Hejsan,
Ok I know last week I said nothing really happened but then the email was long. Well this week there really is not much to talk about.
Most notable thing is that we got transfer news. I will be staying here in Borlänge, but getting a new companion, which continues my streak of getting a new companion every transfer so far. My new companion is a 25 year old who is a native Swede so it should be interesting. He has been out for 1.5 transfers, and is actually called to serve his mission in Zimbabwe. He is just waiting for his visa right now which means that I will probably be staying in Borlänge until at least May and probably will have 7 or 8 comps before having one for more than one transfer. Not sure how I feel about staying in Borlänge for that long but we will see how it goes I guess.
Other main thing that happened in the week was zone conference. Even though Borlänge is in the middle of nowhere basically we are in the Stockholm zone. Stockholm is a 3 hour train ride away so we got to go down the night before and stay with the APs, Social Media Leaders, and some other Elders in our district that live by us. So that was a fun time and zone conference was good to see everyone as well. And the chapel we have zone conference in actually has a basketball hoop so we all played in our dress clothes afterwards which was nice. First time playing in a decent amount of time.
On Sunday our friend Tommy came to church for the first time. He lives an hour away so that's a pretty big commitment for him to come, especially considering the fact that we have only taught him 3 times and he had never met any of the members before. This is my first time talking about him in one of my emails because he is a really quiet and awkward guy so the lessons are usually pretty straight forward. So far he has read all the chapters we have given him to read and seems to be enjoying what we are teaching from what I can tell. We can't really get him to say much but he did say one of the lessons that he feels like he has more of a relationship with God since meeting us which is awesome.
Tuesday we had another lesson with our friend Sabrina. If you remember her brother has randomly showed up to 2 of the lessons we have had with her, and this week her sister Heran showed up by surprise. Heran has been taught a decent amount by the missionaries in the past, she just currently lives by herself about 30 minutes away and her phone has been broken so we have not been able to have contact with her. It was awesome that she came though, she definitely added more discussion to the lesson, and we were able to gage where she and Sabrina are at right now (Sabrina doesn't really talk lol). Heran mentioned at one point that she feels like there is something different with our church and she feels like it could be the true church. Big steps for sure.
Only other notable thing to talk about from the week is just the awesome members in Borlänge. Many had us over for dinner and others we have weekly lessons with because they haven't been members that long. All of them are so nice and do so much to help us, honestly they are what make this area haha. The specific member meal I wanted to talk about has nothing to do with the members though, but what they served us. On Sunday for our meal to break our fast we were fed smörgåstårta, which translates to "sandwich cake". It is a pretty classic Swedish dish and simply it's disgusting. It is literally like a layered cake but the layers are just bread, mayo, bread, eggs, bread, mayo. Then the outside is covered in just a frosting layer of mayo, with vegetables like onions and peppers mixed in. And then it is topped off with a bunch of vegetables, cheese, and sandwich meat. Sometimes they have shrimp in them too and I honestly could not tell if this one did there is just too much going on. But yeah definitely one of my more interesting meals. (Picture included)
A talk that I really love by Elder Uchtdorf called "It Works Wonderfully!" talks about the struggle of how some people seem to find more satisfaction and joy from living the gospel of Jesus Christ than others. He gives 2 things we can work on to try and help us find the joy and fulfillment that the gospel promises everyone. One of the suggestions is to "simplify". "This beautiful gospel is so simple a child can grasp it, yet so profound and complex that it will take a lifetime—even an eternity—of study and discovery to fully understand it. But sometimes we take the beautiful lily of God's truth and gild it with layer upon layer of man-made good ideas, programs, and expectations. Each one, by itself, might be helpful and appropriate for a certain time and circumstance, but when they are laid on top of each other, they can create a mountain of sediment that becomes so thick and heavy that we risk losing sight of that precious flower we once loved so dearly." I also love this well known scripture from the Book of Mormon that, to me, goes along with this topic perfectly. Helaman 5:12 - "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." It can be so easy to get caught up on the things that don't matter, or even smaller things that do matter to a certain extent but are not the most important. If we find ourselves feeling burnt out, or not experiencing joy and peace from the gospel, we can take a step back and remember what our faith is based upon. Jesus Christ is central to His gospel, and central to our utter existence. When we diligently and steadfastly turn our focus and trust to Him, everything else will fall into place in due time. I have seen this in my short 7 months as a missionary. There are always ups and downs, but Jesus Christ is always there as a constant. He is the rock that gets us through the good and the bad. He is the solution!
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