SUNNUNTAI.......MARJANIEMI WARD

Wayne and I had been asked about 3 weeks ago to speak in Sacrament Meeting of the Marjaniemi Ward today. These talk, as usual, would be in Finnish. This was my 4th talk in Finnish so far while we have been on our mission! Wayne has given more than that.

It seems as if the adversary did not want to us get there for whatever reason! Maybe because we are missionaries and 'he' is trying to keep the work of the Lord from progressing. BUT....we had a lot of 'tender mercies' along our 'road' to getting to Marjaniemi. Lots of snow, a car that would not start (dead battery or some such thing because it was so cold outside!)......but, with the Lord's help, we were able to make it.

The parking lot of the chapel as we arrived. Veli ja Sisar Pecilius (the missionary couple from Lithuania) went with us. They are great traveling companions!! We love them! They will be speaking in Marjamiemi in April.

This is the inside of the chapel. Very pretty, clean lines. Veli Pecilius commented on how dark the stone is. They like the 'lighter' color because they say it brightens 'things' up a bit! Interesting observation. Wayne commented that this was my best talk so far. He said my pronunciation of the language was excellent. I had many comments from many of the saints on how much they enjoyed my talk. Mine was 10 minutes; Wayne's was 20 minutes. Even a young man came up to us afterwards and thanked us for our talks.....in Finnish! So rewarding and makes it all so worth it!

I was waiting for a young lady to join me for a picture. The gal who had my camera decided to take a picture of me while I was waiting. I did not know she was taking the picture! How cute of her. Sorry, I just needed to put it here for 'recording' sake!!

Meet Elina Bjöorn. She has been a member of the church for 5 years. She came to the temple just 2 weeks ago for her own endowment! She is a doll. She is wonderful. She is a real 'pioneer' in her family as she is the only member of the church so far. She LOVES the temple. She has been several times a week since her first time. I will be making her a bookmark this week and give it to her when I see her there on Thursday! She is serving as the Young Women's President in the ward. She has a very strong testimony.