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

North to Alaska, no Sodankylä, Finland.

July 20, 2013, Helsinki Finland.  Weather cool and a bit rainy.

Well, we finally made our trip north a few days back.  We left Helsinki, Friday the 5th of July, with a van full of furniture and stuff for the missionaries along the way.  We had a sofa and a some office chairs and a bunch of other smaller items to drop off. Our first stop was Tampere and visited with several missionary companionship there.  After a quick trip to IKEA for the sisters, because they didn't have an iron or an ironing board and needed their desks re-arranged.  Later we left and went to Pori and visited the elders there and left them a sofa.  They were quite elated to received a couch for their apartment.  From Pori we went to Seinäjoki and visited the elders there and checked their apartment. We left them a couple of desk chairs as theirs were falling apart.  Everything else being good there, we went on to Vaasa and stayed the night in a missionary couple's apartment.  I hadn't reserved a hotel earlier, so I called the Hedins who were in Sweden and they had the missionaries give me the keys for the night.  The next morning we checked the missionary's apartment there and then drove up the coast north to Pietarsaari where we had a great visit with the missionaries there.  Saturday afternoon we left Pietarsaari and drove to Oulu for the night.  In Oulu we checked out a couple of apartments with the elders and sisters and dropped off some stuff for them.  Their apartments were fine.  Oulu is a town that I spent much time in when I was here as a young missionary and it has really grown.  Getting up Sunday morning we went to church in Oulu and had a great time with the members there and the Johnsons.  Sunday afternoon we drove from Oulu to Kemi and visited with the missionaries and a senior couple, Gourleys.  Kemi being okay, we drove to Rovaniemi and visited with the missionaries in their new apartment.  They seemed very happy with life and the missionary work.  We had a fun time time in Rovaniemi for a couple of days. We had a small cabin as our motel room and it was really  nice.  It had a sauna in it and I took advantage of it.  We were able to go visit Santa at Santa's Village on the Arctic Circle and had our picture taken.  He was a pretty jolly fellow.

Later there we purchased some postcards for Santa to send to the kids around Christmas.  On Monday we drove further north to Sodankylä and had supper there in a pizza place.  Really, not a great deal more there except flat ground and trees. They must be a hardy type that live there, their winters must be long, cold, and dark.  But that is pretty much the same all over the country.  This being the furthest north we have been in Finland, we decided that Sodankylä was far enough north and we headed back south to Rovaniemi for the evening.  Tuesday morning we left Rovaniemi and headed toward Joensuu. Along the way to Joensuu we stopped in Kajaani and visited there with the elders for a while.  We found an office chair for them and dropped it off and stopped at a another place and bought a couch that was on sale.  We loaded it into the van for the couple that arrived yesterday on their mission. We decided since we were on the road we would go to Kuopio and visit the apartments there.  The elders and sister were headed south to a conference with the mission president, so we visited their apartments without the missionaries.  Kuopio was fine except that it rained so hard there that we had to slow down to a crawl and just creep for about 10 minutes and then the rain letup.  As luck would have it, this was about the only time Lynne drove the entire trip and she ran into a rain storm.  From Kuopio we went to Joensuu where visited the elder's apartment without the elders as they were headed west to pair-up with some other missionaries.  We stayed in a senior couple's apartment that night also, as it was empty and cheap.  Brother and Sister Wright arrived yesterday afternoon and they will be going to Joensuu as the new SYA missionaries there.

Wednesday morning we got up and headed south.  It was time to get back into the office and catch up on the bills. We ran into quite a bit of rain on the trip home, but we made it.  It was a bit late Wednesday when we got back to Helsinki, but it was okay and the next morning we were back at the office.  Took a while to catch up but not all that long.  Two days of work and the following Saturday we were on a train ride to Jyväkylä to meet with Helena and spend a couple of days there.  While in Jyväskylä, we visited the elders and sister there and checked out their apartments.  Everything well there.  We had a great visit with Helena and went to church there Sunday morning.  I was very impressed with the ward there and especially their stake president who lives in that ward.  He is one of the finest people in the world, just like our own stake president back home.

After church we ate dinner at Helena's with the elders and had great time.  We also had the privilege of attending a baptism in Jyväskylä Saturday evening.  Always such a pleasure to attend a baptism.  The ward really supported the event, there must have been 40 to 50 people there.

A nice train ride home from Jyväskylä and back to bed so we could hit the road running on Monday.  Again a very busy week in the office.  Paying bills and getting an apartment furnished for the new couple that will be working near us in the office.  Their primary responsibility is the Young Single Adults, but if they have time they can come and help us.  That will be nice as we are a bit behind right now.

Thursday evening we spend 4+ hours putting together an Ikea king+sized bed for the Thelins and today we took then shopping all day to help they finish furnishing their apartment.  It was a shop-until-you-drop day for them.  They were very tired at the end of the day just coming from America.

Also this past week we have had an elder shadowing us because of health problems and needed  a place to be while he is recuperating.  Got a bug of some kind and just can't get rid of it.  Elder Murray is from Scotland and a nicer missionary couldn't be found anywhere. It is so hard for him to just stand by and don't do anything.  So really he doesn't stand around, he helps us a bit when we let him.  I just hope and pray that he is allowed to finish his mission fully healthy and well.

Hope all of you are doing well.  I have loaded some pictures below of Finland's countryside in the summer.  It is always so beautiful, but honestly even too much of anything becomes rather routine.   Love you all,

Rick and Lynne.

Summer and Midsummer (finally) 2013

Well, I guess I can take a minute and put a few pictures in our blog.  Honestly, we have been so busy since we came back to Finland that we haven't had a great deal of extra time for anything.  We did get away on a Monday a go to Porvoo, as seaside town pretty close to Helsinki.  It was a fun trip and we all had a great time. This is a picture of the old bridge just below the old church in Porvoo.  It really is quite a quaint little town.  We spent a several hours in town, ate, visited, walked around and then headed home.


One of the interesting things that they do in the churches here is to hang a ship in the chapels along the coastline of Finland.  Here is the one in Porvoo.  I have been in many other church that have the same thing with hanging ships.

 I think it was to protect the sailors out to sea and remind the folks to pray for them.  This was back in the days when almost all the residents for this town were connected to the sea in one way or another.  Now it is just a very nice little town with many pleasure boats in the harbor.  There is a ferry from Helsinki that comes everyday to Provoo if you like to come by sea.  We came by land in the church van and all eight of us had a great time.  Dunns, Vorimos, Walshs, and the Londons had a great time just wondering around.

Life in the Mission Office just keeps moving on.  Pretty much the same routine everyday but there is always something going on to keep you busy.  The missionaries always seem to have questions about one thing or another.  Lynne gets all the motherly questions, especially from the sisters, and I get all the money questions, especially from the brothers.  It is really amazing how much difference between missionaries when it comes to just going forward from one day to the other.  Doesn't matter if it is a sister or an elder, same type of questions and struggles.  We had 11 new missionaries come to Finland this past Tuesday and that is always a busy time in the office and for everyone involved.  Orientation and paperwork all take time, which we don't seem to have a lot of when it comes to new missionaries because we ship them out the day after they arrive.  Great group this time.

Well the last two days have been Midsummer Night (Juhannus Päivä) holiday season.  All kinds of celebrations throughout the land of Finland.  Most Finns just get out of town for the weekend, so Helsinki is a pretty quiet town this time of the year.  It just kinds of goes to sleep for a couple of days.  However, we drove out to a lake last night and watched the fire burn out on a raft.  There was a pretty good sized crowd there and all seemed to have a good time.

While waiting on the shore, a mother duck and her ducklings came by.  It was fun to watch them.  This is a picture of the another duck on the lake, enjoying the same sunset and waiting for the fire to start.

They started the fire about 10 PM in the evening and the large crowd all enjoyed it.  The children especially like to see the flames out on the lake.  A number of people rowed out and watched from their boats.  It was similar to our 4th of July get-togethers with our families. A few of the local organizations had some food booths for the attendees and all seem to have a really good time, as you can see from the picture below.  It is almost like being at home except for all the greenery and the different language, but the Finns are just like us and they enjoy a good time outdoors and with their families.

So here is the fire that we all waited for out on the banks for one of the thousands of lakes in Finland.  It was a fun evening and all seem to have a great time.  It really doesn't take a lot to make the folks happy for a holiday here.  For a quiet people, they really enjoy being with friends that they know and with their familes.

It was a beautiful evening and everything turned out well.  Saturday and Sunday were also part of their holiday and it was very quiet around here.  Many people left town for the country.  They love to go out in the country.  That is where many of their ties are with relatives and friends, so they go visit and stay in their summer cottages.  And with so many lakes in Finland, you can imagine how many summer cottages that they have.  So, we left the bonfire and went back home, but upon entering our apartment about 11 PM, we were told that they was some activity down on the waterfront.  So being the night hawks that we are, we went down and mingled with the Finns and watches a much smaller fire on the shore.  There are so many fires around the beaches and banks Friday evening that the cruise companies sponsor special cruises just to see the fires.

So, here is a parting photo for the blog this time.  We are fine and doing well.  We love the land and the people.  "Miles to go before we rest.", but that is okay too.

I just had to share this last picture with you.  So, for now, good night and God bless.  We love you all

Love, Rick and Lynne

Life in general

May 20, 2013 and all is well. Weather is really nice, a bit cold this evening but great on our walk. Lynne was in charge of feeding 38 elders and sisters today and did a mighty fine job.  It takes a lot of planning and work to feed that many.  She only has to repeat herself 3 more times this week.  Elder and Sister Walsh from the temple were there to help, along with Sister Locke, so everything went quite well.  We try to find as much help as we can for the large groups.

Leadership training week always occurs 6 weeks after the new missionaries arrive in Finland.  It is 3 full days of pretty intensive training given by the mission president and his assistants.  The 6 week-in-the-field missionaries and their current companions attend the training.  Lynne is in charge of preparing lunch for them.  The 4th day of the training is language school for the new missionaries.  Their older companions go to the temple while their junior companions attend language school.  This being the case, the number she feeds on Thursday is usually a third less.  It is always fun to visit with the missionaries and see how they are doing.  We have a great bunch of young men and women serving in Finland.

Thought I would include a couple of pictures along our walk today.  It just seemed to turn green all at once here.  This first picture is look out over the Helsinki Bay from our park.

The next one is a glance at the birds that inhabit the park.  Lynne doesn't venture very close

to the birds. In that respect, she hasn't change much since she was a young girl.  One last picture of an old tree that we found in the park.  Lynne thought it was pretty and clicked a shot.

We hope and pray that all of you at home are doing well and life is moving on in your life.  We are doing very well and beginning already to realize how quickly time passes.  We thank for your support and looking after our family.

Well, it is late in the East side of the world and I must go to bed.  God bless all of you.

Love,

Rick and Lynne

May Day 2013

Well friends and family it is time to let you know that we are still alive and well in the heart of Helsinki, Finland.  I think we told you earlier that we have moved from our commute each day to an apartment that is a 5 minute walk to the office.  That is really nice, except now we are too close and convenient for many missionaries to "need" something at all hours of the day.  We really don't  mind too much, we enjoy working with them.
As far as the mission goes, everything continues to move on.  Last week was another busy week for Lynne and the rest of us as she had to fix lunch four days in a row for about 26 missionaries and office staff.  Fortunately we were able to recruit some of our temple friends to come and help.  Brother and Sister Ojala came Monday and Sister Ojala prepared salmon soup which was outstanding. It was a big hit with the missionaries and it was fun to have the Ojalas around to help and visit.  Also all week Elder and Sister Thornock from the temple came and helped in the morning, but they had to leave by noon to get to their temple shift. They were a great help.  Lynne and Sister Locke ended up doing the lion's share of the preparation, cooking, and cleaning.  Lynne does a great job, but for almost an entire week it takes her away from her other duties and then she has to play catch-up.  The next round of meals is the end of the month when the same thing happens again.

This past week in Finland was Vappu Day or May Day and it is big, big holiday here.  At 6 pm the evening of May Day a large crowd assembles in downtown Helsinki and a high school graduation cap is placed on a statue of an unclad marble lady.  As you can see from the pictures below, it is quite a celebration.  Also it is also the time when everyone, and I mean almost everyone, has to drink.  This goes on for a couple of days.  To the left is a picture of the crew that puts the hat on the statue.  There are cranes all over as you can see in the second picture.

 

Finally the students place the white hat on the statue and May Day is officially started in Helsinki.  I think that the same event is carried out in many of the cities in Finland the same way.  Partying and drinking continues all night after that and the next day (May 1) giant crowds assemble themselves in a large park down by the sea, right next to where we live.








Finally a picture of the statue with the white hat on the stone lady's head.  Everyone wears the while hat as you will see later in some pictures. Notice the Swedish flag to the right in the picture.  I think their embassy is in the background.









This picture shows the picnic crowds in Kaivopuisto Park.  We live about 2 blocks from the park now.

Even the young kids come out and celebrate the day.  It was really a fun time to see so many families out enjoying the weather.  It was a bit cold but a beautiful day. They dress their kids very warmly as you can see in this picture.

Another picture of the park and folks on May Day.

Well, it is Sunday morning and we are off to church.  We are still very busy and haven't had a lot of play time.  We did have stop by and visit some old friends from the temple yesterday and had a great time eating and talking with the Vorimos.  They are always so kind and caring.

 I think that the storm has finally settled after the last group of missionaries arrived and have arrived in their assigned locations.  We ended up finding and furnishing about 10 new apartments during the last month or so, and closed about 4 apartments.  The next group of missionaries comes in June, so we get to go through the same process again.  Also we have started to receive some of the younger missionaries and also missionaries that are in the MTC for only 9 weeks compared to the longer 12 weeks before.  We receive new missionaries every 9 weeks now, so now in the MTC there is only one group of Finnish missionaries being trained at the same time.  Before, when we received missionaries every 6 weeks, and they were there for 12 weeks, there were always two separate groups at the MTC at the same time.

Hope all is well with each of you.  We are busy but we are happy to be here and involved with missionary work.  It is a good feeling to know that you are needed.

Love, Rick and Lynne

The Missionaries are coming, the missionaries are coming.

Well, we received 14 brand new missionaries today and none went home for a total of 7 new companionships.  It was a very busy day, but it went well and it was so great to see all the new young Elders and Sisters come to Finland.  This is the first group of 9 week MTC missionaries and they seemed to speak pretty good Finnish.

Last Sunday we went to Kerava to church and visit with some good friends.  It was a fun day and we enjoyed dinner with our friends.  We are enjoying living right in the heart of Helsinki, except we miss shopping for groceries at our favorite supermarket.  However, it is nice not to have to drive so far to work.

We are happy with our next stake presidency.  President Skinner and his counselors will do a great job.  Bishop Payne will make a great bishop in our ward along with David Rich and Blaine Freestone.  Really not much more to report as we are usually so busy at the office there is not a lot of time to do much more.  Tomorrow we are taking some Elders shopping to pick up the items that we missed when we got their apartment ready before they came.  Costs the church much money to rent and furnish all these apartments.  And since I pay the bills in this mission, I know exactly how much it is.

Hope all is well with all of you.  God bless and keep you.

Love,

Rick and Lynne