9/24/24 Road Trip!

Another fast week with a few interesting notes.

The road trip. I haven't driven that much in a long time but it was kinda fun. We traveled from Savonlinna to Jyväskylä for three hours. I wish I had some photos but it was like driving through Snoqualmie pass but flat. Good DC with a massive pot of pasta for lunch.

One thing I have noticed more here is the power of simple things. As I pondered more about this, a quote came to mind from the last general conference (a big meeting where the prophet and apostles speak to the whole church). When Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf spoke in general conference last April, he said this;

"It doesn’t require something grand or complicated. 

We can do simple things. 

Like praying for someone with all our heart. 

Giving a sincere compliment. 

Helping someone feel welcome, respected, valued, and loved. 

Sharing a favorite scripture and what it means to us. 

Or even just by listening."

It doesn't take much to to help others. As I have seen the power of the simple things, it brings in a feeling of love and belonging, which is what Christ did. Challenge for the week, try do do something small for someone else. 

Not too much else happened this week so here's the rest:

- Bought two pieces of Viipurin Rinkeli (some sort of bun bread that is woven into a pretzel). Uber dry and not quite worth the price.

- Had three friends in church again! Things are moving slowly but surely.

- Visited a JW church and it was good. Super friendly and also talked a lot about discerning truth. 

- Lots of Finnish on Sunday. 6+ hours is a bit much but for the most part I could follow along in each conversation and meeting.

- Woke up to 40 F degrees the last few days. Farewell summer.

Hope you all are doing good and that September and treated you all well thus far.

The work awaits,

Vanhin Hsu

Photos:

 

Random door while door knocking. 

 

The car swap in Jyväskylä

Those are literally the only photos I took last week. I'll do better this week

9/17/24 Here a Little, There a Little

Not sure how but a week of small things just flew.

Began with splits with the AP's and I've served around both of them for a while. It was fun catching up while contacting in the rain. Also was able to get info about some changes in the mission.

In the same day, we had interviews with our mission president. Talked about having faith in the missionary work in Savonlinna. Also spoke in only Finnish, which was fun.

The rest of the week was a little more normal but I did study a talk that was sent to our zone chat the other day. In it, it used this scripture from Doctrine and Covenants 46:11, which says, "to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God." 

We all have gifts. We all have talents. What matters is do you recognize them? Whether they be big or small, seek to nurture and use your gifts for the good of others.

Alright, here's the rest:

- Knocked a door of a past member and they were super friendly. Invited us for a juice later too! 

- There is a restaurant owned by a member that we eat at occasionally but their Asian buffet section is out of power, so its a little sad.

- Helped a member move a bunch of newspapers. Also, her house is massive and infamous here in Savonlinna. It used to be a hospital/care point but it is a little spooky inside. 

- Went on a hunt to find a carabiner and literally every store didn't have one. It took a small drive and some tracting to finally find one.

- Ate some good pho from a Vietnamese member and it was goood.

Not much else but there will be a road trip in the near future. Hope you all are doing good as autumn has now come in force. remember to find your gifts.

The work awaits,

Vanhin Hsu

Photos:

 

Some rays of light

 

Picturesque photo

 

Cool building

 

Eating pho

 

Goat in the big hospital home

9/10/24 City Hopping

And another week came and went pretty fast.

In our district council, we talked about working with members. As missionaries, we move a lot and it is hard to create lasting connections with people. 

Sister Tamara W. Runia quoted a proverb in her talk named Seeing God’s Family through the Overview Lens which says, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together". This includes Jesus Christ, us, our friends, and members. When we go together, we all support each other and miracles come. 

With that in mind, we had a ward conference. I am in an area with a group, which means I got to go to Kuopio! That place is cool. Very cool town and got to see my old companion, Elder Aatos Airto. 

Also, had District P-day. Went to a laavu (open campfire thing that is popular in Finland). 

Ok, here's the rest:

- Really good weekend and there was around four baptisms around the mission

- Managed to give out two copies of the Book of Mormon on splits and one was in Swahili! 

- Been out of my area for like three days but its been good.

Hope all you guys are doing well.

The work awaits, 

Vanhin Hsu

Photos:

 District

 

Larsen proceeding to hijack the car Bluetooth of the sisters

 

The number of friends in church represented by pokemon cards

 

Splits!

 

Lake

 

Arriving in Kuopio

 

Sunset

9/3/24 The Main Thing

Welcome back everyone and this last week was quite filled here in Savonlinna.

To start, we went to Helsinki for the mission tour. Elder Allan T. Philips came and shared some good wisdom with us. There was a few key themes and I'll touch on them cause they are also good principles to live by.

1. Be the message. If we say we have a message about joy, what better way than to be joyful. There is truly joy in the missionary work.

2. Communicate clearly. Sometimes we need to be a listener, a councilor in other times but open communication is how we truly solve problems.

3. "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing". We are hear to learn about Jesus Christ and share His gospel. So, like the quote I heard in a BYU devotional, we have to focus on Christ. When WE do that, the rest will come as long as we hold on to what is most important.

So, with that wisdom acquired, went back to Savonlinna and did the good work. 

Here's the rest:

- The mission tour was held 20 minutes from the train station. It ended late. So, with our train leaving at 16:13 (4:13) and it being 15:45, we all crammed into the mission van. Would not recommend putting 11 people in a 9 person van but we made it.

- In the following days, proceeded to talk to two slightly argumentative/discussive people about our religion and it was a little tiring.

- Had a pastor say in English that I was sent here to destroy Christianity. 

- Gave out a Book of Mormon in Vietnamese!

- Talked to a Korean lady who grew up in Denmark and then moved to Finland. For about an hour, we just talked about the culture difference between America and Finland and a few other things.

Other than that, not too much else. Hope you all are doing well as autumn begins. 

The work awaits,

Vanhin Hsu

Photos:

 

Mission tour crew

 

Literally a path outside our door

 

Whiteboard contacting

 

Grasshopper. They existence here.

 

Small pitstop

 

Part of the lake

 

Sky