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| A glimpse of Goteborg |
I'm not entirely sure what the groundhog saw this year, but it must have been pretty frightening because winter has returned in full force after a few weeks of taking it easy. The good news is that while it was certainly cold, the sun has seen fit to shine upon us in greater length as summer approaches, which makes for some beautiful days in the streets of Göteborg.
It's been pretty fun getting to know the city a little bit over the last week and getting used to the train
and bus system here. On Friday we went to teach our investigators Victor and Sandra, but on the way there the train shut down and we had quite the adventure of walking along the tracks a fair distance until we could get to the road and take a bus instead. Needless to say, we were a little late for the lesson, but it went really well anyways, and Victor came to church on Sunday, so it all worked out!
On Saturday the stake had a youth activity that they asked us to help set up for, and the rest of our day was completely full. As we planned for the day and thought about how we would reach our goal for new investigators we thought about Gabriella. We had met Gabriella the Saturday before while tracting, and tried to meet her again the next day on Sunday, but she wasn't home. We really wanted to meet her again, but we didn't have her phone number and it was a long way to walk just to find out she wasn't home, not to mention we didn't really have time because our schedule was full. I found myself thinking, " I wish I could just know the best time to go there so we can catch her at home and have the chance to teach her." I then realized there was a way: the spirit. I knelt down and offered a prayer in which I explained to the Lord that we had a lot to do and not much time to do it, so I needed to know when the best time to visit her was. As I prayed, a story my mission president once told us came to mind, and I felt strongly prompted that we needed to go that morning. We had to contact the stake and tell them that we would be a little late to help set up, which was a little awkward, but we felt strongly that we needed to visit Gabriella first. Upon arriving at her home, she answered the door and we talked for a bit. As we talked, her mom came up to the door and explained that she was baking some bread and asked if we had 30 minutes to come in and talk so that we could try some. Astounded, we gladly accepted the offer and had the opportunity to teach both Gabriella and her mother about the Book of Mormon and the restoration. They're both Christian and have strong faith, so they couldn't believe that they had never heard of the message contained in the Book of Mormon. They took a copy of the Book of Mormon and want us to return again this Saturday so that we can continue teaching them about Christ.
In addition to teaching Gabriella and her mother, another miracle took place on Saturday. Katerin got baptized in Eskilstuna. I can still remember the first time we met her, she had earbuds in and was walking very quickly towards the train station while towing a suitcase behind her. My first thought
was that she must be trying to catch a train, so she probably wouldn't want to stop and talk, but we decided to try anyways. To our surprise, she did indeed stop, and the conversation that followed revealed that she had once belonged to a church and she had recently felt that she needed to come back to God. She was intrigued that at a time of such feelings we had come into her life, and she wanted to learn more. Her desire to follow the spirit led her to make the changes necessary to follow Christ and has led her to the small and narrow path of discipleship. We must never let ourselves believe that someone is beyond reach. Even when someone seems to have absolutely no interest in the gospel of Jesus Christ, we must not let that stop us from sharing its message. It's impossible for us to know everything they have or will go through, and the seed we plant by sharing the gospel may someday sprout and grow into a magnificent tree.
Äldste Sirrine
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Our train-track adventure
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and bus system here. On Friday we went to teach our investigators Victor and Sandra, but on the way there the train shut down and we had quite the adventure of walking along the tracks a fair distance until we could get to the road and take a bus instead. Needless to say, we were a little late for the lesson, but it went really well anyways, and Victor came to church on Sunday, so it all worked out!
On Saturday the stake had a youth activity that they asked us to help set up for, and the rest of our day was completely full. As we planned for the day and thought about how we would reach our goal for new investigators we thought about Gabriella. We had met Gabriella the Saturday before while tracting, and tried to meet her again the next day on Sunday, but she wasn't home. We really wanted to meet her again, but we didn't have her phone number and it was a long way to walk just to find out she wasn't home, not to mention we didn't really have time because our schedule was full. I found myself thinking, " I wish I could just know the best time to go there so we can catch her at home and have the chance to teach her." I then realized there was a way: the spirit. I knelt down and offered a prayer in which I explained to the Lord that we had a lot to do and not much time to do it, so I needed to know when the best time to visit her was. As I prayed, a story my mission president once told us came to mind, and I felt strongly prompted that we needed to go that morning. We had to contact the stake and tell them that we would be a little late to help set up, which was a little awkward, but we felt strongly that we needed to visit Gabriella first. Upon arriving at her home, she answered the door and we talked for a bit. As we talked, her mom came up to the door and explained that she was baking some bread and asked if we had 30 minutes to come in and talk so that we could try some. Astounded, we gladly accepted the offer and had the opportunity to teach both Gabriella and her mother about the Book of Mormon and the restoration. They're both Christian and have strong faith, so they couldn't believe that they had never heard of the message contained in the Book of Mormon. They took a copy of the Book of Mormon and want us to return again this Saturday so that we can continue teaching them about Christ.
In addition to teaching Gabriella and her mother, another miracle took place on Saturday. Katerin got baptized in Eskilstuna. I can still remember the first time we met her, she had earbuds in and was walking very quickly towards the train station while towing a suitcase behind her. My first thought
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| Katerin's baptism |
Äldste Sirrine
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Kebab Pizza. This is a classic here in Sweden,
which is interesting seeing as how Kebab actually comes from
the Middle East... One way or the other, it's definitely good.
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