September 18, 2017 Toto, we're not in Sweden anymore...

I get to walk by this several times a day and it never gets old...

September 18, 2017

Okay first of all, I am still in Eskilstuna, Sweden, but it pretty much feels like I am in the Middle-East. The majority of people we teach and talk to on the street are actually from Iraq, Iran, and Syria, and this week I realized that they are pretty much my favorite people ever. Last Monday we unexpectedly went to Alan's house (one of our investigators) to teach him and he fed us this Syrian food he called Fatia. The food was amazing, and as we taught him we had him read out of the Book of Mormon. The problem was, we can't exactly read Arabic to well, so as we opened up to the scripture for him to read we would have to ask him what book/verse we were pointing at to make sure we had him read the right thing. After doing this for a little while he ended up teaching us how to count and read numbers in Arabic, as well as how to say a few basic phrases. Let's just say my mouth does not want to make those sounds, but It was actually a lot of fun to learn! He was a really good teacher, and whenever we would actually get something right he would get super excited. So here I am in Sweden, and now I have learned how to greet people and count in Arabic, who would have thought? The lesson went really well with him. He loves reading the Book of Mormon, and learning about the gospel, and is making real progress. It's amazing to see how much hope and comfort the gospel brings him at this time as his family is having really hard times back in Syria and Turkey.

We have been trying to work with the members, and this week we visited several of them. Throughout the lessons we would ask them to share with us their testimony of how the gospel has helped them in their lives. It was amazing to hear such powerful testimony borne by people who had not always had the gospel in their life. To hear the contrast of how their life was before, and how it is now, was incredibly powerful. Their faith is incredible, and while many people think the missionaries are the ones teaching, in all reality I was the one being taught. Our goal with visiting the members has been to get five referrals from each member. We helped them think of five people who would be blessed by the gospel, and then we helped them create a plan of how they can prepare them to meet the missionaries. Many of the people they thought of are not ready at this point, but as each member strives to share the light of the gospel, they will become ready. While we as missionaries look forward to opportunities to teach these people, the best part has been watching the members grow stronger as they do this. As they consider what the gospel has done for them, their desire to share that message has grown. As they have made plans and goals to share that message, they have gained a greater knowledge and understanding of the gospel, and their faith has increased.

Lunch at Fariba's 

On Saturday we were invited to Fariba's house for lunch. Fariba is a member who has recently moved in, and she has been one of the greatest blessings to the branch. She is from Iran and speaks both Persian and Swedish fluently and can translate for the Persian members in the branch. We have a ton of Persian members and investigators, and while they come to church, they have a hard time understanding. To have someone who can translate has been such a blessing. Fariba invited the sister missionaries, us, and about eight other Persian members (all from Iran) in the branch over for lunch and

The Persian food we had at Fariba's!

made a ton, like a ton, of authentic Persian food. This may or may not have been one of the greatest things that has happened to me on the mission so far... Okay not really, but I cannot express how good the food was. Even better than that was the chance to meet with the Persian members. They are the kindest, most giving, happiest people you have ever met, and they are super fun to be around, especially with the language barrier. There we were, a bunch of Americans and Iranians all meeting together in Sweden, trying to speak Swedish to each other, and it was one of the funnest things I have ever done. We read from the Book of Mormon together, in Persian, and gave each of them a copy to share with someone they know. While at times we struggled to communicate, Fariba was able to translate when needed, and they accepted the challenge to share the gospel with others. I pray and hope that as they do so we will bring even more Persian members into the branch, because they're seriously the best. Fariba has been such an inspiration to me. She used to live in Iran and her husband passed away from cancer, and shortly after her son was killed in Iraq, so she came to Sweden and has since blessed the lives of so many and is the happiest person I've met. I hope to have the same strength she has to meet adversity in my life.

After church on Sunday we had a lesson with Omar and his little brother Mohammed. They're both Muslims and it was interesting to learn a little bit more about Islam as we taught the Restoration of The Gospel of Jesus Christ. They committed to read the Book of Mormon, and I know that as they do, they will receive a witness of it's truth. Right after teaching Omar and Mohammed, we had our first lesson with Zain, who is in his twenties, and his from Syria. He was also Muslim, but not "active". He has seven siblings, who are all in Turkey right now, and his father passed away a few years ago. He is concerned for their safety and well being, and hopes they are able to make it Sweden. It was an incredible experience to teach him how the gospel blesses families, and how the Lord can help his family. We asked him to pray, and at first he didn't want to, but eventually he did so in Arabic. I couldn't understand the words he was saying, but it was the most powerful and sincere prayer I have ever heard. I know the Lord will answer him, and I am so grateful I was able to be part of the experience.

I am so grateful to be here in Eskilstuna, and for all the people I have had the chance of meeting. They have blessed my life more than I can say, and I love them with all my heart. There is a wonderful video on lds.org titled "Is there a place for me?" that has really touched me, and I would invite all to watch it. I know the Lord lives and he loves all of his children. What a blessing it is to be able to share his message of love with the world.

Äldste Sirrine

A really cool church we visited on P-day

In case you didn't think the other picture was real...

September 11, 2017 Yet another great week!

The view from our apartment

September 11, 2017

It has been an amazing week! Last Thursday I got to go on Splits with Elder Dean so I had the opportunity to work in Södertälje (about an hour from Eskilstuna) for a day. Elder Dean goes home this transfer and it was really cool to learn from such an experienced missionary. We did a lot of street contacting and tracting and not too many people would listen to us, but Elder Wilkinson and Elder Malone had some good success back in Eskilstuna. On Friday, after switching back to our normal companions, we got to go do service for one of the people they had found the night before. The man's name is Conne and he had just sold his house that he had grown up in, but he is completely remodeling the inside, so we offered to help. He said he didn't need help, because there was a crew of guys from Iraq who were working there, but we persisted, and eventually he had us help move some lumber and other junk out of the attic and into a van. We did so for about an hour and during the course of our service he would teach us Swedish words as we taught him English words. When we had to go he shook our hands, almost in tears, and said, "I learned something from you two today. I really did. And it feels good." He finally gave us permission to call him and set up a time to meet in the future, which he was opposed to earlier that day. As we do as the savior did and "go about doing good" the Lord will pour out his spirit and give us opportunities to spread his gospel.

A cool bridge

This was also an incredible week for our investigator Nadia. She is about 22, Swedish, and has been meeting with the missionaries on and off for about a year, but lately she has been making real progress as she has been praying and reading the Book of Mormon every day. On Tuesday we taught her the importance of keeping the Sabbath Day holy. When we told her that meant not shopping on Sunday she was very concerned. She told us, "You guys don't understand, like I have given up alcohol completely and I'm living the Law of Chastity, but Sundays are my day to shop! If I had to choose between giving up alcohol and giving up shopping on Sunday, I would choose giving up alcohol hands down." This was a little shocking to hear, but we asked her to try it and we promised that she would be blessed by doing so. We told her that by so doing she would show her gratitude and commitment to the Lord, and would receive greater strength for the coming week. Eventually she committed to keeping the Sabbath Day holy, and on Sunday she successfully did so! We haven't had a chance to ask her about it yet, but I am confident that she felt the spirit as she did so, and that she will find blessings throughout this week. She also had the coolest experience on Saturday. She is applying to BYU, and the last thing she had to do for her application was take the ACT. She has been preparing for it, and it was on Saturday in Göteborg (which is about 3 hours from here). Friday night we texted a bunch of missionaries and almost everyone in the branch to pray for her. Yesterday, when we asked her how the test went, she said it was really hard but she had a really good feeling about it, which she thought was strange. She then told us that she arrived to the test a little early and the doors hadn't opened yet. There were about twenty people waiting to go in, so she went to a bench and sat down next to another girl. They began talking, and the girl, Johanna, asked Nadia if she was applying to college in the States. Nadia said yes, and then explained that she was going to a school in Utah. Johanna then asked if it was BYU, which surprised Nadia, but she confirmed that it was in fact BYU. Johanna then expressed great excitement and told Nadia that she too was applying to BYU! Nadia asked if she was Mormon, and Johanna confirmed that she was, and then said that she was actually just about to read from the Book of Mormon and asked if Nadia would like to join. Nadia thought that was probably a good idea, so they read together until the test started. As Nadia was telling us this story she said, "I guess that is probably the sign I should be looking for." This whole experience has strengthened my testimony of the power of prayer. There is no other way that would have answered our prayers with more clarity, and testified that God was there to help Nadia. If it had happened any other way, she might have been able to brush it off, but she knows that God's hand was in this, and she cannot deny that.

Selfie

I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers. He knows each of us personally, he loves us, and he will help us. All he asks is that we ask him in faith. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve a mission, and for the chance to be here in Sweden. I have learned to rely on the Lord and that as I strive to do as he directs, he gives me the strength and ability to do so.

Äldste Sirrine

September 4, 2017 Hallå från sverige!

The river and a cool church

The view from a member's balcony. It's a little foggy so you don't get the full affect, but it is a stunning view.

 September 4, 2017

Well, what a week it has been! I don't really know where to start... so I guess I'll start from the beginning. We left the MTC at 3:30 AM on Aug 28th, went to the airport, and left at about 8:30. I have to say, travelling to the airport was the first time that I really felt like a missionary, carrying my suitcases and all, and it was really weird to think that I was going to another country for two years. We had a layover in New York for a grand total of 20 min which was super exciting when it came to finding the next flight, but we made it! The flight to Sweden was long, but it was super cool. My companion Äldste Radford was supposed to be sitting next to me on the plane, but since he is waiting for a visa, his seat was filled by a 22 year old girl from Korea named Jane. We began talking, and it turns out she has lived back and forth between Korea and the States, so she speaks really good English, and she has been doing an internship in Sweden for the last six months. As we were talking she asked why our whole group was dressed up so nice for such a long flight. I told her that we were serving a mission and began to tell her about the church. She asked a lot of really good questions and was totally open, so I ended up teaching her the whole Restoration. Looks like my first real lesson as a missionary was actually on a plane, somewhere over the Atlantic, not in Sweden. She also asked about prayer so I taught her how to pray, and the whole time I was talking about prayer she was tearing up. I know she felt something, and I hope she continues to act on the feeling and impressions she received.  It was one of the coolest experiences I've had though. It was the first time I had ever felt the kind of love that missionaries feel. I had never met her before, yet I wanted her to accept the gospel so bad because I knew how much it would bless her life. I wanted to do everything in my power to help her, and it just made me sad that after we landed I would never have the opportunity to teach her again. I didn't have a book of Mormon on me, so I turned around and asked Äldste Moss if I could give her his. He actually wrote his testimony in the book, and we gave it to her along with a pass along card and information on how to contact the missionaries where she lived. I invited her to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, and I hope with all my heart that she does so and has a desire to know more.

President and Sister Youngberg

When we landed in Sweden at 7 AM we were met by the Mission President and a few missionaries who took us to the chapel in Täby to have breakfast (seriously the coolest church ever.... and it's surrounded by forest and wild raspberries which are still in season), and then we went to the immigration place and did some paper work. It was actually really funny because we were all so tired at this point that one of the Elders fell asleep leaning against a wall. After taking care of all the fun legal stuff, we got a tour of Stockholm, and I have to say, it has to be the most beautiful city in the world... All the buildings are really old, but they are really colorful and they just seem to fit together like a work of art. After the tour we met some missionaries who have been here a while, We each got a companion to go with, and I got to go with Elder Jämsä who is one of the Assistants to the Mission President, and we got to go street contacting. Not going to lie, that was one of the most stressful things I have ever done. .This was about 2:30 PM, the most busy time of day, in downtown Stockholm. I went up to the first person and had barely said "Ursäkta" (which means "excuse me") before the person immediately said "Nej!" and kept walking... This happened about ten more times before we met a really cool guy from Chile who actually gave me a hug when he found out it was my first day in Sweden. We met a few other people who were willing to talk to us, and we eventually gave out a Book of Mormon. After this experience I was a little concerned about what the next two years were going to be like, but that was truly the hardest conditions we could have been in. Every day since then has been much more successful and it has actually been fun to go out and talk with people.

We spent the night at the mission home and the next day we got our trainers and our first areas. I have been assigned to Eskilstuna, with Elder Wilkinson as my trainer! As it turns out, Elder Wilkinson was trained by Elder Jämsä, so my very first experience contacting was with my mission grandpa as they say. We even got a nice three generation picture together :) After getting our assignments and having
a very Swedish lunch of meatballs and potatoes, we hopped on the train, and traveled about an hour West of Stockholm to Eskilstuna. Eskilstuna is a really cool town, and it seems that almost half the population are immigrants which is super awesome. After we arrived and dropped my stuff off at apartment, we went to the church where we helped set up a lesson in Persian over Skype. We skyped a lady in California who is a member and speaks Persian, so she teaches people from all over.

My trainer Äldste Wilkinson and I.

The next day was my first full day in the field, and one of the best so far. We had a lesson with an
elderly man, Peter, who is a Jehovah Witness, and he invited his friend over who used to be a Jehova's Witness. We didn't really know what to expect going into the lesson, but we walked in to his house and he immediately gave us sandwiches and cake. We had a good lesson and while Peter didn't seem too interested, his friend Järgin seems interested, and we hope to teach him again. The best part of all this is that I was fed by a Jehovah's Witness before I was even fed by a member! We went to a member's house for dinner that night though, so it wasn't too far behind. We also had a lesson that night with Allan. Allan is from Syria and has been living in Sweden for three years, which means it's super fun to talk to him because he speaks a mix of Swedish, English, and Arabic, so translating get's interesting. We were originally just dropping by to see how he's doing because he used to be an investigator, but he's been out of contact for a couple months. We had planned to share Alma 36:18-20 with him, but when he read it he didn't quite understand it, so he asked if he could read the whole chapter. We definitely weren't going to object to this, so there we were sitting on his couch listening to him read Alma 36 in Arabic while we attempted to follow in Swedish (most of which I still don't understand anyway). It was actually really cool, and he absolutely loved the scripture. He loves Christ, and we extended a Baptismal date which he accepted with enthusiasm! We hope he works towards his baptismal date of October 28th with diligence, and we are going to do everything we can to help him.

This whole week has been awesome, and I have loved serving here in Eskilstuna. People are more open to us on the street, which is truly a relief after Stockholm, and the feeling I get when we talk to people and teach people is indescribable. I truly love being able to go out and share the gospel with people every day.

A really cool little road

That's about all I have time for, and I wish I could share more than this sliver of what has happened over the past week and a half, but just know that I love it here and the work is amazing. The people I have met are wonderful, and Sweden is absolutely beautiful. There is no place I'd rather be, and nothing I'd rather be doing at this time :)

The District! After district meeting we went to Folket's which is right by our apartment and has some amazing shawarma.

August 24, 2017 Farewell From America!

August 24, 2017

Well this is it, the last P-day in the MTC, and the last I'll have here in America! Sadly, that is not the case for my companion, Äldste Radford, and two other missionaries who haven't received their visas yet. They have been temporarily reassigned to the Phoenix Arizona mission, although we are still crossing our fingers that they get their visas before we leave. Apparently the visas have been known to come the morning of departure, so we hope that's the case. It's been pretty hard for them because we are all getting so excited to go to Sweden, and now they can't go. However, they know the Lord has a plan for them and are excited to get out in the field wherever that may be. We got our flight plans last Friday, and it looks like we get to leave at 3:30 am on Monday! Normally such an early departure may not be the most exciting prospect, but if it means we are going to Sweden, we'd do just about anything :)

On Saturday we got to help with the MTC open house tours again. It has been such a unique and wonderful opportunity to do so, and I loved getting to talk to countless people who had been here many years before and had such fond memories. To see their excitement at coming back made me so happy and grateful to be here. It was also fun to see a few familiar faces come through, including Tanner Mangum and a few other BYU players. That made me feel really small.... Over the past few weeks I have gotten used to the MTC, and seeing the wonder and amazement on everybody's face as they walked through was just a good reminder of how unique and special the MTC really is.

On Monday we watched the solar eclipse and it made me think of Alma 30:44 "But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator." I testify that the very existence of the earth and planets is truly a witness of God. There is no other way they could move in such perfect relation to each other, or even exist. For the Tuesday night devotional Weatherford T. Clayton of the Seventy came and spoke to us. He talked about the eclipse and related the moon to Satan. Through our choices in life we may allow Satan to "block out" the influence of Christ in our lives. However, even when the eclipse is at totality, you can see a ring of light around the moon from the aura of the sun. Likewise, even if it feels that Satan is completely covering Christ in our lives, He cannot block all the light. There will always be light, and if we focus on that light and have faith, it will begin to grow until we can once again feel the full influence of Christ and his spirit in our lives.

On Wednesday our district got to be Hosts for the new missionaries that came in! I can't tell you how weird it felt to see missionaries being dropped off and to think that was six weeks ago for me... It feels as though it's been about a week. It brought back so many thoughts and feelings from that first day, and it's amazing to see how much I've grown. I also got to attend the meeting for all the new missionaries because Äldste Radford was performing a musical number along with Äldste Wayment and Eldste Cribbs (Eldste Cribbs is going to Norway). I am so grateful I got to go to that meeting. It was truly a unique experience to go a second time, and I wish all missionaries could have that experience. It was such a good reminder of how much excitement, energy, and enthusiasm new missionaries have when they come in. Sadly, that enthusiasm and energy fades over time for a lot of missionaries, and I wish they could go to that meeting to learn from the example of all the new missionaries, and rekindle their enthusiasm and desire to serve.

Well that's all for this week, and next time will be from the great land of Sverige! I love this gospel and the happiness that it brings to my life, and the lives of countless others. I am grateful to be a part of God's glorious work on the Earth at this time, and I know he will help me and bless me as I seek to bring others to Him.

Äldste Sirrine

August 17, 2017 Life in the MTC

 

Me and Äldste Radford

 

Our Swedish pride. (Yes, that's a Swedish Fish holding up the flag)

August 17, 2017

Over the past couple weeks I have come to really appreciate the MTC. It's pretty amazing to have all day to study, prepare to teach, and learn a language. Last Saturday I ran into a senior missionary who is going to Sweden. He was standing next to me in line for lunch, so I started talking with him, and it turns out he and his wife are only in the MTC for a week. They've been "learning" Swedish for a month or two, but the extent of their instruction was a 1 hr Skype call to the MTC each week. Long story short, they really don't know any Swedish, but they are so excited to serve and they won't let the language daunt them. After that conversation I began to be even more grateful for my time at the MTC and the time I have here to prepare.

Sunday was probably the best day I've had here at the MTC so far. I'm not sure I can really explain why, but the spirit was strong all day and it was just a good day. The devotional on Sunday was broadcast to all the other MTCs and M. Russell Ballard came and spoke to us on the importance of staying completely focused on the work. It was a fantastic devotional and afterwords we watched the talk "Open Your Mouth" by Jeffrey R. Holland. Towards the beginning of his talk he mentioned how he used to preside over all the European missions and said that the missionaries in the Northernmost reaches of Norway would take comfort in the fact that every time they knocked on a door, somebody was getting baptized in Chile... I can definitely relate to that...  :) He also reminded us that God can only work through us if we act on our promptings. He pointed out that Satan cannot take a life, so when Joseph Smith prayed to know which church he should join Satan did the next most limiting and destructive thing he could. He tried to bind Joseph's tongue. He tries to do the same to all of us today, but we must open our mouths and speak the words God would have us say.

For the devotional on Tuesday, Elder Neil L. Andersen came and spoke to us. Our branch presidency told us that it has been months since an apostle has come to the MTC and now we've had three in the last three weeks. What an amazing time to be in the MTC. Elder Andersen said that miracles occur through goals, hard work, prayer, and a blessing from heaven. I can testify that that is true. When we pray to God we must listen for his answer and then we must be willing to act on it. If we do, our Father in Heaven can bless us and our capacity for recognizing spiritual promptings will increase.

On Wednesday we got to Skype Pia, a member in Sweden, and teach her a lesson. It was amazing to talk with a true Swede even though it was a little difficult to understand. I am so grateful to live at a time when technology can give us such opportunities to grow and spread the gospel. The lesson went really well and it made us even more excited to arrive in Sweden. It's coming really fast, and we get our flight plans tomorrow! It's crazy to think we're leaving so soon, but we couldn't be more excited :)

I am truly grateful for my time here at the MTC and the things that I have learned. It's truly incredible to see how much we've all grown, and to see the how the Lord has truly made weak things become strong. I love this gospel and I testify that the peace and strength we receive when we follow Christ can come in no other way.

Äldste Sirrine

August 10, 2017 Third Week's The Charm!

The method by which I memorized 103 words in an hour. ( Yes, I promise there is a method to the madness)

August 10, 2017

So last Thursday night I decided to memorize a few phrases in Swedish that I could use when I taught the Plan of Salvation. I was working on them up until the end of class which was about 9 o'clock and I was feeling pretty good about having memorized them in a fairly short period of time, until I went to bed. Those phrases seriously haunted me all night as they just kept running through my mind over and over, and Äldste Radford informed the next morning that I was even talking Swedish in my sleep... The good news is, I definitely had those phrases down and there was no forgetting them. The bad news is that I didn't even use them when we taught the plan of salvation because they never seemed to fit right. Because of this, I altered my memorization technique to focusing on words instead of phrases so the spirit can more fully guide me through the lessons and bring words to my remembrance.

The lessons are going well and they are getting better everyday. We are all getting really excited to go to Sweden but we have also been realizing that we are going to have no idea what we're doing when we get there... The amazing thing is though, as long as we rely on the Lord and put our faith in him, we will find ability far beyond our own.

This week our district found out that our moms apparently love us. Throughout the week our district has received an impressive stash of granola bars, trail mix, fruit snacks, goldfish, several cases of soda, all sorts of candy, etc. Half our district lives in one room while the rest of us live in the other. The district has decided to live the law of consecration, so we have piled all of the snacks in one of the rooms and it is open to all members of the district. I was already pretty impressed by how much food there was, and then there was yesterday. Out of the blue,  our district received 60 doughnuts, 12 cinnamon rolls, and 4 giant cookies between all of us. I'm just glad I'm not living in the room where it's all being stashed because just the sight of it kinda makes me sick... The sad part is that I really want to still fit into my pants when I leave the MTC so I haven't been eating any of it. It really is quite impressive though and I guess it's good to know that we could probably survive the rest of our time here without the cafeteria, if something were to happen to it.

The food stash

Sunday evening was definitely one to remember. For the devotional, Jenny Oaks Baker and her family came. She spoke to us and they performed several songs as a family throughout her talk which was pretty amazing. They are such a talented family and it was really cool to hear some of her experiences and then have time to ponder on them as they played a song and brought the spirit even more. Right after the devotional the whole MTC was asked to watch "The Character of Christ" by Elder Bednar even though we had already seen it. I was perfectly okay with this because that talk is one of my all time favorites and it was cool to hear it again and pull new things from it. While most of the missionaries were in the auditorium for the film, Äldste Radford and I were in the smaller overflow room in the new building where they were broadcasting to. As soon as the film ended, everybody just quietly stood up and stayed standing. We were towards the back so we couldn't tell why everyone was standing, but we were able to see President and Sister Martino walk in. It seemed a little strange and then all of a sudden Elder Bednar started speaking. He had decided to come by the MTC and surprise all of the missionaries and let's just say it definitely worked. He essentially held a Q&A session which was amazing. One of the things that stood out to me the most is when one sister asked him how he knew that God loved him. As an apostle of the Lord you might expect some grand reason or unusual circumstance as a special confirmation of God's love and existence, but he simply replied "Because the first first word God the Eternal father and His Son, Jesus Christ, said in this dispensation was Joseph". The way Elder Bednar knows that God is our loving Heavenly Father and knows each and every one of us is available to us all, it's not something reserved for an Apostle. He knows because he has chosen to believe the words of God through his prophet Joseph Smith. Elder Benar also talked about how prayer should be an ongoing process, not something we do just three times a day. We should be continually asking the Lord for help and then reporting on our efforts and striving to do all that we can.

Normally the film ends at 9 o'clock and they ask us to go straight to our residence halls, but on Sunday Elder Bednar talked to us until 10. I appreciate his willingness to take time out of his Sunday evening to come talk to us and I loved hearing the answers to questions that so many people here have. I know that Elder Bednar is truly an apostle called of the Lord. If the Lord were here on the Earth, He would have the same apostles, and the Church would run the same. This is His church. I know that President Monson is his prophet here on the Earth today and that he is the only person who holds and is authorized to use all the priesthood keys. Here on the mission there are many times were I feel inadequate, we all are. But I know that through the Lord we can not only be enough, we can do anything according to his will. I love my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with all my heart and I know he lives. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Äldste Sirrine

August 3, 2017 Week 2!

My Two best friends for the next two years

August 3, 2017
What a week! Time is going by so fast and it's incredible to watch all the new missionaries come in and to think that that was me just two weeks ago! Last Friday we got another teacher, Sister Hall, and with a district of all elders it's kinda nice to have a sister join us, not to mention her hand writing is significantly better than our other teacher, Brother Beck, and it's nice not to have to work so hard to
read the board... It really has been nice though, and it's amazing to see how differently they teach and how much we need both. We have also gotten a new investigator to teach and I'm so glad that I can have another chance to teach the lessons now that I actually know a little more vocabulary. Our first lesson with our new investigator, Hanif, was our best lesson yet. Äldste Radford and I had made a plan for the lesson, but right before we went in we decided that we would trust the Lord so we didn't take our lesson plan or any language helps with us. By doing so, the Lord was truly guiding the lesson as we were able to say everything we wanted to with greater clarity in addition to many
other things we hadn't planned on saying.

Me and Äldste Radford in the new facilities

One of our favorite things to do in class is ask the teachers about some of the words that sound really weird in Swedish. There are quite
a few words that sound extremely close to each other in Swedish but they mean very different things. One example is döpas (to be baptized)
and dopas (to do drugs). There are also several word that sound like very bad words in English, but are used frequently and don't have bad meanings in Swedish. We always enjoy asking about words like these and there is always a fair amount of laughing involved. While spending time learning these words may not seem important, we have quickly learned just how important it is. For example, Äldste Barney and his companion were wrapping up a good lesson and he meant to tell their investigator that she was a great investigator and accidentally said "You are my darling investigator" instead. The best part is that he had no idea until our teacher told him several days later, and we have been laughing about it ever since.

The days here at the MTC are all pretty similar, but I always look forward to the devotional on Tuesday nights. This week we had Jean B. Bingham (Relief Society General President) come speak to us with her husband. She is such a powerful speaker and she spoke to us about the importance of enduring to the end and helping recent converts stay active. While the devotionals are always good, my favorite part is actually the devotional review we do as a district right after the devotional finishes. The spirit that there is so special, and it's amazing to hear the powerful testimonies and thoughts of our district.

Our Classroom

On Wednesday our district was assigned to help with the MTC open house. My companion and I were in charge of starting a video at the very end of the tour and then sharing our testimony with the groups as they came through. That was one of my favorite things I have done here at the MTC. The new buildings are stunning and I loved getting to share the spirit that is here with visitors from many different backgrounds. Sadly, the Swedish missionaries don't actually use the new buildings as our classrooms are in the old facilities, but we always go over to the new buildings for our personal/companionship study because they are absolutely amazing. In several areas they have massive murals on the walls, soft music in the background, and floor to ceiling windows that create a wonderful atmosphere for studying.

One of the study areas in the new buildings.

I feel extremely blessed to be a part of my district. We have all grown close together and we enjoy doing everything together (especially soccer... during exercise time we have played several
other districts and none of them come close to beating us). All the elders in our district work extremely hard, and while we have fun, we stay focused on our purpose and work diligently.

One of the things that stood out to me in my studies this week was in Preach My Gospel Pg 185. It talked about the importance of listening and that as we listen to others we shouldn't think of how to respond, but we should focus on what they're saying and then the Lord will give us what we should say. This also relates to D&C 84:85 "Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man." I'm guilty of sometimes planning my response while somebody is speaking to me so that I can respond in a way that I think will be best. However, as I have focused on doing what Preach My Gospel suggests, I have seen the Lord truly direct my words and he has given me the things to say far better than I could ever say on my own.

The view from our classroom (yes, it's on the very top floor. ..I guess climbing five floors every day is probably good for us