Spring: 5/16/16

Hi!

     This week pretty much all of the plants have grown leaves, so it's super green everywhere. Last Monday we didn't do too much special, we just got ice cream and walked around town. On Tuesday we did service for a member woman, then in the evening we had a YSA activity and we played a game called kubb. After that we had institute. 

     On Wednesday we met with one of our new investigators. She referred herself online and requested a Book of Mormon, so we set up a lesson to teach about the Restoration. The lesson went super well. We had a member with us and she was a huge help. Also we got to have the lesson outside and it was really nice weather so that was a plus :)

     On Friday we had a specialized zone training in Malmö. The theme was "back to the basics" and we talked about planning effectively and using our planners. Afterwards we had interviews with President Beckstrand.

     On Saturday we had a branch party. There was a lot of music, then we had mexican food. It was super good. 

     This week I was reading in Jesus the Christ about when Lazarus is raised from the dead. Even though Christ had a lot of power, even enough to raise someone from the dead, he still had others lead him to where the sepulcher was, and he had others remove the stone from the cave entrance. He had the people do everything that was in their power before He used His power to do the miracle. This is the same way it is in our lives. We cannot expect God to do things for us that we can do ourselves. Part of this life is that we need to act for ourselves and exercise agency and show our faith. In Doctrine and Covenants 63:9 it says: "But, behold, faith cometh not by signs, but signs follow those that believe." 

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Smith

Pictures!

1) Wild flowers in the forest

2) Canola fields 

3) A cathedral in Malmö

Sunshine: 5/9/16

Hi!

     This week has been good. It has been super warm (65 degrees roughly) and sunny all week. On Monday we went to visit a little town in our area called Karlshamn. Unfortunately we couldn't find too much to do there that was different from Karlskrona, but it was still fun. We went to a family home evening activity with the YSA and we played the game called brännboll again that is kind of like baseball, and we also played red light, green light.

     On Tuesday we helped a member move furniture out of a house that he sold. It was some big wooden dressers and things but we managed to get it all out. On Wednesday we did companion exchanges with our district leader and his companion in a town called Växjö. So our district leader Elder Gergetz came down to Karlskrona with me for the day. We ended up doing street contacting most of the time, and talked to a ton of people so that was good.

     On Friday the high school students started their first party to celebrate graduating (even though they don't graduate till June), so they were all in the streets yelling and blowing some horns, so we couldn't get much work done downtown.

     On Saturday there was a baptism for a woman the Växjö elders taught, and since they didn't have a font in Växjö they used our chapel so we got to go too. It went super well. Yesterday morning I got to skype home for Mother's Day, and that was super fun.

     I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation. In a world where there are so many worries and uncertainties, we can know that we have the ability to live with our families forever. We can know that no matter what happens to us, we can be happy. We can also know that there is a purpose with this life, to prepare ourselves to return to our Heavenly Father, and that He loves and cares about us. 

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Smith

Pictures!

1) This picture is in most elevators here. It is a warning that you can get squished if you're in an elevator that doesn't have a second door.

2) Me, Elder Blattman, and a member named Cyril while we were helping another member move.

3) Here's the chapel, and my finger

Called to Serve: 5/2/16

Hi!

     This week has been great! We've done a lot of service. Last Monday we didn't do too much for P-day, but in the evening we had FHE with some of the YSAs. We played a game called brännboll, which is like baseball but you toss the ball in the air yourself before you hit it, and it needs fewer people. On Tuesday Elder Blattman and I did some yardwork for a woman in the branch. While we were out it started hailing a little, but besides that it was actually okay weather. That night we had institute, and I translated for one of the other elders' investigators named Kamal. The lesson was on polygamy, so that was fun haha. It was actually a really good lesson though.

     On Wednesday we did service for a couple in the branch. We mucked out the area where they kept their sheep. We had pitch forks and shoveled a bunch of the old dirty hay onto a tarp, then we all dragged the tarp over to the other side of the yard and dumped it into a big pile. After a few times we decided to just hook the tarp onto the hitch of the car to drag it over, since it took 5 of us pulling as hard as we could to drag the weighed-down tarp. It was fun though. At the end we each got to hold a lamb.

     On Thursday we had district meeting in Kristianstad. We have three wards in our district, so each week we go to a different building for district meeting. Afterwards we all went out for pizza. On Friday we visited a less active with the other elders and we chopped some tree branches into firewood since the other elders cut down a tree in her yard last week. After we finished the work outside, we ate pizza and made bracelets. The member woman is really into making bead jewelry and stuff, so we each made an "I love Sweden" bracelet. It was fun. 

     On Saturday we did splits with the other elders, so I went with Elder Benson for the day. We traveled to a town called Ronneby to teach a man they met the day before. He didn't speak much English, so we were having their investigator Kamal come with us to translate from Arabic. It turned out that the potential investigator lives right across the hall from Kamal! He wasn't home, so Kamal invited us to his apartment and gave us Arabic food, so that was fun. Then we went to town becauseSaturday was a holiday called Valborg. We finished proselyting at 5, so we changed into normal clothes and met up with the other elders and some members and investigators in town. There was a choir of old men that sang, and then we walked to an island in the southern part of town, where they were going to have the fire. During Valborg they make a giant fire, the two main reasons I've heard is that it is supposed to scare away witches, and that it is just to celebrate that Summer is coming and Winter is over. We had to wait a long time, but eventually they started the fire. It was pretty cool. 

     There was something interesting that I read in Jesus the Christ the other day. James E. Talmage was talking about how Jesus Christ offended a lot of people. It wasn't because Christ was a bad person or did anything wrong, but it was only because the people chose to be offended by the things He said that were different from what they expected. At one point, because He was not acting in the way many of the Jews expected the Messiah to act, many of Christ's disciples left him. At this point, Christ asks His apostles "Will ye also go away?" But "[t]hen Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." We need to always remember where our faith really lies. When we have doubts or possibly even get offended by doctrines or other things we don't agree with, we need to remember that we follow the Savior, and that if we rely on Him, we cannot fail. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that when we humbly follow Him we will always be led in the right direction.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Smith

Pictures!

1) We woke up to SNOW on Tuesday, in the end of April :p

2) My new friend

3) #streetclothes

4) Fire

5) Lots of hay and other stuff

Ice Cream: 4/26/16

Hej!

     This week feels like it has been really long, but it was good. Last P-day we went to a place in town that supposedly has some of the best ice cream in Sweden. It was pretty cheap, and I got three flavors so it was a ton of ice cream. That night we went to a YSA family home evening activity. We played the game mafia, and it was pretty fun.

     On Wednesday we traveled to a city called Lund to stay the night before a zone training. It was super pretty with a lot of older buildings. On Thursday we had zone training, and I got to see a lot of people I haven't seen in a long time so that was fun. We talked about how to help people with baptismal dates to make it all the way to baptism. 

     On Friday we did some service for a woman in the branch with the other elders. It was fun. We went out to a town called Nybro that is a little further out so we don't get to go there so often. 

     Yesterday was church, and when church ended it was hailing outside. It's been a little colder and we might get lightning sometime this week.

     This week I was reading in Preach My Gospel in the Commandments lesson guidelines, and there was a part that really stood out to me. It says: "Truth is a knowledge of things as they really are, were, and will be. It does not change with conditions or time. Truth is the same in every age and culture. God is the source of all truth. We can have faith in Him because we know He will teach us only truth. God wants all His children to know the truth. Therefore, He reveals the truths necessary for salvation through prophets and apostles. He reveals truth to us personally through the scriptures and personal revelation." There are a lot of people who don't believe in absolute truths, but in this definition of truth we know that real truths do not change depending on circumstances. They are always the same and we can rely on them. Our Heavenly Father wants us to know the truth and has given us prophets, scriptures, prayer, and many other things to help us find it. 

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Smith

Pictures!

1)  This was a really cool fountain we found while contacting. It is a big stone that rolls around because of the water pushing up from underneath

2) A cool church in Lund

3) Hail

Karlskrona: 4/18/16

Hi!

     This week was good! Monday was super busy with trying to get ready for transfers, but was good. On Tuesday we got to plant tons of flowers in front of the temple, so that was a lot of fun but a lot of work. We planted thousands of flowers. The flowers were all white, orange, yellow, and red. Afterwards we got pizza for lunch so all the work was worth it, haha.

     We left the apartment at about 8 on Wednesday morning, gave the phone and keys to the sisters, and went to the train station. Overall transferring from Västerhaninge to Karlskrona took about 6 hours. First, I went to Stockholm central station, then took a 3-hour train, and two 45-minute trains, with a little waiting time in between each one. Luckily all of the train transfers went well. 

     I really like Karlskrona so far. It is a cool city. It isn't huge compared to other cities, but I think it's still pretty big, so it has all the plus sides of a city too. 

     Besides transfers nothing too crazy has happened this week. We have been having a lot of success with tracting. We've found people who are interested in about every stairwell in the apartment buildings we've been tracting, and that's always good. 

     Today I was reading in the Book of Mormon in Jarom, Omni, and Words of Mormon. I think it is interesting how several of the prophets who write here say that they don't have anything more to say than what was already written. Jarom said: "For what could I write more than my fathers have written? For have not they revealed the plan of salvation? I say unto you, Yea; and this sufficeth me." This helped me realize that maybe I haven't been paying enough attention to the first few books of the Book of Mormon. Out of the roughly two hundred years when it was written, these books are considered by the prophets to be the most important spiritual teachings. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that its teachings really do "reveal" the Plan of Salvation and many other precious truths to us.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Smith

Pictures!

1) Me in front of a big church in town

2) Well, unfortunately I don't really have any other pictures this week. I'll try to take more this week!

Moving Time: 4/11/16

Hej!

    I found out I'm being transferred after only 6 weeks in Västerhaninge. It's kinda funny because I introduced myself to the ward on a fast Sunday, and then yesterday I said goodbye on the next fast Sunday. It's even weirder because we are closing the elders' area and the sisters are taking over the whole ward boundaries. Also, the sisters will be moving into our apartment, so we have to clean it really good haha. I will be moving to Karlskrona, in the South on the coast, so that will be super fun. 

     Last Monday we went to the Vasa museum. There was an article by Elder Renlund in a recent Liahona/Ensign that talked about the Vasa. It was a little stressful because we didn't have much time to spend in the museum, but it was fun. 

     On Thursday we had district meeting, and afterwards we did a funeral for Elder Sweat, our district leader who's going home this week. It was fun. We had speeches and stuff. That night we had sports night, and played soccer. 

     On Saturday one of the companionships in our district had a baptism, so we went to that. While we were there, I saw a bunch of members from Alingsås, my last area, because they had a temple trip so it was fun to see them. 

     This week I was reading in Jesus the Christ about how Christ taught with parables. He taught this way because it was easy symbolism to understand, but only if you were truly listening. He said it was so "[t]hat seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand." The only way to learn things of the Spirit is by the Spirit. Christ taught in great simplicity, but only those who were humble and listened to the Spirit were able to grasp the true meaning of His teachings. We also need to listen with our spiritual ears, and see with spiritual eyes.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Smith

Pictures!

1) In Sweden the weeds at this time of year are purple, white, and yellow flowers.

2) The Vasa

3) We found a little tower with a lookout point on top.

Conference Weekend!: 4/3/16

Hi!

     This week has been great, but not super eventful besides a few things haha. On Monday we got a ton of missionaries together and played soccer. There were a few members and investigators there too. One of them was an investigator with a baptismal date who plays professional soccer. When we started we were on a really nice astro turf field, but then someone had booked it so we had to leave. We found another field, but it was pretty muddy. I was the first to slip and fall, but luckily I didn't get too muddy. That was a lot of fun though.

     This weekend was General Conference! I liked a lot of the talks! We watched Saturday Morning session at 6:00pm, then on Sunday we watched Priesthood Session, then Saturday Afternoon session, then at 6:00 we watched Sunday Morning session live. Between the Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning sessions we had dinner with all of the other missionaries and a few members. We had Swedish pancakes (which are basically crepes), and nacho chips with seven-layer dip. 

     One of my favorite talks was by Donald L. Hallstrom, who talked about how we are each a child of God. This is such a basic truth, but so powerful. I liked his quote of Elder Holland when he said, "You can have what you want, or you can have something better." Our Heavenly Father knows what will help us to grow and be happy, so He allows us to have trials and opposition. These can be really hard things sometimes, but they help us to become stronger and develop Christ-like attributes.

     Also there was some funny stuff in Elder Uchtdorf's talk in the Priesthood session, so I would recommend looking it up :)

Elder Smith

Pictures!

1) Soccer/fotboll

2) A member sent this to us. I thought it was pretty funny