Happy to be inside this WARM church building!

Hej Familj!!!

Welcome to yet another P-Day here in the land of Sweden! It is, needless to say, very cold outside and the once lush green mat that was outside has turned into a cold, dark frozen tundra! The snow continues to fall as does the temperature! We had a couple of "warmer" days that made things very slushy, but then the cold came back in full force and now everything is slick and crunchy! haha I am sure you can understand what I mean! We have been out doing finding work day after day seemingly undistracted by the environment around us. Perhaps it is the fire in both of us truly wanting to find that golden investigator. I will tell you that we have seen the Lord's hand here in this work! It is amazing! During our long sessions of finding work we always happen to come across a less active member, or an old investigator. Most of which turn out very positive! For instance, the other day we tracted into a less active's house and he let us in and talked for a little while. We asked if we could start coming and visiting him and he loved the idea. Just the other day we went by and watched the Joy to the World DVD and gave a spiritual thought. He fed us Julmust and lots of cookies and was just plain... nice! He even gave us both a Christmas card. He is awesome! Anyway, things are going great here in Skövde! I am loving every single second of it! As I should!!! :) Lets see, today we are heading to Göteborg.. Yes, zone conference is not until tomorrow, but we are having a zone p-day today! It will be "snow football" which basically means... football... in the snow. haha It will be an awesome time! So then we will head back here and the very next morning head back again! lol Wooo for trains! Or is that.. whooot whooot?? lol (Sometimes even I don't understand myself...) :) So, Christmas is in full force with us! We have decorated the apartment and things are looking mighty fine! I will try to include some photos! Haha our Christmas tree is probably the funniest thing I have ever seen. We don't have a tree... So, we took a little floor lamp and wrapped some green decorating garland around it. (the stuff you would normally put above a window or on top of an entertainment center) We then adorned the "tree" with lights and ornaments and other things and then completed it by putting a picture of Jesus on the top! haha Perfect! It is rather strange actually... but near and dear to my heart. Just think... year after year searching for the perfect tree and then finally having the opportunity to be in Sweden where the trees are perfect and beautiful and having to settle with a floor lamp and some plastic decorations! hahaha It makes me laugh. :) Anyway, our decorating was helped a lot by a couple of envelopes from Mom!! Can I just say one thing.... I have the best home ward on the face of the planet!!! Opening that package and seeing all of the hand made decorations made me feel so warm and loved! Of course I cried like crazy... haha It really, REALLY meant a lot to me. Not to mention..... JON SCHMIDT!!! I can't believe he made one for me!! How lucky am I!! I was so surprised! I was going through looking at all of them and reading mom's notes and then I got to one that said, "you are really going to like this one..." I pretty much screamed... haha well, yeah, I did. I am so lucky! Thanks Mom! Anyway, anyway, anyway... I am just very happy right now.. It feels great, because this is how I feel everyday! :) I should get to the e-mails because we need to go catch a train! Hello my dear father.. I love you!! I am happy to hear that my letter made it there and that Bishop Jacobsen was able to read it for you all. I bet that was a little hard for Mom. I feel as though I should write another letter and thank them for the wonderful decorations they made for me! haha Oh! about the phone calls... I am pretty sure that it is an 8 hour difference... So double check that one so we can be on the same track! Thank you for taking care of the phone card and be sure to let me know the details next e-mail! We will most likely be calling from the church here. We were thinking that 5 o'clock our time would be best for us and you. That would mean if we called at 5 our time it would be 9:00 AM your time. Let me know if that works with you! I am calling your phone right?? haha Anyway. As for the length of the call.. It is pretty much wide open. We have not received any time limits, but I think it will probably be about as long as when Josh and Kevin would call us on their missions. Anyway, it will all work out and be awesome! Haha I loved your spin on the Gift of Tongues! Very funny! It is true.. my taste buds have changed and it is a good thing! Right in time! As for the reading... its all good! Just keep trying! Remember, this is not supposed to be stressful.. Just relaxing and enjoyable! :) Anyway, I love you very much and can't wait to talk with you on Christmas! Okay next is Matt!! I love you Matt!! It sounds like Christmas break is going to be fun and enjoyable! Work hard these last few days so that you can play hard these next couple of weeks! Who is going to be taking care of Molly while you are gone?!?! haha sorry random question! Yeah Matt, Christmas here is going to be great! Different, yes, but great! The branch here is taking care of us and we are going to have a great time! I would be a liar though, if I did not tell you I am missing home like crazy!! I love the Christmas season... It is a big one for family! :) However, patience deepens joy! :) Wow!! BYU is 18th in the nation?? Well they just keep doing great! That is so good to hear! :) Anyway, have an awesome week Matt! I love you and pray for you every day! Stay Strong! Not just physically.. ;) :) Okay now it is on to Mom!! I love you!!! It definitely sounds like you are excited for this trip to Utah for Christmas! I bet you all are! How fun! Tell everyone hi for me and that I love them!!! :) Especially tell that to Landon when he makes his grand appearance! :D Also, tell Sister Manning thank you for that wonderful gift and that I send my love! It would seem as though you have seen a couple miracles there yourself!! I am so glad that Colin is doing well and that they could all get to Oklahoma safely! Also, I am SOOOOOOO HAPPPPYYYY to hear that Nana is cancer free and in remission!! What amazing news that is! I have been praying and praying for her and I am so glad that she is doing well! I love her! I also received a package and a card from her for Christmas! She loves me too! :) Anyway, thank you for your e-mail Mom! I love you and just like everyone else, can't wait to talk to you soon! Okay well I have zero time this week so my Spiritual Thought is going to a video again!!! Here is the link... http://lds.org/pages/what-shall-we-give?lang=eng trust me.. this one is good!! I love it! If you did not get to watch the Christmas Devotional... you missed out! The music was gorgeous, and the messages were amazing. The Spirit was still there even if it was in Swedish and not the real voices! haha Anyway, I will give you the reading for this week now.

Monday (today) p.78 ch.10 - p.82 ch.13
Tuesday p.82 ch.13 - p.86 ch.16
Wednesday p.86 ch.16 - p.90 ch.20
Thursday p.90 ch.20 - p.95 ch.24
Friday p.95 ch.24 - p.100 ch.26
Saturday p.100 ch.26 - p.104 ch.27
Sunday p.104 ch.27 - p.109 ch.29
Monday (next) p.109 ch.29 - p.115 ch.32

I love you all very much... With all of my heart in fact! Keep praying and loving that Christmas Spirit... Or rather.. The Spirit of Christ! :) Until next week...

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