Just a cool sunset with the moon looking mighty fine!
One of the streets downtown... yes, it looks amazing!
A worker snow-blowing a roof... its a common practice in Sweden (taken from a distance..lol)
Me in front of an old church we found while out working.
The cool church by itself!
Our chapel here in Skövde
Hej Familj!!!!!
Might I just say it feels great to be e-mailing you all again! We are having a great P-day so far and the rest of the day looks just as great! We won't be doing much that sounds exciting to you all, but our past few P-days have been spent running around all over the place doing different things. Not today! Unless some opportunity jumps at us! We will be going shopping and then back home to sit, write letters and just enjoy a little relax time... Don't worry, that does not mean napping! haha Naps are a luxury for after the mission, definitely not on! :) Anyway, our week has been full of work, work and more work! However, during that work we have found success and lots of fun! One success story really quick! We were out one day knocking on doors in a pretty usual part of town. We decided to run by an old investigator we have not met. As we approached the door the name on it was not the same as the one in our records. After checking the address we confirmed that this indeed was his door. The man that answered did not recognise or remember ever seeing missionaries. We asked about the old investigator, but he told us that person did not live there. So, with him still standing there we told him who we were are what we were out doing. He perked up at the sound of our purpose as missionaries. We then proceeded to give him the first lesson right there in the doorway. He was curious about the Book of Mormon and what the words inside said. We knew he was not from Sweden because we could hear there was an accent to his Swedish. We asked him what his native language was and he replied, "Arabic". Our faces lit up like the Fourth of July!!!! We had decided to take an Arabic Book of Mormon that morning before we left the apartment. As we pulled it out of the backpack his face lit up like the Fourth of July!!! hahaha He could not really read Swedish all that well and as soon as he saw the cover he knew what it was. So, we gave him the book and told a little bit more about it. He was very positive and we will be seeing him again this week! It is amazing to me the miracles I am being blessed to see. Even if these people decide not to accept the message, I still have the opportunity to see the Spirit work within them and help them all that I can! It hurts like crazy when we go back to a positive investigators house and they turn us away, but I know the Lord is continually with us wherever we go, pushing us on when we feel we just can't anymore. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ! I am so incredibly thankful for His example of perfect love and what that does for me as a missionary. Even though some may yell and others may curse us, I know that the Savior still loves them and will continue to love them no matter what. I am thankful that I have started to love these people more. It may be hard, but they are my brothers and sisters and I can't let them down. I need to keep pushing along, door to door, person to person. This work is incredible and I am blessed to be a part of it!!! haha wow, all of that stemming from one success story... Now do you all see why I am just so happy?!?! :) :) Well, I better get to the family e-mails! To begin I will start with my Dad!! I love you Dad! Thank you for checking into all of that financial stuff for me! I will be sending the money today or tomorrow and that will be almost exactly the amount for the camera.. Possibly seven dollars short. hahaha :) I will send the amount in two envelopes with a camera card also in each. So, hopefully those both get to you!! As for the suit. The hole is rather large and would not work with a patch. Not to mention the pants are pin-striped and those just got messed up bad when I fell. As for the gum pants... Cleaners are super expensive here.. Like, incredibly expensive. I will see if I can check with them though and get back to you. Also, more business, I will talk to President Anderson and see if I can just call Wells Fargo in March because that sounds a million times easier than filling out forms and mailing them back. I will let you know about that too! Now, if thats all the business... I love you!! Thank you for your inspiring words and insights. I loved what you said about trusting in the Lord and pushing fear aside. There is a lyric in a song I listen to often that says, "Thats where faith is, and thats where fear tries to go". It is talking about faith in the Savior and goes perfectly with what you were saying. Faith is important and I can't let fear, or anything else for that matter, get in the way of that! Thank you Dad! I love you very much! :) Okay, now lets get to Matt!!! I love you Matt! You continue to amaze me at how you have matured and changed so much! I am sure that everyone back home can also tell! You sound like you are working hard and getting ready for football. Keep getting stronger both physically, but spiritually as well! Thats where the real strength is!! I just read a part in a book Mom sent me that would be perfect for you... Perhaps I will bring it next week so that I can quote it for you. It basically talked about priorities and growing close to the Savior. It made reference to how sometimes people go to the gym to achieve the perfect body, or in other words, following the world, and let those things of the world cloud their minds from the things that matter most. Basically it said we need to focus on exercising our faith and knowledge and build muscles in a "spiritual gym" haha I am not doing this justice! I know you are doing an amazing job in your "spiritual gym", but keep it up! It is more important!!!!!!! Way more important!!!!!!! haha By the way, what are you benching right now??? lol, random question. :) Thanks for your e-mail Matt.. You always make me smile, and often times you make me cry because I am just so proud to be called your brother. Keep it up Matt!!! You will do awesome! Okay, now it is time for Mom!!! I love you Mom! You had a blast down in Utah!!! But I mean, come on... How could you not!!! :) I am so happy you are excited to be a grandma! That picture you painted of Josh coming down the hall with Landon just filled my heart! I can't wait to get some pictures!!! :) Also, your story of you and Landon on New Years Eve was AWESOME!! What a memory to have!! Awesome! I must say, I am very sad that Tiegan had to come home because of medical issues. When I hear stuff like that, especially as a missionary it just kills me inside. Please, please, PLEASE go find him and give him a huge hug for me. Let him know that I love him and from one missionary to another, "Ya gotta do, what ya gotta do.. Even if it hurts." Tell him that and also that I am praying for him. Tell him to make the most of this opportunity to serve a little differently. Knowing Tiegan, that won't be hard at all! He is a stud! :) Love ya Tiegan!! Well, thank you for your e-mail Mom!! I love you very much! Have an awesome week! Okay, well now it is time for my Spiritual Thought! It actually comes from the Book of Mormon reading challenge. It actually comes from the reading we did today in Alma chapter four! Towards the end it says, "And now it came to pass that Alma, having seen the afflictions of the humble followers of God, and the persecutions which were heaped upon them by the remainder of his people, and seeing all their inequality, began to be very sorrowful; nevertheless the Spirit of the Lord did not fail him." That was verse 15. Alma was surrounded by afflictions and saw his own people turning from the Lord, but amid all of the bad, the Spirit of the Lord DID NOT FAIL HIM!! Often times in life we can let things bring us down, and a lot of those things don't come close to what Alma went through. We need to strive for the Spirit of the Lord, and we need to become strong in Him to face our trials. I am striving to grow in the Spirit of the Lord. Trusting Him and following Him. The scriptures promise us that, in essence, life will become easier for us if we rely on the Lord. He will not fail us! No, not ever! He will stand by us, and even in times of distress or despair we can have His light and His joy!! I love the Book of Mormon, and I love reading everyday! There are soooo many amazing examples to follow and to learn from! Wooo!! Okay, well I love you all! I hope everything continues to go welll at home and that you are all being blessed! I love you!! :)
Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!
Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!
Äldste Kundis :) :) :)
Here is the reading!!
Tuesday - p.217 ch.5 - p.223 ch.6
Wednesday - p.223 ch.6 - p.228 ch.9
Thursday - p.228 ch.9 - p.234 ch.11
Friday - p.234 ch.11 - p.241 ch.13
Saturday - p.241 ch.13 - p.246 ch.15
Sunday - p.246 ch.15 - p.250 ch.17
Monday (next) - p.250 ch.17 - p.256 ch.19
Might I just say it feels great to be e-mailing you all again! We are having a great P-day so far and the rest of the day looks just as great! We won't be doing much that sounds exciting to you all, but our past few P-days have been spent running around all over the place doing different things. Not today! Unless some opportunity jumps at us! We will be going shopping and then back home to sit, write letters and just enjoy a little relax time... Don't worry, that does not mean napping! haha Naps are a luxury for after the mission, definitely not on! :) Anyway, our week has been full of work, work and more work! However, during that work we have found success and lots of fun! One success story really quick! We were out one day knocking on doors in a pretty usual part of town. We decided to run by an old investigator we have not met. As we approached the door the name on it was not the same as the one in our records. After checking the address we confirmed that this indeed was his door. The man that answered did not recognise or remember ever seeing missionaries. We asked about the old investigator, but he told us that person did not live there. So, with him still standing there we told him who we were are what we were out doing. He perked up at the sound of our purpose as missionaries. We then proceeded to give him the first lesson right there in the doorway. He was curious about the Book of Mormon and what the words inside said. We knew he was not from Sweden because we could hear there was an accent to his Swedish. We asked him what his native language was and he replied, "Arabic". Our faces lit up like the Fourth of July!!!! We had decided to take an Arabic Book of Mormon that morning before we left the apartment. As we pulled it out of the backpack his face lit up like the Fourth of July!!! hahaha He could not really read Swedish all that well and as soon as he saw the cover he knew what it was. So, we gave him the book and told a little bit more about it. He was very positive and we will be seeing him again this week! It is amazing to me the miracles I am being blessed to see. Even if these people decide not to accept the message, I still have the opportunity to see the Spirit work within them and help them all that I can! It hurts like crazy when we go back to a positive investigators house and they turn us away, but I know the Lord is continually with us wherever we go, pushing us on when we feel we just can't anymore. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ! I am so incredibly thankful for His example of perfect love and what that does for me as a missionary. Even though some may yell and others may curse us, I know that the Savior still loves them and will continue to love them no matter what. I am thankful that I have started to love these people more. It may be hard, but they are my brothers and sisters and I can't let them down. I need to keep pushing along, door to door, person to person. This work is incredible and I am blessed to be a part of it!!! haha wow, all of that stemming from one success story... Now do you all see why I am just so happy?!?! :) :) Well, I better get to the family e-mails! To begin I will start with my Dad!! I love you Dad! Thank you for checking into all of that financial stuff for me! I will be sending the money today or tomorrow and that will be almost exactly the amount for the camera.. Possibly seven dollars short. hahaha :) I will send the amount in two envelopes with a camera card also in each. So, hopefully those both get to you!! As for the suit. The hole is rather large and would not work with a patch. Not to mention the pants are pin-striped and those just got messed up bad when I fell. As for the gum pants... Cleaners are super expensive here.. Like, incredibly expensive. I will see if I can check with them though and get back to you. Also, more business, I will talk to President Anderson and see if I can just call Wells Fargo in March because that sounds a million times easier than filling out forms and mailing them back. I will let you know about that too! Now, if thats all the business... I love you!! Thank you for your inspiring words and insights. I loved what you said about trusting in the Lord and pushing fear aside. There is a lyric in a song I listen to often that says, "Thats where faith is, and thats where fear tries to go". It is talking about faith in the Savior and goes perfectly with what you were saying. Faith is important and I can't let fear, or anything else for that matter, get in the way of that! Thank you Dad! I love you very much! :) Okay, now lets get to Matt!!! I love you Matt! You continue to amaze me at how you have matured and changed so much! I am sure that everyone back home can also tell! You sound like you are working hard and getting ready for football. Keep getting stronger both physically, but spiritually as well! Thats where the real strength is!! I just read a part in a book Mom sent me that would be perfect for you... Perhaps I will bring it next week so that I can quote it for you. It basically talked about priorities and growing close to the Savior. It made reference to how sometimes people go to the gym to achieve the perfect body, or in other words, following the world, and let those things of the world cloud their minds from the things that matter most. Basically it said we need to focus on exercising our faith and knowledge and build muscles in a "spiritual gym" haha I am not doing this justice! I know you are doing an amazing job in your "spiritual gym", but keep it up! It is more important!!!!!!! Way more important!!!!!!! haha By the way, what are you benching right now??? lol, random question. :) Thanks for your e-mail Matt.. You always make me smile, and often times you make me cry because I am just so proud to be called your brother. Keep it up Matt!!! You will do awesome! Okay, now it is time for Mom!!! I love you Mom! You had a blast down in Utah!!! But I mean, come on... How could you not!!! :) I am so happy you are excited to be a grandma! That picture you painted of Josh coming down the hall with Landon just filled my heart! I can't wait to get some pictures!!! :) Also, your story of you and Landon on New Years Eve was AWESOME!! What a memory to have!! Awesome! I must say, I am very sad that Tiegan had to come home because of medical issues. When I hear stuff like that, especially as a missionary it just kills me inside. Please, please, PLEASE go find him and give him a huge hug for me. Let him know that I love him and from one missionary to another, "Ya gotta do, what ya gotta do.. Even if it hurts." Tell him that and also that I am praying for him. Tell him to make the most of this opportunity to serve a little differently. Knowing Tiegan, that won't be hard at all! He is a stud! :) Love ya Tiegan!! Well, thank you for your e-mail Mom!! I love you very much! Have an awesome week! Okay, well now it is time for my Spiritual Thought! It actually comes from the Book of Mormon reading challenge. It actually comes from the reading we did today in Alma chapter four! Towards the end it says, "And now it came to pass that Alma, having seen the afflictions of the humble followers of God, and the persecutions which were heaped upon them by the remainder of his people, and seeing all their inequality, began to be very sorrowful; nevertheless the Spirit of the Lord did not fail him." That was verse 15. Alma was surrounded by afflictions and saw his own people turning from the Lord, but amid all of the bad, the Spirit of the Lord DID NOT FAIL HIM!! Often times in life we can let things bring us down, and a lot of those things don't come close to what Alma went through. We need to strive for the Spirit of the Lord, and we need to become strong in Him to face our trials. I am striving to grow in the Spirit of the Lord. Trusting Him and following Him. The scriptures promise us that, in essence, life will become easier for us if we rely on the Lord. He will not fail us! No, not ever! He will stand by us, and even in times of distress or despair we can have His light and His joy!! I love the Book of Mormon, and I love reading everyday! There are soooo many amazing examples to follow and to learn from! Wooo!! Okay, well I love you all! I hope everything continues to go welll at home and that you are all being blessed! I love you!! :)
Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!
Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!
Äldste Kundis :) :) :)
Here is the reading!!
Tuesday - p.217 ch.5 - p.223 ch.6
Wednesday - p.223 ch.6 - p.228 ch.9
Thursday - p.228 ch.9 - p.234 ch.11
Friday - p.234 ch.11 - p.241 ch.13
Saturday - p.241 ch.13 - p.246 ch.15
Sunday - p.246 ch.15 - p.250 ch.17
Monday (next) - p.250 ch.17 - p.256 ch.19
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