Midsummer: 6/27/16

Hej!

     This week was super good! On Wednesday we started splits, so this time I was with Elder Nielsen in my own area. We went to a town called Flen to teach some members and their friends. Unfortunately, our member who usually translates for us had to work, so we had three people who speak Persian, and a little English that we wanted to teach. So we made a drawing and talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Luckily one of them is a member so he already knew how it goes and could explain things to the others. Later we had a gospel principles class.

     On Thursday we had district meeting in Norrköping, and switched back to our normal companions. We had a sports night activity and played basketball and soccer. Towards the end it started to rain a bit, but it wasn't too bad. 

     On Friday it was Midsummer! Kind of. Technically it was Midsummer Eve, but that's when everyone celebrates it. We went over to our branch president's house and had lunch. We played a game that is basically jenga, and then we played a game called kubb outside. It rained a bit, but not too much.

     On Saturday we went to some outlet stores in our area and I got some normal people clothes in preparation for going home. I have just over a week left now, and it feels super weird.

     On Sunday both Elder Roylance and I gave talks about the Second Coming. I think mine went pretty well. There was an American couple visiting so I translated for them. I also played the piano for sacrament meeting since the member who usually does it was out of town. When I got up to play the closing hymn I got mixed up and started playing the opening song instead. The opening song was page 19 and the closing one was 16, so that's why I got mixed up. Luckily they stopped me before I was done with the intro :)

     This week I want to talk about Moroni 7:41. It says: "And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise." Today there are a lot of things going on in the world that can worry us. But we don't need to fear the future because we have hope in the atonement of Jesus Christ and we have been promised the ability to return to our Father in Heaven when we keep the commandments.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Smith

1) During Swedish class this week, a member named Pia found things in the kitchen and told everyone what they are called in Swedish, and our job was to write it on the board and draw a picture.

2) Lunch. This is Augustin, Elder Roylance and me

3) Riding bikes. I didn't know he was taking a picture so that's why I'm not smiling

Travel: 6/20/16

Hi!

     This week was kinda crazy, but super good! It was a normal week, until Wednesday when we had to travel to Stockholm so we could stay the night before mission tour. We got to Stockholm Central station and there were tons of other missionaries there. We got up early the next morning and got to the chapel by 8:45 to take pictures as zones. We had four zones there, so probably somewhere around 100 missionaries. It's crazy how many people there are that I don't know now. They're all new!

     After pictures we walked into the chapel single file and got to shake Elder and Sister Dyches' hands, then we started the meeting. It was really good! President and Sister Beckstrand talked about learning how the Spirit speaks to us so that we can be better able to recognize it in our lives. Elder and Sister Dyches talked a lot about their time as mission president and wife in the Oregon Portland mission, so it was fun to hear them talk about places I know. 

     After the meeting we started splits with our district leader and his companion, so I was with Elder Jensen instead of Elder Roylance. Elder Jensen had an interview with Elder Dyches, and it went a little long so we missed our train home but it also meant we had more time to spend with the other missionaries, so it was okay :) We got back to Linköping later in the evening. 

     It was a little weird being in Linköping because I served there back in September. The next day we went out and contacted a lot of people on the street, and it was really good because a ton of people were outside. The elders there got a call earlier in the week from a chaplain at the hospital saying there was a member of our church there who wanted a visit. So we went to the hospital, but it was a little hard to find the member because we were only given her first name. Eventually we found her, and it turned out she was from a different stake, but was at the Linköping hospital, because it's a pretty good one I think. We were able to visit with her and give her a blessing. It was a really good experience.

     On Saturday morning we switched back companions and I was able to be in my own area again. Yesterday at church we had a ton of visiters. We normally have about 25 people in church, and we had about 10 visiters. So that was cool. 

     At the mission tour I got a chance to talk to Elder Dyches a bit, and he knew I am going home soon so he told me to read the last line on the last page of Preach My Gospel. I looked it up, and it says, "Love the Lord and serve Him the very best you can." I think this is something that is very simple and straight forward, but can make such a difference in our lives. If we love the Lord and serve Him to the best of our abilities, then that is essentially all that He asks of us. If we truly love Him then we will do all that we can to keep His commandments and prepare ourselves to return to Him one day.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Smith

Pictures!

1) Me and Elder Roylance with Sister Powell, who visited

2) I don't know who took this, but someone took a picture of us getting food at dinner yesterday

6/13/16

Hi!

     This week was pretty good. On Monday we went to our investigator Simon's house and played magic the gathering with him and his friends. I lost, but it was still pretty fun. This week we have been trying to fix Elder Roylance's bike, because the back tire was flat. We just about got the wheel off, but there was one screw that wouldn't budge. We actually stripped the hexagon screwdriver thing because we were pushing hard but the bolt wasn't moving. So we got another screwdriver thing and after pouring some canola oil on the bolt to grease it up and a ton of work we finally got it off. We looked at the screw and there was a little section where all of the threading had broken off. I'm not sure if it happened before or after we started trying to get it off.  But luckily we have a new screw now so it should work fine. We patched up the tire tube, and it still had holes after about 5 patches, so we're going to just get a new one today.

     On Wednesday we had gospel principles class, and we taught a Swedish class right after that because the member who usually teaches it was sick. It's a little hard to teach people a new language, especially when you don't exactly know it the greatest either. But it went well. On Thursday we had district meeting, and went to a Chinese buffet for lunch. 

     Yesterday a member named Miriam who served a short-term mission a little while ago visited and spoke in sacrament meeting. Her cousin from Canada was there so I translated for her. I think I did alright, haha. The second councilor in the stake presidency also visited. When we drove down here, he picked up some members from an immigrant camp so that they were able to come to church. It was really great for them, because they haven't been able to come in a long time because of travel issues.

     This week we have a mission tour meeting, and President Dyches will be visiting. I will also be giving my final testimony, usually referred to as a "dying testimony". Usually missionaries speak at their last zone meeting, and give a short testimony in Swedish. I will be giving mine in English, so at least that will be one less thing to worry about! 

     Lately we have been talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ a lot with our investigators. I think it is so great that no matter where we are in our faith, the Gospel of Jesus Christ can help us to grow and have a stronger testimony. If we don't have so much faith, then we can "plant the seed" as Alma describes in Alma 32, if we want to be better, then we can repent and take the sacrament to renew our baptismal covenants. And if we're doing okay, then we can still "endure to the end" by continuing to do all of these things and just increasing our faith. 

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Smith

Pictures!

1) Katrineholm this morning

2) Yesterday I was looking for something under my bed, and found this creepy clown thing. Then we hung it on the wall. I pranked Elder Roylance with it one too many times and he threw it away

3) Updating records

4) At the church

Broken Bike: 6/6/16

Hi!

     This week felt like it went by super fast. Last Monday we emailed and bought groceries, then just took it easy in the apartment. On Wednesday we went to a town called Flen and taught some members and their friends at the library. In the evening we had Gospel Principles class and a Swedish class.

     On Thursday we went to Eskilstuna for zone training. Most of the other missionaries in our zone are newer in the mission, so there were a ton of people I didn't know. We talked about how we can help new members and less-actives prepare and set goals to go to the temple. 

     One day we were riding our bikes and Elder Roylance rode up onto a curb, but as he did his back tire hit the edge of the curb and went flat super quick. We took the bike home to try and fix it, but we can't get the back wheel off. So we'll see if we can fix it this week.

     I go home on July 7th, which is just over a month from now and it feels really weird, haha. But I'm still going strong :)

     This week in church we had a lesson about self-reliance. There was a scripture used that I thought was really interesting. It was Matthew 16:29  "Therefore, forsake the world, and save your souls; for what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" There are a lot of things in the world that can distract us from what is really important. If we are letting these things take priority in our life, then we are in a sense taking these things in exchange for our soul since we could be focusing on things of eternal importance instead. It is important that we remember who we are and why we are really here on the earth.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Smith

Pictures!

1) Elder Roylance took a panorama so we could fit this really tall statue in a picture. I guess I turned my head as the panorama was going...

2) A big church in Eskilstuna

3) It's a bit blurry but this is me (to the left) and a member named Daniel. We were visiting another member named Bashir at a restaurant he works at and he gave us this super good food. We mostly ate it using our hands and the bread, not silverwear.