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Wednesday was Sweden's National Day, so we baked a whole
bunch of cinnamon rolls with a member family and then
took them to people in the area.
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| Delivering the cinnamon rolls with our ward mission leader, Jerry. |
"Playing what?" That was the question that ran through my mind when a man wearing nothing but a bath robe walked up to us in the middle of Central Station and asked me if we were playing.
Just the night before, we had promised to give the guitar in our apartment to the zone leaders, seeing as how neither Elder Baggett or I can play the guitar, and had decided to meet at Central Station where they would be transferring trains that morning. We were waiting for them in the middle of Central Station when suddenly we saw a man dressed only in a bath robe and a pair of flip flops walk by. Elder Baggett and I turned to each other and began speculating on what the cause of such an outfit could be, and determined that he probably lived in one of the apartments above the station and had come down to get a morning coffee or something similar. Right as we reached this conclusion, the man showed up right behind us and asked, "Are you guys playing today?" I was really confused, wondering what we were supposed to be playing, when I realized that Elder Baggett was holding the guitar in his hand. We began to explain that we couldn't play, that we were just giving it to a friend, when the zone leaders appeared. As it happens, Elder Strong can play the guitar really well, so the man asked if he could play a church song. He played and sang"I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus", after which the man suggested he play it again and we could all sing this time. Without skipping a beat, Elder Strong started playing again and there we were, four missionaries and a man wearing a bath robe, playing the guitar and singing "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus" in the middle of Central Station. Looks like I can check that off the bucket list!
The Stockholm temple is closed for the month of June for deep cleaning and renovation, so all the
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| Sweden Stockholm Temple |
Our investigator Erik came to church yesterday! He had gotten back from a road trip Sunday morning at 5 AM after driving all night, but we invited him to come if he was feeling up for it, and he told us he would love to. We had testimony meeting because they reorganized our bishopric last week, so I had the opportunity to bear testimony along with many others. Just before the meeting ended, Erik stood up and walked to the front to bear his testimony. He expressed gratitude for the witnesses that had been borne, and encouraged the members to continue pressing forward in faith. It was exactly the message we all needed to hear, and I was amazed that he had shared it. Honestly, if I attended another church's services, I would listen and appreciate, but I probably wouldn't get up and talk in front of everybody... His participation didn't stop there though, he stayed for the next two hours and contributed several comments in class as well, helping to strengthen and uplift others.
The greatest blessing of being a missionary is the privilege of seeing the Atonement of Jesus Christ work miracles in the lives of so many. He truly has the ability to make weak things strong unto us, to turn mistakes that might consume us with pain and guilt into sacred moments of instruction and strength. I have seen this power change and empower the lives of those who are willing to humbly follow Him, and I have felt it in my own life as well.
Äldste Sirrine
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| A car outside our apartment |
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Studenten. This is the Swedish tradition that accompanies
graduation from high school. Everybody gets in the back
of trucks with loud speakers playing music and more beer
than they know what to do with. They then proceed to drive
around the city drinking and spraying beer everywhere...
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