What a big week!!!

Aren't we just so good looking?? haha ;)


This is everyone! The other girl is named Zuluu and she was baptized the same day by the Zone Leaders.


Best buds after the baptism!


Future Missionary! lol


Flower crown at Midsommar! Pretty??


The May pole and lots of people!! It was a blast!

Hej Familj!!!

Well, this week has been crazy! First off we will start with what happened yesterday! Did I hear someone say DOP?!?!? haha Yes, we had a baptism here in Stockholm yesterday! Hang was able to enter the waters of baptism and may I just say that he was so happy!! Before the service he was standing out in the hallway just staring at the wall. I went out and asked him what was on his mind. He said, "lots of things.. the unknown." He was having some fears about the unknown future. I assured him that baptism was the best start to his future and that he would be blessed for making the covenant. He swallowed his fears and followed his faith. He was baptised by my companion Äldste Woodruff and it was beautiful! Hang was so happy and just beaming with light! It was another amazing feeling to see a man who just three months before did not know that God even existed or that Jesus Christ was his Savior, step into the cleansing waters of baptism and be made perfect. Words just fail me when I try to explain all that I was feeling. Hang is a great man, a true friend! He is pure and has found the truth. After the baptism we had a chance to talk. I asked him how he was feeling to which he replied, "Today is a perfect day!" We all were so happy because it truly was a "perfect day!" The Holy Spirit of Promise was in attendance and I know that Hang will move forward and continue on his path of righteousness! Hey, I guess having China closed to missionary work won't stop those living there from finding the truth! This man will return to China one day and teach his friends and family about the Gospel. He is already excited to do so! :) This work is AMAZING!! I am so blessed to be a part of it! Next Sunday I will be able to place my hands upon Hang's head and confirm him a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and give him the Gift of the Holy Ghost which will help him along his journey. :) It will also be a wonderful day! :)

Okay, now I will move on to Midsommar!! It was so much fun! We traveled to a place down closer to the temple, but out in the woods where there was a big field and some farms. We arrived early with the other missionaries (serving close enough to come) and played football and red rover and Frisbee etc... Around 10:30, 11ish the place started to come to life! Soooo many people showed up. About 50 percent members and 50 percent non members. Which is really good considering that it was started not too long ago by the members! We played games with everyone such as tug of war and we grilled up some hot dogs and hamburgers.. Haha the hamburgers were white because we bought the cheapest ones we could find. haha :) Don't worry we did not get sick! Yay! The time came and the May pole was raised. We danced and sung around the May pole and just had a great time! President and Sister Anderson came to take part and we were able to give them hugs because they are leaving really soon. We have a Mission conference this Friday to make the switch official... I think... haha and then President Anderson and his wife will be gone! :( Good thing for facebook and letters to keep in touch after I return! :) So, all in all it was a great Midsommar! Lots of fun!

Anyway I need to move on so I can have time for everything we need to do today! Thank you for your e-mail Dad! Haha sounds like you are over due for a trip down to Utah! I hope that Matt and Mom and all of the others are enjoying themselves! As you have read, Hang was baptised and it was great! I will be sure to send along your kind and encouraging words. He will appreciate them! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for your prayers in his behalf. I know that they helped him be ready for Sunday! :)

Okay, well I am going to move on to a Spiritual Thought... What is happening on lds.org?? Go check it out and watch the video called "Moments That Matter Most" There are so many moments in my life right now that matter.. They are shaping me for the future and the eternities. The same is true for all of us in our lives wherever we may be! I love you all so much! I am thankful for each of you and what you mean to me. Without you I would be lost! Thank you!!! I hope that everyone has a good week looking for the Moments that matter most and there in find peace, joy and happiness! Until next week!! Oh! Before I forget, it is transfers next week so I will not be able to write on Monday. I will write on Wednesday. Happy 4th of July next Monday!!! Wow!! The 4th of JULY!!! Crazy! :)


Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!
Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!

Äldste Kundis :) :) :)

So much to say, so little time to say it!!!

Hej Familj!

It is that time again, and I am sooo happy today! What a great surprise it was to open the family e-mail and see so many people! The pictures were awesome, and the stories sound amazing! That is a big van! Almost looks like something you would see companies driving around here in Sweden. Actually, the mission office has one like that, but it is red. They use it to move all of the elders' luggage when they fly in and fly out. It is nicknamed Rosie. Haha, but I like the name you all came up with.. "Lucky Clover". Sweet! Landon looks like a stud and as cute as ever! I am tired of seeing all of you hold him though! I want a turn! hehe :) So, I have no time at all to e-mail today. We needed to clean a lot this morning and work some stuff out so now our day has been pushed back. Sadly, e-mail time gets affected. But! I will try to respond to some things and ask a few questions of my own! First off, Mom, I would love more Peanut Butter! hahaha You asked, and thats what I am missing right now! :) Umm.. Matt!! Sounds like you had an awesome time at Football camp! Have an even better time at EFY next week! lol I know how fun that is! Dad, it looks like you have a little bit of a beard going on??? haha What was that all about? Camera catch you at the wrong time.. or are you trying in out? Dad! You would be sooo proud of me! We ate Chinese food yesterday! Haha, yes I know you served in Japan, but they are sorta kinda similar? Anyway, you were eating good in Japan if it was like what I had on Sunday! We went to Hang's dorm and him and his friend cooked authentic Chinese food for us! Fish, chicken, rice, pork... oh, it was so good!!! Hang is from China!! If you haven't figured that out. His date is still the 26th. On a serious note... This is going to be a very tough week for Hang. He needs everyones help right now. He must stop his smoking habit before he can be baptised. He has worked really hard, but is still working at it. Please, please pray for him this week. Pray that he will find the strength through the Atonement of Jesus Christ to change his habits. He wants to get baptised sooooo badly. It would just crush him if he wasn't able to. This man is good.. He is pure love and honestly one of the greatest people I have met on my mission. He needs our prayers now more than ever. Thank you for your constant support for me, my companion and our area! They are needed and much appreciated! Okay, moving on! Chris, I love your idea of taking the "lucky clover" to Disneyland! Road trip! haha Oh! I am sending that "Father's Day" packet today... lol The stuff has been sitting around the apartment for a while. and it has just been soooo hard to find time to mail it! Sorry! Father's Day, Josh's Birthday, surprise trip.. you had a great time anyways!!! :) lol Some more answers to questions.. Yes, I did receive those two packets, thank you!!! Yes, I have fixed the Shaver issue. I found one on sale and put it on my credit card. Yes, we did see the crazy man from the "sleeping on the chapel floor" incident. He came to Swedish class and layed on the floor reading books. We took some pictures... hahaha He is a funny person. I am not sure about when I will be able to see the new mission President.. Sometime soon though. We just had stake conference and President and Sister Anderson were there on the stand. They mentioned that they would be leaving and it was pretty emotional. What was the closing hymn?? God be with you till we meet again.. I bet every missionary in the room was crying. Mainly because we saw President Anderson cry... He never really cries!! It was crazy. Oh! About stake conference. It was a broadcast from Salt Lake! President Eyring and Elder Bednar and Elder Malm and Sister Beck spoke to us!!! It was great! This leads into my Spiritual Thought for today.. Elder Bednar talked about many things, but one of them made me think a lot more than the others!!! It was this.. Think about all of the dangerous things in the world, especially those that attack things more Spiritual.. Now think of peace, joy, being content, being comfortable. Which one is better... Hmmm... Elder Bednar warned us against both! He said that feelings of peace and content can be just as lulling and dangerous as those others that have more negative connotations. It is so insightful to realise that if we fall into a state of "comfort" and say to ourselves, I am on the right track, nothing to worry about right now.. we can easily overlook things that desperately need our attention! Anyway, I don't have any time left. I love you all sooooo much! Continually be watchful and learn and grow! "When you're green you're growing, when you're ripe... you rot!!" I am learning daily and applying Christ's teachings in my life. I love it! It makes life so... fulfilling!!! So rewarding! haha I will write again next week! Until then, know that I love you!


Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!
Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!

Äldste Kundis :) :) :)

Family?? haha :)

Hej Familj!!!

Well, sadly I have not received your e-mail this week! I hope that it comes later and if not, that it okay! I can always wait another week!

I want to start off today by telling you something! I had a funny thing happen here yesterday.. We got a call a few days ago from a senior couple who is assigned to work in the Stockholm Center for Young Adults. They said that there was a man there who would like to know more about the church and that we should come right away. We were a ways away by subway, but we raced over to meet this "golden investigator!" When we got there we knew exactly why they called us. Sitting on one of the nice leather couches was a man. This man looked almost exactly like Jesus... However, he was dirty and obviously crazy. He had no shoes, torn clothes, messy hair with what I believe to be bird poo in it, and a blanket thrown over his shoulder that has obviously been used to sleep on dirty subway platforms. So, I sat down and started to teach this man. We actually had a great conversation and he was loving the Gospel... We needed to leave, but we put a movie on for him and talked with the center couple and a few YSA's and asked them to take care of him. Turns out, he fell asleep while watching the movie.. (The Testaments) Anyway.. Yesterday we were on our way to church. We switched trains at central station and when we sat down we realized that this same man was sitting on the seats next to us (across the aisle) He was talking with a woman about "the judgement day." He told her that he was a missionary like us and that she should be afraid for the final judgement because she was rich... haha He asked us where we were headed and we told him that we were heading to church. He immediately said, "Okay, I am coming with then!" My companion and I made eye contact and wondered what we had just done. He walked to church barefoot and his feet made the sound of sand paper rubbing on cement. When he came into the building everyone just "stopped and stared" (haha notice the One Republic reference...) He walked around the building and ended up in the back of the chapel sleeping on the floor right in front of a door with the same dirty blanket. We were singing in the choir at the same time he was roaming around so we had to keep leaving to talk to the newly called bishop and other Priesthood leaders. We came to the decision that he could not sleep in the chapel, but that he was welcome to sit up and listen to the services. So, I went over, with the entire ward watching in awe and woke him up. He did not want to sit on the benches and listen.. he just wanted to sleep. So I had to escort him out and tell him that he could not sleep in the chapel. He decided to just leave and go find somewhere else to sleep.. It was quite the experience, and quite the shock for our dear members here in Stockholm! Anyway! That was a long story! Did you like it?? I thought it was a nice insight into our week!

We have seen some great things with our investigators. Hang, the man with the baptismal date is looking forward to his baptism. We moved the date, however because the ward wants to be there, and having it on the 25th would just be too much of a conflict with Midsommar and all. So, he is progressing and we hope to see him be baptised on the 26th! Woo!! Oh! This was really cool and I wanted to let you know.. The other day we had a meeting with Krishna, one of our progressing investigators. He was late, but that was okay because he was only late due to the fact that he was getting a friend! The friends name is Prem. Prem was super excited about the Gospel! He even came to church yesterday and had a great time!! He wants to come next week and said that next time he would wear a shirt and tie!!! How awesome is that! It made me grin from ear to ear! :)

So, Father's day is coming up next Sunday! Awesome! I am sending something in the mail, but I am pretty sure it won't make it in time! There will be something for Dad as well as some other things for the family! Woo! How did everything go this weekend?? Matt with his ACT and Kevin with his Half Marathon?!?! I prayed for both of them so I hope everything went well!

Okay, well I am going to get to my Spiritual Thought! Today it is about desires. A member of the ward gave a talk on this yesterday, so a lot of my thoughts come from that. We all have desires in life.. Both good and bad! It is a part of being human. We may want a new car really badly or the latest and greatest cell phone.. But what makes up our desires? It is our thoughts?? No, it is our heart. But wait a minute... Because we have so many desires in life how do we arrange them? That is to say, what desire takes priority?... What desire SHOULD take priority? This can only be answered personally and after much prayer and fasting. It is not wrong to desire new things, but when this desire is placed over that of our Spiritual progression, our family bonds, or our love for our Savior, it becomes problematic. In my own life at the moment I have been looking deeply into my desires.. What motivates me day to day?? Is it a righteous desire, or something else? I know that the work I am doing is real and important. I know that I must do it out of love and out of a willingness to serve my Savior. I desire more charity, more courage, more patience and more confidence in myself. These are good desires.. (And quite the challenge to work on!!) haha I know that the Lord blesses us when we put our desires in order.. when we prioritize them. This life is not about wealth or fame or even looks... it is about learning, growing and gaining that which is needed to become as out Father in Heaven is. I know this to be true! I have met so many people here that are happy. Truly happy, yet they have very little if anything in the eyes of the world. I think we can all learn great lessons from them! What is important to you?? What do you desire? I love you all sooo much! I miss you and hope that all is well! Until next week!


Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!
Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!

Äldste Kundis :) :) :)

Greetings from the Sweden Stockholm Mission Office!!!

Hej Familj!

Well, I am sitting at a computer in the mission office located in Täby. (A little ways north of Stockholm) Today we had a surprise party for Äldste Overstreet! It was his birthday a couple days ago so we thought it would be fun to come up and have some fun! Do you remember Äldste Overstreet?? He was the one I was companions with in Skövde for three months... He is awesome and an amazing friend for life! Almost our whole district was here as well as President and Sister Anderson! It was fun playing "kubb" and grilling up some grill korv! They even had A&W Root Beer for root beer floats! Awesome! So, the rest of today we are going to chill and just have a good time with everyone! Sadly, there are lots of people that need to e-mail so I need to make this short... I know, I am sorry!!! :) I love you!! I REALLY DO!! :) Let me get to the e-mails for this week! Starting with... Matt!! I love you Matt!! So, Summer is finally here! Congrats! I loved what you wrote on the calendar you sent me for today! Thank you for letting me know about football camp! In the pictures I got it looks like you are a beast! You are going to be huge after all of the physical activities you have planned! Good luck! Have fun! I will be praying for you on Saturday with the ACT. That is a big deal, but no worries.. you will do great! Just remember to think clearly and pray before you start! But I don't need to tell you that. You know it! :) I love you Matt! Thank you for taking such good care of Molly and playing with her! I can't wait to throw her a ball! Hey! I am sooo glad to hear that you are going to EFY again this month! That is awesome! You will love it! Thank you so much for helping Mom out with the flowers and things. I know that she really appreciates it, and with the guns you are carrying around on your arms, it only makes sense that you use them to lift flowers and big bags of soil! Anyway, I love you! Have a great week! :) Okay next we have Dad!! I love you Dad!! Happy Birthday again! Sounds like you and the family had a great time! I am glad! You are welcome for the card, I am happy you enjoyed it! I meant everything I said in that card, and I wish I could have said more and more and MORE!! You are awesome! As for my shaver... yeah, it died... badly! haha I don't even know how, but it did! I have been using one of those three blade razors you buy from the store.. haha yeah, it has been interesting using the shaving creme and razor. It just does not work with my skin! When I shave with the grain it doesn't cut basically at all, and when I shave the other way I bleed like crazy! Haha, however, I am NOT complaining because once I clean up my face it is SUPER smooth! I love it! If only it could work without the bleeding! :) So, the only downfall that I see with buying a razor over here is that it will have a European plug on it... Sad. So, maybe I will just buy a less expensive one and leave it here when I leave or bring it home and see if there is another plug I can buy. Anyway, I will figure it out! Glad to hear the weather is nice there! It is beautiful here today! I do believe that I have a sun burn already! Wooo! I want it to get ever hotter so I can get nice and tan. The winter here completely takes the color out of your skin, so I need to get as much color as I can before the sun goes away! haha :) Well, I love you Dad! Have an amazing week! :) Okay, now it is time for Mom!! I love you Mom!! Ring worm?? Yikes! Let me know how it goes with that! haha Yeah, it was funny to read about Dad having fun with that.. he can do that with anything! So, you are making progress on the flowers? Good! I wish that I could help you out! Wow!! Matt sure does have a lot going on for him this Summer! Good luck helping him with all of that! :) It will be a busy time, but lots of fun for all! So, you got a letter from President and Sister Anderson huh? Well that is cool! They are awesome! It was fun spending some time with them today at the Office here! I will miss them for sure! Anyway, Elders are getting anxious! They want to talk to their families too! I love you Mom! :) :) Okay now for the Spiritual Thought! ETTE!! We teach this a lot as missionaries, and I think that it is good to remember! There was a great scripture I read recently in the New Testament... Never mind... I just got a different feeling. Read 2 Nephi 4. That is my thought for today. It is an amazing chapter.. Especially Nephi's part at the end. I hope you enjoy it, because it has had a HUGE impact on me. I love you all have a great week and know that I love you! From Sweden and until next week...


Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!
Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!

Äldste Kundis :) :) :)

Sing us a song, your the piano man!

Hej Familj!!!

I can't believe that it is p-day AGAIN! How quickly time runs away! Fun story to start things off today! We were walking through a part of downtown Stockholm and came across a pink piano. It had signs all over it advertising the Stockholm Jazz festival. I cautiously approached the piano and wondered if it worked or if it was a broken one they just put on the street as an eye-catcher. To my delight the piano worked.. It worked really well actually! I started playing and then singing and just had a great time at the piano! Not many people can say that they have played a pink piano in the middle of downtown Stockholm, but I can! I will send a picture sometime so you all can see that I tell the truth! haha

This week has been really good compared to past weeks! I am feeling better and finally up to 100 percent! It feels great! The other day we had a really cool thing happen! As we were about to leave we said our prayer as always. Äldste Woodruff felt inspired in his prayer to ask for a person we could find and teach. As we headed out we jumped on a subway. As we came to a stop we got off (completely unplanned) As we started walking we saw a man and Äldste Woodruff said, "there, that is the man we are supposed to find" As we walked towards him, he walked around a corner.. (basically looked like he was hiding from us) We continued to walk and both guessed that he was just not interested and he was not who we were supposed to find. Just then a voice called out to us and asked, "hey, are you two brothers??" haha It was that man and he was contacting us! We went over and had a great conversation with him! He was interested and gave us his number. He wants to come to church this next week and receive a copy of the Book of Mormon! It was quite amazing to see such a direct answer to prayer! I love those moments! Strengthens my faith!

Okay, well now lets get to the e-mails! First we have Dad! I love you Dad! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! You should be getting a card any day now from me! Let me know when you get it! It was also NANA'S Birthday not too long ago! HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANA!! She wrote a great quote on that calender I got from you all that said, "Laughter is an instant vacation" Isn't that the greatest?!?! Haha I love her! No, sadly I was not able to find regular cold medicine here.. But that is okay because I am feeling better now! Wow, that is extremely sad about the Johnson family. I hope that Sandy's treatments are a success and that everything works out well. It must be hard for them to come back early from that. Will they be returning sometime?? So, you will be able to stay in the house until June of 2012?? What a blessing! Answer to prayer! Great! Please be sure to send along my thank you's to the Johnson family! Also, let them know I am praying for Sister Johnson! Our weather here in Stockholm is great! A little chilly here and there, but all together a good temperature. I wish it were warmer, but being so close to the ocean makes things chilly. We will see how things progress as time moves on! Our investigators right now are doing well! We have a baptismal date for a Chinese man named Hang on the 25th of June so we hope that all goes over well! We are teaching two other Chinese people named Michelle and Maqi! They are awesome and making progress! Things are good in Stockholm and I am loving it! I love you Dad!

Okay, next is Matt! I love you Matt! Wow, you sent your e-mail REALLY late! What are you doing up at those wee hours of the morning! On a Sunday?! I pray that you are safe and healthy! So, you are not doing the Spring fling this year?? Too bad! That was a fun thing for you and the family! Oh well, I am sure you have other things going on.. How is my wonderful Molly doing? Is she full of energy or getting old?? Keep a good eye on her for me! Haha, so much for the "house I will never see" Looks like the family will be staying there a little while longer! Start getting a place ready for me.. jkjk A little too early for that! :) I love you bud! Have a great week at school and get ready for summer! :)

Okay, next up is Mom! I love you Mom! Sounds like you are having an amazing time in Utah! Tell everyone hello for me and that I love them tons! :) Matt, Jessica and Colin are there huh? I bet they are fun to have around again! I miss them! Give Colin a high five for me! :) Make sure to purchase a raft at the outlet stores in Park City so that you can get out of the canyons safely.. That rain might flood the entire place! I pray for your safety! Hey.. all of you stop talking about me so much! I am not there to hear what you are saying! You could be making fun of me!!! Don't make fun of me! Haha jkjk You can if you really want to!! haha I love you Mom!

Okay, now for the Spiritual Thought quick! I have been thinking a lot lately about our relationship with our Father in Heaven. Everything we face here is to build us up, to make us stronger.. It is through understanding that relationship that we can find peace and joy. Why, when I am doing everything right, something always seems to go wrong?? That is a question I have often had.. But is it really going wrong? Are things really "wrong"?? Or are they all part of a broader perspective? I am starting to understand that our perspective on life is often times a "limited to this world" perspective. We don't look at things with an eternal perspective. Our Father knows what is best for us. Sure, whatever happened doesn't seem right, but is it a blessing to us from one who truly loves us? I think so... I know so! So, lets look at the big picture! Stop focusing on what is "Wrong" and start focusing on what we can learn. There in we can find what we are looking for! I love you all! Have a great week!


Trogen och Stadig, Är Jag Redo!!!!!
Faithful and Steady, I AM Ready!!!!!

Äldste Kundis :) :) :)