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We were at a members house, and he showed us his
typewriter he got on his mission! He still uses it because
he doesn't have a printer, and he let us try it out as well!
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This week was full of service! We got to help some members hang black-out blinds in their bed rooms because, as it turns out, it's slightly difficult to sleep when it's light at 3 am. It's been a while since I've gotten to use a drill and other tools, so I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Unfortunately it's been really hot lately, and no buildings have AC, so we've faced the dilemma of either sleeping with our window open, thus letting air in but also letting the light in at 3 am, or to sleep with our window closed and face the heat. We've decided to take the heat, and in response, I have started to freeze water bottles that I sleep with. I have to say, it's actually a pretty solid solution and rather therapeutic. I highly recommend it if you ever face such a situation. Besides not having AC, Sweden also has no irrigation systems because the summer is usually really rainy and cool. This is the hottest and driest summer they have recorded, so the grass has all died and the leaves are starting to fall off of the trees because they have no way to water and it has only rained once in the last 2 months.... But hey, we're just pretty happy it's not like last summer where there were only about 4 days of sunshine the whole summer!
On Thursday evening we wanted to invite Gabriel to Sports Night in Gubbängen so he could get to know some members and have some fun, but his phone had died so we couldn't get a hold of him in
time. At first we were a little disappointed, but we decided to go tracting and use the time we had to the best of our abilities with faith that we might find a new investigator. We headed to Lidingö with the intent to get off the train at Torsvik and Tract in that area because it's close to our apartment, so it would be easy to swing by those who say we can come back. We felt the spirit confirm that it was right, so we started traveling to the area. We were talking to a man on the train when the Torsvik stop came up, so we gave him our card and went to go out the door. When we got to the door, we found it was broken and we needed to go to the next. By the time we made it to the next door, the train had already started going again and we were stuck on it. We were a little surprised and disappointed, but we decided it would take too much time to try to go back to Torsvik, so we called an audible and decided to continue to Larsberg, an area we had tracted a little bit a few weeks ago. Upon arriving in the area, we knocked on the very first door and were met by what must be the nicest man I have ever tracted into. His name is Jesper, and our conversation was actually started by Elder Bills commenting on his motorcycle, and then after a time I noticed he had a pile of boards and a saw laying in his yard, so I asked him if he was building something. He responded that he was building a deck, and
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| Helping Jesper build his deck! |
continued to talk about his other projects and things around the house that he had built himself. I wanted to ask if we could help, but the thought came to mind that he would probably say he didn't need any, and then the spirit put into my mind what I should say instead, "I enjoy doing such projects myself! If we we were to come next time you are working on the deck, would you be willing to teach us a little bit and let us help?" He responded that we could certainly come by, and then added that he would actually be working on the deck the next morning at about 9:30. We told him we would be there, and the next morning we showed up to help. We ended up helping him for about two hours by screwing the wood planks into place to form the surface of the deck. To be honest I was a little surprised that he trusted us with such work, but by the end we had a great friendship and were able to explain that we do such service because we believe in Jesus Christ and try to follow his example. We asked if we could come back and help again, and then we asked if we could share more about our faith the next time. He said that he would be interested in learning more about our beliefs, so we will be returning again to teach him and his wife. I sincerely doubt he would have let us into his home if we had simply introduced ourselves at his door as missionaries and asked if we could share a message about Jesus Christ.
However, just as King Lamoni noticed something different in the service of Ammon, this man was able notice something different in us that has created a curiosity and receptiveness for the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we serve others and "hold up the light" of the gospel, we will presented with opportunities to share it. As Elder Holland has said, "If we listen with love, we won’t need to wonder what to say. It will be given to us—by the Spirit and by our friends”
Äldste Sirrine
Gabriel got locked out of his apartment, so we found him outside when we showed up for our lesson. After considering several different options, we concluded the best way was for us to help him break into his apartment by lifting him up so he could climb to his open window and retrieve the keys. No Gabriels were harmed in the process.
