Our good friend, Asko Koponen, was totally alone on his birthday; so Martha planned a wonderful birthday party for the following day. We ate a fantastic Mexican dinner with tacos and Mom's great chicken enchiladas. The kids made their Dad some cute birthday cards using materials Martha supplied. Then she even made a pinata filled with candy for them all to play with. Below are pictures of Asko, Alina, and Adeelia all trying to break the pinata.
Now, maybe a few pictures of our sweet little apartment. Just last night Martha commented on how much she loves our place. First, the most important part of every Finnish home: the sauna!
Next, one of our living room with the window sill decorated for Christmas:
And next, a few of our laundry room / bathroom / shower / sauna combination.... all in a space less than our guest bathroom at home. But it is very functional, and I don't know how many times I have exclaimed to Martha how much I love the shower.
And our "massive" bedroom:
One of the main streets in Turku, decorated for Christmas:
We have been to the Temple near Helsinki three times in December. Here we are in front of the temple:
For some reason, Nativity scenes are very rare in Finland. We only saw one in public, and that was in front of the temple. Very few families own a small Nativity scene, and even fewer display them. Martha was able to find two small hand-made collections, which she immediately bought and displayed in our apartment. But here is the scene by the temple:
Right after Christmas, Martha and I were allowed to go out of our district to attend the Northern Zone Conference... a huge spiritual experience! But while there, we got to visit Santa Claus' actual shop and home. All 30 of the conference attendees signed a copy of the Book of Mormon, and we got a picture of all of us after presenting the book to St. Nick (Joulu Pukki) himself. When I get my copy of the picture, I'll post it. But here are some random pictures of us standing right on the Arctic Circle, which just happens to run right through a nice, heated tourist trap! Also a photo of an outdoor lighted thermometer, and a huge snowman. The bright spots on my chest are NOT my burning heart, but the light shining from the flash after bouncing off of my reflector, which we dangle from our coats for protection in the dark winters of Finland. There was an article in the local newspaper about how many lives the reflectors save from auto/pedestrian mishaps.
That's all for now! Sister Airto, who works in the office in Helsinki, told me on the phone this morning that old Brother Savolainen (sp?), who is one of the two patriarchs in Finland, always bears his testimony on Fast Sunday, and always starts with: "Hyvät veljeni ja sisareni.... Elämä on ihana!" This means "My good brothers and sisters... life is marvelous!" A man after my own heart! And that's just how we feel, as we try to serve our neighbors here in Finland.
