Moi

Hey Family, this week I felt so much heavenly support. I don't really have tons have time to explain it all so this can be a week that I tell you more about when I get home....sorry. But things are going well! Our baptism was such a spiritual uplift and I'm happy! Have a great week! Love you!

Vähän aikaa Lahdessa (a little time in Lahti)

Hey Family :) How are things going? It was really cool to hear more about Chase's Kneaders opening. Good luck with that! Right across the street from our apartment is an elementary school and it has been really fun this week to hear and see kids playing out there and feel the excitement of those "first day of school"s. Hope that summer has come to a fulfilling close and that school has started well for you. That was definitely the fastest Summer of my life and certainly August has been the fastest month ever. 

This week both our baptismal dates had some switching around. One because he realized that he had a break from school and wanted to go home, but is excited for his baptism so much that he doesn't want to wait till the next saturday, but rather tuesday. The other baptismal date we had texted us saying his family was against it and he needed more time, but than later that night changed his mind and said he again wan't to learn and prepare for baptism. (that was all on the same day....quite an exciting day). We had many investigators in church which was very excited! It has been very impressive to see our investigators determination and desire to come to church. But overall it has been a good week. We were able to go on exchanges with the Lahti Sisaret and doing exciting work there :). 

Recently the question of "What does God think of war?" has come up more and more on the streets/buses, so I was studying about that a little more this week. It was interesting to ponder how even God is in a war. There was a war in heaven and we are still fighting in that war. The necessity of opposition is so important in our lives. 

Hope you have a great week. I love you!

-Sisar Clark

Meitä on kolme

Hey Family, sorry short email this week, but with double the love! What a wonderful and stretching experience it was to train Sisar Santos :). She was a champ! So cheerful and happy no matter what. The main difficulty was the language barrier. We always did our best to speak simple Finnish but most of the time (although she would never say it) it was very clear that she didn't understand us. But by the end of the week she was catching on faster and faster. :) It was really fun to have a third companion for a week! And we saw so many miracles! We were very very busy teaching this week and trying hard to find people to talk to amidst our lessons. Although they weren't as often as we would have liked we were blown away with how many were ready and excited to learn more. One of our favorites is an Italian man we met on the bus that we will teach when he gets back from Russia in three weeks! He was SO excited about the book of mormon and kept asking questions about it the whole bus ride. Way cool young man! Also we set a new baptismal date and our other baptismal date is progressing so well! :) His understanding of faith has taken huge steps forward!

Love you and hope you have a great week!

-Sisar Clark

"niin, teillä Pyhän Hengen voimasta olisi runsas toivo."(- Romans 15:13)

I studied and pondered this scripture in preparation for a lesson about the Holy Ghost with our investigator that is preparing for baptism in August. I love that truly the Holy Ghost fills our life with hope and light...."abound in hope". I definitely need that hope this week and am so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

The youth in Finland have a special opportunity each summer to participate in what is called a mini mission. They get to come to a companionship of missionaries and serve for a week, just as if they were a normal missionary. This year there are 23 youth (which is an incredibly large and awesome group!) and we are a lucky companionship that gets one! And we are actually the luckiest because we are the only ones that get Sisar Santos! She is actually from Brazil and has lived in Finland for a little over a year and a half. She doesn't speak Finnish too fluently and only understands a little English, but she has enough courage and excitement for the work that language barriers won't be holding her back. But I'll be completely honest, I'm a little "deer in the headlights" about how to train in Finnish, but I'm definitely excited for this opportunity to learn how to do it. 

Also, this week has started already with so many blessings. Last week was quite rough and we were feeling frustrated that so many important lessons fell through etc. but than Sunday night miracles happened and now we barely have any time left to fit people in this week. The blessings are abundant. 

Hope things are going well! I love you!

-Sisar Clark