My Vacation is Almost Over!

Always my favorite day of the week. Enjoy! This should be dated April 7, 2014.


Dear Family & Friends,

Sounds like everybody had a great week!

I have been calling this week my vacation week. I really, really dont like vacations... We left sunday night and didnt come back until thursday night. Friday day we had district meeting and weekly planning. Saturday we were on splits with the ZL´s and had General Conference. Sunday we spent all day watching recorded sessions and one live session of Gen Conf. Today is Pday and we leave tonight for splits in Rauma then we have a Zone Conference on wednesday. Its ridiculous! But fun and very educational all at the same time!

We had three days with President Rawlings. He shared many inspiring stories and advice. Thursday while my companion was at kielikoulu, or language school, I, with all the other trainers was supposed to go to the temple but, it was closed for cleaning! So, I got to go on splits in a city called Porvoo. It was just opened up for missionaries 6 weeks ago and no one in that city has seen missionaries for over 30 years! Porvoo is an hour outside of Helsinki and is a cool tourist location. It was beautiful!

While in Porvoo, we were reviewing some of the things President had taught us in the meeting. He mentioned the use of giving flowers to inactive members. So, we thought we could deliver a fresh bouquet of really cheap flowers to someone! We went to a local flower shop and waltzed on in. Two men shopping for flowers must have been a pitiful sight as demonstrated by the following approach of a store clerk. The store clerk asked if we needed help, as if the expression on our faces didnt answer her question. We explained the situation and asked her, "if you received these flowers, how would you feel?" She responded, "Great, because I never get flowers!" At precicely the same moment the idea came into both of our minds to remember that bit of information. After a little bit of chatting, we instinctively mentioned that God loves all his children and knows how to make them happy. Then started a 10 minute discussion about the Gospel. We made our purchase and in the final words we asked about her family and learned about her husband and that their anniversary is in May. Once the store door closed behind us we began making plans about how we could follow up with her and buy her flowers on her anniversary! Nothing miraculous really but I can see very easily that the Lord put us there to plant a seed. But, as every good farmer knows, frequent follow up is required in order to tend to the growth properly. That lady was touched and it was cool to be a part of it!

General conference was great fun! We learned so much. It is pretty cool to think about the fact that a living prophet speaks today!

Anyway, President shared great insight from the new testament. It was the story about the rich young man. He spoke to Christ and explained that he had done everything and that what more could he do to obey the commandments. The Savior replied that he must sell his riches to the poor and follow him. President said that this was likely a call to the Quorum of the Twelve. I had never realized that this little conversation was so important. Well, we know that the young man turns the invitation down. President taught that we must consecrate all we have even our worldly possessions to the Lord. Once we are totally sanctified, we can work miracles on his behalf!

The church is true and the work is moving forward!

Have a great week!

Vanhin Tippetts

I am now going to be a zone leader in Oulu!

This was a quick email we received from Spencer this morning.  He is moving way up in the north in Finland to Oulu.  Look at a map and see how far north Oulu is located.  I am so glad he is going into the summer months. It is a big city right on the Gulf of Bothnia.  His zone is huge so he will be traveling a ton.  It is so wonderful to see him growing in all the different capacities he has been in so far.  This one will definitely push him outside his comfort zone and will force him to greater heights.  Can't wait to see it!

Dear Family & Friends,

Well, the call came. It came a day early actually! It was super stressful. My companion is leaving to Pietarsaari where they speak Swedish. I will also be leaving to go to Oulu to be a zone leader. I am super sad to leave, I just said good bye to everyone at church. I will be leaving tomorrow at 12 so I had to write today. I will have two companions in Oulu. Elder Speirs who was in the MTC at the same time as me but one group ahead and then Elder Christiansen who is the language coordinator in the North Zone. Both are older than me!!! Im so excited to be a junior companion! I have been either training or a co senior companion for 8 months! 

I will meet up with Elder Speirs tomorrow here in Tampere at 1150 and him and I will ride a train all the way to Oulu. (6 hours!) Because I am a Zone Leader I go to the Missionary Leadership Council every month. Because Oulu is so far away from Helsinki we fly down every month! I also get to go to the temple every time I am there! I am soo excited to be in a threesome. I have always wanted to be in one because you only need one member to have 2 companionships! It will be super fun!

The Oulu zone covers everything north of Jyväskylä. Its huge! I will also get a chance to go back to Kuopio because the district leader is there. 

There will be tons of new tasks added but I am so excited to finally get trained again! 

Sorry I cant write more but I may write tomorrow when I get there but probably not. Have a great week! 

Vanhin Tippetts 

Here is a map to see how far north he will be going.  Right now he is in Tamperedown towards the bottom left.  Oulu is up closer to the Artic Circle.  It is almost the farthest city his mission goes.  I think there is only one other city farther. The mission does not go past the Arctic circle.   He will be doing lots of traveling for sure.

Hello! Change call week! Or rather Elder Tippetts is really stressed week!

Well. Good to hear from everybody!

Being a missionary and working so close with ward leaders has opened my eyes as to what those callings are. Every calling in the church has the same rights in their stewardship as the prophet has in his! The church truly is lead by inspired men and women.

Answers to questions.

I did get the package and it was the best one yet! I made some of the Mac and Cheese and mixed in some Finnish makkara or basically sausage. It was great!

No, more nose bleeds or any bleeding for that matter!

Peppermint beads were awesome! I carry them with me!

I saw the Reijonens and got the pictures! Thank you! Also the Reijonens have been telling everyone in the ward that I play piano and swam. We have another meeting with them this week. We are sharing easter messages with everyone we can this week.

Also, the "Because of Him" Video online is AWESOME! Everyone must watch it!

I did see the world report. We got tons of air time this year at General Conference.

I have no specific requests for birthday packages. Im at the point where I have almost stopped caring about all the things I used to think were important. So, 3 Musketeers bars and Root Beer... You know me!

Any more questions??? :)

This week was "ihan ok" or "quite okay" haha

We went on splits with the Elders in Rauma and it was fun. Nothing much to report on there!

We taught our member from the Philippines and her friend this week. It was a great lesson and you could really feel God speaking through the Holy Ghost.

Okay so the crazy story for the week. When Elder Chapman and I got here 6 months ago we met this man, with a certain ethnic background that I cant mention to maintain his privacy, while on a bus. We told him who we are and tried talking to him about the gospel. He wasnt super interested. Well, we ran into the guy at least once a week from then on. We always talked to him and sat next to him on buses. But I had not seen him since Elder Parker got here. So, this week I see him on a bus and go to sit next to him. We chat for a little bit in Finnish and then in perfect English he says "you have been here a long time. Are transfers coming soon?" I replied by saying yes and then realized that no one knows about transfers other than people who are really close to missionaries. I asked a few questions like if he has ever met with missionaries and been to church. He said, "yes! And much more! I was a missionary myself!" Well turns out this man is a high priest and a translator for the church from a certain country that cant be named! He explained that he is in-active and really has sour feelings towards the church. Well, I try to ask for his name because I have forgotten it and he tells me that he wont give it to me so I wont try to track him down and "Re-activate him" Then, he jumps of the bus. That night I said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father if there was anything He wanted me to do to help that man. I figured that the Lord would let me know if there was something I needed to do immediately. So, I told Heavenly Father that this man was in His hands now but that I wanted to find out when the man comes back to the church. Now, flash forward two days. I see him on the bus again! I talk to him and got some more information while I was talking to him the thought came to mind to give him one of my cards with my personal email address and ask him to write me or something. I didnt have any with me so, I said another prayer that night and asked Heavenly Father to get our paths to cross again so I can give him one of my cards. It was kind of interesting because I feel like the Lord is really trying hard to get us to meet up and I know that man will come back to the church one day. Ill need some extra prayers this week for sure so I can meet him again.

The things I have been learning recently are helping me realize how serious God is in getting His children back. All kinds of things are happening around us that give us opportunities to help people. It brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "He will lead you to them or He will lead them to you".

Dad, remember the homeless man outside of the Mexican restaurant in Snowflake? You taught me a great lesson right after that experience. It was when we went to the temple and we put his name on the temple role. I was about to write his name on the paper but then I said to you, "we dont know his name! What do we write?" You replied, "Just write ´man from the street` Heavenly Father knows who he is." I will always remember that even though you may not. God knows us all individually and you taught me a great lesson. So, when you are in the temple this week, feel free to do the same with the man I met!

Thanks for the letters everyone!

Love,

Vanhin Tippetts

Ps. This week is change calls so bring on the crazy amounts of stress and acne! I have been here for 6 months and it is likely I get transferred! Send me guesses!

PPS also I will have been in Finland for one year on thursday! WEIRD!

Short Week 2

Dear Family & Friends,

We are going to Helsinki to do our 6 week language school and training. While my companion is in the language school I would have been going to the temple but, it is closed this week... I am a little sad about that.

This week has been good. We have found three new investigators in just 5 days. The Lord really lined us up for these ones too! One of them just walked up to us and started talking about it with us. We also found a potential investigator who at first said that he thought Joseph Smiths story was a scam. Then after we told him about the Book of Mormon and how if he read it he would know that Joseph Smith didnt write it, he gave us his info right there! Then the sisters literally just called and said they ran into him again today and he is super stoked to get a Book of Mormon!

Pretty sweet stuff. I also got to drink Root Beer this week! Its not as good as it used to be... I need to start my diet again!

Its really interesting how I didnt want to be here after the first few months but I have absolutely fallen in love with this city and ward!

The church is true. Have a great week!

Sorry this email is soo short, we dont have enough time! We havent even had time to eat today!!!

Love,

Vanhin Tippetts

Short week!

Not a bad week so far. You may be wondering why I am writing on a friday. Its because we will be in Helsinki all week next week and we dont get a Pday.

We are going to Helsinki to do our 6 week language school and training. While my companion is in the language school I would have been going to the temple but, it is closed this week... I am a little sad about that.

This week has been good. We have found three new investigators in just 5 days. The Lord really lined us up for these ones too! One of them just walked up to us and started talking about it with us. We also found a potential investigator who at first said that he thought Joseph Smiths story was a scam. Then after we told him about the Book of Mormon and how if he read it he would know that Joseph Smith didnt write it, he gave us his info right there! Then the sisters literally just called and said they ran into him again today and he is super stoked to get a Book of Mormon!

Pretty sweet stuff. I also got to drink Root Beer this week! Its not as good as it used to be... I need to start my diet again!

I also had another nose bleed which wasnt fun.

Its really interesting how I didnt want to be here after the first few months but I have absolutely fallen in love with this city and ward!

The church is true. Have a great week!

Sorry this email is soo short, we dont have enough time! We havent even had time to eat today!!!

Love,

Vanhin Tippetts

Hello

Dear Family & Friends,

Well it sounds like another super fun week for everyone! Im so glad you got to meet the Reijonens! They are a great couple! 

Not a bad week for us over here in Tampere. I am pleased to announce the defeat of a long standing record. Elder Durrant and I taught 42 lessons in one week in Kuopio. This week Elder Parker and I taught 44!!!! We found 6 new investigators as well! % weeks ago all I wanted to do was get transfered out of this city. I was sure that instead of announcing new temples, President Monson would be announcing cities to be destroyed in the coming months and that Tampere would be the first one! I had minimal faith in the people here. The Lord has work miracles in me and this city that I thought was dead. I have fallen in love with this city and I hope I never leave! Transfers are every 9 weeks though so I could leave soon. 

We will be going to Helsinki next weekend to do the week long training. I will also get to go to the temple while I am there. 

Elder Jefferies leaves in two months and Fourtina leaves in 3 weeks. They are some of my heros and they are dying! There are maybe 150 missionaries in the field now though. The mission is growing. There are only a few wards that only have one set of missionaries. Most branches have at least two. Some have 3! 

This week I got the flu so I was feeling pretty crumby. It all ended with a massive nose bleed this morning! I think I am on the way out of the sickness though... (fingers crossed) 

We worked like crazy this week and we definitely saw the fruits of our labor! We taught 44 total lessons and found 6 investigators. We also set a baptismal date. It was a great week! We are making "game plans"  with all the members and its getting people going really fast! They are getting pumped to do work! 

On saturday night, I sat next to a man on a bus and we didnt speak any common languages except for a little English. I told him who we are and If he would like to come to church. He was excited and asked for a ride. Sunday morning we showed up with a member to pick him up and he got in the car and said "my friend, he come ok?" We said sure! His friend hopped into the car and said hey! He explained that him and his friend had been looking for the church and they were soo glad that they ran into the missionaries! The came to church and loved all of it! I translated for the one that spoke English and then he translated into Farsi. It was super fun! Unfortunately, he will be an investigator for the other elders.

That is something that had been bothering me about this city. I had been finding tons of prepared people but they either gave fake numbers or were refferals for the other ward. One week we found 9 interested people. 8 of them were for the other ward and the 9th gave us a fake number. This was happening week after week. Apparently it is still happening but I have come to grips with it. I realized that it doesnt matter who finds them or who teaches them. What matters is that this is the Lords work and it just a privilege to be a part of it! 

I also heard that I was given a little extension on my mission without asking! I will be coming home sometime in March of next year! Ill let you know when I actually get the date but It made me feel a little better that I have a year left and not 11 months! 

The church is true. Dont forget it! 

Love Elder Tippetts

Prophets, Ladders & Translations

Dear Family & Friends,

Dad, your letter was especially good this week. I heard a quote from President Packer that talked about President Hinckley when he died. He said something like 'When we are in heaven we will ask everyone what dispensation they lived in and who the prophets were. Some will say Moses and some will so Noah. Then they will ask you what prophet you lived with and you will say Gordon B Hinckley. Then the halls of heaven will go quiet and everyone will bow at your presence because you were worthy enough to live at the time of Gordon B Hinckley!' If you can find the actual quote I would love a copy! 

Our week was SUPER average! 

We met with a less active member who always feeds us strange foods. This week we had chili... with horse in it... It wasnt actually bad, a little spicy though. 

We did service for an older couple in the ward which involved fixing birds nests 15 feet high and on a hill! There was no way I was going to climb on the ladder to fix it so, I had my companion do it! Haha I am soo afraid of heights!  I was also super sore after because we also had to carry huge logs.

I have started to work out more intensly not because I saw Elder Jefferies work out. Elder Jefferies wants to be a Navy SEAL so, he is pretty hard core. If you could send some Insanity or someother work out program that would be great. One thing, there cant be any video or poorly dressed women. So, if there is some sort of program that fits that description please send it! 

We went on splits with the Zone Leaders this week. I went with Elder Jefferies and Elder Oberhansley. Both are terminally ill. (They will "die" soon, meaning that their missions are almost over.) 

A little back ground. On my first day on my mission Elder Jefferies pulled a prank on me with a member named J.L.. J. pretended to be a drug dealer or something and we went "tracting" and he let us right in and it was nuts right. Well, I was going on splits with Elder Jefferies in my area... which meant I could get him back! So, I told them we were going to be doing service for this member. We went to the member and the member answered the door. I pretended that I didnt know him. This member BTW is J. L´s borther, M.! V. L. invited us in and we started teaching him a lesson. It was an amazing lesson and we asked "the investigator" to say the closing prayer. After an absolutely perfect prayer, one a member would give, I look up and in English said, "Pretty good!" V. L. replied, "Not bad!" Then Elder Jefferies looked at me and asked if it was a prank! It was super fun but I finally got him back! Life for me has to be joyous, especially as a missionary!

We have been working with a less active member from the Philippines. At the same time we were helping her to get her friends to hear about the church. Well this sunday she and her friend were in church and we have a return appointment with them! It was awesome to see the faith of this member. Another family we had been working with invited a friend to come to church. There was 2 friends of members that were in church yesterday! 

Also, in church yesterday, a man walked into the church and asked if there was English services. I replied, "Ill try my best!" The man had researched all about the church and then look up on Mormon.org where the church building was. He then just walked into church. He was quite frustrated why there were no churches that lined up with the church in the time of Christ. He was explaining that the scriptures are great but he wants to hear from God like the people at the time of Moses heard from God. Pretty sweet because his search for that church has just ended! 

In church there was a few English speakers so I was the translator. In this chapel we are a little more high-tech. There is a spot where the translator sits and then all those receiving it wear headphones where ever they are in the chapel. I gave live translation for an hour and I wanted to die! The way Finnish language works is that if you miss one word and more frequently an ending on a one word, you will mess up the entire understanding of the sentence. Listening and talking at the same time accentuates the amount of times you miss a word! It was a mess. If I wasnt sure what was going on I just started saying things from my own head. haha but luckily there was a member behind me, bless her soul, who looked up the scriptures on her iPad in English for me and then let me read them into the microphone. It saved the day. I will be making her cookies this week.

Also a few days ago, we were walking to an appointment and we say a man cutting wood in his front yard. We asked if we could help and he said yes then handed me the chainsaw. So, I have used a chainsaw while wearing a suit! Quite fun! 

I hope everyone has a great week and studies Preach My Gospel to help them understand how they can do missionary work! 

Love you all!

Elder Tippetts

BONUS:

A few fun photos!

This is a book Spencer is making so he can introduce people to familysearch.

This one made me laugh:

We were going to an appointment and we got into the elevator and then the door shut and dint open up again for 20 minutes. so we sat on the floor and gave each other our last thoughts before we died.