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