ANOTHER WEEKEND.....ANOTHER TRIP.......

TAMPERE

The 'short' of the answer.....last week by the dedication of the NEW Tampere Ward / Stake building. We were in St. Petersburg, Russia attending two branches there and we were unable to attend the dedication. Therefore, we came up this weekend so we could go to the OPEN HOUSE before it ends tomorrow.

Above is a picture of the fire as it happened almost 3 years to the day. It was February 2008 when arsonist started the fire. The building burned completed to the ground! This was the FIRST AREA that Wayne served in as a young missionary here in Finland some 46 or so years ago. We had visited here 2 1/2 years ago and got pictures of the huge HOLE where the building once stood. We were anxious to get back and see the building completed and in use. They have been in a rented 'hall' since the fire.

We were given a TOUR of the building and loved every minute of it. And FUN to see some great folks that we see that the temple very often! Bless their hearts for coming so often. They are so faithful!!! The above picture is of a handmade FINNISH RYÖJY (rug) that was made and hung in the old building. It, along with several other items, were salvaged and saved by the firemen 3 years ago. Bless their hearts for trying so hard to save what they could. It is a beautiful rug and so glad they could save it!!

This is a 3-STORY BUILDING.....very, very large and very, very beautiful and state-of-the-art! The leather sofas were also saved from the old building. They are in this room which serves as the INSTITUTE ROOM!! We will be going to both wards tomorrow. It will be a great day....can feel it in my 'bones'!!

When we left the OPEN HOUSE we headed over to our CUMULUS HOTEL in the center of town. The parking is very difficult to find because there is so much snow and it is taking up a LOT of what would otherwise be parking spaces! Can you see the bikes hidden in all that snow. A whole row of them......not sure they will be seen or found before spring comes sometime in MAY if we are lucky!!

A NIGHT SHOT of our hotel......very pretty.

ONE PARTING PARTY WITH OUR

LITHUANIAN FRIENDS.......

These people know how to P - A - R - T - Y.....

Just this afternoon they decided they wanted to invite the Temple Missionaries to a 'going away' party before they leave for home tomorrow after the temple closes. And they sure came up with a banquet full of delicious foods!

Veli Zaretskeji will do anything to get a good picture....even knock his wife over!

Veli ja Sisar Vuotilainen came down to the asuntola kitchen to get something to eat because they had been to the temple as well. Tried to catch up a little with them.....next Friday night we have a 'date' with them back here at the asuntola for dinner. We will be preparing meatballs and potatoes with lingonberry sauce and brown gravy with cooked carrots! Should be fun....they are GREAT people!

ONCE IS GREAT......

TWICE IS FANTASTIC!!

Reading the entire triple combination that is.......Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants and Pearl of Great Price......

It was suggested to me that by reading the Book of Mormon in Finnish, it would help my reading skills of the language! I am a firm believer in that. I have now, as of today, completed my SECOND TIME in reading the entire triple combination ALL IN FINNISH!! Feels good....and it is TRUE in any language!

IT HAD TO BE DONE EVENTUALLY......

BEFORE AND AFTER

CLEARING THE SNOW OFF THE ROOF OF THE ASUNTOLA.

We have had so much snow and it was beginning to pile up dangerously on the roof of the asuntola. President Haikkola told us last night in our weekly temple missionary meeting that today was the day!

Wayne walks around with Matti to 'inspect' his sidewalks. He has invested a huge amount of time in shoveling those walks and he knows them well.....he wanted to make sure the guys did the job right! :-)

Two guys up on the roof.......no worries, they were harnessed up there good and safe.

A little closer look as they shovel away.......

Here is where the CHALLENGE comes in......all that snow is piled high on Wayne's sidewalks!

Blocked off at one end so no one will get hurt......that is a LOT OF SNOW!

Then.....how to remove it from the sidewalks.....you bring in a front-end loader! That is a slick way to get it hauled away......hauled at least to another part of the parking lot!

And it cleaned up pretty nicely don't you think.

I think we are on 'overload' as to what to do with more of the fluffy white stuff. And it is still snowing now......... :-)......still!!

WONDERFUL

LITHUANIAN

FRIENDS......

We have met and made some wonderful friends from all over while we have been here. The faithful saints, who sacrifice so much to come to the temple about twice a year, are no exception!

Meet Brat ja Sese Karpauskas and Sese Vlasova and Brat Alekna. They are just wonderful. Got big smiles on their faces when they saw us in the temple the first day they arrived! And we also had big smiles because we were so happy to see them! My goodness.....how we are going to miss these wonderful people so much!!

FRONT ROW, left to right: Ale Karpauskiene, me, Stefanija Vlasova

BACK ROW, left to right: Wayne, Antanas Karpauskas and Eugenijus Alekna

LITHUANIAN VIIKO.....

Oh my goodness.....what wonderful friends have come to the temple this week from LITHUANIA! We love all of these people so much.....how can we bottle them up and take them home with us!! As they came in to the temple this morning BIG SMILES came on their faces as well as mine. Big hugs and love filled our hearts and theirs. We are soooo glad we get to see them this time....probably our last time before we go home in April. Don't worry, there will be pictures in the next day or so.....with their permission, of course!

What has the above picture got to do with that?? Absolutely n-o-t-h-i-n-g!! Still thinking about the incredible weekend we had with the wonderful saints in St. Petersburg and how much we love them too. This picture was taken by Wayne as I was sitting in the WI-FI AREA of the Petro Palace Hotel.....it was also a 'smoking area'. And because of that, the windows were open and it was cold.....very, very C-O-L-D!!! What we won't do to stay connected with family and friends at home. That is important for us.....and we were told to do that as Senior Missionaries. Families ARE very important to us!

And that means staying in touch with them. :-)

LAST DAY IN

ST. PETERSBURG......

We had the morning to do a 'little shopping' before catching our ALLEGRO FAST TRAIN back to Helsinki in the afternoon. We knew what us girls wanted to look for but didn't know where to go. Brat ja Sistra Veselov to our rescue!!! They were on Holiday Vacation still and had the day off work! Thank goodness....we never could have accomplished what we did without them.

It was a very cold snowy day....well, hello, we are in Russia after all......and in the winter time too! What else would be expect. People were just walking down the middle of the streets because the sidewalks were sooooo bad! And cars were having trouble going down the streets because they were so bad too.

Just had to get a picture of the RUSSIAN MCDONALDS! You get the picture.....even with the last part of the larger sign missing.

I was on the look for some Russian GOLD EARRINGS.......Found a pair in this store and the Security Guard (ALEXANDER) helped me pick them out. He was so cute!! SPASIBA Alexander!!

And more traveling down the streets.....just horrible conditions!! Certainly not cleaned up like Finland!

I also bought a pair of earrings at this FABERGE jewelry shop as well.....this is the jeweler who makes jewelry for the Czar!!!

Cool shot (thanks to Wayne) of Larissa Vesalova and I walking down the street.

It was time to head to the train station and head to our train......

What a wonderful weekend it has been!! We feel so blessed to have been able to take this trip.....thanks to President ja Sisar Haikkola for arranging our time from the temple to do it!

A shot of the train terminal as we were leaving.

A picture of a little neighborhood from the train as we were rolling down the tracks.....

Vyborg is the last stop on the Russian side of the border.......used to belong to Finland before the war when Russia took it away from Finland. Such a sad story! It certainly is run down from what we could see....unlike what it is like in Finland.

And a picture of the CASTLE in Vyborg.

The first stop once we crossed the border back into FINLAND.....VAINIKKALA!!! TERVETULOA!!! It feels good to be back where we belong!!