Hello everybody
First things first, got some surprising transfer news yesterday. I will be leaving Örnsköldsvik and moving to Utby (a suburb in Gothenburg which is the second biggest city in Sweden). My companion will be Elder Steffen, who came to Sweden the same time as me, which means we will be greenie breaking each other. Which for those of you who don't know what that means, you are considered a greenie in your first 2 transfers as a missionary which is your training period. So a greenie breaker is someone who isn't technically your trainer but usually an older missionary who has some experience because you are still pretty new. But yeah me and Elder Steffen have both only been here for 3 months and will be greenie breaking each other! There will definitely be challenges, especially with us not being experts at the language, but we are both confident in our abilities and more confident that the Lord will help us the entire way. I am definitely sad to leave Övik though, I have met many amazing people here and was expecting to be here for 1 or 2 more transfers.
We had zone conference on Tuesday which was fun to see all the missionaries like usual. We decided to have a zone pday on Monday before since we don't get to spend much time together as a zone other than zone conference. We went into a forest and roasted some hot dogs and we also brought what is called surströmming which is basically just fermented fish in a can that ferments from anywhere between 6 months and a couple years. It's something they eat here in Sweden, and somehow some people actually enjoy it but it is 100 percent the most putrid thing you could ever smell. Many people throw up instantly after eating it. Anyways, missionaries like to eat it at least one time while they are in Sweden so that can just say that they did I guess but some of the Elders in our zone found a random can of it in the back of their car that was 2 years expired. We figured if it was fermented fish that sits for years it wouldn't matter if it was expired, but when we opened the can there was just bones left, the fish had disintegrated into the water/juice stuff that is in there. We were all disappointed that we couldn't eat some, but then someone as a joke mentioned they would pay to have someone drink the juice. I said that if everyone paid me 10 dollars I would do it, and everyone agreed so I did. At this point I hadn't smelled it yet so I figured it would be easy money, but when I smelled it I instantly started gagging and wanted to bail but everyone was already filming so I figured I had to do it at this point if I already commited. After about a minute I plugged my nose so that I could get it down and swallowed it. Threw up like 10 seconds later and the taste was in my mouth for about a day, but I would say it was worth it especially just for the memory haha. I don't think the video will fit on this email but I'll include a picture of the fish.
Besides that not much interesting happened in the week, we had the usual lessons with our friends and we decided to make chokladbollar (chocolate balls) on Saturday and take them around to some people that haven't been meeting with us much which was nice. On Wednesday delivered a Book of Mormon to someone who requested it off our mission social media pages. There was so much garbage all over the floor in his house, just like a hoarder but with trash, and his hands were black from smoking so much. He was really nice though, and we had a great conversation with him and his wife about the Book of Mormon and just Christianity in general. A lesson to not judge people by their appearance or circumstances, everyone is a precious child of our loving Heavenly Father!
I have felt much more connected to the Savior this week as I have put more effort into meaningful prayers and seeking inspiration for how I can improve each day and then recording my thoughts. Of course this comes with falling short every day because I cannot be perfect or improve on everything that I want to in one day. This has greatly increased my appreciation for repentance. Repentance is truly a gift from God, made possible by the Atonment of Jesus Christ. Repentance is something that should take place every day and as we do it we can feel the power of Jesus Christ working within us to change us for the better. I love this quote from President Nelson on repentance: "Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than is a regular, daily focus on repentance. Repentance is not an event; it is a process. It is the key to happiness and peace of mind. When coupled with faith, repentance opens our access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ." Repentance is not a bad thing, it is an opportunity to improve and change for the better. I invite you all to reflect how you can better repent, and then try to do better! I promise that you will feel more joy and peace in your life as you do so.
Have a great week🙏
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