Hej Familj!
Well, let me start out by saying I really don't have much time! I received an amazing amount of e-mail this week due to my Birthday and all!! It was quite the surprise to see soooo many! I feel quite loved! So, yes, having all of these e-mails has diminished my time by a lot! So, this means that a lot of the questions asked by those that sent e-mails will mostly be answered here in this e-mail. Well, I feel it only appropriate to begin with my BIRTHDAY!!! It was awesome! We traveled to Göteborg for stake conference and were able to be with all of the missionaries in the zone as well as President and Sister Anderson. Stake conference was held in the Svenska Mässan. That is a huge conference center, and it was FILLED with Swedes!! All, well mostly, Mormon! haha It was so awesome to be surrounded by LDS members! I loved it! So, after stake conference we traveled back to Skövde and did a little work and then headed home to make cake! haha We didn't have the right pan to make the cake the exact way that you do mom, but it turned out really well! We ended up baking three separate cakes and then stacked them on top of each other with the chocolate and jam fillings! MMM! I can't wait to eat it today! Oh! So yes, we are having a little get together here to celebrate! We invited the elders in Jönköping to come up and we are going to have a good time! We are eating lunch at an "American" pizza place (not really American, but the closest anyone has come in Sweden!) then we will head home and have cake, then we will brave the cold weather and go play some soccer! It will be a blast! I am really excited! So, I guess I answered a few questions there... Yes, I did get the box, yes, I did get the letters, and THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR IT ALL!!! :) OH! Last night I was treated to a dinner cooked by Äldste Watts. He made a potato, eggplant, zucchini, pepper, garlic, cheese, onion, beef, casserole sort of thing.. haha It was REALLY good! He also made some yummy bread to go with it! I felt like a king! Oh, here is a funny thing... We are flat broke! lol We have no money in our Mission accounts! We have to bake our own bread and drink water with everything! It is AWESOME!! :) I am loving every day of it! Mornings are normally oatmeal, lunches are normally sandwiches, and dinners are normally potatoes, or some kind of pasta.. :) It is quite the challenge, but I am learning how to survive on what I have and to be thankful for ALL that I have. Don't worry parents!! I am healthy and LOVING life! We will receive money towards the end of the month! Anyway, a new topic! THE AMAZING RACE!! They were in Kiruna?! How awesome is that!? Yes, I do know where that is, and the Ice Hotel is really what drives people up that far above the arctic circle. Every missionary who serves in the northern areas of Sweden always tries to go there. I hope I can make it there someday! We will see! It is quite funny that this happened because on our bus ride to come e-mail I was telling Äldste Watts how crazy it would be if the Amazing Race came to Sweden.. NO JOKE. Just this morning! I freaked out when I opened the e-mail! :) Crazy! Okay, what else.. Zone conference was a blast! Aside from the Spirit and learning, they sang Happy Birthday to me, and Sister Anderson presented me with a delicious chocolate bar! MMmmm! It was a fun day! Hmm.. other things... Let me just get to the e-mail while I still have some time! First we have Matt.. My brother that I love very much! Well! You my brother sound like the Hulk! The CMR 800 lb Club!?! How crazy is that! Good luck with that last 90 lbs.!! Feel free to take a break.. haha I am not as built as you obviously are! haha But you have an unfair advantage.. A little thing we call..... WEIGHTS!! haha All I have is a dinky rubber band thing.. (I am thankful for what I have.. ;) ) lol Anyway, yeah, about my truck.. You don't have to park it in the garage! Haha Park it wherever! :) Sounds like Seminary is pretty fun! Enjoy it because not everyone has that opportunity! What a blessing huh? :) Anyway, I love you Matt! You are an amazing brother! Okay next we have Dad.. My Dad that I love very much! Well you asked a little about the work here so I will give you an update! The work is s l o w haha. Lots of finding work! You see, Skövde was closed for a reason, so even after we got the area book we didn't have much. I loved what you said about the first impression though. It is so true! We tried as best we could to do just what you said! However, the members attacked us with their smiles and confidence! They are SO excited to have their missionaries back! We have received referrals and all is well with the members. :) It is so cool that you and Mom are heading to the temple on Tuesday! Let me know how it goes and know that I will be praying for you extra hard on that day. As you sit in the temple, know that I am there in my prayers and thoughts supporting you and Mom in your decisions and promptings. :) I love the temple and I look forward to the day when we can attend together again! It will be an awesome day! :) Good luck speaking in church on the 31st! What an AWESOME topic you have! The light of Christ and the whisperings of the Holy Ghost.. Man, thats pure missionary gold right there. I try to teach that every day! When I teach about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith I tell them about the whisperings of the Holy Ghost and how they can know of the truthfulness for themselves. You of course know this dad! You did the same on your mission! :) It is awesome to see them follow the promptings and whisperings and read the book searching for their answers! Awesome! :) Anyway, I love you Dad! You are an amazing father, and I am lucky to be your son! :) Okay, next we have Mom.. My Mom that I love very much! Wow, thank you for answering all of my questions and even taking it upon yourself to answer questions I didn't ask! They were very helpful!!!! :) Wow, this is cool too... You told me that you sang the Spirit of God in Church in honor of my b-day... well, guess what song we sang in STAKE CONFERENCE?!?! haha yes! The Swedish Version!! It was soooo awesome! :) Made me cry just a little! :) The primary sang me the happy birthday song?? How cool is that! Be sure to thank them for the song and tell them to prepare to serve a mission! They will love every second of it! I miss my primary days! Good times! Except when I would be forced to sing a solo in the primary program! haha nah.. that was cool too! So, Rhett and Jaren are in the MTC now! How awesome! I hope they enjoy the MTC as much as I did! That place is awesome! Everyone treats you like a superhero! haha Well, I love you very much Mom! Thank you for all that you do! The birthday box was amazing... It really made me feel like it was my birthday! :) OH!! The hard drive works amazingly! It will help a lot! Even though it went through a car crash! Yes... a car crash! The Assistants to the President flipped and rolled their car while driving on the E-40.. (an interstate basically) It was filled with packages and orders for zone conference. Don't worry.. the AP's are just fine. They walked away with only a scratch that was covered with a tiny band-aid. :) All is well! I will talk about that more as my Spiritual thought. Oh!! One more thing.. I want to send my picture card, but I need you to tell me what the last picture you have from me is.. That way I can erase those old ones and send you just the new ones so you don't have tons of repeats. :) Okay.. I think thats all.. I love you!! Allllrrrigggghhhtttttyyy everyone! It is time for my Spiritual Thought! It comes from the car crash I just described. The assistants showed up to zone conference on a Spiritual high. They took a few minutes to share their story. It went a little like this. As they were driving down the E-40 the sun was setting and it was right in their eyes. They couldn't see in front of them and so the elder driving decided to follow the little white line on his right and figured that if he did that it would guide him along the right path. I am sure that all of us have been in that situation at one point or another... As they were driving all seemed well, and then BAM! They were sent shooting up into the air and the car flipped and rolled down the grass shoulder of the opposite side of the road. Glass was shattering, metal bending, and plastic was snapping. The car stopped rolling and the two just sat their in shock. I tell this story because of what they said. They later recounted that as they were flipping through the air they felt a force holding them back in their seats and they felt as calm as could be. Almost as if what was happening was not happening at all. One might say, it was the seat belts (that they both were wearing), but they felt something more. They felt protected, wrapped in the Lord's arms. They became quite emotional as the explained the promises the Lord gives to His servants. I want to talk a little about that. We are watched over. We really are! I can testify to that 100 times over! When we try as hard as we can to keep the commandments and live a life in harmony with the Spirit, the Lord will protect us! I am safe here in Sweden, I know my family is safe back in Montana and Utah, and for that I thank my Father in Heaven for each day. We must trust in the Lord and develop a relationship with Him. That is so much a part of what we MUST learn to do here in this life. I know that, and I am soooo thankful for the opportunity I have to be here in Sweden... Developing my relationship, strengthening my testimony and gaining trust... IN my SAVIOR Jesus Christ. I love you all very, very much. You are close to my heart and I know the Lord is protecting all of us. So, this week, lets all try to trust in the Lord more. I know that as we do, we will learn that we are loved... we are cared for... we ARE children of a Heavenly Father. Well, I need to get going! I love you all! Until next week...
Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!
Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!
Äldste Kundis :) :) :)
Monday, October 18, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Guess who is going to be TWENTY?!?
Hej Familj!!
Welcome to another Swedish P-Day! I want you to know that I am doing well! Haha Things have been going pretty good here in Skövde, and everything is beginning to make progress. We still, sadly, do not have our area book yet because the office decided it would be too expensive to send. SO! That means that we will get the area book tomorrow at Zone Conference. This has made things very slow, but the work moves on still! Just so you know, Skövde was closed because it had no progressing investigators and things were just no good here. This means that it is REALLY starting from the ground up. Since we have been here we have received a few referrals from church members, and they seem really, really excited to have missionaries back in the area. Yesterday was our first Sunday here with the branch, and it was awesome! There are more people than there were in Växjö, so that makes me feel a little bit more at home. They have a beautiful chapel here, and everyone seems very nice! We had dinner with the branch president and his wife last night.. Guess what they served??? Haha.. Lasagna! Mmm!! Don't you worry mom, it was not as good as your delicious lasagna, but it was nice to have food made by someone other than a missionary! For dessert we had a banana chocolate cake that was hot out of the oven with ice cold vanilla sauce on top!! mmmm!! It was to die for!! haha I don't know if they have vanilla sauce in the USA?? I have been told no, but its sooo good it is hard to believe! Anyway, the dinner was really nice! VERY fancy... I felt like I was dining with the president! Basically we were spoiled rotten! So! For this p-day we are traveling down to Jönköping to spend the day. I am not sure yet all that we are doing but it will be very fun! Let me get right to the e-mail this week! First we have my wonderful father! I love you Dad! Don't you worry... We do not have any bed bugs! haha We washed everything and made sure of it! But you were right.. I was pretty flustered about the bugs in Halmstad! Yeah, I agree with what you said about conference being my life line to church headquarters and the USA. It made me feel really good to hear their familiar voices! It really was something special! I am sorry that you missed most of conference because of your travels. But you did get to hear the general authority from SWEDEN!! Do you remember Per G. Malm's talk? Yeah.. he is from Sweden! When he told that story about Göteborg, Sweden and that tree that was filled with garbage, we all freaked out! It was cool to have our country represented! Anyway, lol thank you so much for the AWESOME birthday wishes! It is going to be strange getting out of the "teens"!! lol I remember turning 13 and being super excited to be a teenager! I only have a few more days of that!! Agh!! lol I love you Dad! Thank you for your wisdom and inspiring thoughts. Okay now on to my little brother Matt!! I love you Matt! First off, why are you asking me about my truck?? haha Whats going on there? Tell me, or else! jkjk Sounds like you have had an amazing weekend! I am glad to hear that you are enjoying school this year! How are the classes coming along? What are you studying in seminary right now? haha I ask you so many questions, but that is only because I miss spending time with you, and I want to know how you are doing. I pray for you a lot Matt.. I hope you realize that. You are at a point in your life where it is very important to make good choices and to start preparing for your future. I know how hard that is, and how stressful that can be! So, you get extra prayers from me! :) I love you man! You are quite the stud! From your pictures it looks like your work outs are coming along VERY nicely! haha I am gonna lose it when I see you again!! Just promise not to crush me.. ok?? ok!! haha :) Thank you for wishing me a happy birthday, I will be sure to do something fun. We have our stake conference this next Sunday in Göteborg. So, I will be there for my birthday! Woo! Anyway, I love you Matt! Always remember that I am thinking of you and if you ever need strength, I am right there for you in prayer. :) Okay, now on to Mom!! I love you Mom!! Yes, I am settling into Skövde nicely. It is a beautiful place! It is not as diverse as Växjö... Barely any immigrants. Mostly all Swedes! Which is pretty cool because they are my favorite! haha jkjk I don't like picking favorites! You WILL eat at Mossen's one day! It was funny because after we left I told Äldste Landeen that when I came back I would bring my family here to eat! haha :) Thank you for your thoughts about conference! You are soo right! Obedience IS the key! Out here it is everything. Obedience is the first law of heaven, and it is also the first law of missionary work! I have seen how obedience blesses the work AND the missionary! :) Wow, you had an awesome time in Utah! (aside from Annie going to the hospital... I will be praying for her. Tell her I love her and that I hope she feels better soon) I am glad that everything is going well with Colin! You looked very happy to be holding him! :) Brought a few tears to my eyes! Matt and Dad looked awesome! They are so happy! :) I like to see them together like that. Okay here are some questions... Ready? okay.. Did the stake president say it was okay to stay in the Two Rivers Ward? How are the renters who are living in the house? Is Molly sleeping outside? Whats up with my truck? Can you send a copy of my call letter? What was that book series called that I read about the guy and his music career? hahahaha sorry about all of those, but I have been forgetting to ask over the past weeks! Okay, thank you for the awesome birthday wishes! It feels strange yet cool to be turning 20! I wish I had your awesome birthday cake!! mmmm! DELICIOUS! :) Maybe for my 22nd birthday!!?? haha mhmm, for sure! Mom, you constantly amaze me at how well you take care of me... thousands of miles away! I love you! As for Christmas.. haha you know this is always hard for me! :) I like your idea! Santa always knows what I would like! lol We should probably just leave it up to him!!! ;) Anyway, I love you Mom!! You and the rest of the family are in my prayers! :) Alright everyone, now it is time for the Spiritual thought! I would like to share a part of a book I am reading entitled, "Believing Christ" by Stephen E. Robinson. In this part of the book he is talking about how at times many of us just don't trust the Savior. We often get frightened and intimidated and feel that there is no way that Christ can save us from our imperfections. He explains further that a lot of members get caught up in saving themselves.. a task that is impossible might I add. We see Christ as a guide, a coach, but not as the SAVIOR!!! This has been huge for me... Especially in realizing that I am not perfect, but that through Christ, I can become prefect! Don't beat yourself up over your imperfections..... we ALL have them! Luckily we don't follow the Law of Moses anymore, and we have a more excellent path to follow.. A path full of mercy and love. I love you all! I know that as we strive to become perfect through Christ we will find the happiness we search after. I need to go catch a train.. haha I will have an AMAZING birthday, and I will tell you all about it next week! Keep the faith, and know that I love you. :) I really really really do! :)
Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!
Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!
Äldste Kundis :) :) :)
Monday, October 4, 2010
Skövde: Trials make the faith grow stronger!
Hej Familj!
As you can tell from the title of this e-mail my transition into Skövde has been a roller coaster to say the least. Let me start by giving you the full run down of what happened. I took a train from Växjö to Lund where I then took a train up to Halmstad to stay the night with three other Elders. Guess what happened there?? I was attacked by bed bugs... haha yeah... It was terrible! I awoke with bites everywhere! Halmstad has been having some problems, but they were supposedly solved... I guess NOT! That was a pain to deal with. Then, that morning I took a train to Göteborg (Mentioned in General Conference) While in Göteborg I spent the day with one of my new zone leaders Äldste Landeen. We explored a little and ate lunch at a place famous to missionaries for delicious KEBAB called Mossen's. Haha It is a pretty shakey establishment, but the food lulls you into a sense of security that is absolutely mouth watering! lol :) Hows that for an introduction! Anyone want to go to Mossen's???? Anyway, after lunch we headed to the Göteborg Institute Center to relax for a bit. However, the news we received there was anything but relaxing! We received a phone call from the mission office informing us that no one had, nor knew where the keys to our apartment in Skövde were. We were sent on a mission to the Zone Leader's apartment to search high and low for the missing keys. However, our efforts were fruitless. We were still without keys. Calls were made all over Sweden trying to track down these keys. We finally resorted to calling the landlord where we would live and asked him about it. He said that all he had was his one master key that he would not allow us to borrow... The office then called him and he decided that he would at least let us IN to the apartment. So, that problem was eventually settled for the time being. When Äldste Watts finally arrived in Göteborg we hopped on another train bound for Skövde. When we arrived the amazing Branch President and his wife picked us up, loaded our luggage, and drove us to the apartment. When we arrived our landlord was standing outside the door smoking looking at us coldly. He finally let us in to say the least... When we entered I was thrilled. We have an awesome apartment!! It is soooo much bigger than Växjö's apartment. Haha I guess that sisters were in the area last, so, as we all know, the apartment was relatively clean and organised. :) The Branch President and his wife gave us a sack filled with bread, butter and orange juice as they left because they knew that we had absolutely nothing in the apartment. We were VERY thankful to them! :) This happy point in my story will now take a sharp turn towards the not so happy. Sure the apartment was nice, but things were just not right. For example... There was no area book at all... To all of the missionaries and past missionaries who are reading this, I am sure you understand how we were feeling. Being in a new area is hard enough, but no area book makes things seem impossible. Also, to add to this, we did not have a phone charger and the battery on our little mobile was running low. Our communications with the office were quite limited. ALSO, the shower started leaking in the cellar of the house where our apartment is located, so we had the landlord running all over the place trying to fix the problem... I just want everyone to know that despite these challenges...... Despite these hard times.... Despite these seemingly impossible road blocks...... The Lord is continually lifting me up. My prayers have become pleadings and my testimony has become a rock, built upon my SAVIOR Jesus Christ. I want you to know that during these past few days I have often asked myself this question, "How does the Lord expect me to go on......" I received an answer that not only calms my own "troubled heart", but lifts my testimony "high on a mountain top". :) During my prayers I felt at peace. During the days I felt relief... During those amazing sessions of general conference I felt the stirrings of my heart burn me to the core. I KNOW that Jesus lives. He is the Christ! Something happened during conference that I will NEVER forget. I can never deny what I felt. My prayers were answered and my nerves calmed. The words of my friends, the Prophet, the Quorum of the Twelve, the Seventies, and all others that spoke brought peace to my heart. They brought with them a determination to help each one of us individually, and I truly believe that they did that. I know that as I was listening on the edge of my seat the Holy Ghost spoke with me. I found guidance for the here and now, and for my future as a life long Disciple of Christ. Times are hard, but as the title says, "Trials make the faith grow stronger!" I know and have faith that I will make it through these tough times. Things are already starting to look up. The Area Book was found as well as the charger, and both are already in the mail on their way to us. The keys were found in the apartment in a drawer and the landlord is more friendly now. The Lord is watching out for me... I know that... I testify to that.. These trials change me. Each and every one is teaching me a lesson, and I take every opportunity I have to thank my Father in Heaven for the privilege I have to serve as a missionary. I don't think I would have been able to really see what this gospel means to me and the influence it truly has for good in MY life had I not decided to serve. A good example of what I am talking about is expressed in President Uchtdorf's talk he gave in the Saturday Morning Session. He said this, "We so often get distracted by things of no worth..." I believe THAT is sooooo true. I have found new priorities in the mission field, new things of GREAT worth, and guess what?? They bring AMAZING joy!! I love it so much! Okay, as you may tell, I am on a spiritual "cloud nine" of sorts. General Conference was like Christmas for me! I dont remember any other time I was soooo excited for Conference! I took notes like crazy just because I don't want to wait for the talks to come out in the Ensign and Liahona! haha :) I better move on or this will become a mini book. :) Okay that means time for the e-mail! haha I just looked at the clock and realised that I don't have time to respond to each of you personally today.. Time just whizzed by! I will say these few things though. CONGRATS TO JESSICA AND MATT!!!! COLIN IS BEAUTIFUL!!! It is good to know that everything went well and that Colin is okay! :) Also, it sounds like everyone really enjoyed their time in Dillion! I was glad to hear that everyone had a nice relaxing time and just enjoyed one another! I love you all soo much. My prayers are always with you. My heart is full... as in Jay E. Jensen's talk during the Sunday Morning Session, "I cannot say the smallest part of how I feel." I know this church is true, I know my Savior lives and LOVES ME. He loves you too, and so do I. Until next week...
Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!
Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!
Äldste Kundis :) :) :)
As you can tell from the title of this e-mail my transition into Skövde has been a roller coaster to say the least. Let me start by giving you the full run down of what happened. I took a train from Växjö to Lund where I then took a train up to Halmstad to stay the night with three other Elders. Guess what happened there?? I was attacked by bed bugs... haha yeah... It was terrible! I awoke with bites everywhere! Halmstad has been having some problems, but they were supposedly solved... I guess NOT! That was a pain to deal with. Then, that morning I took a train to Göteborg (Mentioned in General Conference) While in Göteborg I spent the day with one of my new zone leaders Äldste Landeen. We explored a little and ate lunch at a place famous to missionaries for delicious KEBAB called Mossen's. Haha It is a pretty shakey establishment, but the food lulls you into a sense of security that is absolutely mouth watering! lol :) Hows that for an introduction! Anyone want to go to Mossen's???? Anyway, after lunch we headed to the Göteborg Institute Center to relax for a bit. However, the news we received there was anything but relaxing! We received a phone call from the mission office informing us that no one had, nor knew where the keys to our apartment in Skövde were. We were sent on a mission to the Zone Leader's apartment to search high and low for the missing keys. However, our efforts were fruitless. We were still without keys. Calls were made all over Sweden trying to track down these keys. We finally resorted to calling the landlord where we would live and asked him about it. He said that all he had was his one master key that he would not allow us to borrow... The office then called him and he decided that he would at least let us IN to the apartment. So, that problem was eventually settled for the time being. When Äldste Watts finally arrived in Göteborg we hopped on another train bound for Skövde. When we arrived the amazing Branch President and his wife picked us up, loaded our luggage, and drove us to the apartment. When we arrived our landlord was standing outside the door smoking looking at us coldly. He finally let us in to say the least... When we entered I was thrilled. We have an awesome apartment!! It is soooo much bigger than Växjö's apartment. Haha I guess that sisters were in the area last, so, as we all know, the apartment was relatively clean and organised. :) The Branch President and his wife gave us a sack filled with bread, butter and orange juice as they left because they knew that we had absolutely nothing in the apartment. We were VERY thankful to them! :) This happy point in my story will now take a sharp turn towards the not so happy. Sure the apartment was nice, but things were just not right. For example... There was no area book at all... To all of the missionaries and past missionaries who are reading this, I am sure you understand how we were feeling. Being in a new area is hard enough, but no area book makes things seem impossible. Also, to add to this, we did not have a phone charger and the battery on our little mobile was running low. Our communications with the office were quite limited. ALSO, the shower started leaking in the cellar of the house where our apartment is located, so we had the landlord running all over the place trying to fix the problem... I just want everyone to know that despite these challenges...... Despite these hard times.... Despite these seemingly impossible road blocks...... The Lord is continually lifting me up. My prayers have become pleadings and my testimony has become a rock, built upon my SAVIOR Jesus Christ. I want you to know that during these past few days I have often asked myself this question, "How does the Lord expect me to go on......" I received an answer that not only calms my own "troubled heart", but lifts my testimony "high on a mountain top". :) During my prayers I felt at peace. During the days I felt relief... During those amazing sessions of general conference I felt the stirrings of my heart burn me to the core. I KNOW that Jesus lives. He is the Christ! Something happened during conference that I will NEVER forget. I can never deny what I felt. My prayers were answered and my nerves calmed. The words of my friends, the Prophet, the Quorum of the Twelve, the Seventies, and all others that spoke brought peace to my heart. They brought with them a determination to help each one of us individually, and I truly believe that they did that. I know that as I was listening on the edge of my seat the Holy Ghost spoke with me. I found guidance for the here and now, and for my future as a life long Disciple of Christ. Times are hard, but as the title says, "Trials make the faith grow stronger!" I know and have faith that I will make it through these tough times. Things are already starting to look up. The Area Book was found as well as the charger, and both are already in the mail on their way to us. The keys were found in the apartment in a drawer and the landlord is more friendly now. The Lord is watching out for me... I know that... I testify to that.. These trials change me. Each and every one is teaching me a lesson, and I take every opportunity I have to thank my Father in Heaven for the privilege I have to serve as a missionary. I don't think I would have been able to really see what this gospel means to me and the influence it truly has for good in MY life had I not decided to serve. A good example of what I am talking about is expressed in President Uchtdorf's talk he gave in the Saturday Morning Session. He said this, "We so often get distracted by things of no worth..." I believe THAT is sooooo true. I have found new priorities in the mission field, new things of GREAT worth, and guess what?? They bring AMAZING joy!! I love it so much! Okay, as you may tell, I am on a spiritual "cloud nine" of sorts. General Conference was like Christmas for me! I dont remember any other time I was soooo excited for Conference! I took notes like crazy just because I don't want to wait for the talks to come out in the Ensign and Liahona! haha :) I better move on or this will become a mini book. :) Okay that means time for the e-mail! haha I just looked at the clock and realised that I don't have time to respond to each of you personally today.. Time just whizzed by! I will say these few things though. CONGRATS TO JESSICA AND MATT!!!! COLIN IS BEAUTIFUL!!! It is good to know that everything went well and that Colin is okay! :) Also, it sounds like everyone really enjoyed their time in Dillion! I was glad to hear that everyone had a nice relaxing time and just enjoyed one another! I love you all soo much. My prayers are always with you. My heart is full... as in Jay E. Jensen's talk during the Sunday Morning Session, "I cannot say the smallest part of how I feel." I know this church is true, I know my Savior lives and LOVES ME. He loves you too, and so do I. Until next week...
Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!
Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!
Äldste Kundis :) :) :)
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
New Area.. New Companion.. New EVERYTHING!!
Hej Familj!!
Well welcome to my VERY SHORT P-Day! haha I only have a little bit of time because we need to go catch a train. As you have guessed, I am being transfered! Crazy! My new area is called Skövde, and my new companion is Äldste Watts. Just so you know I will be re-opening the area of Skövde for missionary work. It has been closed for a while, and the Branch President there has requested missionaries because apparently they have been having investigators coming.. It will be a LOT of work getting the area set up. I must be honest with you all, I am a little nervous. I have no-idea what to expect or what to even think about! Just as I get comfortable and fall in love with Växjö they tear me away from it and ship me off to a new place. haha Can you tell that I am a little bummed? It is really hard to leave this place. I remember coming into Växjö and praying for the day when I could go somewhere else... Now, I would love nothing more than to stay here a few more transfers... However, I know that the Lord needs me in Skövde. There is a reason that I was called to re-open the area and get things going. I just hope that I can handle the stresses and get the job done right! I want to leave Skövde the same way I am leaving Växjö... dragged by my Mr. Mac neck-tie!! haha :) Anyway, as for Äldste Bracken, he is staying here in Växjö, training a greenie, and becoming the district leader!! haha Amazing right! We were both taken by suprise! We figured that he would stay and possibly train, but a DL!! Awesome! He is going to do amazing things and I am really going to miss him. He has taught me a lot and we have had some really fun times together. I hope that we can meet again in the future! Okay, here is a pretty cool story... We really wanted to see a baptism this transfer, but it just wasn't happening. We just figured that it was the Lord's will and that it would possibly happen next transfer... Oh how we were wrong! Our motto, which I believe I shared with you earlier is, "Växjö - Expect the Unexpected!" haha What happened was definitely unexpected! There is a family that lives about a 10 minute train ride to the west of Växjö who moved here a while ago. They have a daughter who is 10 years old and is not a member of the church. One day, while I was gone on splits in Kristianstad, Äldste Bracken and Äldste Cluff went to teach her and the family. The mother asked Äldste Bracken, "what does one need to do to be baptised?" (As she pointed to her daughter, Stephanie). Äldste Bracken asked Stephanie if she wanted to be baptized and she replied, yes! haha Crazy! Here is the REALLY crazy part... She wanted to be baptized this upcoming Saturday so her Grandmother could be there! haha So, over the past week or so we have gone over every day and taught her everything she needs to know... Then transfer calls came, and I found out I wasn't going to be able to see it.. :( And to make it worse, the night we got the call we went over to teach and I told them that I was not going to be able to be there.. Stephanie was pretty bummed. :( It broke my heart! As we were leaving and saying our "goodbye's" Stephanie came running up and gave me a big hug. I had to fight the tears big time......... It was sooo hard to leave. She would not let go for a solid two minutes and that killed me inside. She is an amazing little girl and has sooo much faith! I can't wait to hear all about the baptism and her continued growth in the church.. :) When I asked the Lord to bless me with the ability to love the people, I had no idea how hard it would be to leave them all. Well family, I will get to the e-mails, but it will be quite short I only have a few more minutes! First we have Dad! I love you so much! You are very right about me wishing you could all see what I can see! It is amazing, and I love every bit of it! I was glad to hear that the house is finally ready to be handed over so you can focus on other things and take a well deserved break! :) Also, thank you for your kind words.. I definitely needed them this week! I love you Dad! :) Okay now to Mom! I love you so much! Haha, I was going to ask about the Moose you sent.. He is safely packed in my bags, but I am not sure how long he will continue to travel with me.. Maybe I will mail him home in a box with some other stuff I need to get back home! :) Haha Thank you for sending off my Birthday Box!! :) haha I am really excited to get it! My new area of Skövde is in the Göteborg Zone so that means my Zone Conference will be on the 12th of October!! haha Perfect! :) I love how things work out! Okay, YEAH!! General Conference is this weekend! How exciting is that! I am pumped beyond belief! General Conference is feeling like Christmas to me! I can't wait to hear those familiar voices! The times for us are 6 on Saturday, and 2 and 6 on Sunday! haha Crazy! :) So yes, I am excited! I am also excited that you get to go spend some time in Utah!! Jealous! Have fun there and take a nice break from all of your hard work! Thank you for telling me about Annie! I will be sure and start praying for her today! I hope all goes well. Also, thank you for taking care of me! I am good right now, but if I ever need anything I will let you know! :) I love you Mom! Okay, now to Matt!!! I love you so much! You were stuck in the SLC Airport?? No, I did not hear! Please, do tell!!! haha It sounds like you are working hard catching up on your school work! Keep it up! It is worth it! Also, how was your trip to Provo?!?! I didn't hear about that! :) Homecoming sounds like it is pretty fun! I remember those days very well! haha goooood times! :) OH wow Matt!! I loved what you said about "You can let the small things get you down".. How amazing is that Matt!! Thank you so much for that... :) Okay, well I love you Matt!!!! Well family, I really need to get going! We have to catch the train and get me outta here... :( lol :) I love you all very much! I don't have time for the Spiritual Thought, but I want you all to take this quote to heart... It is originally from one of the old church commercials... It is, "When everything says you can't... BELIEVE in the part of you that says you can!" This has helped me in amazing ways! I love you all and pray for you daily! I will be able to write again this Monday... from Skövde!!!! :) Woo!! :)
Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!
Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!
Äldste Kundis :) :) :)
Well welcome to my VERY SHORT P-Day! haha I only have a little bit of time because we need to go catch a train. As you have guessed, I am being transfered! Crazy! My new area is called Skövde, and my new companion is Äldste Watts. Just so you know I will be re-opening the area of Skövde for missionary work. It has been closed for a while, and the Branch President there has requested missionaries because apparently they have been having investigators coming.. It will be a LOT of work getting the area set up. I must be honest with you all, I am a little nervous. I have no-idea what to expect or what to even think about! Just as I get comfortable and fall in love with Växjö they tear me away from it and ship me off to a new place. haha Can you tell that I am a little bummed? It is really hard to leave this place. I remember coming into Växjö and praying for the day when I could go somewhere else... Now, I would love nothing more than to stay here a few more transfers... However, I know that the Lord needs me in Skövde. There is a reason that I was called to re-open the area and get things going. I just hope that I can handle the stresses and get the job done right! I want to leave Skövde the same way I am leaving Växjö... dragged by my Mr. Mac neck-tie!! haha :) Anyway, as for Äldste Bracken, he is staying here in Växjö, training a greenie, and becoming the district leader!! haha Amazing right! We were both taken by suprise! We figured that he would stay and possibly train, but a DL!! Awesome! He is going to do amazing things and I am really going to miss him. He has taught me a lot and we have had some really fun times together. I hope that we can meet again in the future! Okay, here is a pretty cool story... We really wanted to see a baptism this transfer, but it just wasn't happening. We just figured that it was the Lord's will and that it would possibly happen next transfer... Oh how we were wrong! Our motto, which I believe I shared with you earlier is, "Växjö - Expect the Unexpected!" haha What happened was definitely unexpected! There is a family that lives about a 10 minute train ride to the west of Växjö who moved here a while ago. They have a daughter who is 10 years old and is not a member of the church. One day, while I was gone on splits in Kristianstad, Äldste Bracken and Äldste Cluff went to teach her and the family. The mother asked Äldste Bracken, "what does one need to do to be baptised?" (As she pointed to her daughter, Stephanie). Äldste Bracken asked Stephanie if she wanted to be baptized and she replied, yes! haha Crazy! Here is the REALLY crazy part... She wanted to be baptized this upcoming Saturday so her Grandmother could be there! haha So, over the past week or so we have gone over every day and taught her everything she needs to know... Then transfer calls came, and I found out I wasn't going to be able to see it.. :( And to make it worse, the night we got the call we went over to teach and I told them that I was not going to be able to be there.. Stephanie was pretty bummed. :( It broke my heart! As we were leaving and saying our "goodbye's" Stephanie came running up and gave me a big hug. I had to fight the tears big time......... It was sooo hard to leave. She would not let go for a solid two minutes and that killed me inside. She is an amazing little girl and has sooo much faith! I can't wait to hear all about the baptism and her continued growth in the church.. :) When I asked the Lord to bless me with the ability to love the people, I had no idea how hard it would be to leave them all. Well family, I will get to the e-mails, but it will be quite short I only have a few more minutes! First we have Dad! I love you so much! You are very right about me wishing you could all see what I can see! It is amazing, and I love every bit of it! I was glad to hear that the house is finally ready to be handed over so you can focus on other things and take a well deserved break! :) Also, thank you for your kind words.. I definitely needed them this week! I love you Dad! :) Okay now to Mom! I love you so much! Haha, I was going to ask about the Moose you sent.. He is safely packed in my bags, but I am not sure how long he will continue to travel with me.. Maybe I will mail him home in a box with some other stuff I need to get back home! :) Haha Thank you for sending off my Birthday Box!! :) haha I am really excited to get it! My new area of Skövde is in the Göteborg Zone so that means my Zone Conference will be on the 12th of October!! haha Perfect! :) I love how things work out! Okay, YEAH!! General Conference is this weekend! How exciting is that! I am pumped beyond belief! General Conference is feeling like Christmas to me! I can't wait to hear those familiar voices! The times for us are 6 on Saturday, and 2 and 6 on Sunday! haha Crazy! :) So yes, I am excited! I am also excited that you get to go spend some time in Utah!! Jealous! Have fun there and take a nice break from all of your hard work! Thank you for telling me about Annie! I will be sure and start praying for her today! I hope all goes well. Also, thank you for taking care of me! I am good right now, but if I ever need anything I will let you know! :) I love you Mom! Okay, now to Matt!!! I love you so much! You were stuck in the SLC Airport?? No, I did not hear! Please, do tell!!! haha It sounds like you are working hard catching up on your school work! Keep it up! It is worth it! Also, how was your trip to Provo?!?! I didn't hear about that! :) Homecoming sounds like it is pretty fun! I remember those days very well! haha goooood times! :) OH wow Matt!! I loved what you said about "You can let the small things get you down".. How amazing is that Matt!! Thank you so much for that... :) Okay, well I love you Matt!!!! Well family, I really need to get going! We have to catch the train and get me outta here... :( lol :) I love you all very much! I don't have time for the Spiritual Thought, but I want you all to take this quote to heart... It is originally from one of the old church commercials... It is, "When everything says you can't... BELIEVE in the part of you that says you can!" This has helped me in amazing ways! I love you all and pray for you daily! I will be able to write again this Monday... from Skövde!!!! :) Woo!! :)
Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!
Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!
Äldste Kundis :) :) :)
Monday, September 20, 2010
Did someone say... DENMARK??
Hej Familj!
Good morning/afternoon/evening!! Welcome back to the wonderful land of Sweden! However, I do not want to start this e-mail talking about Sweden.. I would like to talk about Denmark! Okay, as you can probably guess, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Denmark this past week! I know right?! Crazy! This is how it happened. Early in the week, I think on Monday night, we received a phone call from Kristianstad. Äldste Clarke was calling to invite Äldste Bracken to come to Denmark to attend the temple. You see, we are allowed to go to the temple every six months while we are on our missions, and Äldste Bracken's six months were up! He of course accepted the invitation, and that meant that Äldste Clarke's companion, my MTC buddy, Äldste Cluff, would go on splits. We thought that would be pretty cool, but as you can guess, we were wanting to go to the temple too! The only Elders that are allowed to attend the temple in Denmark are the Elders serving in the Malmö Zone, and since transfers are rapidly approaching we were worried that we would never again have the chance to attend the temple in Denmark! So, Äldste Bracken and Äldste Clarke thought that it would only be fair to allow us to come as well... A quick call to President Anderson, and permission was granted! He felt that it was okay, even though our six months was not quite up. Anyway! We went to zone conference, which was amazing, and after, spent the night in Malmö in the Zone Leader's apartment. That next morning we jumped on a bus, and then on a train towards Denmark! There were six elders and two sisters going, so it was a pretty good group to travel with! Not too big, not too small. I traveled over the Öresundsbron, which is that huge bridge that connects Sweden to Denmark, and it was crazy! It is the bridge that goes under the water! :) Once we arrived in Denmark the atmosphere changed! Everyone was speaking Danish and the people even looked different! haha It was fun to hear the Danish language all of the time! Some of the language is really similar, but other parts, especially pronunciation, are very different! Anyway, we decided to go straight to the temple and then find some place around there to eat breakfast. I don't know if you have ever seen pictures of the Copenhagen, Denmark Temple, but it blends in very nicely with it's surroundings. What I am trying to say is that it snuck-up on us! We were just walking down the street, and BAM!! There it was! It was beautiful! We took lots of pictures and then went to breakfast at a really cool Danish cafe. The food was yum! haha :) After breakfast we went to the temple for our session. I thought the temple was beautiful on the outside, but that is nothing compared to the inside! I was taken way, way back!! It is probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been! Really though... The entire time I was just thinking to myself, "I wish my family could see THIS!!!" Haha, I say that a lot actually! The session went great and I felt the Spirit sooooo strongly! I didn't want to leave, and it was apparent that no one else wanted to leave either! We were there for a very long time. Anyway, we eventually left the temple and by this time it was time for lunch! We went to one of the main areas of Copenhagen and found a KFC!!! Can you believe it! A KFC! lol We were all like, "we need to eat there!" It was pretty good, and we ate a lot! After, we went to an amazing church which is home to what I have been told is the original statue of Christ... You know, the one like in the visitor's center in SLC. It was beautiful, and don't worry, I took lots of pictures! They also had statues of the Twelve Apostles which I took pictures of too. After this we headed back to the train station to catch a train to Helsingor, Denmark to see Hamlet's Castle! :) (not before stopping at a Hard Rock Cafe to buy a shirt real quick!) :) We were not able to spend a whole lot of time there in the castle because we had to catch a ferry boat back across the channel to Helsingborg, Sweden, but it was awesome to see with my own eyes! All in all the trip was way worth it! I had lots of fun, and the temple was the bestest, best, best part! Okay, now on to my wonderful box senders! Thank you soooo much for the two boxes I received at Zone Conference! They were a pain to carry back home, but they were soooo worth it! I know have delicious cereal and pop-tarts, chips, crackers, a CD, deodorant, and a couple of very strange things. First, from Mom's box, was a Moose that when turned on rolls around on the floor and laughs like crazy!! lol We laughed very hard.. well at least I did! It was quite random! The next random thing was in Josh and Hillary's box. They included a "Nana Saver". If anyone doesn't know what that is, don't worry.. You probably shouldn't know. They can be found at your local Wal-Mart hanging on the very edge of the produce section. They are used to store Ba"nana"s. When you cut the banana in half the clip works to preserve the half the you didn't eat. This is pretty random, even for me! It is however, a little bit of an inside joke though. Every time I would go with Josh and Hillary to Wal-Mart to buy groceries I would always put it in the cart, and it would either make it to the checkout, or be taken out immediately. I guess they felt it time to let me have it! haha I have no idea what I am going to do with it! These two random objects are going to be interesting to deal with when transfers come. But anyway, THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH for the goodies and piano music and everything else! I loved it, and It will definitely help me celebrate my six months! :) Okay, I REALLY need to get to the e-mails or I am going to run out of time! First today is my brother Matt! I love you Matt! Funny stuff about Mrs. Spencer.. don't get too carried away though. Teachers notice a lot more than you think they do. Have fun and continue laughing! I completely agree that laughing can be one of the most fun things to do! DO YOU REMEMBER who you are talking to!? We had sooo many good times together! Like, watching funny movies together while muffling our laughs with pillows as to not wake mom and dad up! haha, it always failed! And another one I remember is the time we were at a campground bathroom and there was a guy in the stall having problems. (which you thought was me) As you were about to get out of the showers you yelled, "whoa man!!! What did you eat!!!!" I started laughing immediately and then you came out to see me just standing there pointing to the man in the stall!! haha That was soooo funny! Good times! :) So yeah, laughing is good! So, you are going to fly down for a BYU game huh?? I will pretend like I didn't hear that!! jkjk That is so cool Matt!! Do you remember when you and I went to the games together!? SOOO much fun! You will have a great time with everyone down there. I know it! Take some good pictures because I wanna see! :) How is Joe doing by the way? Sounds like you two had a fun weekend! Well, I love you soo much Matt!! Keep up the good work and have fun! Don't you ever for one second forget... my PRAYERS are with you. Everyday! :) Okay! On to my wonderful father!! I love you Dad! Enjoy John Schmidt as much as you possibly can! Whenever he decides to come. Thank you for your reminder about priorities! lol I know that my time is needed here, and I willfully give it... I will for sure have those fun times back in the states.. but that is not for a while! :) I love the fact that you took the time to look up Tropic, Utah on Google! I can visually see you reading the e-mail and then jumping onto google! haha I love you Dad! I will for sure tell Äldste Clarke that you looked at his home town because of my e-mail! :) Thank you so much Dad... for telling me about the anxiety and tension the family is going through because of the move and all. My prayers have been constant everyday, but an increase is on it's way today. I know that the Lord will help you all through this. He has promised me that, and I have faith in that promise! :) Everything will be O K!! I tell myself that all of the time, and it always does.. For a quick example... On our way back from Lund (after the Denmark trip) the train we took flew right by Växjö, and it was headed to Stockholm Central. It was pretty late already, and we just needed the train to stop so we could find a way home back to Växjö. It seemed like the train would never stop and that we would have to call President and explain why we were calling from Stockholm! I said a quick prayer and felt that feeling when you know that everything is going to be O K. The train DID finally slow down and stop in a town called Nässjö. We ran to the train departures board and saw that there was only one more train that night heading back south. We ran to the platform and as soon as we got there the train pulled up and we got on. This was nothing short of a miracle! The train should have come and departed 20 minutes earlier but was delayed for some reason. Had that train been on time or even a minute earlier than it was, we would have been in a very, very bad situation! It could have been terrible. But, the Lord helped us, and was watching out for our mistakes! We had faith, and everything turned out O K!!! :) It was quite the faith builder! I love you Dad!! Be strong and faithful! The Lord will help, I know... :) Okay now it is Mom's turn! I love you Mom!!! First off, thank you very much for the amazing box! I loved it! Even the Moose! haha :) The CD is amazing too! I love singing along with it! I just hope I can eat the food before transfers! I don't want to leave it! haha OH! A bit of interesting news.. Because of transfers, I am not sure about that October 14th date for our next zone conference. If I get transferred it will definitely not be the 14th, unless I am transferred within the zone. I believe most of the zone conferences are after the 14th, but all will be well! haha Don't fret at all! Speaking of transfers... All of the missionaries do "transfer predictions" and if the zone leaders are right, I will be transferred. It is also the pattern of Elders here in Växjö. Four months and then you get transferred out! However, anything could happen! We will definitely see! :) OH this is IMPORTANT!!!! P-Day will be on Wednesday next week!!!!! :) haha so don't freak out if my e-mail is late! It will be! haha Sorry, I just remembered that. Okay, yes Mom.. it is crazy that my six month mark is this Friday!! Time is just flying by, and I can't seem to get it to slow down! Syster Wood, one of the Sisters in our zone is heading home in a few days, and at Zone Conference she bore her testimony and she said she remembered when she bore her first testimony and how far away it seemed. Then she got choked-up and started crying explaining that that day felt like yesterday... It was crazy to think how fast time goes!.. Anyway, we should have a good time on Friday... Whatever we do! I will for sure burn a tie! :) haha Traditions are strange! Oh, I will for sure relay your love to Sandra.. She will love hearing what you have to say! haha :) Thank you for the picture of Hillary and Jess!! haha that was a funny picture! It is so strange to see them all big and pregnant! Jess should be having Colin any day from what I hear!!! Yay! How exciting for everyone! Thank you Mom, for your kind words. I am glad that the Spiritual thought last week helped you out, because it has helped me out every day! :) Okay, I love you Mom!! Alright everyone!! I have received a lot of e-mails asking about the weather here. It is COLD.. We have been wearing our suit coats and jackets everyday! haha It is cloudy most days with TONS of rain and sometimes hail! We still get the occasional sunny day, but they are becoming fewer and fewer. The leaves are changing and the seasons are turning! I am EXCITED!! haha So there was the quick weather update! Okay... now on to the Spiritual Moment! This e-mail is so long! Wow!! haha Okay the Spiritual Thought is from Zone Conference. We were talking about the Holy Ghost and how it applies to missionary work. We discussed the role of us as missionaries and how we could have the Holy Ghost with us in our work. One of the things I thought of was an understanding and a desire. We had all of the normal, "read your scriptures, come to church, pray" kind of answers, but we had other, deeper answers. I believe that in order to have the Holy Ghost as a tool and a constant companion we must first realize what the Holy Ghost can do! We must come to an UNDERSTANDING of the Power of the Holy Ghost. This, as with most things I write, does NOT apply only to missionary work! It applies to every aspect of life! The Holy Ghost can change paths, it can enlighten lost spirits, bring happiness to those that are suffering... Do we UNDERSTAND this power? Because if we truly do understand the power, then we WILL have a strong DESIRE to have the Holy Ghost with us. I have come to a better understanding of the Holy Ghost since I have been out on my mission. This understanding is growing day by day, and growing alongside of that is the desire to have the Holy Ghost. I know that the Holy Ghost can change lives. I have seen it in others and most importantly... my own. Let us work to truly understand the Holy Ghost... listen to the promptings and desire it's constant companionship. I love this Gospel... I love how it has blessed me... I know with all that I am, that Jesus Christ, my Savior and Redeemer... lives! He loves me and desires that I be happy. And I know that through the Holy Ghost's companionship... I CAN BE! I love you all very, VERY much! Keep your heads held high, and your Spirits higher! Until next week.....
Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!
Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!
Äldste Kundis :) :) :)
Good morning/afternoon/evening!! Welcome back to the wonderful land of Sweden! However, I do not want to start this e-mail talking about Sweden.. I would like to talk about Denmark! Okay, as you can probably guess, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Denmark this past week! I know right?! Crazy! This is how it happened. Early in the week, I think on Monday night, we received a phone call from Kristianstad. Äldste Clarke was calling to invite Äldste Bracken to come to Denmark to attend the temple. You see, we are allowed to go to the temple every six months while we are on our missions, and Äldste Bracken's six months were up! He of course accepted the invitation, and that meant that Äldste Clarke's companion, my MTC buddy, Äldste Cluff, would go on splits. We thought that would be pretty cool, but as you can guess, we were wanting to go to the temple too! The only Elders that are allowed to attend the temple in Denmark are the Elders serving in the Malmö Zone, and since transfers are rapidly approaching we were worried that we would never again have the chance to attend the temple in Denmark! So, Äldste Bracken and Äldste Clarke thought that it would only be fair to allow us to come as well... A quick call to President Anderson, and permission was granted! He felt that it was okay, even though our six months was not quite up. Anyway! We went to zone conference, which was amazing, and after, spent the night in Malmö in the Zone Leader's apartment. That next morning we jumped on a bus, and then on a train towards Denmark! There were six elders and two sisters going, so it was a pretty good group to travel with! Not too big, not too small. I traveled over the Öresundsbron, which is that huge bridge that connects Sweden to Denmark, and it was crazy! It is the bridge that goes under the water! :) Once we arrived in Denmark the atmosphere changed! Everyone was speaking Danish and the people even looked different! haha It was fun to hear the Danish language all of the time! Some of the language is really similar, but other parts, especially pronunciation, are very different! Anyway, we decided to go straight to the temple and then find some place around there to eat breakfast. I don't know if you have ever seen pictures of the Copenhagen, Denmark Temple, but it blends in very nicely with it's surroundings. What I am trying to say is that it snuck-up on us! We were just walking down the street, and BAM!! There it was! It was beautiful! We took lots of pictures and then went to breakfast at a really cool Danish cafe. The food was yum! haha :) After breakfast we went to the temple for our session. I thought the temple was beautiful on the outside, but that is nothing compared to the inside! I was taken way, way back!! It is probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been! Really though... The entire time I was just thinking to myself, "I wish my family could see THIS!!!" Haha, I say that a lot actually! The session went great and I felt the Spirit sooooo strongly! I didn't want to leave, and it was apparent that no one else wanted to leave either! We were there for a very long time. Anyway, we eventually left the temple and by this time it was time for lunch! We went to one of the main areas of Copenhagen and found a KFC!!! Can you believe it! A KFC! lol We were all like, "we need to eat there!" It was pretty good, and we ate a lot! After, we went to an amazing church which is home to what I have been told is the original statue of Christ... You know, the one like in the visitor's center in SLC. It was beautiful, and don't worry, I took lots of pictures! They also had statues of the Twelve Apostles which I took pictures of too. After this we headed back to the train station to catch a train to Helsingor, Denmark to see Hamlet's Castle! :) (not before stopping at a Hard Rock Cafe to buy a shirt real quick!) :) We were not able to spend a whole lot of time there in the castle because we had to catch a ferry boat back across the channel to Helsingborg, Sweden, but it was awesome to see with my own eyes! All in all the trip was way worth it! I had lots of fun, and the temple was the bestest, best, best part! Okay, now on to my wonderful box senders! Thank you soooo much for the two boxes I received at Zone Conference! They were a pain to carry back home, but they were soooo worth it! I know have delicious cereal and pop-tarts, chips, crackers, a CD, deodorant, and a couple of very strange things. First, from Mom's box, was a Moose that when turned on rolls around on the floor and laughs like crazy!! lol We laughed very hard.. well at least I did! It was quite random! The next random thing was in Josh and Hillary's box. They included a "Nana Saver". If anyone doesn't know what that is, don't worry.. You probably shouldn't know. They can be found at your local Wal-Mart hanging on the very edge of the produce section. They are used to store Ba"nana"s. When you cut the banana in half the clip works to preserve the half the you didn't eat. This is pretty random, even for me! It is however, a little bit of an inside joke though. Every time I would go with Josh and Hillary to Wal-Mart to buy groceries I would always put it in the cart, and it would either make it to the checkout, or be taken out immediately. I guess they felt it time to let me have it! haha I have no idea what I am going to do with it! These two random objects are going to be interesting to deal with when transfers come. But anyway, THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH for the goodies and piano music and everything else! I loved it, and It will definitely help me celebrate my six months! :) Okay, I REALLY need to get to the e-mails or I am going to run out of time! First today is my brother Matt! I love you Matt! Funny stuff about Mrs. Spencer.. don't get too carried away though. Teachers notice a lot more than you think they do. Have fun and continue laughing! I completely agree that laughing can be one of the most fun things to do! DO YOU REMEMBER who you are talking to!? We had sooo many good times together! Like, watching funny movies together while muffling our laughs with pillows as to not wake mom and dad up! haha, it always failed! And another one I remember is the time we were at a campground bathroom and there was a guy in the stall having problems. (which you thought was me) As you were about to get out of the showers you yelled, "whoa man!!! What did you eat!!!!" I started laughing immediately and then you came out to see me just standing there pointing to the man in the stall!! haha That was soooo funny! Good times! :) So yeah, laughing is good! So, you are going to fly down for a BYU game huh?? I will pretend like I didn't hear that!! jkjk That is so cool Matt!! Do you remember when you and I went to the games together!? SOOO much fun! You will have a great time with everyone down there. I know it! Take some good pictures because I wanna see! :) How is Joe doing by the way? Sounds like you two had a fun weekend! Well, I love you soo much Matt!! Keep up the good work and have fun! Don't you ever for one second forget... my PRAYERS are with you. Everyday! :) Okay! On to my wonderful father!! I love you Dad! Enjoy John Schmidt as much as you possibly can! Whenever he decides to come. Thank you for your reminder about priorities! lol I know that my time is needed here, and I willfully give it... I will for sure have those fun times back in the states.. but that is not for a while! :) I love the fact that you took the time to look up Tropic, Utah on Google! I can visually see you reading the e-mail and then jumping onto google! haha I love you Dad! I will for sure tell Äldste Clarke that you looked at his home town because of my e-mail! :) Thank you so much Dad... for telling me about the anxiety and tension the family is going through because of the move and all. My prayers have been constant everyday, but an increase is on it's way today. I know that the Lord will help you all through this. He has promised me that, and I have faith in that promise! :) Everything will be O K!! I tell myself that all of the time, and it always does.. For a quick example... On our way back from Lund (after the Denmark trip) the train we took flew right by Växjö, and it was headed to Stockholm Central. It was pretty late already, and we just needed the train to stop so we could find a way home back to Växjö. It seemed like the train would never stop and that we would have to call President and explain why we were calling from Stockholm! I said a quick prayer and felt that feeling when you know that everything is going to be O K. The train DID finally slow down and stop in a town called Nässjö. We ran to the train departures board and saw that there was only one more train that night heading back south. We ran to the platform and as soon as we got there the train pulled up and we got on. This was nothing short of a miracle! The train should have come and departed 20 minutes earlier but was delayed for some reason. Had that train been on time or even a minute earlier than it was, we would have been in a very, very bad situation! It could have been terrible. But, the Lord helped us, and was watching out for our mistakes! We had faith, and everything turned out O K!!! :) It was quite the faith builder! I love you Dad!! Be strong and faithful! The Lord will help, I know... :) Okay now it is Mom's turn! I love you Mom!!! First off, thank you very much for the amazing box! I loved it! Even the Moose! haha :) The CD is amazing too! I love singing along with it! I just hope I can eat the food before transfers! I don't want to leave it! haha OH! A bit of interesting news.. Because of transfers, I am not sure about that October 14th date for our next zone conference. If I get transferred it will definitely not be the 14th, unless I am transferred within the zone. I believe most of the zone conferences are after the 14th, but all will be well! haha Don't fret at all! Speaking of transfers... All of the missionaries do "transfer predictions" and if the zone leaders are right, I will be transferred. It is also the pattern of Elders here in Växjö. Four months and then you get transferred out! However, anything could happen! We will definitely see! :) OH this is IMPORTANT!!!! P-Day will be on Wednesday next week!!!!! :) haha so don't freak out if my e-mail is late! It will be! haha Sorry, I just remembered that. Okay, yes Mom.. it is crazy that my six month mark is this Friday!! Time is just flying by, and I can't seem to get it to slow down! Syster Wood, one of the Sisters in our zone is heading home in a few days, and at Zone Conference she bore her testimony and she said she remembered when she bore her first testimony and how far away it seemed. Then she got choked-up and started crying explaining that that day felt like yesterday... It was crazy to think how fast time goes!.. Anyway, we should have a good time on Friday... Whatever we do! I will for sure burn a tie! :) haha Traditions are strange! Oh, I will for sure relay your love to Sandra.. She will love hearing what you have to say! haha :) Thank you for the picture of Hillary and Jess!! haha that was a funny picture! It is so strange to see them all big and pregnant! Jess should be having Colin any day from what I hear!!! Yay! How exciting for everyone! Thank you Mom, for your kind words. I am glad that the Spiritual thought last week helped you out, because it has helped me out every day! :) Okay, I love you Mom!! Alright everyone!! I have received a lot of e-mails asking about the weather here. It is COLD.. We have been wearing our suit coats and jackets everyday! haha It is cloudy most days with TONS of rain and sometimes hail! We still get the occasional sunny day, but they are becoming fewer and fewer. The leaves are changing and the seasons are turning! I am EXCITED!! haha So there was the quick weather update! Okay... now on to the Spiritual Moment! This e-mail is so long! Wow!! haha Okay the Spiritual Thought is from Zone Conference. We were talking about the Holy Ghost and how it applies to missionary work. We discussed the role of us as missionaries and how we could have the Holy Ghost with us in our work. One of the things I thought of was an understanding and a desire. We had all of the normal, "read your scriptures, come to church, pray" kind of answers, but we had other, deeper answers. I believe that in order to have the Holy Ghost as a tool and a constant companion we must first realize what the Holy Ghost can do! We must come to an UNDERSTANDING of the Power of the Holy Ghost. This, as with most things I write, does NOT apply only to missionary work! It applies to every aspect of life! The Holy Ghost can change paths, it can enlighten lost spirits, bring happiness to those that are suffering... Do we UNDERSTAND this power? Because if we truly do understand the power, then we WILL have a strong DESIRE to have the Holy Ghost with us. I have come to a better understanding of the Holy Ghost since I have been out on my mission. This understanding is growing day by day, and growing alongside of that is the desire to have the Holy Ghost. I know that the Holy Ghost can change lives. I have seen it in others and most importantly... my own. Let us work to truly understand the Holy Ghost... listen to the promptings and desire it's constant companionship. I love this Gospel... I love how it has blessed me... I know with all that I am, that Jesus Christ, my Savior and Redeemer... lives! He loves me and desires that I be happy. And I know that through the Holy Ghost's companionship... I CAN BE! I love you all very, VERY much! Keep your heads held high, and your Spirits higher! Until next week.....
Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!
Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!
Äldste Kundis :) :) :)
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