January 28, 2019 9 advantages of winter I bet you've never thought of

Elder Ellis and I

Our apartment building

Well, we've been doing a lot of finding work recently, and we've met a lot of people who have expressed interest in learning more about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope and pray that they continue to act on that interest and we're able to meet them and teach them further. One of the guys we met looked just like a viking. Like no joke, he had a full beard and a sweet man-bun. I thought that he was 30 years old, but then he told us that he was only 17... Every once and a while you meet some people here that just make you glad you that you don't live a couple hundred years ago in a village being raided by the vikings. That would be pretty scary.

All the snow we've gotten has given us some good opportunities serve others by shoveling snow. One of my favorite occasions was when an older lady in the ward (whom we are ministering brothers for)

called us and asked us if we could come shovel her driveway. We attempted our best to coordinate a time with her over the phone, but she just kept saying, "I don't understand you. I don't have my hearing aids in." The lesson in all this? Don't call someone without first turning on your hearing aids. That seems like a pretty important part to having a conversation with someone :)

When most of you think of being a missionary in northern Sweden, you probably think about how cold or dark it is. First off, I can confirm that it's cold (last night it was -15 degrees F, and it hasn't gotten above 0F in about two weeks). However, let me enlighten you on all the things you probably don't think of when it comes to winter.
1. Your white shirt stays clean. With 1-2 layers of thermals, then a white shirt, then a sweater, and then a coat, your white shirt doesn't ever touch anything, thus staying significantly cleaner.
2. On the subject of clothes, you can wear a sweater at all times (super comfortable), and the tie becomes your best friend as it acts like a scarf and holds in the heat.
3. You look forward to clouds! It makes it warmer :)
4. No bugs. Northern Sweden has some huge mosquitoes, but when it's cold, everybody is just happy it's "myggfritt" (mosquito free)
5. The area just before and after a speed bump collects snow, so you don't have to slow down as much :)
6. There are free ice rinks everywhere. We can't use this one as missionaries, but still pretty cool. Hockey is kinda a big deal here.
7. People are always dressed modestly outside. Here in Sweden, it's pretty much no clothes (summer time) or all the clothes in the closet worn at once (winter time).
8. If you don't have enough room in your freezer, put it on your balcony. This is a serious plus that we've been taking full advantage of.
9. You can walk, even drive at times over ice. #shortcuts (The ice is so thick, they legitimately make "ice bridges" by plowing and marking roads straight on the surface of ice of large lakes.)

The list goes on and on, but those are just some of my favorites. Sure it's winter time, what's not to like?


Äldste Sirrine

 

Splits with the Elders in Sundvall