This week was pretty eventful. On Monday we went with the sisters to a place called Svampen (translated to English it means "the mushroom"), which is a water tower turned into a restaurant. It was a pretty good view. In the evening we helped a member couple move. They had a dog that got outside and was super excited. We were trying to catch her but she was really, really fast so it took forever, haha.
On Tuesday we took a train to the Stockholm area because we needed to stay the night before zone conference. We stayed with the zone leaders for the Stockholm South zone. When we got to their building they threw down the keys from the third floor so we could get into the building. Neither of us could catch the keys, but I stretched out my foot to at least keep them from just hitting the pavement. But, I was too slow. So what happened was the keys hit the ground and then my foot kicked them, right into some bushes. I thought it was pretty funny.
The next morning we needed to walk half an hour to the chapel where we were having zone conference, because we didn´t have bus cards. So us and two other elders who stayed the night had to walk. About halfway there it started raining, and we were all just in suit coats. Three of us had umbrellas though. But then it started pouring rain and it got pretty windy. So by the time we got to the church we were pretty wet. And of course, as soon as we got inside it stopped raining, haha.
Zone conference was good. We are starting to prepare for the day we will get ipads. 15 of the 30 West European missions have ipads now, so in the near future the rest are planned to get ipads as well. So we´ll see what happens.
On Thursday it was a super nice day, so we went on a walk in a park to contact people. We sat on a bench to eat some pastries we had bought. I noticed two ducks really close by, so I took a picture. Then I noticed that one of the ducks was getting a little closer. So I pretended to have food in my hand and lured it closer. It came up to my hand, then suddenly stuck out its head and bit me! It didn´t hurt or anything, but it was funny. Then a lady came and sat on the bench with us and told us about some free cake around the corner. So we went and got some free cake. The area we were in was celebrating a 50 year anniversary, because it is a bunch of old preserved buildings. To celebrate they made a 50 meter long cake and were giving out free cake.
Saturday was Swedish National Day. We had a ward party, so we invited one of our investigators. We showed up a little late, but I don´t think we missed out on much. We walked in, and everyone was sitting quietly working on a crossword puzzle. Later that day we helped the same investigator to assemble some furniture in her new apartment. The sisters came too so it wouldn´t be just us. When we finished we carried out all the styrofoam from the packaging. But on the way to the garbage it got really windy, and pieces of styrofoam started breaking off and flying away. So we were running all over the place trying to pick up the fallen pieces without dropping any of the ones we were holding. It was very difficult.
Yesterday we had a satellite broadcast of Elder Holland speaking in Scotland. It was broadcasted to Great Britain and all the Scandinavian countries. He testified very strongly about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. I was just a little disappointed because I listened to it with translation, so there wasn´t quite the same effect from Elder Holland getting emotional. It was still really good though. That night we taught a lesson to our investigator Amie, and she made us some African food! It was fish with spicy sauce and rice. There were a lot of bones in the fish, so it was a bit of a challenge to eat, but it tasted good.
This spring is apparently super cold compared to what it usually is. Also, it has been very windy lately. We´ve had a couple of really nice days though. The sun now rises at
3:47am and sets at
10:09pm. When we go to bed it´s still kind of light outside. It´s really weird.
This week for zone conference we were all asked to read a talk by Elder Bednar I think that was titled "Rise to Your Call". I´m not completely sure that´s the title, but it´s something like that. He talked about how we are given our callings in the church not just because the bishop or someone else thinks we´ll do well, but it literally comes from God. At times we may feel inadequate or confused about certain callings, but the Lord helps us to be magnified so that we are able to do what He has asked of us. I thought this was really cool and inspiring, especially since my calling right now as a missionary can seem pretty difficult or overwhelming at times. But I know that there is a reason I am here and that I am being strengthened to do what I need to do.
Have a great week!
Elder Smith
Pictures!
1) The duck in front is the one that bit me
2) This is actually from last week but I forgot. A member took this picture when we came over for dinner. From left to right is Sister Bourelle, Sister Griffes, Elder Williams, and me
3) Behind me is Svampen. I had my eyes closed
4) This was on a door we knocked on. It says "Fill the days with life not the life with days"
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