Christmas Time 2013

Well, Christmas is over and now we are waiting for New Years to come.  Time goes by so quickly that I cannot keep track of what is happening.  So, I will just post some pictures and you can see for yourself what life is like in Finland during the winter.

I guess the first thing that I have to report is that Helsinki does not have any snow at all on the ground.  It as been a very "black" holiday season in southern Finland. Not dry mind you, it has rained forever and ever.  I think I actually have seen the sun several times this December but not more than that.  It has been very cloudy but only for rain and not for snow.  However, I don't fear a thing because I know that there is always a big snowstorm just around the corner.

Well, one thing about Christmas, the mailman always comes through for the Elders and Sisters.  This is just a small representation of the packages that we received.  We tried to get them all forwarded without costing the missionaries anything, and we were quite successful in our endeavor.  The last of the packages were delivered today at a Zone Conference in Tampere.  We encourage parents to send their packages to the office first because of missionaries moving around so much.  Unfortunately, it costs the missionary forwarding expense if we have to use the Finnish mail to forward it. We always try pretty hard to have someone deliver it to them, if possible.

On six December it is Finland's Independence Day.  Not celebrated like we do at home but rather a quiet day with some patriotic music and speeches.  We went to the market square by the large white church in Helsinki and watched the band perform and listened to a couple of speakers before we went home.  If you look close you can see all the little Christmas shops in the background. It is really fun to go to the market place at Christmas time.  Most of the people in the crowd below are holding candles.  Another strong Finnish tradition.

Here is our Christmas tree and all the goes under the tree.  It was nice of Rachelle to liven our tree.

It wouldn't be Christmas in Helsinki if you didn't go the the big white church and see the crowning of Saint Lucia.  This is a big deal.  Lynne used to show me the hat back home that St. Lucia wears but I didn't believe it.  I don't know how they pack all those candles on top of her head at one time.

But most of the people were outside waiting for St. Lucia to walk down the stairs and into her carriage for her trip down main street.  It is fun to watch and follow the events surrounding this special time in Finland

Wouldn't be Christmas without goodies and treats.  This picture is at a ward social and the missionary is keeping track of the the little girl so she doesn't snatch all the treats.  It was a fun social and all seemed to go well for the evening.  If you look really close, you can see Lynne's brownies on the round plate right at the bottom of the picture. They went fast.

Santa came to the ward social also.  A bit young looking under the beard, but other than that, he was a great Santa Claus.  Kids are kids and it doesn't matter what part of the world they are in, St Nick gets a lot of attention.

Picture of Lynne and the Christmas booths on the open market.  Most of the people prepare all year to sell their wares at this time.  Judgement Church in the background. It is always fun to go see what the people are selling.  This year I was able to buy a hot dog "thingy" wrapped in a potato bun.  It was really good.  I went on-line to see where it came from and it looks like it came from England.






Christmas Eve nine of us went to the cemetery to see the candles on the graves.  It rained the whole time but it was still amazing to see how they respect their dead.  This is a flash picture but you can see the candles in front of the headstone.  We started the same tradition years ago at home and I think the kids continue to do it while we are away.

Below is a picture of Elder Jay and Sister Dana Thelin.  They work in the office with us.  Their primary calling is to work with the Single Young Adults in the Helsinki Stake, but they help us all the time with food preparation and furnishing new apartments.  We couldn't get along without their assistance.

Today, Saturday, we spent most of the day cleaning an apartment that is to be turned back.  It should have been our P-Day but we have had something going on everyday this week and we just haven't been able to get to it. I need to get a page from someone on how to relax and just do something different, than work, once in a while.  Oh well, we were together and doing what we came to do, so it was a good day for us.

All the kids back home seemed to have had a great Christmas.  We were able to Skype them all and talk to them.  Christmas Day was mostly spent in the office helping missionary Skype home.  We had five Skype session going at one time in the office.  The internet connections are better there and there is more rooms to accommodate the young missionaries.  The great thing about Skyping is that it doesn't cost them a dime and they get to see, and be seen, but their families.  It has been a real pleasure being in the office and working with the young missionaries.  They come in all shapes and sizes, and we love them all.

We were also able to Skype with Richard and Susan and Jeff and Rosanne.  It was super to be able to talk to them and talk about their missions.

We have over a 100 young missionaries now, almost double from what it was a year ago.  We continue to receive more missionaries than go home, so we will continue to look for new apartments in the near future.

Hope all is well with you and your families and the holiday season is treating you well.  May the good Lord continue to watch over you and bless you and your families.

Love,

Rick and Lynne

Into the Finnish Winter

Time to let you all know that we are still alive and doing our missionary thing.  Please rest assured that we are fine and our daily activities are as busy as ever.  Even with all the new help in the office, it seems like we are digging up other "stuff" that needs to be done.  I would have never guessed all the different "things" that we do in the office.  It seems like everyday a new requirement emerges or an old one needs to be updated. Thanks goodness everyone in the office does the best they can and they all just work and work to get the job done.

Right now we are getting ready for another load of missionaries the week before Christmas. Our time is taken finding new apartments.  The mission president gave us the new areas a few weeks ago and we have been looking for apartments.  I have put together a fairly comprehensive flow-type checklist to help us and the missionaries work through the process.  We have make sure that the new apartment is in a safe, secure, nice neighborhood, with close access to transportation and grocery stores. We try to avoid apartments on a ground level floor and must be an elevator if more that two levels.  The apartment itself must be clean, modest, reasonably priced, room for two single bed in the bedroom, workable kitchen, washing machine, microwave oven, stove, shower, bathroom walls totally covered with ceramic tile, two study desks, couch, kitchen table, plus anything else needed to make it a livable place.  Our missionaries have very nice apartments and are very well taken care of that way.

I do have a few pictures that I would like to share with the blog.  You may have noticed that I don't include many pictures of missionaries and Finns.  They have very particular over here about publishing anyone's picture without written permission.  Someone wanted to put our monthly newsletter, which Lynne puts together each month, on a website but we have to have everyone's written permission before it can happen. It is the law here and we have to be careful.  Just a few of the inconveniences of living in another country.

Well, it is becoming that dark time of the year, and remember that it gets darker the further north you go.  The sun comes up around 8:40 and goes down at 3:32 and we have another month to go before the shortest day and the longest night.  There is actually an illness that about 1% of the Finns get during the winter and it has to do with all the darkness and dealing with it.  We have to be careful with the missionaries also because it can cause mild depression.  There are some vitamins and phototherapy lights that help quite a bit.  We have been buying a few of them, especially for the missionaries up way north.  Nothing like that when I was a missionary years ago.

This is a clock that we found in a local store.  Since it was a Kensington clock, we thought that Kensi might want to see what her clock looks like.

Today after church we went for a rather long walk towards downtown.  There was a "starting Christmas" celebration and parade downtown and we walked in the that direction.  The weather today was unusual for Helsinki, the sun actually came out.  It was a bit below freezing but this picture of the park below is outstanding.  The grass is still very green.  I don't think that we are going to have many more days like this, but we loved it and had a great walk.  This is the park about a block from our apartment and the office.

This is a restaurant on a tiny island just off the seashore here.

This picture is part of the group that sang a few Christmas carols before the parade began.  Santa was running around somewhere in the crowd.  There was a rather large crowd for the event, but I don't think it takes much to get the Finns to go to an event like this, because they like to get out of their apartments in the winter.

This is the church where the event was held.  The parade started here.  We didn't get to see much of the parade because there were so many people lined up along the parade route.

The Red Cross sponsored a rice mush booth.  I broke down and bought a bowl.  It was delicious.  They cook the stuff in an enormous sized cooker.  The lady below is stirring the mush with a giant spoon.

Grandpa Ted would like this picture.  I thought about him when Lynne took it.  Not a lot a crime in Finland, but it is nice to have them around when you need them.

And what would Christmas be without the big stores and all their glitter and lights.  Stockmann is one of the famous stores downtown Helsinki.  They sell everything you can think of.  They have a grocery store in the bottom, and it stays very busy.  They have Christmas scenes in their show windows, just like ZCMI used to in Salt Lake.  Maybe they still do, it has been a while since I have been to SL during the holidays.

  Yesterday we went to a baptism for a Swede that was converted here.  A really nice young man and I am sure a great asset to the church.  After that we went looking for a used kitchen table and chairs for a new apartment and also found some nice book cases.  We try to buy good, used furniture when we have a chance.  It costs enough to furnish missionary apartment without having to buy everything new.  The place that we went to is just like DI.  There goal is almost the same, people helping people.  I was impressed with the whole organization and how well it seems to be run.

Well, time to close up for now.  Monday tomorrow and much to be done.  It is also the week that I have to pay all the apartment rents, which are getting close to 60 right now.  I also have to make sure all the utilities and parking are paid also. Thank goodness for electronic banking, it saves a bunch of time.

We think of all of you at this time.  Thanksgiving this coming Thursday and we will miss being with the family.  It will be another day at the office for us, there is nothing special celebrated here on Turkey Day.  Their next big holiday is December 6th which is Finland's Independence Day.

Missionary work is going well in Finland right now.  Our missionaries are doing well and continue to baptize almost weekly.  Members play a large role in the missionary efforts and their involvement is beginning to pay off.

All our love to you this time of year.

Rick and Lynne

Fall in Finland

October 19, 2013 Helsinki Finland.

Weather cold, sunny, rainy, snowy, windy, dark, and beautiful.  Temperature just above freezing.  As you can see from the above weather discription, it is changing all the time.  We went for a short walk this afternoon and we ran into all the above-mentioned weather.  Winter has come to the northern part of Finland and it is moving on towards the south, so I imagine that before too long it will be here again.  Fall has been a wonderful time for us and really quite like our fall at home.  Many of nature's colors are available, so it has been fun.

We are fine.  We have been getting apartments ready again for the missionaries coming next week. It is a team effort for everyone in the office.  We are very happy when we have found and furnished all the apartment, but it is short-lived because we have an even busier load in December.  So far the number of missionaries is still increasing in Finland, with no visible end in sight.  So we will just keep taking them on and get them busy with the work.  All of us have had some pretty long days, and nights getting things ready.  So next Tuesday at 3:15 PM in the afternoon, 15 new ones arrive at the Helsinki Airport and two days later, 4 leave to go home.  We love them all.  Certainly, some demand more attention that others, but that is like parents raising children.

So here are some pictures with some short comments.  The picture below is from our back balcony.

We had a great time going to Turku last Saturday evening to watch the local members and some non-members put on "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."  It was an outstanding performance and everybody has a great time.  It is amazing what can be done when everyone works together. 

Leaves, leaves, leaves

 Lynne and I love walking in the forest, especially in the fall.  Walking is something that the Finns really enjoy doing and they have great country to walk in.

Circus is in town.

Always one of these in town.

This is as good as it gets.  Great country and a great companion.

Pretty good looking picture, huh?

Plenty of water over here also.

Herring Week in Helsinki.  Boats selling fish.

One night a couple of weeks ago, about three in the morning, we heard this loud banging and pounding and wondered what is the world is going on?  Lynne looked out the peek-hole and saw some guys in the hall but couldn't really tell what was going on.  But is lasted for about 30 minutes and then all was pretty quiet.  The next morning when I went to work I saw what had happened to our neighbor's door.  Later in the day I asked one on the other tennants in the apartment building what had happened and they said that the ambulance crew had a call to the apartment and no-one responded to their call, so they assumed the worst and bascially broke in.  They took the lady to the hospital that was inside but a couple of days later someone said that she was back home.

On the way to Turku from the car.   What a beautiful fall day.

As you can see, fall is a wonderful time in Finland.  It doesn't last very long but we will take what we get.  We enjoyed General Conference very much and stake conference was excellent.  Great to know that you are all taking good care of the home fires.  Missionary work is going well in Finland.  There seems to be a surge of baptisms right now.  Of course in Finland, a surge is going from 3-4 a month to over 10, which may not sound like many but to us it is a miracle.

Hope you are all well and life is keeping up with you.  Sorry to hear about some deaths in the community.  Please let their familes know that we are thinking of them.  We love you all.

Love,  Rick and Lynne

Report From the North Country

Well good friends another month has gone by and I haven't reported on our whereabouts and doings in the great land of Suomi.  I just don't know where the time goes, but it manages to pass so fast.

First of all, like my Dad always did, I must report the weather.  Today, Sunday the 22 of September the weather has been sunny and rainy with very nice temperatures and mild winds.  We have had a great fall so far this year.  People are still out on the streets and enjoying what sunshine there is.  Everyone knows what the winters will be like, so we all suck up the warm weather as much as we can.

We have been really busy still with our daily tasks.  It seems like we never get caught up but again that is okay for now.  We are starting to get ready for our next bunch of missionaries next month.  Several days ago President Rawlings let us know where the new missionary companionships will be located when the new missionaries arrive in October.  I think that we have to come up with 4-5 new apartments to accommodate the new increase.  Along with the new apartments comes the job of furnishing them.  Brother and Sister Thelin have been a big help in getting that job done.  Below is a couple of pictures of the van getting ready to go to one of our cities with a load of furnishing.  The van can pretty much hold an apartment full on furniture and whatever is needed to set up for a new companionship.

Does that look like we have a lot of room to spare.  This one is bit tight because we found a couch at a second-hand store and it took more space than the boxed one from IKEA.  We try to use good quality used furniture if we can find it, but it isn't always possible.  We have been checking out all the apartments this summer and making sure that they are furnished adequately for our missionaries.  The worst one looks much better than what I stayed in when I was here but that is another story for another time.  Really, the elders and sisters have pretty nice housing arrangements and the church take good care of them.  However, we  and others have to go around and check up on them.

This part of the job does get us around Finland and out of the office once in a while.  We have tried to do most of our distant travel during the summer because of the horrible winter weather when driving conditions are not very good.  Another big plus that helps us is that in many of the cities where we have elders and sisters, the members are very helpful.

We have a great summer with friends and family stopping by to visit.  Gary and Kaisa have been around for a while and we have had a great time just visiting with them. Yesterday we returned from an overnight trip to Tallinn where we attended an opera, Man of LaMancha, in Estonian with English subtitles.  It was fun and the opera house was packed.  We managed to walk around town quite a bit and see many places that we have seen before.

This is the entrance to a little glass blowing shop in Tallinn.  We have been here before but it always fascinates me to see them blowing glass.  We actually bought a bowl from them this time and now have a solid memory of the place.

Also a picture of the shop help will brighten up this blog.  They were very helpful and spoke great English.

Brittany London and her friend, Tiffany Brianholt visited us on-and-off for the past week.  We have been their Finnish way-station while they travelled around northern Europe. They have visited around Helsinki for a few days in between their side trips to Estonia and St, Peterburg, Russia.  I am sure that they will share with you their experiences when they get home. Here is a picture of them with Lynne inside the Rock Church in Helsinki.  It is a beautiful building built inside solid rock.

 This is a church but I think that it is used for more for non-sectarian type programs.  It is most unusual  building and has a large copper dome.  It was fun with the girls and fun for us to get away for a while.

We went with Gary and Kaisa to a little island around here called Seurasarri, which has a lot of Finnish history exhibits.  It is a beautiful park and we had a good time.  Below are several pictures from the island vacation.

This was a special attraction at the island.  They had some folks dressed up in Viking outfits and played the part.  Even the food was prepared the Viking way.  They had some games and others event.  It was like our Mountain Man Rendezvous in the states.  The weapons were a bit older but everything else was pretty much the same.


The living museum on the island was very interesting but I enjoyed seeing how they built houses back then more than anything.  Also, look at this large oven for eating and baking in a home.  The kitchen was truly the center of the home, like it is today.

Nothing like an old windmill to remind you of days gone by.  It was a fun trip and we all had a good time.  Must of it was like looking at the pioneer times back home.

These are just a bunch of pictures that I have taken over the summer.  This one below is my picture for the fair next year.  I like it.

 

Lynne trying her luck at walking stilts again.  We tried, but we weren't too successful.  

Don and Linda McClellan from Morgan stopped by to visit us one day.  They only had a few hours in Helsinki but it was fun to take them around a bit.  Of course we had to take our picture with the Morgan County News and the Tuomio Kirkko in the background.

The Helsinki Finland Temple is always a beautiful spot to take a pictures from.  It was a great day for picture taking and visiting around the city.

Last year just before we came back to Finland, Brother and Sister Roto wanted us to bring them some corn seed to see how it would grow over here.  Well, it did okay and it earned Lynne and I another invite back to the Rotos for their annual missionary get-together on their estate out in the country.  It is very difficult to get corn to grow over here because of the difference in growing seasons and weather.

Do you think the chain securing this bike is big enough? I don't know how the rider packs it around.

This is just a bit older than Dad's old wheelbarrow that had hung around for so many years.  However, as old as it look, it still served a great purpose when it was first used.

Brothers and their wives in the north country.  Good to be together again for a while.

Well enough for now.  As you can see we are doing just fine.  We do manage to get away once in a while and now that the summer over, we will not get away as much.  The days are much shorter and colder so I really don't want to stray for from our apartment and work.  Missionary work is going well in Finland.  They have already surpassed last years numbers and we still have 3 month to go.  It is always a struggle, but the missionaries are working very hard and seem determined to do the best they can.

We receive 16 new missionaries in about 3 weeks, so we are preparing for their arrival.  We love our work and enjoy being busy doing something useful.  Hope all is well with all of you.  God bless and keep!

Love,  Rick and Lynne

Typical Transfer Week

August 25, 2013  Beautiful day in Helsinki.  Weather about 68 degrees and clear.  A early fall day for sure.

This past week has been transfer week and it has been busy, fun, sad, and challenging for all.  First of all you have to remember that we have been preparing apartments for these new missionaries for the past month and now we are ready for the invasion.  Also in preparation for the event, Lynne had to update and publish 30 copies of an orientation book for the new missionaries and their trainers.  Each book is 149 pages, so it takes a while to proof, prepare, print and assemble.  Along with that there are bunches of others stuff that needs to be given to the new missionaries, such as language training guides, missionary handbooks, planning books, credit cards, Finnish registration paperwork, insurance forms and releases, bicycling information, driving in Finland  information, referral guidance, privacy law guidance, email direction, copies of passports, visas, and driver's licenses, medical information, and other stuff.  Three of us in the office try to do it all in an hour and a half, but it doesn't always work.  The missionaries usually arrive at about 3:10 PM on a Tuesday afternoon in the Helsinki Airport.  Since there are so many of them we have to borrow a van and a trailer for luggage from the temple.  There were 15 new missionaries this week, 12 sisters and 3 elders, so both vans, with trailers, had a big load.  That afternoon they usually go to the temple for a quick tour and write their thoughts upon arrival in country.  After that they go to the president's home for the evening and a nice dinner.  Most of them are zonked out with the flight so they don't remember too much of what is going on.  Wednesday morning they go to the local police station and register in the country for their stay.  After that they come to the mission office for our orientation briefing while the President is training all the new trainers.  Then they eat lunch at the mission office which is prepared by the office staff and about 1:30 PM they go to another training session with the trainers and the mission president.  At the end of that meeting around 3 PM they are finally introduced to their new companions and immediately, and I mean immediately, the APs and the office staff start buying train tickets for all the companionships that are heading out.  As soon as most of the tickets are purchased, the APs start conveying the missionaries to the bus and train stations for their trip to their new assignments. The place is really a madhouse for a while.

Wait!  It is not over yet.  Usually somebody misses their train and they call Lynne or me and try to work something out to catch the next train.  But around 9 PM life settles down a bit and we try to go home.  I forgot to tell you while all this is going on we have missionaries that are leaving the next morning to go home wandering around the office.  We have to make sure they have their departure books which we have tried to prepare a few days ahead but that doesn't always work either.  I have to make CDs for them with all their letters to the President and his letters to them.  Most of the time the CDs have about 500-600 pages of letters between the missionary and the president.  Also we have to get their credit cards and make sure they pay their office debt and give them their boarding passes.  We originally had 5 going home this past Thursday but Tuesday evening the President called and said that two sisters were going home unexpectedly because of illnesses.  So Lynne and I had to get all their departure stuff ready to go by the following day because they were going home with the other missionaries.  Needless to say, it was a busy week all the way around.  Thursday I was back to paying some bills and Lynne was emailing all the parents of the new missionaries and sending them pictures of their kids with the president. 

Friday we managed to catch up on some stuff that had got behind, work on next year's budget and Saturday we went to the temple with the office missionaries and my brother and his wife who are visiting Finland right now. The film stopped near the end of the session so we had a member of the temple presidency read that last part.  It went really well as he has a very nice, deep, base voice.

It is fun to have Gary and Kaisa here.  We have eaten together a couple of times, but that is about the interaction we have had with them.  I do think that we are going to Tallinn with them next month so all is not lost.  

I do have to say that I was very impressed with the missionaries this week who arrived.  They have such a wonderful spirit and just good to be around.  Hope they all do well and have a super experience while in Finland.  

Hope you are all well and life is great.  We are fine.  Give our love to all.

Rick and Lynne

Quick Update

August 11, 2013  Nice summer, Sunday day in Helsinki.  Weather great and so is the temperature.

Well, we are pretty much back in the groove as far as work is concerned.  Since we got back from the north trip we have been very busy with work.  Last week was a Senior Missionary Seminar for all the senior missionaries in Finland. There are seven couples and two single sisters, plus the mission president.  It didn't included the temple missionaries but we did all have dinner together last Monday evening.  Tuesday morning we visited the Fazer chocolate factory and fed our faces with great chocolate. Tuesday afternoon we had about 4 hours of instruction from President Rawlings and then went out to dinner at a nice restaurant on the edge of a lake that evening. Wednesday morning we all went to a session at the temple and had some instruction that afternoon.  It was fun conference in the end, but Lynne and I spent much time organizing the event.  It was good to visit with all the seniors and received instruction from the president.  We need direction just like the young missionaries.

This is a picture of the "tractor eggs" that we saw along the way when we drove north.  This is the way they put up their hay in the summer.  They put it up green in these heavy, sealed plastic bags and a big semi-truck comes around and hauls them away for the dairies.  It is very rainy and it was difficult to dry the hay the regular way on sticks, so they went to the more modern approach.

There are cranes all over this town during the summer and they are scary.  Just look at these and you wonder how they work without falling over.  They operate them from the bucket and just shoot up and they work in them all day long.

This is a picture of the senior missionaries at the lake-side restaurant.  The food was good, the service great, but it was a bit pricey.  All enjoyed the evening.

All work and no play makes for a dull life and that is what we have been doing lately.  But yesterday we changed tactics and took our rugs to the seaside and washed them.  They have a regular place down amidst the boats and tourist for washing rugs and so we went down and did our thing.  We were the only ones washing rugs but the tourist buses driving by thought that we were regular Finns just out washing their dirty rugs.  I am sure that we are in a lot of cameras now.  We also had a cute Finnish lass come by and ask us what the secret of a lasting marriage was, as she is getting married in few days and was looking for some practical hints.  I doubt is she will pay any attention to our advise, but it was fun anyway.

So that is about as exciting as it gets right now.  We are getting ready for another 14 new missionaries in about two weeks from now.  We need to find another apartment still for one pair of them.  We are getting new sisters so fast now that we have to put two of them together with an older trainer because we don't have enough experienced sister trainers to go one on one.  We also have a number of senior sister missionaries that have medical problems right now, so this next transfer could be very interesting.

Lynne and I are doing very well.  A new couple, Thelins, have been very helpful in the office.  They have managed to help us make it through some tough scheduling problems lately.  They certainly came at a very opportune time.  They will be working with the Single Young Adult program in our ward here, and if they have extra time, they will help us in the office.

We hope and pray that all of you are doing well and experiencing great things in your life.  We love what we are doing, even if we work many hours each week.  It is all His work and that is the important thing to remember. We are certainly blessed, and so is our family.  He watches over His missionaries in more ways than I can describe.

Our love to all of you.

Rick and Lynne