Hej,
Hope everybody had a good week and is enjoying this Christmas season. Pretty good week for me.
Tuesday we had zone conference, and for our mission we have 2 big conferences with multiple zones for Christmas zone conference. So we had my zone (Göteborg zone) and also Malmö zone too. It was mostly a regular zone conference for the beginning but after the usual presentations and lunch we went out and caroled with all of us missionaries. We just walked around downtown Göteborg and stopped in different spots and sang all of the songs we had on our list. We also went in the big mall that I always talk to people in and that was really cool too. Every spot we stopped at a decent size crowd would form around us, many of them filming, and most everyone smiling. It felt good to spread some Christmas cheer to others and remind them what Christmas is really about.
We had two interesting lessons this week that were a very refreshing change of pace for me. One of them was a dude named Victor who was taught by missionaries like a year ago, and then the other was a dude named Richard that we taught the Restoration like 3 weeks ago but he has been busy since. Victor was asking us about controversial Joseph Smith topics and Richard was asking us about war and politics. Even though these may sound like annoying or uncomfortable lessons to have, it was actually very nice for me because it gets kind of repetitive teaching the same thing sometimes. And both guys were really respectful in the way they posed their questions so that was good too.
We had another lesson with Angeliné and had the same member Jennie on the lesson with us again. It was a good lesson where we explained the priesthood, because Angeliné has been telling us she doesn't see a difference between our church and other Christian churches. She was pretty receptive to everything we taught, but after the lesson she talked about how it is very difficult for her to accept our beliefs because her dad was a Methodist preacher and she has had the same faith her whole life, and taught it to her kids as well. She feels like if she switches faiths now she is betraying what her parents taught her and showing her kids that what she has taught them their whole lives is wrong. She said she will keep waiting to see if God gives her a feeling or sign that our church is right, but she hasn't received anything yet. Please pray for Angeliné!
We had the opportunity to help a lady install her new floor in her living room and kitchen this week. Unfortunately she has not asked anyone else to assist us in our efforts, and obviously we don't have any experience with installing floors. Also the only tool she has provided is a handsaw. So to say the least it will definitely be an interesting turnout but we will see how it goes I guess. We have made little progress so far because she has many things in her living room and only cleared a tiny corner for us to work on. I'll include a picture of the progress we have so far lol.
Probably the most common question I get asked from people at home is what the food is like here. For most of my mission, it has been mostly the same as American food but this week I finally have some interesting things to report. On Saturday we had our ward Christmas party where there was all of the classic Swedish Christmas foods. This included: pickled herring from a jar, some sort of cube of veal meat, raw salmon and cooked salmon (both served cold), purple cabbage, some sort of beet salad, meatballs, and korv (hot dogs). Dessert was rice pudding with a fruit sauce. I made sure to try everything for the experience, and most of it was good besides the veal in my opinion. The party also consisted of singing Christmas hymns, and kids dancing around the Christmas tree with music playing (a Swedish tradition).
For pday today, we went up to one of the Göteborg Northern Islands called Marstrand. We went to this super old fortress from 1638 and just walked around the little town which had a really cool vibe. After that we went bowling with the elders and sisters in the other Göteborg area because one of their members paid for them to go and invited us. So that was fun except for the fact that I'm horrible at bowling.
That was pretty much it for the week. Had a few other member/friend visits but that was all.
For my spiritual thought I wanted to go a little bit off of what Zach shared for his spiritual thought last week and talk about the light Christ brings. I probably sang Silent Night in Swedish 20+ times this week with the caroling, ward party, and church. There was one line that stuck out to me every time :
"Stilla natt, heliga natt!
Mörkret flyr, dagen gryr."
This translates to "Silent Night, Holy Night! The darkness flees, the day dawns" (They try and keep the lyrics similar in Swedish hymns but obviously change them a bit so they rhyme). Anyways this line is just so powerful to me, that because of Jesus Christ darkness flees, and a new day dawns. Jesus Christ truly does dispel all darkness, sorrow, fear, sadness, and discouragement in life. As we focus on Him more, we will feel the positive effects more. It will feel like a new day is dawning. We always have another chance with Jesus Christ and can always hope for a brighter future or a "new dawn" because of Him.
3 Nephi 11:11: "And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning."
I hope you all have a great Christmas and that you can take time to think of our Savior in the holiday busyness!
God Jul!
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