June 24, 2019 "That was Romney time"

Elder Clarke and I

Well, here I am at the start of my last week in the mission field. It's impossible to describe the roller coaster of time experienced on the mission, with certain days and weeks feeling like an eternity and others feeling like the snap of your fingers. Regardless of all that, the overall feeling is one of pure amazement, having no idea how I am already reaching the end of two years. I'm not alone in this feeling, and will be accompanied by 21 other missionaries leaving the Sweden Stockholm mission and heading home next week. This is directly following the departure of 18 missionaries last transfer. Considering the fact that our mission only has about 100 missionaries, this is a rather large chunk of missionaries and has created some interesting challenges. Several areas in the mission won't have missionaries for the next 3 months, so to prepare for this change several missionaries had to move areas this last week. As a result of this, I got a new companion, Elder Clarke, for my last week and a half here in Sweden.

We've been together for a few days now, and have discovered that we are almost the exact same person. Our personalities, opinions, and ideas are so similar I'm starting to wonder how it's possible. Elder Clarke comes from American Fork and has been a missionary for about 11 months now. He's got incredible Swedish and loves being out among the people here and talking with them.

This week we celebrated Midsommar, a Swedish holiday almost as largely celebrated as Christmas.

The maypole we built. It might not be the best,

 but we made do with what we had...

We had a party with the branch here where we built a small maypole and grilled a bunch of food. It was a lot of fun.

Yesterday we saw some incredible miracles and found two new people to teach. The first is a woman we found by knocking on her door a couple weeks ago but haven't really had a chance to teach her. She's had an operation on her neck recently and has had a difficult time recovering, so we asked if we could share as scripture and read Alma 7:11-13 with her. We testified of the Atonement, and as we did so she talked about how good it felt. It was really cool to hear how good it felt to her, because she describes her faith as being in a higher power, but consisting of the parts from many other faiths that feel right. She asked about our belief in the afterlife, so we asked if we could return to teach her about it and scheduled a return appointment. Before we left she thanked us for coming and said, "It might sound weird, but you guys literally shine from within. I'm not sure what it is, but I've seen it even since the first time I met you."

Last night we were going by some people the missionaries had met before and saw a house for which the only record we had was "Ask about his 32 cars." We were pretty curious, so we decided to give it a try. The man we met didn't remember ever meeting the missionaries before, but when he saw the Book of Mormon in our hands, he got really excited and told us that he had some ancestors who became members in the 1800's and emigrated to Utah. He said he wants to visit some day and do some research to learn more about them. We told him about the family history center here and hardly finished before he started asking us about the Book of Mormon. Long story short, we ended up teaching him the entire restoration while standing there in his backyard. After teaching him, we asked about his cars and he just seemed to light up. He showed us several of his cars, old American classics that he's restored, and told us how he started an American Motors club here in Karlstad. He started telling us all about George Romney, Mitt Romney's father, who was the president of American Motors and had written some sort of biography that he had read. He then showed us one of the cars he's currently working on and was proud to say "This car is one of the originals. That was Romney time." He was so excited to tell us about his love for American cars and all the connections to our church he's come across. He also asked us where he could buy our book, and you should have seen his face when we put it in his hands and told him it was free. His expression was priceless, and he told us he can't wait to start reading it.

These are just two of the incredible miracles we've seen, but I wish I could share them all! The Lord has truly blessed us, and I find it such an honor and privilege to serve Him with all my might, mind, and strength.

Elder Sirrine

The Romney era car he's working on

One of the cars

June 17, 2019 My first Swedish Sunburn

Helping at the farm. 

We were moving these stone tiles and decided to have some fun with the kids

You might be wondering, "What's a Swedish sunburn?". It's nothing more than getting sunburned while in Sweden, but the fact that it's the first time that's happened in two years makes it a pretty special occasion for me. We spent the day on Saturday helping a member at his farm, and the sun decided to dodge any wisp of white in the sky you might even dare to call a cloud, so we all got a little red. It was a lot of fun though, and it felt good to get a little muddy and help them clean up the farm a bit. They have two little girls and just had a baby a couple months ago, so it makes it a little hard for both parents to be out working, and the perfect opportunity for us to help out a little.

We also had a neat opportunity to help one of the older members in our branch cut down their hedge this week. Her neighbor was the one doing it, but we got go over and lend a helping hand. Her

Cutting down the hedge

neighbor isn't a member, but as we sat and talked afterwords he said that he wants to come to church with us sometime. We're praying he does :) It would obviously be a great blessing in his life, but it would also be a great strength and blessing in the life of the member who does everything she can to serve others and build a "Zion" where she lives.

It's been a bit of an unusual week filled with so many opportunities to serve, and I'm grateful for the each of them and the opportunity we've had to follow the Savior's example in helping and lifting others.

Here's a thought I had this week while studying. In Mosiah 24, the people of Alma are in bondage and under sever persecution. Their burdens felt almost too heavy to bear, so they poured out their hearts to God in prayer. "And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: ... I will also ease the

Helping a member move

burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions. And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord." (Mosiah 24:13-16)

What stood out to me is that they acted in faith by submitting cheerfully and patiently to the will of the Lord, even if it isn't what they had expected or even wanted, because they had unshaken faith that He would truly keep his promise to make their burdens light and eventually, in his own time, deliver them from bondage. If they can't feel the burden, why would they choose to be unhappy? If we honestly believe that the Lord will strengthen us to make our burdens seem light, even so that we "cannot feel them upon [our] backs", then we will gladly submit to the will of the Lord.

Now I want to leave you with the same question that came to my mind and softened my heart this week.

"Do I have the faith to be happy?"

Äldste Sirrine

June 10, 2016 Even cats can't stop us

Exchanges in Göteborg

This last week we traveled down to Göteborg for exchanges with the zone leaders. I was with Elder Tolman, and we got to teach a guy with 7 cats. I'm not going to lie, I thought the cats all looked exactly the same, but apparently he can tell the difference with no problem. I was enjoying the cats until one of them jumped onto the table and then onto me and grabbed on with its claws. It was just trying to play, but it's no longer fun and games when you struggle to get it off and then are left with holes in your white shirt... It's all good though, we managed to avoid the cats long enough to have a good lesson and were able to teach him about the plan of salvation.

On the way back from Göteborg they were doing some construction work on the train tracks between Karlstad and Göteborg, so we had to take a different train than normal. This also meant that we had to switch trains about halfway to Karlstad, and right as we got onto the next train a man came up to us

Kristinehamn, a small town 

a few of our members live in

and greeted us rather enthusiastically. He was a little too excited to just be a random person, and sure enough he turned out to be a member from the Stockholm area. The cool part is that the man we met, Bryte, was traveling with his brother in law, Michael, who is not a member, but they invited us to sit down and talk with them for the rest of the trip. Michael asked us a few questions and we ended up teaching him the entire restoration right there on the train. I was absoluetly blown away by how attentive he was and how much he understood. He was like a sponge. Towards the end of our conversation he looked at Bryte and said, "You've never made the church sound this good! I want one of these Book of Mormons so I can see for myself what it says." Bryte called the Elders in Stockholm right then and there and arranged for him to get a copy of the Book of Mormon in English as soon as they got back to Stockholm.

I've thought a lot about the power of Jesus Christ this week. He doesn't just leave us to wander alone in this life and then "save" us regardless of who we are are what we've done. To do so would

We visited a 200 year old farm and the Lady 

showed us around before we got to teach her

eliminate our agency and ultimately fail to fulfill the purpose of God. His goal is not just to take us from one place to another, but rather to help us become something. Regardless of our circumstances, He wants us to "act for ourselves, and not to be acted upon" (2 Ne 2:26). It may feel impossible to make a change, but "even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you." (Alma 32:27) Even if all you can do is want to change, seek His help and I testify he will make your "weak things become strong unto [you]". He will make it possible. I have experienced this and know with all my heart that He does so. He has all power to fulfill his promises and waits with open arms until we are ready to take the first step toward him.


Äldste Sirrine

Elder Karlsson and I by Vänern, the great lake

June 3, 2019 Flowers and moving boxes

Karlstad is built on a small archipelago, 

so bridges are everywhere you go

One of the members of our branch, a young adult named Lisa, recently moved to Florida but we're

currently teaching her mother who is not a member. This last Sunday was mother's day Sweden, so Lisa ordered flowers for her mom and we got to go pick them up and go deliver them in her place. It

Delivering flowers to Lisa's 

momfor mothers day

was neat to be a part of something so simple, but you could see how much it meant to her.

This last week we traveled down to Gothenburg for our district meeting. The vast majority (maybe 95%?) of the missionaries in Sweden come from the US, but right now our district of eight missionaries consists of missionaries from Finland, Canada, Austria, and my companion from Sweden, so we've deemed ourselves the international district.

A couple weeks ago, our elders quorum president was walking through his neighborhood and started talking with one of his neighbors, who's bound to a wheelchair. The man mentioned that he was going to move, so our elders quorum president jumped on it and asked if he could help and bring the help of the missionaries. The man was of course happy to accept the help, and on Saturday we got to help him move. It was raining pretty hard all day, but it couldn't dampen the joy of serving and meeting so many of his family and friends who all appreciated the help. They were also curious about what we do as missionaries which allowed us to share the gospel through word, in addition to deed.

I had neat experience in church yesterday. I sat listening to the testimonies of the members in the branch, but I found myself thinking and worrying about a few things that had happened throughout the week. I wasn't planning on going up and bearing my own testimony, but out of the blue an older man who was visiting from Germany came up to me and asked if I could go up with him and help him by translating. We went up together, but I was pretty shocked when he started speaking great Swedish. I only needed to help him with 3-4 words he was missing, but when he went to sat down I was prompted to stay and bear my own testimony. As I did so, an incredible peace and calm came over me and my mind was cleared. The things I had been worrying about were put into perspective as I had the opportunity to testify and remind myself of the simple truths of the gospel and the power of Jesus Christ that I have come to know for myself. I quickly realized that the man did not in reality need my help, but the Lord knew that I needed his. There is power in testimony, and I would encourage all to focus on the things you do know when life would have you doubt or worry about the things you don't.

Elder Sirrine

Here in Sweden they cut these trees into squares. For anyone familiar with the game Minecraft, it's pretty much a real-life version. (Fun fact: Minecraft was actually created in Sweden)