 |
The royal escort (there are many more horses than seen in the picture...)
|
 |
| The church inside the palace |
This has been an amazing week!
Let me just start by saying it's more than a little surprising to turn a street corner while contacting and see an army of horses coming towards you. Quite frankly it's not something I ever expected to see in my lifetime, and certainly not in downtown Stockholm. As it turns out, they were escorting the royal carriage, and I must admit it was rather impressive. I'm not entirely sure how effective of an escort it is, but it certainly looks cool!
When I first arrived here in Stockholm, the bishop didn't seem very enthused with missionary work, and wouldn't respond to our efforts to contact him. I think many of the previous missionaries had accepted this, which is understandable because the bishop is certainly a busy person, but we decided we wanted to try serving him to improve our relationship. We asked the bishop's wife if we could
 |
| Serving the bishop's family |
come do some service for them, and she said they were actually had a lot of yardwork to do in order to prepare for a party, and that we were "såååååååå välkommna" (soooo welcome) to help. We were able to go over to their house on Saturday and spend a couple hours helping them replace the tarp on their pool, trim the hedges, paint, etc. Perhaps the coolest part of serving them was the chance to talk to their neighbor as well. As I trimmed their hedge, I was standing on a step ladder, but the hedge was too wide, so I could only reach half of it. After doing the half closest to me, I saw their neighbor
sitting in the yard, so I called out to her and asked if I could come on their side to do the other half. She was happy to let me do so, so I took the step ladder to the other side and was able to finish the top of the hedge. I then asked if I could even up their side of the hedge for them, and she said I didn't need to, that they could do it, but I persisted and she accepted the offer gratefully. After finishing the hedge, we began talking and after seeing my name tag she asked what it is I do. I was able to explain that we are here for 2 years to teach about our church, but also to serve, and I was able to tell her about some of the service we have done recently. I then asked if we could help her with any such projects, and she said that she had a few in mind, and would love our help. I gave her our contact information, and she said she will give us a call. Not only do we now have the chance to serve, and hopefully teach their neighbors, but it was amazing to see how our relationship with the bishop and his family has developed. We talked as we worked, and by the end it felt as though we were good friends. Certainly you can talk at church or at a dinner appointment, but you come much closer together as you talk while working side by side towards a common goal. It now feels as though he truly trusts us, and he has started reaching out to us, instead of us trying in vain to contact him. Service truly works miracles!
While contacting this week, we had a girl come up to us on the street and ask us if we had a Book of
 |
| Stockholm |
Mormon. We were a little surprised, and asked her how she knew, so she explained that she had been an exchange student in Rexburg, Idaho, and had lived with an LDS family, so she knows all about our church. When we asked if we could meet and teach her more, she told us that she thinks what we're doing is amazing, but she isn't wanting to become a member right now, so she doesn't want to waste our time. I was about to give her a card, when I realized we could be friends on Facebook. She was more than happy to do so, and we told her just to send us a message if she ever had any questions. Sure enough, later that night we got a message from her asking if she could come to church with us on Sunday. She said that as she thought about it, she realized that she hadn't been to church in a long time and actually was interested in learning more. She was unable to attend yesterday because of work, but she is planning on coming this week.
Last Sunday we had an investigator come to church who has a hard time believing the Book of Mormon is true. She has placed a barrier in her mind between us and her because we grew up in the gospel while she did not, so we had a few members who were converts themselves speak with her and bear testimony. I bore my personal testimony to her that it is indeed true, and that the way I know is because I have tested the promises within the book. I explained to her that the way I see the Book of Mormon is as a collection of If-Then statements. For example, we are told that IF we follow His commandments, THEN we will receive His spirit. We are also told that IF
 |
| The Stockholm YSA |
we come unto Him THEN He will make weak things strong unto us (Ether 12:27). She said she had never seen the book like this before, but was very intrigued, so she asked if we could meet this week and help her read it in that way. It was definitely a step of progress with her, and much of my personal study this week has been devoted to finding If-Then statements in the Book of Mormon and preparing to teach her how to do so herself. Much of the time we focus on helping our investigators know if the entire Book of Mormon is true or not. My own testimony of the Book of Mormon didn't come as a whole, but rather as I saw each If-Then statement fulfilled. Every time I have done the "If", the "Then" has always happened. As I have seen each fulfilled, I have come to the absolute knowledge that the Book of Mormon is true, and that our greatest happiness comes as we read and apply the principles therein.
 |
| Beautiful sunset on the way home from tracting |
Äldste Sirrine
