of things. But this time ,I felt really calm and assured that I would be able to speak the words I needed to. In fact, I was able to be calm enough that when a nurse walked in I didn't have to pause or anything. Truly the Lord does speak through men today. I was sure glad for that tender mercy this week, and thought you would like to know.

Well, I'm off to find the elect. Hope you are enjoying the last of fall. Love you all, Trev

Side Note: Elder Slade's mom said that he was extending his mission call until Jan 2011.

Midnight Sun in Finland

Any packages for Christmas need to be mailed at the beginning of November to the Mission Home address to reach Trevor....

10/18/10 Shroom Month...and All Saints Day

It was "shroom month" this month. Look out! their poisono

Hey fam,
Well this week was good and bad. ;) This week we finally decided to drop our investigator "P". He has been with us since I got here in Savonlinna and has slowly gotten better and better. But really he has had such a hard time with coming to church and not being afraid of his wife. She isn't happy about him being a member. So sadly, we will just start check up on him in a couple of weeks and keeping in touch now and then. :) We don't want to cause any problems, but we will leave the door open for him to contact us or other missionaries later. Thats the nice thing about backing off, you can always return later, but it doesn't work that way if they tell you to leave. Hopefully, he will recognize the difference when we aren't there.

And then, we also found some new people. This time, it is a young family who are from Burma. Weird huh. Anyway, they happen to already be Christian, so they get a lot of what we are talking about. So this week, we are meeting with them again and seeing how they doing with reading the pamphlet we gave them. Side note: the church still doesn't have a BOM in Burmese, so we are trying to teach them out of the gospel principles book.

Other than that there hasn't been any other new things happening here. It snowed here just last Wednesday, and we still have some snow around on the lawns. Because of this, I also changed out my tires for some snow tires that came with my bike. Yay. no sliding to my death this winter.

Also this week, we had a funny "run in" with a drunk guy behind a door. He came out and asked us if we were interested in seeing some witchcraft, and that he was a witch. Of course we said no, but it was really funny because he was trying to explain what a witch was to us and he used the holiday in which kids dress up as witches. He would say the finnish word for witch, and then he said in english "Easter". It took me a minute to remember that Easter is Halloween here in Finland ...only its not as big. (It's not Easter. It's called All Saints Day. In Finland there is not a tradition for children going door-to-door for tricks or treats on All Hallows Eve, such as Halloween in the United States (The closest tradition to Halloween in Finland is when children dress up like witches on Palm Sunday, and go from door-to-door collecting sweets). Don't worry though about sending some Halloween stuff, I'm sure my companion and I will love celebrating it anyway in our apartment. I didn't get the package yet actually, but I will keep aware for it. It will probably come some time within 1-2 weeks since you sent it. I've noticed it takes more time to come to Finland than leave though. FYI: change call is coming up this Saturday, so I might just get moved. Both me and Elder Slade are pretty sure that one of us will leave, seeing as we have had 3 changes together, and thats the usual longest for a companionship to last. I don't reallyknow what to say other than.... thanks a bunch for the package, pictures and the weekly letter.

I liked the insight too about the gospel principles class you talked about, Dad. It reminds me of something I learned on a different subject that I later applied to the basic principles of the gospel. If you remember... the scripture in James 2 talks about faith without works being dead. I made the comparison that we first need to have faith in a priciple of the gospel and then our actions must show that faith. For example... belief or faith in Christ leads to baptism. Thanks for sharing your spiritual highlight.

Well I love you all, can't wait until next week. Love Trev

Later email: I'm doing the normal stuff. It's late here though, so we will be headed out procelyting soon. And then another week. Oh, I bought a suit from a kirppu tori or a local DI kind of a store. plus some other small needed things for like 3 £!!! Good shopping! I'll send a picture of it next week, my computer here is on the frits. Actually I need to go, but have a good time in St George. I love you. (We emailed this week from St. George..Jason was participating in the State Golf Championship Tournament for 4A high schools.)

Oh, and ps. I got a letter from Cecilia last week. So we got that all good. I bet if you keep emailing her from time to time she would come visit. lol. She offered to let us come visit her in Sweden if you come to Europe. I can tell she really likes you and Linda.

10/11/10 Habaneras, Free Coat and District Conf

Hi Family,

Well so far this week things have some changes.... "D" had his restaurant fall through, when he tried to buy it. So he moved down to another city where he has another restaurant. Did I tell you that he had said yes to being baptised last week? Anyway, so last last Friday, he committed to a baptism, and then the next Tuesday, he was gone, out of our hands. He is still going to meet with other missionaries down south though so all seems good. The older lady we were trying to teach has Alzheimer’s possibly and so we can't teach her either. She doesn't remember who we are from one week to the next. But hey thats ok, I'm sure she will remember who the missionaries are in the spirit world.

I also got to go to Kuopio again this week for district conference. It was really good, and I learned a lot about faith and how to use my faith better. One particular thing that I learned about was how we need to have our faith in correct principles in order to tap into Heavenly fathers power. I was able to speak with President Brown in my interview with him. I always like being able to have some one on one time with him so that I can ask some questions.

Lastly... today, I tried some habaneras. We used them in some tacos we were eating for lunch. Luckily, the one we used wasn't too hot, but it did suprise me at first. So put that one down for things I have now tried. Have any of you tried those before? lol.

So, a coat? Well the funny thing is.... I found one. It's not anything great, but it seems like it would be warm. Another missionary left it behind when he left the country. I thought I would just use that one for the next winter as well as my two jackets if needed for extra warmth.
How much was the black coat that you found? If it's a good deal then I might agree to take it. The thing is though, I 've now got a good warm coat that is free and I can just buy a new one if I want when I get back. It might just be smarter to not buy a new one. What do you think?
Thanks for looking out for me. If I hadn't found this coat, then I would have needed that black one. Last winter was a little cold with just two coats. lol.

Also for my package ....FYI, you don't have to add in candy. I feel like I've got too much candy. lol. but I'm glad to hear that you are sending the pack of razors, gum, and the voice tape. I've been waiting to hear that tape.:) Well thats about all for this week, but thanks for the emails and prayers. I love you all, and miss you too.

love, Trev

P.S. How are your fingers recovering Nathan? Plus thanks for the pictures. They are sweet.
P.P.S. FYI, I am applying for a drivers license this next week.... so it may be about 100 dollars coming out of my acct. The mission reimburses some of the fee though. Gosh, I feel like I've spent a lot lately. Sorry.

General Conference -- Successful Beginnings

Hi,
So.... This week, things have gone pretty well.... Great in fact. "P" started to progress this week...he talked to his wife about going to church. She wasn't all that happy about it and we just found this out. He told us he did a lot of reading from the BOM. I was surprised actually. I had gone over there to exhort him one last time to read and come to church, and then we were going to try and check back in a month or so. But, he actually followed through with it. It was sweet, and he even told us when he wanted to meet with us rather than wait for us to ask. It looks like he might just keep going until he gets baptized...I hope so.

"D" (from Nepal) this week accepted a baptismal date and then expressed his desire to have us continue to really help him get an answer to the Book of Mormon. I was pretty stoked to say the least. Unfortunately, Elder Slade didn't think it would be a good idea to do a chest bump after the teach....lol. But that's how I was feeling. The french guy this week slowed down a little bit with his reading, and told us how he wants to read the whole BOM before he gets baptized. But luckily, he still knows that our meetings are to lead to baptism and is willing to continue.

What else.... We also found a legally blind investigator this week. An older mummo. She is quite old, but would like to hear the gospel so we will see how it goes from there.

General conference was great. There were some really powerful talks given. Some I especially needed to hear. I especially liked Elder Holland's talk (thanking those who helped him). It was good for me to hear all of the things I can work on in my life. As for our sleeping arrangements, we stayed in Kuopio both nights.... Saturday and Sunday. The bus ride was long, but I didn't get one letter off. I got nauseous and slept so that it didn't get worse....both ways....so no long letters. Sorry, I'll try to record a tape today and send it to you this week instead. I think the tapes are better anyway. Oh, we had 6 missionaries there: Pond, Gorringe, Slade, me, Ranzenburger, and Watson.

Elder Slade will finish his mission in about 3 months - just after Christmas. I think he decided to extend a little bit. Oh, and I did see Elder Ballam a couple of weeks ago. It was weird seeing someone from the neighborhood and high school here in Finland, but a good weird. He said Logan is still the same...lol.

Well ,thats about it. I love you all and hope you have a good week. I'm still praying for you all.
love, Trev

P.S. Good luck re-habbing your fingers, dad.... and linda, remember what Elder Scott said about becoming something--- consistency is the key... that is for your new diet....lol...sorry i'm a tease. Thanks for the pictures and the video of kate...

News about Finland's education this week: http://www.educationnation.com/index.cfm?objectid=D802BA36-CC33-11DF-8853000C296BA163