December 17, 2018 Christmas is Coming!

Us and the Sisters with Elder Carlsson in Stocholm

On Monday we flew down to Stockholm for MLC, and it just so happened that one of the young men in the ward, who had just been set apart as Elder Carlsson, was heading to the MTC (he'll be serving in Russia) at the same time. We got to escort him down to the mission home in Stockholm where he spent the night and then went on to Salt Lake. Half the branch showed up at the airport in Umeå to say goodbye, and I have to say, it was really cool to be a missionary and yet see a missionary off like that and help him on the first leg of his journey.

On Thursday we got to visit a Santa Lucia, a Swedish Holiday, performance in another church. It's

Santa Lucia

essentially a choir that sings traditional songs to Lucia, as well as Christmas songs, with lots and lots of candles.

On Saturday we had our branch Christmas party! We had placed a heavy emphasis on inviting everybody we could, and we ended up with a great turn out. We had a few people we're teaching show up, and one of them, Ann, brought a friend along. They both asked a lot of questions during dinner, and her friend, Annette, was impressed by our commitment to come to Sweden for two years to share the gospel. We shared with her how the gospel has blessed us in our lives, which ended up in us teaching her the restoration right then and there and giving her a Book of Mormon. She said she would like to meet us again to learn more, but will be busy until the New Year. We'll be keeping her in our prayers, and can't wait to teach her more :)

Well, we're heading down to Stockholm again tonight. We will be on exchanges tomorrow, and then we have zone conference combined with the Stockholm Zone one Wednesday. On Thursday I will

The branch Christmas party

then be heading up to Skellefteå, an hour and a half north of Umeå, so it will be quite the week travelling all over Sweden! I won't be emailing next week, as Christmas here is actually celebrated on Christmas Eve, so I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!!


Äldste Sirrine

December 10, 2018 You never know how much good you do

Elder Ellis in the middle of town.

Before all the snow came.

This week we had transfers, and Elder Simmons transferred to Gotland. He will be serving as the first counselor in the branch presidency there, and to make it all better, he's going to be with my son, Elder Bills! I'm so excited for the two of them to be together, and I'm excited to now be with Elder Ellis! Elder Ellis is from Seattle, Washington, and so far we've had an absolute blast together. I can't wait to see what happens this transfer.

We got a bunch of snow this week, and fun fact about Sweden, they don't really plow the roads. It's made driving pretty fun and interesting! There are roundabouts everywhere, so if I wasn't a

missionary I would probably sharpen up my drifting skills. Thankfully our car handles the snow surprisingly well, so we haven't had any problems. Unfortunately it was raining today, so most of it has now melted...

Yesterday I had one of the greatest experiences of my mission.

A couple months ago, I let a missionary back in the Stockholm area borrow my pair of white pants for a baptism, and I just realized a few weeks ago I had never gotten them back. President Youngberg came to our branch yesterday to visit, so I asked if I could call the area and coordinate the return of my pants. I had thought about doing so many times before, but for some reason it wasn't until yesterday that I actually called. When the elder in that area answered the phone, he informed me that he had just interviewed Henrik, who I had found in taught in Stockholm, for baptism. He asked if I would like to talk to him, and before I could say anything, the phone was put on speaker and I heard Henrik say, "Hey, Sirrine!"

I had absolutely no idea his baptismal interview was yesterday, in fact, I had sent him an email last Monday encouraging him to keep pressing forward, but had received no response, so I wondering how it was all going. I got to talk with Henrik for a few minutes, and Henrik reported that his baptismal interview had gone well, and I was able to congratulate him (and request that pictures from the baptismal service be sent my way). I was grateful that the Lord worked out the timing so I could share that special moment with him. Henrik is one of my closest friends here in Sweden, and knowing that he's doing so well filled me with indescribable joy. We truly have no idea just how much good we do, but every once and a while the Lord will give us a glimpse.

Äldste Sirrine

 

Waiting in the airport for the 

arrival of Elder Ellis. 

There was nobody there.

Delivering cookies and Christmas party

 invitations to people we're teaching

December 3, 2018 Fencing with Gardar

Fencing

On Thursday we got to try fencing! Now I've done a lot of fencing before, that is, building and repairing fences, but this was the kind with swords and masks. The sisters are teaching a man named Gardar, who's a fencing instructor, so he offered to host an activity for the young adults in the branch. Gardar is absolutely amazing, he comes to church every week and is even in the branch choir. To be honest, I thought he was a member for my first two weeks here in Umeå... Fencing was one of the coolest things I've ever done, but while I did okay against the other missionaries, I stood no chance when it came to fencing with Gardar. I had no idea a 50 year old man could move that fast...

Speaking of cool guys, we have a senior couple who just returned from the temple in Stockholm, and they're spiritual powerhouses! They came with us on a lesson this week, and the testimony they shared was incredible. On top of that, his name is Torbjörn (prounounced Tor-byearn), which is quite possibly the coolest name ever. Tor=Thor and Björn=Bear.

On Saturday we got to kick off Light the World by participating in the world-wide day of service! A member has a cousin who was moving across town, so we were able to help them together with several members and a few investigators! We were glad to have something to do, because it's pretty difficult to find service projects in Sweden. People here are really helpful, so they don't like to accept help, and the state takes care of pretty much everything else, so it's tough to find ways to serve in the community. They're also suspicious of church groups, so if you do find service, it is just as a "good group of friends". It was awesome to have a service project on Saturday, and it definitely helped usher in the Christmas spirit!

As we've been sharing Light the World with the people here in Umeå, I've had some time to reflect on the life of service the Savior lived. Even in the most difficult of circumstances, he reached out to serve and lift others. As Matthew described, "he cast out the [evil] spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." (Matthew 8:16-17) Each sickness and infirmity He healed then, and continues to heal today, were borne personally by Him. I am humbled to know that a God, the very creator of the world, would allow himself to be born in the most humble of circumstances and subject himself to the wickedness of the world. Yet despite all this, He did it for "the joy that was set before him" (Hebrews 12:2). He finds great joy, perfect joy, in helping us and promises the same if we will head his call to follow him. I encourage all to do so this Christmas season by participating in Light the World (lighttheworld.org) and giving has he gave. I add my witness that we will be filled with the joy of Christ and come closer to Him as we do so.

Äldste Sirrine

Dinner with Shahin, Shoku, and Artin. 

We had carrot juice for dessert :)