June 25, 2018 Midsommar!

Making the maypole

Elder Bills and I 

in front of the maypole

Well this week I got my new companion, Elder Bills, who I'll be training! He comes from Peoria, Arizona, and before the mission he attended BYU for a year where he actually competed in swimming. He had to wait for his visa, so after finishing at the MTC he served in the Yakima Washington mission for a transfer. Despite any sort of jet lag, he's got a lot of energy and works harder than just about any missionary I've met, so we haven't slowed down a bit. It's been a lot of fun to share some Swedish traditions with him and get to show him around the beautiful city of Stockholm.

On Friday we celebrated the Swedish holiday Midsommar Eve. It's by far the most celebrated holiday in Sweden, and unique to the Nordic countries, so it was a lot of fun to participate in. The church started a yearly Midsommar celebration a few years back in Tyresta By, a national park about an hour south of Stockholm, which has grown into one of the

biggest celebrations in Sweden, and all the missionaries in the Stockholm area were in attendance, about 30 in total. Throughout the morning they have little games and activities the kids can do, and the adults make the Maypole. We actually got to assist in the making of the Maypole, which including stripping green branches off of trees they had cut down and tying them to the frame of the Maypole. After wrapping branches around the Maypole everybody goes into the meadows, picks flowers, and weaves them onto the pole. Around 2:30, they raise the maypole, after which everyone gathers around it and dances to traditional Swedish songs. After the dancing, they have a few more activities, the

Tug of War

highlight being a tug of war competition (or "dragkamp" in Swedish). You were allowed to make teams of ten, so naturally the missionaries assembled the dream team to represent. We had a good run, and made it to the semi-finals where we finally lost to a team that broke the rules by having 21 people on it... Let's just say they were determined to beat us. Although we put up a good fight, we ended up barely losing, which I'm convinced was actually caused by the bad footing created by wearing dress shoes.

Midsommar is in coordination with the Summer Solstice, June 21, the day with the most amount of sunlight for the year. June 21 was on Thursday, and being so far North, the sun rose at 3:31 and set at 10:08. Missionary work is pretty fun when the sun is always up.

Dancing around the maypole

On the way to church yesterday we had a pretty cool experience. We showed up at Stockholms Östrastation and were waiting for the train by track 4 when a member showed up. I was so focused on our conversation that I missed the fact that the train came in on the other track. It had said that it would come in on track 4, but it switched to track 5, and I had no idea. By the time I realized, we went to get on the train and the doors shut right as we got there and the train left.... I was kinda disappointed, but the next train would get us there just in time for Sacrament Meeting, so it would all work out. The amazing part is that when we got on the train, we told we told the member we were going to go talk with someone, so we sat down next to a girl and started a conversation. Her name is Cassandra, and it turns out that she lived in Thailand for 6 months and is now Buddhist. We asked a lot about her faith, and told her a lot about ours as well. We told her about the Book of Mormon, and she was interested, so we gave her a copy and a card. I know without a doubt that God wanted us to talk with her, and he truly directed our path, even though it may have seemed like an inconvenience at the time. I'm grateful that as we were willing to open our mouths, he truly filled them and made us His messengers.

Äldste Sirrine

Hiking to the coast to fish with a member

Fishing

We were getting off the bus when we 

heard the driver announce, "If you 

look to the right, you'll see a dog sitting

 on a motorcycle." He wasn't wrong.

June 18, 2018 It's an Elder!

The view from one of our member's apartment... 

They live on the 16th floor, right above Central Station in the heart of Stockholm.

I found out this past week that I'll be training a new elder these next two transfers! He will be one of three new missionaries coming into the mission this transfer, and I'll pick him up on Wednesday. We had a meeting last Thursday for the three of us who will be training new missionaries, and it was the first time this meeting has ever been held over Skype. Normally, all the missionaries travel into

On Thursday, the missionaries in the 

Stockholm and Stockholm South Zones 

planted  3500 flowers at the temple!

Stockholm to receive such training, but in order to save time and money our mission president decided to start doing it over Skype. God has one purpose, "To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39), and this was just one example of how the Lord has given us technology to further his work and achieve His purpose. The other two trainers, Elder Jarman and Elder Steele, are both currently serving in Norrland (northern Sweden) so both would have had to take a plan to Stockholm in order to attend the training. Being able to hold the training over Skype enabled them to stay in their areas, and gave them more time to proselyte and serve others there. In addition to this training, starting this transfer, all of our weekly district meetings will be held over Skype as well. This change will significantly impact the mission, as many companionships had to travel an hour or more each way to attend such meetings.

This last week I went on splits twice, one of them being with the office elders, in the mission office. As part of the work that day, we went through and organized records in the attic of the office, and we

While in the office on splits,  we had to unload

 a crate of boxes containing copies of the Book 

of Mormon. Unfortunately, it had gotten wet in

transport, so we were tasked with drying them.

 I never thought I would use a blow dryer on a 

Book of Mormon...

found some pretty interesting records that went back quite a ways. The church in Sweden has a long history itself, and the mission here was established in 1905, so there were many records to accompany such a rich history. One of the interesting records I found was actually a letter from 1963 announcing the addition of Thomas S. Monson to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. I was informed by Elder Lee that the oldest record he's seen in the office dates back to 1890, and it was fascinating to see glimpses of the history of the church in Sweden since then.

Our investigator Erik has taught himself yoga for the past six years, and is incredibly good at it, so we had him teach us a little this week. Not going to lie, it was probably one of the more painful experiences I've had in a while, but they say it's good for you, so I guess I just need to do it more? All pain is good pain coach... Anyways, as we did yoga, Erik asked us a few questions about missionary life, and he was both surprised and impressed by our "strict" lifestyle. I told him that for me, it all comes down to the Atonement of Jesus Christ which was performed for all people regardless of who they are or what they've done. Such a miraculous act of love enables Him to fulfill the

Doing yoga with Erik

marvelous promise we read in Mosiah 2:22, "All that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you." He desires to bless us, and all we must do to receive His blessings is keep his commandments. There is therefore no greater work to be engaged in than to make His commandments known to all, so that they might also experience the richness of blessings I have experienced.

Äldste Sirrine

Exploring Gamla Stan

 

We visited the Army Museum for P-day today

June 11, 2018 "Are you guys playing today?"

Wednesday was Sweden's National Day, so we baked a whole

bunch of cinnamon rolls with a member family and then

took them to people in the area.

Delivering the cinnamon rolls with our ward mission leader, Jerry.

"Playing what?" That was the question that ran through my mind when a man wearing nothing but a bath robe walked up to us in the middle of Central Station and asked me if we were playing.

Just the night before, we had promised to give the guitar in our apartment to the zone leaders, seeing as how neither Elder Baggett or I can play the guitar, and had decided to meet at Central Station where they would be transferring trains that morning. We were waiting for them in the middle of Central Station when suddenly we saw a man dressed only in a bath robe and a pair of flip flops walk by. Elder Baggett and I turned to each other and began speculating on what the cause of such an outfit could be, and determined that he probably lived in one of the apartments above the station and had come down to get a morning coffee or something similar. Right as we reached this conclusion, the man showed up right behind us and asked, "Are you guys playing today?" I was really confused, wondering what we were supposed to be playing, when I realized that Elder Baggett was holding the guitar in his hand. We began to explain that we couldn't play, that we were just giving it to a friend, when the zone leaders appeared. As it happens, Elder Strong can play the guitar really well, so the man asked if he could play a church song. He played and sang"I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus", after which the man suggested he play it again and we could all sing this time. Without skipping a beat, Elder Strong started playing again and there we were, four missionaries and a man wearing a bath robe, playing the guitar and singing "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus" in the middle of Central Station. Looks like I can check that off the bucket list!

The Stockholm temple is closed for the month of June for deep cleaning and renovation, so all the

Sweden Stockholm Temple

missionaries with and SL card (Stockholm Transportation card) were assigned different shifts to help clean. It was my first time going to the temple in Sweden, and it was pretty amazing. As we walked to the temple from the train stop, I realized that it has been about 10 months since I have even seen a temple, and coming from Utah that's not something I'm used to. It's hard to describe the feeling I had just by seeing the temple, and then to go in and serve within its walls, even while under construction. I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity we had to serve there, the beauty and peace that comes from the temple is truly a blessing.

Our investigator Erik came to church yesterday! He had gotten back from a road trip Sunday morning at 5 AM after driving all night, but we invited him to come if he was feeling up for it, and he told us he would love to. We had testimony meeting because they reorganized our bishopric last week, so I had the opportunity to bear testimony along with many others. Just before the meeting ended, Erik stood up and walked to the front to bear his testimony. He expressed gratitude for the witnesses that had been borne, and encouraged the members to continue pressing forward in faith. It was exactly the message we all needed to hear, and I was amazed that he had shared it. Honestly, if I attended another church's services, I would listen and appreciate, but I probably wouldn't get up and talk in front of everybody... His participation didn't stop there though, he stayed for the next two hours and contributed several comments in class as well, helping to strengthen and uplift others.

The greatest blessing of being a missionary is the privilege of seeing the Atonement of Jesus Christ work miracles in the lives of so many. He truly has the ability to make weak things strong unto us, to turn mistakes that might consume us with pain and guilt into sacred moments of instruction and strength. I have seen this power change and empower the lives of those who are willing to humbly follow Him, and I have felt it in my own life as well.


Äldste Sirrine

A car outside our apartment

Studenten. This is the Swedish tradition that accompanies 

graduation from high school. Everybody gets in the back 

of trucks with loud speakers playing music and more beer 

than they know what to do with. They then proceed to drive 

around the city drinking and spraying beer everywhere...

June 4, 2018 Livin' the summer life of Stockholm

Playing Kubb (a Swedish game) at the picnic

The Beach

This week we got to spend a lot of time serving and being with members. We helped two members move, and then we had a ward picnic at the beach! There were a lot of people at the beach, and everybody was in a swimsuit, so we felt pretty out of place in our white shirts and ties... The funny thing is that I have gotten so used to being out of place that I didn't even notice how weird we looked until one of the other missionaries said something about it. The good news is that we made it pretty easy for all those who came to find the ward because we were the only group with five guys in white shirts (the other companionship in the area is a trio). We were blessed with great weather, which I have been told is very unusual for this time of year. We have had the warmest May on record (it's been about 84 degrees) and yesterday was the first time it's rained since I got to Stockholm, so it's been about a

Hiking to the ward picnic

month. Apparently it's actually been warmer here in Sweden than anywhere else in Europe, including the popular vacation destination of Spain. We've definitely been enjoying the nice weather and sun while we have it! Currently the sun goes down at 10 pm and comes back up at 3:50 am, which is pretty crazy. Sometimes it makes it tough to keep track of time when you're out working at 8:30 and the sun is still up and bright...

Yesterday at church our bishopric was reorganized. We have fantastic members in the ward, and the new bishopric is absolutely amazing. The only way I can accurately describe how excited I am to be working with them is to say that they are truly the "Dream Team". I know without a doubt that the Lord has called each one of them at this time for a specific reason, and each of them has a love for missionary work that will truly help to build the kingdom of God here in Stockholm.

We had Zone Conference this week, and the highlight was definitely watching The Lion King. Yes, we watched the Lion King. To be fair, it was only a five minute segment, the part where Simba sees Mufasa in the sky, but we were asked to identify every gospel principle we saw and then to think how it applies to us. It was actually an incredible activity that taught me a surprising amount about the gospel, and I would highly recommend it to all.

Apparently Erik owns 

a samurai sword

Last week we got to teach a new investigator, Erik. We met him while contacting, which was a miracle in it's truest sense. We had gone out that day doing our very best to follow the guidance of the spirit, and were about to talk to someone else when we saw him sitting on a bench and felt the prompting to talk with him instead. We did so, and our conversation led to an opportunity to teach him this past week. We met him at his apartment, and it turns out he really likes yoga (he's taught himself for the past six years) so he taught us proper posture and we sat on the floor as we taught him. We were pretty surprised to find out he had already read the first two chapters of the Book of Mormon and said he had "complete faith in the book". He really liked our lesson, and yesterday we got a text from him saying he would appreciate to meet us again, so we're teaching him again tonight.

Äldste Sirrine

Grilling at one of the member's house

Fjällräven backpacks at Naturkompaniet. 

Fjällräven is a super nice Swedish brand 

that makes outdoor products...

The Stockholm Marathon that went right 

past our apartment on Saturday!

A few days ago this yacht equipped with a helicopter 

showed up in the harbor. We're still debating what

 it's used for...