My new Swedish suit!!
Another picture of the new suit..
The Book of Mormon I am using for the "Book of Mormon Challenge!" Can you tell what part I have read?!?! haha :)
Hej Familj!!!
I want to start things off today with a quick question... Who is having a Birthday this week?!?! Any guesses?? Yep! Mom is having a Birthday!!! HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! I just had to get that on here! Now, more on that later! This week has been pretty interesting. I will start off with some pretty cool stories! We have placed a high emphasis on contacting this week. Mostly in downtown Skövde. Contacting in Sweden is against almost all culture rules... They just don't like to be stopped in front of their peers by two guys in suits and ties! haha Imagine that! :) So, we have had some fun stories. One of them was on a Friday night. I had just made the comment that we might be contacting into some people who were drunk, and just then a woman stumbled into Äldste Overstreet. He turned to contact her and she turned to him and continued at the pace she was walking at and walked right into him. Haha it was a real collision! She was very intoxicated and in no condition to talk with us. She didn't respond to anything we were saying, but she just kept hanging on to Äldste Overstreet's stomach! haha It was pretty funny! Others around us also found it quite amusing, and it was nice to have so much attention! :) Another story was with this woman that I tried to contact. She was walking with a man and talking like good friends would.. So as I started the contact she became very excited and expressed that she would like to stay and talk with us for a while! We of course were very pumped! The guy left and then we proceeded to try and teach the lady. She interrupted my first few words and told us that we were angels sent from God! We almost lost it.. all of our hopes of a golden contact had finally come true! Then she told us that she had used us to get away from the guy she was with.... (insert a "wah-wahhh" noise here) She told us that the guy really liked her and that she couldn't get him to leave her alone. She told us that we had saved her from the man and that now she could go home in peace. As good as we felt for helping her out, we were a little disappointed.. We tried to teach her again, when she informed us that she knew a lot about the church. We had understood that she was a member in the church.. So, we were a little confused. Anyway, she ran off to get home and we just looked at each other in shock... Now this is the cool part of that story... That next day, (yesterday) we were out knocking on doors... rather, were about to start knocking on doors. We had gone inside an apartment building just to get in the warmth so we could figure out where we were going to work. As we were getting the records out and getting ready a door opened upstairs and a man started coming down the stairwell. We said hello to him like we normally would, but he said, "Mormoner!" (Mormons!) To which we said yes, that we were. We asked him if he had ever met with us and he said that his good friend had and that he had been to church one time. He asked us what we were out doing and then he left the building. A few minutes later (we were having trouble finding the correct record) the main door opened and the same man came in. He proceeded to invite us up to his apartment to come and talk and just spend some time. We of course accepted the invitation. When we went up the stairs he opened the door and called for someone telling them that they had guests. And who else but that SAME LADY we had contacted on the street just the day before came walking around the corner in the apartment to greet us! My companion and I just lost it! We felt so directed to her! They were a little busy with a nice dinner so they invited us to come back in about an hour. We went and knocked on doors and returned later. When we arrived they invited us in warmly and had a little snack waiting for us! (Breads, cheeses, fruit, juice, etc...) So, we got to talking about the church among other things and found out that the lady was NOT a member like we had thought. She had met missionaries in the past and had come to church a few times. She had even been to some of the relief society activities over the past few months. AMAZING!! We had a nice discussion and they were both very interested in what we had to say. Needless to say, I am very excited to see what happens!! Also, we received some pretty hush, hush information about who the new mission president will be! The lady was good friends with a Swedish lady who married a missionary from the states, and his father is going to be the new mission president... I wont say any names just yet because I am not even sure if we are supposed to know at this point. Äldste Overstreet and I were just stunned at the information.. While on a mission, info like this is pretty huge! haha Anyway, let you know if I can later! haha :) So, now on to the title of this e-mail! The warm temperatures have continued with very little snow. I think it snowed one night, but not a bunch. It almost feels like Spring?!?! haha We will see if the severe cold returns! :) Okay, now I better get to the e-mails before I run out of time! First up, MATT!!!!!! I love you brother! So, you are going for the Packers huh?? Well, since I have no idea what the teams are looking like this year, I am going to go with you! Hopefully they win! Let me know! New semester huh? Wow, you are already half way done with your Junior year! How absolutely crazy is that! Time is just flying by! Your memory continues to amaze me! I do remember those times when the summer rains would come and we would just talk to each other.. It is in the little moments like that where we find true happiness! :) I am sooo glad that we are brothers! :) Wow, BYU is just rockin'! I hope they can keep it going! If they happen to go really far I am going to go crazy! haha No, not really because I know you will record all of the big key games for me to watch when I get back! lol So, how is church ball looking this year? Who is on the Two Rivers team? Any of your friends going to play? Let me know! Who is on the famed intramural team this year? Same groups or have there been any trades made? lol I love you Matt! Keep being you and having fun while you do it! Keep a big smile on Mom and Dad's faces for me and help them out whenever you get the chance! They love you!!!! Have an awesome week! :) Okay, now next is DAD!!!!!!!!!!! I love you Dad! Thank you for the e-mail and for all that you are! I am currently waiting for a call back from President Anderson so if he calls within the time I am e-mailing I will get that answer to you about the Wells Fargo stuff! :) As for your other questions... I am not entirely sure about the Swedish Healthcare System.. I haven't really been exposed to it. As for Global Warming, I think they are pretty concerned about it.. But still, I don't get much news exposure and stuff. They are huge on recycling here and making the environment clean.. haha Thats were I am getting my assumptions. I have never separated my trash so much in my entire life! lol As for the picture cards, just send them back with the pictures on there and I will take care of it! Thanks for making back up CD's of the pictures... what a great idea that is! :) Thats my daddy!! haha :) The members are still very positive and with the new mission leader everyone is catching the Spirit! People this last Sunday were telling the branch of their missionary experiences and it was just awesome to see! Truly awesome!! Äldste Overstreet is doing very well! We are learning from each other and having a grand old time here in Skövde! We work very well together! :) I will be praying for you and Mom as you visit the temple this week. I hope all goes well! The Spirit truly is amazing as you say. And when making decisions like the ones our family is currently facing, having the Spirit there is a pretty nödvändig (necessary) thing!! You are a Super Dad!!! I love you so much! My prayers are with you and the family always! Okay, now up next is MOM!!!!!!!!!!! I love you Mom! Happy Birthday!! I hope that you have received/will receive my card I sent for you! Let me know! I hope that you have an amazing day and that you feel loved! Because I certainly do love you! Even miles and miles away in Sweden!! Thank you for asking me how my health is going.. Not to worry, I am back to my normal, energetic self! I just have one of those coughs that seems to last forever... But no worries! :) Oh! Just so you know I did end up buying a suit! Also, it came with two Swedish white shirts and a belt.. all for a very reasonable price!! (Especially in Sweden) I am not sure if Wells Fargo charged anything for an international fee, but still it's not too bad! :) Not to mention I look dashing! haha I will try to send some pics for you all to enjoy! It is the traditional Swedish style which means pretty tight on the legs and the jacket likes to hug your body. The Swedish dress shirts also are cut to your body and so they don't have all of the loose fabric American shirts have. I love them! haha Anyway, as for things I might need... I can never think of anything!! Some Resse's Peanut Butter cups would be awesome! Also, the recipe for your sugar cookie frosting.. like with Halloween cookies and Christmas cookies...haha OH!!! And if you can happen to find "tie-savers" that would be very nice! They are little plastic things that button to your shirt and make it so your tie is always in place and that it won't dip down into food or anything... Thus the name, "tie-savers" haha So, if you can find some of those I would love it! Remember that they are plastic things... not those metal things.. They should be really cheap! Haha I hope you can understand what the things are! :) Other than that, I am good! As always! Zone Conference was awesome!! We had a great time and the Spirit was strong! They unveiled the new "Standards of Excellence" for the 2011 year and they are quite high! The Standards of Excellence are basically numbers we are using as a guide in our missionary work. To clarify further, they are raising our expectations and we will see increased work here in Sweden! Woo!!! They also let us know that they have new translations for some of the pamphlets we give out in Swedish and that we can start ordering them! Another big Woo!!!! haha! So, Will sounds like a nice kid and I am glad that he was able to come to church! Keep me updated as time goes on! Tiegan in the 2nd counselor in the Young Men's Presidency huh?? How cool is that! He will do an awesome job I know it! Good luck at the temple tomorrow! Like I told Dad, my prayers will be with you! :) I love you Mom!! You are so AWESOME!! Have a great Birthday!!! Okay, now it is time for my Spiritual Thought! Pretty simple today... because I have no time... lol Matt said in his e-mail that he loves when Elder Holland speaks.. So I would like you all to go to mormon.org and find the video entitled, "How Do I Love Thee?" by none other than Elder Holland. It is directed to those getting ready for marriage or those who are already married, but I feel that it helps us all in our dealings with everyone around us. The Savior has given us the perfect example, and what Elder Holland talks about is something I consider to be very, VERY important. I love each and every one of you! My heart is full, as is my joy.. You all bring light into my life and help me through all that comes my way. Until next week...
Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!Äldste Kundis :) :) :)
The reading...
Tuesday - p.291 ch.33 - p.296 ch.35
Wednesday - p.296 ch.35 - p.300 ch.37
Thursday - p.300 ch.37 - p.304 ch.38
Friday - p.304 ch.38 - p.309 ch.41
Saturday - p.309 ch.41 - p.313 ch.43
Sunday - p.313 ch.43 - p.318 ch.44
Monday (next) - p.318 ch.44 - p.322 ch.46
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