Happy Thanksgiving!
Another great week! Here we go...
We had dinner with the Näslunds on Monday evening! It was spaghetti with bacon chunks in it. We then made a 'member mission plan' with the Näslunds. President Näslund drove us back to our apartment and on the way we were able to visit a less active member in the branch with him! President Näslund is such a great man.
Bus contacting has been one of the hardest things for me to get used to, but Elder Harris and I set a goal to be better at it. On the way back to Boden from Luleå one day, I tried to start talking to a man sitting near me but he kind of just ignored me. I decided not to feel awkward about it and just try another person. Just then, one of our investigators (Gonzalo) walked on to the bus! It was a tender mercy for me! I was able to talk to him instead. Three days later, Elder Harris and I were back on the bus again and the same investigator got on again! I know that when we just try to do things that seem hard to do and show our faith, the Lord blesses us with tender mercies! We taught Gonzalo on Friday and invited him to be baptized. He says he needs to call his mom in Cuba so that she can talk to their preacher about it. That makes Elder Harris and I really... excited. Please keep Gonzalo in your prayers!
On Tuesday, we attended a Self Reliance class in the library with a few members from the Luleå branch that live in Boden. Elder Harris and I are excited about the class because there are a few nonmembers there and it will be a great opportunity to introduce them to the church and to strengthen our relationship with the members. We also taught a new investigator named Noo on Tuesday! She is from Thailand and is so kind. We gave her a Thai Book of Mormon and she has been reading it this week!
I finally had a lesson with our investigator named Jakob! The first two times we had appointments set up with him, I ended up being in Skellefteå and Elder Harris taught him with one of the Skellefteå elders. The lesson on the Plan of Salvation went well and we were able to have it with the Dahlqvist family. Jakob texted us the next day and said that he is more convinced that this is true every time we meet! That made Elder Harris and I pretty happy and we both hope and pray that he continues to progress.
Thanksgiving day was snowy! We were allowed a two hour dinner since it was Thanksgiving. The feast inclued a turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin cookies, and pie with the systers in Luleå. I am so thankful for so many things! I am thankful for my companion, for my Mama and Papa, for my 9 wonderful, kind, hansom/beautiful siblings, America, Sweden, my grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles and friends and most importantly for Jesus the Christ.
I AM SO HAPPY THAT I AM RELATED TO ALL OF THESE PEOPLE! THANK YOU MAMA AND PAPA FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU ALWAYS DO FOR OUR FAMILY! THE GOSPEL IS TRUE AND IT BLESSES FAMILIES! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU ALL AT CHRISTMAS! PLEASE HAVE A HUGE GROUP HUG FOR ME! I MISS YOU ALL SO MUCH!
I was able to finish the Book of Mormon in Swedish on Saturday evening. This is a project that I started way back in March when I received a mission call to Sweden. I was about 75% completed when I entered the MTC, but ever since then it has been hard to have time to read! I finally finished, though! It has been so cool to see my Swedish progress. When I first started reading, I was able to pick out a few words that I learned as I went: och, uppteckning, fartyg, hustru, and a few other random words. As I have spend the past few weeks finishing it, I have been amazed to see that I can understand almost all of what I read. As I finished Mormons Bok, I received again a spiritually powerful witness that the ancient record, translated by Joseph Smith, Jr. by the 'gift and power of God,' is true. Jag vittnar att Mormons Bok är sann, och därför att den är sann Jesus Kristus är världens Frälsare och Jesu Kristi Kyrka av Sista Dagars Heliga är Guds rike på jorden. Jag är tacksam for kunskapen jag har om Mormons Bok och att jag har möjligheten att dela med mig av det varje dag som en missionär.
Äldste Francis
Note from Aldste Harris: Well, Äldste Francis has officially been my longest companion now. I want to start off by saying him I love him. He has such good standards and goals, he's a hard worker, really funny, very forgiving, and I can tell he loves me too. We laugh a lot, it feels like we are best friends. It's an honor to serve with him.
No comments:
Post a Comment