Perhe voi aina yhdessä olla!

Terve!!!!!

O.K. I'll start by saying I LOVE Finland and I am so glad I can be here at this time!

There is a new spirit hovering over Finland and all of the Europe area. In our meeting with pres he shared with us some interesting things. Around the world missions struggle for a 3-6% increase in their finding of new investigators per year. Unfortunately Europe, including Finland, for many years has been on the down slope, but mid last year it hit bottom and started to go up. Last year Europe experienced a 20% increas,(compared to the rest of the world 3-6.

President Hinkely when he was the Prophet prophesied about this. And now the area presidency is saying the prophecy is coming to pass. It is amazing to see the tables turn especially at the beginning of this new year. Last year we, as a mission, found 20-30 new investigators per month. And this year the Lord is really showing us that it is the year of change! It's incredible. We found in January 106 new investigators! And February looks the same. There is no other explanation for that than God's will. Of course as missionaries we working hard and striving to become better, but with this many people starting to be interested in the gospel......I can't deny that God is in it. There is a special spirit over Europe right now. I am humbled to be here and pray everyday that I can do my part in bringing to pass the Lords will.

Eli..miracles! I thought twice about talking about numbers, because it can look wrong sometimes. But I did anyway because I wanted to show what really IS happening in Finland right now. I'm not bragging, but trying to show that the Lord really is in our lives and around us in this work. The more we align our desires with his, the more good we can do.
O.k. that was a little soapbox sorry but oh it's so exciting!
This week the Nuutinen family brought their friend to church. It was so great to see. He really enjoyed it. We've actually had dinner with this guy at their house before. He is really interested in genealogy (only 30 years old) and temples. We are letting our ward family historian work with him and then when the time is right he'll ask him if he wants to meet with us.
Vahur our new convert is in Estonia for a bit, so we haven't seen him.

Mom, I don't actually need any vitamins. I have enough for the next few months.
How do the feet stay warm? we have these wool inserts that you put in them. This old couple gave them too us when they saw what we were wearing. This lady said she was going to act as our mother in Finland and make us buy boots if it got any colder. The next time we visited them she gave us those wool bases and they actually help a lot!
It gets dark....I don't know when. I haven't taken notice. haha
Living with four elders is a joy. Every night we come home and tell each other about the miracles that happened throughout the day. We have experienced a great synergy of faith.
The new area is very very very big. We drive everywhere by car. It's in the forest and the little cities are spread apart. The other brothers get around by bus. There is no way you could walk everywhere you need to in a day. It's kind of tough to explain, there's nothing like it in the US. Elder Nikiforov and I (because we have a car) drive 40 minutes everyday to a place called Lohja to do work. There are 60 members there and 59 are active! CRAZY.
O.K. time is out.
Love you and hope you have a good week,
Elder Quinn