Helsinki and Kristian

Monday this week we went to Helsinki for the first time since we have been here.  My brother Gary's son, Kristian, invited us down for lunch and we had a great time visiting with him and just walking around the city.  It has changed quite a bit since I was on my mission, but there are still many landmarks that I remember.  The train station is still the same but all the buildings around it have pretty much been replaced.  The main bus station is now underground, and there are certainly many more automobiles on the streets than 47 years ago when I left.  Here is a great picture of the Helsinki train station.  It is the transportation hub of the country.  All lines north of Helsinki start here.

Here is a picture of Kristian and us along the walkway in Helsinki.  It was a beautiful day and we had a great time.  He is doing well and it was fun to visit with him.  He was a big help to us in understanding the city and what we can look for.  He even pointed out a health-food type store for us to go in and it turned out to be really beneficial to Lynne.

The next picture is something that I think that is really cool.  The drying rack for the dishes is above the sink.  You just put your washed dishes in the drying rack above the sink and they drip into the sink.  It is an excellent use of space and convenient.  I went to a parking lot the other day and the driver paid for the parking spot with his Iphone.  Pretty well most public offerings like that can be paid through your Iphones and the like.  Pretty progressive country in the communications world.  Land-lines are almost a thing of the past here.

Hope all of you are doing well.  Reports from my family say that all is well and the Londons have really been blessed.  Please, all of you have a great day.  Rick and Lynne

Gardens and Fall Colors

Out walking the other day and came across this public garden in a field outside a number of housing complexes.  Apparently, if you have the desire to raise your own vegetables and such, you can participate in the public offering.  There are a large number of plots at this location.  They were digging out their ginger roots the other day when we walked by.

Lynne wanted me to take this picture specifically of the tamarack (yellow) tree in the center of the picture.  The colors are so beautiful around here, especially around the temple grounds now they have had about 5 years for the landscaping to grow.  It was exactly five years ago this month that President Hinckley dedicated the Helsinki Temple.

Just wanted to show you how the temple stands out against the background.  Our apartment complex is in the foreground to the left and just to the left a little more in a pretty busy highway, so the temple gets a lot of attention in the community.  The temple is not really in Helsinki proper, but in Espoo, a very large city (suburb) of Helsinki to the northwest.  It is about a 45 min bus or train trip to Helsinki.

Just outside our front door of the apartment are these flowers and plants.  The purple one is called a Heather flower, so Heather, here is a flower in your name.

The inside of our apartment.

I thought that I would let you see our living quarters. They really are quite nice. Small and compact, but very functional for what we need. But I thought I would start with the picture out of our living room. What a beautiful sight to go to bed to each evening and wake up the next morning to.

Our kitchen, very accommodating and simple. The computer desk is off to the right and the dinning table to the left. The appliances are small but sufficient. One thing that we do have is plenty of hot water. The hot water is centralized in a community, so you buy hot water for heating and household uses just like you buy cold water and electricity at home. Really makes a lot of sense and keeps the air much cleaner.

Pretty much just a bed and a place to change clothes. They use bed covers more than blankets around here.

Certainly the bathroom is the main room of the house and ours is every bit as good as the one that we have at home. In fact, the showever is much nicer than ours. Toilet is a bit different but takes care of the necessities of life. The towels are hanging on a hot-water heated metal towel rack. What a great idea that we could use at home. However, since the hot water comes from the central location, it is easier to maintain around here. The tap and hose between the tub and shower is for you to explain to your children. I haven't quite learned how to use it yet.

The living room is an extension of the kitchen and kind of all-in-one, but that is okay as we can only be in one place at a time. We are still looking for a couple of nails to hang the "foot thing" that Becca sent with us, so it is draped on the back of the couch. The big light in the corner of the couch is to give us a little more "sunlight" when it remains so dark outside during the winter.

Hope you have enjoyed the quick tour around our home. We love it and all that goes with our mission. The people are just outstanding and treat us with such kindness and concern. Love to all of you.

This is where we live

This is quick picture taken during our walk this morning. It is getting a bit cold, but it has not been too bad yet. Weather is much like our cold at home.

I guess we should show you all where we live while at the temple. As you can see, we are not far from the temple. This picture was taken from our living room window. What a view! The apartment complex is built so that 7 missionary couples can live here at the same time and also a number of rooms with multiple bunks are available for members throughout Russia, Latvia, Finland, Estonia and Lithuania can stay while attending the temple. Also many of the Finnish temple workers stay here while on their short term assignments. Many come for a week at a time to work in the temple and then go home for a while. They come from all over Finland and stay for as long as they can. There are not enough missionaries to do all the work. Usually we try to keep things in order and provide some continuity to the process.

This shows the entire building pretty much. Our room is the one right in the middle corner above the awning. The entrance is just below the same awning. The window on the left, straight above the awning is our bedroom window and the one above the awning just to the left is our living room window from which the first picture was taken.

There is a big dinning room on the main floor for all the folks staying over. A meeting room and the front desk, where we have to assist in the evening to check people in. It is one of those "other duties as assgned."

We are doing very well. Our love to you at home.

October 13, 2011

Well, good friends and neighbors. The Londons are still alive and well in Finland. We have been working hard at the temple, learning all kinds of good things, trying to understand and be understood is a real challenge but the temple workers all seems to be very kind and understanding.

Just a bit of background. In the Helsinki Temple, the missionaries are used to keep the the daily temple routine moving. There are a number of local people that are scheduled to come in at certain times and perform certain duties. In fact, the daily shift coordinator is a local Finn but he might only come in once a week. Our duties are to insure that he has all the help that he needs in scheduling the sessions and use us where we are needed. In any one day, we can be involved with any or all the ordinances in the temple. Like today, I went through a session in Finnish, then hurried to baptise for a while. Immediately left there and worked at the veil at the end of a session. Tomorrow I could do initiatory, or whatever. They basically have everyone available at the beginning of a session to help. Then after the session starts, anyone that is not helping with the session could be involved with something else. The missionaries try to help with that something else during the day. Lynne and I are up to our eyeballs trying to figure out what is going on. They are having Lynne do the veil ceremony in Finnish already. She has to read it of course but she is doing okay.

The picture above is the little Lidl store that we shop at all the time. It is about a 15 minutes walk away and we like it. It has most of what we need and it is fine. About a 30 minute walk away is a large mall with two large groceery stores in it along with everything else. The only problem with any of them is the prices over here are easily 50 to 100 percent more than we pay for some things. I keep looking for a Walmart type store and I have yet to find one. It is hard to spend money on something when you used to paying a certain price for it. Don't worry, we haven't stopped spending money yet and I doubt that we will. One of the good things going for us is that whatever we buy, except for food, we have to take home or give it away. So really n0t much sense in buying a lot of nicities.

Hope that you are all well. Love, Rick and Lynne

Sunday of the first week

Well, we just returned from church. It was the Espoo 2nd Ward and it was a full house. It was great to just be there with them. It has been very busy week in the temple. Yesterday, was one of the busiest days they have ever had. They was a special temple worker devotional after yesterday's shift at the temple. An area Seventy from Germany spoke to the temple workers about the importance of marriage and did a very good job.

This afternoon we went on a little trip to with the Fullers to see where they used to live when he was the mission president in Finland. It was fun trip and a very beautiful day. The one picture with the rainbow was taken just outside the temple after we ended the day yesterday. The second picture is on the shore of the sea near Helsinki. It was a beautiful day and a bit cold.

We are well and happy. Miss you all, but this is where we are suppose to be.

We are here and ready to go.

Well everybody, we made it to Finland today and what an airplane trip. But now that it is over, it is great to be here. We have been made to feel super welcome. In fact, President Haikkola set us apart as temple workers this evening and we start tomorrow. Our apartment is very adequate and close to the temple. We are doing just great.

The trip from SLC to Chicago went relatively well for having to rebook us at the last minute. But the trip from Chicago took forever. The airline would have had a lot of trouble trying to get another person on the 747 as cramped as we were. Frankfurt finally woke-up as we arrived and then we left it 3 hours later. The weather in Helsinki was overcast and raining but President and Sister Haikkola met us and made us feel very much at home.

Hard to say goodbye to everyone that we love so much at home but they will be blessed. More later.