August 9, 2016 Sisar Paakkari on todella ihana! Sisar Paakkari is really wonderful!

What a great week of learning and loving! The mini missionary experience was probably one of the biggest highlights of my mission. These youth of Finland are absolutely incredible. They truly are the future of the church in Finland, and they will be amazing. Our mini missionary who we were able to serve with had so much faith and determination, even though everything about missionary work can be so out of ones comfort zone. We reached new heights together and truly saw an unreal amount of miracles. I was so proud of her when she prayed for her first time in her life in English! She is so brave. 

The 3 Musketeers

My companion on the biggest lake of
southern Finland. We love our road trips.

Guess what...I translated for the mission president’s family this week. Just about wet my skirt, but it all went well. Have I ever told you all how much I love Finnish? Yes, its Adams language for sure.

It was raining so hard this week my umbrella broke...
we huddled together as if one big umbrella...
it was just about as successful as burnt toast,
 but we were smiling!

While pondering and studying this week I read a scripture in Alma. At this point in time of the Book of Mormon, Alma is saying some of his last words to his son Helaman. He says in chapter 27 vs. 34 "...teach them to never be weary of good works..." and I thought..."man, sometimes I get super worn out as a missionary!" but after a random and total "Sister Cardon thought" I pondered more, thinking of the question, Why do we get worn out of good works at times? In further thought and reading I found an answer, vs. 36 "Let all thy doings be unto the Lord and withersoever thou goest, let it be in the Lord". We will get worn out of good works when they are for ourselves, but when we are going forth with the desire and love for our Lord, he will not let us ware. 

Great blessing this week was that we received EIGHT REFERRALS! Wow. I am not kidding, that mini missionary brought many blessings. 

Keep smiling everyone, you know I am!

Rakkaudella,

Sisar Cardon

Hugging our little Finnish baby goodbye :(

-We took a break of our morning runs and played soccer at the field...
right next to the Finland temple! #bestarea

August 2, 2016The weeks feel like days and the days feel like...seconds??

Moi,  (Hi)

 It would take the entire day for me to even tell the half of how this last week went. #missionarylife

MLC this week was such a blessing! I SAW SISTER JACOBSEN and you better believe there were tears. Sisar McAllister and I picked them up from the airport and it was one of those epic off the plane reunions, running, hugging, crying, and laughing. Yeah. SO GOOD.

We had many meetings this week. We talked about being a "successful missionary" and we discussed about Abinadi. He died before he even knew the effect his words and teachings had on Alma. Abinadi literally gave his life for the work of the Lord and didn’t even get to see the result in his lifetime on earth. If we think about it, Alma, who was converted, has a family line that leads straight to Nephi, the Nephi who welcomed Christ to the Americas. Abinadi had no idea the "success" that he was having, but he didn’t ever doubt. He died in faith, that someone would know the truth. What a cool perspective, especially to remember that as missionaries, and members of the church, we are planting seeds that will have significant influence on many. 

 

We went to the temple. I love the temple. I sat in there with Sisar Jacobsen and Suvi Hyssälä (the bishops wife from my last area Turku--the fact that Sisar Jacobsen and I were both there may or may not have played a role in their coming...we will never know ;). ) It was one of the most special experiences of my entire mission. 

We have a mini missionary with us for the week! SISAR PAAKKARI. She is 17, Finn, and outstanding! She is so brave to come see what missionary life is like and help us in our work. Man, if every person, or even just 17 year old member in the church had a testimony as strong as her, this world would be a whole better place. She is so strong. She testifies boldly. I am learning much from her. 

This week we met with a recent convert, read the scripture 2 Nephi 28:30 about "line upon line, precept upon precept is how we learn wisdom" and she responded with a thought provoking question, "does that mean that we only understand the scriptures little by little?" Yes, yes it does. I am learning each and every day little by little about the plan that Heavenly Father has, especially through the scriptures. I am reminded often that it is ok not to know everything, for if I did, what would be the fun in that?

This week was simply great...and I can’t believe that we did ALL that we did in just a week. We even had dinner with President and Sister Watson. It was the 2 assistants and my companion and I. Yep, you better believe it was the best "family dinner" of my mission, with a mind blowing spiritual discussion for dessert. 

                                         Keep on keepin’ on everyone!

Rakkaudella, 

Sisar Cardon

PS. Birthday shout outs to DALLIN MICHAEL CARDON the baby of the family! 

They grow up so fast ;)

July 26, 2016 ESPOO!!

Tervetuloa Espooseen Sisar Cardon!  

It's been an incredibly busy but great week. I think the second that I got off the train, we were runnin'...and we haven't quite stopped runnin'. It's oh so good though. I feel like there is ALWAYS something to do now, and always someone we need to meet with, call, serve, ya know...the missionary stuff. 

Espoo is really beautiful. It's an extremely "wealthy area" where we live...apparently the President of Finland has one of his houses in our area? Yes. That is my next goal. Teach the President of Finland. He would surely make church attendance increase. 

My new companion is Sisar McAllister. She is a BLAST!! Wow. It reminds me of the glory days with Sisar Jacobsen. She is from Colorado Springs, sings like an absolute ANGEL (literally its her reputation in the ward, the angel singer, and it's well-deserved) and I dont think we can go more than 10 minutes without laughing at SOMETHING...well, we are forced to during lessons...but its sometimes not easy. :) This is her last transfer of her mission and we are going out hard.

We got to go pick up the new missionaries from the airport this week. It made me feel like I was just getting to the country all over again. They are all on fire with a spirit of missionary work and it was amazing to see. I loved hearing the "MTC Finnish" :) they all spoke so well! President gave us a tour of Helsinki (breathtaking pictures attached)

Finlands Temple is IN OUR AREA!! We actually run by it everyday. Angel Moroni is definitely cheering me on "keep on runnin Sisar Cardon! You almost made it to breakfast!!"

  

We got a new investigator this week. He is outstanding. I swear he teaches us. As we were discussing about the plan of salvation. One thing I learned from him was when he made the comment "Asking questions is good, it means that I am ready to learn more that God has for me". It's so true. Having questions shows us that we have the desire to progress. Heavenly Father will fill that desire with knowledge and a yearning for more growth. I see that with this particular man. He is progressing VERY well :)

Keep smiling and keep praying for us missionaries! We feel and see the blessings of your prayers.

Rakkaudellani,

Sisar Cardon

July 18, 2016 Change Calls, and JELLO Parties!!

We got change calls and I will be going to Espoo! Very exciting. 

This will be a HUGE change. 

Saying goodbye to areas is probably the hardest thing to do as a missionary. I always cry so much leaving the investigators and members. We have had so much fun here. I have been able to see so many people change their lives. People here in Turku have changed my life. 

 We had an American jello party with the Hyssälä family #2ndfamily (special thank you to Kristen and Averyl for the birthday jello!) 

Valerie wrote a personal letter to me with more information about her transfer. Here are some of the highlights: 

Heippa Hei (Bye Bye)

• She will be a Sister Training Leader (STL) along with her new companion. There are three sets of STL's in the mission. Her area is the largest, serving six sets of sister missionaries. 
• She is serving in President Watson's ward. Espoo is near Helsinki and it's where the mission headquarters are located, as well as the Finnish Temple. 
•  She and her companion will help the six sets of sister missionaries regularly. They will be traveling "all the time" 
• "... I'm terrified!"  "I'm literally so scared."  (direct quotes)
•  "I feel really god about it in some ways." (also a direct quote)
• If you know Valerie, you know she will give it all she's got. She will listen and help the sisters to the best of her abilities and it will be enough. She'll grow as she helps the other missionaries grow. I'm excited to watch her continue to become what God wants her to become.                                 -Valerie's mom

July 12, 2016 Where does the time go?

I LOVE TURKU

This week was full of a lot of memories and great people. 

We sang in church this week...that was terrifying. But good, and a memory :)

The BYU Synthesis jazz band was here in Turku. They played at our church and are incredibly talented! The Finns LOVED it! we were using it as a contact approach on the street for the past couple weeks. It was so cool because an hour before the performance, we were contacting our way there and met this old Finnish man who was so excited about this musical performance. He dropped his plans and CAME! We had multiple investigators there and a few people that we met on the street there! I am amazed at how, through music, we can be brought together and feel more of Gods love. Another man we met because of this came to church on Sunday. Miracles of missionary work. Thank you BYU ;)

BLuEBerRY SeAsON. There are so many blueberries covering the forest ground I feel like I am in some sort of heaven. Picture this: A walk with our dearest Saara, picking wild blueberries, along a number of little lakes in the forrest...in the pouring rain. (dont worry, I have pictures attached so you dont need to work your brain too much). Its amazing how being in the beauty that God has made for us, talking about good things, with good people, will make such good memories.

(If anyone knows how to turn a picture on a blog - let me know...    -Valerie's Mom)

One quote that I heard from a good friend of mine this week was "love people enough to ask them to change". I know when we truly love God, we change to be better in line with His will. I know when we truly love people, we want this kind of happiness, happiness that comes from change. This life is full of small and big changes that we make, and these are good for us. They are to help us grow. 

Rakkaudella, Sisar Cardon

This is what the houses in Finland are like...yes. I know. 

Picking our blueberries :)

-Pday ship lunch with our favorite Persians!
(yes, I know Sara looks like a Kardashian)​