Christmas 2011 in Jyväskylä!

Well good friends, Christmas 2011 has come and gone and we have a lot of memories to report.  On the 23rd of December we took the Express train to Jyväskylä, which is located in the center of Finland.  It was about a 3 hour train ride in a really nice train with internet and comfortable seats.  I just had a good time riding the train looking at the country side.  Good inside view of the train below and after that the countryside.

After we arrived in Jyväskylä we went shopping, so we took advantage of the opportunity and it was a wonderful experience.  Saturday, Christmas Eve, we had a wonderful meal but first we had to go to the cemetery there and watched all the people put candles on the graves.  This is a very strong Finnish tradition that I remember from my mission.  In fact, Lynne and I have done this at home for the past 20 years.


This is an interesting picture because the headstone is missing.  Helena said that her family knows that someone is buried there, but there was never enough money to buy the stone.

And the Christmas Eve dinner of course.  The salted salmon and pickled herring added some interesting tastes for our tongues, but it was all good.  Helena and Oscar (her son) did a great job of cooking for us.

Sunday morning we went to church in Jyväskylä and had a great time.  A very friendly ward and lots of kids.  This is a picture of their ward house.  It was built in the late 60s and is holding up very well.

Then of course we had to have a Christmas Day dinner and it was wonderful also.  This is a picture of Lynne and me and Helena and Oscar also.  We really did have a fun time and enjoyed being with them.  They were wonderful hosts.

Helena spoiled me with fixing some rice mush with a mixed fruit soup to go on top of it.  I loved this so much when I was here years ago and it tasted so good again this Christmas.  So that is what is in this picture, my Christmas present from her.

The sister missionaries joined us for dinner on Sunday and we all had a good time together.  Monday morning we left for Helsinki and caught the train home.  We arrived late that afternoon because of a major power outage in Finland that affected many of the rail switching controls.  The winds really caused a lot of damage and destruction on Boxer Day in Finland.  Just a quick self picture of the two of us coming home, just in case you have forgotten which we look like in civilian clothes.

I guess our trip north wasn´t enough so we had to go to another party Monday evening at the Vorimo´s home near the temple in Espoo.  Sister Vorimo said that she just fed us leftovers, but that is hard to believe.  This is a picture of the Vorimo´s. Brother Vorimo is in the temple presidency.

Well, there you have it.  We Skyped the children a day later and they reported that Christmas went well at home and Becca and Phill are holding the house together with all the kids there.  The annual London party at the Morgan City building went well and they are doing something together this Saturday for New Years.
We just hope that all of you had a great holiday season and looking forward to a wonderful new year.  We are already back working this week in the temple with many Finnish and Russian couples.  They are such wonderful people, and always willing to share whatever they have.  The sisters have grown attached to them and they like to leave treats for them when they can.

Thanks for all your cards and letters and emails. Love to all of you.  Rick and Lynne

Christmas Greetings

Merry Christmas from Finland.  We love it here and enjoy working in the temple and working with all the people each day.  We have been very blessed with great family and friends.

We just hope and pray that all of you are doing well and enjoying a great Christmas Season at home or wherever you may be.

A picture I just took of the temple out of our living room window.  We never grow tired of this view as we look at it all the time.  May the Lord bless and watch over all of you at this time.  I know for a fact, that He knows and loves each of us personally.  He is our Father and all fathers (and mothers) love their children, even if it means sacrificing one of their sons.   Love you all,   Rick and Lynne

Update from Espoo

Well friends, I am sitting behind the counter at the complex where we live.  The missionaries each have a turn about once every other week to receive travelers coming to the temple in the evening when the full-time day person has left for the evening.  They are beds here for 48 people, 8 rooms each with 6 beds.  Usually there are a few extra beds left over and it is mostly empty on the weekends, but the first and second week after the first of the year, it is completely full of Russian saints to the east.  It is my understanding that Christmas is not a big deal in Russia but the New Year celebration is big time.  A lot vacation time then so the saints in the St. Petersberg area come to the Helsinki Temple.  They are a pretty happy bunch together and we are looking forward to working with them every day.

This past week we had a temple workers' party here at the asunto (guest house)  on Monday and it was loaded with goodies.  There was a short program and the funnest thing of the evening was a traditional skit put on by some Finnish members.  I guess that it has been around for over 200 years and it is a common skit to be performed in the schools and communities all over Finland.  The picture below is the four characters in the skit.

Tuesday, 13 Dec-Liisa's birthday,  we went to Helsinki to the annual Saint Lucia Day celebration and parade.  This is a tradition that has come down through 100s of years and I think each country in Europe has it own way of celebrating.  First of all there was a performance in the large church in Helsinki.  Lucia was crowned and then some singing and speaking.  After that she walks down the stairs of the church in front of thousands of people, gets into a big chair in the back of an ancient truck, and joins the parade through the streets of Helsinki.  It was really fun.  In the church her crown was actually made of burning candles, but in the parade the candles had to be changed to small lights because of the wind.

On the same street where the parade went was the big outside Christmas market with all the little shops that we have talked about earlier.  Well, this is a picture of one of the hand-made items.  Rachelle should like this one-it looks like a moose.  

Well, that is about it for now.  We are well and tired.  Hope all of you are having a great holiday season.  Bye for now.

Christmas is in the air.

Well good friends.  Life continues to go on in Finland.  Work at the temple is different from one day to the next.  We never really know what is going to happen the next day as far as who will be coming.  It is always interesting when the Russians are in town and also when the missionaries from Russia are in the temple.  We love them all and look forward to anyone that comes through the doors of the temple.

Holiday season is really in the air.  Pretty much like back home in the stores, not a lot of bargains like we see at home but pretty much the same shopping situation.  The end of last week we went to Helsinki to see all the shops on a big open marketplace in front of the church in Helsinki.  It was really fun to go around and see what many of them had made for the Christmas sale. Many homemade things and different wares and foods were available. Lynne bought the manger scene in the picture below.

We started talking to the lady below who made these figures and she does them all in her home.  She was quite the lady and we had a great time talking to her.  There were probably over 100 booths from which folks sold the items.  No snow on the ground yet, but it is coming from the north before too long

Not a great picture but maybe you can get a bit of feel for the marketplace Christmas booths.  

I hope and pray everything is well with you and your families.  We are doing fine and I think that all the kids are doing okay also.  Rachelle, Dave and Jackson are still in Vernal and doing well.  Liisa and Matt and five kids are moving to Cortez, Colorado right after the first part of the year.  Matt has a new job there working for a community bank and they have to move.  Ryan and Micaela and their five are still stuck in Morgan and loving it.  Becca and Phill and their three are housekeeping for her parents and seem to be doing okay.  Mark and Jessica and their three kids are doing well.  Their youngest just had a operation to repair some birth problems but she is doing well now.  Heather and Mike are making it in Georgia and are going to Utah for Christmas.

All in all, we are all blessed and give thanks to Him who gives us all.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Lynne and I will be in the center of Finland in a town called Jyväskylä. for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  We are staying with Kaisa's sister Helena and her son, Oscar.  We are really looking forward to being with them.

Love you all and the best for the holidays.

Rick and Lynne

 ri

December in Finland has arrived!

Dec 6, 2011  Finnish Independence Day 

Well, it is December in Finland and winter has arrived and we are just fine, even if a bit cold.  We have had quite a bit going on at the temple and in our "on the outside" part of our lives.  The Christmas season is in full swing around here and the spirit is in the air.  Also all attempts to sell something to someone is in the air also, so I guess things aren't too much different than at home. Let me go through the pictures that I have attached at this time.

If this picture looks like Super Saturday at home, well it almost is.  The American sisters asked the Finnish sisters to teach them how to cook a Finnish staple called "riisipiirakkoita" which directly translate as "rice pies".  We had do this because we all like eating them so much.  So this a kitchen scene of them all working together plus Brother Williams that likes to be in the kitchen also.  It was fun and the sisters learned a bunch.

 This is the finished product and are they ever good.  I like to make sandwiches out of them and have them for lunch.  You can buy them in the store like this, but these are better than the store purchased items.  They do take quite a bit of time but it was worth it.  All the sisters get along really great and it was a fun experience.

 After that cooking experience, six of us went to Helsinki to see how Christmas is coming there.  It was raining and we didn't get around a lot, but we did run into this greeting card and decided to take advantage of it.  Helsinki was busy with all the Christmas shoppers and due to the fact that the next day was their Independence Day.  Before we arrived home it had started to snow.   I suspect that we will see quite a bit of that stuff this year.  It was fun to be in Helsinki and look around for a while.

 This is what we woke up to this morning.  It is still really beautiful with the temple in the background.  I suspect that I will shoveling many of those stairs this coming month or so.  Today is Finland's Independence Day and we celebrated it with the Finnish saints and the temple presidency.  It was a wonderful meal and all seemed to have had a great time.  The Finnish sisters did most of the food, but everyone kicked in and fixed something for the event.  The main course of the day was smoked salmon and it was wonderful.  We also had roast beef with all the accessories

 This is our close little group of missionaries that work in the temple, also President Haikkola and President Vorimo and their wives are in the picture.  We are missing a member of the presidency and one Finnish missionary couple that went home for the weekend. It really a great group of people.

As you can see here, it was quite a celebration.  After we ate, we sang some Finnish songs together and President Haikkola gave us a brief history of Finnish independence from Russia in 1917. The food was outstanding and a good time was had by all of us.  Talked to most of the kids this weekend and they are doing well.  Also George and Margaret Hopkin Skyped us and we had a good chat.
We miss all of you, especially during this holiday season but we know that doing His work is one great way to celebrate Christmas.

Merry Christmas and a great new year.                        Rick and Lynne

Holiday Season Begins in Suomi (Finland)

Today, 28 Nov, 2011 and we are having our Thanksgiving dinner in the visitors' kitchen down below.  I will try to take a picture and include it later in the blog. Lynne and all the sisters have been very busy getting ready for the event.  We have a number of locals coming also, so it should be a really fun day. More later.

However, this past Saturday we had an opening of the nativity scene with a little program that was really nice.  There were a number of Finns and missionaries there.  There was a short talk by a member of the temple presidency. We have a great temple presidency here in Finland.  All of them are certainly veterans of the basic founding of the church in Finland.  As I read the early history of the church in Finland, which really only began in the late 1940's and early 1950's, I recognize many of these early members in the temple all the time. The Helsinki Stake patriarch, Tauno Kasper Savolainen, is 87 years old and just as active as one could be. I have been reading his autobiography and what a story of faith and dedication.  It has taken men like him and many others over here to establish a firm foundation from which the church has grown.  From that foundation, 3rd and 4th generation active Finnish families have resulted.  What a blessing it is to work in the temple with these stalwarts of faith all the time.  True, they are getting older, like ourselves, but the opportunity for Lynne and I to associate with them is outstanding.

Here is the nativity scene that is on a little hill between the main highway and the temple.  It will be seen by many who travel by.    

Nativity Scene by Helsinki Temple

And of course, the children had to sing.  It was fun to see these Finnish children perform.

Finnish Youth Singing Christmas Carols

Thanksgiving in Finland 28 Nov 2011

Below is a picture of our group starting to eat their Thanksgiving Dinner.  It was really fun and everyone helped.  The food was excellent and we had a good time.  We are a pretty close group and all seem to work to help everyone else.

Love you all, we are doing okay.  The weather is getting more winter-like all the time but we have been really lucky and have not had any snow yet.  Mom's yams were a big hit this evening with all.  We did have turkey with all the trimmings and much more of everything else.

Lynne and Rick at Thanksgiving Dinner

Love you all, Rick and Lynne

Trek to Kouvola

Kouvola Branch building. The church is one the bottom on the left and in the middle, then there is a store on the right of the bottom floor.  The store is closed on Sunday, so everything works out pretty good.

Yesterday we went to Kouvola and visited a small branch there.  We attended both their meetings.  I had a chance to bear my testimony in sacrament meeting and Lynne helped with the music.  After the meetings we were invited to the home of Aimo and Nellie Jäkkö deep in the heart of Finland or about 50 kilometers from Kouvola to their home.  And are they ever deep in the forest.  They had us and the another couple, Williamson's,  to dinner and it was great to visit with them.  We had a wonderful dinner and then visited and saw her internet business which is selling miniatures of everything.  If you would like to visit her site, it is www.finnaimo.fi. We had a wonderful day in the country.  Church was really great, not a lot of people, but the spirit was neat and the members were super.

Below is a picture of the Jäkkö family near Välijoki, Finland.  Notice the old fuse box on the wall.  The house they live in used to be a dormitory for a teacher's school. This was a great experience.  They live in the kind of home that I used to tract out all the time when I was here before.  But they also have satellite TV and internet connectivity and heat the place with a modern ground heat-exchanger.  Don't for one minute think that these folks are behind the times, they are modern and up-to-date in all aspects that I can see.  I saw a robot at the pharmacy the other day filling prescriptions totally automatically .

This is a picture of the Mäkinen's who we worked with for a while at the temple.  Another couple from American is coming and their mission to the temple was completed.  Wonderful people whom we learned to love and appreciate in the short time we knew them.

We are doing great.  A bunch of Russians from St. Petersburg are in the dormitory this evening and will be in the temple tomorrow. We need to learn some Russian to help with the sessions, but we have got to get the Finnish down first.  Love to all of you.  Rick and Lynne