Cleaning Inspection #1 ..... Pass! :)

Hej Familj!

Greetings once again from Växjö!! As you can tell from the subject line, I had my first cleaning inspection! It was this morning actually. They had called and told us about it before hand so we could be ready. However, we have been busy and that kinda got pushed to the back burner. Don't misunderstand me, we live clean, but there were some bigger projects like cleaning the stove that we had not done. So! This morning we woke up and started cleaning! They had told us that they were going to be by around 11:30... That however, was a lie. haha They called us at about 9:30 and said, "Elders! We are running a bit EARLY. Can we come at 10:30?" :( lol That was not what we wanted to hear. So, that next hour was crunch time! We cleaned fast, and got everything done that we needed to. They came and we passed! Woo!! They were on their way up to Stockholm because they are going back home this week! They are from Germany. We had a nice talk about Germany and I of course told them about Nana and Grandpa Karl. They loved hearing about the food, and about them! :) It was a good time. Anyway, so I don't have as much time as I normally have because of the inspection and the other things we have to do today. So let me get to the e-mail! Hello again daddy! You are my shining star.. (What??) haha I love you! Okay.. you do have a point about Disneyland being magical and all, but IKEA has some of it's own magic as well.... At a very affordable price! wow I sound like an advertisement. The meatballs were pretty much like they were at the Draper IKEA. Kinda sad, but something about the fact that I was eating them IN SWEDEN really made them special! I am on the hunt for an amazing meatball recipe. Hopefully I can find one! I was glad that you liked my tracting experience! I liked it too! The Spirit is really incredible. Its power and ability to lead and guide missionaries is just indescribable. Of course you remember that! Thanks again for your words and inspiration! I get a boost every week from your e-mails! I love you dad! Okay now it is Moms turn! Hello mommy! You are looking great! haha :) I am pleased to announce that the chair is out of the box and put back together. Funny story, we took it out and started again and realized that ANOTHER piece was SOMEHOW missing! We were laughing soooo hard! We decided to clean some more. Because everyone knows... When you can't find something, just start cleaning! It worked! We found the screw and finally finished the chair! Just to answer your question, five Swedish Krowns is about .70 in USD. So, that was cheep for an ice cream cone. One on the street will cost you about 25-30 Krowns. :( haha You liked my tracting experience TOO?!?! Wow, that makes three of us! :) haha It really was amazing! We did get follow-up appointments and all look positive.. except one. However, that is okay we tried and tried. He just wasn't having any of it anymore. Dad, Josh and Kevin were so right about the good day thing. It is very true! When you have lots of bad days, just one good day lifts your Spirit and makes you feel on top of the world! OH! Before I forget... I played the prelude hymns in Sacrament Meeting this past Sunday. The stake presidency was there as well as the Patriarch so I was very nervous. I basically played the right hand and played chords on the left hand. It turned out good. So good in fact, I have now been asked to play ALL of the hymns next week because the regular piano player is out on vacation. Yay!! lol I am nervous! Wish me luck! Okay so yes, transfers ARE coming up fast. I really don't have any feelings. I am a lover of change in the mission field though. When changes happen it freshens up the work, and resets everything. In alot of aspects that is great, and in some that can be bad. However, I am excited! If the pattern continues in Växjö, I will be here for next transfer, but we never really know! We will see. We get the calls that tell us whats up next Tuesday! I still have not yet received your envelope. :( But I did receive your dear elder letter. haha they put very little postage on there! Anyway, I will respond to that today! The picture worked out very well!! Thank you for sending that! haha I look gooooood haha :) Feel free to send pictures anytime! I love them! I was sad when I heard that Matt was sick.. But I am also glad that he is doing better! That sounds really fun that Josh and Hillary are coming up! Any reason?? Or just for fun? Anyway, thats great! You saw me in a picture? I haven't seen Äldste Deleeuw since I have been in Sweden. Are you absolutely sure that it is me? We definitely were not together at Midsommar! haha I don't know who my look a like is, but i would like to know! Well, I love you sooo much mom! Thank you for everything! Okay... Now on to an interesting topic. Lets start it out with a common phrase, "Don't let the bed bugs bite!" Can you guess what I am going to say next.. Yes, we have bed bugs in our apartment! EEEeeeekkkk!! haha We thought we had tamed the Knott, however we got more and more bites. We got concerned and studied up on the subject. We identified the problem as bed bugs. So, when we got home from checking what they might be we went searching... We found them. I freaked out. I tore through all of the bedding searching for the gross little creatures. I believe I found most of them... We are getting into contact with the office to see if we can hire someone to come and get rid of them for good. Lol I know it sounds crazy, and thats because it is! We are clean people! The branch told us that it is a common problem in Sweden. So! Don't worry! We are healthy and are getting the problem solved! Okay... on that wonderful note, on to the Spiritual Goodie! Or, as John Bytheway would say in his book, "how to be an extraordinary missionary," an Extra! Extra! haha Okay I want to talk today about someone all of us know very well. He is a character from the Book of Mormon. Captain Moroni! I have been studying a lot about him recently and I have learned a lot from him. The main thought I have is about his preparations for war. If you read starting in chapter 46 of Alma you can see how highly Moroni places freedom and liberty and the right to have religion. He fortifies his cities all of the time! Even in times of peace Moroni would constantly keep up his guard and always look after his people. Since I don't have much time... let me get to the point... Let us all think of ourselves for a moment. We all face adversity! It is just part of this wonderful life. However, how are we prepared for these adversities? Do we have our walls built and our trenches dug? Or, are we "getting to it sooner or later"? We read time and time again in the Book of Mormon of people who have that attitude and are not prepared when adversity strikes. We must prepare ourselves for all of the negatives in life. Temptation, trials, misfortune to name a few. If we are constantly working at keeping our defenses up we WILL be ready! We must do things like reading the scriptures, going to church, surrounding ourselves with good, uplifting things... friends, music etc... As a missionary I face adversities a lot. I am constantly working on my defenses. I know with all of my heart that this steady, consistent effort has blessed me. It is a lot of why I am still going, still pressing forward. It is because I know that I am prepared, and that I trust in the Lord that I am kept safe. We must all do this. As the famous verse in Alma 48 says... "Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men." So, the charge this week is to build our defenses. The Lord will bless us if we are trying to protect ourselves. He loves each and every one of us! Of this, I know with my whole self. Well, I love you all! Keep the faith and press forward!

Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready.....

Äldste Kundis :) :)

I just remembered that because of transfers my next p-day will not be next Monday. It will in fact be the Wednesday after that Monday. Might want to let people on the blog know too! After that Wednesday everything should be back to normal and P-days will be Mondays again! :)

I love you all again! and again! and AGAIN!!

Med Kärlek,

Äldste Kundis :)