Week 25 - [URGENT] 10 bizarre money habits making Millennials richer

Wooohoo everyone! Welcome to the email this week!

A couple exciting things! First off, check this out!

http://www.lds.org.uk/jesus-christ-is-always-there-easter-2018?lang=eng-gb

The Europe Area Easter video is awesome PLUS it has my great aunt and uncle Thomas in it, who are currently serving a mission in Germany! (they're the couple who have been together for fifty years) I had a conniption when I saw them there and it just makes showing the video to people even more exciting to me.

What else? ooh, I've had to practice the piano a lot, because a) I have a concert for some older folks next week, b) I'm playing at zone conference again, and c) I play in sacrament meeting now, so there's that! Finding is kind of tough lately but we push on!

I love you all, and remember to boil the heck out of your water! (that's how you get holy water!)

--

Elder Hancock

Week 24 - Flippinland

That sounds like a penguin theme park. Oh well! Hello everyone, it's very snowy. That could theoretically be expected considering I am on the same latitude as the Yukon Territory but... yeah, I guess that could be expected.

Kouvola is great! I love it and it's been a lot of fun. It was a little warmer yesterday but then it started snowing. I should really pull my mind off the weather. I love you all! Yeah, oh, we went tracting in Inkeroinen yesterday and let me tell you gotta watch out for the people that wear a little less clothing when opening their doors here.

I love missionary work! I really do. Sometimes I think wow, I actually do this not because I have to, but because being a missionary is who I am. I'm not a robot, I just do it because it's my purpose and it's what I want to do, it's what drives me to get out of bed in the morning and I love it. 

Not so much to report this week, as you all can probably tell. I love you all again! Keep updating me on your lives, and if you're not, start! I love hearing from everyone, it makes me happy.

Have a wonderful week!

--

Elder Hancock

Week 23 - Be Excellent to Each Other

Hey everyone! I love Kouvola! There, I said it.

Haha I do love it here. Elder Winder's a boss and we get along really well already. Today's his birthday, he's 21! I'm still the youngest in the mission  but we still have a lot of fun!

I love it! We found a ski jump here, I'll attach a few pictures of it.

We taught a really nice Arabic man this week and it was awesome. He doesn't speak any English, so we mostly did it in Finnish and I spoke a little Arabic. He accepted the soft baptismal invitation AND gave us a referral, so we have high hopes for him.

I love you all! Kouvola's wonderful and I'm loving life.

--

Elder Hancock

1 - the view from our kitchen

 2 - us at the ski jump

 3- the ski jump

Week 22 - Kouvola, whaaaaat?

Hey everyone! I don't have a lot of time this week but a couple big things happened this week!

1. We got SEVEN investigators last week!!! That's insane! The standards of excellence here are three and I've only hit that three times.

2. We also got two new baptismal dates last week! I got a picture with them, I'll attach it.

3. We got a surprise transfer yesterday! I'll be heading to Kouvola on Thursday with Elder Winder! I'm way excited but sad to leave Helsinki because this place really has become a second home to me. I have no idea what Kouvola looks like so if you google street view it you'll know more than me.

Other than that, missionary life is going great! I'm excited for it to be March. We're 'march'ing on! (ifyouhaventheardthatsongbyonerepublicbeforegolistentoitnowthemesongforlife)

Anyway, best of luck to those state debaters this week! Go slay them because last year we only slayed slightly upwards of half of them. Oh well! Keep it real, everyone!!

All the love from the organ in my left half of my chest, close to my lung, that keeps the drum of my life beating,

Elder Hancock

Week 21 - It's pretty cold, but life is definitely gold.

Terveeeeeee rakkat ystäviät! Mitäs suujuu? Suujuu hyvin tällä mut mä oon jäätyy. Erikoista, tuo on elämä Suomessa.

(that means hello, beloved friends, how's it floating, it's floating well here but I'm frozen, nothing special, that's life in Finland)

And missionary work continues! Tracting  and contacting in the negatives wouldn't normally be my first idea, but being a missionary changes you for the better. As we continue working as hard as we can, we get so many blessings! This transfer already we've been blessed with nine new investigators and a baptismal date. Miracles do come from exact obedience, faith, and work, they really do.

I love Finland! I've gotten so much more of an appreciation for the immigrants here in Helsinki (there are a lot of them) who are mostly from the Middle East or Somalia. I love people. I love them! Everyone has their own story, they're all amazing to hear. 

Sometimes I feel like Luke in Star Wars when he's freezing in the cave. But then he uses the force and does a few flips, carving his lightsaber around like crazy. Life has its solutions.

I love you all and have a great week!

--

Elder Hancock

I found the best store in town this week!

Week 20 - Pickles

HellooOOOOOOOOOOO everyone! This week has been WONDERFUL as ALWAYS and I love being a missionary!

This week I'm just going to share a couple of quick experiences!

First! So yesterday I took a quick five minutes after a lesson at the church to practice/select my songs for district meeting tomorrow, and we got a call from one of our previous investigators (he was drunk when he called us). He heard me practicing and asked if I would play a couple songs over the phone for him. So that I did, and he started crying and told me he loved me over the phone. That night we got a few texts from him about how he was going to move to Thailand and get married there in a Mormon church, so I guess I may be taking a trip over there sometime soon. 

Also, yesterday when we were going into the Helsinki Main train station we met this really cool guy and a couple of his friends, and they were all from Iraq, so we spoke some Arabic to them and they were really cool. Fast forward past us getting lost in the ghetto yet again, and two hours later on the train back to Oulunkylä we met these super nice guys from Iraq as well, and got to know them, and then at the stop in Pasila the guy and his friends we had met earlier got on, and then they came and sat by us because they knew those other two Iraqis! So we all had a blast going back home, just me and my companion in the middle of all these Iraqi dudes, and we got a few numbers out of it. :) It was really fun.

Also, yesterday we were able to share the talk His Grace Is Sufficient with one of our investigators yesterday, and it really cleared up his understanding of the Atonement. I LOVE that talk, and I invite you all to read it, for the first time or again.

This week I made the conscious decision to give away my personal wants and take upon the desires of Christ, and the second I did that it was just like a snap, I just felt all of these burdens light off of me and I felt so amazing! As I've lost myself in the work I've really found a love for it.

I love all of you, have a great week!

--

Elder Hancock

1 - cereal 

2 - where do we go to church?

Week 19 - Helsinki pt 2!

Hey everyone! This week has been great, and I'm so excited to spend another transfer here in Helsinki! Elder Jordan is a wonderful guy and a very hard working missionary, so I'm excited to see how this transfer goes!

We've been very blessed to receive a new investigator every day for the last four days! That blows my mind, and we've been working so hard to make it happen. I love this work!

I don't have a lot of time this week, but I love all of you and I'm so excited to see where this transfer goes. The work continues on!

I love you all!

--

Elder Hancock