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| Adelide's Birthday Celebration, Thanks to Isam |
I
have been showered with letters and gifts this week and I feel so
spoiled on my birthday! Last night Isam came all the way up from
Kristianstad and threw me a birthday party with his famous dinner! It
was so fun to see him and catch up on life from my first home here in
Sweden.
He is so thoughtful and printed out a ton of pictures of me
and hung them up- when I walked into the room, I was not expecting to
see what he did for me and I started crying. Haha. It was very
special. I am all partied out and ready to get to work on my real day
of birth.
Last
Monday we went to Gekås which is the biggest store in all of Europe!
And it is only here in Halmstad about an hour away. People from all
over go there and spend ridiculously amounts of money and I am proud
to say that I only bought three items- fruit for lunch, chocolate,
and gluten free pasta. It was funny to be standing in line next to
people with three carts full and I just had three little things.
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| My Birthday package from home and a pillowcase from Aunt Christine! |
We
had a fun party that night at Senja's with Elder Christensen and his
parents and his mom gave me my birthday package from you! THANK YOU.
It was an awesome package. I am very blessed with a wonderful mother.
:)
This
week has been a mix of miracles and busy days and of some days with
nothing planned. I loved mom's message to me to "try again
tomorrow" in a quote she sent. I wrote about that phrase after a
long day of nothingness and the next day was a perfect example of why
it is important to take courage and "try again tomorrow".
Because then it was tomorrow and that "tomorrow" was a
wonderful day.
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| Ferry from Sweden to Denmark |
Senja picked us up early on Saturday morning and we
drove to the Denmark temple! She is so awesome- she went separately
with just us so that we could go otherwise it would have taken too
much of our day to go with our whole ward. It was so fun to ride in
the car with her and talk. It always feels so weird to be in a car
because I am so used to buses. When we got to the edge of Helsingborg
we took a ferry over the ocean to Denmark. It was my first time on
the ferry because we took the train last time! I felt like I was on a
cruise! Haha. It was HUGE.
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| Adelide and Senja on the ferry |
There was a gift shop and restaurant and
we went out on top and got some beautiful pictures of the ocean and
Denmark. The temple was a very personal and special experience for
me. I had not done a session since the MTC and doing it in Swedish
was an experience that I wont forget.
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| Denmark Temple |
On
our drive back we listened to a talk by John Bytheway where he
mentioned Joseph Smith and his experience in Liberty Jail. I don't
even know how many times I have read D&C 121-123 because they are
some of my favorite chapters to learn from, but as I listened to him explain Joseph's experience, it became so real to me of what
he went through. That it isn't just a story of him living in that
tiny room during a bitter cold winter with no privacy, but that it
really happened. And in this place he writes honestly of his feelings
and of what he went through. In D&C 121 he explains his sorrow,
he says
"O God where art thou?" He also receives peace and
comfort that his afflictions, though large, will only be but for a
moment. And in 122, he is given a list of "ifs" and how if
he endures these "ifs", these trials, he will grow and
learn from them. And in 123 vs 17, it reads one of my favorite versus
of scripture,
"Therefore dearly beloved brethren, let us
CHEERFULLY do ALL THINGS that lie in OUR POWER; and then may we stand
still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and
for His arm to be revealed."
Here, within these three sections,
He goes from crying out to God in sorrow, to receiving guidance, to
teaching his beloved brethren of how to cheerfully endure.
Sometimes
I imagine myself dressed in rain boots, dirty pants, a t-shirt, and
dad's yard gloves that are too big for my hands- holding a large brown
sack filled with seeds. These seeds are precious and my duty is to
plant each one of them and watch them grow into something beautiful.
In my other hand I am holding a pail of water. I walk around day
after day holding these seeds. These seeds are the invitation to the
gospel. As we open our mouths to God's children, our brothers and
sisters, we are giving them the opportunity to take this seed and
plant it and let it grow into something beautiful.
Some wish to not
take the seed. Instead, they let it fall to the ground so that it
doesn't even go under the soil. Others take the seed and plant it but
they don't give us the opportunity to water it- to nourish it. A seed
cannot grow without being planted. It also cannot grow without water
and sunlight. To me, the water represents the gospel- lessons, our
testimonies, the Book of Mormon. The sunlight represents God. You
can't give someone the knowledge of God, or the sun, with out the
knowledge of the gospel, or the water. The sun can't make the seed
grow. We as planters can't make the seed grow. It must receive it all-
the soil, the water, and the sun. And all that I have in my power is
to give out the seeds, the invitation. And to nourish the seed with
water, my testimony. And I will do all in my power with a cheerful
heart. I would love to see someone soak it all up and become
something beautiful -but until then, I will give out these seeds,
these precious seeds, with love and happiness in my heart- knowing
with assurance that if I do all that is in my power, God will reveal
his arm, He will do the rest.
Some
days it is hard to pick up the heavy bag of seeds and go out to work.
Sometimes I am rushed to get these seeds out so that I can rest, but
as I imagine my Savior going out among these people, I picture him
gently and humbly placing these seeds to God's precious children, and
it helps me slow down and remember the hope that I can spread by
patiently opening my mouth and placing seeds.
After
the temple, we decided to go tract in an area by our church. We
walked by a woman standing outside pulling out a cigarette. I almost
kept walking until I felt an impression in my heart to open my mouth.
I did, and she gave me the weirdest look. My first thoughts were that
we are wasting our time and that she was probably going to say "I'm
not interesting," but instead she began to tell us that her
sister killed herself two years ago and that she has been wondering
what the purpose of life is ever since. We told her that we think
this message is something that she needs to hear. She gave us a big
hug and her number.
We then tracted two buildings with no success,
but the last door we knocked on in the third building was a girl
about our age who invited us in immediately. We taught her the plan
of salvation, gave her a Book of Mormon, and have another lesson to
meet with her in a couple of hours today.
I am always surprised with
the tender mercies we receive here. Like when people say "yes I
am interested" or "yes come into my home, I want to hear".
It does not happen very often but when it does, I am so grateful and
honored to be in this place at this time being an instrument in the
hands of the Lord. These mercies, are testimonies to me of God's love
for his children and for this work.
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| Isam's Famous Dinner |
Keep
smiling. I love you all.
Love,
Adelide Syster-Christensen
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