June 14, 2026

 

Dear fellow Finnish Missionaries,

 

Thank you.

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Those of us who received your articles for Memories & Miracles — Wade 1972–1975 were touched, profoundly. We learned together that Heavenly Father is a God of miracles, and that Finnish missionaries are a special breed. Articles came from all over the world — from the streets of Savonlinna, Tornio, Rovaniemi, Kotka, Vaasa, Turku, Tampere, Oulu, Kuopio, and beyond. Former mission presidents, former temple presidents, senior missionary couples, and all kinds of former Finnish missionaries — all of you made something remarkable together.

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I want to tell you about what is happening next.

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JUNE 13 — A DAY I WILL NOT FORGET

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On Saturday, June 13, my son Geoff, who served in Finland, and I spent four hours with Angela Johnson, the sculptor behind the Light of the World Garden at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah. All she wanted to talk about was Finland, and about the need of the people to feel the Spirit of Jesus Christ in Finland.

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I first encountered Angela's work at least fifteen years ago at the Independence Visitor Center, where I stood before small sculptures — perhaps two feet tall — and looked into the eyes of Jesus. I remember wondering how any human being could create something that reflected the light of Christ so completely. I never imagined I would one day meet the woman whose hands made these sculptures.

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About seven years ago, Debbie and I toured the Light of the World Garden in Lehi, where thirty-five life-sized sculptures by Angela Johnson stand in a setting of extraordinary beauty. I saw the eyes of Jesus again. I did not imagine that a few years later I would be standing beside Angela as she described what those eyes mean to her.

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On June 13, near the end of our tour, I glanced over at her. She had her arms wrapped around the feet of Jesus as He hung on a bronze cross. I asked what she was feeling.

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She said: "Love."

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Later, at the Trellis Café at Ashton Gardens, Angela held our book — Memories & Miracles, and held it close.  She turned the pages slowly. She recognized some of your names. I told her about your stories. I told her that just one week earlier, on June 7, during the Choir’s morning meeting, the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square had read the account of David Rowberry and Dennis Dowdle — the story of the woman in Finland who had been listening to the Choir on her radio that morning, and when the elders knocked on her door that afternoon, she simply said: "I knew you would come. I asked God to send you."  The Tabernacle Choir was holding our book.  Memories & Miracles.  And, reading from it.

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Angela asked about the illustrations in our book. I explained that each one depicted a story one of you had submitted. I could see she was moved. And this is a woman who has been moved by the Spirit of Christ for over thirty years — her fingers and hands shaping countless pieces of sacred art. She understands something about His face that most of us can only glimpse.

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I touched those hands on June 13.  Angela's hands.  And my heart took a leap knowing that those hands, and her feet, are now walking into Finland — into the dark, cold, icy, snowy streets and dirt paths that each of us knows by heart.

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KRISTUS GARDEN — FINLAND

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Angela Johnson is building her first international sculpture garden on Mattila Farm, just north of Helsinki — about thirty minutes from the city. It is called Kristus Garden. Fifteen larger-than-life sculptures of Jesus Christ and the Restoration will stand there, waiting for the people of Finland to come and see and feel and know.

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Think of it. In Finland.  Yesterday Geoff and I heard miracle after miracle from Angela and Gina Ashby about how the Kristus Garden has become a reality.  If written, these miracles would fill a kirja (book).

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Angela told me she envisions a normal, everyday conversation on the drive out to Mattila Farm. Picture this - A young Finnish woman or a young Finnish man are driving together to see something neither has seen before. They are talking about jääkiekko (hockey), or about reindeer, or about school.  And a different kind of conversation on the drive home. People who may not go to church — but who know something about Jesus — will say things like:

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"I looked into His eyes, and I felt He was speaking to me."

"How is this possible?"

"Thank you for bringing me here."

Or, more beautifully: "Kiitos, että toit minut tänne."

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A NEW BOOK — AND AN INVITATION

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Angela wants a Memories & Miracles book about the experiences that will happen because of Kristus Garden. It will be called Memories & Miracles — Kristus Garden, and it will gather the stories of those who take friends and families to the garden and witness what happens in them. There will be many stories. If we need two or three volumes, we will make them.

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Each of us knows what we feel when we read our own Memories & Miracles — experiences from over fifty years ago that still carry the Spirit. Those same feelings will now be felt by our beloved Finnish friends, for the first time, in their own language, in their own land.

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THE GATHERING — AND AN INVITATION TO SPONSOR IT

 

Among Angela's sculptures is one she calls His Gathering. On June 13, I placed my hands on this bronze masterpiece that sits in Lehi, Utah knowing it is headed to Finland. The scripture it carries is from Matthew 23:37 —

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"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem... how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not."

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It is not a parable. It is a lament — one of the most tender things Jesus ever said. He is not describing a hen. He is being one. Wings open. Young running the other way. And still, He holds the position.

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Sister Wade asked Angela Johnson whether the Wade missionaries of 1972–1975 could sponsor this sculpture in Finland.

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"Of course," she said.

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And, as a gift to us, Angela is penning the lyrics to a song about His Gathering.  It is almost finished.  We will send you an mp3 link soon.

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His Gathering - the sculpture - is ours. Anyone who donates ten dollars or more will have their name engraved on a plaque at the site in Finland.

Kuinka siistiä se on? (How cool is that?)

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Visit our website — the same one as before — to learn about Kristus Garden, and to see Angela Johnson's work for yourself. You can also visit the Light of the World Garden at Ashton Gardens in Lehi, and look into the eyes of Jesus the way Geoff and I and Angela did on June 13.  Finland is alive!  Thank you Angela!

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When the stories begin arriving from those who visit Kristus Garden in Finland, Veli Burke Rees and I will be at the computers again. We would not have it any other way.

 

About His Gathering sculpture - this is our sculpture.  We are proud to pay for it.  We have a ways to go, and as soon as we collectively donate the required amount, the sculpture will make its way to Finland in our names. 

 

Here are a few pictures I took yesterday of our sculpture - notice the baby chicks and how tenderly He touches them - 

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