Hello everybody hope things are well with you all. This week was filled with a lot of things not in our area so not a ton of stuff to talk about.
On Tuesday we had zone conference in Stockholm. Always good to see some friends and get to play basketball afterwards.
On Wednesday we were back in Stockholm to have a lesson with some Sister missionaries and a guy they met that lives in our area. We just taught him about the Book of Mormon but during the lesson I saw him look up a Bible verse on his phone that is commonly used to "disprove" our church. But instead of saying something about it he just put his phone away and then turned pretty quiet the rest of the lesson. Not going to be teaching him more as he yelled at us when we called him again but got a trip to Stockholm from it I guess haha.
On Thursday morning we had a lesson with our friend Fullah ("muslim" from Sierra Leone). We taught him the doctrine of Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, holy ghost, enduring to the end) and he really loved it. He was saying to us how grateful he is for our time to meet with him and how our meetings are becoming something that he really appreciates every week. He is doing really good and loves everything we teach.
Later Thursday afternoon we went back to the older couple that we did service for last week to do more service this week. We just helped with random stuff around their yard for a couple of hours (lifting stones, fixing a tarp, picking cherries) and they fed us dinner as well. My favorite part of the visit though is that the lady who lives there had her 98 year old father over for a visit. He was a really funny guy and was telling us a bunch of jokes that he remembered from his English school books from his childhood. He is not a member of the church and isn't really sure if he believes in God. I really enjoyed listening to a perspective of someone who has that many years of life experience. One of the highlights of my week for sure.
A few weeks ago I mentioned a lady from Iran that we door knocked and she ended up showing up to church that week. Well she now has come to church 4 weeks in a row and this week we were finally able to get a lesson with her and her son. Her name is Goli and her son's name is and is probably in his mid 20s. They both came here 4 years ago but her son can speak way better Swedish than she can so it was really good he was there. We told them about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and what makes our church unique and they definitely seemed intrigued. She expressed again that she feels like Jesus is calling to her, though they grew up Muslim (not by their own will) in Iran. There was a nice spirit in the lesson and she is really positive. Looking forward to what will happen going forward with them.
On Friday night we went to Stockholm again for the baptism of a 14 year old named Jonny. He has been wanting to get baptized for almost a year but his parents took a while to get on board so he didn't have permission. He is like a celebrity in our mission though because he is constantly with the missionaries and even wears missionary clothes and proselytizes with them. Because so many missionaries have a connection with him our mission President let anybody with 30 minutes come to the baptism. There was a really strong spirit there and cool to see how happy these many people (28 missionaries came among many others) were for this one boy. Memorable moment for sure.
On the theme of baptism I thought I'd talk a little about covenants. Though there is many things that make the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints unique, our individual ability to make covenants with God is at the center of God's purpose in restoring His church back to the earth. My mission president gave a presentation at zone conference with an object lesson demonstrating how covenants bind us closer to God. How as we progressively make more covenants with God we are drawn closer to him in a more tightly bound relationship with Him. In recent years many different leaders of our church have talked a lot about covenants. Here is a few quotes surrounding covenants that I was able to find pretty quickly:
-"entering into a covenant relationship with God binds us to Him in a way that makes everything about life easier." - President Nelson
-"No matter the outcome, all will be well because of temple covenants." - President Eyring
-"The covenant connection we have with our Heavenly Father and His resurrected and living Son is the supernal source of perspective, hope, power, peace, and enduring joy; it also is the rock-solid foundation upon which we should build our lives." - Elder Bednar
-"The covenants God offers to His children do more than guide us. They bind us to Him, and, bound to Him, we can overcome all things" - Elder Christofferson
-"Keeping covenants made in baptismal fonts and in temples also provides us with strength to withstand mortality's trials and heartaches. The doctrine associated with these covenants eases our way and provides hope, comfort, and peace." - Elder Renlund
There's not much more I can add after all of those but covenants really are one of the greatest blessings God has offered us. As we make and keep covenants we are able to develop a special relationship with God that only covenant keepers can receive. And this is all made possible because of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice, which is why all of the ordinances that are performed to enter into and renew covenants point to Jesus Christ through their symbolism. Jesus Christ is who we should follow, and covenants are what allow us to more fully do that.
Matthew 11:28-30 - "¶ Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
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