Hey, hope everyone doing well. Last week was very busy for me which always makes things good.
Between Sunday-Tuesday we were back on the island that I was on a couple weeks back. The car of the Elders who live there was broken on the mainland so we took it back to them when we came on the boat and just stayed for a few days and had our pday and companion exchanges with them. This was my second time there and both times we saw so many beautiful things on pday, definitely the coolest tourist stuff I've seen on my mission.
On Monday night while still there, me and the Elder I was companions with for the night were doing some door knocking. We hadn't really planned in advance very well where we were going to knock, so after failing to get in at one apartment building, the Elder I was with just gave me his phone with the map pulled up on it and told me to try and find somewhere we could knock. I pointed at a random place that looked like some apartments so we drove there to see. It ended up being an apartment complex of all university students, the majority being from China. We started the first few doors speaking in Swedish when they answered the door but quickly switched to English when we realized no one there could speak Swedish. We met a lot of cool people door knocking there, including a Nigerian guy who has family that is members of the church and was super interested in coming to church. But the best part was at the end when we were about to be done. We knocked the door of this Chinese guy Ryan, who seemed very uncomfortable talking with us, and even said it feels embarassing for him to talk about God because he is so unfamiliar with it. Normally when someone says something like that, I like to respect their privacy and not be super pushy so I just leave it there and tell them to have a good night. But I felt a nudging that I should push it with this guy so I just asked him to give us a chance to tell a little bit about what we believe and if he wasn't interested that's ok. After thinking about it for like 30 seconds he agreed and went and got his friend who lives with him and we all sat around a table outside. We began to teach these 2 guys about who God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are, in the most basic way possible. They were completely unfamiliar with the concept of God, and had only heard Jesus Christ's name used as a swear word. They understood everything we taught very well and even had some pretty deep insights. We ended the conversation with teaching them how to pray and saying a prayer together. This may seem like a simple moment to those of you reading, but for me this was a top experience from maybe my whole mission. The spirit was so strong as we taught these 2 guys such simple but important truths. I felt a strong sense of gratitude that I could be a missionary in that moment.
Besides that, the rest of our exchanges on Monday and Tuesday were pretty uneventful. We made the travel home on Tuesday night, and before even returning home we picked up some other Elders from the train station for us to have more companion exchanges on Wednesday, but this time in our area. Most of our day on Wednesday with them ended up being talking with people on the street for hours because 4/5 of our possible lessons for the day didn't end up happening. We met some cool people on the street though, and I had a good conversation with the Elder I was with for the day.
Thursday we had a great lesson with this 18 year old guy from Congo named Basanga. We met him a couple weeks ago. In the lesson we just talked about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration and he was really receptive and even texted us later thanking us that we were able to meet. After that lesson we helped the ward clean the church and then drove up to Handen to have more companion exchanges on Friday.
Nothing super crazy happened on exchanges on Friday. We helped moved all the furniture out of the Vendelsö apartment which is now permanently closing. That is the really hard area I was in a few months ago. I was also able to have a lesson with Steven, the recent convert in the Vendelsö ward that I got to know well when I was there. Besides that not much else happened that day that is worth mentioning, but despite that it was a really enjoyable day for me because I was with an Elder that I am very good friends with.
Saturday we had a lesson with our friend Christos from Greece. I'm not sure how much I've said about him in my emails besides the fact that he takes us out for Gyros like every other week, but he is basically a member even though he hasn't been baptized. He believes in everything 100 percent, but has waited about a year to get baptized because of certain complications. But after talking to our mission president, he is now allowed to get baptized, and we got to break that news to him on Saturday. He wasn't expecting it at all so he was was super excited and surprised. We planned his baptism for October 12, so coming up pretty soon. Looking forward to that a lot.
Later that day we had a lesson with Michel (agnostic, Iraq, comedian). This was the first time we had met him in a couple weeks, and was coming off him being pretty rude to us and canceling last minute for a few different things. But the lesson was really good, we discussed how he has seen a lot of up and down inconsistency with his spirituality the past couple of months, and talked about how he can really commit to getting the answers he is looking for. He left seeming quite committed which was good to see.
Right after Michel's lesson, we had a lesson with Loucine, the Syrian lady that we argued about authority with a couple of weeks ago. Last time we had given her the invitation to pray about our prophet, so at the beginning of the lesson this time I just asked her how it went praying. She said that she did pray and the answer she got was that we don't need a prophet. That was disappointing, and it felt like we should just end the lesson there. But I started to just ask her a bunch of questions about prophets and what she thinks their purpose is. After about 1hr of discussing this, she had turned completely around and said it can be possible that our church is Christ's restored church with a living prophet, but that she just doesn't currently know. So we encouraged her to keep praying. May seem simple but it's not often you see someone have a complete 180 change of heart like this in a lesson. Definitely was the power of the spirit softening her heart.
That night we came home and did some contacting and planning. While planning, I looked at our schedule from the day before, and realized that I had forgotten to wish our member Daniel a happy birthday. This is the member from Ghana who lost his 27 year old son earlier this year that I talked about a couple months ago in my email. I called him straight away and apologized for being a day late but wished him happy birthday. He then told me that I was only the 2nd person to wish him happy birthday, and that not even his wife remembered to tell him happy birthday. I felt really bad and told him that I was sorry and that it must've been a hard day. His faith is so strong, he just replied saying that God is our loving Heavenly Father and so on. As he was saying all that, I got the idea that we should just take him a cake. After some begging, he agreed to let us come, so we went to the store and bought a cake to give him for his birthday along with a President Nelson book that I wanted to give him (he loves President Nelson books). He ended up being really happy and grateful and even made us some food even though it was his birthday (Picture included). After church on Sunday he pulled me and my companion aside and thanked us again. I was so happy we went over. This also was a top moment I have had in a very long time.
Sunday was a pretty normal day besides the fact that we went to a classical music concert (in a church) that one of our members played in and invited us to come and see. It was so so good.
I seem to talk about covenants quite a bit in my emails, but this week I was studying specifically the baptismal covenant and what is required of us. Yes there is specific requirements, but while studying different passages of scripture that talk about the baptismal covenant, they all seem to revolve around our desire, our willingness, and our humility to God. God is eager and willing to bless us, but is just waiting for us to align our desires and will with His so that He can more fully bless us. Covenants make these promises and blessings more direct, however I think this principle applies to life in general. God has blessed us with so much and gives us so many opporunties to come to Him. Ultimately the results we receive are on us. Our desire and decisions will determine what we get in return.
8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another's burdens, that they may be light;
9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—
10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?
Ha en bra vecka 🙏
Pics:
