December 12, 2017 Lots of Pictures this week!

A beautiful, 1000 year old church we walk by each day

This week as we were out on the street we met a Monk, who was also proselyting. Intrigued by his clothing, we had to go talk to him and actually had a really cool conversation. As we spoke with him I couldn't help but analyze his contacting approach to see if I could apply anything to improve my

The Monk we met on the street!

own... As we spoke to him I couldn't help but think that his beliefs and clothing seemed a little strange at first, and that's when I realized that that's exactly what people think when they meet us on the street. It was an incredible experience to be on the other end of being contacted on the street, and that realization has helped me improve the way I talk to others to whom our beliefs may seem strange and foreign. Ultimately the spirit must present for conversion to take place. People may not understand our unique message at first, but as they feel the incomparable power of the spirit, the desire to learn more will grow within them. It was really cool to meet someone who was so strong in their faith and who was out doing the same thing we are. He was incredibly nice and we had a wonderful opportunity to teach him the restoration and even gave him a Book of Mormon.

On Saturday we had our branch Christmas party! We had a really good turn out, and it was a good time for members and

Branch Christmas party!

non members alike to enjoy each others company, food, the missionaries singing, and President Karlsson reading the account of Christ's birth in Luke. We had a lot of non members come, and it was a wonderful opportunity for them to feel the spirit of Christ.

This week we had an awesome lesson with Nadia. At first the lesson seemed a little scattered and wasn't going as we wanted. As Elder Cotton was speaking I began to listen as hard as I could for what the spirit wanted me to say, and I felt prompted to share James 1:5. That's when everything changed. I had just recited the scripture from memory, but she wanted to see it, so we opened up to it and read it again. She was clearly thinking deeply and

Food for the Christmas party

pondering this scripture and she listened intently as we continued with the lesson. The goal of the lesson was to invite her to start writing down her spiritual promptings and answers she receives, because we know she receives answers, but it's easy to forget those feelings or rationalize them as imaginations later. When we invited her to do so, she told us that she knows she needs to because earlier when we read James 1:5 she had received a clear answer, as if God was slapping her, to something she had prayed about a few days ago and she needed to write it down. I am so grateful that the spirit prompted me to share that scripture. There is no way I could have known that's what she needed, but the Lord did. I am also so excited to see how recording her spiritual impressions will help her. Doing so can help us recognize how the spirit talks to us personally, and it can give us strength later. I have

Persian dish called "Ash".

Super intense. Super super good

often wondered what makes Lehi, Nephi, and Moses different from Laman, Lemuel, and the Children of Israel. They all wandered in the wilderness for many years and suffered greatly, but Lehi, Nephi, and Moses remembered the hand of the Lord and the miracles, while the others remembered their old life and focused on their afflictions, forgetting what great things the Lord had done for them. Remembrance is a powerful thing. Recording spiritual thoughts can help us stay focused on what the Lord has done for us, and the answers we have already received from him. I testify that the Lord hears and answers our prayers. He loves each and every one of us more than we can comprehend, and as we open our mouth to share that message with others he will give us the words to say.

Äldste Sirrine

A cool bridge

Thomas Munktell. Who is that? Good question... I don't actually know.

What's going on in Sweden you might ask? Apparently Star Wars...

 

Dec 4, 2017 Bicycles, Eggs, and Port-Codes

Thanksgiving dinner

Several weeks ago we discovered a super cool little Arabic store where we go to get some of our

The flat of eggs I rode home with

groceries because it's significantly cheaper, and is sometimes better quality (although you definitely have to be careful with some of the food....) Among a few other items, I regularly get eggs there because you can buy a flat of 30 eggs that are cheaper and twice as big as the eggs you can get at the other grocery store. It's an incredible deal, but the only problem is transporting the eggs home with a bike... Normally they rubber band a second carton to the top of the eggs so I can put them in a sack and hang them on the handlebars, but on Monday they didn't have any extra cartons to do that with. So there I was with 30 eggs and a bike to get home. Naturally I accepted the challenge and did the only thing that made sense; I rode the bike with one hand while carrying the flat of eggs in the other hand. Elder Cotton tried to convince me that we could find a different way and that all of the eggs could survive, but that just sounded too easy. After a fairly intense bike ride, I am glad to report that all 30 eggs made it into the fridge safe and sound.

This weekend we got to spend the night in Stockholm for Stake Conference! Stockholm seriously has to be the coolest city ever, and after taking so many trains I have really gained an appreciation for it's subway system (the Tunnelbana), which is pretty amazing. Stake Conference was held in the StockholmsMässan building, which is a big convention center (they actually had a big fitness trade show going on at the same time in a different part of the building which looked pretty interesting). Stake Conference was wonderful, and it was awesome to see so many faithful saints gathered in one place.

This week we definitely had some cool experiences that witness that our Heavenly Father places people in our path for a reason, and that He always prepares a way to accomplish His commands. One evening we were out in town around 8:30 on our way back home. We aren't usually around that area at that time, and as we came upon an intersection we stopped and tried to decide whether we should take the shorter route, which we usually take, or the longer route, which would take us through town in the hopes that we could find someone, even just one person, on the deserted streets to talk to. After saying a prayer it became clear to us that we should take the longer route, and it wasn't too long before we came upon two guys from Nigeria who had just come from the gym. We had a great conversation and they want to meet with us to learn more about our church and the Book of Mormon. We are never in that area at that time, and had we not prayed for, and followed, inspiration on which way we should go, we never would have had the chance to meet them.

This week our Branch President asked us to visit a couple less active members and deliver invitations to the branch Christmas party. Seeing as how branch council is on Tuesday and we wanted to have a positive report, we determined to do everything we could to deliver those invitations. Yesterday we went to visit the last two people on the list, and upon arriving at the first we were met by the bane of

See if you can find the Santa Claus driving the tractor

missionary work here in Sweden, the port-coded apartment building. After unsuccessfully calling the resident and trying everything we could to get in so we could at least slip the invitation through the mail slot on the door, we stood there not knowing what else to do but unwilling to give up. Right at the moment, a lady delivering reklam (basically a bunch of advertisements/mail) walked by and asked us if we needed to get in. Naturally we responded that we did, and she happily let us in. After checking every single door in the building we discovered he had moved to France and no longer lived there (which the branch president had actually suspected) which was good to know so that we don't waste time in the future trying to contact him. We then went to the second person we wanted to visit where we were once again met by the Devil's handiwork, the port-code. After several minutes of trying to get in we were about to leave when a man walked out of the building. We explained the situation to him and he let us into the building where we were then able to deliver the invitation as we had set out to do. I know without a doubt that the Lord prepared a way for us to complete our assignment by placing those people in our path. Whatever our assignment may be, if we strive to do everything we can the Lord will prepare a way for us to overcome the elements we are incapable of on our own.

Äldste Sirrine

Nov 27, 2017 Hejdå Äldste Wilkinson och Välkommen Äldste Cotton!

Eskilstuna with snow

Elder Wilkinson's departure at the train station

It's been a crazy week! On Tuesday I said farewell to Äldste Wilkinson and welcomed Äldste Cotton to The Tuna! The weirdest part about the whole situation is the fact that I am no longer officially in training. Up to this point I have either been in the MTC or have had a trainer, but now that I have a new companion who doesn't know the area at all I have had to take the lead in many situations. Interestingly enough, we have a set of sisters here in Eskilstuna, but because Sister Hill just got a new missionary to train (Sister Clark), Out of the four of us I am now officially the missionary who has been in Eskilstuna the longest. Not only does it seem strange to say that, but it creates some interesting situations when the members turn to me with questions and expect me to have the answers because I've been here the longest, when in reality I have only been here 2 transfers and half that

Elder Cotton's arrival!

time I had absolutely no idea what anybody was saying... It's been really awesome though, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be stretched and to grow.

On Thanksgiving we were invited to a members house for dinner. She has lived in the US for several years and wants to do a Thanksgiving dinner for us, but she didn't have time to do so on Thursday because of work, so we will have our real Thanksgiving dinner with her this coming week! We ended up having hamburgers with her on Thursday, which is pretty American, so I guess it still counts :) Thanksgiving is truly one of my favorite holidays. What a great time to reflect on everything we have been given and to express our thanks. We often talk about how being happy is a choice, and I have come to realize the number one way to be happier is to express thanks. As we recognize everything we have been blessed with, the things we may yet lack seem to become less important and we are able to focus on the things that are most important. I am truly grateful for my savior Jesus Christ and the gift of His Atonement which is given to each and every one of us. At this time I am particularly grateful for the time I have here in Sweden to declare the good news of that gift to everyone I can. It truly is a blessing beyond measure and brings me greater joy than I ever could have thought possible.

This week we picked up a new investigator named Hanna. She is in her 40's, from Eritrea, has been here in Sweden 14 years, and has three kids ages 16,14, and 10. She is a member of Pyngstkyrkan (the Pentecostal Church), and at first she was afraid to come into our church, but after showing her around she got more comfortable and really liked it. We had the opportunity to teach her the restoration and she could feel the Spirit confirming it's truth. Her husband is not religious at all, and doesn't necessarily agree with it, but he is also not against them going to church. The interesting part is that when we asked her to come to church, she said she really wants to, but she can't because her kids won't want to because they are fairly active and involved in Pyngstkyrkan and it's youth groups... We've definitely never had this problem before... I've never had an investigator who wants to come to church but is kept from coming just because the kids are active in another church. While we are trying to figure out how we can reach out to her children, she has committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray. I believe that as she does so, her kids will notice the difference in her life, and they will want to learn more about the source of her change.

Our investigator Alan

This week we are having a major focus on the #LightTheWorld initiative! We either have, or will have visited every member in the branch to introduce the initiative (which is actually called #ettLJUSförVÄRLDEN in Swedish) by Dec 1st. We are inviting everybody to participate by doing 25 different acts of service in the 25 days of December leading up to Christmas. I would extend the invitation to everyone who reads this as well. If you go to Mormon.org there is a video and information about what #LightTheWorld is. Check Mormon.org each day as a new video is released along with several ideas of service you can try. This takes away any excuse you might

Member Karwo from Iran

have of not knowing how you can serve...The month of December is a wonderful time to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and what better gift to give Him than to serve those around us? The acts of service don't have to be anything big, in fact it is most often the small and simple things that have the greatest impact on those around us. Make a goal to serve someone each day during December.  Elder Cotton and I have set a goal to do so, and I look forward to the experiences we will have as we serve those around us and add our small light to the many that will truly #LightTheWorld this Christmas season.

Äldste Sirrine

Members Younus and Yosef from Iran (and little Thindra)

November 20, 2017 ¡Hola Amigos y Familia!

Some of the snow we got earlier this week.

Somehow in the last week we have gone from almost completely Middle Eastern investigators to South American investigators... looks like my Spanish contacting is paying off! Just kidding, despite having taken Spanish for three years in high school I have forgotten almost all of it as Swedish has taken over the foreign language department in my brain. I am still left wondering how we have picked up 3 Brazilians, a girl from El Salvador, and a girl with Chilean roots all in the last week because before this week I had seen about 2 other South Americans in Sweden total... It's been awesome though, and hearing Portuguese and Spanish has been super strange as it seems distantly familiar yet so foreign and different at the same time.

The first Brazilian we met this week is named Lillian and she belongs to the Pentecostal Church. We met her on the street and she was super nice. After a nice conversation with her we invited her to church, which she accepted and said she would bring her nephew along as well, and then before she left she wanted to pray with us. So there we were, 2 Mormon missionaries from America holding hands with a Brazilian who belongs to the Pentecostal Church, in the middle of the sidewalk (so that people had to walk into the street to get around us) while she prayed in Portuguese (which was a mixture of psalms and prayer) and we happened to be standing right in front of a Baptist church... Yep, that happened. It was actually a really neat experience and she ended up coming to church yesterday with her nephew. Several of the talks focused on stories from the Book of Mormon and afterwards she was very interested in the book and wants to learn more about it.

This week we had an absolutely amazing experience with our investigator Katerin. We are extremely blessed to have the Stake President, President Karlsson, and his family in our branch (they live about

We saw the sisters on out on the street, so we thought we'd take a picture

a 3 minute walk from our apartment actually) and they have told us that they want to feed our investigators and have lessons at their house. We invited Katerin over to their house and we taught her about repentance in the context of the Plan of Salvation. I cannot say how powerful it was to have the support of the members in that lesson. The spirit was incredibly strong, and they were able to add an additional witness to what we taught. Hearing the gospel from two guys in white shirts is one thing, but to actually see it applied in a home and hear it from others who live it, is a completely different thing and has far greater power than we as missionaries can have alone. The lesson went really well, and she now has a firm understanding of repentance which is the most important thing we could teach as missionaries to help others come unto Christ. We felt really good about the lesson, but it wasn't until the next day that we saw the full impact our lesson had had.

We met with Katerin again the next day to finish the Plan of Salvation (with a different member present) and she told us what happened the night before after she had left the Karlssons house. She had gone to visit her sister and cousin, and when she started talking about the church her cousin told her all sorts of false things about our church. Her cousin told her that we don't believe in Christ, we don't have the Holy Ghost, we don't treat women well, we force the women to wear dresses all the time, etc. When Katerin heard this she replied, "That's not true at all. They certainly believe in Christ and they definitely have the Holy Ghost because I have felt it stronger than ever before with them. Furthermore, I just had dinner at the house of some members and they were incredibly friendly and open, the man treated his wife with the utmost respect, and they wear normal clothes." As she told us this experience and how wrong her cousin was, we were amazed by the strength of her testimony and how wonderful it is that she was able to defend the witness and knowledge she has received by the power of the Holy Ghost. I can't help but wonder how that conversation with her cousin might have gone differently if we had not had the opportunity in the Karlssons home. She may have believed her cousin because she had not seen for herself, and she certainly would have had many questions. Because we had her over to the Karlssons she was able to see the gospel in action with her own eyes. When false claims were brought up, she was able to defend her faith because she had experienced it herself, it wasn't just something two guys in white shirts said. The Lord has asked us as missionaries to work with the members and has promised that when we do, we will find success. I testify that the Lord's promise is true. Prior to our lesson at the Karlssons we could not have imagined how important it would be, but we knew that it was something the Lord would have us do. Through this experience the Lord has given us a small glimpse that he truly has a plan, and He has a purpose and reason for everything he asks us to do. With our narrow mortal vision we may not be able to see or understand the reasoning for things we are asked to do by the Lord through his Apostles and Prophet, but I testify that he has an eternal perspective and can see the things that we cannot.

Elder Wilkinson in Centrum. Kinda looks like something you would see from Russia...

Last night we had transfer calls and found out that Elder Wilkinson will be leaving Eskilstuna and going to Linköping. I will be receiving Elder Cotton as a companion here on Tuesday. We thought Elder Wilkinson would have another transfer here in Eskilstuna, and I'm sad to see him go. He has had the utmost patience with me as I have learned, and has truly taught me by example how to be the kind of missionary I want to be. We've had some great experiences together and it saddens me to think that he won't be here to witness the progress of our investigators. I know that the Lord placed us together for a reason, and I know that now Elder Cotton is who I'm supposed to be with, so I look forward to the adventures and experiences that lie ahead!

Äldste Sirrine

November 13, 2017 Pray Ye in Holy Places and Be Not Moved

We had our first Snowfall on Saturday!

One of the interesting problems I never thought I would have is not being able to exit my apartment building because of a Muslim praying. Our apartment is right above a Mosque, and when we went to exit the building one time this week there was a Muslim who was praying right in front of the door, so we had to wait for a little bit... We felt a little bad disturbing, but we found the whole situation pretty funny.

This week my companion and I were asked to help out with a funeral for the mother of our branch president. I was asked to play some hymns for the funeral and for the most part the hymn books have the same hymns, but there are several hymns added in that aren't in the English hymnbook, so I got to learn some Swedish hymns this week. Some of the Swedish hymns are super cool, and I wish we had them in the English hymnbooks as well! We found out that an interesting Swedish tradition is that men wear white ties to funerals. Our branch president was explaining this to us and told us that he once went to a funeral in Finland (his wife is Finnish) and wore a white tie, because that's how he's always done it, but apparently in Finland the tradition is to wear a black tie. He said he was the only person wearing a white tie and that he will definitely never make that mistake again.

Yesterday I was gave my first talk in Swedish and I can testify, as I have before, that the Gift of Tongues is real. Although not perfect by any means, with the help of the Lord I was able to present my message to the congregation in a way that invited the true teacher, the spirit, to testify. The Gift of Tongues is truly a gift, and it doesn't mean that God would deny us the great opportunity to struggle as we learn a new language. It certainly has been, and continues to be something I struggle with each day, but it is only through the struggle that we learn, and God would not deny us that blessing. As I interact with others I am continually reminded how greatly the Lord has helped me. As I speak with immigrants on the street I am amazed at how so many can't speak the language and have been here for several years, while with the Lord's help I am able to speak communicable Swedish after two months. When the Lord asks us to do something hard, he will always prepare a way, and he will not leave us without help.

This week we had a great lesson with our investigator Katrine. The night before the lesson she texted us and asked us if we payed tithing in our church. We told her that we did and said that we could explain it further in our lesson the next day. At the beginning of our meeting with her the next day she explained to us how grateful she was that God had put us into her life. She had previously belonged to a different church and gradually stopped going, but she said that she had just started to feel like she should come back to God when we found her on the street. She knows that this is what she needs in her life, and the spirit has confirmed to her that this is Christ's restored church on the Earth. As we discussed tithing she let out a sigh of relief, much to our surprise. She explained how glad she was that we pay tithing in our church because she had payed tithing in her previous church, and she knows that when she pays tithing, her finances are blessed, which she really needs right now. How amazing it is that she realizes the blessings that come from keeping the law of tithing, and I add my witness to hers that as we pay our tithing, the Lord truly "open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."

New winter coat.

This week we had a lesson with Mekonen, who's been a member for about a year. We have been trying to get him to more actively take part in helping us with the sacrament, and to deepen his conversion. Mekonen is from Ethiopia and the question is not "What should we teach him?" but rather "What does he want to teach us?" We always go in there with a lesson plan, but as soon as we start teaching a principle he goes off for several minutes explaining his knowledge of the principle through stories and experiences he's had. As we sit there listening we sometimes wonder where he he's going with his story because it seems to be going in a completely different direction, but then in the end he always brings it back together and we just sit there in amazement at how effectively his story had just taught something. As we visited him on Saturday he began to tell us his life story. We sat in silence as we listened to how his wife had died three days after his son was born, how he was in the military and was taken as a prisoner of war for 182 days where he slept on cement, was beaten, and had only the clothes on his back. When he was finally released he escaped to Sudan and then Sweden. During the whole time he worried about his son, who he was not reunited with until years later in Sweden. After describing all this, and so many other awful things that had happened to him, he looked at us with a smile on his face and said, "And now, none of it matters, because of Christ." He explained how he had researched and been a part of many different churches, but it wasn't until he met the missionaries in Sweden that he found what he knows to be the true church of Christ. Through the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he has been able to let go of everything that has happened in the past, because he knows that Christ has experienced all of it, and that through Christ everything is made fair and just. He now cherishes the friendships and support he has found in the church, and he thanks God for every blessing he now enjoys. What a wonderful example Mekonen is to all of us. Whenever we may think that that we're doing the right things and yet something we have experienced is hard or unfair, we should remember that through Christ, who was perfect and yet suffered more than anyone else, the Plan of Salvation is made possible and everything will not only be made fair, but we will be blessed far beyond anything we could deserve of ourselves. Nothing about the Plan of Salvation is unfair. Remember the Plan of Salvation, or in other words, the Plan of Happiness and that as our prophet Thomas S. Monson has said, "Our future is as bright as our faith."

Äldste Sirrine

November 6, 2017 En Vecka Till!

Pictures of Kyrkogården (I apologize that the pictures can't do it justice)

Overall it has been a wonderful week here in Eskilstuna! We had Zone Conference this week, and we received a lot of wonderful instruction and ideas from leaders that we can apply as we strive to help others come unto Christ. We found out at Zone Conference that our mission has been approved to be a technology mission! We are currently the only mission in the world that uses iPhones, but this means that we will be switching to Samsung smart phones (the church is no longer using tablets for missionaries) and every missionary will have one, instead of one per companionship. It also means that we will start using social media as a means to contact people and spread the gospel. Beyond that, we don't know any details yet as President Youngberg had just received word that this would happen. The only thing he knows is that we have been approved, and that it will happen "sooner than later".

It turns out that Halloween is a celebrated holiday here in Sweden, although there is no trick or treating (apparently they do a sort of trick or treating around Easter) and people usually only celebrate it by having a party the weekend after Halloween. We were invited to celebrate Alla Helgons Dag, which is Nov 4th, with some members. We went to Kyrkogården (the cemetery) where the tradition is to light candles for your deceased ancestors. It was a massive cemetery and it was an absolutely stunning sight to see literally thousands of candles lit throughout. I wish I could properly capture the amazing experience through pictures, but they just don't do it justice.

Unfortunately our investigator Ibrahim will not be getting baptized this Saturday as planned. He met with some friends and the next day when we went to teach him he told us that he couldn't continue with our church... He claims he doesn't have a testimony of the Book of Mormon which quite frankly I don't believe is true. We are still unsure as to the cause, because his testimony was so strong. Something his friends said to him gave him doubts, but thankfully he has agreed to continue reading the Book of Mormon, praying, and meeting with us. He has continued to be one of our best friends and while I don't know how long it will take him, I see this only as a temporary set back to his progress. As we taught him we bore testimony that the Book of Mormon is true, and that this is Jesus Christ's restored church on the Earth. Regardless of how he chooses to act from here, I must say that I have never felt the Spirit witness to me with more power that this is the true church than it did during that lesson. While he expressed his doubts and concerns nothing he said could hold up against the witness that the spirit gave me at that moment. I cannot express how sad I am for Ibrahim and the pain it brings me to see him turn away from the unbelievable joy and gladness the gospel brings. However, I am grateful that my Heavenly Father would allow me to be there, and that he shed forth his spirit in confirmation to me that this is Christ's restored church on the Earth. 

This week my Heavenly Father has been incredibly merciful in showing me what I consider missionary work "payoff" moments. On Tuesday we had a lesson with Nadia in which we talked about baptism. She is still unsure about baptism, and we have been trying to help her recognize the answers and promptings of the spirit in her life. During the middle of the lesson she just looked at us and said, "Gosh! Why do you guys always have to say the right thing?" What a wonderful opportunity we then had to explain that we don't just show up for these lessons, we prepare ourselves through prayer to our Heavenly Father that he will guide us and give us the things to say. We were able to bear testimony that when it sounds as if we say "just the right thing" it's because it is the Lord speaking to her through us, His representatives. 

I had another missionary "payoff" moment on Friday while on companion exchanges with Elder Malone. We contacted two young Swedish guys around 10 AM one of which was agnostic but the other, Simon, believed in God, although he is unsure whether Christ is really the Son of God or not. We talked with them for a time and exchanged numbers with them. We continued on with our daily activities with the intent to call them the next day and set up a teaching appointment. Later that day, around 5 PM we were out contacting people and approached a group of three people who we could hear were talking about Jesus Christ. We were a little surprised because that is not a topic you hear discussed very often here in Sweden. Intrigued, we approached them only to discover that it was the two guys we had met earlier, along with a girl. We stopped them and explained that we had heard them talking about Christ, to which Simon replied, "Yeah! I was just telling her all about it actually!" Not wanting to disrupt such a conversation we encouraged him to continue and bid farewell. It was so cool to see that the conversation we had earlier had led him to talk about Christ with someone else. As missionaries we often don't get to see the affect we have on many people. Certainly there are the few people we meet on the street that we have the chance to meet and teach, but with the vast majority of people we only get to share a brief part of our message and we never see them again. For me, as long as something I say can improve their life in some small way, lighten their burden, or even just give them a glimpse of hope, it's all worth it. Unfortunately, as missionaries we don't get to see these types of effects very often, and it can be easy to think that nobody is listening. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father would place them in our path at both times so that I could see one example of the impact we have on others as we share our message with others around us, even if it seems as though they don't listen. Because we talked with Simon and his friend on the street, their thoughts were turned to Christ throughout that day, and they shared the message of Christ with someone else. To see that was absolutely amazing, and I testify that we have an affect on others far beyond what we can see as we share the gospel. This principle isn't true just for missionaries either. We can all share the light of Christ and the goodness of his gospel as others. It may not seem to be anything grand or to have any immediate effect, but I know that God has a plan and these interactions have a far greater impact on people than we can possibly understand.

Äldste Sirrine

October 30, 2017 A Day to Remember

Church in Strängnäs

Last Monday Äldste Wilkinson and I decided to go explore Strängnäs, which is about 45 min away. We have been there several times to visit a member family, but they live on the edge of the town so we had never actually been into town before. Upon arriving there the most obvious landmark in sight was a massive church, so we decided to check it out. It turns out the church dates back to 1200 and it was a pretty incredible sight. We explored the church for a while and then went down to the river which was absolutely beautiful.

On Tuesday we had a great lesson with Nadia. She applied to BYU but found out a few weeks ago that she wasn't accepted which was super sad. We had been waiting to find out on the admission decision to extend a baptismal date for her, and that was the goal of our lesson on Tuesday. We talked about recognizing the promptings of the spirit and extended a baptismal date of Dec. 9. She told us she needed some time to pray and think about it. I'm so glad to see that she understands the importance of the baptismal covenant and the need to prepare, but I hope she doesn't let that scare her away from making the decision. She seems to have had a great week and really enjoyed church yesterday and we plan to meet with her tomorrow to follow up and re-invite her to make the commitment to be baptized. She has been in our prayers unceasingly, and I would ask all of you to keep her in your prayers at this important time as well.

Friday was definitely a day to remember. We arose and exercised as normal and then Äldste Wilkinson showered while I ate breakfast. Our apartment has a European style shower which means that there is no tub or retaining wall around the shower, so the floor of the bathroom gets wet when you shower. Normally it's not too much of a problem and you just squeegee the water up when your done, but on Friday the drain decided to plug... Äldste Wilkinson didn't realize the water beginning to rise as he showered, and before we knew it there was about an inch and a half of standing water in the bathroom, and it had run out into the entry way and kitchen of the apartment. I was in the other room eating so I didn't realize what had happened until I heard Äldste Wilkinson finish showering and it sounded like he was swimming laps as he tried to squeegee the floor (I'm still not entirely sure why he was attempting to use the squeegee when there was an inch and a half of water throughout the whole bathroom....) When he emerged from the bathroom he began to tell me what had happened when we both noticed the water that was throughout the kitchen and entry way. We weren't exactly sure what to do, so we did the only thing we could. We grabbed two towels and used them to soak up water, wring them out, and repeat. After about an hour of this we had successfully dried the kitchen floor and entry way, but we hadn't even touched the bathroom. The water still wasn't draining, and unfortunately we had to leave right then to catch a train by 9 to go to Södertälje for district meeting. (Thankfully the floor and walls are sealed, so there wasn't the risk of water damage in the walls by leaving the bathroom flooded) We went to district meeting, which was incredible, but we couldn't get a train back for a few hours so we didn't get back to Eskilstuna until about 4. When we returned to the apartment we were greeted by the pool of water still in the bathroom which we had hoped might have somehow resolved itself while we were gone. Normally we would only do shopping on P-day, but we decided that this was probably something we shouldn't wait until Monday to fix... So we went and bought a drain unclogger which we used to successfully fix the problem. After the water drained, we finished mopping up the residue with our nifty towels, and I have to say, our floors have never been cleaner. You know, we talk about how important the family unit is to God's plan, and I can't say how true that is. I'd like to take this time to thank my 5 wonderful sisters and their hair, which has a tendency to clog drains. Without knowing it, that hair has prepared me for my mission. It has given me so many opportunities to unclog drains that when the moment of need arose I was already well practiced and prepared to handle it. God works in mysterious ways...

On Saturday we had the chance to visit a family from Iran who were baptized a few months ago. It was really cool to hear about their experience with baptism and how much it means to them. It gave us the opportunity to talk about the Sabbath and how important it is to partake of the sacrament each week to renew that covenant. As we do so, we are renewed and strengthened for the coming week, our thoughts are turned to Christ, and we remain focused on the things that matter most in life.

The river in Strängnäs

Quick update on the sun: The sun is now setting at about 3:50 which makes contacting pretty interesting. There are fewer people out on the street after dark, but at the same time they can't see who we are from a distance so they can't avoid us as easily... I say that somewhat jokingly, but it is actually so true. I have to say it's super weird to have the sun set so early, and when it's up it stays really low in the sky so it always feels like late afternoon/evening.

It's been another great week as we have invited others to come unto Christ. Helaman 5:10-11 says (italics added), "And remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, in the city of Ammonihah; for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins. And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls." The Lord desires to save each and every one of us, but he will not violate the agency he has given us. If we choose to remain in our sins, he cannot save us. However, if we choose to leave our sins behind, to turn to Christ, he is waiting with open arms to receive us unto salvation. 

Äldste Sirrine

A super cool wall in the Church

Inside the Church

October 23, 2017 Weekly letter

Pretty fall colors

Well it's been another great week here in Sweden! We found a lot of really good potential investigators on the street, and we look forward to hopefully meeting them in the near future. This week we went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders, so I was left here in Eskilstuna with Äldste Pack. It was really cool to see how he approached thing and it gave me some ideas that I can try in my efforts. We had done some street contacting throughout the day and we were at the very end of our last session, heading back to the church, when we ran into a man named Tommy. He began to tell us that he had family who had emigrated to Salt Lake, and were members there. He said that he had met missionaries once before about three months ago, and had a Book of Mormon in English, which he had been reading, but it was going a little slow and was hard at times because it was in English. He told us that he wished he had one in Swedish, which was music to our ears, but unfortunately we had distributed all the books we had on us... We told him we had one at the church we could give him and said that if he had time we could take him there right then. Much to our surprise he looked down at his watch and said, "Yeah I've got time. Let's go!" Just to clarify, we were in downtown Eskilstuna where just about the only thing people say to us when we try to talk to them is "Jag har inte tid!" (which means "I don't have time!"). We ended up walking to the church with him which was about 10 minutes away, we took him inside, and gave him a Book of Mormon in Swedish. He was so grateful for the book and promised that he would come to church on Sunday. Yesterday he did indeed come to church and seemed to really like it! We look forward to teaching him because he already values the Book of Mormon so much. Anybody who values the Book of Mormon as he does, studies it's principles, and prays to know if it's true, will indeed receive a witness that the Book of Mormon is true.

On Saturday we had a chance to do some service for one of the members here. We did some weeding for her, and it was the first time I had worn civilian clothing outside of the apartment which felt really strange... I loved the chance to serve her, and it was a great opportunity to get to know Sister Hill's new companion, Sister Eriksson, better. Sister Eriksson is the only native Swedish missionary in the mission right now, and it was super cool to get her perspective on Sweden and to ask a bunch of questions about the language. She is super helpful, and I feel so lucky that she happens to be serving in Eskilstuna this transfer!

On Saturday we also had a few lessons planned that got cancelled, which was a bit disappointing. However, as we continued to work we ended up having an unexpected lesson with a lady named Janette and her fiance. Elder Wilkinson had met Janette once before and had given her a book of Mormon, but was having some difficulties so she hadn't been able to meet for a couple months. Janette believes in Christ "more than 100%" (which is apparent by all the pictures in her apartment) and she knows that the Book of Mormon is true. It was a wonderful lesson, and one that we would not have had the opportunity of having if our others had not been cancelled. At times our life may seem hard and we may not know why we are going through certain things. I testify that God has a perfect plan for each of us. As we continue to have faith in Him and diligently seek his help, we will find opportunities far greater than we could have imagined.

I am so grateful to be here in Eskilstuna at this time. So many wonderful things are happening, and there are many more coming in the next few weeks. As I have reflected on the progress of our investigators, it has all come down to the Book of Mormon and prayer. Each investigator who is making progress right now is reading the Book of Mormon and praying daily. No exceptions. I testify that as we read the Book of Mormon and pray daily, we will find the answers we are searching for. I have seen this in the lives of others, and I have, without a doubt, found it to be true in my own. We cannot neglect these two actions and hope to maintain or build our faith in Christ. I know that Christ has provided a means for us to return to Him. He lives today and beckons to each of us with open arms and the simple words "Come, follow me." May we all strive to lay aside anything that would keep us from heeding his voice, and may we follow the path he has shown us is my hope and prayer. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Äldste Sirrine

Some Syrian food that Janette's brother made us. I have to say, Syrian food has to be the best food in the world...

October 16, 2017 "Abosus"

A beautiful sunrise from our apartment

This week we spent a lot of time finding people in an effort to build our teaching pool. We met a lot of really cool people on the street, including a guy from South Sudan, who we met yesterday. He thought we were Jehovah's Witnesses (Of course...There are so many Jehovah's Witnesses here, and everybody thinks we are part of missionaries from their church). After explaining that we were not Jehovah's Witnesses, he talked to us for a little bit but assured us that he already knew everything about Jesus Christ so he didn't need to know more. He then proceeded to reenact, with great energy I might add, John 21:15-17 when Christ asked Peter three times "Lovest thou me?". It was pretty entertaining, and he even would switch voices and character. The best part was that he thought it was Matthew instead of Peter, which we thought was pretty funny coming from someone who claimed to know everything about Christ. Hopefully we will be able to meet with him in the future and teach him the truths found in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

The branch president Rolf Lundkvist

One of the interesting things about Sweden is how interested people are in family history. I suppose this makes sense in a society whose history goes back so far, and where records are made easily accessible to all. There is a lady here who is not interested in the church right now, but will give the missionaries food all the time, and is extremely interested in family history. I have heard how much the missionaries have touched her though, and I know that someday she will be ready to receive the gospel. She has been doing a lot of family history work lately and was very curious where the last name "Sirrine" comes from, so she started investigating and doing family history work for me. Apparently she found out that "Sirrine" means "to the mystery" in Azerbaijani.... She hasn't found anything else yet, but hopefully she is able to find something that can bring greater understanding to the great mystery of where the name Sirrine comes from.

Last Tuesday we had a lesson with Ibrahim and taught him the Word of Wisdom. This was definitely a concern we had for him due to his use of tobacco. As soon as we had finished teaching him that the Lord would have us refrain from smoking and using tobacco he told us he that he knows this is truly from God, and that he could feel within him that it is right. He committed to stopping his use of tobacco and showed his faith in the Lord by throwing out his tobacco right then. As he has continued to rely on the Lord for strength through daily prayer and scripture study he has successfully been able to refrain from tobacco since that day. We have been visiting with him and supporting him in his efforts, and I will say that it has not been easy for him. In one of our visits he said it was so hard that he would "kill for a cigarette right then". However, I can testify that he has received strength beyond his own through prayer and a sincere desire to follow his savior Jesus Christ. He is a wonderful example to all, and the change this has made in his life is truly miraculous.

On Sunday we had stake conference which was being broadcast from Stockholm. Alan and Ibrahim both came and were so excited to be there. Unfortunately there were technical difficulties in Stockholm so the broadcast didn't work for any of the branches they were broadcasting to. We felt really bad that they had come and weren't able to watch stake conference, but thankfully they were both very understanding. After church they invited us over to their apartment for lunch and we had Syrian breakfast food. It was basically beans, lettuce, onions, tomatoes and olive oil that you would literally just grab with a piece of pita bread and eat with your hands. Not only was it some of the best food I have ever eaten, but there was something so satisfying about sitting around a little table and eating Syrian food like a native. To go along with the experience I officially received an Arabic nickname, "Abosus" (Which means Father Sirrine... I think... the explanation was half in Arabic so it was kind of hard to understand). Apparently the name Sirrine is not something Arabic speakers are capable of pronouncing, so after trying every other way of pronunciation possible, Alan gave up and had to use the nickname. Interestingly enough, Ibrahim is able to pronounce my last name because he learned how to speak English (extremely well) from watching "How I met your Mother" on TV. The whole visit was pretty great, but the only problem is how much food they make you eat. I have learned very quickly that in Arabic culture you have accept what they give you, and they expect you

Doing a little service

to take more. If you don't, it's seen as a sign that you don't like them or their house. As a result, no matter how hard you try to tell them you're full they somehow just keep adding food to your plate. Now being forced to eat so much delicious food may not seem like a problem, but let me say that you seriously regret it when you have to go out and start tracting or street contacting right after... It really was a great visit though, and we had the opportunity to read 2 Ne 31 with them. Jesus Christ truly came to earth and showed us the way. Even though he was perfect he was baptized to fulfill the will of His Father and to show us the way through which we can return to his presence. All he asks of us is to do the things we have seen him do. He wants us to turn from anything that would keep us from Him and to come unto Him. I testify that as we have faith in Him we will receive the strength and ability to do so, and we will receive the blessings he has promised us.

Äldste Sirrine

October 9, 2017 Winter is Coming!

 A time lapse of the 45 min car ride from Södertälje to Eskilstuna!​

October 9, 2017

Well this week the weather turned pretty cold. The whole week has been really cold and rainy which makes it interesting to talk to people, especially on the weekend when it seems to turn into a ghost town here. It's hard enough to find people, and then they don't exactly want to stop and talk in the rain which is understandable. I would say one of the greatest differences in weather so far between Sweden and Utah is the rain. It doesn't usually rain as hard, but it lasts all day and is often just a misting rain which is really weird because it doesn't feel like it's raining but everything gets soaked. It's also notoriously windy here in Eskilstuna which makes things pretty fun when it's cold and wet. On the bright side, the trees are turning colors which is absolutely beautiful (sorry I don't have any pictures of that). On the not so bright side (literally) it's starting to get dark here, and you know it's starting to get dark when the mission president instructs everybody to take 2,000-4,000 IU of Vitamin D each day. The work still goes on, and it's an absolutely amazing time to be here in Sweden! I am really grateful that we have been working with the members to get more referrals and that we are starting to see the fruit of the labor as winter sets in, so we can teach more lessons when it's not quite as fun to be outside.

We didn't have to many lessons this week, so we spent a lot of time finding. We did have a really good lesson with Nadia about fasting though. She fasted yesterday, and said it was a really good experience. What made the experience even better is that she had to be in Stockholm this weekend so she couldn't come to church here in Eskilstuna, but she found a ward in Stockholm to go to! We were so thrilled that she would make the effort to go to church even while out of town which is not something she would have done a couple months ago. What a great example she is of faith and keeping the Sabbath Day holy.

 

The Church Building

On Saturday we had an experienced that strengthens my conviction that the Lord truly hears and answers our prayers. Two of our investigators, Alan and Ibrahim, live together (in the same apartment complex that Elder Wilkinson and I live in) and we have been working towards their baptismal date of Nov 11. Elder Wilkinson started teaching Alan a couple months ago, and Ibrahim was present during a couple lessons, but he wasn't interested and would always be doing something else while we taught. The biggest problem for Alan is that he works as a photographer in Stockholm on the weekends, so he hasn't been able to come to church. About a month ago Alan had to go Greece to meet his mother who was fleeing from Syria, and he was helping her make it to Germany. He has been gone ever since, but one day we went by to see if he was back and Ibrahim answered the door. He informed us that Alan wasn't home, but he said we could come in. This was a little surprising, but we just sat down and started teaching him. We have been teaching Ibrahim ever since, and I have previously shared stories about the amazing progress that we have seen him make. Unfortunately, Ibrahim works as a technician at a theater in Stockholm on the weekends so he has been unable to come to church. For the past couple weeks Elder Wilkinson and I have been very concerned about both of them. They love learning about the Gospel and they want to be baptized, but they are unable to be baptized if they work on the weekends and can't come to church. We have been praying with all our might in their behalf, that their situation might change. Telling someone that they have to quit their job to join the church isn't exactly the easiest thing to do, but we had planned to teach Ibrahim about keeping the Sabbath Day holy this week, and saw no other way around the problem. On Saturday we were on our way home and took a slightly different route so we passed by their apartment. We glanced in and saw Ibrahim, who also saw us and beckoned us in. We were pretty shocked because he is normally in Stockholm working for the weekends, so we weren't expecting him to be home. We went in and  began to teach him, but as we talked with him we found out that his job had changed so he know works during the week instead of the weekend so he can now come to church, and that he was excited to come on Sunday! We couldn't believe what we were hearing, and just then the door opened and Alan walked in. Let's just say we were more than a little surprised at the appearance of Alan, who has been in Greece and who we haven't seen for about a month. The lesson kind of went out the window at the point as we began to catch up with Alan and we asked him about his trip. He said he had just gotten back the day before, and that he was planning on coming to church on Sunday without telling us so he could surprise us. As we sat and talked with Alan, Ibrahim mentioned that he was going to church on Sunday with us which shocked Alan because he had no idea that we had been teaching Ibrahim. At first Alan thought we were joking, but when he realized we were telling the truth, he was overcome with excitement. Alan then told us that he too was going to come to church because his job is done for the winter (apparently nobody uses photographers in the winter...). I can't tell you how overjoyed we were to hear this. We have been praying for weeks that their job situations would change, and right before we go to teach Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy, the Lord answered our prayers and their jobs changed so they can attend church, come closer their Savior, and are eligible to be baptized. I testify that our Heavenly Father answers our prayers. He cares about His children and wants each to return to him. As we pour out our hearts to Him in prayer, he will hear us and he will answer in his own way and in his own time.

Äldste Sirrine

I don't think I ever sent this one, but this is my MTC group at the airport the day we arrived in Sweden!