August 15, 2011

Hei,

First off, how did Dad's birthday go? I had it marked on my calender in Espoo and completely forgot about it when i was writing home two weeks ago. then I was going to apologize and ask about it in my last email but forgot again! I remembered this time?

I have replaced Elder Gorringe in Oulu. The ward here loves him. One of the recent converts who Elder Gorringe taught thinks I look like Elder Gorringe and calls me "Gorringe 2." One lady at church told me that I have some big shoes to fill cause of all the great work he did here. Pretty sweet. I am really happy to be here. Things have started super well though. We just got 2 baptismal dates with people we just started teaching this week. Awesome. We should have a lot of good things coming. 

I'm sooo tired. We travel soooo much. Last week, we went to Vaasa for splits which was a 4 hour drive there and 4 hours back. Today we leave for Savonlinna for a splits and district meeting. So that's 11 hour travel. We come back Wednesday. Thursday we leave for Kajaani which is another 4 hours. Then we head to Pietarsaari which is another 6 hours on Friday. Sitting in cars all day makes you so tired. but, it's great. Things are happening for us all over the place. 

You talked about suits. I'm done buying suits. I have bought 2 new ones last change. I'm good. They were pretty cheap. I don't need some super expensive suit. I think these are pretty good. I can just wait to get some shoes when I get home. Of course I'm bringing Grandma's scarf home. i don't have many scarves so I'm not sure what scarves you are talking about. Room in my bags is not so much the problem as weight. I have a lot of heavy books. We'll see. I also want to bring back some chocolate and other good things.

Great job for Ellie! 2nd place is great especially for her first year and she went undefeated! Awesome! That's so sweet that Dad is dominating people! How long is his season? Will he be playing when I get back?

I'm super stoked for fantasy football! Nathan Stanford wrote me and said that his dad is working on somekind of house in Provo so I may be in that type of deal come winter. We'll see and really not worried about that right now.

I saw a movie poster for the The Planet of the Apes is Born (direct translation from finnish so I don't know the real title). How does it look? Is it cool? Has anyone seen it?

I love you all and I will talk to you next week.

Vanhin Behnke

August 8, 2011

Hei Family,

So..... I'm in Oulu now. I got the call to come back to the North. I left last night on a night train up here at 10:30p.m. I got the call with my travel information at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday night. Elder Christiansen called and said, "You have 24 hours." So I got all packed up after church on Sunday and took the night train and got here at 8:30 this morning. Pretty wild. I got my own little room with my own little bathroom. A really tiny place but suprisingly super comfortable. I enjoyed the night train. there is two to a room but nobody else came so I just rode up by myself to Oulu. Cool. My new companion is Elder Boyer. We are the Zone Leaders up here and I am super stoked to be here. I am really excited. I will probably finsih my mission here ( I think :) ). 

That's sweet that Jorma wrote. He is a stud. He is such a cool guy. I really hope he can come out to America sometime and visit. That would be way sweet. It was a pretty big bummer that I couldn't go back but it makes sense. I talked with President Rawlings and he can't have missionaries riding around back and forth cause it would just cost way too much money and time especially with the rate of growth that is happening here. They are using Finland as the example of faith and growth in the MTC now. But President Rawlings  seemed a little bummed that couldn't give me permission to go. That is just so awesome that Jorma got baptized though. 

President Rawlings is the man. He is a very smart and realistic guy. It is always tons of fun with him. He has got a lot of big plans and changes and they are all working which is super cool to see. He is very intellegent. I'm a huge fan.

So cool to here that dad is playing tennis again and totally dominating people (including himself)! Yes, I got his package and I loved it. How is he feeling? Is he having fun? Is he still playing despite his injuries? Just tell him to rub some dirt on it :) So cool that Ellie is going to State. How does that work? How is she really doing? Is she really good? How good are the girls she is playing?

Elder Wessman sounds like he is doing just fine. He can't really expect to master the hardest language in 3 months. But I'm sure he is doing just fine. Just keep going. Is he coming out right now or is he still in the MTC? They are 4 new missionaries in the North zone so I will at least see him there if he comes to the north. 

Packing is a nightmare. I will have to throw a lot away. Is there anything again that I MUST take home besides the Cd player. What else does everyone want?

Fantasy Football. I want in! We can figure it out. Just send me the list of the top players and I can rerank them myslef and send it back with my draft stategies and picks. Let's do it! I can't come home to watch everyone else play.

I love you all,
Vanhin Behnke

I will talk to you all next week.

August 1, 2011

Hei Family,

Just kind of pushing along here. It was kind of a slow week for us. We learned that we are getting a mini-missionary! He is 16 from Tampere (a city a north of Helsinki). So he should be bummin' around with us for the week. 

My friend Jorma in Pori got baptized this past Saturday. Great to hear. He's a solid guy. 

I really have nothing to write. Change calls this Saturday. Who knows what could happen. President told us that a lot of changes are going to take place and not to be shocked with some of the moves. It just made everything so much more exciting. Anything can happen. I could be on the move next week. I really think Elder Fuchs is going to shotgun a place and train. We'll see. 

The wedding looked super nice. So what is this guy's name. Haha. This guy has been in tons of your letters for months and I only know that you call him Red. haha. What is his real name? It's no more Kristen Secor it's Kristen........ Red. Haha. 

Where should I send letters to Chris Collins? 

That's all I have. I hope everything is going well. 

Talk to you soon,
Love,
Vanhin Behnke