January 2025

 We had a few good snow storms and Darren loved getting into the back country. Ella had some fun skimo practices and a big race

Ang’s band, Lucky Find, played at a fun Bar. Stacey? and Laci came up from St. George so we made a fun night of eating and dancing to good music.

abby had a hip-hop performance at her middle school. Ella is the best sister and brought her flowers after the dance. Abby choreographed it and made it happen with the group of girls.

Abby had her first comp hybrid giant slalom race of the season. She finished in about 23rd placefor a region. She was the fastest girl through trains with our Arrowhead Ski Team.

we love Abby’s friend Bailey. I’m trying to be brave and eat fish. Darren cooked us some yummy mahi-mahi.

grandpa and grandma Harston are in India. It’s fun to see their adventures.

Week 23: Playing Dress up in a Bunker

This week was fun

Spiritual Thought:  

In Alma 5, Alma says something I would never expect. He says, “I testify unto you that I do know that these things (his testimony) … are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety? Alma's response shocked me, “I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God.” (Alma 5:46) This is the same Alma who had seen an angel (Mosiah 27:11-17) The same Alma who fell to the earth as a voice from Heaven pierced his soul. How could he not mention that? But mention a still small voice? The angel may have been his wakeup call but it did not cause testimony growth like the Spirit can. Our testimonies grow from spiritual experiences but we don't often see angels. And that makes us normal.  But normal isn't bad. Because Alma wasn't converted by the angel but by the Holy Ghost. Which means we don't need an angel either, which is very comforting to me. 

Short Version of Email: Zone conference. Fun times with ward members. Long train rides. Good lessons. Great time at church. 

Finnish Word of the Week:    Lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas - - Supposedly the longest Finnish word with 61 letters, it means airplane jet turbine engine mechanic commissioned officer student

Daylight Counter!

Where we started–4 Hours 40 minutes

This week–7 Hours 35 min 

5 Amazing Things This Week:

1: Zone conference this week! Always a good time, and I learned a lot. 

2: My comp and I learned how to play yu-gi-oh (a Japanese card trading game) this week with a member. Although it was a splendid experience, I don't know if it was for me. It's always fun to try new things though. 

3:  Went and got sushi this week for a late Christmas present because my mom is the best person ever. It was very yum. 

4:  The members have spoiled us again this week, as usual. We had 2 dinners and one breakfast with members. We had this amazing pasta, raclette (which was my first time), and the most amazing brunch I've ever had in my life. Bacon, sausage, eggs, bread, fruit, homemade hot chocolate, so many pastries, mud cake, ice cream and cream puffs. All for breakfast. In Finnish culture when you have guests over dessert is always served, which is why we had ice cream for breakfast. 

5:  Had a fun last game night with our friend Kuan who is moving to Helsinki. 

Tender Mercy of the Week:

This week we didn't invite any friends to church because we wanted to give a little space to not be “the annoying missionaries”, but we had 6 friends at church! It was super great to see them all. And all of them came without us inviting them! 

Where I am/Who I'm With: I am serving in Lappeenranta. My companion is Elder Goodrich. 

Scripture of the Week:  

Heleman 13:25. Context-Samuel the Lamenite teaching on the wall. 

25 And now when ye talk, ye say: If our days had been in the days of our fathers of old, we would not have slain the prophets; we would not have stoned them, and cast them out.

My thoughts: 

Throughout my reading of the Book of Mormon it is so interesting that people honor and respect old prophets but then are blind that current prophets are delivering the same message. How grateful I am for a living prophet today! 

Talk of the Week:  Be 100% Responsible- Lynn Robbins

My Thoughts: A great message to always be 100 percent responsible for all the things in your life. Jesus Christ was the ultimate example of righteous responsibility, and to not be responsible for sin is to deny the need for Christ's atonement. A great talk with a great message

Have an amazing week!   

Elder Balls

Week 22: "Mommas Chicken"

 

Moika! 

I hope you are doing amazing! Back to normal life with the mid January hangover. I think every day how lucky I am that my normal life is in Finland! 

Please send me an email about your life! How is the new year for you? Hopefully it is lovely and fun. 

I learned how to solve a rubix cube this week! A new life goal has been accomplished! 

The Bishop started sending us motivational quotes everyday. Maybe that means he likes us, or maybe it means we need motivation, who knows. 

There have been a couple sunny days this week and boy do I miss the sun. I miss feeling the warmness on my skin. I took the most heavenly nap on the train laying in the sun this week. It was incredible. 

(this is a picture me and my comp took because the sun was nice lol) 

Spiritual Thought:  

“In Mighty Prayer”   

(Enos 1:4 and Alma 8:10) 

I wonder what a “Mighty Prayer” looks like…

Both times a “wrestle” with God is mentioned 

What a powerful description. 

“In mighty prayer” 

I wonder how to make my prayers mighty? 

Maybe the volume of my voice, the desire in my heart, the fervor in my tone, the tears in my eyes. 

But no matter how you pray, the Lord loves effort,  

I think there’s power in wrestling with the Lord “in mighty prayer” for ourselves and for others. 

Don't be afraid to plead with God when you need something. 

Don't be afraid to fervently thank Him for all you have.

Because even though God knows the desires of our hearts, 

There is power in telling him “in mighty prayer” 

Short Version of Email: AP Splits, yummy food. Good Missionary work. Fun playing floor hockey. District council. 

Finnish Word of the Week:    Sisu - - “Finnish Grit and determination”, but literally translates to “guts or intestines”.  

Daylight Counter!

Where we started–4 Hours 40 minutes

This week–7 Hours 16 min 

5 Amazing Things This Week:

1: We had splits with the AP's this week. They were short but packed full of things. We asked each of their old companions/moms what their favorite foods are and cooked them. When one AP walked into our apartment and immediately smelled his “mommas Chicken” he may have been moved to tears. 

2: I made lunch at District Council this week. I made German Pancakes which meant 7xing the recipe. There were a lot of eggs. 

3:  We tried to go to a chocolate factory last P-day but the place was as secure as area 51. We didn't make it far. 

4:  We combined old language night group chats which let us get in contact with a ton of new people. It was an awesome missionary work experience. 

5:  Ward council on Sunday was fun. The ward said we are doing a good job and they are very supportive. I think… It was all in Finnish so who knows. But I'm super grateful for them. 

Tender Mercy of the Week:

I was having a particularly bad day this week and was about to go to bed sad. But right as I finished my night prayer and just asked for help to feel better I got a call from my District Leader who I love more than anything. We talked for a while and I felt a lot better. He seriously called at the perfect time. Coincidance, maybe, but I don't think so. 

Where I am/Who I'm With: I am serving in Lappeenranta. My companion is Elder Goodrich. 

Scripture of the Week:  

Alma 2:34

Context-Cool scripture but maybe not for the reason you’re thinking. (Also I did not discover this, it was in a book) 

34 And thus he cleared the ground, or rather the bank, which was on the west of the river Sidon, throwing the bodies of the Lamanites who had been slain into the waters of Sidon, that thereby his people might have room to cross and contend with the Lamanites and the Amlicites on the west side of the river Sidon.

My thoughts: 

A cool internal evidence of the Book of Mormon’s authenticity. 

“In the first lines of verse 34, above, it appears that Mormon changed his mind after having engraved "thus he cleared the ground" and decided instead to engrave "the bank” For us, on a computer, this would be a simple matter of backspacing, deleting, and re-typing. However, when painstakingly engraving thin metal plates, there is no "backspac- ing." Therefore, he had to make his change or correction by engraving the word "rather," followed by his correction.”

**A couple more of these times can be found in Mosiah 7:8 Alma 24:19 Alma 35:15, Alma 43:38, Alma 50:32

Talk of the Week:  Spiritual Bings by Loren Dalton

My Thoughts: Really simple and easy talk to understand but changed my whole perspective about the Holy Ghost, again. Always act on the first prompting and thought! 

Have a fun week,  

Elder Balls

Sushi Dinner from Parents for Xmas present

MLK Weekend in St. George

What a great weekend in St George. We love spending time there, especially with the Allen family.  Ella, Darren, and Ruby did a bunch of biking.  But we also got in some hiking and rappelling.  The Lagoon has ice on it, but the pool was heated.  

Island in the Sky. 

Johnsons Arch and Scouts Cave.  

 

Week 21: “Whom say ye that I am?”

Week 21: 1/14/2025

It's Tuesday again! It's been a great week. I hope your week was splendid as well. 

Gave out 5 BOM's one night knocking on doors. That was wild. Plus, we met a lady on the street who only speaks Spanish so I got to practice my Spanish. Yay! 

Taught a guy who really, really wanted to use the priesthood to cast out demons. Also, we had to decline being given so much money when we were serving people by scraping off their cars. 

Crazy book store. 

Got asked if we collect 2€ coins by someone who then asked for any we had. 

Update, I beat Elder Goodrich in Teraforming Mars. That was so lovely.

Also this lasagna was probably the best I've ever eaten.

Spiritual Thought:  

In the book of Matthew, Peter had an amazing opportunity. He bore his testimony of Jesus, to Jesus. (woah) 

An opportunity each of us will have one day.

In response to Jesus’s question, “Whom say ye that I am?” 

Peter said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus responded, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

I've always just glanced over that line.

This is incredible to me.   

Think of all the things Peter saw and experienced with Jesus, in the flesh. 

He saw the sick healed, lepers cleansed.

He helped Jesus feed the 5000. 

In the flesh, Peter saw the lame walk, the dumb talk, the deaf hear, the blind see,  

Peter even walked on water with Jesus.

He watched as Jesus did the impossible and brought the dead back to life.

And think of all he saw that isn't written. 

But Jesus knew that that was not how Peter knew Jesus was the Christ

He knew Jesus was the Christ because of the Holy Ghost confirming truth to him. 

People often ask me how I know the things I teach every day are true and my answer is always the same. 

I have found my testimony in the same way that Peter found it. 

Through the Holy Ghost. 

I know you can too. 

Short Version of Email: Zone leader splits! 245782 people came to language night! Stayed super super busy. Played fun games during night hours. Ate good food. District P-day. Also a tank! 

Finnish Word of the Week:    Iokaasu - - “nitrous oxide; laughing gas”, but literally translates to “Joy gas”  

Daylight Counter!

Where we started–4 Hours 40 minutes

This week–6 Hours 24 min 

5 Amazing Things This Week:

1: Zone Leader splits this week! I got to teach 2 lessons, give a school presentation, eat black licorice ice cream, and see the Kites (the housing couple) again! 

2: On Saturday we had 11 people come to language night! Usually only two or three people come. And on Sunday we had 3 friends come to church. One more friend was going to come but locked his keys in his apartment. :(

3: Last P Day was District P Day which is always super fun! We got to hangout in Lähti all day, and play lots of games and sports! We also went to Avanto which was so fun. 

4: Our friend Ronald wanted to meet before Sahly (floorball). We gave him a church tour and hopefully gave him a good introduction to our church. The lesson went long which made helping everyone get sorted for Sahly chaotic but it was a lovely night. It was really, really fun. 

5: In Jyväskylä, on splits, we got to go do street contacting with our friend Uno (a recent convert). He did amazing! He also showed us where he met the missionary who baptized him on the street which was so, so cool. 

Tender Mercy of the Week:

Long story short, in the morning Elder Goodrich kept getting the feeling we needed to go contacting on the streets with a Sahly stick, talking to people specifically about Sahly. We had a super long day with impromptu lessons and tons of other things that kept us from constantly contacting people. We said a prayer that the Lord would put us where we needed to be and went on with our day. Walking back from our car the last person we talked to was a retired pro Sahly player. I don't know what will happen because of our conversation but we talked for 15 minutes about so much. We knew we found the reason why we needed to contact with a Sahly stick. Such a random thing but God answers prompting when we follow them. 

Where I am/Who I'm With: I am serving in Lappeenranta. My companion is Elder Goodrich. 

Scripture of the Week:  

Mosiah 27:13

Context–When Alma the younger is struck dumb after seeing an angel of the Lord. 

21 And he caused that a multitude should be gathered together that they might witness what the Lord had done for his son, and also for those that were with him.

My thoughts: I like that Mormon used the word “for” instead of “to” when referring to the Lord’s treatment of Alma. “For” emphasizes it was not a punishment but rather an opportunity to learn. God loves us. Sometimes it is just hard to see it in the moment during hard times. 

Talk of the Week:  “Lessons from Laman and Lemuel” October 1999

- - - Neal A Maxwell  - - - 

My Thoughts: One of the best talks I've listened to in a long long time. He explains that Laman and Lemuel misinterpreted the character of God which made them unwilling to follow him and his prophets. This is one of my favorite quotes.

“Failing to understand the “dealings” of the Lord with His children—meaning His relations with and treatment of His children—is very fundamental. 

To misread something so crucial constitutes a failure to know God, who then ends up being wrongly seen as unreachable, uninvolved, uncaring, and unable”. 

Have a blessed week, 

Please Email me! 

Elder Balls