"Called to serve him, heavenly king of glory!!!"

Äldste Kundis to the rescue! Does someone need the Gospel?!

A more refined snap shot... :)

Hahahaha I just couldn't resist!

Me and our humble Thanksgiving.. :) Nice huh??

This is "Glögg" a special hot Christmas drink... SSSOOOOO gooooddd!!! Mmm!

The food at the branch party and a few of the little children in the branch! :D

Hej Familj!!!

Indeed I have been called to serve, and it feels amazing! First things first, Äldste Overstreet is awesome! Transfer times are always scary because you just don't know what to expect, but the Lord has blessed me! A little about Äldste Overstreet.... He hails from the beautiful state of Arizona and resides in Mesa. He has been in Sweden for two months and has excellent Swedish. He is a hard worker and knows exactly why he is here... to Serve the Lord! :) Needless to say, I am very happy that I will be able to spend this long 13 week transfer with him, and Christmas too!! Yes, that IS the official word... This will be a 13 week transfer and it will be incredible! Already, we have seen a big change here in Skövde. We have been tracting non-stop and talking with lots of people! The work is tough, and the weather is COLLLLLDDDDD, but the reward of coming home at night, kneeling down and saying, "Lord, I have done my best.. Rest my body that I may return to the work tomorrow and find the prepared" is so worth it! I love how tired I am, and I love the challenges. They help me grow, and I know the Lord loves me because of them! We are still receiving lots of snow here and the wind continues to blow... But I need to tell you something... Perhaps a little secret... If people think Sweden is beautiful in the Summertime, just wait until they see the Wintertime!! Honestly, flying down a train track through the winding terrain and looking out the window only to see forests covered in white, lakes beginning to freeze and snow falling is something really special. I absolutely, positively, undoubtedly love this place! Helt underbar! So, yes, the Christmas season is coming up, and everyone is getting ready. Seemingly every window here has a little candle thing in it (kind of like a menorah, but definitely not... because they are not Jewish... lol) Also, lights just keep appearing everywhere! More and more!!! Sure, the sun goes down at 3:30 PM, but the town stays lit thanks to all of the lights! Woo!! The members are also getting into the Christmas Spirit! We were invited over to a members house for dinner yesterday, and she had decorations up and it just felt good! Want to know what we ate?!?!? I bet this will alarm almost everyone that knows the kinds of food I like, and those I just can't eat. Well, we had a fish and shrimp bake type thing with vegetables galore!!! Guess what??? I loved it!!! ha ha, my taste buds have definitely changed! I can't believe I have gone this long in life not liking shrimp!!! Was I crazy!? ha ha I surprise myself seemingly everyday! Ya!!! lol :) Anyway, I have rambled on long enough! I better get to the e-mails fast! Okay well to start the e-mails, it is Matt!!! I love you brother! :) Sounds like you had a pretty nasty virus! Did you ever find out how you got it? I hope you didn't lose too much weight.. Thats never good when you are sick! From the pictures of you decorating the Christmas tree it looks like you are doing well again, and that is good to see! Molly still jumps and bites at the snow when you shovel huh?? Some things just never change I guess! I was always fine with it, but then she would start to get in the way, and then it bugged me.. Now I would love nothing more than to see her here in Sweden eating up all the snow as I shovel someones drive or here around the church! Ha ha, I would love it! Oh wow, sounds like BYU is still doing well! That is goooood to hear! You and the family are going down to Utah for Christmas? How cool is that!! Fill me in on all of the details! Where are you staying and who are you spending it with? It should be crazy fun! Speaking of which, snowboarding sounds fun! Be careful though... I like your motto, but your motto is no good when you happen to break your leg or your arm! :) ha ha you know me, just watching out for you! Well, Matt, my brother, enjoy this season, and work hard to finish up your work at school before the break! You can do it! I know you can! Have an awesome day brother! Okay, now it is time for me to reply to Dad!!! I love you so much Dad!!! :) First off, thank you so much for the advice about being a senior companion. It was really helpful! Also, thank you very much for addressing my concerns about becoming a senior. I need all the help I can get right now, and your love and support helps me a ton! Thank you Doctor Dad!!! ha ha Good times! As for the scripture reading, I can understand that it would get a little messed up because of the illnesses that have been going on.. Its all good! :) As for where we are, I will mention that at the end.. I have figured out the pages and chapters and stuff for all of this week! Woo! I am soooooo glad that you and Mom had such a wonderful time at the temple! Your experience brought tears to my eyes as well! Completely amazing! :) Temples are just incredible!!!! What happens there and what we learn when we go with questions is purely amazing. I miss the days of the MTC when we went every single week! But anyway, thank you so very much for your e-mail and all that you do for me! :) Okay, now I will move on to Mom!!! I love you Mom!!! It is so good to hear that you and the family loved the Jeffery R. Holland talk! It is completely amazing, and I love it every time I watch! Really puts the Book of Mormon into perspective huh?! :) Bravo on the Christmas tree! It looks amazing! Did Dad do the lights like he does every year?? I always loved that part of Christmas!! Going out as a family to get the tree, fighting over trees, and then finding the perfect one... Dad always wanting to get a Charlie Brown tree.. ha ha ha ha :) Then we would decorate it as a family and decorate the house!!!! All as a family.. perhaps thats why I loved it all sooooo much! Yup :) I am sure that was it! I love you all!!! :) As for the camera card, I haven't sent it yet. I have been pretty busy and also, I need to figure out which one of the cards to send!! ha ha Perhaps I will mail it off this week.. We will see.. I need to write a summary of the pics because I don't just want to send them and confuse you all! Anyway, I will get that to you! Oh my! That news about Colin made me jump out of my seat! Poor little guy! I am glad that he is doing better now and that all is well. Babies can be so scary at times! Sounds like his baby blessing was great though! :) Be careful out on those roads Mom!! I don't like hearing those kinds of stories!! Tell that driver that rear-ended you to leave you alone! Why did he pick on my Mom?!?! Not cool.. Not cool. lol ;) I am glad to hear you are okay and safe! Bara så du vet.. Just so you know... Zone Conference is on Tuesday the 14th of December. You asked... I responded.. ha ha Anyway, I love you Mom!! Thank you for everything and have an awesome week! Alright everyone today's Spiritual Thought followed by the schedule for the Book of Mormon reading! Today's Spiritual Thought comes from the 18th chapter of 1st Nephi. This is when Nephi finishes the boat the Lord had commanded him to build. He says, in essence in verse four that the ship was "good" and that the workmanship was exceedingly fine. Why was this so??? Was it because Nephi was an amazing ship builder, or was it because of something else? I think it was something else.. If we read verse two of the same chapter we can see why the ship was "good".. Verse two reads, "Now I, Nephi, did not work the timbers after the manner which was learned by men, neither did I build the ship after the manner of men; but I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me; wherefore, it was not after the manner of men." So, we can see here that the ship was "good" because Nephi followed the way of the Lord. I would like to apply this to our lives today. As we go about life and make decisions we should constantly be praying to the Lord.. (See verse three of the same chapter) He will direct our paths and help us to be happy! ! ! If we are constantly doing what the Lord asks of us and follow his guidance, through the Holy Ghost, our lives will be "good". We will be able to stand back and see that the Lord has truly blessed us. I love my Savior, and I am thankful for all that He has done for me. I also love the ability to be a missionary and to have this time to get to know Christ and to follow him in every way. :) I love my life! I love this Gospel!! Okay, now for all of those who are reading with us... here is something that will help out greatly! It is a list of the reading for every day!

Monday (today) - p. 41 ch. 18 - p. 46 ch. 20 (This is where you should be)
Tuesday - p. 46 ch. 20 - p. 50 ch. 22
Wednesday - p. 50 ch. 22 - p. 53 2nd Nephi
Thursday - p. 53 2nd Nephi - p. 60 ch. 3
Friday - p. 60 ch. 3 - p. 65 ch. 5
Saturday - p. 65 ch. 5 - p. 69 ch. 7
Sunday - p. 69 ch. 7 - p. 78 ch. 10 (Sorry, just how it worked out.. Plus, its Sunday!)
Monday (next) - p. 78 ch. 10 - p. 82 ch. 13

Okay, so just to clarify... When you are reading... The page you start on, no matter how much text is on that page counts as one page.. Read the four pages and whatever you end on you finish the chapter... make sense?? SO, YES.. even if a new chapter starts anywhere on the fourth page that means you must finish the chapter, meaning that you might read a lot some times. ha ha wow.. complicated! But it needed to be cleared up! Anyway.. I love you all!!! Have an awesome week!

Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!

Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!

Äldste Kundis :) :) :)