1/27/25 Oulu for a Day

Time just doesn't exist on the mission. Like, it vanishes before your eyes.

We had splits in Oulu! The last time I visited that city was Christmas of 2023. There were a few differences to the apartment but it was the same for the most part. Took the Oulu Tori Poliisi photo again and I'll do a then and now photo.

As I was listening to President Russell M Nelson's talk about the church's name, this stuck out to me. "When we omit His name from His Church, we are inadvertently removing Him as the central focus of our lives." I don't go around wearing a tag saying the LDS church or the Mormon church. It says the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This became a nice reminder that it is all for Jesus Christ's church, and not something else. Challenge for the week, how can you put Christ as the center of your life? and why not start doing that now?

Alright here's the rest:

- Went bowling for our district pday. Afterwards, had a graceful fall. As I tried to gain some speed to slide on ice, I lost all balance. So, instincts let me do a 180 spin and land in a push up position. Caught myself but looked like I died. 

- Some people came to our impromptu Finnish class! Pretty good start and we'll work with what we got.

- Played a decent amount of ping pong with one of our friends. 

- In Oulu, played sähly (floor hockey) and I am rusty. Didn't do great and felt the lack of cardio. Did make quite a few assists though. Also ate tacos with the ZL's (after eating tacos for nearly two weeks. I'm a little taco'd out).

- The friend who was supposed to get baptized was delayed to next week but its still going. He passed his interview and now its a bunch of prep work leading up to it.

- Ate some good smoked salmon at a members place. Got pretty stuffed but it was awesome. 

Well, hope you all are doing well and that you're winter maybe warmer than my 30 F here. cough* Global warming cough*

The work awaits,

Vanhin Hsu

Photos:

 

Oulu 1/23/2025

 

Oulu 12/2/2023

 Photo from filming a backpack reveal reel. Still editing.

 

Elder Allred teaching Finnish

 

Bowling for district pday. Got over 100!

 

Avg view from a train window.

 

Me dead after the fall.

1/21/25 Sunshine & Rainbows

One of the weirdest winter weeks in Finland. It was 40-45 F all week, making it feel like spring. 

Due to something, we were able to see rainbow clouds. Not sure the science behind it but really miraculous to see.

We also had interviews with our mission president. Every interview, he asks us to prepare a small thought on a scripture passage. This time, I chose 2 Nephi 27:23. it says,

23 For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith.

The number of miracles we saw this week was uncountable. Especially when you look at the small gifts. There are millions of things to be grateful for and millions of miracles all around us. So, look for those small miracles in your life.

Here's the recap:

- Also in interviews, my mission president hinted at me leaving. If that happens, that will be 4 areas in 4 transfers. We shall see in 3 weeks.

- Goal for the week is to be Duolingo diamond league #1 so lots of kieli will be devoted to that.

- Trains... we ran into a complication with trains. The train to our DC was delayed by nearly an hour and a half so we opted to drive. Still took an hour and a half but made it. One of the best DC's I've been to despite the shortness thereof.

- Hockey game #2 and it was a crazy one. 

- Baptism this weekend! Things are looking good so far but a few last road bumps are in the way so we shall see.

Hope you all are doing well and staying warm. 

The work awaits,

Vanhin Hsu

Photos:

 Hockey game 

 

Rainbow clouds!!

  

Not as good but still rainbow clouds.

 

The train delay

I didn't take a lot of photos but I'll take more this week.

1/14/25 0-2

And another week in the past. Needless to say, it's been one crazy week.

Had splits with the district leader (DL) and they went well. Saw a few small miracles and lost a little bit of sleep but all & all, good time.

Other major highlight was going to a hockey game. Long story short, one of our friends works there and invited us to come help a little and watch. 

I'm going to try using the game as part of an analogy. While we were watching, the home team got scored on twice in the first half of the game. In a way, we all have time where we feel the score is 0-2 and Satan has the game won but that's exactly how he wants us to think. 

One thing a leader of the church said in the talk The Healing Power of Jesus Christ is this:

"He has the power to convert the ashes of mortality to the beauties of eternity.”

Even if life feels like a score of 0-2, Christ always has a way to support us and help us learn and experience what we need to. By the end of the game the score was 4-2. Christ can change us as we let him and we will outscore Satan every time.

Anyhow, here's a recap of the rest:

- Played a game of Risk that took a while but won despite some interesting tactics.

- Had about 8 lessons this last week, which is like the second highest I've had on my mission. The Lord is truly hastening his work in Pietarsaari.

- Had freezing rain the other day. No casualties but a few close calls.

- Hockey game was epic. I was a little cold but alls well that ends well.

Well, this week should be more 'normal' but we shall see what's in store. Hope you all had a good start to January!

The work awaits,

Vanhin Hsu

Photos:

 

Cool spooky church we saw

 

Last p-day

 

The hockey rink

 

Attempt to photograph frost

 

Average sunny day

1/7/25 Beginning the New Year with... a Baby Shower

Another week and yet a year has passed. Needless to say this has been quite a packed week.

We celebrated the New Year in a more Russian style because one family here is part Russian. Some mushroom cake, a wafer cake, Santa Claus coming and giving gifts, etc. Twas fun.

And, yes, me and my companion helped set up and were at a baby shower. Now I know what to expect in the future.

Anyhow, today, I want to quote a quote within a talk by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf in his talk Of Regrets and Resolutions. He quotes the book The Little Prince, saying, "One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes." 

As I pondered, it kinda struck me that our eyes only see the surface. When we see with the heart, we see people for who they are, and now for what circumstances they are in. Next time you meet someone, just remember who they really are, a spirit son or daughter of God. This weeks challenge, reach our to an old friend and just check in.

Lots happened so if you don't want to read a solid 5 paragraph essay of random stuff, you can skip this part:

- I SAW THE NORTHERN LIGHTS!! Every since I got here, it was on my list of things to do and one night, it was bright enough to be seen here in Pietarsaari.

- Gave out the first Book of Mormon in Swedish! The lady spoke English and Swedish but I happened to hold a Swedish one at the time. Also, after a month of studying Swedish, I'm finally starting to understand what I hear a bit.

- Became the tech guy for Sunday school. I didn't do much but it was fun. Listening to Swedish, Finnish, and flipping through stuff on the laptop hooked up to a projector.

- So, baby shower. A member is expecting this month so we helped set up and were there for the celebration. One thing we did was write advice about how to take care of the kid. We didn't know what to write so Elder Allred wrote 'Don't drop him' and I wrote 'I agree'. They also had another competition of sorts but it was based on guessing the circumference of the widest point. I unintentionally got second and I was glad I wasn't first but it was close.

- Small story to go with the northern lights. We saw them and got good photos. After we returned to the church, I looked up the darkest area in our area and it was a 45 minute drive away. We still saw them in the sky so we decided to go there to get a better view. As we were driving, thick fog came on and off. Crossing our fingers, we arrived and the fog was still super thick. So, took a photo to dedicate that moment of sadness but learned a good lesson. A member then called us to help clean the church a bit and we were on overtime for a solid half hour.

Ok, that was kinda a lot but this week should be good too. We'll be in Seinäjoki for a bit. Well, Hope you all had a good start to the year and are sticking to those goals.

The work awaits,

Vanhin Hsu

Photos:

 

Northern lights!

 

Driving in our area

 

The sea

 

Moment of sadness

 

Park that is by the high school

 

Cool historical site we found

 

One of the big churches