a d e l i d e : c u in 1 month.

The bitter winds are already rollin' in again. Summer is over! It has been cold and rainy for the past two weeks and I unfortunately got rid of a lot of my tights and fall clothes, thinking that I wouldn't need them before I came home. But I think I'll just tough it out with what I’ve got!

us in sundsvall

The work the past couple of weeks has been hard. It has been hard to get in contact with everyone that we used to meet - especially with summer ending and school and jobs starting up again. Everyone has been so busy! Ashti is our most progressing investigator and he is so awesome. But this week especially, we have really been focusing on finding. It has been nice to go out on the streets and contact because so many students have moved back in and there are a million people here now. I love talking to students because they are pretty open about religion. We have really been praying to find a family or young people who could start building the ward up here. We have one family and then the cutest couple- Pontus and Kele who just got married two months ago- but besides that, it is just a lot of oldies! (who are all awesome but we are a bit worried for the future generations!) We have been teaching a lot of first lessons- but it’s hard to get people to continue to meet with us on a regular basis. But we know there is someone prepared out there!

Ashti

This week we went on splits in Sundsvall- which is a beautiful city. I was with Sister Barton who is from my group and also went to Olympus! Her dad is the calculus teacher at Oly. We had a fun and busy day together. The city of Sundsvall is between two mountains and big river that runs right through the middle. It is so gorgeous. I am grateful that we were able to go up there and see the work that is going on up there as well.

Kele

We also had a meeting with Elder and Sister Teixiera from the Seventy. I was asked along with three other missionaries to be interviewed by him. I was really excited but it was actually kind of scary! He asked me some questions and I had a camera right in my face! I was being filmed and the questions were hard to answer on the spot! But it was also a cool experience. He and his wife are both from Portugal. They both did an awesome job and I learned a lot from them. He gave us some new ideas for contacting which we have been using and we have had a lot of positive feedback!

President and Syster Beckstrand and Elder and Sister Teixeira

The worst part of the week is that Sister Anderson and I discovered that we both know who 'Miranda Sings' is and so we have been talking like Miranda all week long. It is so hilarious but it's so hard to be serious with people because we can't stop talking like her. This week we were invited over for dinner by the sweetest couple... and we offered to give Monica, the wife, a foot massage because she gave all of the women one for Relief Society a couple months ago and never got one in return.

with Syster Coombs

So she is laying on a bed with a blanket over her and she put on some calming yoga music and it was dead silent and Sister Anderson and I were just sitting there rubbing her feet and we got the giggles so bad. We totally ruined the experience for her because we could not stop laughing. We were just staring at each other making Miranda faces and it was SO FUNNY. We tried not making eye contact but no matter what we couldn't hold it in hahahaha it was bad but soo funny.

Last night after visiting another member in the hospital who had a heart attack, the Elders called President Beckstrand and asked if we could come into Stockholm and sleep in the mission home because we were cleaning the Stockholm temple early this morning. He said it would be fine so we all ran home and booked it to the train station and took a train into Stockholm. We slept over in the mission home and it was so much fun! The Beckstrands are the sweetest, most down to earth people. They just made us feel right at home. We were picked up by the Tolley's this morning and have spent the whole day cleaning the temple! It was a very cool experience. The temple is so beautiful. Then we went back to the Tolleys for lunch :) WE ARE SO BLESSED and so well taken care of which I am so grateful for.

This week I have kind of had a hard time focusing in my studies. I want to learn something new but I don't really know what to study- so I have just been reading in the Book of Mormon. I have been reading in Alma for a long time- trying to get through the war chapters, but one day this week I read Alma 48 and I love what it says about Moroni. It says he prepared the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord, he was a strong and mighty man, he was a man of perfect understanding (knowledgeable), whose soul delighted in the liberty and freedom of his country and his bretheren from bondage and slavery. His heart swelled with thanksgiving to God, he worked hard for the welfare and safety of his people, and he was firm in the faith of Christ. And I love verse 17: "Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men." I thought that this was so powerful. That if we were to be like Moroni- the devil would have no power over our hearts.

SISTER SARA SANDELIN!!!

Although that was a simple thing to read- it helped me a lot this week to really try to be more like Moroni and know that when we teach others about the gospel, are grateful ALWAYS for what God has given us, and follow in the foot steps of our Savior, we will be able to stand strong and know who we are and what our purpose is here on Earth. Satan will have no power over us.

rainy and cold

It's been a long but good week. Congrats to Meisha and Sam! I am so happy for them. I hope you all enjoy being back in school and that you remember that I. LOVE. YOU. Thank you for YOUR love and insights which help me grow and push me to be better.