Sverige!: 5/25/15

Hej!

     Sorry I have a lame subject name for this email, it´s so hard to think of something good for it. But, this has been a pretty good week. On Monday we basically just walked around the town and visited a few stores. We went to the YSA family home evening activity, which was pretty fun. There are quite a few YSAs in our ward which is unusual for Sweden.

     On Tuesday we were going to help with yard work at the church, but it was really rainy so we just cleaned the inside of the church instead. After that we had lunch at an investigator´s house. He is super good at cooking. Later we taught another investigator with a member at the library. We ran into an ex-member on the bus ride there, so he tagged along as well. It was actually a super good lesson. The investigator is a professional magician so he showed us a trick. That night we played innebandy with some YSAs. Innebandy is really big in Sweden and Skandinavia, it is basically like floor hockey.

     On Wednesday we had zone training. I got to see an elder from my MTC group that I haven´t seen in a while, so that was fun. The zone leaders wanted zone training to be fun, so they called it Jedi Council and gave everyone a Jedi name. Mine was Elder Jedi Smidious. After the meeting we all got pizza together. 

     On Thursday we went with the sisters to a member´s house to help out with yard work since they aren´t able to do it themselves. Elder Williams and I spent most of the time spreading dirt on their yard to even it out since there were some hills and things. It was pretty fun. That night we started splits with the district leader and his companion in Västerås. I went with Elder Backman back to Västerås. We had a good time, because we found out we both really like the Beatles and scary movies.

     I spent all of Friday in Västerås. It was a good day. Then the other elders took a train over so we could switch back. Then Elder Williams and I took the train back to Örebro. The train ride is about one hour.

     On Saturday the ward had a music night. There was a choir and a band and a few soloists who performed. It was super good and the ward is fun so there was a lot of energy. We met a guy on the street who we´d seen a few times and invited him to come, and he actually came. 

     On Sunday there were two girls visiting who finished their missions about 8 months ago and both served in Örebro a while. It was cool because we found out one of them helped take my MTC group out contacting on our first day in Sweden. One of the YSAs brought her friend to church, so that was really cool. She had a lot of questions, so after church the member family had us over for American pancakes and then we taught the YSA´s friend. The lesson was kind of all over the place because she had so many questions, but it was still really good. 

     This morning I was reading in an institute manual about the importance of families. Media and trends today usually depict family as something that is hard to deal with or holds us back, but in reality family is the thing that can bring us the most joy in this life as well as the life after this. In our families we do need to learn how to compromise and put others´ needs first, but it is through this love and dedication that we are able to build strong relationships and help each other grow. So I am very grateful for my family and for the many many blessings I have received because of it!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Smith

Pictures!

1) The sunset

2) Hard at work (the ground says "SMITH")

3)  The members had some very hairy cows

4) A really yellow field

5) Elder Williams and me!