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In case any of you have ever wondered what my area looks like,
here's the great city of Göteborg! Everything the light(or in this case mist...)
touches is our area! (Plus a whole lot more you can't see)
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Today we decided to go through a part of town that dates back to the 1600's for P-day. There were some super cool shops and buildings we enjoyed looking around, and then we saw it: Skansen Kronan. Skansen Kronan is one of the old fortresses which was built in the 1600's on top of a hill that
was used to defend the port of Göteborg. Despite the looming staircase we could see leading up to it, Elder Bringhurst and I looked at each other, and without much discussion, knew that we had to go check it out. I lost count after about 13 stairs, but after a good while we finally reached the top and what was more impressive than the fortress itself was the view of Göteborg. I couldn't resist laying my hand on Elder Bringhurst's shoulder and saying, "Well Elder, everything the light touches is ours..." The truth of the matter is that our area actually includes a lot more that was beyond eyesight, but it was a good start.
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| Skansen Kronan |
If there's one thing I have become convinced of while on my mission, it would probably be the power of fasting. This last Sunday I fasted that we might find a new, prepared investigator, and by the end of Monday we had found just that. As we were walking home from the tram stop, we walked along side a man, approximately in his sixties, and starting talking to him. In his words, "Jesus is the guy!", and he doesn't understand how there can be so many churches that claim to follow Him. Hmmm, that sounds like a question we have an answer to! We were able to show him around the church, which he really liked, and teach him about the Book of Mormon, which testifies of Christ. He has since started reading the Book of Mormon and has texted us that he really likes it, and wants to meet again so we can talk more about its message. Such an encounter is no coincidence, and is truly a manifestation of the power that is promised to us as we fast and pray.
We have been working with a less active guy in our ward, Love (yes that's a common Swedish name, but no it doesn't actually mean love in Swedish), who has a hard time coming to activities because he is quite busy participating in chess tournaments. We decided the best way to get to know him a little
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| A beautiful part of town called Haga |
better was to play chess with him, so we did just that. Or at least we tried... As it turns out, Love is ranked number 5 in the nation for chess, and our skills were slightly less than number 5 in the nation... he pretty much annihilated my entire side of the board with only 3 of his own pieces. The good news? He actually taught us real strategy afterwards, so while I still stand no chance against him until the afterlife, maybe I can actually stand my ground against someone of normal ability now. We also had the chance to share Elder Rasbands talk from October 2017 with Love, in which Elder Rasband says, "Our lives are like a chessboard, and the Lord moves us from one place to another—if we are responsive to spiritual promptings. Looking back, we can see His hand in our lives." I have seen this principle time and time again in my own life, and I know that the Lord truly directs our paths, if we are responsive to spiritual promptings. In this last general conference, President Nelson reminded us that the Lord wants to make his mind known to us. If we seek his guidance, and act courageously on those promptings, we will receive the direction we so greatly need.
Äldste Sirrine
