November 20, 2017 ¡Hola Amigos y Familia!

Some of the snow we got earlier this week.

Somehow in the last week we have gone from almost completely Middle Eastern investigators to South American investigators... looks like my Spanish contacting is paying off! Just kidding, despite having taken Spanish for three years in high school I have forgotten almost all of it as Swedish has taken over the foreign language department in my brain. I am still left wondering how we have picked up 3 Brazilians, a girl from El Salvador, and a girl with Chilean roots all in the last week because before this week I had seen about 2 other South Americans in Sweden total... It's been awesome though, and hearing Portuguese and Spanish has been super strange as it seems distantly familiar yet so foreign and different at the same time.

The first Brazilian we met this week is named Lillian and she belongs to the Pentecostal Church. We met her on the street and she was super nice. After a nice conversation with her we invited her to church, which she accepted and said she would bring her nephew along as well, and then before she left she wanted to pray with us. So there we were, 2 Mormon missionaries from America holding hands with a Brazilian who belongs to the Pentecostal Church, in the middle of the sidewalk (so that people had to walk into the street to get around us) while she prayed in Portuguese (which was a mixture of psalms and prayer) and we happened to be standing right in front of a Baptist church... Yep, that happened. It was actually a really neat experience and she ended up coming to church yesterday with her nephew. Several of the talks focused on stories from the Book of Mormon and afterwards she was very interested in the book and wants to learn more about it.

This week we had an absolutely amazing experience with our investigator Katerin. We are extremely blessed to have the Stake President, President Karlsson, and his family in our branch (they live about

We saw the sisters on out on the street, so we thought we'd take a picture

a 3 minute walk from our apartment actually) and they have told us that they want to feed our investigators and have lessons at their house. We invited Katerin over to their house and we taught her about repentance in the context of the Plan of Salvation. I cannot say how powerful it was to have the support of the members in that lesson. The spirit was incredibly strong, and they were able to add an additional witness to what we taught. Hearing the gospel from two guys in white shirts is one thing, but to actually see it applied in a home and hear it from others who live it, is a completely different thing and has far greater power than we as missionaries can have alone. The lesson went really well, and she now has a firm understanding of repentance which is the most important thing we could teach as missionaries to help others come unto Christ. We felt really good about the lesson, but it wasn't until the next day that we saw the full impact our lesson had had.

We met with Katerin again the next day to finish the Plan of Salvation (with a different member present) and she told us what happened the night before after she had left the Karlssons house. She had gone to visit her sister and cousin, and when she started talking about the church her cousin told her all sorts of false things about our church. Her cousin told her that we don't believe in Christ, we don't have the Holy Ghost, we don't treat women well, we force the women to wear dresses all the time, etc. When Katerin heard this she replied, "That's not true at all. They certainly believe in Christ and they definitely have the Holy Ghost because I have felt it stronger than ever before with them. Furthermore, I just had dinner at the house of some members and they were incredibly friendly and open, the man treated his wife with the utmost respect, and they wear normal clothes." As she told us this experience and how wrong her cousin was, we were amazed by the strength of her testimony and how wonderful it is that she was able to defend the witness and knowledge she has received by the power of the Holy Ghost. I can't help but wonder how that conversation with her cousin might have gone differently if we had not had the opportunity in the Karlssons home. She may have believed her cousin because she had not seen for herself, and she certainly would have had many questions. Because we had her over to the Karlssons she was able to see the gospel in action with her own eyes. When false claims were brought up, she was able to defend her faith because she had experienced it herself, it wasn't just something two guys in white shirts said. The Lord has asked us as missionaries to work with the members and has promised that when we do, we will find success. I testify that the Lord's promise is true. Prior to our lesson at the Karlssons we could not have imagined how important it would be, but we knew that it was something the Lord would have us do. Through this experience the Lord has given us a small glimpse that he truly has a plan, and He has a purpose and reason for everything he asks us to do. With our narrow mortal vision we may not be able to see or understand the reasoning for things we are asked to do by the Lord through his Apostles and Prophet, but I testify that he has an eternal perspective and can see the things that we cannot.

Elder Wilkinson in Centrum. Kinda looks like something you would see from Russia...

Last night we had transfer calls and found out that Elder Wilkinson will be leaving Eskilstuna and going to Linköping. I will be receiving Elder Cotton as a companion here on Tuesday. We thought Elder Wilkinson would have another transfer here in Eskilstuna, and I'm sad to see him go. He has had the utmost patience with me as I have learned, and has truly taught me by example how to be the kind of missionary I want to be. We've had some great experiences together and it saddens me to think that he won't be here to witness the progress of our investigators. I know that the Lord placed us together for a reason, and I know that now Elder Cotton is who I'm supposed to be with, so I look forward to the adventures and experiences that lie ahead!

Äldste Sirrine