Hyvää Vappua!! :)

A cool museum we visited

Princess dessert and Sisar H!

Moi ystävät!! I hope everyone is doing well on this beautiful may day! :) Here in Finland the first of May is a big day and everything closes and there are lots of people "being merry" if you know what I mean :P about 90% of the Finnish population is drunk. The crazy thing is they are STILL super nice! and pretty funny. 

This week has been amazing! We have met some amazing people who want to come to know their Savior even more and we were able to share the message of the Restoration with many! One man even decided after one lesson to be baptized! We were a little shocked, but God prepares His children and puts them in our path. I am excited to teach him more about this amazing gospel and to see his testimony grow :) 

I want to take a moment to really appreciate the members here in my area! This week we were able to visit the H. Family! They are amazing and Sisar H. is an AMAZING cook and made us Princess Dessert! Chocolate ice cream, berries, and meringue with homemade whip cream! And many times have we received kind texts or messages from this family wanting to help further the work in Turku! 

We also had the opportunity so work some more in one of our members yard and this time we got to shovel and scoop sawdust out of the roof of an older building! It was SO FUN! We got to wear masks and climb ladders and we even found some cool magazines from the 1960's! And we got to keep them! Apparently a few days before we got there the member found a torpedo! (not active or filled with explosives) but still SO COOL!!!!

The thing I really learned this week is that God truly knows us. He knows our hearts and our desires and He wants to help us :) My personal goal this week was to say a tender mercy everytime I was going to say something negative. Well.......God heard my prayer for help in this goal. I know this becuase the next day I had the flu and was REALLY sick! But I am proud to say that each time I felt sorry for myself or started to complain I would say something like, " at least I have a pillow" or "I'm thankful to have a companion who makes me laugh when I don't feel good and makes me eat crackers". 

God answered my prayer, even if it wasn't quite the way I may have wanted, I learned that even when it gets really hard, we can still see the good all around us :) I am doing much better now and it has become even easier to see the beauty all around me. 

I love my Father in Heaven. I know He hears me and wants to help. I challenge everyone to think of a tender mercy when we think its hard, or to ask for help in our goals because he will help us :) 1 Nephi 21:13- 5 : we may forget Him, but he will never forget us :) 

I love you all and I pray for you daily!

Keep smiling and know that we are heard.

Rakkaudellani,

Sisar Phipps