FinnMiss: December 2005

Culture shock

Still adjusting to city life from our rather idyllic life in Joensuu. There are so many differences. Here we see other missionaries virtually every day. There we were on our own. We had no one to coordinate our activities with except for the branch president. Here there are all the church meetings anyone could ever wish for. There we worked with one congregation of 63 members and had two hours of meetings on Sundays. Here we work with two wards, each meets for three hours, and there is a branch correlation meeting also. In one ward the correlation meetings are held on Friday nights along with seminary and YW/YM. In Joensuu we could walk everywhere. In Espoo, we walk to our parking lot. In Joensuu we were 3-4 blocks from the lake or the river shore. Lots of small boats some quite picturesque. Here we are perhaps 12 miles from the Helsinki harbors which really are quite beautiful with huge cruiseships anchored there. The mission office is located very near the water and we have been working in the office weekly where there is a constant flow of missionary activity. In Joensuu we taught two English classes each week at the church building. Here we will be teaching two different American Studies courses at a local college called the Tyovaen Akatemia. So it goes. I have been lamenting the loss of our beautiful Karelian landscapes, but have found that by cropping the view as in the two pictures posted below we still are in a beautiful place. By the way, even Finns in America had warned me that Finnish people are standoffish and can appear to be rude. I haven't met an unfriendly person yet.

View from kitchen window-Espoo 9:30 AM

9:30 AM View from front window

Goodbye Joensuu--Hello Espoo

We are now registered residents of Espoo, Finland. That is pronounced Es-poh. Espoo is located just outside of Helsinki. The relationship between the two cities is much like that of Washington, DC and Silver Spring. And except for the language on the street signs and the widths of the highways the two environments are very similar. In many ways, we have traded our somewhat idyllic life in Joensuu for the life we left behind in the U.S. December 5th our new zone leader and a companion came to Joensuu with the mission van and trailer to move us down to Helsinki. We came with 6 suitcases and left with 6 suitcases and 14 boxes of stuff. Not sure exactly how that happened. The trip took 6 hours. In coming to live here we gained one additional hour of sunlight, 10 degrees in temperature and city traffic. We are located in an area of many medium rise apartment buildings and have to come through 5 parking lots to get to our own. We are fairly close to the church meetinghouse where two wards meet and, at least for now, we are assigned to both of them. In Joensuu we had 63 members including 4 young women, 2 young single adults, and 2 primary children. In Espoo II, they have 80 children attend and 50 adults. On Sunday, we attended Espoo I. We arrived late because of a meeting we attended in Helsinki in the morning and there was no room for us to sit in the chapel. Most people here seem to be fluent in English. Many have served missions in the U.S. or England. Big change. Espoo has 4 or 5 city centers and shopping areas. The one pictured here is located 10 kilometers from us and is about the size of the Laurel Mall. One interesting side note. There are two stores called Prisma and Citymarket located side by side with a common entrance. They sell essentially the same items. This would be analogous to Target and an upscale Walmart sharing a building and entrance. Hard to imagine.

Last sunset in Joensuu around 2PM

Elder Epps

Elder Wolff

Elders Epps and Wolff

On the road to Espoo

Goodbye Joensuu

Kirstinm�ki 17 A 3, our new home

A lone birch tree. Our building on left

Interior of Sello center

People movers at Sello center

Hard to believe

Espoo I and Espoo II meetinghouse

Helsinki Finland temple

April, 2000 President Hinckley announced the construction of a temple in Helsinki Finland. Groundbreaking was March, 2003. Everyone is hoping for the dedication to take place before summer's end 2006. All the committees needed to organize an open house and dedication are in place and they are meeting regularly. The amount of detail involved is considerable. There is an additional dimension to planning for this particular temple because there are at least six different languages spoken within the temple district. The most recent construction photographs posted on the temple section of lds.org say that the project is 62% completed. The tower is copper. The stone siding appears to be polished granite. The plastic wrapping you see is in place so work can proceed on windows. We are now living 20 kilometers from the temple which is actually located in the city of Espoo. We are in the area where the temple is located for some meetings and language class. So we can visit from time to time. I am reminded of the trips we took to the Washington Temple as it was being constructed and the anticipation of its dedication over 30 years ago.

Moroni from the west

Moroni and a visitor

Front entrance portico

Temple wrapped in plastic to accommodate people working on windows

Temple view from celestial room end

We're living in a Christmas card!

Joulu Avaus

Sunday, November 20 was the official opening of the Christmas in Joensuu. The event is celebrated by the coming of Santa Claus (Joulupukki), Mrs. Claus (Muori), Rudolph (Petteri), accompanied by a childrens chorus, fireworks and the lighting of the Christmas lights in the city center. Mrs. Claus led the crowd in a few exercises and Santa had a long interview with the MC of the event. We learned that Santa enjoys a nice sauna after the rigors of Christmas Eve. And in case there is any question as to where Santa lives, he lives in Lapland. He has his home and workshop there. There was a large crowd on the tori, with many children riding on the shoulders of their fathers. A light snow added a fine touch to the evening. During the Christmas season stores are open on Sundays as they were in the summer. Other times of the year they are closed on Sundays. The decorations in the stores are almost quaint--reminiscent of the 1950's in America.

So Christmas is officially underway, the stores are full of Christmas decorations, sales and crowds of people just as the USA.

Merry Christmas to all from Santa's homeland, Finland.