Bittersweet

2/4/13

Hi.

So, this will be the last of the mission emails. I'm at the end of the line. It is a weird place to be.

But, we are still working hard. This last week was probably the best week of my whole mission. Kuopio is just really taking of now and things are happening all over the place. We taught 30 lessons this week, and had 11 member teaches. Im not sure what it is, everything is just falling into place. Our investigators are solid and progressing well, our members are excited and giving referrals and coming to teaches, it's exploding here. We have set a couple baptismal dates and have found new investigators with potential. The down side is I take a train to Helsinki tomorrow and somebody else takes my place. Its been bittersweet to see a lot of exciting things happen but in the back of my mind know that I wont be here for much longer... I've had a good time here in Kuopio and am thankful for what I have seen going on here in this city. I'm sure the next guy will do a fine job. Fine indeed. We got word last week that the next guy will be a fresh out of the MTC greenie. Some greenie fire is what this city needs to take those next steps.

Like I said, it has been bittersweet all week. In church they sang "Til we meet again" because I was leaving. This is a powerhouse branch and there are a lot of really great people here. It sucks to say goodbye, but that is just how it goes. Plus, Im going to a place where I can use facebook. So, it's not too bad.

We had the final District Meeting of my mission this last week. It was pretty cool. I made district trading cards of every member in the district and listed some strengths they have and gave those out as awards. We have a solid district. We also did the trust drop game (where someone stands on something and falls back and everyone catches them) Haha then after that we had saved some Pday time and we went bowling. I bowled terribly but it was still fun.

It is strange being so close to the end. It really has gone by pretty dang fast (in hindsight of course). I have a lot of different emotions going through me. It is so happy and exciting, yet so sad and intimidating at the same time. I feel like my life has always been pretty planned up until this point, but now there are many different twists and turns it could take. But, overall I'm pretty excited and can't wait to see you all. Sometimes when we are out trudging in the cold I let my mind wander to a warm happy place. In other words, Disneyland.

But, until then.

Love you all.

Thanks for all the support.

Thanks for not forgetting about me.

See ya soon.

Vanhin Merkley