February 24, 2014

Dear Momma ja Papanua,

In answer to the first questions.

 Jeff also showed me the picture of you and the Mikkolas.  All Alste Mikkola said was that they met you.

Yesterday was ward conference and I had a womand from another ward come up to me and asked who I was and who was in my MTC group. Half way through the conversation I had to speak in english, because It was going beyond me.

She knew that she had heard something about me from other missionaries, but she couldn't quite remember. With out thinking I ask what Her name was. She said Mikkola....did You have a son that served in Sweden?....yeah....Well he served with my brother.

THats why your name was so familiar!! Right then her husband came up asking the same question. Sandberg....is this the same family....

That  is the story with the Mikkola perhe.

 1. So what can you tell us of this meeting???

Ward conference. It was Grand. I am still having a hard time understanding what is going on, but Sundays are still one of the best days.

 2. Also are Vanhin  Glasgow's parents members? 

They are both members.

 3.  Vanhin Stanley is from ?? How long out?  How are things going?

Vanhin Standley is from West Jordan, He is a 2 months older than me in the mission. And we are different. Still finding things out between us. He is shy so i have to rip information out of him.

 4.Your reminders of last weeks stories.

1Ward FHE

I just have to send you the words It is weird to explain. Super fun for american missionaries who don't know what is going on.

 2Change call (The curse of elder glasgow)

The last 3 companions of Elder Glasgow have trained after he Left. So....I was not worried on bit......I lied. I was really scared that I would be training, but I broke the trend and no Vanhin Stanley is with me.

 3Great Dal Moodie(prophets game)

You can play this came with the Organization of the church! The Prophet, his apostles, ect. It was a brain spark moment.

 4Fufu!!!!!!

Last sunday we had fufu at a memebers house. It is a african dish where you eat with your hands and it is like mashed potatos in soup and it is so good. Hot and spicy. I wonder if Ethan has had it.

 5running after a man with the book of mormon bible.

Elder Glasgow and I were just about to get on our train home when we saw this guy holding a book that look just like a finnish triple. The doors to the train open and he walks out and we are almost on when we decide to go and talk to him...well he was a fast walker so we had to run after him. took us 5 minutes to catch up to him from weaving in and out of people. We got up to him and asked about his book ( we really thought it was as Book of mormon) It was a Bible and He worked at some Helluntai church and was in very much of a hurry, but for the short time we ran after him it was interesting to think. Who is this man with a Finnish triple? Why have we not seen him at church.

 I missed Jeff's funny picture this week. Has he thought of any of his past object lessons?

In answer to your question about the language...It is still coming, I have to remind myself that I am a perfectionest and I can't be perfect. Understanding and Speaking are my tough points. But It is getting better. I pray for the gift of tongues everyday.

Sorry that my stories are all just thrown at you. I will be better about it next week. Thank you for your emails. It is always a blessing to be able to hear from your family. Thank you for all you do. until next week.

Love,

Vanhin Sandberg

Feb. 10, 2014

Dear Momma ja Papanua,

I thought you might like to remember that I am in a European country. Did you put that picture up on your blog? Because of the difficulty in the MTC of sending pictures I forgot to send the picture of Matt so I was gently reminded last week and Sent it. I am pleased to hear that it was received by his mother. What I remember was just passing Matt and telling him."Elder....Hey...um, My name is Elder Sandberg and My Mom knows your Mom and my Mom wants me to get a Picture with you as well as give you a hug from your Mom."...All of his Mission buddies thought it was great, but he was kind enough to let a strange missionary give him a hug and picture from his mum. So that is the story of Elder Matt.

Just a couple hours ago Elder Glasgow and Myself were able to visit the Fazer Chocolate factory. The Outside smelled too much like Cookietree. The Alhovuori family is another family that you will need to visit as well as Brother and Sister Russ. So as a side note, If you come and pick me up that will have to be an activity to visit. That also reminds me of my other thought....What if you didn't come and pick me up, but we came back for Mom's Birthday and my late Birthday? Just an idea to pray about. I haven't thought about it too much, but when Vanhin Lamoin visited with his parents it made me start to think. But, Fun story about being guided and not realizing it.

Today after we visited the Factory, We stopped in Koivukylä to get some Kebab. ( Side note, I know this is not the best way to spend the Widows Mite, but we have somewhat of a potential at the Kebab shop. And we visit enough that they know us :) its is also cheap. ) After we came back to Kerava and went straight to shopping.First store we stopped at was closed. Which is never closed on Mondays, but today it was so we finished our normal shopping and went home. After we returned home we unloaded and decided to head for the church to email. On our way there we passed a man that looked as if he was in pain. Before we could talk to him he was asking if we could help him carry his bags. Some how he knew who we were. We picked up his bags and they both seemed to be 30 plus pounds. But we walked with him and as we talked he was asking about the past missionaries that were here in Kerava. Come to find out He as a former investigator and now wants us to come back with a Mk ( Mormonin Kirja) and Bible. 

If we had not passed at that moment we probably would have missed him. Way cool!

This last week we also had our First potential "Stood us up". We waited at the train station for 30 minutes and he never showed. 

Does Jeff or Ashley Pahl remember any cool Object lessons that they used when they were on their mission? I Remember Jeff sharing one about a Coin, water, a cup, and a plate., and the object was to get the coin out of the water dry. If he remembers any I would love to hear about them. Which leads me to my next thought.

Veli Russ. One of my favorite people. Both him and his wife are converts. We met with them on Saturday and talked about the Restoration and what it ment to them. Veli Russ told us that the first time he had ever heard about the Restoration it was in connection with a car. 

"When Jesus came down to earth He brought a Car. The car was in original condition. But through time the Car became distorted and different. For the car to come back to its original condition a Restoration would be needed."

Sister Russ mentioned the Restoration as a Mirror. The Gospel is just like a full size Mirror and with the Apostasy it became broken. Different Religions having a piece of that mirror. Just like other churches have partial truth. To bring the mirror back together it needed to be Restored."

Those were some cool thoughts that I had. 

It was great hearing from you again. I love you all very much and I pray for you eveyday. Be Safe. Be Strong.

Keep The Faith.

Love,

VS 

February 3, 2014 Secret Agent Tuc and Roll

Dear Moma ja Papanua,

I always look forward to the time that i am able to hear from you. The Stories are wonderful. I have made sure to let everyone know that it is my Nieces or Brothers birthday. Fun Story, Nick lives in the same zone as me. Not my ward, but very close. That is why i asked. I remembered Sister Asay saying something about it long ago., but I am glad to hear that you were able to celebrate the Girls and Jonnys brithday. Is the cake a Frozen Princess cake. I saw a book about it today. 

Fun story about today. We had a District activity today down in Helsinki.  And we went to a food place called Vapianos. Maybe Annakaisa knows about it. maybe not. It is popular with the Helsinki missionaries. You can have Pasta, Salad, and Pizza. They  make all to food right in front of your as you order it. Very good. I would have pictures, but I was talking the pictures for all the other missionaries so I will ask one of the Sisters in my Distirict to share some., But that was a fun Short story, The first picture is of me in front of a famous Statue in Helsinki. It is also one of my favorite.

Moving on...for obvous reasons....haha

Ok...with this next story you need to not judge too harshly. Keep that in mind.

Elder Glasgow and myself we coming home from a teach out in Sipoo (our swedish speaking area) Veli Tiits was giving us a ride home as well as his mother in law. The city the his mother in law live at is just one train stop away from Kerava so we thought it would just be easier to catch a train from Savio and then ride it to Kerava so Veli Tiits could not have to drive up and back again. So we did a secret agent role right out of his car in the middle of the snowy street! (Worry not, no cars were coming, but it was still fun.) Once we got to Savio station we had this bright idea to take the train down to Korso (The opposite way) and hope off the train and then hope on the next train back to Kerava. (This was to help us contact and keep warm) (staying warm in -5, real ruff ;)

Anyways, we got off at Korso and found out that the next train didn't come for another 12 minutes. So we had to sit and wait. As restless boys we found it fun to kick the snow around. That is when Elder Glasgow gets this bright idea. Lets kick the snow onto the tracks.....While a train is coming! 

I didn't think he would do it, but He did. A High Speed train going 80-150 Kmh. He football kicked a snowball at the train. and we just watched it explode. The snow that is. Way to much fun!

The best part of this story is that we shared with the Tiits family a spiritual message about Family Missionary plans.  And were able to visit with there home teachers as well. So we now see what a day full of fasting can do to two missionaries.

update on Reino, he was not able to make it to church. He has been out skiing the past two weeks, but we are still in contact with him. We recieved a phone call from a former investigator asking if we could meet again. So Dimitri is again meeting with us. So that is nice. We are working with our Ward on the Member role plays. Using the questions of the soul, word game, and others. Within the next few weeks we will be sharing these Role Plays with the RS so we are looking forward to that.

Bishop, How are Porter and Jessie doing? Were you able to meet with them? Do you want me to Write up a personal testimony in Finnish for the Elders in our Ward? English and Finnish?

Thank you for the update on Junior. He is just a good guy. I don't think there is a week that goes by that i don't think about my Friends on Swing Shift. Give them my Love and support. I learned a lot from them.

Well time is short and I have one last Spiritual thought. This was a scripture that I found today in my personal study.

3 Nefi 21:9-10

9 For in that day, for my sake shall the Father ^awork a work, which shall be a great and a ^bmarvelous ^cwork among them; and there shall be among them those who will not believe it, although a man shall declare it unto them.

 10 But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be ^amarred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that ^bmy wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil.

The Missionaries around the world are in the Hands of the Lord. We have left the Hands of our Parents and Put into the Hands of the Lord. And the same is for you. I find safety in knowing that you are under the Protection of the Protector. Remember that I love you and pray for you always. Be good and safe.

love,

Vanhin Sandberg