Good-bye to Finland

We completed our time in Finland on February 1, 2008. All in all it was a truly excellent experience. We will treasure everything we saw, everything we learned, and everyone we met forever--especially the people of Joensuu. To all of them: Tervetuloa meille.

Last Trip to Rovaniemi

During the January temple closing for maintenance our oldest son William and his wife Darcia made their second trip to Finland, this time without their children. We had planned with two other missionary couples to travel to Rovaniemi. This would be the first time we had gone to the Arctic Circle in the winter. So the Harringtons, Larsons, and two Tippets couples loaded one of the temple vans on the Santa Claus express and traveled overnight to the north. We had been there four times before in the summer when the sun never set. Now we were going during kaamos, the polar night. We visited Santa Claus Village, Martini knife factory, the Arktikum Science Museum, the Ranua Zoo and, of course, McDonald's. (I wonder if they have them in China yet?) I have heard that Finland is the only country where McDonald's is located where they don't yet make a profit. Finns are fiercely loyal to home country businesses so many prefer Hessburger for this reason.


Even though we were there in January, the temperatures were just above freezing and the snow cover was slight. However, we were able to go on a late evening reindeer ride, a dog sled trip, and snowmobiling along the Kemijoki river. The reindeer ride was my favorite experience. It was quiet and peaceful except for the sled dogs howling nearby. The dogsled ride was less peaceful. The dogs were well-rained and wanted to run, run, run. Some of the sleds turned over and some of the bridges along the track were quite narrow. Each sled was pulled by six dogs. The guide told us that female dogs were in the front because they were the smartest, dogs being trained were in the middle, and the male dogs were in the back because they were the most impetuous. Certain characteristics are true throughout the animal kingdom.

The Ranua zoo was a unique experience--a pleasant walk through the snowy woods along wooden walkways. I think winter is definitely the best time to visit.

Santa Claus Village

A Reindeer Sleigh Ride

Going by Dog Sled

Snowmobile Excursion

Ranua Zoo

Our Last Month in Finland

During January the Helsinki Temple was closed for two weeks for maintenance and cleaning. So we were serving in the temple only two weeks. Puje, our wonderful missionary from Mongolia, returned to her home. Her knowledge of Russian and English languages was a great help to us in communicating with all our Russian patrons and we were sorry to have to say good-bye. She now lives in Ulaanbaatar where she works as a translator for the LDS Church. We were happy to see some snow. One of my big disappointments while in Finland was that there was very little snowfall where we were living. I had fantasies of stopping by woods on a snowy evening. In fact, it was colder in Washington, DC than it was in Espoo most of the time we were there. I came with lots of silk thermal underwear and bought a heavy coat, and used the coat perhaps twice and the thermals once or twice only. I left all that stuff in Finland so hope someone is getting good use out of it.

We made one last trip to Porvoo to load up on Brunberg candy for ourselves, friends and family. I know Fazer is the most well-known Finnish candy, but Brunberg is really fine. The city was quite beautiful with a thin dusting of snow. There were no tourists to be seen. The cathedral that burned in May 2006 was mostly repaired which was good to see. An odd side note: The 18 year old man who was found guilty of arson in that fire was first sentenced to 3 years and 3 months in prison. But the Court of Appeals later increased the sentence to six years and six months. Also, I had to include my favorite Finnish sign. It certainly gets the message across of dire consequences for those who ignore it!

What little snow we had in Espoo was melted quickly but it was beautiful for a moment and we ran out to get a picture while we could. The picture below was taken in the late morning. Even when we went to the Arctic circle one last time the temperatures were just above freezing. I am writing about that trip separately.

Snow and Sun

Last Trip to Porvoo

Last Trip to Porvoo

Puje Farewell