"Voaw väga ilus!!" 💖

Terviist! Kuidas läheb?

So as y'all might have noticed (or actually probably didn't haha) that's actually all in Estonian- but before we get into that, as of today I've officially hit the halfway point of my MTC stay!!? It still feels like I'm gonna be here forever, although I'm still a happy sponge and learning all I can and enjoying this time with my district. (Especially considering a lot of my district isn't even going to Finland with me AHH) Now to explain the beginning of this email, yesterday was April 1st or April Fools Day and so some of the Sisars decided to switch tags and outfits and "become" the other person for the day. Which was so fun ! So in preparation, I actually learned a little Estonian (very very little) but I even went to the Estonian classroom and spoke to their teacher in Estonian (no he wasn't all that impressed but ei se mitään ((it's okay)) it was fun all the same :)

Now per usual I'll list out some updates and such-also I really hope everyone is doing okay, yall are in my prayers! Feel free to email me anytime-I love love love emails from you guys. (As I've said before I can read them anytime but can only respond on PDays!) And email me if something I say peaks your interest or you just have random burning questions like "Sisar Dickson is it true that the pulla your teacher gave you is one of the best foods you've ever had??" (shoutout last week's email) And the answer to that is that it might have been or I just really miss normal food since I've been eating MTC food for weeks...maybe some of both? BUT PULLA IS AMAZING I WILL BE MAKING IT WHEN I'M IN MY KITCHEN AGAIN (Future pulla party?? Everyone pull up haha....anteeks)

Updates:

🤍 We had a sisar join our district ! She's going to Norway and she'll just be with us for a week or so during her "Home MTC experience" but she's awesome :)

🤍 The Vanhimmat (Elders) are still a little sick...although they're not so bad off that they stay in their dorms all day, which I'm really grateful for because I want to spend as much time with my district as I can before we go our separate ways

🤍 I won't lie, our schedule here in the MTC is a little insane and I'm tired a lot of the time, which makes Finnish a little harder to learn BUT nevertheless I feel like I'm understanding more and more ! And I'm not too stressed about it, after all they make a point of telling us this is a missionary training center not a missionary perfect center haha

🤍 During my personal studies I've gotten in the habit of drawing Jesus, which gives me a nice warm and fuzzy feeling, (for lack of a better term) I've found out I'm very much a visual person and I enjoy drawing so win win ! (check out the google photos to see some of those drawings-but I think I might pop some at the bottom of this email too) And I would invite yall to make your studies enjoyable! Read scripture, pray, draw Jesus, write names of Jesus-whatever helps you to draw closer to Christ 💗

🤍 I STILL LOVE TUESDAY DEVOTIONALS one of the things Elder and Sister Roman talked about yesterday is that as missionaries (or members of the church/people who love Jesus) we don't just share the message, WE OURSELVES ARE THE MESSAGE. We are examples of the fruits of the gospel. We are examples of the lives and actions of people who love Christ and that makes me think of my thoughts and actions a lot differently...

🤍 Also during our devotional review with the district we talked about how this message we share, sharing Jesus Christ, changes everything. What would your life be without Christ? What would you not have? I invite you to answer these questions for yourself and then pray and thank your loving Father in heaven for sending His son.

Spiritual Thought:

He Sent His Son 🎶

How could the Father tell the world of love and tenderness?

He sent his Son, a newborn babe, with peace and holiness.

How could the Father show the world the pathway we should go?

He sent his Son to walk with men on earth, that we may know.

How could the Father tell the world of sacrifice, of death?

He sent his Son to die for us and rise with living breath.

What does the Father ask of us? What do the scriptures say?

Have faith, have hope, live like his Son, help others on their way.

What does he ask? Live like his Son.

I love this song, the words have been coming to my head recently. My emails might be a little deceiving in the sense that I don't really talk about the hard moments that happen, but when those moments do happen I remember that He asks me to have faith and hope and trust in Him. And when God asks something of us He ALWAYS gives back. He's given me peace when I needed it, and I know He can do the same for y'all. Pray like someone is listening, because someone is. (Anteeks if I've already said that before but it's true) God is listening and our God is a God of miracles. I know that to be true, and I know God can do miracles with you.

Shoutouts:

💙 "Hyvin tehty" -Vanhin Erg (no one says this phrase quite as good as Vanhin Erg )

💙 Volleyball for exercise ! (I love volleyball and the people in the gym are so nice haha)

💙 We left the MTC??? (to go to the temple but hey-missionaries in the wild all the same)

💙 Sisar Anderson being totally chill and on board with our April Fools prank (I didn't make it in the Estonian classroom...mutta ei se mitään)

💙 I MISS DISNEY MOVIES LIKE TARZAN SOMEONE WATCH IT AND TELL ME YOU DID THAT

Also shoutout us playing a guessing game in Finnish and me choosing Tarzan as the thing to guess teehee

💙 Also shoutout packages, I LOVE GETTING PACKAGES no joke they make my day-

💙 Guys I matched with a Swede?? Am I the coolest person now or what? (Vain vitsi vain vitsi)

💙 The weather is a little bipolar but for the most part it's been SO nice ! And there's all these pretty flowers and blooming trees

ALSO it's General Conference weekend WOOHOO!! Everyone go tune into Conference it's amazing! (Oh and Elder Roman will even be speaking Saturday Afternoon?!)

And as always here's the google photos and fun, have a great week everyone!

Kakki hyvin,

Sisar Dickson