June 5, 2017 ~ Week 85

 Hey there family! I am now here in Helsinki and let me tell you, it was weird to be on the train coming down from the north looking out the window just watching summer blossom as we came more south. I hoped off the train in Helsinki and it was hot haha, It was crazy! I am liking it in Helsinki, despite my initial thoughts about this transfer call. We also cover an area called Porvoo that is 35 minutes to the east of Helsinki due to the shortage of missionaries in our mission. So we spend 3-4 days in Helsinki and then move to Porvoo, spend 3-4 days there and come back. It makes meeting with people and laundry and grocery shopping a little tricky, but we make it work. Porvoo is beautiful though, maybe the prettiest city that I have been in in Finland. It is also over looked by a ski hill, which in the summer is a down hill mountain biking course and it makes me a wee bit trunky, but not much:) we will visit it one preparation day and see how it is, but probably won't be able to ride it.

The area that we have is nice, HUGE and full of those ready to receive the gospel. we don't tract here because there are so many people to follow up with so we talk to people as we go and follow up with potentials and former investigators. My first day in the city we found 5 or 6 really solid potentials and set up return appointments with them on the street so we will see how those all go. We also have some great members who are itching to help out in the work so we are blessed there as well. They also put me to work right away and had me bare my testimony in sacrament meeting and then gave me a talk assignment for next week in Sacrament meeting, on of the adult ones too that lasts for 20 minutes... scary. I have only given 2 or 3 talks on my mission because I have stayed in the larger wards and branches in Finland.

We have a few investigators right now, a young Finnish couple with a baptismal date in Porvoo (found and taught by the previous elders), a young Filipino lady who is preparing for baptism as well in Helsinki and that is really about it. Our numbers are few right now but they are strong. We will be adding quite a few more people to our teaching pool this week too!

It was a great week, thank you for all your support and prayers, it really helps out here in the mission field!

Love,

Vanhin Robison