Örebroooo

HI HI HI.... 

First of all- I forgot to say so many things last week and I feel so bad!! HAPPY GRADUATION FOR HENRY! (sorry that was a little late -_-) I canNOT believe he is off to the MTC in three weeks. That is unreal. I am so excited for him to go and experience mission life!! But when I really think about it, I am so sad that we will not be seeing each other for three and a half years. So I will just try hard to not think about it. :) Also-- Happy Birthday to Jake and Jeni and Camille and Laura and Nana! I hope I didn't miss anyone... And last but not least HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to my favorite Daddin. I love you so so much. 

This week has been an adventure! It has also been very long because of the transfer. I got all packed up on Tuesday night and my suitcases were SO heavy and HUGE. hahaha I just collect more and more as I travel around.. but I did leave some things behind that I have had and worn every week for the past 15 months. They were all well-used :). Emi and I spent our last night together doing a little party which consisted of playing 'don't let the balloon touch the ground' with the light up balloons that mom sent me for Valentines day. We laughed and laughed and laughed. We had so much fun in those six weeks and it was sad to say goodbye but we were both so happy and grateful that we WERE ABLE to be with each other for six weeks. We never thought it would happen! It was a blessing to have her- she came at the right time and really helped me love Katrineholm more. PLUS I am the STL over her so I will see her at Sister Meetings and I can go on splits with her! yay. 

Goodbye to Emi and Katrineholm!

Wednesday was so stressful! hahaha I am sure that I made it a lot more stressful than it needed to be but I was so nervous about taking my big bags on the train by myself, getting them off, dragging them to another train and getting them on and off again. The transfer wasn't long- maybe an hour and a half - but my heart was racing the whole time and I just kept praying and praying that everything would work out. And it did. A nice old man helped me find a place to set my suitcases on the first train. When I got off of that train, the lady next to me grabbed my other bag and smiled at me and helped me off. And as I went underground to find my next spår (track?), a man from Syria who had just moved here two weeks ago, offered to help me pull my bags up the big hill. I was so so grateful. GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS. I couldn't have done it without those wonderful people. They were blessings to me. 

I made it to ÖREBRO!! When I came here on splits last month, I immediately fell in love with the city. AND before transfer calls were made, I had a feeling that I would come here and when President called, it felt so perfect. 

When I arrived, I felt like I was home. I have only been here for about five days and I just absolutely LOVE it! I love the people and feel like I already know them. They are so welcoming and friendly and funny. I love the cobble stone streets and the shops and the tall buildings. Its beautiful. I love our church building- it's white with a red roof like the church in Halmstad! 

all four missionaries. Elder Held is from Denmark and so he says my last name how it should really be said hahaha

The work here is SO different than anything I have ever experienced. We don't even have time to go tracting! And we hardly have time to contact people along the way because we are always running from one lesson or activity to another! It is unreal. It feels like I am doing something wrong because the work has never been like this for me! Haha. Change is always weird and different but we need change. My mission has really taught me to be comfortable with it- which is good because life is always changing. And we as people are always changing. 

AAAANNNDDD- Last but not least... I LOVE MY COMPANION. Sister Lowe is my twin. We have the weirdest things in common and she reminds me SO much of my mamma. I am so happy to be with her for the next five weeks. She goes home on July 24th. -- We work hard and have so much fun. 

This week was the high school graduation so we got to see the kids drive around in tractors again. I remember watching it a year ago in Kristianstad with Sister Swenson... it's pretty hilarious and a fun tradition but also sad- EVERYONE drinks and smokes. Some of the guys put beer in a squirt gun and sprayed it on everyone... we ran for our lives hahaha. 

We contacted a guy named Miguel on my first day here. He is from Columbia and we met with him the next day. He said that he had met missionaries before and that they brought him and his parents to see the temple and told him about Joseph Smith. He is very positive and he said that he would really like to know if this is true. We set up an appointment to meet with him twice this week! Our other investigators are awesome and I am excited to work with them. The Elders had a baptism on Saturday! His name is John and he is from Pakistan. He reminded me a lot of Shakeel and he bore the sweetest testimony at the end. He was just so grateful and happy to become a member. It was pretty cute.

Yesterday at church, I bore my testimony in sacrament meeting and introduced myself. I talked about how I decided to serve a mission. How I thought and prayed about it but that it wasn't until I decided that a mission was NOT for me- that I got my answer. I think it is interesting that God answers our prayers this way- most of the time. He wants US to act. To weigh out the options and then to choose. And once we make our decision it will either feel right or wrong. Once I told dad that I did not want to go- I couldn't stop thinking about it and knew that I really did need to go. 

I then shared the story of filling out my papers and how I knew that I was going to serve in Sweden. I ran into the kitchen and said "dad, I think I am going to serve in Sweden." It just felt right and it was :). I talked about being the 7th generation to serve here and about Peter Forsgren. 

Peter Forsgren

Afterwards, so many people came up to me and talked to me about it. They thought it was amazing. One man, who is the Stake Patriarch, came up and told me that when he visited Salt Lake he stayed at Bob Forsgren’s house! Well, that is my guess. He said he doesn't remember the first name but that it was a Forsgren from Peter's side. It's a small world. Other members came up and told me different stories about Peter and John Forsgren. It was awesome and made me feel so connected to these people. 

4 generations of Swedish Missionaries: Bob Forsgren, Reed Forsgren Christensen, Douglas Forsgren Christensen and Adelide

I am so grateful to be here. It feels too good to be true. Really! I keep thinking that I am going to get a call to transfer soon because I feel too blessed to be here. But I mostly so happy that I get to work here. I love this work. I see miracles everyday and answers to my prayers everyday that remind me that the gospel is true. That remind me of why I am here and of what this message can do for so many. We have an awesome week planned and I am excited for MIDSOMMAR! 

I love you all. Thank you for your letters and love and support every week. It means the world to me. Emailing and hearing about your wonderful life never gets old. I look forward to it every week. BE HAPPY. xoxo 

Syster Lowe LOVES meat!!

bye bye bye
Adleidelioloui.

P.S. Please tell henry and lillie thank you and PAPA he is the best letter writer! And I dont have time to write handwriittten this week--- sryryyy we are so busy- seriously the work is unreal! There is a gluten free crepe place here and so many shopping malls and a vegetarian buffet etc etc its so fun and today we are going shopping so i might get some shirts if that is okay i promise i wont go crazy. :))))))) We are also going to ikea! Fun. OKAY BYESJÖLKJSFLLÖÖ