August 13, 2018 When in doubt, talk about släktforskning (family history work).

Beautiful sunset

This week we were tracting and ran into a guy named Jan. As soon as we started talking to him he told us to take a seat, and we started talking. He told us that he had met the missionaries 50 years ago, but hadn't seen any since then, and he was surprised we were still going around doing missionary work. I informed him that thankfully we weren't those same missionaries he had met 50 years ago, but that the church had no plans to stop sending missionaries any time soon....Apparently he met the missionaries when they came to his school class and taught about the church, and he said he even has a Book of Mormon he believes is still on the shelf. He said he wasn't interested in religion, but he started talking to us about family history, and he even told us about how big a role the LDS church has played in family history work here in Sweden. Sweden has tons of records, which have been very well kept throughout the ages, so the church came to Sweden and asked if they could upload them to do temple work. Apparently Sweden told the church that they could, under one condition. The condition was that the church had to make an extra copy of every record they copied that would then be left in Sweden to back up their records. The church agreed, and since that time has made incredible impact on the records and family history here in Sweden. To be honest, I was surprised he knew all this, but it was pretty cool to talk to him about it. He's an older man, and has trouble with his knees, so we offered to help him with some yard work. He was hesitant at first, but finally told us that he will be gone for two weeks, but would appreciate some help when he returns home, so we look forward to meeting him again. I thought it was pretty neat that this man remembered the missionaries from 50 years ago, and I thought a lot about the people I meet and the the seeds I plant. We may not know what comes from our actions, but the light we share with others is not easily forgotten.

Last Monday we taught Gabriel how to stop smoking. There is a program available for the missionaries that has 15 steps a smoker can take to stop smoking. The steps are done everyday for a week, and by the end of the week the smoker no longer has the desire to smoke. It works be removing all the bells/triggers that trigger the person to want to smoke, such as mornings, coffee, tea, after meals, breaks, etc. It also required that we have a first lesson to teach each step and why it's important, and it's to be taught a members house. The lesson went incredibly well, and the family we taught it with offered to call Gabriel every morning at 6:30 am and every night at 9:00 pm to encourage him and pray with him. The most important part of the whole program is that the person commits to doing it exactly as taught, every step, for seven days without fail, which requires a true desire to quit. If they don't want to, there's no way we can force them, and the program won't work. We had taught Gabriel the Word of Wisdom about a week before teaching this lesson, and when we asked if he would immediately destroy any cigarettes had left at home, he informed us that he had

We found an Australian Shepherd

 and had to pet it.

already gotten rid of them all and didn't have any left. This showed us his true desire to quit, so we felt the 15 step program would be a great way to eliminate even his desire to smoke, and we felt that he would be willing to do whatever it takes. We had write his commitment to stop smoking on a piece of paper and to sign it, and then taught him the 15 steps he could do every day to not only stop smoking, but to even eliminate the desire to smoke. While each step is important, the most important would be to pray every morning and every night. It is God who has the power to work such mighty changes in our heart, and as Nephi teaches us, he prepares a way for us to fulfill all his commandments. I'm happy to report that so far he has been doing every step every day, and he has been successful in not smoking. We will continue to support and help him in every way we can, and thus witness the power of God in changing his very nature. The best part of being a missionary is seeing the difference the gospel makes in the lives of others and the changes they make. For this reason, this week has been one of the best of my mission, for no where else have I seen such a change happen so quickly and and fully as with Gabriel.

Äldste Sirrine

Election season is coming up, so a bunch of posters 

went up all over town this week. 

Like ALL over.

 Looks like they take it pretty seriously...