September 19, 2017 ~ Week 100

 Whoa that's a big number in the subject line. It has been around 100 weeks since I embarked on my mission,although I am fairly sure that that number is off. Anyways whether it was the 100th week or not it matters not because it was a great week! Last P-day we got to tour downtown Helsinki so that was great to do! We made it Suomenlinna (Finland's castle) but it is actually a sea fortress. It is very beautiful full of old cut outs of the hills for places that cannons can be used. It was very pretty as we got to see the beauty of Finland in the fall two with leaves changing colors. Along with our trip to Helsinki we went to some of the famous churches in the downtown and had a great time. A great member here took us all around showed us all the cool places and because of that we accomplished way more than we could have on our own.

This week we also had a really cool experience is following the Spirit's guidance to hasten the Lord's work. Heavenly Father blessed us with 2 new investigators during the final hours of proselytizing on Sunday night. We were tracking at a certain complex that we have visited often where a few potentials were. As we were tracting I saw someone come out of a door and leave, and that thought just stayed in the back of my mind. With time we got to that same door, noticed that it had not been triangled yet(meaning hadn't said no), but we kept on walking thinking "ah, the owner isn't even home". We walked past the door and down the stairs but something said in my mind, "hey just knock the door anyways, you never know". So we turned around and knocked the door and immediately a man opened the door and without us saying a word he said "Tulkaa sisään (come in)"! We weren't passing this opportunity up so we quickly came in. We taught the restoration, his wife join us half way through (she was the one I had seen leave earlier) and they both became new investigators. We are just in awe every time we realize that the Lord has had his hand in our life and in his own work.

Another great experience that we had this week that resulted in following the Spirit goes as follows. We wet to follow up with a less active which took us to an area that we weren't familiar with which is always good. Anyways the member wasn't home but his daughter was home and we spoke to her through the door (she didn't open it, she just talked through it) and that's how we knew he wasn't home. So we went on our way to our next person to visit and actually passed two Jehovah Witnesses on our way out. It just so happened that we were heading the same way and ended up being right behind one another on the street. we stopped to talk to someone and they crossed the street. After the contact ended we kept walking and realized that we were walking pace for pace with the Jehovah Witness missionaries on the other side of the street. We looked up and saw a man walking towards us, he saw us, then the Jehovah witnesses and we figured that this was his worst nightmare. He walked towards us but didn't stop when we tried to talk. I believe that he faced every Finns worst nightmare, trapped between the JWs and Mormons. Anyways not feeling like this would be the best situation to contact people we turned off onto the next possible road and started heading towards what looked like a dead end. At the end of the road we ran into the wife of the less active member whom we had just tried to visit. It was a great little miracle because we set up a time to visit.

Anyways the Lord works in mysterious ways! It was a great week for me, I hope that it was great for you all as well! 

Love,

Vanhin Robison

1. Elder Smith and I at the big Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki

2. Sometimes when you have too much money you buy an island in the Bay of Finland and built a little cottage

3. Inside of Suomenlinna

4. Looking out of one of the cannon spots

September 12, 2017 - Week 99

 Sorry I don't here anytime for words but here are some photos!:)

1.My 2 year mark celebration!

2.The kind of house the grandpa walker told me about before my mission. The rock is too big so just build on top of it!

3.We have some flooding of our own here. But we are very mindful and our hearts go out to those people affected by natural disasters these past few weeks.

4. Here is a bad photo of our chapel in Haaga.

September 5, 2017 - Week 98

 Wow, it's come, my 2 year mark will be this Saturday. That means that the fourth quarter has ended and we go to overtime. In sports we somehow always found the energy and drive to play harder and smarter in the extra innings and I hope it can apply here as well. I can't believe how much these past 2 years has helped me in innumerable ways. The hard part is now trying to find specific ways where I have improved. Elder Hales talked in this past general conference about how all the attributes of Jesus Christ are connect and that as you increase in one you also increase in another and another. That is how the mission is too, mainly because we strive daily to develop Christlike attributes but also because every aspect of ourselves rises as we progress. Though we are not perfect and may not always be progressing it is great to take a moment or two and see what has changed from a month ago, a year ago, or even 2 years ago. Despite all this change I probably can not give you a favorite memory or an aspect in which I have developed the most so don't be looking for those answers😀.

This week we got to do a lot of finding despite us getting all of those investigators last week. Well we always should be doing a lot of finding because finding is like breathing, you just always do it. I did mean though that we spent more time outside than rather than being in lessons, which was a little unexpected but people were busy. We got to meet some really prepared people though, like a man from India who moved here to get out of his spiraling depression due to the loss of his father. Or a man who self referred himself and requested a copy of the Book of Mormon. As we stood at his door to give it to him, I asked Elder Smith if he would like to start the contact and try to get in to teach. He looked at me and said "I've never done this before, I'd rather watch and learn". I giggled and said "I've never done this either". The contact went well, though he was more interested in getting his Book of Mormon than listening to us yabber on. We will go and visit him tomorrow to see how it's going and to answer questions.

This week we had a zone conference, a great one and a fitting doctrinal focus of becoming true disciples of Jesus Christ. I like that topic because so much goes into that and is a focus of life. At the end i got to offer my departing testimony (seeing that it was my last zone conference). I mentioned earlier in this email that have improved in many ways, one of those ways is not however holding back my tears. The water tables were high as dad likes to say and they couldn't be held back as all I could testify of was of Jesus Christ. That he lived, died and lives again offering us the opportunity to do as he did and to become as he is. I learned from myself as the spirit was putting words in my mouth to say.

Now it is onward and upward to more people to find and lives to change with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Love,

Vanhin Robison

Photos:

Maybe a trip to the temple influenced such a great week!

August 29, 2017 ~ Week 97

 Hey Family and friends, I apologize that this will be a shorter email. My companion and I are trying to make it to the temple today so everything is cut a little short! It is hard to capture all that has happened this week i just a few paragraphs. Just know and take from this email that i know that God is our loving Heavenly Father and that Jesus Christ is our Savior and leads this church. We had a lot of mini miracles this week but I won't be able to elaborated on all of them.

We found 4 new investigators this week which is a miracle in and of itself! We taught that miracle contact that we had,the one who went to pray but then we knocked on her door as if it was an answer to an unspoken prayer. we had maybe on of the best first lessons that I have had on my mission and we left having a lot of hope for her. We had a return appointment for Friday at 10:30 but she texted us that morning at 7 cancelling our lesson and not wanting to meet again. She talked with her family about meeting with us and they, being strong members of another church, cause a lot of contention and conflict. Right now she is trying to decided to continue and act in faith and meet with us or to make peace and conform to her family. It was heartbreaking and really an unfair situation for her to be in. We were pretty deflated after that and all personal study we were just trying to find solace in Christ. After personal study ended and it was time to go outside, feeling pretty tired of feeling bad for myself and having self pity, I stood up and said the Elder Smith "today is going to be a great day because we choose it to be"! With that increased faith we stepped out the door, followed our inspired plans and Heavenly Father lead us to a young woman from the Philippines trying to find a certain address. We helped her get there and set up a lesson for the next day. The lesson went great and there with her was her sister who is now investigating. we called a few days ago to confirm a meeting for this week and she informed us that her husband and mother would now be there. Just like that Heavenly Father has already blessed us with 2 great investigators, who are really seeking for the truth and it appears will bless us with 2 more investigators! 

We got a lot of help from Heavenly Father in a lot of unseen ways, whether it was that we were able to help navigate a member to our lesson over the phone only because we had been where he was the previous day due to getting off at the wrong train station or if it was that we could get a member or two to come to lessons hours before the lesson started, on a weekday morning. Heavenly Father really does watch over us and Jesus Christ leads us. Or how about our investigator asking us a question by quoting the Bible, a passage that seemed to be contradicting to our doctrine, and the spirit giving us the wisdom to resolve his concern in 6 words, much simpler than what I could have come up with myself. It was a great week!

I hope that you all have a great week!:) 

Love,

Vanhin Robison

August 22, 2017 ~ Week 96

 Hey family and friends a lot happened this week and I don't have all the time in the world so we will see how far I get!

This week Finland had it's first major news break in a long long time. In Turku, there was a man who attacked and killed 2 people with a knife and injured many more. He was caught and arrested only minutes. This was the only thing on the Finnish peoples mind the past few days. We even held a moment of silence at the beginning of sacrament meeting in remembrance of those who were affected by it. All the missionaries were informed the night of what had happened and we are all safe. 

We did experience a miracle this week where we were lead to a person who is seeking to know more. We had a lesson set up for yesterday with a potential that we had tracked into weeks earlier but when our member could suddenly no longer come due to an unforeseen issue we had to cancel the lesson. We went to her door to do so and to explain the situation and to set up another time to meet. We had a good conversation with this woman and got to know her a little more. Right before we were about she said "Ok, I just have to tell you this". She continued "I have never really been religious in my life yet i have always wondered is there a God and what is my relationship with him and if he is with me. I have experienced hard times in life, as we all do, but I have never before prayed. Then one day, a few weeks ago I got to the point in my difficulties where I could nothing but pray. So i went to my room to pray for the first time in my life and pondered what I would say to God. Right before I started to pray I hear a knock at the door. i answered it only to see that it was you two standing behind my door. I thought there is no way, is this a sign from God?". As you could imagine Elder Smith and I were pretty excited and filled with the deepest gratitude. That is one of the best feelings to know that you were led to someone who is searching and wants to know. We will meet with her tomorrow and we are very excited!

Yesterday we also did teach another with a much different outcome. It was with another potential investigator who is just concerned for the welfare of our souls. The lesson was more of he trying to show us that we are wrong and it felt like one of those preachers that i am sure Joseph Smith listened to which lead him to ask "which of these is right,or are they all wrong together?". Needless to say we got 'bashed' for an hour straight, not my favorite activity. We both walked out of the lesson feeling more and more confident that this is the restored gospel of Jesus Christs, with restored truths.

We were also able to deal with people as the savior may have done in a more personal way. we met a man on the street, someone who just has nothing in his life. We walked with him to his hoe and tried to share with him the gospel of Jesus Christ but he wasn't listening. We then just tried to be his friend and talked to him about what he really cared about, and that was the NFL. Apparently the St.Louis Rams are now in Los Angeles. Though we weren't able to stay long because we had other places to and that we weren't able to teach, I did feel like we fulfilled our baptismal covenant of mourning with those that mourn and comforting those that stand in need of comfort. The tears in his eyes said it all as we were preparing to leave. There are a lot of lonely people in the world and the lord has a way to take care of it all i believe that home teaching maybe that way and also through us, his disciples by fulfilling our baptismal covenant.

Have a great week! It was a great one for me!:)

Love,

Vanhin Robison

August 15th ~ Week 95

 Not much longer and that subject will hit "week 100", that is pretty awesome! I never thought that it would get that high! But who knows if that count is even accurate:)

This week was great we had a nice appointment with mother nature on Saturday night. We were about a 20 minute walk from any train station, buses weren't in sight, we were a 20 minute train ride from home, stuck with no umbrellas and staring at the darkest storm clouds I had ever seen! It was pretty awesome. We stood under a little overhang watching as just unbelievable amounts of rain came down in a matter of seconds. I had never seen so much lightning in my life, it was beautiful! We waited out the thickest parts of the storm but then realizing that rain storms in Finland can literally last weeks we decided to just get wet and do the work. We had some puzzled faces as drenched young men knocked on strangers doors. The storm took out many trees too and ended up canceling all of our trains back home so we took a 50 minute bus ride home but got some beautiful pictures of a sun set after the storm. 

I also branched out this week and made some blueberry muffins today. Well it turned out to be more of a loaf of bread because we don't have a muffin pan in our apartment, only a bread pan. It turned out really well I might say. I was inspired to do this baking because last week we had so much fun making brownies for my birthday!

We got to get to know President and Sister Aura this week much better as we spent Friday at their home for missionaries who have grown "old" in the mission. It is incredible that i still am trying to answer the same questions that I was asking at the beginning of my mission "how can i find more people to teach?" Anyways the meeting went great, i thoroughly enjoyed being able to catch up with the elders in my MTC group! Friday evening after the meeting we enjoyed a nice walk with President and Sister Aura to the nearby farm fields and horse ranch right next to the mission home. They are two great people. I know that they are called of God to lead this mission.

The rest of the week included a lot of opportunities to find new investigators and try to add more light to the previously asked question. We talk to people everywhere, it makes them a little uncomfortable sometimes, as it does for us as well, but we just look up unto Christ, not at the billion on lookers and ease-droppers. People this week told us that we are a little annoying stopping them on their streets and knocking on their doors. I didn't take too much offense too it knowing that I'm not the first to hear such things. I imagine that Peter, John, Paul and a whole boat load of other emissaries of the Lord Jesus Christ have heard similar things.

The time moves on we are doing our best! Summer is winding down in Finland, but we are enjoying the nicest weather ever here. Maybe with the going down of the son earlier it will open the hearts of the Finnish people faster! 

Love,

Vanhin Robison

                                                            1. Our mini BLT's

                                            2. Some of the Elders and Sisters at the meeting on Friday

                           3. Storm wreckage (the roots of the tree are taller than me by the way)

                                                                            4. Our blueberry bread:)

5. Finnish skies are incredible 

August 8, 2017 - Happy Birthday Kyle! ~ Week 94

 Hey there family and friends! Thank you for all of the birthday wishes! Many have asked what my companion and I are going to do since my birthday is on P-day, and we have decided to do some baking so that we can all celebrate at district meeting together:)

This week was great, the Lord really helped us pick up the area and get it going! There are so many prepared people here, the hard part/fun part is trying to find out who they are and where they are:) We found two of them this week, well actually one of them found us. H stopped us on the street and told us that he had met with missionaries years ago and he wants to meet again. He came to church and is in contact with us quite often. He truly is one of a kind, I have never had another investigator like him, not in the slightest. the other investigator we got was a referral form the bishop. He told us too go and visit a less active family with an unbaptized 9 year old son. we went over and met with the and they are now coming back to activity and the son is investigating! The Lord is taking our efforts and multiplying them!

Some events of this week include being kicked out of a refugee camp. It sounds worse than it is. we had a referral there from some other missionaries in Helsinki so we went to follow up with him because we had permission from President Aura and right when we got there the big security guard said that we couldn't be there and since all we had was a name we couldn't do much. 

Another thing was that President and Sister Aura called me for my birthday this morning and sang to me in Finnish so that was great! 

We took the wrong bus about 20 times this week haha. We are both pretty new to the area so we aren't sure how to get around the area the most effectively yet and that includes us taking the wrong bus or train, but we are getting better. it is incredible how fast time goes by when you are so focused in the work because of how busy you are trying to get to know an area and the people in it.

That's basically all that we had this week, bouncing from one finding activity to another and talking to everyone in between! The work is going very well and we are enjoying our time:) Have a great week!

Love, 

Vanhin Robison

P.s. Sorry that there are no pictures to send home this week, we haven't seen too many cool land features of picture opportunities.