Too Much Sun: 6/15/15

Hej!

     So this week it was sunny and warm the entire week pretty much. This was a really good thing, not only because we got to go outside without coats for the first time in a while, but there were lots of people outside who we could talk to! Almost all of our lessons this week were on the street. 

     Besides walking around and talking to people though, we didn´t do too much this week. On Tuesday we were playing innebandy, and a guy on the other team was going for the goal so I ran really hard to try to pass him. But unfortunately the shoes I was wearing had no padding at all so while I was running my foot hit the ground really hard. So now the bottom of my foot right under my heel is pretty sore. It was pretty bad timing since we have been walking around all day everyday this week, so I´ve been kind of limping everywhere, haha. It hasn´t been too bad, but I´m definitely ready for it to get better.

     This week was the end of the school year, so there were hundreds of high school students walking around town. We tried getting on the bus kind of nearby a school, and we had to wait a while because two busses just kept driving by and didn´t stop because they were so full of people. It was pretty crazy.

     This week it was super warm. We were really uncomfortable in 25 degrees Celsius, which is about 75 degrees farenheit, haha. I´ve been getting a pretty good missionary tan lately. My face and the upper half of my neck look pretty good, haha. I´m glad I haven´t burned yet, because we´ve been outside all the time. 

     I just remembered something else I did this week. I finished reading the Old Testament! Now I have read all of the standard works on my mission. Now I´m moving onto the New Testament in Swedish :)

     This week I have to admit that I was feeling a little bit frustrated about always having to be busy with things, especially in church. Last Sunday we got to see a satellite broadcast of Elder Holland speaking, but I felt like I
didn´t get as much out of it because we had to leave during the meeting to pick up an investigator to bring him to church. Sometimes I wish I could just be a "normal" member and just sit and enjoy church. But then I had the thought that that is not the way it is supposed to be. Life never really gives us breaks, and even when we have fewer responsibilities there is still so much to do. I am reminded of Alma 34:32 which says: "For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors." We are here to do things. If we sit back and watch then we will miss out on opportunities to learn and grow. It isn´t easy, but that´s how we improve.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Smith

Pictures!

1) It´s too sunny!

2) This is a rabbit we found while walking somewhere. Elder Williams went running after it so it started running away, towards me. I cut it off, so it just stopped for a second. Then we made a move for it and it got away.

3) There are so many of these robot lawnmowers. They´re kind of creepy

National Pride: 6/8/15

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"

A Rainy Week: 6/1/15

Hej!

     This week was pretty good, even though it rained quite a bit. On Monday we made crepes at the church with the sisters. I think they turned out pretty good. After that Sister Bourelle and I teamed up to cut Elder Williams´ hair. I used electric clippers and she used scissors. I think it turned out really well by the end, haha. 

     On Tuesday we did some yard work at the church. I got the job of mowing all the grass. It was decent weather, so it was good. Later we swung by a man that we tracted into who has met with missionaries before in another part of Sweden. Pretty much the whole time we met with him he asked us tons of questions, and right in the middle of when we were trying to answer he´d just bring up another question. He was a nice man, but we just couldn´t communicate anything to him.

     This week we met a couple of times with an investigator named Alexander. He is 15 years old. We have a baptismal date with him for the 20th of June! We realized afterwards that that day is actually Midsommar, a pretty big holiday here, so we will probably have to move it to another day that week. He is super open and said he believes the Book of Mormon is true on the second lesson. 

     On Friday we played soccer in the rain. It is kind of a ward thing, but there´s only one guy from the ward that goes. Mostly it´s a fellowshipping activity. The sisters said they had an investigator coming but they couldn´t go, so we went. It was pretty fun actually. It didn´t rain too badly while we were there. 

     All week the weather has been pretty bipolar. It will be nice and sunny, and then a short time later it will be super cloudy and rainy. On one day we were standing in a sunny spot and then suddenly it started raining from a cloud that wasn´t even above us! 

     There are wild hedgehogs here, and Elder Williams has wanted to see them his entire mission. He has seen one before Örebro, and two or three here. One night we were walking home, and Elder Williams pointed to some tall grass and talked about how that would be the perfect place for a hedgehog to be. Then I said "there´s one" because I saw one just to the side of where he was pointing. Elder Williams got really excited and started running up to it with the phone to get a picture, but I got him to stop and take a picture instead of running and scaring it away. After he took some pictures he had me hold his umbrella, because it is bright blue. I distracted the hedgehog while he snuck up on it from behind. He poked it on the back, and then it ran away. He was super happy, haha.

     This week a scripture that stuck out to me was Mosiah 2:21: "I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants." At first glance this verse seems kind of depressing. We can never be profitable servants. But when we look at it from another perspective, we see that what it is telling us is that we are not here to be perfect. We are here to do our best, and learn and grow. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows my faults and is patient with them. I am far from perfect, but I hope that each day I can come a little closer.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Smith

Pictures!

1) Clouds

2) hedgehog! The picture quality isn´t great but it´s the best we got

3) Blue sky!

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!

I Like It Here: 5/18/15

Hej!

     This week was pretty eventful. On Monday and Tuesday I mostly went around and tried to visit a lot of people to say goodbye before transfers. I also tried to pack all of my stuff into two suitcases. The problem with staying in an area for longer than one transfer is that you end up with a lot more stuff at the end than you had at the beginning. But I managed to stuff everything in, along with carrying a backpack and two other small bags haha. Both suitcases were super heavy but I got in everything I wanted to. 

     The train ride to Örebro went pretty well. The train wasn´t crowded and my seat was right by a luggage rack so I didn´t have to worry about getting my suitcases in time to get off the train at my stop. It was about a two hour train ride. 

     My new companion is Elder Williams. He is from the Provo, Utah area and only has about three months left on the mission. We have been getting along pretty well so far and getting a lot of work done here. When I first walked into the bathroom in my new apartment I couldn´t help but laugh, because it is so much bigger than my last apartment´s bathroom. It has space! It´s awesome. 

     So far I am loving being in Örebro. It´s a pretty big town, but it´s not nearly as crowded as Stockholm so there are lots more people who are willing to stop and talk to us when we do street contacting. It´s been pretty fun to get to talk to a lot of people. Also, there´s a big castle right in the center of town. I´m going to attach pictures of it. It supposedly rains a lot here, but so far it hasn´t been too bad, luckily.

     The other day we were tracting and met a real-life Viking! He was a guy with a beard who worships Thor and Odin along with the other old Norse gods. He also is involved with some Viking festivals where people sell Viking swords and clothes and do reenactments of fights. We are going back to teach him about what we believe, since last time he told us a lot about his beliefs. 

     Yesterday was my first time at church here. They do Priesthood and Relief Society first, then Sunday school, and Sacrament Meeting is last so that was different from what I´m used to but I think it will get less weird the longer I´m here. All of the members are super nice and there are quite a few YSAs here. 

     This week Elder Williams and I were trying to figure out what kinds of things we can easily testify to people about when we do street contacting. We decided that something that is really important to us and the Church is the ability to pray to our Father in Heaven and receive an answer. We can all find out for ourselves what the truth is, through acting and testing for ourselves. This also means that we really do have a God who loves us and wants to help us to find the truth. I am grateful for prayer and especially for the ability to have my prayers answered because that is how we each are able to strengthen our faith in God and know for ourselves what is true.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Smith

Pictures!

1) Sunset

2) There are tons of dandelions here

3) Me by the castle!

To Örebro!! 5/11/15

Hej!

     This week we got transfer calls! I will be transferring to an area called Örebro. It is Sweden´s fifth largest city, and is a couple hours directly West of Stockholm. So far I´ve heard a lot of good things about it so I´m really excited for it. My new companion will be Elder Williams, who I have talked to a couple of times but I don´t really know him that well. 

     This week we had a very eventful P-day. We met up with some other elders and went to a museum called the Vasa. The whole museum is set up around an old ship called the Vasa that sank in the river by Stockholm back in the 1600s. It was preserved really well under the water so they were able to restore a lot of it. It was really cool to see an old ship that close. To get to the museum we got to take a ferry to an island in Stockholm. It was really weird to be on a boat, haha. After that we hung out with some other missionaries at the Stockholm YSA center. 

     On Saturday we visited a place called Långholmen that is right by our apartment. It used to be a prison, so we visited a museum there. It was pretty fun, but super small. The prison is now some sort of hotel, and people are able to stay in converted prison cells.

     This weekend we had stake conference. It was pretty good. We had one session on Saturday night that was in our chapel. Two elders stayed the night at our apartment because they live too far away to go home just for the night. It turns out that they will be in my new district when I transfer so that was cool. Also my MTC companion Elder Heiner will be my new district leader.

     Yesterday we had the second session of stake conference at a conference center in Stockholm. It was pretty nice to have enough chairs for everyone. Afterwards we went to a member´s house to skype home for Mother´s Day. It was really fun, but also weird to see everyone again.

     This week I got a unique new experience. Our ward mission leader´s daughter asked me to play piano for her while she sang at her grandfather´s funeral. The funeral was at a chapel in the middle of a giant cemetery near Stockholm. When we got there we found out there was no piano and just an organ. A guy who worked there helped us turn on the organ after a few minutes of searching for the power switch, haha. It was a cool experience, even though it was a funeral so it was a somber occasion. I got to sit up in the organ loft. Afterwards Elder Dickson and I walked around the cemetery and took a lot of pictures because it was a super nice day.

     Something that I liked from Stake Conference this week was from a talk given by an area seventy who was visiting. He talked about how one of the reasons we come to church is to "fill our cup". He said that throughout the week we get caught up with life and stress and all the things that go on, and by the end sometimes our "cup" is nearly empty. But when we attend church we are able to be spiritually revitalized, and "fill" our cup so we will be able to make it through the next week. I thought this was a cool thought. Church is a time when we can take a step away from everyday life and focus on coming closer to our Heavenly Father and serving others.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Smith

Pictures!

1) Me and Elder Dickson in front of the Vasa

2) The organ

3) They caught me

4) This is sort of a goofy picture. This is a fountain right by where we had Stake conference in Stockholm. There were bubbles in the fountain.

Oh Deer! 5/4/15

Hej!

     So this week I saw some deer in the forest. It was kind of weird because we´re pretty close to a big city and pretty much all the animals I´ve seen here have just been birds. 

      Last week for P-day we visited an island called Gamla Stan which is the touristy part of Stockholm with lots of old buildings. That night we had a dinner with a member with the sister missionaries. At the end of dinner she gave us all these Swedish candies called salt lakrits, which is basically super salty black licorice. We took videos of everyone trying it. Elder Dickson and I went first. No offense to anyone who likes salty licorice, but I thought it was gross, haha. It was a hard candy with a filling, so we both bit down to the center, and it was super salty. The sisters tried them after us, and they both spat them out as soon as they got to the center, haha.

     On Thursday there was a really cool holiday called Valborg, where they basically just make a huge fire and everyone stands around and watches it. The zone leaders drove us down to Västerhaninge, where the temple is. A bunch of other missionaries were there and also President and Sister Beckstrand. It was pretty fun to see everyone there. Afterwards everyone smelled like a campfire. 

     We met with a less-active this week named August. He was born in Soviet Russia. He has been less-active for a long time because he didn´t feel very welcome when he came to church. We invited him to give church another chance and just try it out because we have a lot of great members in our ward. And he came to church yesterday! Possibly for the first time in years. I think it went pretty well for him so hopefully he will start coming more often. 

     For a spiritual thought this week I just wanted to share something that I actually forgot about last Monday but it´s something that I really like. We were teaching an investigator last week about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It has five main points: Faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Our investigator said something really cool after we taught this. He said, "It seems to me that if you´re doing the first two things every day, then enduring to the end is something that´s just going to happen." I completely agree. It´s by striving to come closer to Christ every day that we are able to stay faithful throughout our lives. 

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Smith

Pictures!!

1) This place is famous for the pink blossoms. But they don´t last long. We found out the hard way... haha it was kind of disappointing

2) Random patches of flowers 

3) Valborg. The guy in the middle is some other missionaries´ investigator that we met.

4) This is a place right by our apartment