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 ;)