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| Sörstrumming prepared |
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| A 2000 year old tree |
Last P-Day my companion and I borrowed the bikes from the sister missionaries and rode a few miles south along the river. It was absolutely beautiful. We eventually found a nature reserve so we hopped off the bikes and decided to take a look. We had just started down one of the paths when we turned the corner and ran into the ward mission leader and his wife, Johan and Amrita. We were more than a little surprised to see them there and it was really nice because they were able to tell us a little bit about the area and even showed us a massive tree that's 2000 years old. We parted ways and we continued to walk through the woods which was really nice, but it also felt a little weird to walk through the forest in dress clothes... We plan to revisit the area when we have more time and can dress appropriately.
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| FHE |
Monday evening we had FHE with the branch. It had been several months since the last one, but the branch presidency liked it so much that we will start doing them once a month. We played "spoons" and then the the missionaries shared a message about coming closer as a branch and growing in love and unity. It was an incredible evening, and two of our investigators, Ibrahim and Nadia, came. They both really enjoyed it, and it was such a good chance for them to develop new friendships with the branch.
On Thursday we had dinner at Johan and Amrita's house, and I had Surströmming! I can now say that I'm a real missionary. Surströmming is basically fermented fish, and is renowned worldwide as one of the worst smelling
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| Sörstrumming |
substances on Earth, which I can confirm wholeheartedly. Surströmming comes in a can, and you have to open it underwater because the liquid inside shoots out, and if it touches anything you pretty much just have to throw it away. As soon as it was open I seriously started to question my commitment to eating it. The best way to describe the smell is rotted fish that smells so strongly it kinda smells like gasoline and burns your nose. The only good news is that we at it like Swedes, not like missionaries. The missionaries eat it plain, but Swedes think the missionaries are crazy, and always eat it with something else. We took a piece of flatbread and put potatoes, onion, sour cream, and surströmming on top, and then rolled it up and ate it. I wouldn't say it tasted particularly good, but it definitely didn't taste as bad as it smells, and it really wasn't too bad (at least when kind of covered up by everything else).
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| Godisland |
On Friday we had district meeting and afterword we had a very important general conference prep experience. We went to Godisland. Godisland is one of the many, many candy stores throughout Sweden. It is an entire store filled with bins of candy and you just go around and fill a bag with whatever you want and then pay by weight. It is a tradition of the missionaries in Sweden to buy godis to eat throughout conference, and missionaries have been known to buy two kilos of godis for conference weekend.
Conference was absolutely wonderful!
Saturday morning pretty much felt like Christmas because I have been so excited for the past couple weeks. We're 8 hours ahead here, so we watched the
Saturday Morning session live
on Saturday at
6 PM, and then
Sunday at 11 we watched
Saturday Afternoon as a branch, then we got to watch Priesthood Session, and then we watched
Sunday Morning Session live
on Sunday at
6 PM. We still haven't seen the
Sunday Afternoon session, and I can't wait to do so. Conference was a wonderful time and I feel like conference messages have never felt so applicable to me. I found many answers to my own questions, and I was able to find answers to help my investigators as well. Nadia came to the session we watched as a branch and had a wonderful experience. We had invited her to prepare questions, and she said that she definitely found answers to her questions, and loved the spirit she felt there. Ibrahim was able to watch one of the sessions with us as well, and he seemed to really like it. It amazes me how applicable every message is to each of us. Regardless of where we are in live, we can learn principles of truth that can help us improve our lives. I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn from men who are truly called of God. One of my favorite talks was from Elder Ronald A. Rasband. If there is one thing that has become apparent to me as a missionary it's that there are no coincidences. The Lord has a perfect plan and he places people in our path for a reason. When this happens, He expects us to follow the direction of the spirit in helping that person as he would have us do. As we do so, we will gain the Lord's trust and he will continue to place opportunities in our path because he knows we are willing to act. I am grateful for the Lord's plan, and for the hope and joy I receive through knowing that it is truly a perfect plan.
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| With the sisters at Johan and Amrita's house |
Äldste Sirrine
