Letter #70

Dear Family

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! This week was EXTREAMLY CRAZY!!!!!! I got my new companion, new apartment, new car and now its Christmas. Halelujah.

 

Last Wednesday I got my new companion. His name is Elder Nate Hunter, he is from Orem. He is a WAY sweet Elder.

 

New apartment, and all that goes with it. We had to put all the stuff away and we did get around to teach a few lessons. THe members here are GREAT!!! they are WAY excited about missionaries coming to Lohja!!!

 

Oh, Friday was the Best day EVER!! we turned in our slightly older but very nice car in to a dealer, and I had the wonderful opportunity to drive away with a brand spankin new car!!!!!!! RIGHTOUS!!! The milage was only 10 kilometers when I got in the car. WAY SWEET!!!! very spiritual experiance for me. I definatly am grateful for this chance to serve a mission. :) :) :) It is a Toyota yaris. Its got a navigator and if you use bluetooth, the car can call people for you!!! it is AWESOME!!!! i like it. the front seats heat up too, (machine washable darling thats a new feature) :) oh, the car talks to you too. I like the british women voice talking, i feel like James Bond. "yes master Waite?" "Its Elder Waite to you miss Pots thank you". Just kidding, the cars name is NOT miss Pots. :)

 

So, for a first week city we did get our only investigator to church. We were in the car with him and a member 40 minute drive to church, 3 hours there, and 40 minute drive back. I have a feeling it will be a little tough to get investigators there. its basically a whole day affair. haha, I love you all and see you soon!!!!

 

Love

Vanhin Waite

Letter #69

Dearest Family, Friends, good acquaintances and JOCELYN!!!!

HOW IS IT GOING!!!!!!

Life in the good North is pretty good. So we had change calls, and turns out, I will not be Zone Leader anymore, I got DEMOTED to dog sledder. I use a dog sled and the missions 12 dog powered huskies to transport copies of the BOM to missionaries as well as deliver Christmas Packages to them. Its quite a big job, we missionaries call it the "Elder Santa" spot. Basically I am just one big conduit for all sorts of stuff relating to missionary work here.:)

JUST KIDDING!!! pretty good right? but I am opening a new city called Lohja, it has never had missionaries there before and guess what, I am TRAINING!!! my second time!!! oh there really is joy in the posterity!!! (Jocelyn please explain) :) I am excited!!!

We had a tougher week than usual, we took a hit in the teaching pool department, a couple of investigators dropped us. But that is Otay, because we had one come to church.and there was much rejoicing, yeahhhhhh....

and I dont have a Christmas call organized yet, but most likely it will happen on Christmas(go figure) at 7 or 8 oclock my time. and for you math people out there that is about 10 to 11 oclock in the morning for you all. And next week i will have that in concrete, o tay??

I love you all!! I sent your christmas stuff!! but dont be too excited, tis very tiny. not much. There is a Christmas FINNISH market going on in Helsinki, so I will browse through there and get stuff. So maybe real Christmas will come later. 

I love you, I miss you, but i dont want to hug you, because I got 6-8 months left and I like it. I have had SOOO many cool experiances and testimony builder moments its incredible!! I love this work and this time of year to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Thank you for your love and support. Have fun and read the Book of Mormon.!!! than share it with others!!! love you!!

best wishes

Vanhin Waite

Letter #68

Dear family

Tis a new month and new chance to improve!!! I gave a talk yesterday and we had a investigator in church who is starting to progress. I am grateful to be a missionary in Finland at this time and I love Finland!!!

I have decide to start over with a lot of things in my missionary life and just focus on the simple, easy things. There is a  member here who is a GREAT example to me of selfless service!! But he often forgets to clean his house and when he is not taking care of everyone else he is too tired to clean, so we talked and I related a little to him and I said its the little things that matter. Just clean up after use.    i have learned a lot on my mission mom about cleaning. and natalie:)

I gave a talk in my ward about missionary work of coarse!!! i talked about easy and natural way to ask and include non member acquaintances and friends in our gospel way of life. it was alright.

I love being a missionary!! there are of coarse tons of things that are a bit scary for a wee wittle guy like me, for example standing infront of over 160 people for a talk..... making friends with strangers and knocking doors and crashing parties. BUT, the lord is with all his missionaries!! I know it. I love you all and I am very grateful for the Gift of the Holy Ghost, I am grateful for the Gospel and I love my life. I love repentance. ANd I love all of you.

Love

Vanhin waite

Letter #67

dear family

This week is great!! I love being a missionary because you are givin so much to do and so little time and it is SO fun to trust the Lord and know that His work gets done when "put our shoulder to the wheel"

I am very grateful for my family and friends!! in that order too!!! thank you for all your love and support!!! we had a great thanksgiving this week!! two american families got together and had us come over and it was SO fun!! everything traditional style it was great!!! 

So next week i give a talk in my ward. first ever official Ward talk i´ve given on my mission. i will be talking about missionary work and how everyone IS a missionary when they are friends. ANd how all missionary work is is being their friend and then kinda offer salvation through Jesus Christ so no biggy. :) :)

I love you all and i think your hte best!!

Love 

Vanhin waite

Letter #66

Dear Family! 

This last week was great!!! Our friend was baptized and what an experiance!! It is definately late fall here and I am excited for the Holidays!!

We were extreamly busy last week, and one cool part was a potential we tried. SO the cool thing about Finland is if you drive just 5 or 10 min in any direction away for the city, your in the middle of the forest. ANd this refferal lived out in the middle of no where. long story short, we couldnt get our car through one of the dirt roads, and had to walk, but... we didnt know we would have had to walk almost 2 kilometers and it was raining, pretty hard. it was dark and we find this address but no house. in the middle of the field and all there is, is a mail box just sitting in the middle of nowhere. then we looked around and our first thought was no way, was this somebody sick but quite funny joke to get the missionaries to come all the way out there but then we see it.... on this hill about a 100 yards on the other side, embedded into a bank of trees slightly concealing it was a enormous manor. we were like, no way. so we went up there, soaked and cold and miracualy got inside!!! pretty funny experiance and we loved it.

But our friend got baptized this saturday!! i gave the Holy Ghost talk. Man, this guy is amazing!! 

it gets dark around here at about 4 30 and now it is getting pretty cold. No snow yet, and I always think this is the most miserable time without snow but, we´re still having fun. I am excited for the holidays and I love you all!! have fun and be safe!!

Rakastan teitä!!

Rakkaudella Vanhin Waite

Letter #65

Dear Family

Hey this week was good. I love you all!! This week was really good. We have a investigator who is really progressing. The work is great!!

Sorry, I have to make this short. But one cool story was we totally met a less active and we had a great discussion. She talked to us about missing the Temple and wanting to go back. We talked to her and she wants to come back!!! We are pretty excited about that. 

Also, I am excited for CHRISTMAS!!! I love you all and I hope this week goes well for you all!! 

Love

Vanhin Waite

Letter #64

Dear Family

Okay, I have to be fast but I am ALIVE!!! no worries there. We had change calls this last week and I got shipped out of my city after only 18 weeks. I love you all and life is great!!

So, last Saturday we got the change calls and I was to leave Kajaani and go to Espoo which is all the way down south in Helsinki right next to the Temple!! I am very excited!! But after we got the information we met with a member in Kajaani, told him the news and he said "your going to Espoo? Really? I am too!! but for the Temple!! Can I give you a ride???" So I made a few calls and turns out it was okay, but he left on Monday. Which is our P-day, so I didnt get a  chance to write then, but better late than never. It was a long car ride but I learned a TON of Finnish. man, it was a 6 hour language study. my head hurt. haha   But all in all, WAY busy and I got here and were running. Big city traffic and everything. :)

I hope everything is going well in the world. Life here is hektic and AWESOME!!  I love this work! But before I left Kajaani we had a real sweet lesson with our investigator who said he would like to be baptized within the month. So I hope it goes through. He knows the Bom is true and the word of God. This is also the same investigator who told us the first time he met us was "I was born a Catholic, I will die a Catholic."  :) I love the Gospel.

So now I am actually in a real ward. This is my 4th area, and my whole mission I have loved and enjoyed small little branches with 2 hour church. My last branch had 40 people with 17 or 19 active. WAY FUN!!! I loved it. But now I am in a ward of 350 with about 130 active. big difference. I love this gospel though. The Spirit is the same. I got to go but I write next time.

My new comps name is Elder Crofts. He is from Pleasent Grove. so I am getting around Utah county still. haha, I love you all and I wish you the best week!! have fun!!! 

Love 

Vanhin Waite

Letter #63

Dear Family

This week was pretty good. We didnt find anybody new to teach this week but had some pretty good success every where. We had 4 non people/investigators come to our small half rented building chapel to watch general conference. 3 were investigators and 1 was a former investigator. they all LOVEd it!! It was awesome for me to see that, there was a total of 11 people in this tiny building and 4 of them were not members. we watched it in english in one room and finnish in the other. 

I had a learning experience during this conference time. The hardest thing I think for investigators in Finland is to have them believe it is worth trying or coming. We find people to teach, but having them act on that knowledge is a bit different. So lots of people come close to baptism but, dont quite make it up to snuff. 

So we have been working with this wonderful couple that wants to change their lives from the alcholo and drugs to a better. We have been teaching them the Gospel and the they wanted to come see General Conference. So we biked with them only to arrive at the church building 20 minutes early and nobody was there. the technology wasnt set up, and since 2 of the four investigators that showed were women, everyone else that were coming were men, naturally one of the women asked if there would be coming other sisters. So, me being kind of a perfectionist at this point, was freaking out on the inside. we found out that a ward sister WAS coming(I was VERY grateful, I told her so) and although the whole thing didnt look as "professional" as I would have liked, because I thought the branch would have been, a little more "on the ball" you might say.it was perfect. I felt that way because on the inside "do they want to grow more in membership?" "Do they want a bigger branch?"  BUT!!! Those thoughts and feelings dont help at all. Besides,  Conference was great!! I only relized during conference that my frustration on the inside was not what the Savior wants. I know this story sounds "dramatic2 and not too organized. but long story short there was a time were I felt like "freaking out" or "crying" and I know now they are one and the same. Conference was AWESOME because the Spirit made up for it, and I know now my freaking out on the inside was only doubting the power of the Spirit in testifying of the truth.

After all that, I do want you to know I NEVER freaked out openly. But to say it wasnt stressful for me on the inside would be a lie. I wanted to share that amazing and personal experiance with you because I know that the Gospel is true. A Investigator afterward said it was amazing and loved the music. All of the investigators loved it. I LOVE CONFERENCE!!!!

Until next time on:Dramatic personal insights of the Missionary Elder Waite!!

I love you all and I hope you have a great week!!! I love this work and lets all APPLY and LIVE conference. 

Lvoe

Vanhin Waite 

Letter #62

Dear family

This last week was a good one!! I love life so every week is a good one. But we had some pretty sweet lessons. Right now we have 3 investigators and 2 are a married couple. The other is a way sweet guy from Nigeria.

It really is awesome to see the change and light the gospel brings to peoples lives. THis married couple has been married for about 8 years and both were heavily addicted to tabaco, alcohol and other drugs. We had a lesson and we told them that they need to be "dry" for us to keep coming by. Slowly and surly there apartment has changed. The guy has been off alcohol for 3 days and they are progressing quite nicely. :)

Conference is amazing to learn from and even better to live later. Our only other investigator said he loved conference and he knows that this really is the Church of Jesus Christ. He believes the Book of Mormon to be scripture and really likes it. 

My companion and I have been watching some church videos before we go to sleep. It is WAY fun!! but, sense our movie library is so extensive we tend to watch the same movies over, but at least we got other languages to listen to. haha.

I love this gospel and I learn more EVERYDAY!!! I love the Bible Dictionary. We really do have SO much scripture to study. I also LOVE Jesus the Christ. I am reading my 4th time the Book of Mormon on my mission and it is getting better ya better. I know that this church is true and I am grateful to be a part of all your lives. You mean a lot and I love you!!

Rakkaudella 

Vanhin Waite

Letter #61

Dear Family

Thank you for your love and support!! I love you all and I am very grateful for you!!! Last week was a little short so this week I will try and make up for it. 

My companion felt a bit sick this week, so this week was a little slow. But I also have realized how much I have learned about the scriptures. They are awesome!!! I think Moroni is a great example to everyone. Commander and chief at like 25, war ended and he retired at age 42, and then died the next year. He saw a ton of war and yet was faithful to the gospel the whole time. What a sweet example.

The more I teach people the more I am convinced that the teacher learns more than the student. In our lessons this week i have had so many light-bulb moments. Its funny. We had most of our investigators dropped or moved away this week. A few weeks ago we had 12 investigators with a few having baptismal dates. But, just goes to show the ups and downs of life.

I hope everyone is doing great!! it has gotten extremely cold lately. its like 36 or 39 degrees here. I also realized that I miss the extreme heat. I feel like I didn't get that this year, I miss those 90 degree. 

I love you all and I hope everything goes well. Thank you for your love and support!!!!

Love

Vanhin Waite

Letter #60

Dear family

This has to be fast. I got to go. but I lov you and i am SAFE!! and dry at the moment. It has been raining a TON!!! the finns say in the fall it rains everyday. nad it is getting cold. I am sorry for this being short but I lov eyou and I got to go. have fun and I will write a bit more next week.

Love

Vanhin Waite

Letter #59

Dear family

This week was very good!! I have gotten to know the forests of Kajaani a lot better this week. lately we have been taking lots of extra trails through the wood so it is almost like mountain biking. Its WAY fun but, my bike is not really built for it. :

I did crash and really hurt my shoulder but everything is okay now, I am A-Okay! way fun!!! but we actually do a lot of finding people on these trails. so it is a bonus!! 

we had a great lesson with a psychiatrist who doesn´t believe in God. but she has become a investigator and is pretty sweet. We are also teaching a family and it is amazing to see the Spirit help them and change there lives.

I got to go but I love this work and i am very greatful for the opportunity to work hard and to love. I hope the best to everyone and i love you all and have a smilely fun week!!!

love 

Vanhin Waite 

Letter #58

Dear family

This week was pretty good. Every week is pretty good but this week was especially good because I had fun!! idk, but it was alright. Almost everyone of our lessons got cancelled and a lot of people not listening.  other than that, I learned a TON about desire.

We had a district meeting where we learned about desire. I am very grateful for the desires we have, because desire leads us to act, and our actions lead us to what we become. So do I desire to be like Christ, than I will become like Him. And I love the classic Alma 32 comparison of the word to a seed. That if it is good than it will grow. But we cant give up on the seed. 

I really like being a missionary. You learn SO much!! and I love learning!!! One cool thing this week was that in church, our investigators didnt show up. :( but a member asked me "ah, where are the investigators?" which made me feel good that, they have gotten use to investigators in church. but a little sad because none came. but, I liked that. 

I love you all and I am very grateful to be related to you!! friendship or blood, you are all really great!!

I love you and have fun!!

Love Vanhin Waite

Letter #57

Hello Dear Family and Friends

This last week was WAY crazy!! it was exchange week, i have a new companion named Elder Lym. He is from Ogden Utah. We like talking about Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Video Games and the Bible. i try and keep the conversations more religious based but it always goes to something like those. haha, he is way good!!

This week we met with all sorts of people!! but we found 6 new investigators!! for a small town, I felt pretty blessed!! and for change week. It was WAY awesome!! I also bought two discs for frisbee golf. Elder Lym really wants to play and I like it too so it was way fun to play 3 hours right before this. haha

We have 3 people who have baptismal dates and two of them came to church!! I love the members here. it is such a small branch. and yet, always the Spirit is there. one investigator was haveing a hard time with prophets. And one person talked about prophets!! it was GREAT!!

I have learned a lot about myself and this gospel. I love it and I am very grateful for a living day prophet. i am excited for Gereral Conference and I know this church is true. And I know that God reveals truth and himself through Prophets. I love you all and i hope you have a great week!! every week here is a great week!!! Just depends on how we look at things. I love life!!! 

Love

Vanhin Waite

Letter #56

dear family friends and loved ones

(I dont know who the "loved ones" would be if your not family OR friend)haha but this week was a alright one. some ups downs and all arounds. it is always nice to get complements from people on the street how well we can speak. I always like hearing it. but not much else happened here except change calls.

I will be staying in Kajaani. the 3rd smallest city and the 2nd smallest branch in Finland. so ROCK ON!! I really love it actually. and my companion is going to my first city Hämeenlinna!! i love that place! My new companion is Elder Lym. I will meet him coming from Helsinki. I am no longer District leader because Kajaani is in the middle of nowhere and exchanges take a lot of traveling if I was DL. so that is good news:) 

we had a investigator come to church. here parents are doctors in the hospital. so we want to meet them and see where that goes. :) One of our investigators thinks that we have a real prophet and that there are others like him around the world. That is from the teaching corner of whats going down out here. 

I know this Christs church. And I love serving a mission. I am very grateful for my life and this chance to serve the Lord. I know the Book of Mormon is true, and I have learned that the only effective way to teach people is not by colorful explanations of God and that He exists but through simple testimony of the truth can the Spirit then teach. It is way tough but I love it. I love you all and have fun!!

Love

Vanhin Waite

Letter #55

Dear Family

We had a rougher of rough weeks. a TON of appointments falling through and investigators droping baptismal dates like no tomorrow. but it is alright. Our ward is soo funny. there are only like 19 people who come to church. and it is SO fun to get to know them. I have to say that Sunday sacrament meeting is my favorite part of the week. 

So we had a lesson with a really great women. In the lesson she felt the spirit and began to be a little emotional. I asked her about it and she said it feels right. And then we talked about the Spirit and His role and helped her recognize what she was feeling. And she even came to church. Very awesome person.

I know the Gospel is true. And I am greatful for eternal families. I know there is a God and that He has order and power. I am greatful for a prophet. I am greatful for mothers. arent they awesome!!! I love you all and have fun!!

Love 

Vanhin Waite

Letter #54

Dear famlily friends, loved ones and not so loved ones,

This weeks letter will be short. :( but the best part of the week is that we had 4 investigators in church!!! and I personally believe we will have 4 baptisms next week!!! I am stoked!!!! but, it still a big if and we will work as hard as we can, and I love this work!!!

So this week was pretty good. We had some GREAT experiances with members helping out the work. Our branch is a tiny little guy. 20 active, 20 not so active. But the Spirit is way strong!! I know this is the lords work and I am greatful for the chance to be His tool. I know this Gospel is true because of what it does to people. There is truely a light in the eyes of those that follow the gospel and all the little things, such as health, beauty, and happiness are obtained to the fullest. iTs great!!!

I love you all and I hope Life is going great!!! be safe and love EVERYONE!!!!

Love

Vanhin Waite

Letter #53

HI FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!

I love you all this week!!1 just this week though. JUST KIDDING!!! haha. this week was great!!! We worked way hard and have seen the blessings of the Lord. I love missionary work and I am greatful for these experiance.

We tried so hard to get a ton of people to church this week and only one of them came. I was extreamly greatful for the one but it really stinks when people pull a no show. It hurts because the Church can really help them. and they NEED it. I love learning about the Savior and his love for us.

This week we have been getting a ton of anti mormon and anti God stuff. but i have felt the Spirit so strongly this week it was amazing to testify against all of it. Who knew that bearing the storms of the adversary after laying a foundation like in Helaman 5:12 would be fun. But this week was really cool and I loved it.

The wheather is getting cooler and cooler. at least in the north. Not too much of a happy sign but.... I like it. I love this work and I am very greatful for Joeseph Smith. Praise to the man!! I love the JST of the bible. it makes it a lot better and simpiler. I have begun reading ALL the standerd works of the CHurch. pretty excitting.

I love you all and have fun!!!

Love

Vanhin Waite

Letter #52

Dear family.

I dont have any time. but this week was really good!! We almost had a lesson everyday with our baptismal date investigators. I love this work and I am excited for life!!!

I ve learned a ton, and now it is my year mark!! Its intense knowing that I got only 13months left. way sad. I love my mission and I am very greatful to be here. It is the BEST thing in the world!! I am greatful for all of you and I love you!!!

Im safe and still loving!!

Have fun yall!!!

Love

Vanhin Waite

Letter #51

Dear Family

This week was pretty good. I took a lot of AWESOME pictures!!! Great district meeting and great 4th and also just a great week. I love life. :) :) :)

So on Wednesday we had district meeting. It went from 10 till 4 in the afternoon. President was there. which explains the length. But it was WAY worth it. I saw the mission president broadcast thing and wow, I loved It!!! its on lds.org so everyone should watch it. :) And then Thursday was the 4th, and..... I bought some hamburger stuff to make with my companion. He didnt know that is was all for that but we had a HUGE lunch. I put all my favorite hamburger stuff together, so lets just say... it wasnt healthy. Bacon, hamburger, hot dog and fried onions. WAY GOOD!!! anyway.

We had our really cool investigator from Nigeria move back to Nigeria this week. :( It was unexpected but he was way cool and told us in person that he was leaving and he really valued what we had talked about with him. Very cool guy. :) We also found 2 other guys from the Africa area and they both have baptismal dates. WAY cool!!!

So some members in our ward here have taken us twice out to pick strawberries with them. SOO cool. So growing season is short here and they invited us the first time to go pick strawberries with them, they thought it was fun and so did we so we did it again!!! I love members!!!

I am very greatful to be on a mission. Exactly this time last year I was just about to go into the MTC and I only knew one word. Suomi. But almost a year out and a WHOLE bunch of Testimony growing experiances I love EVERYTHING about a mission. Its amazing to me to speak to these wonderful people on the phone, or have them whisper stuff and I can understand. I know the Lord helps those who ask and seek. I am greatful for this gospel and the life that I have. Thank you for your prayers, love and support. I love you all and have Fun!!!!

Love

Vanhin Waite

Letter #50

Dear Family

So this week we had some awesome things happen. A mission is just the place to be!! we were promised by a area authority that if we search the areabook as a companionship and pray who would be baptized within the summer that someone either that person or someone on the way would be baptized. Its one of those awesome promises. thats what we have been doing as a mission kind of thing. yo, so here is our experiance

So my companion and I searched and prayed to find the one 

in our Area book that would be baptized. We tried to get in 

contact with him and to our disappointment he was not

 home. As we were heading back we talked to a lot of people. 

When we were talking to this older guy on a bench, this other

 guy walks by and then starts talking to me. So while my 

companion talked to a older guy on a bench, I was talking to 

this guy who started talking to me. Turns out this guy had 

met with missionaries before and that he had got a Book of 

Mormon previously from them. He then agreed to meet us

 the following day!! My testimony of getting members to

 lessons also has grown. Later that night, we asked a member 

to come to the lesson the next day, best decision ever. The

 next day we met the guy, and talked for a little bit, and then

 the member came. And they became instant friends. The

 member talked about his conversion story and all the cool

 experiences he has had receiving his testimony. My 

companion and I didn't say much, and we didn't begin with a

 opening prayer, but these two just talked about great stuff. :)

 Then it came time for the member to leave and he said "well

 we didn't start with a prayer but could we end with one?". So

 we had a closing prayer and then probably the best thing

 ever happened. This guy stood up after the prayer and asked

 the member if he would baptize him. :) Totally Awesome! 

other than that we set a baptismal date with this really cool

 guy from africa. I love africa. :) Also I had my first district

 meeting with this district. It was way good and fun. It is a

 huge district, like 14 or 15 members. its big for me. But tis a

 one of the members something because they are just great 

people!! 

I hope life is going well for all of you!! I think your great!

 have fun and be safe!! sorry this is pretty short but life is

 good and kinda busy!! Love you!! 

Vanhin Waite

Letter #49

Dear Family and Friends

Wow, what a week. I  love learning of the Savior and His Atonement and also my relationship with Heavenly Father. haha, you know its been a good week when it starts off like that. :) But this week was change week. I moved farther north to the the most north district of missionaries EVER!! Jk, Idk if thats true, probably isnt but I would have to say I love being district leader!! I get to know so many AWEOMSE Elders and Sisters, its great!! So thats whats up. :)

So last week it was hard to leave Joensuu because of some really great investigators. In the short time I knew them their faith had grown so much. We had become good friends and they told us so. They are great people. The man said he never believed in God till he met this women. Then he had a hard time believe in a certain God. if that makes sense, he believed in something but I feel that now he believes in a loving God, one that he can have a personal relationship with. It is amazing to see the Gospel change peoples lives!! I love it. But its been a great learning experiance too. Because in my opinnion, to get an investigator to progress, you have to progress with them. I love missionary work and what it does to others and for me.

So I left Joensuu by bus alone, me and my three suitcases AND a bike. pretty fun. haha and then train from Kuopio to Kajaani. It is a smaller town. about 30,000. so its like Spanish Fork I think. maybe. kinda. not really because they speak finnish here. :) :) but It is a WAY beautiful city!! Very special!!

My new companion is Elder Nemelka. He is from Springvile and he is very nice, supportive and I have just learned so much from him. Its funny that I serve with great guys from Payson and Springvile, I just need mapleton now. Elder Nemelka is very funny and great at seeing things as they could be, not as the are now. ya know what I mean?

I love you all and I know this gospel is true. The Book of Mormon is really so powerfull in our conversion. It is a friend to me and I love missionary work. Its hard, its tough, its worth it. :) its a time and a "place of change!" Love you and have fun this week!!!

Love,

Vanhin Waite

Letter #48

Dear Family

 

This last week was really good and really slow. We had a lot of good ol meeting cancel on us. And we got a baptismal date from our two awesome stud of investigators. It was a really good week. We also have transfers comeing up this next week and I found out I will be going farther north to a city called Kajaani and I will be district leader there.

 

I am excited to move on but sad to leave Joensuu. I love the country over here. On this side of the country are the most lakes and rivers. It is extreamly pretty and the people are also very nice. The church is small in the north but growing really fast. I love this work and I dont have much time left.

 

I do think it is funny when we move, because we have all our stuff and then a bike. and whats funny with the bike is that i have to haul around a winter tire with it so there is this awkward tire to cary. I think it is funny. so that is the most stressful my life gets compared to the rest of the world. So i feel kinda blessed and I love my mission even more. I am extreamly greatful to be here and to have so many people support me. Thank you for all your love and help.

 

I know this is short but, I love you and I know this church and gospel are true. And that Heavenly Father really does answer our prayers, and that it is key to relize that it is HIS will that is important because He really does know best. I love Him and I am greatful for this life I have on earth and to know such wonderful people. I love you and have fun!!!

 

Love

Vanhin Waite

Letter #47

Dear Family

 

I will have to be fast. But this week was one of the busiest and BEST weeks ever!! Extreamly difficult though but awesome, I love the Spirit and the help the Lord gives us and how we really do rely on him daily. I love you all and hope this week is great for you.

 

So we tried getting a baptismal date with an investigator this week because if they have baptismal dates we all know that they know that IF they are progressing at all it should be towards baptism right??? RIGHT!!! so in this lesson we tried and it felt like to us that something was holding them back. And come to find out one of them had read the Law of Chastity pamphlets and really liked it. The only problem they had with it was.... they have a 11 year old daughter and theyr not married. That is alright, but the hard part for me was when it came down to it, the mom started to cry and asked me was her daughter a sin?  at first I couldnt answer, my heart went out to her and I told them "I dont know how to answer". But we eventully turned it into a disscussion on prayer and repentance. Pretty intense and very spiritual.

 

Another great part of this week was missiong a bus. Idk why it happens so much to me but I always seem to miss trains, busses and all other modes of transportation. But we missed it and it was the weekend so it was the last bus. But we decieded to make the most of it and on the following day we really "pulled out all the stops" and we got 11 lessons on sunday!! Wow!! I love the day of rest, not for us!!! haha but that was pretty cool too.

 

I love you all and I hope the begining of the summer starts well and I hope it ends the same!! I love my mission and the chance I have to learn and grow myself. I love and miss you all and I hope you all are safe. This week is change call week and my trainee is no longer in need of training. He is becomeing his own master. And maybe I shall obtain another padawan. I love you and have fun!!!

Love

Vanhin Waite

Letter #46

Dear Family and Friends

 

This week was a loooong one!! But as usual, pretty busy. And this might be short too because I dont have too much time. So we had a Zone Conference up in Oulu, we also lost our phone, and I love being on a mission.

 

I am in the North Zone of my mission. And we have Zone Conference like every other month. And this time was special because we had a Area President come. His name was something like President Kiieren. Idk, but I learned soo much. It is amazing to be almost a year out on my mission and STILL there is SOOO much to improve on. But the wonderful thing about life is that perfection is not ment to be abtained, we continually use Christs atonement and we improve. I learned in Zone Conference that we got to BECOME our message. That we are the first message people see and we must BE the message. The message of hope, love and an eternal aspect. That we can put off the natural man and become a saint. A lot of cool stuff was learned.

 

We lost our phone on the train ride. I think it slipped out of my pocket. So we have to travel about 6 hours to our Zone meeting and the trains dont leave too often and thats why missing trains really stinks. But for the ride back home I went to the lost and found to find our phone and we talked for a bit. After a while he asked when our train left, and I said "in about a minute", he had us right down a number to reach us if a phone like that is found and we booked it. the funny thing was is we almost missed our train!! But we had another pair of missionaries on the train, but sense the doors to the train lock before it moves, we had one of those, "the door is locked but you can still see the panicked/funny face of the person on the other side of the door through the glass" moments. But a conductor saved us. All is good that ends well. ya know.

 

I love being on a mission because of the personal growth that I can see in myself. I can grow a BEARD!!! just kidding, but a different kind of growth. I love everything about it. I hope you all have a good week. I love you.

 

Love

Vanhin Waite

 

Letter #45

Dear Family.

 

Well, this is one of those moments where I want to tell you about the week I just had. But, I dont really remember that much right now. It is kinda sad. I did get two AWESOME packages! Very good highlights!! Thank you!!!

 

Oh, so this week we taught the word of wisdom and a bunch of other stuff and it was way good!! one of our investigators said, "Why not!" and has not for five days drank any coffee. It has been way cool. We also did a bunch of service. We panted our branch presidents house white. It was a long process. We also did some service for a Bahai family in Joensuu.

 

So I have decided that you meet all kinds of fish in the sea on a mission. And some are REALLY cool, and some that are... ya... yeah, you know. But a about a month ago we met this family that was so cool and nice I was floored. And they said they were Bahai and I had never heard about this religion before, and I now know this much, they come from israel area and they believe that every church is right, the believe the BOM is true as well as the Koran and they have a TON of really cool standards that are pretty much the same as ours. Way cool family.

 

I have also studied this week in "Jesus the Christ" by James E. Talmage. And, it is a WAY cool book. I am learning a TON!! I love it!! Yeah we did a lot of trackting and contacting. No more "Bike-contacting" like last time. So far so good. But the Wheather here has been WAY nice and I love Joensuu. So this morning some members took us to their summer cabin. And we planted potatoes for them and wow, because it rains quite often here, the ground has a kinda thin layer of moss, and with the leaves from last fall it is SO beautiful in the forest. I felt like an elf in Lord of the rings because I took off my shoes and walked barefoot in the forest and it was like walking of carpet. It was way cool.

 

I love you and I hope everyone has a good week!!! Have fun and stay safe.

Love,

Elder Waite

 

Letter #44

Dear Rakkas Rakastettavani FAMIY!! (my dear lovable family)

So a TON happened this week and I just want to say I LOVED talking and seeing you last week!! I shall tell you the exciting and pretty sweet things that happened this week. It was really cool.

On monday we had a little surprise party for the senior couple missionaries that are in our city. They are way cool and they will be going home the end of this week. It was funny because we got some whistle blow out things. the blower stuff ya get at new years. ya copy me?? but we had those and surprised them and gave them thank you cards. it was a fun experiance.

Okay, this is probable the 2nd coolest experiance that happened this week and it is probably one of the best that has happened my whole mission. So, I ride a bike everywhere right, and I wear a helmet and I got all the safty gear needed to go to war right, thats just how we roll. Now imagine me on my little purpleish kinda pinkish bike (its not pink though because thats just not a manly color) and I am going down this pretty decent size hill that one can really go fast down. So Im going down this hill and the wind is rushing through my hair and nothing could go wrong(peaceful music was playing, al right). At the bottom of this hill (quite a ways down) I see this girl/women(she was like 25, all the same at that age girl, women ya know) riding her bike up on the same sidewalk. The street is a pretty busy one and there was also some people on the side walk. But as I am gaining velocity and she is approching me we started to do the classic dance of "Ill go left, and you go left". But as everyone in the world wants to dance with me she went right as I went left, so we were still going to hit head on. So we dance dance and dance and so I just decide to stay to the right side of the side walk and Im going down remember, but at the same time I decided to stay put, she did to. aaaaaand, lets just say I tried a NEW style of bike contacting. You guessed it. we hit. head on and I went flying foreword. But with me and what usually happens with me in accidents I just bounce right back up! only a small scratch on my knee. I look back and...... both bikes were kinda, on top of this poor girl. but I asked if she was okay and I helped her get up. I felt so bad for her because my comp later said to me "Did you play football? the way it looked from behind it looked like ya rammed right into her and did a roll on the ground and get right up move." :) :) But this girl got up and at first when it happened I forgot I was in Finland and said "Oh sorry are you okay?" then she said "anteeksi.. " so I switched to finnish but she said she was fine. Her bike basket was a little bent, but I couldnt tell if anything else was broken(on her or me or my bike). my front stiering is off now but she just walked away. well she kinda limped away but, I guess she didnt want to talk to me. :( so we didnt get any contact info or give her a Book of Mormon to her (not even a pass along card as I flew over/into her) but probably one of my better contacts.:)

The best experiance was a lesson with one of our investigators. We wanted them to learn what the Spirit feels like. And after some scriptures and a discusion they had a idea of what a answer/feeling of the Holy Ghost would feel like. Then the question just came to me and I asked "How did you feel the first time we met? What about after we left?" and they thought about it a while and then they said. "Yeah, we did feel something...." it was WAY cool to see the Spirit working with all of us.:)

Another pretty sweet thing which happened this week was... WE TOURED A CASTLE!!! way cool!!! It was a castle that had some real warfare during its prime. Good ol russians against the sweedes. Oh, and hockey is a really big sport here, and Sweeden beat finland in the tournament so, some people arent really too happy. But they played America sometime ago but, I dont know what happened yet.

I love you all and I know this church is true. I know the Book of Mormon is true and I love being a missionary and the work that it brings. I love you and I hope you have a good week

Love Vanhin Waite

ps I know yall like a bit of Drama. So ya got it!!!! AH HA!!!

Letter #43

Dear Family

 

It was SOOO COOL to speak to you all!! I love you!!! wow, what a week. The best parts of the week happened as follows in order of bestest to still pretty sweet! 1 I talked to my family!!! 2 I gave my first blessing to an elderly women in FINNISH!!! 3 our investigators are really cool!! 4 we had some really good fish and 5 we had a new investigator come to church!!! So, way busy!!

 

Im sorry I dont have much time, but I want you to know I love you and that it was GREAT to speak to you!!! Thank you so much for all you do!! I love being out here and I know that this gospel is true! I love the Book of Mormon and I know it to be true!!! Thank you for your love and your support!!

Love

Elder Waite

 

Fresh Market- Im sorry it has taken a while but thank you SOO much for everything!!!

 

Letter #42

Dear Family

 

I love you! So this week went by WAY fast. We were in Helsinki for four days and then had a VERY busy last 3 days. I learned SO much from the training thing in Helsinki and I got to go to the Helsinki Temple! :) We have two amazing invetigators who have set baptismal dates and they are way cool.

 

Our two investigators are way cool! they are a couple, and they have a 11 year old daughter, and we actually met the women before any of the rest. We were doing some work in one area and she came up to us and asked, "Who are you? Do you live here?" and we talked and agreed to meet later. Our first lesson was the BEST I have ever been in. We were laughing at times and then there were times were the room was silent and the Spirit was SO strong. It is truely the Lords work because He led this women to us and, Ive never taught or explained the gospel so easily before. It was just sharing a way of life how important it is and they are way cool. In our 2nd lesson we set a baptismal date with them. And yesterday they came to church!!! Every lesson there is always a strong Spirit and also laughing. my favorite!! Spirit and laughing, cant go wrong. :) :) She told us in the last lesson we had with them about prayer, that she had ´prayed´ somewhat and infact, she prayed earlier that day that she would find someone or something that would help her grow or use her faith. And then she met us, later that same day!!! I love these two!! they are way cool.

 

What do you NOT learn on a mission!! man, I think I have learned more about my self than anything else. I really liked something that I learned about gifts. We all have different gifts. And ALL these gifts that we have been given such as: Height, eye color, Gender, running speed, musical ability, humor or lack of humor, looks, strength, coolness, and all sorts of other gifts the World judges and so do we. All of these attributes and traits sperate us. Which is a good thing, because then we are unique and we can be happy with that. But when judgements like "You are not as fast as he is, your not as good." "Im not as pretty as she is." "You are so cool, Im not as cool." all of these seperate and degrade us. But the message of the Gospel, the fact that we are children of a loveing Heavenly Father unites us. Then it doesnt matter "He is better looking than I am" because he is a son of God and so am I. Way cool thought I had. And that is what I have tried talking about with people this week.

 

I love this time I have to be a missionary. It is NOT the easiest thing in the world.Sometimes is Stinks. But so far, it has been the most rewarding esperiance and adventure I´ve ever been on. I love it:) :)

 

I love you. have fun

Elder Waíte

Letter #41

TERVE PERHE!!! 

dear family, friends, and other aquatints

This week was really good. I dont have much time but I am alive, well, and still kicking!!! a couple cool things that happened this week, 1 a member had a grill thing for us, its called a koda, and it is this small little hut with a big fire pit inside it and they grilled samon and sausage and WOW it was way good!! 2 I was in Oulu this week, its the farthest north Ive been, its the 2nd highest city in the mission, now I just got to go to Rovanniemi. (farthest north missionaries can go!!! as far as I know...) and number 3!! both me and Elder Andersons bikes broke.... but we fixed them, and we also worked the the best rain storm I have ever been in. it started out like those romantic rains like in the movies. you know the `I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME` type rains and then it just dropped on us!! and this is when I didnt have a rain coat because in my defeanse, the day started off without a cloud in the sky... oh how I learned how fast that can change. Kinda like life. skies clear and then boom, its raining and your stuck out in it with just your suit and your testimony.... and number 4 is Im in Helsinki for 4 days for some training. pretty cool.

I know this church is true and I have learned so much about myself, Christ and this gospel. I love you and talk to you soon!!! 

Love

Vanhin Waite

Letter #40

Dear Family, Friends and awesome readers,

 

This week was pretty good, if I might say so myself. We had two less actives come to church, which was WAY cool. President Rawlings spoke in our sacrement meeting. Our branch president was released and a cool little change took place, and things are looking on the good side. :) I love this gospel. You know those days where you know there is SO much to talk about but cant remember it... this is one of those days.

 

But one cool thing our mission has been pushing is getting Members to find people in their lives that can be receptive to the gospel. Which is totally cool because every member in this church IS a missionary. And everyone needs the gospel. This week we met with some members and we ended up with 3 referals!! way cool!! So ya, I love the members here, they are way cool and very supportive.

 

 So this week we had a dinner appoint with a family that were not members and I had never met them before. It was way cool, we get a text from a girl that we had tried to meet a few weeks ago and then we get a text from her and it says her parents want us over for dinner. So, way cool right! We get there and they are the NICEST family I´ve met so far and wow, it was way cool. They didnt drink and they were basically LDS except they werent. Turns out we think that they except all religions as true and correct and that all have good morals and values and they all serve God. I say we think because they were kind of talkative and way nice. But we didnt say much. The Dad was American and the mom and daughter were Finnish, but we spoke in English and they all spoke pretty well. Especially the American. :) :)

 

I´ve learned a lot about Faith and Love and the relationship they have together. Because I have found it extreamly hard sometime to love some people. I am still learning that if our Faith in a Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is strong enough, then we can love those around us for who they are, sons and daughters of God. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and I love it. I am greatful for my Savior and His atonement. Im proud to be an American and I love you.

Love

Elder Waite