Käre Familj och Vänner,
Sweden is awesome!!!! We had our first snow-storm this week, and it made me so happy! Even though it's all gone now, it was super cool. I can't wait for the snowy part of winter to start out here. It gets really deep and thick here, just how I like it. The other cool thing is I know a bunch of vikings! Our bishopric out here are all Swedish, and look like vikings. They're really cool and fun people, and great at missionary work, and have the viking build: big hands, tall, muscular, light hair, eyebrow shelf, deeper voice. Our bishop invited one of our investigators to church this week. He showed up at this investigator's little shop with us, and after talking to him and getting to know him, the investigator says, "but I'm not sure I'll be coming back for a while." Our bishop responded with the phrase, "Kom igen," which means one of two things: Come again, or Come on (like you would say when you're impatient with your friend). He meant it as come again, and they both knew that, but my companion and I got a little scared hearing that. Then the bishop said that after church they could have a little snack and chat at his house, and he could bring his friends along too. Hasn't happened yet, but we're hopeful. The bishop is awesome.
We had a really successful week, even though a lot of people blew us off. Weekly planning really gets me pumped for the week, so when we did that, I got crazy excited, and we taught a bunch of street lessons, and the work got really busy. The key to missionary work is working the members. Without a member friend, it's hard to get investigators to church, but when they get there, they seem to get stuck. They love it and don't want to leave. Inactive members aren't too much different. The key is to get them a friend, but they don't feel as good in church, because they chose to leave, and might be denying it. Less-active members need the friend and invitation, and usually have really strong testimonies. As such, we've been focusing on the members lately, so... We go and teach a family the restoration lesson, really simple, read Alma 13:24 with them, ask them who can benefit from the message that they know, or who might be prepared by angels to receive it, then we do a role play with them. So my challenge to all of you who read this is to do the same. But then you need to follow through, and do it, then invite the missionaries to help you in the process of conversion.
We did splits on Wednesday, and I got put with an elder who came the transfer before me. Two greenies on splits in an area that I didn't know and the other one had never been in. It went great though. We taught two less active members, and one of them is really positive, and will probably start coming to church soon. I'm not sure about the other though. We also tracted into a family that was about to shut us out by saying, "We're catholic, and we have found Jesus," but right after that I asked her if she spoke Spanish. She said, "si, *Spanish words to say, 'do you speak Spanish?'*" and I said, no, but I can understand quite a bit since I grew up hearing a lot of it, and my dad served his mission in Guatemala. I asked her to bear her testimony of Jesus in Spanish, and she invited us in to talk with her family, turned out we didn't use any Spanish, but we taught them about the plan of salvation, and they really loved it, and would enjoy meeting again.
Eating is really easy here because the members really love making us lots of food, and then don't eat a lot, but since I'm skinny and the guys in my apartment know I can eat a lot, they always have me eat a bunch of food. The funniest is when I'm really full and feel like I'm going to burst and then they say, "Take more food! You could use a little more." They're probably trying to turn me into a viking as well, but it's awesome. I've gained more weight than I can publicly announce at this point, partly because I know it's a lot, and partially because our scale broke, so I'm not sure what I'm at now.
My favorite moment from this week was when we were talking to this old lady on the street yesterday (Sunday) and she said, I'm in a hurry, maybe later, and walked the direction we were going, so we followed and said, That's cool we're headed the same way, we wondered if you are religious? She looked at me, and said, Hold this. Handed me her groceries, and we walked her back to her apartment talking about the plan of salvation, the temple, and church, and invited her to come. She was really happy to see us, and it went really well for a lesson. In Moroni 7 it says that anything good comes because of Christ, that without him we could not receive any good thing, but would be lost and fallen forever. Therefore, we must seek to do good to follow Christ. Anything that invites others to follow Christ, promotes prayer, happiness, peace and love come from Christ, and should be acted upon immediately. Be courageous, be strong and firm, be happy, and be the good you want to see in other people. It's amazing how much a few words from a stranger can impact the life of a person. If it can impact a stranger, imagine how much it can do to an acquaintance, friend, or family member. You never know how much good you do, and you won't know how much you can do until you do it. The church is true, spread the light, and be happy! The field IS white, and all it needs is that little word before it is all harvested. Spread that little word. Christ lives and atoned for our sins, and that gives us hope. We aren't spreading the message of our church, we are all called to share the message of Love, for God is Love. I love you all, and know that the Lord will bless you as you let him.
Med Kärlek,
Äldste Liddle
No comments:
Post a Comment