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| Christmas Eve at Rolf and Rita's |
Wow it's been a while! Sorry it's late, but thought I would give a quick update on how the holidays work here in Sweden!
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Branch President Rolf
as Santa
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Christmas here in Eskilstuna was absolutely amazing! We spent Christmas Eve with our branch president Rolf and his wife Rita. Here in Sweden they actually celebrate Christmas on the Christmas Eve instead of Christmas, and it is tradition to watch Kalle Anka (Donald Duck) at 3pm and then open presents right after the program finishes. Seeing our branch president dressed up as Santa Claus totally made my day...We also had a giant Julbord (Christmas dinner) which included all the classics: meatballs, potatoes, ham, sausage, deviled eggs, sil (pickled fish), and a
dish called Jonsons Frestelse, which is basically a potato/anchovie casserole that's super Swedish. Other than that we spent the day playing games and enjoying each others company!
Christmas Eve is the big day here in Sweden, but we got to spend Christmas day with some other members who have lived in the states, so it was basically a repeat of Christmas Eve for us! We also got to skype home which was definitely the highlight of the day!
The week between Christmas and New Years isn't exactly prime proselyting time as everybody is either on vacation or huddling indoors, so as I mentioned before, President Youngberg challenged us to read the
entire Book of Mormon between Christmas Eve and New Years day. He gave us an additional two hours of study time each day to do so, but it was still definitely a challenge for me because I decided to read it in Swedish. I did indeed finish it, and it was one of the greatest experiences I've ever had. On the surface level, it was incredible to see how my Swedish improved as I read. At first I had to look up quite a few words, but the words I had to look up became less and less until eventually I was able to read and not even consider the fact that I was reading in Swedish. On a deeper level, I couldn't believe the connections I made and the insights I had as I read it faster than I have ever done before. The thing that stood out to me the most was the character of men such as Alma, Ammon, and Moroni throughout the Book of Mormon. They didn't just show their faith in one miraculous instant, but rather they lived an entire life of faithful service and constantly testified of Christ, even in the midst of extreme adversity. They never once compromised on their beliefs and gave up comfortable lives to serve God with all their heart, might, mind, and strength.
On New Years Eve we had permission from our mission president to stay out until 12 if we were with members, so we spent the night with the Karlssons (the stake president and his family). We helped cook (and eat) a three course meal and played games until we returned home at 11:30, which definitely challenged my ability to stay awake, seeing as how it's been nearly 6 months since I've been up past 10:30... When midnight rolled around the fireworks outside were pretty incredible and did a nice job of lulling us to sleep.
Our plans with members for New Years day got cancelled, so the day was filled with reading the Book of Mormon and preparing for the coming week. Unfortunately one of the two computers in the church broke, so I was unable to email, but fortunately emailing on Monday wasn't in the original plans anyway!
This past Saturday we got to extend the holiday season a little bit by celebrating Ethiopian Christmas (I have no idea why the celebrate it on Jan 6th) with Mekonen and his son Abenezer who are
members here! They had made a whole bunch of Ethiopian food and invited us, our ward mission leader Johan, and the Karlssons over to celebrate. They taught us the proper way of eating Ethiopian food, with your hands, and then had a pretty good laugh as we struggled to do so... The food was also pretty spicy, which I loved, but Swedes do not eat spicy food (at all) so the Karlssons and Elder Cotton where dying the whole time.
Transfers have come and gone, and I am blessed to still be here in Eskilstuna with Elder Cotton for another transfer!
Trying to describe the last three weeks gives me a whole new
appreciation for the prophets in the Book of Mormon who lamented that they could not write "but a hundredth part" of the history of their people. The last few weeks were absolutely amazing, and it's great to start a new year dedicated to spreading the gospel!
Äldste Sirrine
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| Typical Julbord foods |
Christmas Eve is the big day here in Sweden, but we got to spend Christmas day with some other members who have lived in the states, so it was basically a repeat of Christmas Eve for us! We also got to skype home which was definitely the highlight of the day!
The week between Christmas and New Years isn't exactly prime proselyting time as everybody is either on vacation or huddling indoors, so as I mentioned before, President Youngberg challenged us to read the
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Typical Swedish desserts
for Christmas
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On New Years Eve we had permission from our mission president to stay out until 12 if we were with members, so we spent the night with the Karlssons (the stake president and his family). We helped cook (and eat) a three course meal and played games until we returned home at 11:30, which definitely challenged my ability to stay awake, seeing as how it's been nearly 6 months since I've been up past 10:30... When midnight rolled around the fireworks outside were pretty incredible and did a nice job of lulling us to sleep.
Our plans with members for New Years day got cancelled, so the day was filled with reading the Book of Mormon and preparing for the coming week. Unfortunately one of the two computers in the church broke, so I was unable to email, but fortunately emailing on Monday wasn't in the original plans anyway!
This past Saturday we got to extend the holiday season a little bit by celebrating Ethiopian Christmas (I have no idea why the celebrate it on Jan 6th) with Mekonen and his son Abenezer who are
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| Ethiopian food! |
Transfers have come and gone, and I am blessed to still be here in Eskilstuna with Elder Cotton for another transfer!
Trying to describe the last three weeks gives me a whole new
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| Abenezer showing us the proper way to eat Ethiopian food... much harder than it looks by the way. |
Äldste Sirrine
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| A beautiful sunset |
