Kära Bröder och Systrar!

The clouds look like mountains 

How goes it with all of you? Im glad you have had a good week and that you remember who it is you get your strength from. 

Mån: After P-day stuff we taught our english class. Not a whole lot more happened ha.

Tis: We met a street contact from the week before who is wonderful! This was our legit first time meeting with her and from the very beginning she was just so great. As we were talking and explaining our role as missionaries, she randomly just said, "I want to join your church.” WHAT? Ha, that threw me off guard! We hadn't really taught her anything, but she knows she feels really good about what we represent. She has had some trials in her life, and she is looking for peace and says she has found it now!:) Wow! Talk about prepared. 

The sign on this building says Odd Fellows

We met D again to do family history -which he very much enjoys. We also met with S later and unfortunately our lesson was not the best.  Elder S and I agreed we need to be more aware of where we want the lesson to go. Obviously be open and follow the spirit if we need to change, but it wasn't like that this time. Haha, it happens. But the thing to do about it is learn, analyze and be better next time. We ended the day on a great note with N who has come away from experiences in her life with her own testimony of keeping the Law of Chastity. Seriously, she already knows these lessons and has a strong testimony. B came with us to teach and she and N have become great friends -YES!! It seriously helps so much when you have investigators make friends with members! What a great day!

Ons: We had planned to have 7 lessons for the day (which would have been crazy-awesome!) then all but one cancelled and/or did not show up. It was upsetting so we went into the shopping center and both ended up buying a soccer ball ha:) It was a needed purchase because I have been unconsciously having withdrawals from not playing. So that helped with the cancellation day. Later we swungby this less active who was home and we had a good talk about general conference and got it set up for her to watch it in spanish. Then we met with X who is solid in his religion but wants to discuss the Book of Mormon together. It's really cool- just being able to understand and respect each other really goes a long way. So that was a great ending to the day. We got cancelled 6 times with those other people because God needed us to be with these 2 specifically. I'm learning more and more about God's timing on the mission. At times it is frustrating, but it helps me rely on the ultimate source of power and know that He is over all.

She helped pass the time

Tors: We were SUPPOSED to go to Södertälje for zone training, but things didn't work out that way. We received a text from the train service in the morning telling us no train was coming to take us. So I spent the next hour frantically trying to find different routes or busses or anything that could help us out. In desperation I called Sister K who was more than willing to help us out -bless her.

She drove us, with her 2 youngest in the car making funny faces at us (which lightened the mood ha), to the next train station.

Waiting for the train that never came

We sat waiting for the train and with each 5 minutes that passed, the train became more and more delayed. It was no use. We were not meant to be in zone training. However, the weather was absolutely gorgeous (train station is outdoors.)  An elderly gentleman walked up to us and started talking.  He said he had some family in the states that are Mormon and we had a good chat with him. He left abruptly and we were sad we didn't get any contact info, but right after that he popped up again so we invited him to church and do family history. Hopefully we see him again.

Never made it to Zone Conf

Who knows. Maybe that's why God didn't want us to be in Södertälje, because we were needed to talk to this man. We made it back home and listened to zone training on our phones and then went out to Max burger for lunch.

We went down to Strängnäs. We met L again (the street contact from Tis) and talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and set a baptismal date for May! We mapped out a plan of how we were going to help her prepare for that!  We then went over to S's, where we taught the same thing but adapted it to his circumstances. We talked about his baptismal date, also in May. We then met with N, who has a baptismal date for next week in April. 3 Baptismal dates!!!!! It is amazing! God is really blessing us, and I am so grateful for it. I can't even fathom it all. These people were put in our path. God had prepared them. We are just the instrument in His hands in bringing his children back to Him. We had a good lesson with N about the Word of Wisdom. Just as she starts to put a piece of chocolate in her mouth, I said ”Today we are going to be talking about addictions” she quickly put the chocolate down and looked super guilty -she says she has an addiction to chocolate- Hahahaha it was sooo funny! She took it all in very well but the tea is going to be hard because it is a cultural thing to offer tea to guests. 

We literally ran from N's place to the train station to catch the train back home. I needed to give B a baptismal interview -my first one! He is has been meeting with the other elders and is fantastic. There is a little language barrier (but I had a member translating for us.) We walked in, and the first thing he does is bear his testimony for 10 minutes! He said just walking in the room he feels so much light and positivity. An overwhelming sense of peace. That is something he has been searching for for awhile now. He and his wife escaped  his country and have been in several places. He has had some nightmares about some people finding him and killing him. But when the missionaries knocked on his door, and had a message about peace, he knew it was what he had been looking for. It was such a spiritual experience for me, even with the language barrier. He is so ready for this and wants it so bad. 

Fre: I finally got to watch the sunday afternoon session of conference and boy was it good! Back to back to back they were all phenomenal. Seriously, so perfect. When President Monson was speaking, I had this strong feeling in my heart that I know he is a prophet of God who speaks as his mouthpiece. I have a testimony of the reality of that. God loves us and speaks to us through President Monson. I know it and am so grateful for that knowledge. May we resolve to be better, until we meet again. That last line hit me hard. I thought of Elder Bailey -until we meet again. He is still in my heart, but I know we shall meet again soon.

View from a member's house

We met with a less active who made us Swedish pancakes! They were pretty darn good even without peanut butter (but I do miss that). We headed over to sports night and had a really good time. We had about 12-14 people there and played volleyball.  I played a bit with my hacky-sack.

Lör: We met with Professor D again! He had some really good questions to discuss. We showed him the Restoration dvd and gave him some copies of the Book of Mormon in chinese-mandarin, swedish and english. I love that man. 77 years old still going hard. That's really inspiring. We picked up M and showed him Elder Bednar's talk from conference and ate some ice cream. It was about "the load" -I really like that analogy he gave. Sometimes we need a load to help us get unstuck. Having peace doesn't necessarily mean there is no load, but understanding that you can make it through with the help of the Savior. 

Singing at the baptism service

We caught a ride up to Västerås for the baptism (we don't have a font in Eskilstuna.) The service went great and Elder S and I sang Abide With Me in our own arrangement -and it wasn't too bad. Elder B performed the baptism and it was so powerful! Man, I was so full of the spirit and just so excited for him to be baptized. N came and I was so grateful for B who sat by N and calmed her nerves about her own baptism next week! On the way home, one of the member's car broke down. So we sat out in the pooring rain in our suits trying to fix it. We didn't, but it was fun ending to the night ha:)

Sön: We got L a ride to church and it turns out she has a friend who is already in our church. Perfect! We had a packed church meeting -it was wonderful to see! We took part in the confirmation, the spirit was there. A  loved it and is ready to move forward in the branch. He told N that he was going to make her a cake for her baptism! She said, "I have a ride to my baptism, I have cake, God is going to be very disappointed if I dont go because He has put my 2 concerns at ease!" :) hahahaha so awesome! During SS we taught L who said it feels so good in her heart being at church, talking with us, and reading the Book of Mormon! Man, I cannot even describe my emotions or feelings! It is truly amazing! God is really blessing us! 

The L's had us over for dinner and I did the peacock feather object lesson for them (påfågel fjärder). After contacting that night, we went home to pack up to go sleep over with the other elders and sauna:) We ended up having 22 lessons and 3 baptismal dates!! The Eskilstuna branch is fired up and is so willing to help us out more and more! Things have improved tremendously since I first got here. The Lord's timing and the spirit's power have been shown greatly here. And I am so grateful to be a part of it. This truly is the Lord's work. I love being out here and serving my God, my brothers and my sisters. He lives. We have a prophet today. Follow his loving council. For that truly is the way back home. 

This is a Porsche with a add on top

I love you all and am grateful for everything I have in my life-especially you. Have a fantastic week!

Med Kärlek

Äldste Johnson