The land of many languages!

Hej Familj!

Welcome to another p-day! I hope that your week has been going just smoothly! That reminds me of smoothies.. mmmm lol Sorry! Anyway, my week has been spectacular! Lots of fun people that I've taught, lots of fun, and crazy people I have contacted, and tons of Spirit! :) I would like to start off with the subject line! The land of many languages! Thats Sweden if you haven't guessed already... Serving in Sweden has allowed me the opportunity to meet lots of people from around the globe! These people come from different countries, speak different languages, and have different ways of doing things. I would like to just quickly name a few of the countries where people I have met come from. Ready? Okay... Cambodia, Turkey, Canada, United States, Mexico, China, Japan, Russia, Germany, Peru, New Zealand, Somalia, South Africa, Kenya, India... and, MANY MANY MORE!! haha It has been a lot of fun to talk to these people and learn about them! As I said, each one of these people has a different way of doing things and a different language... Allow me to share really quickly the story of an experience we had with this last Saturday. A few days before this particular Saturday we had contacted a woman from South America and she spoke Spanish! We communicated relatively well in Swedish and set up a time to meet again. We invited Sandra, the lady I had the opportunity to baptize, to come to the teach because we knew that she spoke fluent Spanish. We met at the church at the designated time, and the lady was there EARLY!! haha Amazing! The lady's name is Carolina.. just so you know! haha So, we began the teach, and everything was going well! The Spirit was strong and getting stronger throughout the whole teach. Sandra helped a ton! She made sure that Carolina understood perfectly! Let me just paint the picture a little for you quick. Two native English speakers speaking Swedish and then having a native Spanish speaker translate that from Swedish to Spanish for Carolina! haha It was quite the sight! :) It came to the end of the lesson and we asked Sandra to bear her testimony of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon and the Holy Ghost. Sandra went off in Spanish.. Her eyes quickly became moist with tears and the Spirit just encircled us all. I could not understand what she was saying, but I understood what she said. The Holy Ghost witnessed to me of what Sandra was saying. Precious tears filled my eyes as she bore her testimony and I watched the lady I baptized be guided by the Holy Ghost. It was something that I will never, EVER forget. Carolina was touched, she could see the sincerity in Sandra's words. After the lesson we had the opportunity to thank Sandra for her help and to ask her how she felt the teach went. She thought the teach went perfect, and we couldn't have agreed more! I told her about how I couldn't understand the Spanish in her testimony, but that I knew what she had said... I had felt it in my heart. She then told us that, that was the first time she had ever bore her testimony for anyone other than her sister. I was just caught up in the Spirit. It was magical.. pure, joy. This Gospel is true no matter what language you may speak! The Holy Ghost is real, and I know that with my entire self! I am thankful for what I was able to experience that day, and the opportunity I have to experience many more times just like that! Okay then.... I think I better get to the e-mails for this week! Dad!! I love you! Haha, I am so happy that you like the music on my blog! It may need a change sometime though.. I don't want the songs to get too repetitive! About the bed bugs, don't worry they won't come back, I hope. lol They are gone for now, and you keep them gone by continually checking for signs and bites. None so far! Yay! Sadly, no we were not able to meet the extremely positive potential investigator. His phone is always shut off, and he was not at the appointment... but, we will continue to try and get a hold of him! Oh man..... OH MAN!! Michael McLean!! That was awesome to hear about! I bet you all were just in amazement! How did the dinner thing with "mike" go?? How on earth did you get that opportunity? Anyway, JOHN SCHMIDT?!?! UGH!! NO WAY! That would be the concert of a lifetime! He is the amazing composer of songs such as, "Waterfall" and "All of Me". I love his music! :) If he comes just don't tell me! It will be better that I don't know that! haha jk :) Thank you for the little bit to think about in your e-mail. You are so right.. why DO we have to complicate things?!?! :) I love you very much Dad!! You are always in my heart! Alright now it is Matt's turn! I love you Matt! By the way, nice pictures! I could barely recognize you! You look like you have been working out or something.. haha and Molly looks like she is just loving life! Whats this I hear about her staying in the backyard??? I am not sure how I feel about this! Please feel free to explain that one to me!! :) What happened to BYU?? They lost to Air Force? Who loses to Air Force? hahaha I am kidding.I understand the need for a good building year. Good thing that by the time I get back they will be back to full strength! Yeah! :) Haha, you and Maddy sound pretty serious! Yes, I do believe I have been to her mom's house. haha Tom and Mat were there. So, you asked what I am doing today.. Well writing you for one thing! haha My p-day was technically yesterday but because of the fun day, we didn't have time to write e-mails, thus, why it is late! haha So that day (yesterday) was really fun! WE went to Helsigborg and played a little American Football!! Yeah! It was so much fun! Good exercise too! Speaking of which, you asked me how my work-out is coming along. It is coming along quite well! I am indeed getting "bigger"?? haha I am also slimming down! My pants are quite loose and I love it! My goal is to get down to a good weight and then build some muscle! Me and you are going to have to try to recognize each other when I get home! :) Mrs. Spencer for honors Chem huh? Wow, I had her too and I remember the class very well! You really just need to be nice to her and make all the effort you can to study, study, study and get the work done and turned in! haha Thats how you survive! Tell her "hi" for me! :) You don't like shaving huh? Yeah, I can understand that... But don't worry bro, you will get used to it! I do it everyday! Luckily, my shaver works in the shower so my face doesn't get that irritated! Woo! Anyway, I look forward to your return letter and love hearing from you Matt! :) I love you with all of my heart and miss you! Keep up the good work! :) Now, on to Mom!! I love you Mom!! :) First, to answer your date questions! Silly me, I forgot my calender! haha Okay, I do remember that the calender only went as far as the end of October and that the next zone conference in on October 14th!!! Wooo! Perfectly placed a few days before my birthday on the 17th!! :) So, I believe that you will have no problems getting a box to me! :) lol About the shopping here in Sweden... It is all pretty expensive, but there is a lot of nice stuff! I didn't buy anything just yet.. lol I am glad that my truck has been put to good use! haha I sure hope that it is taking the work load well! Oh Mom, you must have LOVED the Michael McLean fireside!!! How lucky are you! I wish I could talk to him and get to know him on a friendly basis! ugh! I remember when we would sing that song in the car!! And all of his other songs! Singing "Hold On" around the piano is one of my most cherished memories!!! :) Anyway, I love you so much Mom!! Thank you for all that you are doing for me!! :) Okay everyone, now on to the Spiritual aspect of the e-mail! My thoughts today come from a quote I took from our last district meeting. My district leader, Äldste Clarke, from Tropic, Utah (haha... Tropic, does anyone know where that is?? lol) was talking to us about our mission calls and he said this, "We are not asked to run faster than we have strength... But we are asked to run as fast as we can." This hit me hard! I was blown back by the comment! How true is this not only in missionary work, but also in everyday life! When we have a seemingly "hard day" or what sometimes feels like a "helpless future" we can find solice in this quote!! If we but do all that we can, we WILL succeed! We WILL triumph our challenges! The Lord is here to help us, not to hinder us! Many times I have found myself on my knees praying for strength to bear my burdens and to help me through hard times. Many times I have found myself running, and running as fast as I can only to be carried over the finish line by my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know, that when we do all that we can we will have success, and in that success find the then deeply rooted joy and peace. I love this work! I hope that you all know that! I love all of you, and pray for you every day! Go about this week with a determination to accomplish what is required, always knowing, that there IS HELP! Until next week.....

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

Äldste Kundis :) :) :)