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
I took the picture, you goof!!!!
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