Strep Throat, Muskrat Hats, and Bombs oh my!

I hope with the headline I have peaked everyones interest. Muskrat hats are indeed a subject of great interest. Haha well, to put mom out of her instant worry, it is not I with strep throat, but my companion. We spent yesterday in a Finnish hospital - just imagine an american hospital but with less coaches...and more finnish. Actually, the healthcare system isn't too shabby here. There are many critics of the public healthcare system, but I was impressed by the timeliness, and the fact that the hospital fee was marked down from €300 to a mere 17.50 based on the fact that my companion spoke finnish with the front desk. A small discount. Also, the testing was kind of a blessing, since we taught the nurse about the church! Cool, cool.

The sister missionaries stay in our apartment for zone conference this thursday and friday, so we shall be giving the place a complete makeover. Flowers, fixtures, and feelings...i just hope they don't get comfortable enough to use our beday (sp?)

Ok, the second part probably isn't as intense as the happenstance of Gaza currently, but was still shocking to us. I was on companionship exchanges with Elder Heelis (one of my good friends from the MTC). We were walking down a street in Pori (which is apparently the ”Compton” of Finland) when this small bomb went off. Some school mates had made out of a firework, bottle, and who knows what else a small bomb, and set it off. Heelis almost hit the snow, and I was a little more than frightened. The kids themselves were in a sort of shock, but it was about 300 metres from us, so it wasn't like we were even close to being hurt (so don't worry mom).

Speaking of Pori and such things, I haven't really mentioned this before, but a lot of elders are planning a trip to san diego for a week or two next summer, so just a heads up haha. Elders Caffaro (you spoke with him on the phone? Quarterback at BYU?), Elder Heelis, Elder Young, Elder Bryant, hopefully Elder Robinson, and a slew of others all want to come :)

So for companionship exchang on tuesday and wednesday, we took the bus from Turku to Rauma first. Rauma was just recently opened for missionaries, and that is where Caffaro and another friend of mine – Kelley are. They have had about three baptisms in the past eight weeks, so things are looking up. We had a DA the instant we arrived in Rauma...fun, fun!

Oh, another tangent. We taught an entire family the other night!!!!! Unheard of in Finland. The mother – Riika, her husband and two sons (ages 17 and 13) sat down to hear our message! We taught about families, and asked the children how much their parents mean to them.The sons instantly responded about how much their parents mean to them....I could relate :) So following a Spirit driven lesson, they fed us this amazing soup with shrimp, scallops, crab, salmon, and many other yummy things. It was rather gourmet.

Back to Rauma. We were walking through the town at 10.15 and it was empty. We anticipated our bus leaving at 10.20 (oh, I was with Elder Wright at this point). The walk from the other elders apartment was about 15 minutes, and I think it was -15 outside. So just as we are a mere hundred metres from the bus station, trying to catch the last bus to Turku, we see a bus round the corner heading for us. In sudden apprehension we look at the headline to see its direction. ”Rauma-Turku” in bold....black....brilliant lettering. Our jaws drop. We stand frozen in time. Elder Wright gently places two fingers over his mouth and I hear a small grunt. He also happens to be about 4 centimetres shorter than me, so I can't imagine how ridiculous two american missionaries looked to this bus driver while clad in bags, and with huge buck skin hats (our hats our both huge and look like those rabbit flaps). Without waving him over or anything, the driver without warning pulls over. No bus stop, nothing. Just pulls over, and opens the door. A miracle!!!!! We get on, and he says - ”Ummmm, a little late?”

Yes, late indeed. The power of two missionaries :)

Mosiah 4:9 Believe in God, believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth, believe that he has all wisdom, and all power...believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.

Rakkaudella,

Vanhin Gandola