Thursday, February 18, 2010

Making up for lost time

We have been getting pictures (finally!). Dallin is now in Rauma...a city on the far Western coast of Finland. It appears to be a bit warmer (a relative term) than in Kuopio. Up until today, it had been around 0 degrees fahrenheit compared to -15 in Kuopio. Having said that, today, it was around -12!

Dallin got a pretty toasty coat from one of the families before he left Kuopio. Apparently, another Elder had left it a few years ago, so they gave it to Dallin. He has now had 2 bouts of frost bite, but has reported that no parts have fallen off (good thing).

He is now a Sr. companion and is doing well. His junior apparently speaks very good Finnish and they seem to be getting along pretty well.

They have been teaching several investigators. We don't have a lot of information on the investigators in Rauma, but he says that they are "close" to baptism. Please pray for his investigators!

It is hard to believe he has been out over 8 months now (33%!).

The picture of the sign on the door is pretty funny. They have been tracting a lot in apartment buildings because of the cold weather. The sign in the picture was on one of the doors. They meant to say Mormons Stop (meaning, I guess, don't knock on our door). They obviously struggle with spelling Mormon in English. Dallin said that the Finnish spelling was wrong as well.

He was in the Arctic Circle on Dec. 23rd. In Finland, that is when Santa leaves and Christmas Eve is when everyone opens presents. So he got to see Santa Claus leave to visit the kiddies.

He is doing well and has said that he has gained about 15lbs. He needed to! He has been bragging that it is all muscle weight because they have been working out in their apartment. Connor is now motivated to increase his muscle mass.

More later...enjoy the pictures.