I said farewell to Äldste Wilkinson and welcomed Äldste Cotton to The Tuna! The weirdest part about the whole situation is the fact that I am no longer officially in training. Up to this point I have either been in the MTC or have had a trainer, but now that I have a new companion who doesn't know the area at all I have had to take the lead in many situations. Interestingly enough, we have a set of sisters here in Eskilstuna, but because Sister Hill just got a new missionary to train (Sister Clark), Out of the four of us I am now officially the missionary who has been in Eskilstuna the longest. Not only does it seem strange to say that, but it creates some interesting situations when the members turn to me with questions and expect me to have the answers because I've been here the longest, when in reality I have only been here 2 transfers and half that
time I had absolutely no idea what anybody was saying... It's been really awesome though, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be stretched and to grow.
On Thanksgiving we were invited to a members house for dinner. She has lived in the US for several years and wants to do a Thanksgiving dinner for us, but she didn't have time to do so
on Thursday because of work, so we will have our real Thanksgiving dinner with her this coming week! We ended up having hamburgers with her
on Thursday, which is pretty American, so I guess it still counts :) Thanksgiving is truly one of my favorite holidays. What a great time to reflect on everything we have been given and to express our thanks. We often talk about how being happy is a choice, and I have come to realize the number one way to be happier is to express thanks. As we recognize everything we have been blessed with, the things we may yet lack seem to become less important and we are able to focus on the things that are most important. I am truly grateful for my savior Jesus Christ and the gift of His Atonement which is given to each and every one of us. At this time I am particularly grateful for the time I have here in Sweden to declare the good news of that gift to everyone I can. It truly is a blessing beyond measure and brings me greater joy than I ever could have thought possible.
This week we picked up a new investigator named Hanna. She is in her 40's, from Eritrea, has been here in Sweden 14 years, and has three kids ages 16,14, and 10. She is a member of Pyngstkyrkan (the Pentecostal Church), and at first she was afraid to come into our church, but after showing her around she got more comfortable and really liked it. We had the opportunity to teach her the restoration and she could feel the Spirit confirming it's truth. Her husband is not religious at all, and doesn't necessarily agree with it, but he is also not against them going to church. The interesting part is that when we asked her to come to church, she said she really wants to, but she can't because her kids won't want to because they are fairly active and involved in Pyngstkyrkan and it's youth groups... We've definitely never had this problem before... I've never had an investigator who wants to come to church but is kept from coming just because
the kids are active in another church. While we are trying to figure out how we can reach out to her children, she has committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray. I believe that as she does so, her kids will notice the difference in her life, and they will want to learn more about the source of her change.
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| Our investigator Alan |
This week we are having a major focus on the #LightTheWorld initiative! We either have, or will have visited every member in the branch to introduce the initiative (which is actually called #ettLJUSförVÄRLDEN in Swedish) by
Dec 1st. We are inviting everybody to participate by doing 25 different acts of service in the 25 days of December leading up to Christmas. I would extend the invitation to everyone who reads this as well. If you go to Mormon.org there is a video and information about what #LightTheWorld is. Check Mormon.org each day as a new video is released along with several ideas of service you can try. This takes away any excuse you might
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| Member Karwo from Iran |
have of not knowing how you can serve...The month of December is a wonderful time to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and what better gift to give Him than to serve those around us? The acts of service don't have to be anything big, in fact it is most often the small and simple things that have the greatest impact on those around us. Make a goal to serve someone each day during December. Elder Cotton and I have set a goal to do so, and I look forward to the experiences we will have as we serve those around us and add our small light to the many that will truly #LightTheWorld this Christmas season.
Äldste Sirrine
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| Members Younus and Yosef from Iran (and little Thindra) |
