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| A beautiful sunrise from our apartment |
This week we spent a lot of time finding people in an effort to build our teaching pool. We met a lot of really cool people on the street, including a guy from South Sudan, who we met yesterday. He thought we were Jehovah's Witnesses (Of course...There are so many Jehovah's Witnesses here, and everybody thinks we are part of missionaries from their church). After explaining that we were not Jehovah's Witnesses, he talked to us for a little bit but assured us that he already knew everything about Jesus Christ so he didn't need to know more. He then proceeded to reenact, with great energy I might add, John 21:15-17 when Christ asked Peter three times "Lovest thou me?". It was pretty entertaining, and he even would switch voices and character. The best part was that he thought it was Matthew instead of Peter, which we thought was pretty funny coming from someone who claimed to know everything about Christ. Hopefully we will be able to meet with him in the future and teach him the truths found in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
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| The branch president Rolf Lundkvist |
One of the interesting things about Sweden is how interested people are in family history. I suppose this makes sense in a society whose history goes back so far, and where records are made easily accessible to all. There is a lady here who is not interested in the church right now, but will give the missionaries food all the time, and is extremely interested in family history. I have heard how much the missionaries have touched her though, and I know that someday she will be ready to receive the gospel. She has been doing a lot of family history work lately and was very curious where the last name "Sirrine" comes from, so she started investigating and doing family history work for me. Apparently she found out that "Sirrine" means "to the mystery" in Azerbaijani.... She hasn't found anything else yet, but hopefully she is able to find something that can bring greater understanding to the great mystery of where the name Sirrine comes from.
Last Tuesday we had a lesson with Ibrahim and taught him the Word of Wisdom. This was definitely a concern we had for him due to his use of tobacco. As soon as we had finished teaching him that the Lord would have us refrain from smoking and using tobacco he told us he that he knows this is truly from God, and that he could feel within him that it is right. He committed to stopping his use of tobacco and showed his faith in the Lord by throwing out his tobacco right then. As he has continued to rely on the Lord for strength through daily prayer and scripture study he has successfully been able to refrain from tobacco since that day. We have been visiting with him and supporting him in his efforts, and I will say that it has not been easy for him. In one of our visits he said it was so hard that he would "kill for a cigarette right then". However, I can testify that he has received strength beyond his own through prayer and a sincere desire to follow his savior Jesus Christ. He is a wonderful example to all, and the change this has made in his life is truly miraculous.
On Sunday we had stake conference which was being broadcast from Stockholm. Alan and Ibrahim both came and were so excited to be there. Unfortunately there were technical difficulties in Stockholm so the broadcast didn't work for any of the branches they were broadcasting to. We felt really bad that they had come and weren't able to watch stake conference, but thankfully they were both very understanding. After church they invited us over to their apartment for lunch and we had Syrian breakfast food. It was basically beans, lettuce, onions, tomatoes and olive oil that you would literally just grab with a piece of pita bread and eat with your hands. Not only was it some of the best food I have ever eaten, but there was something so satisfying about sitting around a little table and eating Syrian food like a native. To go along with the experience I officially received an Arabic nickname, "Abosus" (Which means Father Sirrine... I think... the explanation was half in Arabic so it was kind of hard to understand). Apparently the name Sirrine is not something Arabic speakers are capable of pronouncing, so after trying every other way of pronunciation possible, Alan gave up and had to use the nickname. Interestingly enough, Ibrahim is able to pronounce my last name because he learned how to speak English (extremely well) from watching "How I met your Mother" on TV. The whole visit was pretty great, but the only problem is how much food they make you eat. I have learned very quickly that in Arabic culture you have accept what they give you, and they expect you
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| Doing a little service |
to take more. If you don't, it's seen as a sign that you don't like them or their house. As a result, no matter how hard you try to tell them you're full they somehow just keep adding food to your plate. Now being forced to eat so much delicious food may not seem like a problem, but let me say that you seriously regret it when you have to go out and start tracting or street contacting right after... It really was a great visit though, and we had the opportunity to read 2 Ne 31 with them. Jesus Christ truly came to earth and showed us the way. Even though he was perfect he was baptized to fulfill the will of His Father and to show us the way through which we can return to his presence. All he asks of us is to do the things we have seen him do. He wants us to turn from anything that would keep us from Him and to come unto Him. I testify that as we have faith in Him we will receive the strength and ability to do so, and we will receive the blessings he has promised us.
Äldste Sirrine
