July 23, 2018 Service gets 'em every time

We were at a members house, and he showed us his 

typewriter he got on his mission! He still uses it because 

he doesn't have a printer, and he let us try it out as well!

This week was full of service! We got to help some members hang black-out blinds in their bed rooms because, as it turns out, it's slightly difficult to sleep when it's light at 3 am. It's been a while since I've gotten to use a drill and other tools, so I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Unfortunately it's been really hot lately, and no buildings have AC, so we've faced the dilemma of either sleeping with our window open, thus letting air in but also letting the light in at 3 am, or to sleep with our window closed and face the heat. We've decided to take the heat, and in response, I have started to freeze water bottles that I sleep with. I have to say, it's actually a pretty solid solution and rather therapeutic. I highly recommend it if you ever face such a situation. Besides not having AC, Sweden also has no irrigation systems because the summer is usually really rainy and cool. This is the hottest and driest summer they have recorded, so the grass has all died and the leaves are starting to fall off of the trees because they have no way to water and it has only rained once in the last 2 months.... But hey, we're just pretty happy it's not like last summer where there were only about 4 days of sunshine the whole summer!

On Thursday evening we wanted to invite Gabriel to Sports Night in Gubbängen so he could get to know some members and have some fun, but his phone had died so we couldn't get a hold of him in

time. At first we were a little disappointed, but we decided to go tracting and use the time we had to the best of our abilities with faith that we might find a new investigator. We headed to Lidingö with the intent to get off the train at Torsvik and Tract in that area because it's close to our apartment, so it would be easy to swing by those who say we can come back. We felt the spirit confirm that it was right, so we started traveling to the area. We were talking to a man on the train when the Torsvik stop came up, so we gave him our card and went to go out the door. When we got to the door, we found it was broken and we needed to go to the next. By the time we made it to the next door, the train had already started going again and we were stuck on it. We were a little surprised and disappointed, but we decided it would take too much time to try to go back to Torsvik, so we called an audible and decided to continue to Larsberg, an area we had tracted a little bit a few weeks ago. Upon arriving in the area, we knocked on the very first door and were met by what must be the nicest man I have ever tracted into. His name is Jesper, and our conversation was actually started by Elder Bills commenting on his motorcycle, and then after a time I noticed he had a pile of boards and a saw laying in his yard, so I asked him if he was building something. He responded that he was building a deck, and

Helping Jesper build his deck!

continued to talk about his other projects and things around the house that he had built himself. I wanted to ask if we could help, but the thought came to mind that he would probably say he didn't need any, and then the spirit put into my mind what I should say instead, "I enjoy doing such projects myself! If we we were to come next time you are working on the deck, would you be willing to teach us a little bit and let us help?" He responded that we could certainly come by, and then added that he would actually be working on the deck the next morning at about 9:30. We told him we would be there, and the next morning we showed up to help. We ended up helping him for about two hours by screwing the wood planks into place to form the surface of the deck. To be honest I was a little surprised that he trusted us with such work, but by the end we had a great friendship and were able to explain that we do such service because we believe in Jesus Christ and try to follow his example. We asked if we could come back and help again, and then we asked if we could share more about our faith the next time. He said that he would be interested in learning more about our beliefs, so we will be returning again to teach him and his wife. I sincerely doubt he would have let us into his home if we had simply introduced ourselves at his door as missionaries and asked if we could share a message about Jesus Christ.

However, just as King Lamoni noticed something different in the service of Ammon, this man was able notice something different in us that has created a curiosity and receptiveness for the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we serve others and "hold up the light" of the gospel, we will presented with opportunities to share it. As Elder Holland has said, "If we listen with love, we won’t need to wonder what to say. It will be given to us—by the Spirit and by our friends”



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Gabriel got locked out of his apartment, so we found him outside when we showed up for our lesson. After considering several different options, we concluded the best way was for us to help him break into his apartment by lifting him up so he could climb to his open window and retrieve the keys. No Gabriels were harmed in the process.

July 16, 2018 I thought Sweden was supposed to be cold...

We went on a boat ride for P-day. Enjoy some pictures of Stockholm!

Despite Sweden typically being cold and rainy, this has been the warmest, driest summer Sweden has seen in quite a long time, and the lack of water is causing some problems. Interestingly enough, it seems like that's what I heard about the weather every year in Utah while growing up, so maybe the weather just follows me... Either way, it's certainly been nice to have such warm weather, but hopefully we get a little rain soon.

Traveling to 

ZoneConference 

with Elder Bills!

This week we had zone conference, and we had the privilege of learning Swedish from a Swedish lady who translates general conference and hymns for the church. To help us understand in a small way what we might sound like to Swedes, she read the text from the hymn "Oh say, what is truth?" with Swedish pronunciation. Despite being familiar with the song, and the text being in English, it was nearly unrecognizable when she read it in that manner. She then pointed out that Swedes would have just as hard a time understanding us if we try to pronounce Swedish words with English pronunciation. The lesson was profound, and she then proceeded to teach us the correct pronunciation of Swedish letters. While I've certainly learned pronunciation before, it was good practice and had a different meaning coming from a Swede who is so capable in the language. I was grateful for her and her husbands willingness to give up an afternoon to serve the missionaries by helping with such a major and important part of our work.

During zone conference, President also talked about Elder Uchtdorfs training for all the new mission Presidents this year where he talked about the bulls eye of missionary work. Elder Uchtdorf said that while our purpose is "To invite others to come unto Christ by helping the received the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.", that is simply the target. The Bullseye would be Matthew 22:37, "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." and that because "Upon these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets", everything we do as missionaries should be because of our love for the Savior and His children.

Things are going really well here in Stockholm, and we've been continuing to teach and help several people, including Gabriel and Erik. Earlier this week we felt we needed to go visit Erik, so we went to his place, and upon arriving he told us that it had been a really rough week for him. He was grateful to see us though, and he was more receptive than ever to our message, which offered hope and peace. Later that day he sent us a text saying he was really grateful we had come by, that it had really helped him feel better, and then later this week he introduced us to one of his friends, Hanna, because he wanted us to be able to help her also. She was quite interested in what we had to say, and we'll be meeting her again this week or next to continue sharing the gospel with her. Erik also introduced us to one of his other friends, Henrik, who seemed super awesome and wants to learn more as well. In addition to starting to teach some of these new people, two of our investigators are coming back from a month and a half long vacation in the US, so things are about to get even busier.... Is that even possible? I guess we'll see... Erik and Gabriel both came to church on Sunday, and then we were able to take Gabriel to a members house after church for dinner. The members live at the top of one of the tallest buildings right in the middle of Stockholm, so we were able to have a really nice rooftop dinner with them which was pretty awesome. Gabriel seemed to fit right in, and afterwords he told me that everything he heard throughout the day, both at church and at dinner, seemed to be directed right toward him. He says he's still just dumbfounded by the fact that he had absolutely no belief in God about three weeks ago and is now certain of his reality. He is just one evidence that God will reveal himself to us as we sincerely seek Him.

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Missionaries from my MTC group, plus Elder Bills

July 9, 2018 Heja Sverige!

Watching the World Cup

Last week we got one of the most surprising texts I have received on my mission. The text came from our mission president, and he was giving all the missionaries permission to watch the Sweden vs England match in the World Cup! It was the World Cup quarter finals, and literally everyone who wasn't working would be watching it, so we were allowed to view it with members as way to participate in a major cultural activity and develop relationships with ward members as well. Unfortunately Sweden lost, but it was still a great experience and a lot of fun.

Despite living in Sweden, we managed to have not just one, but two fourth of July celebrations! The first came in the form of a red, white, and blue cake a member made for us after we helped paint

Our Fourth of July cake

some chairs for them, and the second was dinner with an American family. The mom works at the American embassy, so it's hard to get more American than that! There were no fireworks, but otherwise it was just as good as the real thing back home!

This week we have witnessed the hand of the Lord in many different aspects of the work, including finding a new investigator. On Sunday, July 1st, we were on the train to go to a members house for dinner, and we met a guy named Gabriel. As we talked with him, he said he had read the Bible about two weeks ago, but he thought it was all made up, so he put it to the side. He then continued to say that since reading the Bible, a bunch of things have happened that have made him start to think that God is trying to find him, and then all of a sudden we show up. He was definitely shocked by our appearance, and when we asked if he believed in God, he said that he believes in God, because a bunch of crazy things have happened recently, but he doesn't know too much. We told him that we had a message for him, and he was curious to hear it, but his stop was coming up so we had to exchange phone numbers quite literally as he was running out the door. We went to dinner, and the members would have given us a ride home afterword, but their car had gotten a flat tire, so we had to take the train. We hadn't been on the train too long when suddenly Gabriel got on as well, and his face when he saw us was absolutely priceless. He came directly over to us and we continued our conversation, this time getting his address and setting up a meeting for Tuesday at 11. Excited for the opportunity to teach him, we gave him a text on Tuesday morning to confirm the appointment, but we received no answer. Hopeful he just hadn't seen the message we traveled to his apartment and were there at the appointed time. Naturally there was a port code, quite possilbly my least favorite device ever created, so we gave him a call, but got no answer. There wasn't much we could do, and then suddenly a Postnord man (mailman) showed up and let us into the building. The people that work at Postnord are seriously angels in disguise. They only go to a building one time per day, but it seems to always happen when we're locked out and need to get inside a building. We got inside the building, and had a list of all the residents, but it was by last name, which we didn't have... Suddenly we had the idea to try finding him on Facebook by searching the name Gabriel with every last name on the list. There were a lot of names on the list, and it seemed unlikely, but it was worth a try. After some time, I offered a prayer that we might be guided to the right name on the list so we wouldn't have to try every single one, and after trying just two more names we heard someone coming down the stairs who turned out to be our man Gabriel. He was excited to see us, and explained that he had lost his phone, so there was no way to contact us, but he had come down the stairs in the hope of finding us. He also added that he never gives his address out, but was glad he had, otherwise we would not have been able to come. As we began to teach him, he said there was no doubt in his mind that God exists after everything that had happened, and he wanted to know why God had sent us. We taught him about the Book of Mormon and how to pray, the means of communication God has provided for us to find such an answer for ourselves. The way Gabriel put it, he wants to find the truth and will look under every stone to find it, and it's my testimony that such a sincere seeker will surely find.

Gabriel also came on Saturday morning to play soccer with the ward, and then later to the Karlssons house with us to watch the World Cup match Saturday afternoon. We got a text from him before the World Cup match asking if he could bring his older brother, Kim, and we replied that we'd love to

Sanding/painting chairs for some members

have him along as well. They both really enjoyed watching the game with us, and Gabriel told us the next day at church the reason he had invited his brother. He said, "I was just going to come, but then a thought out of nowhere hit me that I should invite my brother. He's been having a really tough time, and doesn't think anyone cares about him, so I wanted to show him that people do in fact love him and care for him." The love of Jesus Christ is made manifest through our actions, and although we may not think anyone notices, they do. Gabriel certainly noticed the love that comes from the ward members, or he would not have thought to invite his brother to feel of it. I'm grateful that Gabriel could feel our love for him, and that the members treated him with the same love the Savior has for each of us. We learn in Mosiah 2:17 that "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God." Sometimes the best way to do missionary work is to simply to live our faith and follow the example of Jesus Christ by loving others.

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We saw this car right outside our apartment

(the door in the background is ours). The 

look on Elder Bills face accurately 

describes our reaction :)

Elder Bills gave his first talk

 in Swedish, so I was helping

 him correct the Swedish

July 2, 2018 Teslas and Bug Spray

Driving to church with Erik! 

Don't worry, the car was driving itself, so Erik 

could spare a few moments to look at the camera.

The highlight of the week was definitely driving to church. We asked Erik, who we've been teaching, if he would be able to make it to church, and he replied that he'd love to come and then offered us a ride. Getting a ride to church with someone we're teaching would be pretty awesome in any case, but it was made about 7 times better by the fact that he has a Tesla Model X. The ride was pretty cool, but in all seriousness, it was just amazing to have Erik in church for the second time. Interestingly enough, it happened to be testimony meeting just like the last time he came, and he even got up and bore his testimony again.

We were out tracting last Tuesday and ran into an older lady who talked to us for quite a while. She

Exchanges with Elder Butler

wasn't too interested in our message, but we've been looking for more opportunities to serve, so we asked if there was anything we could do. She was a little surprised at our offer and said she didn't know if there was anything, so we told her we'd be back next Tuesday and asked her to think of something we could do. She laughed a little bit and said okay, but I don't think she's really expecting us to come back, so she's in for a surprise this Tuesday when we show up at her door. Every Swede will tell you that Swedish people are really bad at accepting help, which we have definitely noticed in our efforts to find service, so we're hoping and praying that she'll actually let us help her with something.

On Friday we had the chance to go on a hike with the young men. They're preparing for a backpacking tip, and one of the boys we've been trying to get back to church decided to go, so we were able to help him and get to know him better along the way. Before we started the hike, the young men's leader informed us that their would be a quite a few mosquitoes along the way. All knowing the pain and irritation of a mosquito bite, we all applied bug spray. About halfway through

The young men's hike

the hike, I realized that I hadn't noticed any mosquitoes biting me, and became slightly disappointed that I had applied the bug spray which didn't exactly smell or feel the best. Seeking to confirm my suspicions, I payed closer attention, and I was surprised to realize that there really were mosquitoes, the bug spray was just actually doing it's job! How often do we have these thoughts about the commandments of the Lord? Just as bug spray, the commandments are designed to protect us from the pain caused by sin, but do we ever start to think, "I've been keeping this commandment, but it doesn't seem as though anything bad would happen if I didn't. It would sure be simpler if I didn't have to do this..."? It's easy to think this, we probably all have, but perhaps the reason nothing bad has happened is because the commandment is actually doing it's job! There's essentially two ways we can come to know if bug spray works. We can either go without it, get a few painful bites that annoy us to the point of submission, and apply it in frustration only to come to realize that it works and wish that we had used it the whole time, or we can trust the loving young men's leader who knows the pain and promises that we can avoid it simply by using the bug spray. So it is with the commandments. We can choose to experience the pain of sin ourselves, or we can choose to rely on the promise of our loving Father in Heaven who gives us commandments and tells us that they are the way to the greatest happiness in life.

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