March....Madness?

Dear Friends and Family,
I cannot believe it's March already. Time flies sooo fast.
Last Monday evening we were OYMing and everyone was being really funny... I don't know why. The first man we stopped said that he didn't want to talk about God because he was drinking beer. The next one was this Polish guy who was waving his arms going, "No no no no" and then later we met this man who kept moving his eyebrows up and down while I was talking to him, so I couldn't concentrate. It all made me laugh. Then we went to Singles home evening, and we had a lesson from the February Ensign about succeeding as a new convert. I really liked it. I'm so in love with the Ensigns :) . Then we played the game where you write a sentance and then draw a picture of it and so forth. It was a good evening.
Tuesday morning we had district meeting. it was good. In the evening we saw Baetsi and the kids. She's sticking to the herbal tea, so we were very excited. We were bummed, however, to find out that they had a funeral to go to so they wouldn't be able to come to church.
Wednesday morning we went to see Bella and she gave us some VERY exciting news. She and Richard were going to get married............. on FRIDAY! We couldn't believe it. Then we did our planning. then in the evening we did some finding. We met one person who was very curious about the Book of Mormon, but then he wouldn't take our card or let us come back, so that was kind of lame, but then we met this woman named Elizabeth and her mother Esther and they let us in. We taught them the first lesson, and they LOVED it, especially the mother. She was flying back to Nigeria on Tuesday, so she was like, "Is your church in Nigeria?" So we got all her info to refer her. It was really cool. I love how everything just works in the end.
Thursday morning we had interviews. I love interviews. Then in the afternoon we went to visit Abenaa one last time before she moved. (Oh goodness, my arm is so tired it's hard to type, I don't know why...haha) Then we saw Brother Yankson. I really like him, because he really wants to understand the Gospel. He asks good questions. then in the evening we had dinner and correlation with the Stevensons, which is always good.
Friday morning I had a really good study, and I was thinking a lot about how using the Book of Mormon is key, and how I could use it more effectively. So I decided that it would be best to introduce the Book of Mormon from the very beginning, and use it more. So then in the morning we went to see this young woman from Scotland. Her name is Nikki, and she's had a rough past couple of years, but she's such a sweetheart! I'm really excited to start working with her. We introduced the Book of Mormon to her right from the beginning, and it was a good lesson. Then we went to see Brother Beasley and he bought us some Fish n' Chips....mmmm. Hehe, we had a lesson about death and the afterlife, per his request. It was really good. He has a strong testimony of life after death. Then we went and saw Suresh. He's such a powerful example to me. He just wants to be good all the time. Then we went to see Claudia and Rosanna, two young recent converts. They are so cute. We had a good lesson with them about the Plan of Salvation. Then in the evening we went to visit Bella, the newly married woman! It was pretty exciting. We had a lesson about marriage and honesty.
Saturday morning we saw a woman we met OYMing named Doreen. When we got there she invited her Husband, Roger, to join. They have a strong faith in Christ. We did the new thing we are trying where we introduce the Book of Mormon at the beginning of lesson one and then teach the whole lesson using both the Bible and the Book of Mormon and it went really well! What I loved the most, is that as Sister Kuoppala was bearing testimony of Joseph Smith, I could feel all over again that what she said was true. I love this gospel sooo much. It was a really good lesson. Then we took Sister Stevenson with us and we went to visit Sister Y. and Honey. Sister Y. joined in the lesson, so that was really good. They're moving this week.
Sunday was a great day. I love Sundays. Bella came to church (as always :) ). Her husband, Richard, was supposed to come, and I was really excited, but then he got called into work, so Sister Kuoppala and I were pretty devastated, but happy to have Bella anyway. Then after church we went to lunch with the Saltzmann family. They're from Utah originally, but have been living in England for a long time. They're a really fun family. Then we went to see Joice. She invited her new housemate Salim to join us, and she did. We talked about the Plan of Salvation, and Joice just got it! It was amazing. She understood everything so clearly. I love it! We going to have to work hard with her to come to church, but that's okay :) . I love her! Then we were supposed to see Sarah and Dorothy again, but when we got to the train station all the trains weren't running, and it would take too long by bus, so we had to reschedule. We thought it was pretty lame, but we called Bella to see if we could come, and she said yes. And, in a way that always seems to happen in the Lord's work :) , everything worked out for the best, because we finally got to officially meet Richard. It was sooo good. He's a really nice man. It made Sister Kuoppala and I sooo happy. haha, and then that night the mouse ran on Sister Kuoppala's foot.....gross. haha, we've named him Antonio, but we call him Toni.
Then today we had Zone meetings, and I brought a load of fun dips that Gretchen sent me, and the Elders managed to eat them quite quickly. haha. It was good. :) So that was my week. Oh how I love being a missionary. :)
Mom- I'm glad you're home safe and sound. I got your card, and I LOVED it! Oh, and I got some cute new shoes with my money :)
Dad- Sister Kuoppala is so adorable. She's been out as long as Sister Strunk. Finnish sounds pretty cool, but I don't think I can handle it :-P
Nathan- Nathan is brother! I love you!

Elder Ison- Do you know Elder Boyd, and Elder West?

Gretchen- Thank-you so much for the Birthday package you are amazingly thoughtful!

Sister Besso- Ah, you cannot imagine my surprise at your package. I love it!

Sister Arnquist- I actually got your package today, just as I was leaving to come and e-mail! Thanks!

Everyone Else- I love you!

Love,
Sister Ison