Global Warming... I used to think it was a joke... Now I'm just not sure!

My new Swedish suit!!


Another picture of the new suit..


The Book of Mormon I am using for the "Book of Mormon Challenge!" Can you tell what part I have read?!?! haha :)


Hej Familj!!!

I want to start things off today with a quick question... Who is having a Birthday this week?!?! Any guesses?? Yep! Mom is having a Birthday!!! HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! I just had to get that on here! Now, more on that later! This week has been pretty interesting. I will start off with some pretty cool stories! We have placed a high emphasis on contacting this week. Mostly in downtown Skövde. Contacting in Sweden is against almost all culture rules... They just don't like to be stopped in front of their peers by two guys in suits and ties! haha Imagine that! :) So, we have had some fun stories. One of them was on a Friday night. I had just made the comment that we might be contacting into some people who were drunk, and just then a woman stumbled into Äldste Overstreet. He turned to contact her and she turned to him and continued at the pace she was walking at and walked right into him. Haha it was a real collision! She was very intoxicated and in no condition to talk with us. She didn't respond to anything we were saying, but she just kept hanging on to Äldste Overstreet's stomach! haha It was pretty funny! Others around us also found it quite amusing, and it was nice to have so much attention! :) Another story was with this woman that I tried to contact. She was walking with a man and talking like good friends would.. So as I started the contact she became very excited and expressed that she would like to stay and talk with us for a while! We of course were very pumped! The guy left and then we proceeded to try and teach the lady. She interrupted my first few words and told us that we were angels sent from God! We almost lost it.. all of our hopes of a golden contact had finally come true! Then she told us that she had used us to get away from the guy she was with.... (insert a "wah-wahhh" noise here) She told us that the guy really liked her and that she couldn't get him to leave her alone. She told us that we had saved her from the man and that now she could go home in peace. As good as we felt for helping her out, we were a little disappointed.. We tried to teach her again, when she informed us that she knew a lot about the church. We had understood that she was a member in the church.. So, we were a little confused. Anyway, she ran off to get home and we just looked at each other in shock... Now this is the cool part of that story... That next day, (yesterday) we were out knocking on doors... rather, were about to start knocking on doors. We had gone inside an apartment building just to get in the warmth so we could figure out where we were going to work. As we were getting the records out and getting ready a door opened upstairs and a man started coming down the stairwell. We said hello to him like we normally would, but he said, "Mormoner!" (Mormons!) To which we said yes, that we were. We asked him if he had ever met with us and he said that his good friend had and that he had been to church one time. He asked us what we were out doing and then he left the building. A few minutes later (we were having trouble finding the correct record) the main door opened and the same man came in. He proceeded to invite us up to his apartment to come and talk and just spend some time. We of course accepted the invitation. When we went up the stairs he opened the door and called for someone telling them that they had guests. And who else but that SAME LADY we had contacted on the street just the day before came walking around the corner in the apartment to greet us! My companion and I just lost it! We felt so directed to her! They were a little busy with a nice dinner so they invited us to come back in about an hour. We went and knocked on doors and returned later. When we arrived they invited us in warmly and had a little snack waiting for us! (Breads, cheeses, fruit, juice, etc...) So, we got to talking about the church among other things and found out that the lady was NOT a member like we had thought. She had met missionaries in the past and had come to church a few times. She had even been to some of the relief society activities over the past few months. AMAZING!! We had a nice discussion and they were both very interested in what we had to say. Needless to say, I am very excited to see what happens!! Also, we received some pretty hush, hush information about who the new mission president will be! The lady was good friends with a Swedish lady who married a missionary from the states, and his father is going to be the new mission president... I wont say any names just yet because I am not even sure if we are supposed to know at this point. Äldste Overstreet and I were just stunned at the information.. While on a mission, info like this is pretty huge! haha Anyway, let you know if I can later! haha :) So, now on to the title of this e-mail! The warm temperatures have continued with very little snow. I think it snowed one night, but not a bunch. It almost feels like Spring?!?! haha We will see if the severe cold returns! :) Okay, now I better get to the e-mails before I run out of time! First up, MATT!!!!!! I love you brother! So, you are going for the Packers huh?? Well, since I have no idea what the teams are looking like this year, I am going to go with you! Hopefully they win! Let me know! New semester huh? Wow, you are already half way done with your Junior year! How absolutely crazy is that! Time is just flying by! Your memory continues to amaze me! I do remember those times when the summer rains would come and we would just talk to each other.. It is in the little moments like that where we find true happiness! :) I am sooo glad that we are brothers! :) Wow, BYU is just rockin'! I hope they can keep it going! If they happen to go really far I am going to go crazy! haha No, not really because I know you will record all of the big key games for me to watch when I get back! lol So, how is church ball looking this year? Who is on the Two Rivers team? Any of your friends going to play? Let me know! Who is on the famed intramural team this year? Same groups or have there been any trades made? lol I love you Matt! Keep being you and having fun while you do it! Keep a big smile on Mom and Dad's faces for me and help them out whenever you get the chance! They love you!!!! Have an awesome week! :) Okay, now next is DAD!!!!!!!!!!! I love you Dad! Thank you for the e-mail and for all that you are! I am currently waiting for a call back from President Anderson so if he calls within the time I am e-mailing I will get that answer to you about the Wells Fargo stuff! :) As for your other questions... I am not entirely sure about the Swedish Healthcare System.. I haven't really been exposed to it. As for Global Warming, I think they are pretty concerned about it.. But still, I don't get much news exposure and stuff. They are huge on recycling here and making the environment clean.. haha Thats were I am getting my assumptions. I have never separated my trash so much in my entire life! lol As for the picture cards, just send them back with the pictures on there and I will take care of it! Thanks for making back up CD's of the pictures... what a great idea that is! :) Thats my daddy!! haha :) The members are still very positive and with the new mission leader everyone is catching the Spirit! People this last Sunday were telling the branch of their missionary experiences and it was just awesome to see! Truly awesome!! Äldste Overstreet is doing very well! We are learning from each other and having a grand old time here in Skövde! We work very well together! :) I will be praying for you and Mom as you visit the temple this week. I hope all goes well! The Spirit truly is amazing as you say. And when making decisions like the ones our family is currently facing, having the Spirit there is a pretty nödvändig (necessary) thing!! You are a Super Dad!!! I love you so much! My prayers are with you and the family always! Okay, now up next is MOM!!!!!!!!!!! I love you Mom! Happy Birthday!! I hope that you have received/will receive my card I sent for you! Let me know! I hope that you have an amazing day and that you feel loved! Because I certainly do love you! Even miles and miles away in Sweden!! Thank you for asking me how my health is going.. Not to worry, I am back to my normal, energetic self! I just have one of those coughs that seems to last forever... But no worries! :) Oh! Just so you know I did end up buying a suit! Also, it came with two Swedish white shirts and a belt.. all for a very reasonable price!! (Especially in Sweden) I am not sure if Wells Fargo charged anything for an international fee, but still it's not too bad! :) Not to mention I look dashing! haha I will try to send some pics for you all to enjoy! It is the traditional Swedish style which means pretty tight on the legs and the jacket likes to hug your body. The Swedish dress shirts also are cut to your body and so they don't have all of the loose fabric American shirts have. I love them! haha Anyway, as for things I might need... I can never think of anything!! Some Resse's Peanut Butter cups would be awesome! Also, the recipe for your sugar cookie frosting.. like with Halloween cookies and Christmas cookies...haha OH!!! And if you can happen to find "tie-savers" that would be very nice! They are little plastic things that button to your shirt and make it so your tie is always in place and that it won't dip down into food or anything... Thus the name, "tie-savers" haha So, if you can find some of those I would love it! Remember that they are plastic things... not those metal things.. They should be really cheap! Haha I hope you can understand what the things are! :) Other than that, I am good! As always! Zone Conference was awesome!! We had a great time and the Spirit was strong! They unveiled the new "Standards of Excellence" for the 2011 year and they are quite high! The Standards of Excellence are basically numbers we are using as a guide in our missionary work. To clarify further, they are raising our expectations and we will see increased work here in Sweden! Woo!!! They also let us know that they have new translations for some of the pamphlets we give out in Swedish and that we can start ordering them! Another big Woo!!!! haha! So, Will sounds like a nice kid and I am glad that he was able to come to church! Keep me updated as time goes on! Tiegan in the 2nd counselor in the Young Men's Presidency huh?? How cool is that! He will do an awesome job I know it! Good luck at the temple tomorrow! Like I told Dad, my prayers will be with you! :) I love you Mom!! You are so AWESOME!! Have a great Birthday!!! Okay, now it is time for my Spiritual Thought! Pretty simple today... because I have no time... lol Matt said in his e-mail that he loves when Elder Holland speaks.. So I would like you all to go to mormon.org and find the video entitled, "How Do I Love Thee?" by none other than Elder Holland. It is directed to those getting ready for marriage or those who are already married, but I feel that it helps us all in our dealings with everyone around us. The Savior has given us the perfect example, and what Elder Holland talks about is something I consider to be very, VERY important. I love each and every one of you! My heart is full, as is my joy.. You all bring light into my life and help me through all that comes my way. Until next week...

Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!Äldste Kundis :) :) :)

The reading...

Tuesday - p.291 ch.33 - p.296 ch.35
Wednesday - p.296 ch.35 - p.300 ch.37
Thursday - p.300 ch.37 - p.304 ch.38
Friday - p.304 ch.38 - p.309 ch.41
Saturday - p.309 ch.41 - p.313 ch.43
Sunday - p.313 ch.43 - p.318 ch.44
Monday (next) - p.318 ch.44 - p.322 ch.46

Sweden is Flooding!!

Hej Familj!!!!!

Well, it is true... Sweden IS flooding!!! It has been incredibly warm lately and the massive amounts of snow are melting! To give you a clear picture let me just say that I can SEE the sidewalk!! Yes! I can actually see it! I was absolutely certain that those would be gone until Spring! The melting has caused running water all over town and HUGE standing puddles. As you can probably imagine this has made missionary work very interesting. Now when we slip, our falls are broken by puddles of ice cold water! hahahaha :) I haven't slipped in a long while, but my poor companion Äldste Overstreet has taken quite the beating. I suggested that we walk arm in arm so that we can strengthen each other when one of us starts to slip, but Äldste Overstreet quickly downed that idea..... Bahaha!! (I don't blame him... I would be a little concerned if he had accepted the suggestion... lol) Oh!! Just so that you know... I have had a cold! Yeah I know right?!?! It all started Friday morning... I woke up very weak and extremely congested. The symptoms spread throughout the day and by the time night came I was feeling just terrible. My throat was sore, I had a huge headache, my nose was running constantly, and I was starting into a cough. Needless to say Saturday was not a very productive day. I woke up and felt even worse. By the end of that day my symptoms stopped getting worse and I felt I had most everything under control. I felt terrible that we were having such an amazing week and that I had gotten myself sick and couldn't end it in the way we both wanted to. We were working so hard and had some amazing goals!! Saturday night I prayed like crazy that I could receive strength for Sunday and that we could have a good day. When I awoke on Sunday I felt great! I still had a few things that were bugging me, but for the most part it was no big deal! I was blessed for sure! We went to church and afterwards had a very productive day! Yay for the power of prayer! Well, I am just going to get to the e-mails now! I love you Dad!!! I am glad to hear that you received one of the letters I sent however, I am a little concerned that you did not receive BOTH. You see, I sent them on the same day from the same post box. SOOO... WHEN you receive the second one, please e-mail me asap so I can know and not worry about it. I am glad that you enjoyed the pictures and videos. And I must say, I totally made it over the stick the second time.. Thank you for agreeing with me! In answer to your question, no, I have not asked President Anderson about the phone call to the student loan people yet. I am waiting for tomorrow because I will be able to ask him face to face at ZONE CONFERENCE!!! Wooo! Yes, I am excited! haha So, it sounds like it is pretty cold over there in Montana. I remember those terrible gusts of ice cold winds. We get them here sometimes, but not very much lately. Nice tie-in to being prepared for what life throws at us. It is true, we must constantly be prepared at work at it so we can be ready for the harsh winds and freezing cold!! Nice!! I love you very much Dad!! Stay warm and stay safe out there! My prayers are with you! Okay.. I love you Matt!! I am also glad that YOU liked my pictures and videos. You should try the whole spinning around the stick thing and let me know how it goes... Just be sure to do it on a padded surface.. The little bits of gravel on that soccer field gave me a few cuts! haha So, basketball is coming into full swing! Sounds like you are taking this seriously and trying with all you've got to improve your skills. I am sure you are being blessed for all the work you are putting into it. So, who is this Will person? Is he really tall? I think I might remember him, but I have no idea if I am right. How did you invite him to church, and did he like it? Way to help him out and share a big part of your life with him! I am INCREDIBLY PROUD OF YOU! You constantly amaze me and continue to grow day by day, week by week, month by month.... Keep it up brother! Haha, yes, I remember that song by T.I. haha And yes, a lot of what Dane Cook says is funny! Have you heard of Jim Gaffigan?? Look his stuff up! He is a riot! So, you are heading to EFY with Joe Giles huh?! Sounds like a real blast, and I must say that I am extremely jealous! Still going to Provo??? Just curious! Anyway, I love you brother! Have an awesome week and know that I love you! :) (and always will...) :) Okay.. I love you Mom!!! You liked my pictures and videos also?!?! Wow, those things were a hit! Just wait until the second card gets there! haha No, I have not had the opportunity to shop for a suit yet. I will be hopefully today and see what I can find. P-days are so full of things its crazy to fit it all in! Yes I still have my credit card, and everything should go great! haha So, you had a run in with some Swedes huh?? They were from Malmö?!?! How exciting! Did they tell you much about the country or the culture?? Thats so cool! haha I am excited for you! Speaking of things that are really cool. How about you son Matt?! Do you know anything about Will? haha I guess you can tell that I want to get info about this little happening! Also, thank you for attaching that picture of Landon! He is so adorable!!! I love him! Sooo, your primary kids are learning some amazing things! I loved that line from the song, "If I listen with my heart, I hear the Savior’s voice". And yes, I know exactly what you are saying about the scriptures. I agree 100 percent! :) Mom, I am not your hero!! YOU are MY hero!!!! Completely with no doubt! :) I love you Mom!! Have a great week!! Okay everyone, now it is time for my Spiritual thought! :) It is in the form of a quote! This quote is by Randall J. Brown from the book, Experiencing Christ... "Many of us find Christ in our darkest hours, once we have endured the depths to which opposition can take us. For some of us, these painful snares will be the catalysts that finally turn us to Christ. These yokes of bondage will become our greatest benefactors if we allow them to lead us into a relationship with the Lord." Amazing quote right? All of us have dark hours, and all of us have felt the painful snares life brings our way. However strong those snares may be or how dark those hours are we always have a Savior to draw unto. We ALWAYS have that relationship to count on and to build up. It is in essence, essential for us to have these trying times. It is for our good that we have them! I like the quote by Robert Millet given in 1998... "We incorporate the powers of divinity only through acknowledging our own inabilities, accepting our limitations and realizing our weakness. We open ourselves to INFINITE STRENGTH only through accepting our finite condition." This "infinate strength" is what can get us through the dark hours and painful snares. This "infinite strength" is the Savior. There is always hope for a better tomorrow. There is always someone there! I would like to end with one more quote.. This one from Gandalf.. haha "It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. WE DO NOT." Let us not despair. Let us fall unto the Savior and access the amazing strength He has promised us. It is my testimony that the Lord is always there for us. He has helped me through my "dark hours" and released me from my "painful snares". He continues to do so today. I hope you enjoyed the thought today!! Have an amazing week and know that I love you all!!

Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!Äldste Kundis :) :) :)

This weeks reading!

Tuesday - p.256 ch.19 - p.261 ch.21
Wednesday - p.261 ch.21 - p.266 ch.23
Thursday - p.266 ch.23 - p.271 ch.25
Friday - p.271 ch.25 - p.275 ch.27
Saturday - p.275 ch.27 - p.279 ch.29
Sunday - p.279 ch.29 - p.285 ch.31
Monday (next) - p.285 ch.31 - p.291 ch.33

And thus commenced another week in the land of Sweden!

Just a cool sunset with the moon looking mighty fine!


One of the streets downtown... yes, it looks amazing!


A worker snow-blowing a roof... its a common practice in Sweden (taken from a distance..lol)

Me in front of an old church we found while out working.

The cool church by itself!

Our chapel here in Skövde

Hej Familj!!!!!

Might I just say it feels great to be e-mailing you all again! We are having a great P-day so far and the rest of the day looks just as great! We won't be doing much that sounds exciting to you all, but our past few P-days have been spent running around all over the place doing different things. Not today! Unless some opportunity jumps at us! We will be going shopping and then back home to sit, write letters and just enjoy a little relax time... Don't worry, that does not mean napping! haha Naps are a luxury for after the mission, definitely not on! :) Anyway, our week has been full of work, work and more work! However, during that work we have found success and lots of fun! One success story really quick! We were out one day knocking on doors in a pretty usual part of town. We decided to run by an old investigator we have not met. As we approached the door the name on it was not the same as the one in our records. After checking the address we confirmed that this indeed was his door. The man that answered did not recognise or remember ever seeing missionaries. We asked about the old investigator, but he told us that person did not live there. So, with him still standing there we told him who we were are what we were out doing. He perked up at the sound of our purpose as missionaries. We then proceeded to give him the first lesson right there in the doorway. He was curious about the Book of Mormon and what the words inside said. We knew he was not from Sweden because we could hear there was an accent to his Swedish. We asked him what his native language was and he replied, "Arabic". Our faces lit up like the Fourth of July!!!! We had decided to take an Arabic Book of Mormon that morning before we left the apartment. As we pulled it out of the backpack his face lit up like the Fourth of July!!! hahaha He could not really read Swedish all that well and as soon as he saw the cover he knew what it was. So, we gave him the book and told a little bit more about it. He was very positive and we will be seeing him again this week! It is amazing to me the miracles I am being blessed to see. Even if these people decide not to accept the message, I still have the opportunity to see the Spirit work within them and help them all that I can! It hurts like crazy when we go back to a positive investigators house and they turn us away, but I know the Lord is continually with us wherever we go, pushing us on when we feel we just can't anymore. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ! I am so incredibly thankful for His example of perfect love and what that does for me as a missionary. Even though some may yell and others may curse us, I know that the Savior still loves them and will continue to love them no matter what. I am thankful that I have started to love these people more. It may be hard, but they are my brothers and sisters and I can't let them down. I need to keep pushing along, door to door, person to person. This work is incredible and I am blessed to be a part of it!!! haha wow, all of that stemming from one success story... Now do you all see why I am just so happy?!?! :) :) Well, I better get to the family e-mails! To begin I will start with my Dad!! I love you Dad! Thank you for checking into all of that financial stuff for me! I will be sending the money today or tomorrow and that will be almost exactly the amount for the camera.. Possibly seven dollars short. hahaha :) I will send the amount in two envelopes with a camera card also in each. So, hopefully those both get to you!! As for the suit. The hole is rather large and would not work with a patch. Not to mention the pants are pin-striped and those just got messed up bad when I fell. As for the gum pants... Cleaners are super expensive here.. Like, incredibly expensive. I will see if I can check with them though and get back to you. Also, more business, I will talk to President Anderson and see if I can just call Wells Fargo in March because that sounds a million times easier than filling out forms and mailing them back. I will let you know about that too! Now, if thats all the business... I love you!! Thank you for your inspiring words and insights. I loved what you said about trusting in the Lord and pushing fear aside. There is a lyric in a song I listen to often that says, "Thats where faith is, and thats where fear tries to go". It is talking about faith in the Savior and goes perfectly with what you were saying. Faith is important and I can't let fear, or anything else for that matter, get in the way of that! Thank you Dad! I love you very much! :) Okay, now lets get to Matt!!! I love you Matt! You continue to amaze me at how you have matured and changed so much! I am sure that everyone back home can also tell! You sound like you are working hard and getting ready for football. Keep getting stronger both physically, but spiritually as well! Thats where the real strength is!! I just read a part in a book Mom sent me that would be perfect for you... Perhaps I will bring it next week so that I can quote it for you. It basically talked about priorities and growing close to the Savior. It made reference to how sometimes people go to the gym to achieve the perfect body, or in other words, following the world, and let those things of the world cloud their minds from the things that matter most. Basically it said we need to focus on exercising our faith and knowledge and build muscles in a "spiritual gym" haha I am not doing this justice! I know you are doing an amazing job in your "spiritual gym", but keep it up! It is more important!!!!!!! Way more important!!!!!!! haha By the way, what are you benching right now??? lol, random question. :) Thanks for your e-mail Matt.. You always make me smile, and often times you make me cry because I am just so proud to be called your brother. Keep it up Matt!!! You will do awesome! Okay, now it is time for Mom!!! I love you Mom! You had a blast down in Utah!!! But I mean, come on... How could you not!!! :) I am so happy you are excited to be a grandma! That picture you painted of Josh coming down the hall with Landon just filled my heart! I can't wait to get some pictures!!! :) Also, your story of you and Landon on New Years Eve was AWESOME!! What a memory to have!! Awesome! I must say, I am very sad that Tiegan had to come home because of medical issues. When I hear stuff like that, especially as a missionary it just kills me inside. Please, please, PLEASE go find him and give him a huge hug for me. Let him know that I love him and from one missionary to another, "Ya gotta do, what ya gotta do.. Even if it hurts." Tell him that and also that I am praying for him. Tell him to make the most of this opportunity to serve a little differently. Knowing Tiegan, that won't be hard at all! He is a stud! :) Love ya Tiegan!! Well, thank you for your e-mail Mom!! I love you very much! Have an awesome week! Okay, well now it is time for my Spiritual Thought! It actually comes from the Book of Mormon reading challenge. It actually comes from the reading we did today in Alma chapter four! Towards the end it says, "And now it came to pass that Alma, having seen the afflictions of the humble followers of God, and the persecutions which were heaped upon them by the remainder of his people, and seeing all their inequality, began to be very sorrowful; nevertheless the Spirit of the Lord did not fail him." That was verse 15. Alma was surrounded by afflictions and saw his own people turning from the Lord, but amid all of the bad, the Spirit of the Lord DID NOT FAIL HIM!! Often times in life we can let things bring us down, and a lot of those things don't come close to what Alma went through. We need to strive for the Spirit of the Lord, and we need to become strong in Him to face our trials. I am striving to grow in the Spirit of the Lord. Trusting Him and following Him. The scriptures promise us that, in essence, life will become easier for us if we rely on the Lord. He will not fail us! No, not ever! He will stand by us, and even in times of distress or despair we can have His light and His joy!! I love the Book of Mormon, and I love reading everyday! There are soooo many amazing examples to follow and to learn from! Wooo!! Okay, well I love you all! I hope everything continues to go welll at home and that you are all being blessed! I love you!! :)

Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!
Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!

Äldste Kundis :) :) :)
Here is the reading!!

Tuesday - p.217 ch.5 - p.223 ch.6
Wednesday - p.223 ch.6 - p.228 ch.9
Thursday - p.228 ch.9 - p.234 ch.11
Friday - p.234 ch.11 - p.241 ch.13
Saturday - p.241 ch.13 - p.246 ch.15
Sunday - p.246 ch.15 - p.250 ch.17
Monday (next) - p.250 ch.17 - p.256 ch.19

Dear Landon... I Love You!!

Hej Familj!!!!!

Well what can I say... I am speechless! Landon has finally arrived and I could not be any happier! He looks beautiful and I am proud to be one of his Uncles! Woo! Sounds like Hillary and Josh went through a bit of a tough time, but just look at the end result!!!!!! I am sure that it was worth everything! Besides, a few days in a hospital is nothing compared to a lifetime of love with your son! Can anyone tell that I am a mess right now?! I immediately started crying when I read that he was finally born, and then I saw the pictures and now I am just in a state of pure joy! I am sooooo happy I can barely type! I just want to go run around and, (this might sound a little strange...) jump for joy! Landon is finally here! :) I love you Landon! I also love you all! This week has been amazing... as every week is! We have been finding people and working hard to achieve our goals. The weather has been pretty nice lately. We haven't received new snow for about a week now and the temperatures have been up. However, I must say that walking around here is extremely dangerous right now. We had a really warm day a few days ago and it started to rain slush! (it seemed like) Then, as we all coming from Montana know, that night it got really cold! Everything is ice. EVERYTHING!!! All of the sidewalks and streets are like an ice rink. The Swedes are masters at safety though and have since spread truck load after truck load of gravel on the roads and even have little trucks that plow and spread gravel on the sidewalks. Even with all of the gravel though, both Äldste Overstreet and I have had our fair share of pretty bad falls. It is actually kind of funny because the really bad falls normally only happen when we are kicking ice chunks back and forth to each other as we are walking. (it is just not a good idea to kick things on ice...) lol Don't worry though, we are doing great and no injuries! :) However, the ice did claim a suit of mine... This was actually a few weeks ago.. We were heading somewhere when I realised I had forgotten something back in the apartment. The bus was coming really soon so I ran back to the apartment. As I turned a corner my traction left me. I slipped and landed right on my knee. The gravel that was there tore straight through the material of my pants and left a few nice marks on my knee. So, one might ask (since I can't wear those pants anymore), "why not just wear the suit using the other pair of pants??". This is a great question, but sadly the other pair of pants were attacked by a large piece of gum on a train station bench. The pants... did not recover. :( So, lol, now I am down to one suit! As we can clearly see... serving a mission in the frozen north has its downfalls! Anyway, I have TONS to do this p-day so I will get to the e-mails! The first up on the list is my Dad! I love you Dad! Sounds like you had an amazing Christmas! Nana's house sounds like it was full of people and everyone was having a blast! Wish I could have been there! I am so glad that you were able to be there for Landon's birth and that you were able to hold him. I bet you were just a mess of tears... as I am sure everyone was! Speaking of new things, the new car sound really nice! I am glad that you and the family have been blessed in that aspect! Did you take it down to Utah??? How did it perform? I am sure that it did great! Well Dad, you had a lot to say this e-mail! I am glad that you could include so much and keep me informed! I love you very much and know that your prayers are with me! Likewise, my prayers are always with you!! Okay, now it is Matt's turn! Hey Matt!! I love you brotha!! It really was a blast to be able to talk to you over the phone. I still don't think I sound any different though! I don't know why you keep saying that!! haha lol So, it is finally time to get back to school? Don't stress it too much... the Swedish kids are back in school today! I kinda just laugh though... I am working day in and day out pretty much 24/7! And I love it!! haha I had a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year! Thank you for asking about that! I will tell my New Years Eve story here in your part! We decided to do some tracting that morning and afternoon because we were not allowed to be out working after six at night. So, we jumped on a train out to Fälköping and did some work out there. We had great success!!! It was amazing! Afterwards we headed to a members house in Fälköping to have a little bit of a party. We had a very fancy dinner and played some very fun games. Sad part is, we missed our train once and then missed the second train and the next one didn't leave Fälköping until 22.48 (10:48 PM).. Bad! I know!! We felt pretty bad, and the members just kept on apologising for making us so late. However, it did mean that we were able to see all of the fireworks! We got back to our apartment in Skövde at about 23.30 (11:30 PM) and got ready for bed. By this time the fireworks were already going! The majority of the fireworks they have here are massive artillery shells... yeah I know... SWEET!! We turned off all of the lights and opened all of the blinds and even opened some of the windows so we could hear it. Lets just say, I completely underestimated how many fireworks there would be! Swedes miss out of the 4th of July, but they certainly make up for it on New Years! It was crazy! Everyone was out lighting them off! Many right on our street! It was loud and just intense! We felt as though we were in a battle zone it was so loud! Swedes know how to party! haha So needless to say we had a great New Years. Even if it did mean we were pretty tired the next day. New Years Day we were not allowed to go out until 15.00 (3:00 PM) and at that time we were once again invited to the branch presidents house where there was lots of family over again and tons of really good food! We had a great time! I love Skövde! Anyway, thats enough of that! I am glad you are having a great time and that everything is going well! I love you Matt! Well, this is normally Mom's spot but she is still down in Utah I hear. Good!! Thats where she should be! haha :) So I will get right to the Spiritual thought! This is something someone told me on my mission that I have really taken to heart. It is about ATTITUDE. Now, if you take each letter of the word ATTITUDE and assign a numerical number to it (for example, "A" is one and "T" is twenty... so forth...) the letters add up to 100. Try it! I was amazed! Now, there are many ways that this can be applied... trust me.. haha But this is the path I would like to choose and discuss! Attitude is everything! We all face different struggles and challenges. We all have different strengths and weaknesses. But there is something we all have in common. That is, the ability to have a good attitude. Lets look at ourselves as one of those letters. One day we might be an "A" and only contribute the number one, other days we are a "U" and can contribute the number twenty one! Point being, no matter how "positive" our attitude we help each other towards the common goal of 100. Those we are in contact with, such as our friends and especially our family members need our positive attitude!! We may only be able to contribute a number one that day, but that is important! We are still contributing to that all too important goal of 100.. 100 being joy, happiness, LOVE. As we work and strive to have a good, positive attitude even in our trials, we will be lifted up by those around us and always feel loved. Of this I testify and can promise to you!!! Having a positive attitude makes everything better!! I love you all and hope you are having a wonderful week! It's always a great day to be happy!! :) Until next week...Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!Äldste Kundis :) :) :)

Here is the reading for this week!!!

Tuesday - p.183 ch.19 - p.187 ch.21
Wednesday - p.187 ch.21 - p.193 ch.24
Thursday - p.193 ch.24 - p.199 ch.27
Friday - p.199 ch.27 - p.204 ch.29
Saturday - p.204 ch.29 - p.207 ALMA
Sunday - p.207 ALMA - p.213 ch.3
Monday (next) - p.213 ch.3 - p.217 ch.5