As of the 23rd I have now been on my mission for over six months! It´s really weird to think that it has already been that long. This week was pretty good. We had a lot of different things happen.
Something exciting is that Elder Walker and I found a lot of tractable apartments this week. That probably doesn´t sound too exciting to anyone else, but in Stockholm a lot of the buildings have code locks on the doors so it´s always fun to find places where we can knock doors. Something else that was a bit more exciting this week was that we had a special zone training. We talked a lot about how to organize the area book and keep it neat so that it´s more useful. But then at the end of the training, we got to watch Meet the Mormons! I think everyone felt kind of weird watching a movie for so long, but it was really good. There are a lot of cool people and stories in it.
This week Elder Walker and I got to do exchanges with the zone leaders, so I got to work with Elder Noso in the zone leaders´ area. It was really good to be around a really good missionary and learn from him. Elder Noso is super good at contacting people. He literally talked to everyone we walked past. We had some great lessons, and we also got to use the car, so that was really nice. We got to teach one of their investigators who is an 80 year-old Jehovah's Witness who has a baptismal date now. She will be a super strong member. She reads scriptures by using the Gospel Library app on her tablet, so it was kind of funny to see someone so old using a tablet so much.
Yesterday at church a non-member came to visit. He was contacted by some other missionaries and given a contact card with the church´s address, so he just came. Elder Walker and I spent about an hour talking to him and trying to explain things. He is Chinese and has absolutely no Christian background or knowledge, so we tried explaining how there are different sects of Christianity that have different beliefs, but are all still Christian. We referred him to the Elders that work in the area where he lives, but I will actually be teaching him tonight because we´re doing exchanges with the district leader and his companion later today.
Yesterday we actually did more exchanges with the zone leaders, because they had two member dinners set up with two different investigators. So I went with Elder Held, the other zone leader, and we ate at one of the bishopric counselors` house. It was pretty fun and we had a good lesson.
This week for a spiritual thought I want to share some things I thought about while reading in the Book of Mormon in Mosiah. The people of Alma were in bondage and had to carry heavy burdens. The Lord promised Alma that He would lighten the burdens so that they would be easy to carry, but not to take away the burdens. In our lives we will all face trials and hardships, even when we are living right. The people of Alma were extremely righteous and faithful, but still had to endure hardships. Our burdens can be lightened just as theirs were. Sometimes we need to go through trials in order to strengthen our faith and to trust more in the Lord. Something that stood out to me as I read was how the people of Alma endured their trials with so much patience and faith that soon Alma was told by the Lord that the people would be freed. We never know when hardships will come or when they will end, but when we trust in the Lord we will always be able to endure it and become stronger as a result.
I hope everyone has a great week!
Elder Smith
Pictures!
1) Snowy path
2) Snowy park
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