Hej hej alla!

Last pday we visited Drottningholm which is where the King resides. It is very extravagant and super cool!! I sent lots of pictures. We met a German man named K who followed us and hung out with us for 5 hours! Super cool guy and is interested somewhat.

Tuesday, I played football in the morning with P! He was a superstar football player before he blew out his knee, so that was way cool playing one v one with him. I got one meg on him:)
 

We had our district meeting about how we can bury our concerns which will free us to be better missionaries. There is a story in history about Cortez when he had to go war in another country. He burned all of their ships so they had no way of getting home to Spain. He did this so his men would fight with everything they had, with no chance of getting back unless they won the war. This motivated his men and they conquered. We all have our ships - concerns, pulling us back from giving our all. But I challenge you to burn your ships now and conquer what you have set out for.

Something we did this week because things have been going slow, was to make thank you cards for all of our members that we work with and make cookies for them. I used mamas recipe but used marabou (best Swedish chocolate) instead of regular chips. They turned out fantastic, according to the members. I'm not bragging or anything, but they were pretty darn good:) I also had 2 more kebabs since that first time and it is really growing on me. It is so good and just the best ha!

Wednesday, we met up with H.  Every time we go over she loves it because she always prays for help and comfort, and then what do you know, we come right away! I love being an answer to someone's prayers. It's the best feeling in the world. To follow the spirit and help people realize that God is mindful of them. I firmly have a testimony of this, it happened many times this week and I love my Heavenly Father so much because of it. We also had Institute at the center that night, and I talked with a lot of YSAs! I could understand them a lot more and keep a conversation going on for quite some time! 

Thurs, I did a lot of personal study on family history and founds some really cool scriptures: D&C 138:47-48; 128:15. When we do family history and temple work, we are helping those who are dead attain salvation. But likewise, they help us to attain salvation. Also, why do we call God our Father? Because we are all one big family and need to help our brothers and sisters have the opportunity to receive the gospel.

Before Friday we had only 6 lessons up until that day. But we got 6 in just one day! We ended out the week with 19 which is super stellar! We focused our teaching on church and sacrifice. For some people it is a sacrifice to go to church. But the Savior died for each of us, the least we can do is sacrifice some time to go to church to learn more about Him.

Saturday, we had our ward party which was a huge success! We had 75 people come with several non members. We had a talent show type of thing and we as the missionaries performed a skit about members and missionaries working together- a lot of fun! We ate some food and talked with everyone!  This ward continues to share the love they have with each other. I ate some moose at the G's that night, and it was super good! Daylight Savings was definitely a benefit for us, that extra hour!:)

Sunday, was awesome as always. It is still hard on my brain to go 3 straight hours in a row in Swedish. I love being able to take the Sacrament and just start out fresh again.The Sacrament is for everyone trying to do their best to change bad habits and grow closer to Christ. I am so grateful for the Savior allowing me the opportunity to change and follow him better when I renew my baptismal covenant.

Yesterday, Monday, we hit up the outlets in Jacobsberg with Äldsters M and T. I got another new sweater. We had FHE with the G's and Y and Z. Played some fun games, but most important was the lesson on families. We should set a consecrated time to gather with our family AT LEAST once a week. This gospel is central to families and that is the way of God. I am so grateful for my family. How, no matter what, Monday was family night and that we would gather together to have a lesson. Even when I had football practices that would go past 10 pm, they would wait up for me because it was THAT important. I know it is. I believe it is. I show that it is when I tell people about this gospel. It is the best thing ever, to have a group of people who love each other and want to help each other grow. That means so much to me, and I hope it does to you as well. I love and pray for all of you so much. Have a fantastic week!

Jag älskar er!

MVH

Äldste Johnson

Hur lägget familjen Johnson och väner?

Det loter bra för er! Jag hoppas allt är bra! Men tänker jag att borja med mitt Jesu Kristi Engelium vittnesbörd...In other words, I said: It sounds good for you all! I hope all is good! But think I to begin with my Jesus Christ Gospel testimony (inverted sentence)...Everything here is possesive, so the word "of" is very rare. Like if you want to say "son of man" you say "man's son" instead. Or "in the name of Jesus Christ" you would say "i Jesu Kristi namn". Its shorter, easier, but weird some times ha. Anywho, there is a little language lesson for all y'all.

Practically all of the leaves have fallen off and the ground is super frosty in the mornings. It averaged around 1 degree Celsius or something close to that. The sun hardly shows its face, but when it does, its nice. I actually had a cool thought about the son, especially here for Sweden. So the sun could be compared to the gospel of Jesus Christ, or Christ himself. The sun gives warmth and attracts all things to it, especially when it is cold out.

Not only does it light our way, it gives us comfort to see where we are going and provides hope for a better day. The same with the gospel and Christ, we are in darkness or cold without it, not knowing where to go. But once we are in the light of Him and his teachings, then we are filled with warmth, comfort and direction.

Mån: The W's (a w is a v, w's are rare), the couple who is in charge of the YSA center, made us pancakes- I haven't had pancakes for 3 months and it was awesome! It tasted just like Ihop. I didn't have any peanut butter with me, so that was a bummer, but instead put some nice jam and syrup on 14 of them! It was great! We had FHE at the Center and helped clean and played games. We had a sick jam session with the YSAs and also played Mafia! Man, that was super intense! 

Tis: A lot of people blåsted us (blås means to blow, like wind and so that means they blew us off, cancelled, bailed, etc..) and dropped us also. We did member lessons and talked about conference and then faith. We shared stories of faith in the Mormons bok (another possessive thing ha) and showed that it was only through their action of faith that they were blessed. We also shared Mosiah 8:18 which says that we can do mighty miracles if we but show our faith. Not just miracles, but mighty ones! That is such a great promise to have from the Lord!

That night, well, when it got dark (it gets dark at 5 and soon will be 4 and yeah) we did some swingbys and ended up lost in the southeast part of Lidingö. We saw a fox! We were walking down a path, and you can always see some part of the ocean here because of all the islands, and we thought we saw the world turning upside down! Turns out it was a cruise ship that we could only see the lights moving across the ocean. We laughed when we found out what it was. We quoted Spongebob back and forth to each other, which really lightened the mood even though we were still lost ha. Eventually we found our way back home.

Ons: Let me just say, that I am really so spoiled here on my mission. But I am super grateful for everything. I believe that I would have struggled so badly in a 3rd world country with bugs flying everywhere. I hate bugs and spiders! 

Tors: I studied Enos today. It doesn't matter what we have done in life, it just matters that we truly repent and change and get back on the path. All day and night he prayed. But I realize not all of it is him talking. Prayer is a 2-way communication. Heavenly Father was talking with him, guiding him to thoughts about certain things to pray for. I challenge you all to pause for awhile the next time you pray and see what you get out of it. I know that it will bless you, that is my promise to all of you.

We have been meeting with d quite often and  I can see and feel a difference in their home. I would like to stay here one more transfer, to continue with this family.

Sister B is also from St. George 

Fre: ZONE CONFERENCE!!! Oh man, it was so great and just what I needed, a fantastic spiritual boost! Stockholm and Stockholm North zones met together in Västerhaninge for the conference. It was right next to the temple, I forgot to get a pic of it, but it is so beautiful!! Anywho, I saw Elder P, who was Elder T's greeny and talked with him about the "T" and he knew a little about me because the T and I went to high school together! I have yet to see Elder T but I'm hoping I do soon. It was fun see people I knew and catch up and take some pics.

The main focus for zone conf was FAMILY HISTORY WORK!! Some people think that fam history and missionary work are 2 different things. BUT THEY ARENT!! Our purpose as missionaries is to invite all to come unto Christ so they can live with their families forever. Family history work unites families together and it is missionary work when you search for ancestors and perform ordinances for them in the temple! It is all one work! We are incorporating all of this in our teaches, lessons, finding, contacting, etc. because everyone is generally interested or at least likes talking about their families!

Things have already started to pick up! We found like 10 people contacting in the 2 days since who are interested in family history work. It really works. Try it out!! D&C 84:88 *I will be on your right hand and your left, and I will send you angels round about you to lift you up* when we are doing the work of the Lord. The desire to achieve it is key. If we expect things to happen, they will. For example, on splits, you expect something crazy good to happen, and it always does!! Expect it, desire it, work towards it. Kämpa På! (Shempa Poa, Fight On!).

Gru- at the kebab place

Kebab image from internet, but you get the idea

Lör: I tried my first ever kebab and it was pretty darn good. They say it is better down south, so I'm stoked to go down there sometime!  

We took Z with us contacting to see what missionary life is like. It went really well and he actually translated some Arabic for us! We are contacting more and getting a lot better at it and it works so well with the Family History approach!

Sön: I am getting better at understanding sacrament meeting and priesthood, but my brain still hurts afterwards from straining to understand and translate it haha. .

All is going well for me. The work is picking up, and I can feel that things are about to explode here in Stockholm! I still have little struggles and frustrations everyday, but I still press forward. Attitude. That can determine so much. I can choose to be frustrated because of a rejection, or I can choose to overlook that and work even harder, have a hope that the next contact, the next teach, the next minute will be better. 

Here are some answers to your questions: 

1. Halloween - they have stores with costumes selling big right now and decorations all over so I guess it will be celebrated, not sure how yet.

Giant ghost hanging above street

2. I am in a big city so you can imagine that there are a lot of "interesting" people. As for the hairdos, there are some crazy ones. I've seen strange colors, and weird shape styles, and I've see lots of piercings out the wazoo. Tattoos aren't too big here, well you cant really see them anyways because it is cold so much. The main hairdo for guys is the typical short on the sides with the comb over (euro look)

3. I would say for sports in order of importance is first football (soccer), then innebandy (floorball- think indoor hockey,)  then ice hockey.

4. Most kids go to school till they are 19. They get paid to go to college and they choose their career but that is in the 1st year, so I'm not sure if they can change it after that.

I love all of you so much and hope everything goes well this week for you!

Kämpa På!!

MVH

Äldste Johnson

Kära familjen Johnson och väner!

Well, Gee whiz, everyone seems to be having a stellar time and/or learning so much! That is fantastic! This week has been a bit long and hard, we haven't really had anyone to teach so we have been a bit down on ourselves. We did however come away with 16 lessons for the week, and we aim for 20, so that was a miracle in itself. 

Mån: A group of us missionaries went over to gamla stan to explore. 

 

The *real* viking ship that we saw, wasn't so real. We were about to go on and do a little tour of some viking things around the area, we actually got the guy to get the price extremely cheap, but backed out after we looked inside. Not even close to being real. How lame. I was stoked to navigate the ocean on a viking ship, it looked cool, but just a big scheme.

After that we proceeded to the Stadshuset which is the place where they give out the Nobel Peace Prize every year!

Tis: We helped a less active in our ward move for a couple of hours, well mainly me lifting all of the heavy stuff ha. We then had ward council and I can see that conference has inspired people in Stockholm församling (ward) and they want to help with missionary work.

Ons: We went up to North Lidingö to find a YSA-aged young woman.  We didn't have too much info about her. Found out she is nanny-ing for a family and only has certain days and times off of work. She actually told us that we were an answer to her prayer to know that the church was true and that she wanted some way to come back. Wow! How cool is that, to be guided up to her place (which by the way the view is phenominal),

and be an answer to her prayer. I just love that! Not knowing really anything leading up to what you do, but just living worthy and being in the right place at the right time to answer someones prayer. Its amazing!

We met with L later and committing him to some things that will bring blessing to his family. He is such a great guy!

I had a cool experience also this day. I was sitting at the bus stop and said a prayer in my heart. I said '"God, I'm doing the best I can here and I'm feeling discouraged. Help me feel of your love. I promise the next person you put in my way, I will talk to them." I didn't think too much about that, but as I boarded the bus, a man with a beer bottle sack, sat next to me. I smiled to myself and just started talking to him. Nothing really came out of the conversation, but that answered my prayer and helped me know that God is watching out for me. It is so amazing.

Tors: We had our district meeting today. Our zone leaders talked about how missionaries, especially in Sweden or anywhere not in the same culture, are like new converts. We both are new to this new world, this new language, this new atmosphere, culture and place with no idea of where to go. We both need to feel of that reassurance and help from a friend that what we are doing is right. It is scary leaving your family, your lifestyle, your culture, your world. That reassurance is what binds us together.  Someone to physically tell us that what we are doing is right. A mission demands so much out of us: its physical, mental, social, and spiritual all the time 24/7. It takes a lot out of you, and you can break really easy. One prophet said that if we 18-24 year-olds knew what we were getting into with a mission, how demanding it would be, we wouldn't do it. I think that is really funny, but super true! God is just testing our faith and patience until we get on the edge about to fall, then he steps in, grabs us and pulls us back to him. Its happened to me so many times already, its crazy. It was a much needed discussion and helped me remember that God is there.

Well I officially hit my 3 month mark since Ive been on a mission this day! Thats super crazy! I am still super diligent with my journal writing every night, I am actually already on my second one!

Fre: Our weekly planning went not-so-good, nobody answered us. And those that did, dropped us and said they weren't interested anymore. We did a comp inventory and it was great! They really do help so much, I have a testimony of this. We had a make it or break it lesson with several people about keeping commitments or we have to drop them. Man, some weird things happened in that. I'm sorry but I cant explain ha. Oh, and I organized our bookcase and it rocks. 

We were in charge of chill night at the YSA center. There was a lesson about the Restoration and it was amazing. I didn't understand a lot of what was being said, but I could feel the spirit testifying to me that it is true. I felt it and still feel it so strong that we do have the truth restored to the earth. I know it with all my heart. To close, we watched a video about little snippets of Josephs life while the Motab was singing Praise to the Man and I just wept. It was so powerful to me. He died to seal his testimony of the truth of the Restoration. Would you? 

Lör: I was in the shower and all of the sudden the power goes off. But the water was still going because it was pressurized. So there I was singing and showering in the dark. hahahaha ill admit, i was a little scared, but I laughed. So I opened the door so I could see and then continued my shower in peace. We found out later that we only blew a fuse and that we had to just flip a switch, whoops! It was a good story in the books!

In our contacting/swing bys, we came across this gigantic football field, dog walking park, area it was sick!

That night, J and S invited all of the missionaries in stockholm and the ap's over for a taco night. It was so good, and we all had a great time. The sisters taught a lesson about patriarchal blessings which was fantastic. I realized I hadn't read mine for awhile but I shared some insights about what they are and what it means to me. It really is the most personal thing between you and God. What he has blessed you with, and what he has in store for you. They really are amazing.

Sön: I studied up on my own patriarchal blessing and had a good time reading and feeling what my father in heaven wants from me. I cried for awhile because it testified to me how much God really knows me, more than I know myself. I don't understand most of mine, but I know he has a plan for me and wants me to do the best I can. We all have potential to be great, lets do it.

SS lesson was on prayer which has been significant for me this week. I was feeling down a lot, unhappy with my work, whats been happening, our *un-success*, things like that. But when I look back on the week, God has blessed me so much, I just didn't realize it. I now pray to have my eyes opened and be thankful for what I do have, instead of focus on what I don't have. Prayer really is one of the best gifts from God, a way that we can communicate to him; someone who is there 100% of the time always, if we allow ourselves to be there too. I have been so strengthened by the power of prayer on my mission, especially this week. I know God lives and is waiting for us to go to him in prayer to bless us. When we humble ourselves and turn to him, he will Always bless us. I know this. I love you all so much, I hope you all have a great week!

MVH Jag älskar dig

Äldste Johnson

Conference was Awesome!

Hallå alla!

Man, what a week!! I am on such a spiritual high from conference, I feel like I am on cloud 9! Thank you for all of your prayers on my behalf, the investigators', and everything that is going on here. Unfortunately we didn't have a baptism, but we are still eager to go out and get one. Btw our new apartment is so nice!  We are blessed.

 

I am sleeping really well here. I like working so hard everyday that when I come home, the only thing I can

do is fall right to sleep. I know the Lord has helped me with my insomnia here - I've been blessed to sleep the whole night through, and even get up feeling great! It still kills me that no matter what, I always wake up 2 minutes before my alarm goes off, every time! A lot of missionaries have a hard time getting up in the morning, but not me. If ever I have a thought to stay in bed, I quickly change my attitude and get out. I think about that I am on a mission. I have dedicated and consecrated all of my time to serving the Lord. So waking up exactly on time to go workout and get my exercise only helps me have the energy to go throughout the day serving the Lord. When I think about it this way, its not hard getting up right away. Sure, I would like to sleep in (and sometimes we don't get to bed on time) but thats not why I am here. I am here to serve.

Dad, WHEN we come to Sweden together, we will play some golf with J. Notice the when and not if. "If, if is good." (name that movie!!) NO! "If" is not good! "If" is a possibility of perhaps performing an action. "When" shows and implies action. "When" motivates you to make the action happen rather than wait for a possibility. That was just an interesting thought that popped into my head.

Monday: a bunch of the missionaries went to a Thai food restaurant and then our district took a final photo together before the transfers.

We said our final goodbyes to those who would be leaving, I am really grateful for these guys helping me out in my birthplace of the mission. I am still a little baby, in missionary terms, but now I am an active 7 year old running all over the place getting things done. We had that FHE with the YSAs to try to get to know us better and instill more help in our missionary work. 

Sis L, Elder M and myself all did a little 5 minute thing about us. I actually walked on my hands for a bit and juggled some balls whilst talking a little about myself. It was really fun and cool to kind of break out of my shell. Honestly tho, missionaries have no embarrassment. What need is there? You aren't trying to impress anyone, so be yourself and serve the Lord no matter how weird you may think you are or sound. That's something that has really helped me speak to more people rather than being seclusive and not talking to anyone.

Tuesday: We helped a member move his home from Lidingö to Solna (west side of stockholm). The fresh new grön saker (green things, or greenies) arrived and were at the center of town to do the contacting for a bit. All the missionaries in Stockholm came help out the greenies.

Yes even me, the greeny trying to help another greeny! Wow! That was a lot of responsibility and scared me quite a bit. But i was super excited to bestow my knowledge unto the younguns. It is so great to not be the young one anymore. I feel like a weight has been lifted, kind of. I feel more free and less self conscious about myself. My understanding speaking is getting better. I took one greeny with me and helped him out. Sure, we had no success, but we did talk to some people and let him see how contacting is and how missionary work is in Sweden. I gave him a lot of advice and he is super eager to serve! It got me re-excited about missionary work seeing that spark in him. It went really well, i was sr comp for a good 20 minutes and it was way fun! 

Wednesday: I dropped of my comp at the central station. Man I'm going to miss him, even if we had our differences, like BYU vs Utah:

Met up with a few new guys in the zone, and said goodbyes to some cool guys like elder H. I really hope I can be comps with him sometime. He went to Stansbury, played football, and we get a long great! So me and elder C went on splits because we had to wait for our new comps to arrive. We went to this less active's place and a man let us in. We thought it was the less active guy, M. Nope. It was his roommate E who had us come in without even telling us that he wasn't who we thought he was. He knew we were church people and wanted to hear the word of god. A lot of people called him on the phone while we were talking to him about the restoration, and he got way upset because he wanted to hear the word of God!! Oh man, I love Africans so much! They are so humble and just love hearing the word of God! He really liked what we talked about and we set up a return appointment for Elder C. He gave us this huge sandwich and coke after. We didn't even know him 30 minutes earlier and he is giving us lunch!!! These people are so amazing and loving, its the best! he said it was customary in kenya or africa to always prepare food for an extra person, even if you had no plans of having anyone over, just in case! Wow, that is so cool! He was definitely a great guy!

We then went to central station to wait for our new comps. We actually missed my comp come out, so he was waiting for 10 minutes alone before we saw him! hahaha it was pretty funny. My comps name Elder H, he comes from Washington, has been out for more than a year, he is amazing at the guitar (bought one hear in sweden, plays like august rush, man it is amazing!) He is super hilarious/weird and the biggest thing about him is that he looks EXACTLY like Gru from Despicable Me. I cant even tell you how much he looks and acts like him! He has this black coat that zips up tight, a gray scarf, pointy nose. When it gets colder, I will take a pic of him in his gru outfit. It is unreal!

Thursday: did some swing-bys to get to know our area a little better for my new comp. I was putting too much stress on myself trying to set up appointments and call people and all of that jazz, but he said I need not worry. We will figure it out together. So that was really helpful for me. Its still hard though trying to get him up to date with everything, but it will be just fine. We taught a boy whose dad, wants him to get baptized. The boy is interested and wants to know more and get baptized too! We don't have a date yet but hopefully soon! We talked with the dad about being the one to baptize him and he said its been on his mind a lot! He knows he needs to get active to do that and wants to! Man, how cool is that! we talked with him about conference (and the need to watch it and how they can grow when they watch it) and he wants to watch it! A great thing with that lesson was that we taught roughly 50-50! Something that I haven't done before! We are already working so well together. One of the first things H said to me when we met was that I am not a greeny anymore so he wont treat me that way. We are going to work together in unity! At sports nite we got to play football (anytime i say football it is soccer) I was so stoked! We had a lot of Africans and Swedes who knew how to play so that was a lot of fun for me! I scored a couple of times and did some fancy tricks and impressed a lot of people ha. I still got it:)

Early morning fog

Friday: this week we were low on lessons to teach because of all of the switches in the area and conference, but we took a lot of time getting to know the area. H has been in areas where there aren't that many people so he is constantly amazed at how many people are in Stockholm, how the tunnelbanas work along with the buses, seeing other missionaries very often, and things like that. It makes me laugh because I don't know any different, but for him it is so new! I guess I will experience the isolated areas eventually. Something interesting to know is that I still get hot so easy, even in Sweden. I have to sleep with the window open because I get too hot at night, and in my personal studies I like to be right up next to the nice cool air emanating from the window. 

We taught D who is waiting for something before he will get baptized. We need to pray that his family will be open to us so that D can be baptized and bless them all! D and I always have our own private conversations about missionaries and things like that. I love that man and I want to see him in the water!! 

Saturday and Sunday: We had a plan to meet with Y to teach him but he could only do it when we would be at the chapel for conference. So the G's stepped in and said they would teach him and have him watch conference with them, after feeding us of course! Man, they are just the best! So we then went to the chapel in gubbängen for conference. Here's how we watched conference: saturday morning we watched at 6pm and then went home. Priesthood was on sunday morning at 11am, then saturday's afternoon session was Sunday at 2pm, then sunday morning session we watched at 6pm then went home, I need to watch sunday afternoon sometime this week. 3 different rooms to watch in swedish, english, or spanish) watching THE GREATEST SESSION OF CONFERENCE EVER!!!!!! It was seriously so good and perfect! Everything was so powerful and inspired and just the best! I cried during most of the talks because it was that powerful! Everything seemed to be exactly what I needed to hear, and what Sweden needed to hear.

I love how Uchtdorf invited everyone to our church and everything with that. Home teaching was thrown down, something much needed here to be picked up on. Showing love to everyone was a major thing that I picked out of conference. We need not judge, but love and bring people the gospel of joy!! Don't be a sayer of the word, but a doer of the word and testimony that you have. Conversion is a process, not a destination. Always strive to be better and help other people! I want to go out now and apply everything that I learned and help everyone come to the Savior! I would love to hear from all of you what your favorite talk was and why! please, I would love to hear this! I honestly have no one favorite, they were all my favorite! Pres Monson's about his wife was so tender and loving, we need to follow him!

Something absolutely crazy that happened was with S. We haven't had too much contact with him for the past 2 weeks (he's been sick) M called him and invited him to conference, and he didn't seem to excited about it. He still has been reading the bom everyday, but we challenged him to really pray about it. Sunday morning at 3 am, he texted that He knew the BOOK OF MORMON IS TRUE!!! He was so excited that he had to tell us immediately! He came to priesthood and another session. When he got off of the train at the station, he ran to us and gave us a big hug!! It was the greatest thing ever! HE IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!

I am sooo happy for him and excited!!! It will be on the 20:e (the way of making it 20th, or tjugonde) of oktober!! Man, it was just the greatest feeling in the world, to be a part of teaching him the gospel and seeing him making the decision for himself that will make him so happy! WOW, what a great feeling!

I had transfers this week. You may all have transfers in your life: into a new home, new lifestyle, big decisions, etc. Along with these transfers, it is a good time to reflect on what is going on in your life. See where you are and what you can do to get to where you would like to be. Conference helped with this for me. Constantly check up on your life and see if it is in line with the savior. We can always work a little bit harder, a little bit longer on things that will bless us and our families. See where you are right now in your life with your testimony. Ask yourself where you would like to be, and then get to work on getting there. I know that I have a lot to work on and make better. Its going to be hard at times, but I know that as I always have a goal to be like the savior and rely on him, I can do it. You can do it now. 

I love you all so much and so greatful for you. Apply what you have learned and see how the Lord will bless you. Have a wonderful week, Ha ett underbart vecka! Jag älskar er!

Äldste Johnson

Kär familj och väner,

As you all know, I officially hit the big 19 on Tuesday and have one more precious year of being a teenager ha. Boy, it still hasn't even set in that I am 19 now. Where has the time gone? I miss being a kid, doing anything I wanted whenever I wanted (according to mom of course;)) I am super glad that all of you are doing so well!  

The temperature has been about 4 Celsius on average throughout the week, probably 40 Fahrenheit. It is weird seeing leaves change around the time of my birthday instead of December like in St George. However, I love being in this weather with all my heart! 

I bought a lot of cold weather clothes for my birthday, I kind of went on a little shopping spree, no big deal.  I still am in need of a few items, but I have all of the necessities that I wanted. 

With the cold weather coming so fast, I have gotten a little sick this week. Nothing major, just a tiny sore throat and some phlegm. But the tea that I drink makes it all better. Yes, tea! It is so big here, everyone loves it! I love it now! Don't worry, its not the bad tea (red, black and green) so I am not breaking the WOW. This is something that I will bring back with me: tea. So far I have had apple, bengal spice (cinammon, vanilla) (best one), and something called booiros. I don't even know what it was, all I know was that it was good and it made my throat stop hurting! I will probs send you guys some of my faves home for christmas so you can experience this too! We stopped by a little eatery stand thing and had what you call a classic rulle. This is pita bread (or flat bread type of thing from subway) with mashed potatoes and a hot dog or korv (meat) with ketchup wrapped up like a taco. SO GOOD! haha, I will definitely make that at home for y'all. Swedes are super OCD about their trash. You have to sort EVERYTHING when putting things in the trash to recycle everything. They have other countries ship them real garbage because Swedes hardly have any because they recycle everything, really weird. 

Tuesday: Moving day into our beautiful new apartment. We had to squeeze down my bag several times and received plethora of strange looks from people (not that we don't already get strange looks everyday, all day ha). I made my Mac N Cheese for lunch and it was soooooo good. If ONLY i had my hotdogs, that would have sealed the deal. Oh man. It was a good one.  I opened my b-day presents and cards (thanks for all the sarcastic attitude, it was really funny haha). I especially love the apron with the family pics on it.  

We tried swinging by to see J, because we live so close to him now (and everyone -its the best!) but it turns out that he was in the hospital! God is really wanting him to realize that we are the answer. We met up with one of our bus contacts and his family! They are the best! All of them work so that is really hard to try and set something up with them (nothing yet, but they are golden). One goes to school in U S and is looking for a church to go to and have some friends. Hmmm, I wonder where we could one?? All of them are just super open and way cool to talk to. That was the best present I could have gotten. I am so thankful for that. 

We happened to stop by the G's that night and they roped us in to dinner and cake (they knew it was my bday). They even sang a Swedish song to me. They are just the best family in the whole world!!! They are so kind and just always willing to help out whenever. I wish all of our members were like that and helping bring their friends to church and reactivating members.

Wed: I ate my bowl of reeses puffs cereal and felt like I was in heaven:) Too good. We went on splits with the zls. We were in my area so I had to put on the big boy pants and take command of the day. It was really scary and a lot of responsibility, but we made it through ok. We had little success trying to visit old investigators (GU's-gammla undersökare) and less actives (MAs-mindre aktiva) so that was pretty gloomy. However, we got to really know each other. We talked about how Sweden and America are promised lands. I'm not bragging about Sweden because I am here, but to show you how amazing this place is. God has kept them out of wars time and time again, and has kept them safe. It is really interesting to see how blessed this land is. Now, all we have to do is get the people here to realize that. 

Aldste S helped me out with some language things and grammar stuff in just the best way. He helped me see where I went wrong, asked me to figure it out for myself before he helped me see it, and then immediately apply what I just learned with a little role play. It wasn't him scolding me for making a mistake or making me feel offended at all, which is so good, and it helped me out a lot. 

We met up with a man who has played Jesus in a passion play and looks a lot like him. He is cool and open to discuss all sorts of religious things. We gave him a BOM in Afrikansk and he wants to read it!

Thurs: Me and S finished up our splits with a great role play! We took turns every 30 seconds switching off, even in mid sentance, talking about the Restoration in Swedish. You really have to pay attention to what the other one says so you can finish their thought and keep going with the topic of restoration and move on to the next thing. It was really hard, but a great way to practice Swedish and unity in teaching. Man, He is just a great missionary!  We had a meeting with the YSA pres to get them more involved with missionary work. A lot of them are RMs and want to help. 

My comp had to do a baptism interview with the wife of a young couple and I ended up chatting with the husband. He is super stoked that his wife is getting baptized (did on saturday) and wants to go on a couples mission when he's older (convert)! Super sick couple!

Friday: We got up at 6 am (with borrowed soccer balls) and hit up the soccer pitch that is right outside our new place!!!!! YES!!! Every morning since then we have gotten up and gone to play for an hour just shooting, juggling, and all that jazz! Man, it just felt so good being able to be on a field playing the game I love. Which reminds me, I would like my soccer cleats sent to me, if that's not too big of a hassle. 

President called with the transfer call which surprised us cuz I haven't finished my training yet. My comp is moving to zl in stockholm and I will stay in Lidingö with Aldste H. He and my comp were trained by the same person, and he is now finishing my training! That puts so much responsibility on me because it is my area, that I hardly know, I can't talk to people or understand when trying to set things up, I have to show him everything that is happening with the area and all that stuff. I am super nervous about this and have been really hard on myself this last week with language and stuff like that. 

We had a brasafton (fireside) that night at the kapel about the plan of salvation with lots of songs and talks and videos. All of our people bailed on us being there, so that was really sad. One of the songs was by a convert, who took third in Eurovision (like american idol). He sang You Raise Me Up and I started crying. I know I am super stressed right now and nervous about next week, but hearing that song really helped. The savior is really there to raise us up in our trials, in our hard times, in our stresses, in everything. I know the savior will help me out, and that everything will be ok. I know he will do the same for you if you ask him. I have a strong testimony of this. Go to him in everything, He is waiting to raise you up, to put you on his shoulders, to conquer mountains.

Satur: The lidingö loppet was going on all day which made it super impossible for us to do anything. This is one of the biggest marathons in Northern Europe happening on our island! But we got some good lessons in and did a lot of service for a family. We ended up walking home because the buses couldn't go anywhere, too much traffic with the race. It took a long time so we missed the baptism for J, which was really sad, but we taught a new convert who is 14. He had been struggling but we got real with him and helped him realize that he needs to shape up if people want to see him as a disciple of Christ. 

Sun: It takes even longer to get to church from our new apartment and sunday transportation doesn't run as often, so we have to leave super early. H was there for sacrament but left a bit confused. We are going to try to meet up with him again and explain and clarify things. He still is super cool and postivie about it all. We celebrated Brother G's birthday with a big party after fast sunday eating food, cake, telling stories and leaving a spiritual thought. He had some nonmember friends there with us during the party. 

Today: just got up to play futbol and now im writing! This week is going to be very awesome! It is general conference on Sat and Sun (well back at home). The morning session for you starts at 6 pm here. We will either watch it at a members place livestream or from a recording of it, or go to the chapel to watch it with our investigators. We are trying to get EVERYONE to watch it because that is the perfect scenario for them to feel the spirit and understand what we are all about! Pray that we will get our baptism Saturday, but more importantly that we get lots of people to conference! I am personally ecstatic for conference! I have been longing for it for quite sometime and hope you all are too. I can't wait to hear the prophets voice and hear what God wants us to focus on so we can better our lives! This is going to be the best one yet, I can feel it!! 

I love you all so much and pray for all of you! Good luck with this week, I hope all goes well! Conference is the best! I'm sad I wont be able to do the Iceberg shakes tradition or even the waffle breakfast, but I am glad I am here doing the Lords work. Everyday is a challenge. Rely on the saviors strength, I promise you that He will help. Jag älskar er!

Yep, that's my name!

Äldste Johnson

Hallå evrybody!!

This week has been up and down and up and down...and up....and down. It is really weird!!! But you know, you just gotta smile and work just as hard. Thanks everybody for the birthday wishes and greetings, it means a lot being that I'm 5,000 miles away (8,000 km). Yes I am using the metric system and let me tell you I am mad that America doesn't. It is so easy, but my brain is still set on the imperial system and its so hard to jump back and forth with everyday calculations. I officially hit my 1 month mark in Stockholm on Thursday which was really cool. This last week has been raining quite a bit, but as you all know, I LOVE THE RAIN!  It is crazy that I have been alive for 19 years tomorrow. It seems like yesterday I was running around in just my diaper dancing nonstop with my chubby self. Now I am on a mission??? How did that all happen??? How am I in Sweden?? I wake up everyday and think about that. 

We found out yesterday we are moving to Lidingö which is going to be so nice for us. Right now we travel for about 45 minutes there and 45 minutes back everyday which takes up a lot of precious teaching and finding time. Now we are going to be living in the place we are assigned to, next to our favorite members who love feeding us, and right next to a soccer pitch so we can wake up and go play in the morning!!! I'm so stoked about this move! 

For language study I read out loud to hear myself.  It already has helped. I am pretty good at understanding people talking but it is a very slow process from understanding to being able to actually say what they said or respond so that is tough. I still am very positive and I can only go up from here (because I am at the bottom ha). We have had a goal to baptize someone before general conference so please pray for us! I am confident that we can do it, but it requires a lot of work.

M: I received my b-day package so thanks for that. It was all the necessities I needed. [I sent him Reeces' puffs cereal, peanut butter, mac and cheese, and ranch dressing. Necessities???] 

Tu: My spiritual thought for District Meeting was from 1 Nephi 17:41. Lord has all power and makes a way possible for his children to be saved. Nephi recounts the story of Moses and the brass serpant and it amazes me how people had to do such a simple thing. Look at the staff and be healed. A lot of the Israelites were too proud to do such a simple task. What would you have done? 

That night we met up with one of the many K families in Stockholm. We had a good time with them and left a message. The father is big into golf and sports. The conversation he had with his wife about the importance of sports reminded me so much of mom and dad that I was laughing so hard haha. He also said that if you guys come out to pick me up, he would like to take me and pops golfing to a really nice course here in Stockholm! So there ya go dad!

W: We taught 6 lessons today so that was really cool! That meant we walked about 10 miles all day, but it was very fun! I had been struggling with opening my mouth in lessons and trying to say something because its hard to follow when they talk so fast and get off subject sometimes, so by the time I have something to say, the conversation is gone. I prayed really hard and this week I have been a lot better at opening my mouth when I wanted to say something. Also, something I have noticed is that testimonies need to be nourished. It really is like a seed if it isn't growing, it's dying. People have testimonies on the basics like God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost, but that's just the roots, you gotta expand and let the flower grow from that. It is constant care, nurture, sharing every day for your testimony to stay active to keep growing. 

Th: We had a special fast for the day for some people and help in our work. Though nothing immediately came from that, it was a good experience. Sure I was hungry during the day, but it really didn't bother me. I had a purpose for my fast and thought about that all day and it strengthened me to not worry about the temporal things and focus on the spiritual. I felt really good all day. 

Sports nite at the YSA center was great because there were a lot of investigators from the different areas and we played bball, soccer and volleyball (so much fun!). Even though we had a good time with that, it can be very distracting to the work. I honestly could play sports for days at a time, but I need to remember the reason why I am here, not for sports time, but for helping others Come unto Christ.

F: Happy Birthday to PJ! I thought about my long lost cousin on the other side of the world the whole day ha. Hope everything is going good with him in the Phillipines! We had a really good day contacting and teaching new investigators!

Sa: Weird to think that homecoming was going on back at DHills that day and I got a little homesick, I know weird right. Eller hur? (the literal translation is "or how" but the meaning is "right?"). We taught someone who has been off and on with the missionaries. We got him to really understand the difference of our church compared to all of the others and it really seemed to re-spark his interest! Hopefully things go good with him. (I think he could be the one who will be baptized before conference.)

Su:  ZL's suggested that I take a small notebook and right down words from sacrament meeting that I hear a lot but I don't recognize. Then I could look them up later and try to apply them in my teaching. It is super helpful and I can see that I do understand more than I give myself credit for. 

2 friends from another country are here on a scholarship.  But both of them are super cool, very humble and open to everything we have to offer.  We met one contacting on the street and she led us to the other so we are grateful for that.

This week we had a lot of opportunities to give blessings and use our Priesthood. It has been really cool for me to do some of them in Swedish (anointing the oil). I really rely on the Lord for help on that, but it has turned out great every time. It makes me realize how amazing it is for me to have the Priesthood. That authority from God to act with His power. Wow. He trusts me with this and I want to do all I can to always be worthy of it to show Him that he hasn't wasted His trust on me. When you truly understand how great a thing that is, you want to do all you can to not let him down. I am so honored to be able to hold this Holy Priesthood, and I challenge all of you males to live constantly worthy of it. It is amazing. God trusts you. Don't let Him down.

I love all of you so much and am so grateful for all that you have done for me, do for me now, and will do for me in the future. These 19 years have been so wonderful and I am so privileged to know all of you, thank you so much. Continue to strengthen your testimony and share it with others. Have a fantastic week!

Med Kärlek

Äldste Johnson

Tjena Tjena Hur läget?? (Slang for Whats up, Hows the situation?)

Sounds like everyone is doing fantastic as per usual! Happy birthday to my cousins and Me soon! Haha, Im not that conceited...This week anywho, has been pretty good! Just a little thought -you all should check out the Vocal Point Album "Lead Thou Me On", it is something my companion has and it has all of my favorite hymns and songs and really makes me feel good! Especially Danny Boy, holy cow that is such a great song! Yes, look it up and listen to it a lot! I promise you will feel so good!

I feel like I should talk about the investigators first before I give a little summary of the week: E- we got to meet and teach her twice this week and it went really well. We had 2 members with us each time who personally overcame some habits in their lives and shared some really great experiences with her. She really has changed so much from the first time we met, and now I see her for who she truly is: a blessed daughter of God in need of help in her life. The spirit has changed her for the better though she still struggles, but that is normal!  But the great knowledge we have is that we never have to do anything on our own. The savior is always there to help ease are burden and stay with us as we endure our trials. 

We ran into J the other day, trying to swingby his place for the 3rd time in the week without him answering, just outside of his apartment. We ended up talking there for 1.5 hours. We first just chatted with him about how he is doing, his family and just life in general. He really likes talking about God and recognizing Him in everything. So, we ever so sneakily taught him the Plan of Salvation. He basically has a knowledge about most of the things we talked about with him. Its amazing because he doesn't belong to any church, but he devotes himself to studying God. Things are good between us, but we need to take slow steps with him. But he has a general care and concern for us and likes talking about God and Jesus with us, so hopefully things will get better for us.

R is someone we met him on the tunnelbana. So we went by his place the other day and did a How to begin Teaching and Restoration lesson with him. The lesson went good and he is generally interested, not quite sure how much though. Hopefully he takes the time and search it out for himself. He offered us some wine. Obviously I said yes....HA! YA RIGHT! I got you guys! No, so we kind of did a little brief WoW with him, not too crazy though. We will see how it goes.

S is probably the best man in the whole wide world! He is a native Swede who plays American Football. He played for a Big 12 college team for a bit and now is back here working and playing in a league. He has a really amazing experience after a football injury. He was not religious at all to begin with, but after this miraculous incident he had, he found God. Ever since then he has had a strong relationship with God and Jesus and basically is like a young Joseph Smith, looking around for the truth and giving himself to a lot of study. He self-referred himself and has been going to all of the activities at the YSA center and is so great! We met him there, thinking he was a member but found out he wasn't. He works downtown and likes to meet right after before going to his home which is out of our area. So we take advantage of that.

We taught him the Restoration and Plan of Salvation and it was seriously the best lesson ever. He is so humble and just really accepting of trying new things to find out for himself. He tells us that he believes the same thing as us but has never been able to put it into words or express it. He asks us questions that we plan to teach him later and just loves our answers for him. The lessons we have with him make the mission so worth it. You can have so many rejections and have 1 simple honestly spiritual lesson with someone who is so humble and desires the truth, and that triumphs everything else! Sharing spiritual experiences with people are what make the mission so amazing. I am so glad I could share that with him. I can relate really well with him because of football and injuries, so I have shared some personal things with him and we both felt the spirit. The sad thing though, is that we have to give him up to the Gubbängen elders:( We aren't worried though, he gets a long well with everyone.

So anyway, the week in wrap! M: went all over Gamla Stan with a bunch of elders, met some guys who were backpacking Europe and Asia for 6 months with only a small backpack with essentials and 1 pair of clothes! They were RMs and just the coolest guys on the planet!!! Oh man, Brady, we are so doing that when I get home!!!! I have a lot to tell you about them and that!

T: hit my 2 month mission mark.  We started running every other day and it gives me so much energy throughout the whole day!  Plus my workouts are getting better.  I read a lot about stories of faith in Hebrews 11 and Ether 12 which are super cool.  We came up with a brilliant way of sorting our area into people to work with, those who need work, and those who we can stop working with.  It is super helpful for us and took quite some time to get it done.  But it with also help the home and visiting teachers with their responsibilities and reactivation.

Mom, you will be happy because we went to the DI place again and I found a way awesome thick coat in perfect condition for a steal!! We have been working on thankful prayers after all of our visits, no matter what happens in the lesson. It really helps us focus on what God has given us and refocuses our minds to go back to work. 

W: it was 9/11 and that was really hard. That day is always so hard for me because I think about the all of the lives that were lost and all of the families that were affected. It is really such a tragedy, but blessing to remember what happened to remind us that life is short. Live it up. Share your love with everyone and make sure they know it. I love all of you so much. I really do. I have gotten into reading a lot in the Bible Dictionary when I have time, which is never, but I hope to be able to do it at home because it is so interesting and informative. We average at least 1 meal with someone every day so no complaints here, no matter the the food is, haha. We are planning a huge ward party/talent show in Oktober to help members, less actives, investigators, etc can come and have a great time! We are really excited for that, and I will tell you more about that later.

Th: the norm of swingbys, reactivize, and baptize ha. I should tell you though that I have seen a lot of things here. Things. Yes. Europe is very open and all about the natural body, so thats all I am going to say about the matter...haha.

F: long weekly planning sesh which we ended up making faces at each other and laughing for no reason. Sound familiar? We had a contact with and an elderly person. We knocked and she asked us who we were. We said the missionaries and she said, I cant talk now I'm naked! hahahaha  Here's an idea - Put some clothes on so we can talk with you!!! Oh man, old people kill me. Just chilling in their room in the raw. We contact a lot of great people who always turn out to live out of our area so that is super frustrating for us because we don't have anybody to work with.

Sa: we cook smores, or at least the equivalent to that, on the stove and it actually is super good!! I sang at the sisters investigator baptism for P. I sang I Need Thee Every Hour in front of Pres Newell! It went really well, though P planked it into the water and forgot to plug his nose! Haha it was great but so spiritual too. The APs (the coolest guys ever) took us to dinner that night which was super good at an Asian restaurant run by a less active member.

Su: I gave my first talk in Swedish about tithing with Prez there again! President did the confirmation of P in French which was really cool. I talked with one of the YSAs in our ward who got her associates at BYU-H and knows a lot of the guys on the soccer team!!! We talked for a long time and she is putting a good word for me with those guys! Im way stoked about that! We taught the gospel principles lesson (a lot this week for me, I know!) about the creation. We went to the G's for dinner and got talking about their son who died on his mission. It was really sad. I can't imagine that. Losing a son, brother, and friend. My love to them and to everyone who has lost a loved one. Especially dad, I love you so much. It must be so hard, you are a great example to me I hope you know that. 

The knowledge of the Plan of Salvation gives us so much comfort to know that we can be with them again, what an amazing plan God has for us. I know this gospel is true. I live it everyday and try to share it with everyone. It gives me so much joy and peace to know who I am, where I came from, and where I am going. God couldn't have planned it any better. It is my testimony to all of you that through Christ we are able to overcome our human mistakes and become clean and able to return with our Father in Heaven. I love that. Don't be afraid to go to him in prayer. I love all of you, have a great week!

MVH

Äldste Johnson