Lucas's Mission: 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

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