Greetings From Vaasa...                                                                                             March 23, 2014

Sup guys? Hey so guess what...the title of my email is greetings from Vaasa. Vaasa is a city on the west coast of Finland. And guess who is the newest missionary in Vaasa? That's right...Sister Bitner. So I am being transferred! Now I know what you are thinking, it's not supposed to be transfers for another 5 weeks, and you are so right, but I want to tell you the story so sit back, relax, grab some popcorn if you want...this is really exciting! Ok, not exciting...but still...here it goes...

So last Sunday was just a great old regular Sunday here in Tampere. Vincent came to church, the sun was shining, birds were singing...literally...and it was just the best day! Church was really good, as always, and afterwards, someone called my name and said "Bitner, get over here". So I turn around to see who it is and my good old friend Petteri is sitting next to the Elders. So I am sure you remember who Petteri is, but he is the investigator we had to give over to the Elders because he was not being appropriate and it was super uncomfortable and everything so ya, that's him. But anyways I kind of just waved and started to walk away and he said "What are you too scared to come talk to me?" And in my head I said "Ya" but we went over and said Hi! We were standing there and he started saying inappropriate things and it was really uncomfortable. I am sure you would just love to know everything he said, just kidding...but needless to say, what he said wasn't appropriate and I was probably the most scared/disgusted/shaky I have ever been in my life. But, Sister Jones and I left and we just kind of proceeded with our day at church, avoiding Petteri at all cost!

After church was over, we were standing in the foyer talking to Sister Oksi...she is legit and has purple hair! She is great! But we were talking, trying to schedule a time to come meet with her, and someone came up behind me and gave me a hug and kissed my head....ya it was Petteri. So I freaked out and jumped about 20 feet and it was just awful. I was so upset and so embarrassed and it was easily one of the worst experiences of my life. Things with Petteri really haven't been very bad until now, and it has just gone from bad to worse. We were in District Meeting on Wednesday and Petteri showed up and he was drunk and he tried to come and sit next to me with all the other missionaries there and then he was just being really weird and so Sister Jones and I left as the Elders tried to keep him in the room. I was really shaken up and Elder Jefferies and Elder Durrant...the zone leaders...came in and apologized for what happened. They hadn't heard the whole story of what had happened with Petteri, so I told them. I asked Elder Jefferies for a blessing, and in the blessing he said that I needed to call President Rawlings. So I did, and I kind of watered down the truth. I know, not the smartest thing to do, but I knew that I would be leaving if I told him exactly how scared I am of Petteri and everything. Anyways, we got off the phone and nothing had happened, but then I felt prompted to say a prayer. Sister Jones and I prayed and I asked Heavenly Father to help me see things clearly and to understand his will. Afterwards I really felt like I needed to call President back. So I did and I explained the situation, and now I am being emergency transferred to Vaasa and Sister Thayne is replacing me here in Tampere!

 I don't have a lot of time to write, and I know it's weird that this is on Sunday, but I wanted to tell you about it. I really could have used the safety and security of home this week. I have never been so scared of someone in my life, but I know that Heavenly Father is watching out for me. I am SO sad to be leaving Tampere. I can't even tell you how many times I have cried this week knowing that I would leave, but all I can do is go to Vaasa with faith. I need to be there. I know I can't stay here. But it is still hard and frustrating. In the blessing Elder Jefferies gave me, he said that all of you were happy and safe which has given me so much comfort this week. I am sorry this email is so lame and short, but I will write from Vaasa next week and fill you in a little bit more! I am so sad to be leaving Sister Jones...we are such great friends! I have grown so close with this ward. I will send all my pictures with them next week. Vincent is getting baptized on April 19th and it is killing me that I won't be here. He is a rockstar and is going to be the first stake president in Tanzania! 

I know the church is true. Life is crazy and changes all the time. It never turns out the way we plan, but the most comforting thing to me is that this gospel, the Book of Mormon, our Savior and Father in Heaven will never change. We always have this constant support and strength in our lives. What a blessing! I am so grateful to be a missionary! I love it so much! Tampere will always have a very special place in my heart and I love the people here so much! All the members told me that my family is always welcome if we come and visit, so everyone plan on a trip to Tampere sometime soon! I love you all so much! I am safe and well, but pray that everything this week will work out! I leave to Vaasa tomorrow morning, but I am way pumped because I get to see Sister Thayne!! It's going to be great I hope!! I believe it will be! A lot of Chinese people live in Vaasa...I love Chinese people! :)  I am turning back into a greenie! :) Oh man...the greenie life! It's the best! i love you so much!! Have a great week!!!

Oh, P.S. Dad and Lauren HYVÄÄ SYNTYMÄPÄIVÄÄ!!!! I love you both so much and hope your birthdays have been just wonderful! Lauren you are a teenager...uh what? Who said you could grow up! Dad you are turning 35....wow, you look great! :) I love you all with all my heart!!! 

Rakaudella, Sisar Bitner

Feeling the Prayers Man, Feeling the prayers...

    Holy Cow! I love my family and friends. I am so convinced that you are all the greatest people in the world...I can't even take it! Thank you so much for all the prayers this week! I am now fluent in Finnish...haha ok no. That was a lie, but it has been so much better! I have decided to have fun while learning Finnish...they say it can't be done but I am here to prove them wrong! :) Thanks for all the advice and support though! I really can feel your prayers and strength and I am so happy that I have all of you in my life! How did I get so lucky? I will never know! :)

    So man...this week...this week...where to even begin! Talk about a week of miracles. I will start with the ward! So the ward here in Tampere is bomb awesome! Seriously the chapel is full every week, there are tons of families, tons of youth, tons of old ladies, literally every missionaries dream. But....they are also very private and reserved, not just the ward, but all Finns, and so it has been a real challenge to get to know them and to know who to ask to come on lessons with us and stuff. It's been frustrating but Sister Jones and I have been praying so hard that they would catch the missionary fire and that we could start meeting with some of them. It has been such a struggle for us with the ward that President Rawlings even called Sister Jones and I last week and we talked for about an hour about how we could help these people here because missionary work really has plateaued and it's not good. He told us to really focus on individuals and families. He said to strengthen them one by one and to help them develop missionary plans. We met with the Elders, divided up the ward and tried to set up appointments with the people we are assigned to, but no one wanted to meet. Like literally, no one. 

    Since I have been in Tampere, at least before this week, I have had 1 dinner appointment. 12 weeks...1 DA. That's pretty bad. Tampere apparently has had a history of being pretty sketchy when it comes to dinner appointments and just any appointments with members in general. Sketchy as in you don't get any. Well I am here to tell you that prayer and love work. So last Sunday when Sister Jones and I asked all these different members if we could come to their house just to get to know them...we said we didn't need food...and they all still said no. Still, we tried our best to show them that we loved them and that we wanted to help them and their families. On Sunday night, no lie, 4 members called us and set up dinner appointments for this week. Honestly...it was a miracle. I know this is going to sound bi-polar but we have the best ward here! Missionary work has totally taken off this week and I know it is because the members and missionaries are working together. That's when the real work gets done. I have such a testimony of that!

    Man, I just wish that all of you could be here to meet all this amazing members here! The Finnish privacy laws are preventing me from writing their names, but when we all come back to Finland, I can't wait to introduce you to these people! They are incredible and have the strongest testimonies. Seriously, it's so humbling to be serving with them. I love them so much! One of the members we met with this last week is a single, older sister. She has always kind of scared me...not going to lie...but she really wanted us to come have Sunday dinner with her. I was a little apprehensive about going just because, well, she scares me. We went to her house and at first it was vahan hankala...a little awkward...but after dinner, we shared a message with her about prayer. I felt the spirit so strongly when we testified to her that God loves her and hears her prayers and that he is concerned about her life! You literally could taste the spirit and afterwards she just broke down and told us her whole life story. She has had the hardest life. 3 marriages, none of her kids are members, and now she lives alone. Seriously about broke my heart. But she has the strongest testimony and told us that she knows we are here representing the Savior. She gave us a referral...which is a HUGE thing especially from a member! And it's not just any referral, it's her daughter. Earning the trust of a Finn is no easy task, but the feeling when you do is like nothing I could ever explain. I left her house with the biggest smile on my face. I just kept saying in my head "Thank you Heavenly Father for letting me be here, thank you for this language, thank you for this weather, thank you for these people." My whole perspective had changed. It is still hard, but I know with the members and especially with the Lord on our side, I can learn this language. The Finns can join the church. We can build the church here. Nothing is impossible with his help.

    Our investigators are doing so well! I love them so much! Anna told us this week that she wants to be baptized! I about cried...I actually did cry but it was later in the evening! :) She told us that she needs time, because she doesn't know how to tell her family about the church! I really admire her courage and strength. She wants this so badly, but her family means so much to her. I was thinking about if I were in her place, it would be so hard for me to not have my family supporting me and to wonder if they would like shut me out if I joined this church. Although this is the right path for her, I am just praying that her family will understand and will support her!! And I know if my bomb awesome family prayers for her, miracles will happen! I hope to be sending a baptismal picture home very soon! :)

    Vincent has been kind of sketchy this week. We didn't get to meet with him until yesterday morning, but let me tell you, it was incredible! I woke up yesterday morning and was super nervous about our lesson with Vincent. We had planned to meet with him before church. I didn't know why, but I just felt sick. We wanted to watch the Restoration movie with him so we got the church and watched the movie. The whole time we were watching I was praying harder than I have ever prayed before that Heavenly Father would help Vincent know the truthfulness of this message. As the movie went on, I could literally feel the spirit filling up the room. You could have cut it with a knife. It was amazing! When the movie ended, Sister Jones and I testified that this message is true..and then we invited him to be baptized. I expected him to respond super quick but he just sat there...and sat there...and sat there... and 15 minutes later we were still sitting there...in silence. Just try and picture this. Straight up silence for 15 minutes. Vincent had his Book of Mormon in his hands and was praying so hard. After 15 minutes, he looked up at us and said "I need time" and walked out. Sister Jones and I just looked at each other and ran to the window and watched him walk away. We said a prayer right there that Heavenly Father would not let that be the last time we saw Vincent. We were both pretty skeptical but this morning he called us and he said yesterday changed him forever. He said he wants to learn more and needs to watch the movie again. He said he was so grateful we had given him the chance to be baptized, but he needs time! I know he will be baptized! PRAY FOR VINCENT!!! He needs it!! :)

    I have been thinking a lot about love this week and how if that is the motivation for everything we do, we will never go wrong. I really am trying to love this language. I am trying to love the people here even though it feels like they want nothing to do with us. I am trying to love everything about Finland. I have prayed so much these past few weeks about being filled with the love of Christ because sometimes, I just don't want to get up at 6:30 again and go out and have no one be interested in our message...again. It's hard work being a missionary. But this week I have really had a change of heart. I know that change of heart came and is continuing to come only through the Savior. President Rawlings sent us a story in his letter last week that I wanted to share. It is from the book "The Hiding Place". If you haven't read it, you should. It's about WW2 but anyways this is the story:

     Corrie ten Boom, a devout Dutch Christian woman, found such healing despite having been interned in concentration camps during World War II. She suffered greatly, but unlike her beloved sister Betsie, who perished in one of the camps, Corrie survived. After the war she often spoke publicly of her experiences and of healing and forgiveness. On one occasion, a former Nazi guard who had been part of Corrie’s own grievous confinement in Ravensbrück, Germany, approached her, rejoicing at her message of Christ’s forgiveness and love: “‘How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein,’ he said. ‘To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!’ “His hand was thrust out to shake mine,” Corrie recalled. “And I, who had preached so often … the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side. Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. … Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him. I tried to smile, [and] I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness. As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me. And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.” Corrie ten Boom was made whole.

    I know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can all be made whole. Not only did he suffer for our sins, but he felt the pains of all our shortcomings and weaknesses. I can't love this language and these people on my own. But with his love, I can love anybody and can do anything. Nothing brings me more comfort than that. I am reading 3 Nephi right now in my scriptures and today I read in Chapter 11 when the savior visits the people in America. I always get excited for that part because I just keep thinking, "Oh man, Jesus is coming, this is the good stuff". It really is and the best part is, he is coming again! I don't know when but that is why I am here, to prepare the world for his coming. That's why we are all here. It is no coincidence that any of us are members of this church at this time. God needs us to prepare the world for the coming of his Son. That is a big responsibility. I know that with the Savior's help, we can all rise to the challenge and honestly bring the world his truth. It's the best work we could ever do! God doesn't ask us to do more than we can. He just asks us to give everything to him and he will make up for the rest. I love that last line in the story, "When he tells us to love our enemies, he gives, along with the command, the love itself." That is so true. ALl we have to do is trust him and it will all work out! I love being a missionary! I love you all so much and am so grateful to be your daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, cousin, and friend. Thanks for all you do! You mean the world to me and I hope you all know that! Have a wonderful week and bring the world his truth!! :)

Rakkaudella, Sisar Olivia Bitner 

    Oh PS....I am done with training!!! YIPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! Best day ever! I am now just a normal missionary! :)

This is winter in Finland...blue skies and sunshine! Oh and the sun was red the other day! :) 

My view every morning!

This BOMB AWESOME sweater from Sister Jouttenus! My bestie in the ward! I will tell you more about her in the letter but this is a legit FInnish wool sweater...they don't make them like this anymore :) 

 Keskityä  

    Wazzup home skillet biscuits? K that was probably the lamest thing I have ever said! I am in a really interesting mood today so I hope this e-mail makes some sort of sense! :) First off, How are all of you doing? I hope you are all just loving life and being missionaries! That's where the good stuff is! I promise! Haha so Mom and Dad are going to Paris and Portugal...um that's the coolest thing I have ever heard! Now when you come pick me up from my mission, we can go to Paris and Portugal and you will know how to get around huh? Vitsi vain...Just kidding! :) I am so excited for you! That will be so great! And you are going to Disneyland! Holy cow that's awesome! Don't worry mom, I don't feel bad...well not too bad. I would love to be there, but we can go when I get back! ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP!! It will be awesome! Just send me a jawbreaker sucker or something and it will all be fine! :) I am way excited for you and I just know you are all doing awesome!!

    This week has been really good. First off I have to tell you about the weather. It is hot here. Like seriously, Heavenly Father is blessing us so much. Every person I talk to says they can't remember a winter as warm as this winter before in their lives. Isn't that crazy? Someone is looking out for us missionaries here right now and I am so grateful for it. Today is the first day it has snowed in like a month and it isn't even sticking because it is so warm. Apparently February is supposed to be the coldest month of the year! I survived one and almost brought out the short sleeves! Who would have thought! :)

    So yesterday we had 3 of our investigators in church! It was INCREDIBLE! Seriously, another fast sunday miracle! I know the numbers I send home probably sound lame compared to other missionaries you all know, but 3 investigators in church in Finland is like a miracle! Vincent, our Tanzanian friend came. I guess he isn't a Finn, but it still totally counts! He loved it so much and really felt the spirit. He was singing his heart out to all the songs. It was so hilarious though because we obviously sing in Finnish but we gave him an English Hymn Book so he could understand what we were singing, and he started singing in English...like loud...like yelling. It was HILARIOUS! I couldn't help but laugh! He is so golden! We are working on setting a baptismal date with him this week so please pray for that! He knows this is true!! I know he will be baptized!

    Anna came to church as well but she only stayed for the sacrament. She is doing really well, but she really misses Sisar Egan. It's hard when people get attached to the missionaries and then they leave, but I know that we can help her and that we are here for a reason! We want to set a baptismal date with her as well! That is the two things we are focusing on as a mission...baptismal dates and church attendance. Those are the two biggest challenges in Finland but we have plans to improve and we are just working at it, day by day... pikku hilja...that means little whispers in Finnish but they use it to mean step by step or day by day...honestly I don't know why! This language boggles my mind...for real! :)

    Our third investigator in church was Sarita. She is the one I met on the bus after I prayed to find someone who was ready to receive the gospel. She has kind of been sketching out on all of our appointments, but on Saturday night, we had the thought to text her and invite her to church and she said "Ya, for sure!" and she came! Like truly, it was a miracle! She really enjoyed it and she also sang very loud. I guess these people just are looking for an excuse to sing their hearts out! What better a place than church? Anyways she set up our next appointment herself and was super excited to learn more about our church! It's so amazing to me how we can literally do everything in our power to get people to come to church. We find them a ride, we have a member invite them, we offer to come and walk with them to church and they don't come. But when we trust in Heavenly Father and just say, "We have done everything we can...we need your help" then three investigators show up. Man, I am so glad someone else is in charge of all of this! We could not do ANY of this alone! 

  Oh...sidenote...how did talking to someone about the gospel know? I want to hear all about it from everyone! :)

    Oh another sidenote...all my siblings will appreciate this...so you know the YouTube video with Stuart on it...the one that dad doesn't like, well Sisar Jones does almost as good of a Stuart's mom voice as Anne. Seriously, she always talks in it and it is hilarious. I laugh every time! All the time! Sisar Jones and I have way too much fun together! We get along so well and pretty much laugh all day every day! It's a blast! :) 

    So the title of this e-mail is keskityä which is the verb for "to focus". I have been struggling real hard this week with Finnish. All the weeks have been a frustration, but this week has been especially rough. It's really my fault. I have been putting off dealing with my lack of Finnish know-how because there is just so much I don't know, I couldn't even go there. But I really received a prompting from the spirit the other day that if I don't start focusing on improving, it's never going to come. I think in my mind I have just been thinking, "Oh, one day it will come. It will be fine. Heavenly Father will help me." Now all of that is true, but I have not been doing my part. I know this kind of sounds like a confession, and it is. I know you guys won't hate me for saying this and if you do...then dang it! :) Haha but I really could use some prayers from my faithful family and friends for help with this language. Just pray that I will be able to focus and have strength to keep trying even when I make mistakes...which happens all the time. One funny story from this week...I wanted to ask a lady in our ward if she could come and do a church tour with us this week so I say "Saatko tulla meidän kanssamme täällä vikolla? Meilla on kirkon kirros meidän tutkijan kanssa." So the word for tour is "kierros" but I said "kirros" which means curse! So I asked the member if she could come give a church curse with us this week and she laughed for about 20 minutes and told the whole relief society about it so that was fun! haha I am really working on being humble and accepting that I am going to make about 9 million more mistakes, but its really rough, especially when I really am trying so hard. I think what is so hard for me about not being able to communicate with these people is I love to talk. That is one of the biggest ways I show people I love them is by talking and listening so when I can't do that, it's frustrating! I know I need to learn other ways to show love...man all the things you learn on a mission. What would I do without this in my life?

    Sorry to be a debby downer, but I need your help. I need your prayers! This isn't easy. It is so worth it, but it's so hard! My spiritual thought for the week is about the Book of Mormon. I have been thinking a lot this week about why we needed the Book of Mormon. Most people in Finland believe in the Bible. THey haven't read it, but they believe in it. SO when we tell them there is another book of scripture like the bible, they basically think we are blasphemers and will be thrust down to the pit. Ok, that's an exaggeration. :) But I was seriously thinking about it. Then, I had the thought to read the title page of the Book of Mormon. I don't have time to quote the whole thing, but it basically breaks it down to three reasons why we have the Book of Mormon. One, to show us how merciful the Lord has been to his children regardless of who they are or where they live and how much he has blessed them, Two, so that we can know the specific covenants that we have to make with God in order to return to live with Him, and Three, so that everyone can know that Jesus is the Christ. Those three reasons are so simple, but SO important. In 3 Nephi chapter 5, Mormon makes a little insert into the plates of Nephi and he says in verse 20, " I am Mormon, and a pure descendant of Lehi. I have reason to bless my God and my Savior, Jesus Christ....he hath given me and my people so much knowledge unto the salvation of our souls." That is what the Book of Mormon is. It is knowledge unto the salvation of our souls. Without this book, we wouldn't know how to return to live with God again. To know that the Book of Mormon is true is to know that God and Jesus Christ love us. It is to know that life is beautiful and eternal. It is to know the true meaning of family. It is to know that each time we sin, we can repent and try again and we will always be forgiven. It is to know that the Holy Ghost can be our constant companion. I really think that to know the Book of Mormon is true is to know love. It is evidence of God's love for us. I know He loves us. At the end of the day, I may know nothing else...but I know that He loves us and wants us to come back to Him. That's why we have this book. That's why I am in Finland. I love the gospel. I love The Book of Mormon. It is true. I know it is! I love you all so much and hope you have a grand week!!!!

Rakaudella, Sisar Bitner 

My favorite building 

This way creepy church we pass by a lot

Me and Sisar Jones in this super sketch elevator that squeaks SO bad when we ride in it 

Me shining my boots...I love the boots I bought so much! I take way good care of them...aren't you proud dad? :) 

This is the new planner that I made! The three most important things in my life, Jesus, the scriptures and my family! I love it so much!! 

BFFs....for real though :)

    What's going on? How are all of you doing? Man I hope you are all so great! I love and miss you all so much, but man, I love being a missionary!!! :) Mom I loved your chain of service idea! I think that is so great and I know that the spirit changes so quickly when you forget yourself and start serving others. It's amazing how the more we do what the Savior would do, the happier we are and the more fulfilled we feel. I have noticed that so much ever since being on a mission. When I am having a hard day or when I am frustrated with the language...which happens pretty frequently...I really try hard to look for opportunities to serve. I am so glad that you have done this as a family. I have the coolest, most awesome family in the world. I brag about all of you all the time! Keep me posted on everything and send me some pics!! I love hearing all about everyone! I put up everyone's Christmas cards next to my desk. I am still missing pics of a few families like Anna and Rae, but everyone else is always sitting with Sister Bitner when she studies the good old Suomen Kieli...aka Finnish language! I love you so much! You are the best support system any missionary could ever ask for!! I love you!!!

    I just have to give a quick shout out to all my "ladies" up at Weber State. Way to go winning the conference man!! WAHOOO!!! :) What the heck?? You guys are so cool! Jamie, I loved all of the pictures that you sent! Oh and by the way...YOU ARE ALL GETTING MARRIED????? What is going on?? Riss e-mailed me and told me about her, but all the rest of you who haven't e-mailed me are so dead!! I want to hear all about it! I am so happy for all of you!! I miss and love you all so much!! I miss soccer a lot. It's hard not being able to play, but I bought a soccer ball and I do some drills in my apartment in the morning. I want to come up and play with you all when I get home. Hopefully I am not an obese mess...I work out though, don't worry! You all are awesome! Tell Tim and Megan and Mike and Andi Hi from Sister O in Finland! :)

    It is so great to hear about everyone's lives. Honestly, hearing news from home on your mission is like surreal. It is so hard to believe that life is still going on somewhere normally!  Doesn't everybody wake up at 6:30 and walk around in a giant puffy coat talking to people about faith and stuff? Man...the missionary life...it's the best!! :) I am so happy for all of you though! You are just so great...dang it I love you all so much!!

    So man, this week has been awesome! Sister Jones and I literally are BFFs. Honestly, we have been laughing for a week straight. She is like the funniest person I have ever met and we get along SO well!! I am so excited for this transfer and I am already secretly praying that we stay together for next transfer but don't tell! We will cross that bridge when we get there! :) So a little about Sister Jones...she is from South Jordan, she is the youngest of 11 kids...4 are step siblings...she loves to play tennis...brownie points for Mom and Lauren...she has been out in the field for 6 months and she speaks Finnish like a pro. I am so glad she is my companion and she has helped me so much already with the language. Seriously we have had so much fun...the only thing we disagree on is that she hates movies which is kind of a bummer but we are on missions so we don't talk about movies anyways...er...most of the time. I am kidding, I keep the rules. That is actually one of my goals this week...to eliminate the worldly. I just love quoting movies and singing Michael Buble. It's hard to always sing hymns, but I am working on memorizing some scriptures so when my mind has time to wander, hopefully it goes to investigators or scriptures.

    I now understand why missionaries are kind of awkward when they come home. We honestly can't help it. You do everything you can to not think about normal things! haha but it's good and the spirit is so much stronger when you are focused on the work and you are happier. Maybe I will just be awkward for the rest of my life. Life is a lot more fun when you are awkward...there is a gospel truth in that somewhere! :) I hope you all know I am kidding...I still have a little bit of my sarcastic self here in Finland. It won't ever completely go away I think! :)

    So other than having a great time being with Sister Jones, we had the craziest week of all time. Last week, Sister Egan left me so I basically set up our entire week with investigators. Also, I had to learn the entire Tampere bus system in about 20 minutes so that was fun. Sister Egan just knew everything so well. I probably should have paid a little more attention than I did, but oh well! :) Live and learn I guess. Sister Jones and I have gotten lost only about 3 times and missed only about 6 of our buses so NBD. Just kidding, that is really bad. The worst part about missing our buses is that we literally only miss them by like 20 seconds. I have ran more this week than probably my whole life combined. Poor Sister Jones has been a champ, running all over Tampere, but we are learning together and it's been super fun! I wish Utah had a sick bus system like this. It's kind of exciting! :)

    So I kind of mentioned how I had this great week planned out, which is totally true. I was so excited and thought that Sister Jones would be impressed. As luck would have it, every single appointment we had fell through. Not like 1 or 2, but like all of them. Even with members. It was awful. But, the good news is, we had a lot of good contacting time and we met some awesome people. One person that I want to tell you about is Vincent. Oh man...Vincent. I love Vincent. I met him last Sunday when we were actually trying to get a hold of Zheng at her apartment. She wasn't letting us in so we went out to the bus stop and there Vincent was, wearing a bright pink beanie. I went over and talked to him and invited him to come and play sähly with our ward. Sähly is floor hockey and the finns LOVE IT!! Speaking of which, I heard Finland beat the USA in hockey. People have pointed that out every time I talk to them on the bus. The Finns love hockey more than they love each other. Just kidding. Bad joke! But seriously, it's a national passion so I was happy they won. But I will always love 'Merica! :)

    Anyways so Vincent came to sähly and seriously had the best time. He loved all the members and he was pretty much a pro at sähly so they all loved him. I am still working on my sähly skills but playing futsal in my past life has actually helped me a lot here so one point for soccer! :) After sähly, we were heading back to the center on a bus, and we had the greatest discussion with Vincent. We basically taught him the whole first lesson on a bus, in our sähly clothes and the spirit was so strong. It was amazing! But afterwards, we invited him to come to the baptism of a person in our ward and he totally accepted. BTW, the baptism was of a kid who had to wait until 18 to get baptized but he has basically been a member his whole life. He is what you call a "dry member". 

    So Vincent came to the baptism Sister Jones had to translate for him, but as he was listening to the talks and watching Apo get baptized, he had tears in his eyes the whole time. We gave him a Book of Mormon afterwards and gave him a church tour and the whole time he just kept saying "Thank you so much for bringing me here, I feel so good, I love this so much, this is so wonderful" and he had the biggest smile on his face. It made me realize how lucky I am to be a member of this church and how much I take it for granted. We are blessed enough to have the spirit with us always. It really is such a precious gift! Anyways, stay tuned on updates on Vincent. He is getting baptized...I know it!!

   Not too much else to report from our investigators...kind of a crazy week, but it has been so good! Sister Jones and I are really going to focus on meeting with our members and getting them pumped to do missionary work. It is so important that members and missionaries work together. That's when the serious work gets done. Seriously, there are 80,000+ full time missionaries for the church, but there could be 15 million missionaries for the church. Doing missionary work doesn't have to be some big dramatic thing. All it is is talking to people about the church. Bring it up in a natural conversation. It doesn't have to be weird. That is one of the biggest things I have learned on my mission. The gospel is such a big part of our lives, it is weird for us to not talk about it to our friends. You can tie anything back to the gospel and people will be interested in it because you are interested in it. It is a part of YOU and people are interested in people. That's why it is so important that we live our lives in accordance with the gospel. People notice us even when we aren't talking and they want to know what that light in our eyes is.

     I have a challenge for all of you...we are giving this to our members as well so this will be fun!! :). Your mission, should you choose to accept it...no I am kidding...Mission Impossible reference, K I am done...no more worldly...but seriously, I want all of you this week to just talk to one person about the gospel. You don't even have to invite them to anything, just talk to them about it. Bring it up at work, at school, at soccer, at the store, anywhere! Just try it. I promise that if you are willing to try, the Lord will bless you with the strength to do it. I receive a confirmation of that every day when I get on the bus in Finland and try to share the gospel with Finnish people...IN FINNISH. Finnish is so hard. Like honestly, they weren't kidding when they said it's the hardest language for English speakers to learn. I could not be speaking this without the help of the Savior...I know that for a fact. Now, don't get me wrong,  I am not saying I speak well by any means, but I can bear my testimony and testify of Jesus Christ and INVITE them to learn more. Our purpose as missionaries is "to invite others to come unto Christ..." How will they know how wonderful it is to have Christ in their lives if we don't invite them to find out for themselves? I know that you can all do it. I have faith in you. If you get scared, picture me, sitting on a bus, talking to a big old Finnish man with a black beard and a big old belly. At the very least, if you picture that, you will laugh and hopefully your day gets better and then you will want to make someone else's day better by sharing the love of Christ with them. Whenever I feel like I don't want to talk to someone, I just think, "I can make their day better, I am going to tell them I like their coat or their bag or their dog" or whatever and then the Lord takes care of the rest. Trust him and open your mouth. He will fill it and you will be so blessed. I am a walking testimony of that!!! 

    Well, I will hop back off the soapbox for now, but I just want to share as much of my mission with you all as I can. I have so much to learn about life and the gospel, but one thing I do know without a doubt is that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He loves us so much. He is always there for us and through Him, we can all live together forever as families, with our Father in Heaven and our Savior. What greater blessing is there than that? I can't think of one! I love my Savior. I love my Heavenly Father. They are my greatest strengths and friends and I could not and would not be here without them. This church is true. The gospel is real. It's all real. I know it. I know that Joseph Smith restored this church and this gospel in it's fullness. I am so grateful for him. The Book of Mormon is amazing and is the word of God. I love it so much. It has changed my life and I am here in Finland so that it can change other people's lives! I love you all so much! Never forget how much I love all of you! I think about and pray for you all the time! There are so many things in Finland that remind me of all of you and I just smile and say, "That's so Anne." "Caroline would love that" "That boy kind of looks like Luke" "Jocelyn would totally think that guy is cute" "Mom would love to come shopping in Finland" "Dad would be so proud at how many Audis there are in Finland" Haha but seriously, you are all here with me and that is what makes it so wonderful. I am so grateful for each of one you and I hope you know how much I love you! I could never express it in words, but take my word for it! :) Have a great week...remember, talk to one person about the gospel. I want to hear all of your success stories next week. You are all missionaries too! Be safe and have a great week!! Minä rakastan teitä niin paljon ja olen iloinen että me voimme olla yhdessa ikuisesti!!! Tämä kirkko on totta! Rukoilla aina!!! Hei Hei!!

Rakaudella, Sisar Olivia Bitner 

Saying goodbye to Sisar Egan

Us and Vincent after sähly :) 

   The Winds are Changing...

    

    Hey guys!!! Man how are you all doing? I hope that you have all had a fantastic week! You are all so wonderful. I literally can feel your prayers and support lifting me all the time! I love knowing that you are all behind me in this. Every time I say my prayers, I pray for all of you and thank Heavenly Father that he blessed me with the greatest family on earth. Honestly, it's true. I know I say that every week but you're the best so you're just going to have to deal with it! I love you all!! Oh also, I love getting e-mails via text from everyone, but I can't open the messages on my e-mail. I can see all of your pictures but can't read the messages! Just a heads up! :) Thanks so much for sending me stuff and for keeping me posted. You are all so wonderful and amazing!! I love you so much!!

    So this week has been pretty much insanity! Sister Egan and I feel like we have been through the ringer, but it's ok, there is always light at the end of the tunnel. Every cloud has a silver lining, even in Finland. It may not seem like it, but we are strong. Just like Grandma Parkinson always says, "We can do hard things!" SO pretty much all of our investigators have gone A-wall. Zheng...my cute Chinese friend has dropped us like we're hot. We have no idea what happened. Last week she wanted to be baptized and this week she won't respond to anything. It's so crazy. I don't even know what to think. But I know that Prayer helps so much, especially when all you pray as well! Pray that we will be able to get in contact with her. She needs and wants this gospel so badly. I know it!

    So Anna is doing really well. She is progressing, slowly but surely. She has taught me so much about patience. Obviously, my wish is that she would be baptized like yesterday, so it's really frustrating when she isn't keeping any of her commitments and we have to keep going back to square 1. I always tell Sister Egan that it wouldn't be so frustrating if I didn't love these people so much! haha Man, the life of a missionary. It's the best! Like for real though! It's awesome! So our other investigator, Kirsi, is also dodging us like a bullet. We have been trying to set things up with her for weeks and she has made every excuse in the excuse book and more. Now she just isn't answering our calls either. Man, it's hard getting dodged all the time...I can tell you that! :) But it's ok, we are trying to keep our spirits up!

    Good news on Petteri. The Elders helped him out this week and he came to church on Sunday. He looked pretty bad, but I was so glad he was doing better. He is going to be a bishop one day. I know it! 

    So this week really has been hard. None of our investigators kept any of the commitments we gave them. We haven't had much finding success and man...it's just been rough. I have to tell you about this amazing experience that happened though. It seriously made everything we went through this week SO worth it. So on Valentine's day...BTW HYVÄÄ YSTÄVANPÄIVÄ! That means friend day in Finnish. They call it friend day here because love is a very sensitive subject for the Finns. They don't say I love you unless they seriously love you! They are a very literal people! Even the language is VERY literal I love it so much! Anyways on Friend Day, we decided that we were going to make cookies and take them to all of the less actives in our ward. We may have bitten off more than we could chew...there are lots of less actives. I know, I know, we're working on it! :) Anyways, so we start visiting all these people with these cute little cookies and....no one is home. Like literally no one. We were so discouraged. It was just like Man, what else could go wrong? That's a dangerous question to ask by the way...don't ask it! haha just kidding! :)

    Anyways, so we went to get on a bus to go home, and I had pretty much had it for the week. I said a prayer right at the bus stop and said Heavenly Father, we need your help. If you will show me who to sit next to on this bus, I will teach them the gospel. Seriously, when the bus pulled up, it looked like there was a spotlight shining on this girl. I knew I had to sit next to her. I got on the bus and asked if I could sit next to her. She said "of course" and we were basically best friends. We started talking all about the church and turns out she has a mormon friend. Like what? That is unheard of in Finland. Mormons are friends with Mormons but yep, here she was. A nonmember who is best friends with a member. It was incredible. I had the thought to invite her to come see our church. We do church tours for people, it is actually a way effective way to contact! Anyways so I asked her about it and she said "Oh my word yes. I have wanted to see your church for such a long time. Can I come on Wednesday at 2:30?" Seriously I about fell out of my seat. I was so excited. I whipped out my good old missionary planner, we penciled her in, and now we have a new investigator and she is coming to a church tour on Wednesday!! It was so incredible! Heavenly Father answers prayers!! I have never had such a direct answer to my prayer and so quickly. It was amazing. 

    I know He is preparing people for all of us...not just us missionaries. We just have to pray for the opportunities and be willing to act on those promptings we receive. It is so key that we pray with real intent. Real intent means that we REALLY INTEND to act on the answer we receive. Heavenly Father knows when we aren't being sincere. He answers every sincere prayer we give. I can promise you that. I can also promise that if you will pray with a willing heart and really listen, Heavenly Father will make you equal to whatever task or situation he will lead you to. I promise!  The spirit speaks so quietly and peacefully. It is hard to recognize Him but We are promised that the spirit will always be with us as we always remember Christ, take His name upon us, and keep His commandments. Pray Always and more specifically Pray to Find the One. That is what we are working on as a Finland Helsinki Mission. The Kingdom is built one by one. If every member in the church shared the gospel with one person, we would have over 15 million new investigators! Can you imagine? 15 million INVESTIGATORS!! Man it would be so amazing!! :) The best part is, that is totally possible. We all know someone who needs the gospel. Focus on The One and this work will skyrocket from there! I just know it!!! 

    Oh boy, I almost forgot, guess what else this week is....TRANSFER WEEK!!!! We got our change calls on Saturday morning. Sisar Egan and I have been stressing about it all week. She has been in Tampere for 1 year and we both felt that the winds were changing. We were playing out all the different situations in our heads of what could happen, and we were going back and forth and back and forth and man, we were going CRAZY!! By the end of the week, we were both convinced that we were staying together. Then, President Rawlings called us on Saturday morning and said, "Hello Sisters. How are you doing?" and Sister Egan blurted out "President, where are we going?" and he said "Sister Egan, you are going to Espoo and Sister Jones is coming to Tampere to finish Sister Bitner's training." Now a little background, trainers and trainees NEVER get split up in Finland! Ok, that's not true, but it is very rare! Sister Egan kept telling me all week that we would be together because President just doesn't take trainers away from their trainee, but apparently that is not the case this time 'round folks! Espoo (pronounced S-PO not like Poo, like poop, but Po, like on Kung Fu Panda) is right next to Helsinki and Sister Egan is heading down there and I am sticking around in good old T-town! Tonight...as I am writing this, is the last night I am spending with my trainer. It's really weird, but I am super excited that Sister Jones is my new companion. I am sure I will have pictures and tons to write about her next week so be expecting that. We did splits together when I was in Helsinki for Interim and she is awesome. We worked really well together and had so much fun! I know it's going to be great! :)

    I am going to miss Sister Egan a lot though, but I know that she needs to get away from Tampere. She has been here for so long, and I know a change is exactly what she needs! I am going to miss her a lot. She has taught me so much. I have learned so much about loving people unconditionally from her. She really loves everyone regardless of who they are, what they have done, or anything else! She is an incredible person and missionary and I know we will be Sisters for life! I have grown more in these past 9 weeks with Sister Egan, no scratch that, past 4 months with her and Sisar Thayne than I have in the 19 years leading up to my mission. Seriously, the growth you experience on a mission is like insane in the membrane. I honestly have the best companions though. I 100% believe that and will say it til I am dead. They have both been angels! 

    It's funny though, as the days go by, you don't feel like you are changing. Whether it's with the language or your testimony or anything else. Then you look back and don't even recognize the person you were 9 weeks ago. I was really worried about my mission changing my personality and changing all these things that made me who I was. Now I thank Heavenly Father every day for making me into the person that He needs me to be. I realized something this week...we really do sell ourselves short a lot in life by not completely giving our lives over to the Lord. We have no concept of the potential that we each have as individuals. Heavenly Father is our literal Father. He knows us SO well and so personally. He knows exactly what we have the potential to become. That is why He gives us commandments and helps us know where to go in life because He sees the end result even when we can't. 

    I have this metaphor in my head that I want to tell you, so let's see how well it works. Ok, so life is like a maze. We all start out in the same spot when we are born and then from that point on, all of our different choices and situations get us to different places in this maze. Sounds scary right? I kind of envision the maze from Harry Potter 4 in my head, so try that on for size and see how it works for you. :) Sometimes the maze is dark. Sometimes we hear scary noises. Sometimes we are with our friends and family. Other times we are alone. Now Heavenly Father created the maze (well he supervised the creation, but that's beside the point), knows everything about the maze, and in fact is standing on a tower looking above the maze. He can see everything. He knows the fastest way for us to get to where we need to be and He wants to help us get there. In fact, He has a big spotlight (The gospel) that he shines in front of us and directs us exactly where we need to go. 

    Sometimes, however, we feel like we know the best route to take and so we set out on our own. Even though the spot light is going down another path, our "natural man" wants to figure it out for ourselves and wants to do what it wants to do so we go for awhile by ourselves. As time passes, we realize that we have no idea what is going on. But the good news is, even though we may have strayed from the light, Jesus Christ is the turn table that the big old spot light is sitting on. Because of Him, we don't have to be forever punished because we didn't always exactly follow the light. Our mistakes and shortcomings don't take us away from the light forever. Because of Him, we can stop at whatever point we are at in the maze and reevaluate our direction. We can choose to turn around and come back to the light. It will always be there to get us going in the right direction again. 

    There really is so much peace and happiness that comes from giving our lives over to the Lord. He wants us to start from where we are now and move forward. He doesn't expect us to be perfect, He just expects us to try. I got a quote from one of my friends in the MTC that I LOVE and look at every day. It is by Lorenzo Snow and it says, "Do not expect to 'become' at once. If you do, you will be disappointed. Be better today than yesterday and be better tomorrow than you are today. The temptations that partially overcome us today, let them not overcome us so far tomorrow. Thus continue to be a little better, day-by-day: and do not let your life wear away without accomplishing good to others as well as to ourselves. Each last day or each last week should be the best that we have ever experienced, that is, we should advance ourselves a little every day. In knowledge and wisdom, and in the ability to accomplish good. As we grow older, we should live nearer the Lord each following day." Nothing like a quote from the prophets to sum things up! :)

    Anyways, I am sorry this was all over the place. Kind of matches my brain right now! :) haha but I am doing so well and loving being a missionary so much. It has it's ups and downs and rights and lefts, but at the end of the day, I am so happy to be exactly where I am. I know that this is Gods work. It would not go anywhere without him directing it. I know that we are so lucky to be able to participate in this work. It is so wonderful! I know that everything that happens to us in life happens for a reason and that we are strong enough to get through anything with the Atonement. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and My Father in Heaven. This church is true! It's as simple as that! :) I love you all so much! I hope you know how grateful I am for you and for how much I appreciate you! Have a wonderful week and share the gospel with one person! Get a referral for the missionaries! You will make their entire day...no week...actually probably life! Help them out! They need it! Members are the key!!!! I love you all so much!

Rakaudella, Sisar Bitner

I've let go of the need to know why...for He knows better than I :)

    Well hey guys! How are you all doing! Thank you so much for all your e-mails and pictures and everything! It is so fun to see all of you guys! I get so excited to come and see what has been happening in your lives every p day and the pictures are just the icing on the cake! You are all so beautiful and wonderful! I show people our family picture all the time and brag about how amazing you all are! By the time I leave Finland, everyone will know how bomb awesome my Dad is at everything...like for real though, how beautiful and kind and loving and amazing and how much of a saint my Mom is, how hilarious and beautiful and smart and athletic and pretty much just legit Jocelyn is, how beautiful and creative and smart and athletic and hilarious Anne is, how my BB is my mini me and is a beast at tennis and everything else and I love her so stinking much, how handsome and hilarious and what a good bum spanker Luke is, and how Beanie Weanie is my little sunshine and how bomb awesome both of the twins are at soccer. Don't worry, I tell people all these things on a regular basis. You are all so important to me, it wouldn't make sense to not have you as part of my missionary work!! Just know that even though you aren't here, you are totally here. All of your influence is being felt by everyone I talk to. Thank you all for being amazing! Thank you for being you and for loving me! Your love and support keeps me going every day!!!

    Man, where to begin with this week. I am not going to lie, this week may take over as "hardest week on my mission so far". It has been a struggle. But don't worry Mom, you have always said I don't like being sad or down and I work myself out of it. It was a struggle this week, but every cloud has a silver lining and I know that I have found mine this week!

    So you all know about Petteri and what happened last week. This week it has just been the biggest headache and stress trying to figure out what to do with him. I was pretty shaken up after last Sunday, not going to lie. I couldn't sleep very well. I kept thinking he was going to find our house, all drunk and scary and stuff and I was pretty much planning how I was going to go all kung-pow chicken on him and protect Sister Egan. Good thing that was totally unnecessary, but still I was pretty jumpy all week. The Elders are teaching him now, but they went over to his house and they said you couldn't even see the floor, it was completely covered in beer cans. They said everything in his apartment was broken and he is really having a hard time. We have been so worried that he is literally going to die from alcohol poisoning. All we can do is pray for him now...the Elders are taking care of him, but please keep him in your prayers. He needs this gospel SO BAD. He is going to be a bishop one day...there is no doubt in my mind. Keep praying for him. I appreciate and can see the effects of all of your prayers every day! Thank you for caring about my investigators. I love them all so much. As much as Petteri scared Sisar Egan and I, it is breaking our hearts to see him like this because we care about him so much and want him to have the gospel more than anything else in the world. I know that Heavenly Father will take care of Him, but I know that he needs all the prayers he can get!

    Sister Egan and I spent 3 days this week inside our apartment because she has been so tired and just doesn't feel well. It was so incredibly hard and frustrating and just awful, to be honest. We had some really good talks while we were inside and we are still trying to figure out how to help her. The doctors said other than her tonsilitis, she is totally fine. No other medical problems whatsoever, but she said she feels like she is going to pass out when we are walking around and she can't think straight and her throat hurts and her knee hurts and all sorts of problems. It is extremely hard because I honestly have no idea how to help her. I think her problems run a little deeper than inability to think and I just feel helpless sitting here, wondering what I can do to fix her problems. I have been praying and thinking a lot about it, and I think the best thing I can do is try to be as upbeat and positive and happy as I can so that hopefully some of my energy rubs off on Sister Egan. It's really hard to see this happening because she doesn't have a lot of time left in Finland and I know she wants to finish her mission strong. I really hope that my plan will work! I know that Heavenly Father has blessed me with incredible patience and love...more than I ever had before my mission. He really does make us equal to whatever task we are willing to do! I know that is true!!

    I have decided that my two sunshines in Finland are Anna and Zheng. I sent a pic of Zheng last week...I still need to get one with Anna but they are both incredible! I get SO excited when we get to go see them! We had a lesson with Anna this week about the Book of Mormon. Not going to lie, I was not feeling the spirit at all. That day had been a really frustrating with Sister Egan's health and all our issues and it just was not there at all. I was praying SO hard that the spirit would come into the lesson even though I knew I wasn't in the right mindset. Heavenly Father blessed us so much. Sisar Egan and I were both frustrated and tired and honestly after I said that silent prayer in my heart, I felt like the Energizer bunny was let loose inside of me. I started talking about the Book of Mormon more excitedly and enthusiastically than I think I ever have in my life. Then some of my energy juice spilled onto Sister Egan and she started doing the same thing. Anna was a little shocked at first at how passionately we were testifying of the Book of Mormon, but at the end when we asked her if she would pray about the Book of Mormon, her eyes just welled up with tears and she said that she would....it was so amazing! I know that she is so ready for this gospel. She is yearning for peace and contentment in her life. She does live with her boyfriend though and she drinks alcohol just like everyone and their dog in Finland...man I seriously HATE the stuff, but we are working with her on that. We are trying to help her recognize the blessings that have come into her life because of the gospel already and how many more she could have. I know that she knows this is true. She just needs a little more faith! Good thing that is what we are here to help people do...build their faith! What an awesome calling!! I love being a missionary!!

    So Zheng...oh my good golly goodness you all NEED to meet Zheng!! She is honestly the cutest, funniest, most sincere person I have ever met in my life. She is an exchange student from China, but she invited us over to her little apartment to have a lesson this week. When I say little, I mean little. It was like the size of our pantry. But she had cleaned it up all nice and cute and had peeled kiwis for me and sister Egan. Like isn't that the cutest thing you have ever heard? She stinking peeled kiwis and had them set on little plates. I was dying...it was so cute! :) Anyways, after the kiwis, we got to know her a little bit more. We gave her a Book of Mormon last Monday because she came to Perhe Ilta (Family Night) for the Young Single Adults. She had so much fun and they all loved her. We played this game at Perhe Ilta where we had to act out stories from the Book of Mormon and guess what they were. She was just eating it right up and then after we left Perhe Ilta, we were walking her to the bus stop and she said, "I think I need to know more about this book so I know what stories they are talking about next time." I wanted to jump up and down and scream I was so happy. We gave her a Book of Mormon, right at the bus stop and testified about it and then sent her on the bus, book in hand with a smile on her face! :) Anyways at our lesson, her two questions about the Book of Mormon...BTW, she had totally read like 10 pages in the Book of Mormon...it was like a miracle...but anyways, her questions were "Who is Mormon?" and "What does it mean in the Book of Mormon when they say 'preserve the records'". Now I don't know about you, but those were some incredibly valid questions :) It was way cute! We answered her questions and then got to know her more, and then launched right into lesson 1.

    We taught her all about Heavenly Father and dispensations and prophets and Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and from the look on her face, you would have thought she had just seen the sun in Finland for the first time in months (all jokes aside, that is a serious problem...be grateful for the sun) anyways she just loved and believed everything we were saying. She was so excited to be able to read the Book of Mormon more and when we had finished talking about Joseph Smith, she said, "this book is a gift from God." It really is Zheng, it really is! :) So long story short...probably too late now, but anyways we invited her to be baptized on March 1 and she said YES....to the baptism, no to March 1. She said she wants to learn more but she thinks it is "no good idea to set date, no good idea" :) She said that she would tell us this week if she feels good about March 1, so pray that she will receive an answer to her prayers. She has never been religious in her life so the concept of God is still a little foreign but we taught her how to pray and she said the most sincere prayer ever! She is totes getting baptized. It's going to be great!!

    One thing I love about Finland...apart from other things, is how many different kinds of people you meet here. It really is a melting pot. You see people from the Congo and China and all sorts of Europeans and gypsies and middle eastern people and of course the Finns but sometimes I don't even remember where I am! It's so cool to meet people from all over the world! We actually teach quite a bit in English, which is sometimes way frustrating because my Finnish is uh, how you say, POOP...but I am working on it. I try to speak as much as I can and it is getting better daily! I know that the gift of tongues is real. I am trying to gain a testimony of the understanding of tongues, but I know that will come with time! 

    I am learning so much patience on my mission, it is not even funny. Mostly patience with myself. I had a revelation this week that Heavenly Father loves us so much. I know, I know, like how long did it take me to figure that out? But I have been thinking a lot lately about how hard it is to believe that Heavenly Father loves us so much when we have such hard things happen in our lives. That is a question a lot of nonmembers and I think members have. If God loves us so much, why do we have to go through such hard, crappy times in life? I can't tell you how many investigators ask that question. Anyways, as I have been thinking about it, I just realized today that Heavenly Father knows us better than we know ourselves. Like, think about that, he knows what we need more than we do. We may think we have all the answers. I thought I did. I thought I knew exactly what I needed in my life to be happy. Boy was I WRONG. 

    My mission...all 4 months of it...has taught me so much about humility and trust in God. He is never EVER going to take us somewhere we shouldn't be. He will NEVER give us anything we can't handle. He knows the strength that is within us, even though we don't or can't recognize it in ourselves. Whenever I feel like I can't continue, I think about how someone who loves me SO much sent me here to Finland to serve a mission because he knows I can do it. He knows that I need to do it. He knows there are people here that need me. He knows everything. There is a song Sister Egan and I listen to all the time in the mornings. It is way cheesy but something about cheesy church music and being a missionary just work, but anyways it is called "Better than I". One of the lines says "You know better than I, you know the way. I've let go the need to know why, for you know better than I." 

    This was and is something I have struggled with my whole life. Truly believing that God knows what is right for me. Now I know that sounds so awful and prideful and it is. That is one of the reasons I am so grateful for my mission. But I think there is a valuable lesson for all of us to learn. Quit trying to figure out why your life is the way it is. Quit thinking "what did I do wrong?" "what did I do to deserve this?" If we are trying to live good lives and trying our best each day to be the best person we can be, we are always ALWAYS going to be exactly where we are supposed to be. There is such a relief and happiness and joy that comes from letting go of the need to know why (Helaman 3:35) Cause honestly, he really does know better than all of us. I know, some of you are really smart and clever and witty and...yadda yadda yadda (Seinfeld joke) but I hate to break it to you, God is smarter. He knows what is best!

    The best part about all of this is that he loves us. More than anything else, he loves US. Imperfect and prideful and "natural-manny" as we our, he loves us all perfectly and unconditional. Ehdotomasti in Finnish :) He really is our loving Heavenly Father. His whole work and his glory is for us to return to live with Him again. He was willing to do anything, even send his most beloved Son to save us from our sins so that this could be accomplished. He won't stop trying to bring us all back until each and every one of us is back in his presence forever. We can all be together forever someday. Have you ever really thought about what that means? Like not just for a long time, but we can live together as families with god FOREVER. That knowledge is the most incredible gift we have. Don't ever take it for granted! I will never take it for granted again. We are so blessed to have this gospel. Share it with whoever you can. It is too great to keep it all to ourselves! Everyone needs this. Heavenly Father wants everyone to have this and he has allowed us the opportunity to share it with others! What a blessing!!

    Anyways, I am doing so great! I have really hard days, discouraging days, but the good days and the knowledge and experiences I am having are the most precious things to me in this world! I wouldn't trade it for anything! I love and miss you all so much and pray for you daily! I am so blessed to have you all forever! It is so wonderful and it is all because of Jesus Christ. Man, I love having his name so close to mine everyday! Nothing is greater than being a missionary!! Have a wonderful week guys!! Remember that I love you all so much, but more importantly, don't ever forget who you are as a child of God and that you have a loving Heavenly Father who wants you to be happy! Let go of the need to know why and I promise you will find peace and happiness! I love you so much!! Thanks for everything! Oh and HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!! Spread some gospel love!! Haha

Rakkaudella, 

Sisar Bitner 

These pics pretty much sum up this week...a lot of sitting inside and being bored and getting creative by doing homemade facials....I know...I am hideous! Hahaha oh well! Jumala rakasta minua!!