Dearest Mom and beautiful family
This past week was quite fun. We had our district meeting with President Brown during which we had our interviews! Every interview is precious. One on one time with President Brown. Just a little background President Brown has taught seminary his whole life, bishop, and was a stake president. He knows how to teach and I watch him closely. Every time he just amazes me with how natural teaching is to him. Even when we are eating together he is teaching whether through personal experiences or just through example. I love him with all my heart just like all of you:) Actually he shared a story about the importance of focusing on the doctrine and teaching by the spirit. He said that there was once a problem in a certain reservation where the deer were not able to get enough food because a lot of it was still frozen. So some of the rangers put out alfafa hay thinking this would solve the problem and all the deer would survive. However after a few weeks they found hundreds of deer dead with huge bloated stomachs. They ate plenty of hay but they could not digest it. They literally starved to death while as it seemed to them feasting. President Brown emphasized how when we teach by the Spirit and focus on the doctrine there in lies the true nourishment. That is just a sample of President Brown's excellent teaching.
This week M., our almost 18 year old investigator who's mother says no, is back in Oulu. Please pray that her mom will be softened to the message. We have been keeping in contact with her this past month through texting, phone calls, and sending letters (for example Liahona General Conference issue).
Also this week is Mission Tour where Elder Causse of the Europe Area Presidency is visiting and in Oulu the north zone is holding a conference. For Elder Henderson and I it will begin on Friday at 9am and end 9pm same day because of councils and meetings after the missionary conference. I am so excited for this. Please pray that the missioanaries here, including I, will hear what we need to hear and apply it.
Receiving personal revelation and applying it so that we accomplish what the Lord asks is one of the toughest challenges all Latter-Day Saints face including missionaries. President Brown would say, ''That's the whole shooting match''. It's true, following through when the Lord speaks to us and making sure you fulfill is tough, but so rewarding. That is one thing I am working on: focusing on one thing at a time which the Lord reveals and make sure I do it thoroughly. I have already felt the peace and the blessings that come from it. I wish I could give more stories and examples but my time is soon to expire. I love you all so much. Thank you for your prayers and being specific in them.
Rakkaudella,
Vanhin Hamner
Dear Mom and Family,
Wow this week was pretty different because we were in Oulu the whole week. We did a lot more tracting which was refreshing. Teaching is the best. whereever whenever teaching is the greatest call.
We learn the most as we are in the work. We can learn so much in the classroom until we come to the point where we must apply what we have learned. This can be compared to the pre-earth life and life on earth now. We learned a whole lot before this life but we needed to come here to put it into practice: faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end are what we need to do.
Currently, we will be having a member of the area presidency coming to conduct a ''Mission Tour'' Elder Causse. He will be in Oulu on Friday of next week. I cannot wait. The Lord wants to teach us more and we are ready.
I am sorry this letter is shorter than normal. There was a miscommunication about the computer reservation.
Love,
Vanhin Hamner
PS Please tell Papa happy fathers day!!!!!
Sooo awesome!
We watched this together and my littlest, who just adores her AJ, said; " Mom, when you write to AJ will you tell him that next time he goes on a mission will he take me with him?"
Needless to say it was great to see him in video.
Dear Mom
For one thing I cannot believe how it is already summer! It was just winter, then spring for about a day, then constant sunshine. The Finnish summers are gorgeous. I wake up to sunlight and fall asleep to sunlight. It does not matter to me if the sun shines when I sleep. I am too tired to bother about it anyways. But currently, I am just loving life. Elder Henderson and I will be together for another change (6 weeks) so I'm pretty excited (understatement).
Currently, M., our young investigator, is still with her mom up in lapland (or in other words North Pole) so we have not been able to meet with her. M. and J. had their baby so they are excited. We made for them cookies and gave them the January Liahona which explains so well the basics of God- Our Heavenly Father. We will be meeting this week. This past week Elder Henderson and I had splits with the Pietarsaari elders. Elder Karlsson, my former swedish companion in Kouvola, is there. It was a great experience. I met one family, F., where the mother and children are from a country in Africa where they only know Portaguese. They are refugees and the father died in Africa. So they came to Pietarsaari where they only speak Swedish and Finnish. Miraculously, there is a family in Pietarsaari who lived in South America for 15 years. So they speak Spanish and translate the lessons from Swedish, English and Finnish into Spanish. Fortunately Portaguese speakers understand Spanish speakers. So we had a teach with them and there were about four to five languages being spoken. After the teach my head was pretty sore. In the end we were able to teach about temples and importance of family home evening.
I love each of you so much. I will be sending pictures soon.
Love
V. Hamner
I forgot to write about how in church this past sunday I translated for this senior missionary couple in sunday school. I did not realize how hard it is. Finnish is nothing like English and on top of that you have to continually remember what the teacher is saying so the whole thing is understandable. Another instance where my head was sore afterwards :)
Love
V. Hamner
Rakas Perhe,
Wow, I cannot believe that summer is already here. I am sorry about the lack of letters. It seems that we get busier and busier. For example, this past week we had splits with the elders in Kuopio (4 hour drive there). We left on Monday and came back on Tuesday night. Then Wednesday and Thursday we used to prepare for zone conference. There was a lot of logistics that went into it. I can tell a little about it. Well there are 11 companionships in the North zone ranging from the west coast to Santa Land up north to the East side of Finland. They came to Oulu and spent the night thursday night, had zone conference on Friday, slept the night again at the church then left Sat morning. We did a lot of driving to and from the train station. After ZC we had splits with the Assistants to the President. It went so well. I learned roppakaupalla tietoa (a boatload of knowledge) to improve how I teach, plan, and do missionary work.
How investigators are doing - well. Please pray that M's mother will soften towards the gospel. Also we found an older couple, P and A, where the wife is just golden but the husband is proud. P is the boyfriend so please pray that he will choose to soften his heart.
I love you all. We are visiting Rovaniemi this week. There is Santa. I will get a picture. Also there is the most northern Mcdonalds and the artic circle.
love
V. Hamner'
I will have more info about M and J next week :)!!! Pray for them to!
