Letter #15

Tervetuloa Suomeen!!!

So it snowed on thursday!! so fun! the lowest it got was -10C so, were off to a good start.:) it actually feels good now. Its way fun to ride a bike in the snow, its pretty tiring but, its still fun. Alot of stuff happened this week it was awesome! 

So we decided to clean our apartment like bosses because it kinda needed some deep down and... cleany cleaning. It looked like it had not had that kind of love for a while. so we gave it some love. 

The main thing that happend this week was on Wednesday and Thursday, this is cool. So we had to go down to Helsinki for my companions 6 month kieli koulu(language school). After the first six weeks in the country we go to kieli koulu and than at 6 months you go for 2nds, if that makes sense. So it was my companions 6 month kieli koulu and we had tickets for the 6:52 train to Helsinki. As we get all our stuff together we were running a bit behind and biked as fast as our little legs could go to the train station, and when we arrived at the train station, so did the train. So we hurry and lock our bicks and start going to the train, but my companion said he forgot some kind of candybar to buy for kieli koulu because they told him to bring one. So we figured, we got time, it barely arrived. so we go inside, look around, and me being the antsi guy I am said, "you can buy one in Helsink...." than he agreed so as we walked out of the trainstation shop thing, we watched our train, slowly but surely as sun rises, leave. It left us with the "I cant believe what just happened" faces. I just laughed and said "well that kinda stinks." (because tickets are expensive and thats just a waste of 20 euros each) but as I said the "well that kinda stinks" in english, this Finnish women sitting on the bench pretty near by said very excidedly "Oh was that your train? Im sorry, go back inside and see the next train, it be on the teloviisio thing." she was so excited to speak english it was a funny. so we went inside, came out and said one hour, she said stuff like "go back inside you´ll freeze out here", (it was pretty cold but she was wearing a light jacket and some shorts, go figure) so we said were fine and began to talk with her, and the whole time we were speaking in Finnish to her and she responded in English. I told her we are trying to learn the language for a purpose (I though that was a sly way to transition things;) and we gave the first discussion because we had an hour to spare, and she was totally interested, near the end of our discussion she said "you know, I felt something special when you started talking with me..." than she opened up about how she was an achoholic and wants to stop, she had a child die and she wants to change her life and she always knew there was some sort of power or God that loved her and could help. The way this women has been prepared for the Gospel is amazing, I know Heavenly Father is watching out for all his children, because meeting this women after we missed the train we were suppose to be on, opened my eyes to see that "every soul is great in the eyes of God." But we left her with a BOM and she was SO excited to take it, it was awesome, she waved to us as we got on the next train and left. Probably the best thing that could happen after missing a train.

The next cool thing was going through the FINLAND TEMPLE!!! WOW! its my favorite, hands down, feet down, eyes down heads down. Its beautiful!! and I listend to everything in FInnish and the best part was, is that I think there is an even special spirit there, when you cant really understand what is said, I think going through a foreing language session is my new favorite. The Spirit is SO strong. I felt many things in that temple but one really special one to me was that, we are all children of our Heavenly Father. And the reason for Missionary work is not to convert or teach, its basically just inviting the Spirit to be with them, and really reminding their souls of who they really are, because they already know everything about the Gospel, they just need to be reminded. but of course we do this by converting and teaching. But I loved that thought that its not us that teach or converts, its the Spirit.

Another way cool thing, probably just as cool as the other stuff is... I went to Pizza Hut, and had American Pizza!!! it was WAY good, okay thats not as cool as the other two experiances but its still way cool. its been a long time but their Pizza and our home made stuff just doesnt cut it. but it was goooood. 

I love you all!!! your awesome!! Its great in Finland, alot of smoking and drinking but there is alot of teaching as well. Its not even too cold, but.... i cant say that for long. Im excited for -30!!! ya son!! 

Love,
Vanhin Waite

Grandma: Thank you for your letter, that is a way sweet story. It is so true that Heavenly Father is watching over all his children. You will have to tell me what happens and Im so glad things are going great. wow look at you, missionary Grandma. thats awesome. Love ya.

Meg: Thanks for the letters!! theyr GREAT! Thank you!! I want you to know... you can serve at 19!!! just incase you didnt know. tee hee. your awesome. and be looking for something in the mailers. :) peace.

Letter #14

Terve Perheni!!

Wow!! so much is happening!! I feel like everything and the sky is happening at home. wow, I hope everyones awesome, I havent read last weeks emails, so Im a little behind... but... I love you all. I miss ya totta kai(of coarse) but its still awsome out here! Hämeenlina has a CASTLE!!! I havent had time to go anywhere though, pretty busy here and it seems and feels like I never ge caught up on anything. (Funny how this feeling sounds familiar..... love you mom) jk jk, but now I know how you feel. Im sorry I didnt help much in my previous life. Mom, I have always apreciated your cooking and I want you to know that. yo.

Wow, the parker pictures and you guys were awesome!! I had no idea who you all were until you started kissing!!! :) I was like "who are these people? I dont know... wait a minute, Yup I know them now!" only after seeing the kissing, than I knew it was my family, I love you all. but I think parker was better with the halloween cape on, a little less happy, just the way we like him. Jk.

Okay, so this week was way good and some sad things but its awesome. So we have totally been teaching most of our lessons in English, it just happens that most of our investigators are not even Finns. A little ironic but hey, we have two families were teaching, one of them we teach in Finnish, but its so hard because Finnish is Not their native language and they are more comfortable in Finnish than English. So we try, and its going good. We are getting there. So we had the chance to go to another little churches little gathering because they thought it was awesome that us younge folk were preaching about Christ, it awesome because they did their singin and praising stuff which was really cool. and Than Elder Walker and I, (We were on exchanges with a near by city Tampere, he is cool yo, Everyone is. yo yo) but we just did a presintation of the restoration, more like just told everything in it. Pretty slowly and clearly because every sentence was translated in some language I forget.... But it was cool. At the end we had them sign up if they wanted a BOM and us to visit and we got 5 potentials now. pretty sweet in this neighborhood. yo yo

So in Church on Sunday, it was Hilarious. Im sitting by an Investigator and i notice in the front row, of our tiny little church building,(Not a chapel) and our small little branch, (little more than 20 total) these kids were doing something with colors and paper. And I love Church meetings, even when you have no idea what the topic is, I feel the Spirit there and after church I just feel like "Alright, lets get this bad boy DONE!!" Its definately great. but I look at these kids, two boys and one girl, and something happened where, one of the boys might of took a color to use, but this girl just gets that "Im about to have a fit" face and than she just goes off in rapid Finnish!! I was laughing and crying inside, heres this girl, whose about 3 years old, and shes yackin off AWESOME FINNISH!!! I LOVE IT. its so cool. I just thought. yup, thats how it goes. I thought it was way funny, and way cool.

So, I had Dinner with an older couple in our branch, it was WAY GOOD! in all reality though it just remainded me of home. but WOW! there was these little meet chuncks with onions and stuff, kinda soupy but we ate it with potatoes. it was REALLY good. And i learned alot from eating with them. and you know you are in the right mission when you find out, when it is custom to have dessert. they always have it. when i heard that i thought "SCORE!", its awesome. I love FINLAND!

So, I had to send the classic food pictures of what Im eating and stuff, its because Im so happy that I MADE IT!. its awesome, at least to me. No niin. Its been way fun with the bikes and all. it seems like everyweek we go back to the place we bought them from. Hes good guy, and he fixes them for free. The wheather is starting to be a bit chilly. But I like it so far. every morning its cloudy, and whats weird is that I think the mournings are warmer than the day. I think it is because of the clouds that do their little rain business during the night. This week was really good. I love this work, its addicting, but oh is it hard. Especially with all the household stuff, its business i tell you. i tell you what. yo

I love you all, and I know my testimony of the church has grown so much. You cant get much more of a growing experiance than standing up for what you believe. And everyday its a challenge, blessing, and honor to go to people as a representetive of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love this Gospel and the difference it makes in our lives. I thought my life, or challenges in America was hard, some of these people live lives that are, wow. Its amazing the love you can have for people. I love you all a pray for ya.

Rakkaudella,                Vanhin Waite

This is a pic of the castle, its 630 in the mourning, because we just ran out to it. but its lagit.

I cant remember if you got this one, but its an AWESOME pizza we created. yo yo

Letter #13

Tervetuloa Suomeen!!!  (welcome to Finland!)

Week two in the big blue is gone!! yo yo, so its really funny to talk to Fins, in the States i thought it was hard to start up conversation to strangers, and now Im tryin to do it in another language, its crazy. Mutta Suomolaiset ovat tosi tosi mukava! (But, Finns are really really nice) The wheather is pretty sweet, it stays around 5 to 10 degrees C, but than drops to 0 at nights, but its so cool because lately, me and my new companion (Elder Anderton, hes a boss, really just a smiley person, great cook very positive, yo) go running in the mornings, and the temp is still, 3 degrees, and no wind, its Awesome!
So our bikes have been giving us problems, its funny because my back wheel tire broke, but its okay, the awesome guy we bought the bikes from fixes them for free. oh and im not allow to tell my invetigators names to you.... kind of secrative out here..... dun Dun DUUN!! yo. but its all chill. so.. this week we got 7 new investigators!! I know Right! but before you get your hopes up mom saying "My babys Baptising Finland!", cause I am!! yo yo. one of them was high and five of them were from Nepal the last one is just really awesome! Minulla on toivo ja usko, ja meillä on Poljon Usko totta kai!! (i have hope and faith, and we have lots of faith of coarse!!)
Okay, now the people are probably the hardest anythings I´ve ever tried to understand! some of the things they say directly translations make no sense, the best was "Kiire on" which means "busy/rush is", people usually say "mulla on kiire" which just means "I am busy" or "I have a rush" or i just dont want to talk to you go leave me alone.jk it doesnt mean that but basically. I thought it was funny. so spoken Finnish is a bit different, okay its alot different but its kinda comeing. but its great. Great times out here. i love it! I hope everythings going good! I love you all!



Isnt it beutiful. yo. this is at the temple in Helsinki. but its pretty much the same here.

 Terve! and another view from the window. yo

 this is the Pizza me and Elder Anberton made, it was way good, it was basically chicken alfreado with tomatos and chees on top. yo

Letter #12

Terve Perheeni!!!
(hello my family)

Mitä kuulu?? hyvää kuulu toivotavasti koska se on mahtava täällä Suomessa!
(hows it going? good hopefully, because it is awesome here in Finland!)

          Well, i am here, it is very beautiful here, very green and lakes everywhere! in the mornings there is steem/mist that hovers over the lakes and floats along and the trees are everywhere and very green. So, I am serving in Hämeenlina, i live on lukionkatu, thats the street, and im not really sure what else, but..... ill get back to you later on that. yo.

So last monday morning got up at 2 and booked it to the bus thing. had a nice last time in Utah drive up to the airport, saw tons of sweet temples, in the Airport talked to dad, thanks dad, than we left SLC, for Chicago, and I tottally past Out i was so tired on that flight. haha, than we arrived in Chicago, it wasnt the wee hours of morning, but... there were alot of ihmisia, (people) Chicago was sweet, "da BEARS" and i tottally met Bro... NOO i tottally spaced his name, sorry... but i thought to my self "what the... this is AWESOME!! what are the chances of seeing you in CHICAGO!" it was way fun. talked to mom!!! thanks mom, :)but we left chicago to Frankfurt and it didnt even seem like a long flight, maybe between the trying to understand the German, or sleeping, or looking around like I´ve never seen Europeans before... oh wait it was! haha, So we should Totally fly with Luftansa if we fly to Europe, they´re freakin sweet and funny, they are awesome because they gave us dinner And breakfast!! before each one they gave out hot towel things sayin "you want hot towel?":) i liked the towel too, a delightful sensation. but all in all i liked the flight yo yo yo

So than on the plane ride to Finland I sat next to a very good guy Jim, he was from canada and going to Helsinki for a hockey match thing with a bunch of guys, and at the end of the flight, i gave him a Book of Mormon, and he took it!!! i hope he reads it. but this part was funny, we get off the plane, (me and my mtc lads, companions and sisters) and we wait, and finally get our luggage, and the moment we walk out side we hear "Tervetuloa Suomeen!" (welcome to Finland(thats one of my favorite words to say, tervetuloa)) and its our Mission President his wife and the aps! but what was funny, and i only relized it later, we all just kinda stood there and smiled and hugged him all kinda were in "what is happening?" mode, ya know what i mean? i thought it was funny. but then they drove us around Helsinki, and on the drive my companions fell asleep, even though it was 20 min drive, i was impressed. They took us to the Temple to walk around it and take pics, than just did alot of paperwork. but we surrvived the day and ate a VERY good dinner at the Presidents house, had an interview with him that was super cool and than went to bed downstairs, amognst the skeletons.... jk haha,

than i woke up..........................

twelve hours later

but it was okay, President Rawlings told us to sleep in. yo yo. So for breakfast, oh and at dinner, we had some of this bread that Fins make, and they call break bread, its way good but they have it on a plate thing in the midle of the table but you dont cut yourself a piece, you just reach over and break off some with your hand, my kinda food, Who NEEDS silverwear?? i know i know, make fun of my spelling why dont you. but its really good soft bread. yo yo.

So we went to a church nearby and thats where i found out my companion is Elder Anderton, he is from Washington and he has been in the field for 5 months and about 5 foot 6. very nice and up beat guy, we`re pretty ballin yhdessä(together), but we are in Hämeenlina, it means Häm`s castle or the castle of Hämen, same diff, but the Castle is totally AWESOME! but i didnt get any pictures, :( yet.. :)  our branch is pretty small, but I found out like yesterday, and from notes in the apartment and people here that this area the missionaries were taken out of and than 7 months ago missionaries came back, I thought that was cool.

So, our second day in Hämeenlina we were paying for our bikes, (oh yeah, I will be using a bike and playing chicken with any semi and car i see.... jk but i got a bike and didnt have the cash to pay the nice old man but he just said pay tommorrow, which was great, because both of us owed him some and didnt have anything. yo but we asked to share a message with him and he said sure but tommorrow.) so we came back to pay for the bike and than we got talking, (or my comp could carry the conversation and i just tried to pick out what he was saying) and than he invited us to the back of his shop. His shop is very poorly light, theres about 30 bikes total and all look used, they probably wouldnt get very much on ebay and it looked like, the bikes and the store and him looked like it has been through some hard times. but we totally had a first discussion with him in the back of his shop. it was really cool. and at the end he said "täytyy tutkjaa", i must investigate. :) really cool. but it was cool because this was the shop that missionaries have been coming to for a while and we just asked him can we share a message with him and he said sure. and we we`re like, "Hey, sounds good." :)


I thought Generel Conference was AWESOME!!! I loved it! I got to go now but i love the talks in general conference, and it is very brisk and chilly here, and here are some pics i have. i love you and thanks for being awesome!!! its all good on this side of the World and i hope things are going great there, sounds like it is. yo. have fun! love ya

love Vanhin Waite

Letter #11- I MADE IT

Hey Family!!!

So the long and slightly painless flight is over. I am in FINLAND!!! The place is Beautiful!! a little bit chilly, but on the whole...... perfect. The people speak pretty fast, but I can kinda keep up. I flew on Luftansa and when we come to Europe as a family, we are flying with them, it was funny because they fed us dinner and breakfast and (long flight, ya know what I mean) and they came around saying, hot towels you want hot towel? it was funny. k im safe and i love it and i love all of you. THank you mom for all that you do and thank you for your letter. i havent read it yet. but yo. love ya

Peace!!! Rakastan Teitä!!! yo

Vanhin Waite