Tjena tjena
Hope y'all had a good week. Pretty good one for me.
Tuesday afternoon we had a free block of time so we did our usual talking to people in the mall. We had around 2 free hours so we just decided we would endure and try and talk to people for the for the full 2 hours and 15 minutes. After getting into it a little bit I had a few good conversations with people which was good for a change but no one really interested. We had about 10 minutes left when I saw this lady walk the other direction past me really fast (keep in mind I am in a crowd of people so this one lady just stood out to me). I kept walking in the same direction but couldn't put off the feeling that I needed to talk to her, so I quickly turned around and did a little speed walk to catch up to her because she was walking fast. I went up and said I was holding a quick survey and asked her what she thinks our purpose is in life. She responded with "Jesus. Everything is for Jesus". A big smile came to my face and as I began to talk more to her she started sharing a lot of her religious beliefs and kind of just views on life and how Jesus applies to them. Every thought she brought up I instantly thought of a Book of Mormon scripture that connected with it. I ended up sharing 3 verses by the end of our conversation, and she loved them all and said "Amen" repeatedly and nodded as she read each one. She ended our conversation by saying that she thinks it doesn't matter which church you are in, if you love Jesus it is all you need. I expressed that I agree that it is great to love Jesus, but I think there is something special about my church that she would like a lot. She seemed interested, but shared the bad news that she would be leaving in 2 days to visit her home country for 2.5 months. I gave her a Swedish Book of Mormon, but I told her that I would really like to give her one in her native language (Portuguese) before she left. She gave me her number and told me where she lived, which was unfortunately kind of far away, but I told her that I would give my best effort to try and get her one.
The next morning we took a bus super far north in our area to visit these extremely old members. They were really nice and it was good to give them someone to talk to. On the way back from that, we were able to stop and give Arlinda (same lady) her Portuguese Book of Mormon. I thought we were going to just drop it off for her, but she excitedly invited us in and sat us on the couch. She called her daughter in too, and was telling us she had come home the day before and told her daughter how crazy good she thought I was at Swedish only being here 4 months. We were able to give background on the Book of Mormon, and she seemed super excited to read it. She said that she didn't have room to take her Bible in her suitcases, but that she would take the Book of Mormon with her and read it while she was gone. She said she has only been Christian for a year and a half, but she has completely changed her lifestyle for Christ, even more than a missionary it seems like haha. Even though she will be gone until February, it was still really cool to meet her and was cool to see someone so excited to get more to read about Christ. It reminded me of the African leader that President Nelson met and gave a Book of Mormon to. "You could have given me diamonds or rubies, but nothing is more precious to me than this additional knowledge about the Lord Jesus Christ." We are so blessed to have the Book of Mormon, and we should always make sure that we don't take it for granted, and appreciate it as much as these people.
That was definitely the highlight of my week, but another good thing that happened was our lesson with Angeline. We invited a member to be on the lesson, and she ended up being a lifesaver. Even though we have taught Angeliné the restoration 3 times, the member got talking with her and Angeliné was saying that she does not know the difference between our church and others. I was appalled because we have taught about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon so many times, but the member did a really good job explaining it in a different way and Angeliné was engaged and asking questions. Definitely one of the better lessons of my mission. Angeliné has been slightly difficult since then, but we just have to be patient with her and I am confident the gospel will change her life.
The rest of the week consisted of a lesson with a dude named Dameer who could read auras and energy, a lesson with a lady named Anette which also had a member on it who basically just taught the whole lesson for us because he loves doing missionary work, a Christmas concert, and splits with Elder Belnap which went really well. We also had this harp recital thing for a lady in our ward that we had to go to because she had us begin and end with a prayer, but literally no one showed up besides the parents of the kids so there was like 10 people there and the whole thing was just so awkward and uncomfortable. When me and my companion got up at the end he leaned over and whispered in my ear "this is the most slightly uncomfortable I have been in my life" hahaha.
For my spiritual thought I wanted to talk about a simple experience I had that made me think about something else. When me and my companion were sitting on a bench waiting for the bus, this dude came up and started asking us if we are Jehovahs. We told him no and then he asked what church we are a part of so we told him. And then he grabbed my tag and started yelling at us telling us to tell him what we believe in, only so that he could proceed to say that God doesn't exist, and that I should go home, snort some cocaine, drink some alcohol, get with a girl, and enjoy life. After this dude walked away, this latina lady came up with a big smile on her face and started waving at us. The man that was with her said that she didn't speak any English or Swedish, but that she saw us and really wanted to say hi because she is a member of the church also, from Nicaragua. After saying hi the lady walked away, which meant that she wasn't even waiting for the same bus as us and went out of her way to come say hi to us. After these two interactions, I got on the bus and for most of the bus ride was just thinking how dumb it was that that guy would come up and say that to us. I'm used to those type of interactions at this point, but it still was making me mad that just because we wear a tag on our chest makes people think they don't have to treat us like a regular human being. After having negative thoughts like this the whole bus ride, my thoughts came to the lady from Nicaragua again. I thought about how nice she was, and what a positive interaction that was. I realized that I had just had 2 interactions within 30 seconds of each other, and one was completely positive and one was completely negative. And then I thought to myself that I literally had the choice, to pick between being angry about the mean guy, or being happy about the nice lady. This of course, applies to life as well, and makes me think of this quote from President Nelson I'm sure many of you have heard. " My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives… Joy comes from and because of Him [Jesus Christ]. He is the source of all joy. We feel it at Christmastime when we sing, "Joy to the world, the Lord is come." And we can feel it all year round. For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!" Interestingly enough, the song Joy to the World has been on my mind this week as well. Every time I've heard it this Christmas season, I have felt deeply in my heart, and thought in my mind that Jesus Christ really is "Joy to the world"! He is true reason to "Rejoice, rejoice"! I am so grateful for the Savior and the reminder we have to focus on Him a little more this Christmas season. I know that he IS joy to the world, and can bring us more joy than anything else.
Appreciate you all🙏🙏 Be the positive experience in someone else's day this week!
Pics: (don't know how I have only 2, need to take more next week)
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