It's the right thing to do

Hi

We moved our apartment around this week. I learned a good lesson about how its important to measure things out first because it really stinks when you push the last thing into place and realize it sticks out about 1 ft. We ended up with making due with what we had and leaving the apartment partially rearranged. Its one of those things that you say you’ll get around to fixing but then 4 months later you realize you have been skirting around the bookcase every time you had to get to the kitchen and the problem could have been fixed long ago with just the slightest effort on your part. Ya, it’s one of those.

We also had a lesson with a recent convert woman who has the most energetic 8 year old I have ever met. The first teach I had with them, I was a little shocked with the random screams and the crawling across the table to play rock, paper, scissors with one of the missionaries. But now I’m used to it and cant help cracking up at her random outbursts. They are not the most spiritual lessons but I think that the mother does appreciate them. They are a really cool family. I just wish I could film one of the lessons, so that you could truly see what I am talking about.

This week was Juhunnus. Which is the holiday where people head out to the country, drink beer, burn a big bonfire, and drink more beer. Its funny how many Finnish holidays involve drinking a lot. For missionaries, we are just supposed to stay home and do work inside our apartments. Not exactly my idea of fun but we did our best to stay productive. One thing was watching the "Driver Safety" video which we are required to watch once a change (even though we have no car). We popped some popcorn and pulled out the Tutti Frutti (my favorite candy here in Finland) and learned about how we can drive more carefully. The only downside is I ate way too much candy and felt kind of sick afterwards. When it comes to Tutti Frutti, I just can’t stop.

I’m at an interesting point of my mission where I still have a lot of time left, but I am starting to see the edge of the horizon that is the ending of my time here in Finland. Most days, I feel almost rushed like I need to squeeze the rest out of every second I have. But of course there are also the times where I just hope time would speed up. This feeling comes mostly when teaches fall through or we have huge blocks of time with not much to do. The mission is very interesting that way. It’s tiring, hard, and long but also peaceful, fun and it goes by fast. You can’t really explain it in just a few words.  One thing that does not change though is the feeling that It’s the right thing to do. That has stayed the same throughout my whole time being in the mission field. I have learned a lot, and I am really grateful for that.

I am very thankful for all of you.

Love you all.

Vanhin Merkley