May 28, 2018 Behold the Royal Army

The royal escort (there are many more horses than seen in the picture...)

 

The palace

The church inside the palace

This has been an amazing week!

Let me just start by saying it's more than a little surprising to turn a street corner while contacting and see an army of horses coming towards you. Quite frankly it's not something I ever expected to see in my lifetime, and certainly not in downtown Stockholm. As it turns out, they were escorting the royal carriage, and I must admit it was rather impressive. I'm not entirely sure how effective of an escort it is, but it certainly looks cool!

When I first arrived here in Stockholm, the bishop didn't seem very enthused with missionary work, and wouldn't respond to our efforts to contact him. I think many of the previous missionaries had accepted this, which is understandable because the bishop is certainly a busy person, but we decided we wanted to try serving him to improve our relationship. We asked the bishop's wife if we could

Serving the bishop's family

come do some service for them, and she said they were actually had a lot of yardwork to do in order to prepare for a party, and that we were "såååååååå välkommna" (soooo welcome) to help. We were able to go over to their house on Saturday and spend a couple hours helping them replace the tarp on their pool, trim the hedges, paint, etc. Perhaps the coolest part of serving them was the chance to talk to their neighbor as well. As I trimmed their hedge, I was standing on a step ladder, but the hedge was too wide, so I could only reach half of it. After doing the half closest to me, I saw their neighbor 

sitting in the yard, so I called out to her and asked if I could come on their side to do the other half. She was happy to let me do so, so I took the step ladder to the other side and was able to finish the top of the hedge. I then asked if I could even up their side of the hedge for them, and she said I didn't need to, that they could do it, but I persisted and she accepted the offer gratefully. After finishing the hedge, we began talking and after seeing my name tag she asked what it is I do. I was able to explain that we are here for 2 years to teach about our church, but also to serve, and I was able to tell her about some of the service we have done recently. I then asked if we could help her with any such projects, and she said that she had a few in mind, and would love our help. I gave her our contact information, and she said she will give us a call. Not only do we now have the chance to serve, and hopefully teach their neighbors, but it was amazing to see how our relationship with the bishop and his family has developed. We talked as we worked, and by the end it felt as though we were good friends. Certainly you can talk at church or at a dinner appointment, but you come much closer together as you talk while working side by side towards a common goal. It now feels as though he truly trusts us, and he has started reaching out to us, instead of us trying in vain to contact him. Service truly works miracles!

While contacting this week, we had a girl come up to us on the street and ask us if we had a Book of

Stockholm

Mormon. We were a little surprised, and asked her how she knew, so she explained that she had been an exchange student in Rexburg, Idaho, and had lived with an LDS family, so she knows all about our church. When we asked if we could meet and teach her more, she told us that she thinks what we're doing is amazing, but she isn't wanting to become a member right now, so she doesn't want to waste our time. I was about to give her a card, when I realized we could be friends on Facebook. She was more than happy to do so, and we told her just to send us a message if she ever had any questions. Sure enough, later that night we got a message from her asking if she could come to church with us on Sunday. She said that as she thought about it, she realized that she hadn't been to church in a long time and actually was interested in learning more. She was unable to attend yesterday because of work, but she is planning on coming this week.

Last Sunday we had an investigator come to church who has a hard time believing the Book of Mormon is true. She has placed a barrier in her mind between us and her because we grew up in the gospel while she did not, so we had a few members who were converts themselves speak with her and bear testimony. I bore my personal testimony to her that it is indeed true, and that the way I know is because I have tested the promises within the book. I explained to her that the way I see the Book of Mormon is as a collection of If-Then statements. For example, we are told that IF we follow His commandments, THEN we will receive His spirit. We are also told that IF

The Stockholm YSA

we come unto Him THEN He will make weak things strong unto us (Ether 12:27). She said she had never seen the book like this before, but was very intrigued, so she asked if we could meet this week and help her read it in that way. It was definitely a step of progress with her, and much of my personal study this week has been devoted to finding If-Then statements in the Book of Mormon and preparing to teach her how to do so herself. Much of the time we focus on helping our investigators know if the entire Book of Mormon is true or not. My own testimony of the Book of Mormon didn't come as a whole, but rather as I saw each If-Then statement fulfilled. Every time I have done the "If", the "Then" has always happened. As I have seen each fulfilled, I have come to the absolute knowledge that the Book of Mormon is true, and that our greatest happiness comes as we read and apply the principles therein.

Beautiful sunset on the way home from tracting

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May 21, 2018 Already week two in Stockholm?

On splits with the office elders!

It was Elder Berlin's (one of the assistants) birthday, so we had a birthday dinner for him!

This was at a members house for dinner!

On Monday we decided to explore Stockholm a little bit, so we went and walked around Gamla Stan (which means "the old city"). Gamla Stan is right in the middle of the Stockholm, and it's where all the tourists go, so it had some pretty fun shops and the buildings are all super old and incredibly beautiful. We also ended up going into the palace, which had a really cool church, and then we went into an assembly hall which had a throne. Upon seeing the throne, Elder Baggett turned to me and said, "The chair is probably worth more than my house." I wouldn't be surprised... While wandering around we actually met two guys, brothers, from Pocatello Idaho who called out to us and asked where we were from. We then ended up talking to them for a while and found out that they aren't members, but they're on a 12 week trip here in Europe, and coming from Idaho they're quite familiar with the missionaries, so they were super happy to talk with people from home... I've never seen non members so happy to talk to the missionaries!

This week we got to do some service by helping a member move a piano to her mother's house. We got a text asking if we could help, so we said we would love to, and then we found out that it would only be us and there were three flights of stairs... We were definitely a little worried about it, but when we arrived, we found out that it was just a fancy electric piano, so it was still big and heavy, but nothing like a real piano would have been, so we were pretty relieved.

At church on Sunday I played the piano for sacrament meeting, so I thought I was safe from translating, but then Elder Baggett needed to go talk with an investigator who came into the back of the chapel, so he handed me the mic to start translating. It's probably a good thing I didn't have any time to think about it before hand, because I've never translated in church before, but it actually went really well. I do have to say though, the chapel was already really warm, and then with a suit coat and the pressure of translating I was sweating pretty good by the end...

On Friday we had a lesson with our investigator Carmen. She moved here from Peru many many years ago, but her family is still there and are actually members. She's met with the missionaries for quite a while, but hasn't quite been ready to take the step of baptism. We taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and there have been few occasions when the spirit was stronger. We had a member with us for the lesson, and the three of us were able to bear humble testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and it's ability to cleanse us, as well as it's power to change us. We felt prompted to extend an invitation to be baptized, and said that her family has been wondering for years when the day would be. As she continued to ponder if it was right, the spirit witnessed that it is, and she accepted the invitation. I can't wait for her to continue feeling the power of Christ as she prepares for baptism, and to experience the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Such a blessing is truly one of the greatest gives us.


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This one is a little bit late, but this was getting on the train to come to Stockholm.

May 14, 2018 Stockholm!

Drottninggatan.

Probably the most famous street in Sweden.

By the water.

Stockholm is built on 14 islands, so it's everywhere.

Only a few days have gone by, and I'm already loving Stockholm! It may very well be the most beautiful city in the world, so I pretty much feel like I'm living in a postcard. Our area covers downtown Stockholm, so I'm still just trying to wrap my head around how many people and

View out our apartment window

buildings there are here... I constantly feel like a salmon swimming upstream. There's also a lot of tourists here, so that combined with the warm weather and street vendors sometimes makes it feel like I'm a tourist myself... The area is really nice, and the church rents our apartment from one of the members here (it's not even a whole apartment, it's just the maid's quarters) so it's really small, but it also happens to be on the most expensive street in all of Sweden. Accordingly, on our 5 min walk home from the Tunnelbana stop (like the subway system, but a lot nicer and way cleaner), we walk right past a Ferrari car dealership, and in there are several Ferraris that park on the

A cool church by our apartment

streets nearby along with Lamborghinis, Porsches, Teslas, etc... Yep, it's certainly a slightly different kind of area than my last two. Also, fun fact, the Israeli Ambassador lives one floor above us, so sometimes we see his body guards standing outside our building. I haven't met him yet, but I sure want to.


Being with Elder Baggett has been an absolute blast. If you ask any of the members here, they're pretty quick to tell you he's the funniest missionary they know, and they're not wrong. He's been in Stockholm since Jan 1, so he knows his way around the city pretty well which is super helpful as I'm still just trying to get my bearings... He's also from South Jordan, Utah, so it's been pretty fun to share stories and know where they took place.

 street the YSA center is on

The ward here is fantastic. There were about 80 people in church in Sunday which is really nice because there are plenty of members to get to know and work with, but few enough that it's easier to develop meaningful relationships and interact with all of them. Every member I talked to on Sunday was absolutely amazing, and it turns out President and Sister Youngberg are in our ward! It's kind of weird to be in an area where your mission president comes up to you on Sunday and says, "Hey we saw you out street contacting on Friday!" Remember the primary song "If the Savior Stood Beside Me"? Well that's pretty much what I'm feeling right now.


Not only has the weather has been warming up (it's about 75-80 degrees this week), but missionary work is as well. We've been

Quite literally the only drinking

fountain in Sweden. They just

aren't a thing here for some reason.

meeting some really cool people and we've got a couple awesome investigators we're working with here that I can't wait to meet this week. It's been pretty interesting to see how my different areas and companions have been divinely tailored to me. Sometimes it's difficult to see in the moment, but looking back, I can see exactly why I was in each place at a specific time and what it was the Lord wanted to teach me. With this knowledge, I am incredibly grateful for the chance to be in Stockholm with Elder Baggett, and I look forward to learning that which the Lord would have me learn.


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Last night in Göteborg. We visited some new converts, Emma and Simon :)

 

At the train station

Taken out the train window on the way to Stockholm

Kebab Pizza. This is super popular

here in Sweden, and the missionaries

absolutely love it. It's a thin crust pizza,

with shawarma style meat on, a special

sauce, and fries on it. I don't really know

how to describe it other than a heart attack

on a plate...

May 13, 2018 Mother's day Skype photo

May 7, 2018 Björkö

Last night we had transfer calls! As expected, Sister Eriksson (the only Swedish missionary in the mission) will be going home this transfer, and Sister Heroldsen, another missionary in the district, will be transferring. As not expected, I will also be transferring. We definitely thought the zone leaders were joking, as we really thought I would stay another transfer, but it turns out I will actually be leaving the big city of Göteborg and going to the even bigger city of Stockholm! To make things even more interesting, Göteborg and Stockholm are the only two areas in Sweden with a YSA center, and somehow I am hitting both back to back! I think I am probably the only missionary to have ever managed serving in both, let alone one right after the other...

Due to the unexpected transfer, we decided to hit the biggest item on my bucket list here in Göteborg, visiting one of the islands, Björkö. We left this morning, and after taking a series of busses and a

ferry, we arrived on the island and then proceeded to walk across it. We eventually reached our destination, and as we traveled I looked around and was blown away by the beauty of Göteborg and the perfect weather we were blessed with. While the destination was certainly incredible, I would have to say that the journey there was actually the most enjoyable part, as it allowed me to see and experience such a variety of landscape. I thought of how our lives our similar to our expedition. While our destination is truly grand, we cannot let such future grandeur keep us from experiencing the joy in our journey there. There will certainly be hard times, but we must learn to look around and enjoy the moments that are ours. If we are always looking to some future day, some future event to make us happy, we will miss much of the joy that our Heavenly Father desires us to have.

On Tuesday, Elder Bringhurst and I decided we wanted to find a new investigator (preferably a Swedish family) so we decided to go tracting and thought of where we should go. We felt that we should tract around the house of one of the members in the ward, so we prayed and started biking in that direction. As we were biking, I saw a nice looking area and the scripture came to my mind "It is not needful for mine elders to be moving swiftly...whilst the inhabitants on either side are perishing in unbelief." (D&C 61:3) and that if there is a good area close to our apartment, we should tract there and not be afraid to divert our course even after just a couple minutes of biking. I stopped and asked Elder Bringhurst if we should tract there and he replied that he felt we should. The people in the area were incredibly nice, which gave us many opportunities to testify, and we found a lady named Linda who is interested in learning more about God and our message. She currently doesn't believe in God, but she wants to find out if He exists. We continued tracting the area, and as we walked past a house, Elder Bringhurst saw a lady in a basement window, waved to her, and she smiled back. We knocked on the door and there was no answer, so we knocked again. Still no answer. Disappointed, we continued onward and finished the street. After doing so, Elder Bringhurst said, "I really feel like we need to talk to that lady I waved at. Should we go knock again?" We decided to go back, and right as we approached the door, the woman and her boyfriend came out the door, going for a walk. We started talking to them and had an awesome conversation about faith. When we asked if we could meet again, they said that this is one area of their life they feel like they've got handled, so they weren't interested, but they thanked us for what we're doing. We asked if they had heard of the Book of Mormon, and he said that he actually has a list of books that he wants to read, and the Book of Mormon is on his list! He then added that he would move it to the top of the list because we had talked with him. We asked if he would like a copy, and he happily accepted one along with a card. I will say that there have been few occasions where I have felt more guided by the Lord. As we followed the spirit, we were literally sent to deliver His word to one who had been prepared.


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Our Adventure to Björkö

The sign says "Whatever you do, have fun while you do it" Bj

May 1, 2018 Valborg

Valborg!

Our P-day was moved to Tuesday this week because Elder Renlund came and visited our mission this weekend! He held a devotional Sunday night for all members in Sweden which was broadcast from Stockholm to the other meeting houses, and then he held a meeting exclusively for the missionaries Monday morning. The missionaries in the surrounding areas were invited to attend, but unfortunately we are too far away, so we watched the meeting as a broadcast.

The meeting on Sunday evening was absolutely incredible and exactly what we needed to hear. Elder Renlund actually grew up here in Göteborg (we were hoping he'd come visit his home town, but he

Göteborg

didn't have time...) and served his mission in Sweden as well, so he gave his entire address in Swedish! It was amazing to hear an apostle of the Lord speak in a language other than English, and to be able to understand. His ability to speak the language and his emotions as he told the members that he felt like he had come home was truly special, and all the members feel a deep love for him as "one of their own". He spoke of remembering our conversion to the Lord. We all need to remember the feelings in our hearts and the conviction that was ours when we first came to know that the gospel was true. To have a question is not a problem, but to let our doubts consume us and steer us is. Instead, we must let our questions lead us to seek truth from divine sources. To Oliver Cowdery, who desired an answer to one of his questions, the Lord said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried

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unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things. Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?" (D&C 6:22-23) When Oliver Cowdery had a question, the Lord counseled him to reflect and rely on the witness that he had already received. Once we receive an answer, we should not longer doubt or question, but rather move forward with faith and act in accordance.

The meeting Elder Renlund had with the missionaries on Monday morning was even better. It was incredible to receive instruction from an apostle of the Lord regarding our mission. As one who has both lived and served in Sweden, he is well acquainted with the challenges we face, and was able to give us exactly the counsel we need.

Monday was also the Swedish holiday of Valborg! The tradition is to "burn away winter", so they gather a bunch of dead-fall from the forest and make massive bonfires. (Now that's spring cleaning done the right way...) We met with the YSA at one of the parks, had some food, and watched them light the fire. Naturally it was also pouring rain, so we were absolutely soaked, but this didn't deter them from lighting the fire anyways. It was probably the closest thing I'll ever see to Elijah calling down fire on the altar soaked with water...

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