Haha well things are going great here in the land of green! Sure enough it is raining here and its cloudy... That seems to happen on p-days a lot. Well, I guess not really just on p-days because it just likes raining all the time! :) I love it though! Okay, so today for p-day we were planning on going down to Kristianstad to play basketball with some other elders, but it was cancelled because of rain! Awhhh.. haha! :) It would have been fun, but the extra time has given us the chance to get a lot of things done! Cleaning for one! Other than that, we cut our own hair today. Yeah, I did just say that... CUT OUR OWN HAIR!! ! ! ! It was pretty scary, but Äldste Bracken talked me into it! I think it turned out pretty nice. I was quite nervous doing it all by myself.. but hey, it was fun! So, I should probably explain that subject line... Björn is a man that we met one day on the way to the bus. We stopped and contacted him and it went very well! He gave us his address and his phone number without us even asking for it! Needless to say, we were pretty hopeful for Björn! So, we sat up a date and went over to his apartment. When we got there and knocked, he was not home. :( We were blåsted (bl-o-sted) as the elders in Sweden say. So, we left and called him later. We set up yet another time to teach, and we were pretty sure that he was going to be there this time. So, we invited a member to come along! He came and everything was great... Except the fact that Björn blåsted us AGAIN!! haha so, we apologised to Peter (the member) and went on our way towards tracting/contacting. On our way through a grassy area right behind where we live there is a big hill. All of the sudden a man ran to the top with what looked like a pipe bomb or some other kind of home made explosive. I said, "Äldste, look at that!". Äldste Bracken replied, "No way, thats Björn!!" He lit whatever it was and ran away fast. Us, not knowing exactly what this thing was going to do ran behind a wooden fence and ducked down. As we were peering over the top of the fence it appeared that the explosive did not go off. So, Björn ran back up and started messing with it. He took it back down from the hill, and this is when we swooped in to talk to him. We called out his name and he turned and saw us.. Kinda awkward as you might imagine. We asked him what was going on and he replied.. "bomb". Haha! So, we did what any other missionary would have done, and tried to get a time to see him. We did, and double checked the apartment number. It was correct. So he went to a table with a friend and started messing with the bomb. We looked at each other, (Äldste Bracken and I) and immediately knew that both of us were curious as to what Björn was up to. So, we went and hid behind the same wood fence. While we were waiting I decided to pull out my camera so I could get a video of this thing that was going to explode. As we were waiting for Björn to finish getting whatever it was ready, I started showing Äldste Bracken my videos and pictures. All of the sudden there was a loud boom and a flash of light. It scared me really badly! haha I will not lie and say that it didn't because it was loud. We duck our heads and then immediately looked over the fence. There was a big mushroom cloud and Björn was heading back up the hill to retrieve the remains of whatever the bomb was made of. So, I didn't get my video of it, which i was pretty disappointed about, but it still an experience. We had to stop trying to visit Björn though. He would never be there when he said he was going to be. Its a shame too because he seemed like a really nice guy. Haha.. that is a little weird to say after that story huh... oh well! I stand by the statement! How about another quick story!?? I am full of them! We met a really cool guy named Morris. We received his information through a referral from the Zone Leaders in Malmö. Boy, am I thankful for them! Morris is an amazing person! He originally comes from Liberia, and fled to Sweden because of the war that was happening in his country. This next part is very sad. He lost his mother, father and brother in the conflicts. :( He is so strong though. He has been through a lot but has never lost his faith in God. He continually prays that things will get better in his life. He also expressed that he feels as though there is something missing in his life. Some kind of void that he just can't seem to fill... Hmm... We will see if we can help him with that! We taught him in the library here and it went very well. We taught a powerful first lesson, and the Spirit was very strong! I love it! He wants to come to church and to learn a lot more!!!! Woo!! So anyway, we are praying for him as well as our other investigators. This work is so cool! :) Okay, I better get to the e-mails now! First we have my loving Father!! I love you dad! Let me start by saying I loved what you said about us being, "modern day stripling warriors"!!! :) I am sure not fighting by the sword, but we face satan everyday out here! I put on my armour by studying and praying and lot of other things so that I can be prepared for the day! Its an awesome thing to do! I am glad you shared my pics on the blog and that you thought they were hilarious! haha It was kinda funny.. Anyway, thank you for your guidance and loving words.. They mean a lot to me! :) I love you dad! Okay now to Matt! You opened your Birthday card early?!?! what!!!!??? haha its okay brother! I guess you just didn't remember that your birthday was coming up.. ;) Aww.. You miss me?? Haha.. I miss you too Matt! We are pretty much the best of friends.. only that we are brothers! Woo! Yay for the Kundis bros! You sound like you are living life to it's fullest right now and truly having a good summer. Thats GOOD!! Enjoy it and stay safe! Maddy huh? This must be the same girl from last time. I am glad that you two are spending time and getting to know each other. Any funny stories or things you two have done together? Are you two a "thing" or is it just friends? Anyway, I love you Matt! You are soooo right about Molly! She just wants some loving! And since I am not there you need to pick up the slack! haha jk! Have a great week and keep up the really REALLY fun things like scripture study and prayer! Woo!! Love ya! Ooookay!! Mom!! I love you mom! It sure sounds like you are working hard! Make sure to take care of yourself and have some mommy time! Thats important! I am glad that you like the amount of exclamation points I use!!!!!!!!!! They are fun! You asked again about the bed bugs so let me give you and everyone else that is wondering an update! We got rid of the beds and all other bedding in the entire apartment.(Thus the attached photo) Lets just say that we have amazing members here in Växjö. We have been abundantly blessed! Sandra and her sister Jeanette came over and gave us two big air mattresses, pillows, blankets and sheets! They are so amazing! So, yes, that means we are now sleeping on big air mattresses! I love it!! YAY!! Bug free and I can sleep through the night! Sure, I have seen like two since then, but those were not on my bed! The we other places and had not food (blood) in them at all! Woo!! The were quickly disposed of. Anyway, get this.. As if the new beds were not enough. At church yesterday we were attacked by the Relief Society in the branch and they TOLD us that they were coming over to inspect the apartment. Haha!! Yeah! They are coming over later today to make a list of everything our apartment needs and is missing so they can help us out! Crazy!! I love them! We called the mission office and explained our situation with the Relief Society and the office/president said it was a go ahead! So, we cleaned very well this morning and they will becoming by a little later! There is also the possibility that we move completely to a new apartment. That would be wonderful because the place we have has lots and lots of problems. We have fixed it up and cleaned like crazy, but there are just some things that we can't do! So, the members are going to look around for us and get back to us. They had us ask the mission office how much the church pays each month for our apartment so they can look! Remember that we didn't ask ANYONE to do this! They are just amazing members! :) :) Okay, now let me get back to your e-mail mom! Sorry for the detour! The activity on Friday went very well... except the fact that Ann-Kristin didn't show.. She didn't come to church either. Very sad.... Ugh. Anyway.. moving on! We are still teaching her and things are progressing! I am glad that you received your anniversary card in the mail! (and didn't open it early like Matt!!) haha jkjk. Wow.. mom... you take such good care of me! I look forward to listening to that CD! It sounds like it will sound amazing! Awwww.. the Ripley's are moving?!?!? That is so sad! Who on earth am I going to speak Swedish with when I get home?!?!?! :( I will definitely miss them when I get back. They were always so happy and fun loving! Is there any way to get their new address in Florida?? Just wondering! Okay, thank you so much for your update on the family! Sounds like everything is going well! I love news about them! Jessica is going to have her baby really soon! Wow time is just flying! Crazy! Anyway, I love you so much mom! Thanks for all you do and are! Allllllrrriiigghhhtttyyy then... Lets get to the Spiritual stuff! Today doesn't come from the scriptures or from a book.. It comes from experience and deep thought. haha :) I want to talk about finding commonality in Christ. As a missionary, right when I leave the apartment I am different from everyone else around me! The white shirt, tie and name badge set me apart just by the plain means of an appearance. However, there is something that I can use to find commonality with every single person I come into contact with. That magic tool is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Just as it says in Heleman 5:12.. we can build our sure foundation on Christ. That foundation is really powerful, and a large majority of the world is missing out on it! I have seen numerous times as we are contacting, people turn us down or ignore us just because of our outside differences. But what is really amazing is when.. as they are walking away... we bear testimony of Christ and how he loves them.. They stop and turn around. Something happens inside of them and they change their mind and want to talk and have a conversation. It is amazing! We all have a need for love. When people hear of their Savior they can sense that love and they want it more than anything! We can find our commonality there... In Christ! This not only works for random people that the Lord places in the paths of missionaries, but it also works for companionships, relationships, and even old wooden ships used during the civil war era! Bahaha!!! Sorry.. Anchorman reference.. I couldn't resist! :) ;) But seriously though.. It works! We all have our differences and our little querks, but one thing we can always count on finding commonality in.. is Christ! First we must build our sure foundation and then we can invite people up onto that so they can have peace, strength and love! It is crazy how this is sooo effective! There is a lot of power found in Christ.. He can do anything and everything if we only let him! :) I love you all so much! I am glad that we can share this commonality in Christ and have so much love! You are all a blessing in my life and I love hearing from you. I want you all to know... that I love my Savior, Jesus Christ! I love him with all that I am, was or ever hope to be! He has helped me through a lot, and continues to help me everyday! So, until next week... I love you!
Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready.....
Äldste Kundis :) :) :)
Just a fun picture for you to enjoy of some elders in my zone! We were in Helsingborg at a castle after the bowling! This was taken when not everyone was ready.. Hah! Äldste Bracken, my companion, is on the far right in the white! :) Lol I loved Äldste Clarke in this one! Can you guess which one he is?! Yeah.... the one in the white and green shirt! :)
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