Haninge Weeks 15 and 16 - December 24th and 31st, 2018

These past two weeks have been huge! 

Do you remember Nathalie from Jakobsberg? She is a lady that Elder Gordon and I talked to on his last day there. We met her at a bus station and set up a time to give her a church tour. Elder Barney replaced Elder Gordon and we gave Nathalie the church tour on one of our first days together. I wrote this about the church tour in my weekly email home in August: "We tried to make it interesting, one of the things we did was play a hymn on the piano for her and and her two kids. At District Council right before the tour we had talked a lot about being bold, and Elder Barney and I had decided to ask Nathalie to be baptized during the tour as an act of boldness! We asked her, and while she didn't say 'yes' we were able to get a better grasp on the things we can teach her to help her progress. We met with her again on Saturday and have another lesson for tomorrow. Miracles happening here!" Elder Barney and I taught Nathalie at least twice a week during our transfer in Jakobsberg together, and she came to church every week. Nathalie has continued to progress over the past few months, and guess what happened?? She was baptized!! She became a member of the church on the Saturday before Christmas. 

Elder Burns and I have been praying for new people to teach, and we are seeing some miracles! One of them is named Reza. We met him on the way home from a member meal and he was so happy to talk to us! He came to church and seemed excited to become a part of the ward. He has lived in Sweden for 10 years but just recently got a job here in Stockholm so he says that he hasn't really found any friends yet. The church community is just what he needs! Another person that has been an answer to our prayers is Roman. He has been attending church for about the past two months but hasn't shown interest in anything other than coming to sacrament meeting. On Friday, Elder Burns and I had a lesson at the church but the man we were hoping to meet didn't show up. Roman texted us right then and said that he was close to the church and wondered if we could meet him. Of course, Roman! We ended up having a really good conversation and Roman asked a ton of questions that show his growing curiosity and interest. It was awesome. To top it off, he gave us a ride home in his cool Range Rover so that we didn't have to wait for the bus.

The week before Christmas, I was on splits with Elder Bills! We have developed a great friendship, this is our third transfer of being in the same district. Elder Bill is a hilarious, hard working missionary. We had two lessons set up for the splits and even had members coming to both lessons. Both of the members came to the lessons, and both of the people we were hoping to teach didn't show up. It was disappointing, but Elder Bills had a great idea! We ended up doing "role plays" with the members instead. It was great because we were able to get helpful Swedish tips, practice teaching, and build stronger member relationships. One of the members even posted a picture of us on SnapChat and invited his friends to call us if they wanted to learn more about God! See screenshot below.

Haninge Week 14 - December 17, 2018

God Jul!

Christmas is upon us! I absolutely love this time of year in Sweden. Some snow came during the week, and that made it seem like the season was here for real. One difference between Christmas here and Christmas in America is that everyone seems to like white lights. In America, there are so many houses with colorful Christmas lights. Here, most people have white lights and stars and candles in the windows, So so beautiful! Sometimes I feel like I'm walking around in an Ikea magazine.

One of these is of a wooden bird. It is a fairly common door knocker here, you pull the string at the bottom and the woodpecker knocks on the door.

On Tuesday evening, we had dinner with the bishop in the Handen ward. During planning, Elder Burns and I had planned to be near his house before the dinner so that we could do some finding work there. As we were there in what we thought was the area of his house, we looked up the travel to his house so that we would know how long we had to find. To our surprise, Google Maps said that his house was a half hour away. We were confused but didn't know the area very well so we trusted Google. On the bus ride to the dinner, we met the coolest guy! His name is Daniel. 

Haninge Week 13 - December 10, 2018

 Hello!

This week was so good. Here are a few quick highlights!

Amir was baptized on Saturday! He was extremely happy to "äntligen bli medlem," and I've never seem him smile so much. Amir was contacted by my MTC companion, Elder Wayment, and Elder Burns' MTC companion, Elder Youngberg, sometime in June. A few months ago! He has had a long, patient journey and was finally able to enter the waters of baptism on Saturday. I'm not sure I've ever loved someone I've taught more than I love Amir! He is so pure and has so much faith. His baptism was well attended and it seems like the ward will take good care of him.

About two months ago on splits, Elder Bills and I tracted into a young adult named Cody. We talked with him for a few minutes and ended up inviting him to read the testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith. I had unfortunately forgotten about Cody until Elder Bills asked about him on our most recent splits. During this last week, we were in Cody's area and I had the thought that we could invite him to the ward Christmas concert. We had been inviting people we talked to. We invited him, and guess what? He came!!!!! He had a great experience and even reconnected with some member friends. He told us that before Elder Bills and I had come and knocked on his door two months ago he had prayed for guidance from God. He became "more spiritual" a few years ago and claims that out of all of the religions he know, his friends who are members of this church actually practice what they preach. He says that in high school he always felt good going to their houses because it was "relaxing. They weren't trying to sell me anything." Cody says that he wants to learn more about the church! It's a miracle!

Well, this ended up being kind of short but I'll close with a thought. Lately, I have been having the thought "look for the good." When I have that thought, I try to think back to the things that have happened during the day and remember all of the good experiences. There are good things everyday! People that we were able to meet because we were somewhere at just the right time, members that we were able to lift, funny things that happened. 

There are good things every single day! It's been good for me to recognize that. Unfortunately, it's too easy to forget that good happens if we don't make a conscious effort to remember it. I know that the Lord Jesus Christ directs His work. There are many things from this week that are recorded in my journal, and I will share them with you someday, but I'm sorry we are short on time! Miracles are happening! Have a great week of December!

Love,

Äldste Francis

Haninge Week 12 - December 3, 2018

-Elder Butler! (Elder Olaveson's companion right now). Just det! Transfer calls came. I'll be staying here in Haninge (yay!) which means that I'll be in splits with Elder Butler sometime in the next transfer. 

Happy December!

I'm hoping hard for a white Christmas here in Stockholm, we'll see what happens! So far, we've had a few snow showers but they end up turning into rain showers... It's a little different from Boden last year, I read in my journal a few days ago that it was -23C at this time of year! Haninge is so awesome, though, the snow hasn't come yet but it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! 

On splits with Elder Olaveson

I was on splits with one of the zone leaders, Elder Olaveson, on Tuesday of this week! We had a great time together. During planning, we set up some creative goals for the day. We decided to try and find two specifically looking people as we were out finding: a lady in her 50s who was wearing pink and a man in his late 20s with longer dark hair. We found both of them! Hopefully the lady will begin learning more about the church. We were able to get her contact information, and it sounds like there is a member in Elder Olaveson's area that could be a great fellowshipper.

Haninge Week 11 - November 26, 2018

My last email was only a few days ago, last Wednesday! Elder Burns and I have had a wonderful past few days and some unforgettable experiences. 

Thanksgiving was great! We were blessed to have two Thanksgiving feasts. The first was with a Canadian and his Swedish wife, they had invited us and another couple over (the wife is American). It was great to eat turkey and stuffing and cheesy beans together. We were invited to come over to the Vendelsö bishop's house the next day and enjoyed more Thanksgiving foods including sweet potatoes with marshmallows. Although there were few here in Stockholm celebrating this happy holiday, many of our friends expressed to us that Thanksgiving is a holiday Sweden should adopt. It is wonderful to have a day dedicated to being thankful. 

Our good friend Isabelle was baptized on Saturday! It was an amazing amazing experience. It seemed uncertain that the baptism would go through up until the last few hours, and I thank Heavenly Father that it was able to happen. As I witnessed the baptism, the thoughts going through my head centered around how pure Isabelle looked as she covenanted to keep the commandments and to take upon herself the name of Jesus Christ. I can't think of a more beautiful symbol than that of dressing in white and being immersed in water. No wonder this is the way that God has provided for us to begin our journey on the covenant path back to Him.  

I have recently been studying about the names of Jesus Christ. Numerous conference talks in the most recent General Conference focused on taking upon us His name, and I find it fascinating that Jesus Christ has so many different titles. Each title represents another role that He fills, and I think that each title reveals for us another aspect of us taking his name upon us. One of the names I have been pondering is Prince of Peace. I love this name of the Savior, and I think that it is a fitting title. I love the peace that I testify Jesus Christ can provide for us. I've felt it as I have had questions regarding my faith, day to day struggles in missionary life, and as I've studied from the scriptures. 

I love you all!

Äldste Francis

Haninge Week 10 - November 19, 2018

Hello! Preparation day on Wednesday! Elder Burns and I attended the temple today, so our p-day is today!

We had the most amazing zone conference last week on Wednesday. One of my favorite parts was when the assistants gave a presentation about how we can make our personal studies more meaningful. "PMG is the key!" and "don't just count the pages, make the pages count!" were specific messages that I needed to hear and have tried to apply since the conference. I wish that I could just give all of you my notes from zone conference, it was so uplifting! Unfortunately, the file somehow got deleted from off of my phone... I've been trying to remember everything I had written down over the past few days. Oh well. One other cool part of zone conference was that Elder Burns, the elders from Hägersten (Elders Lance and Fortuna), and I were in charge of the musical number! We performed, "Savior, Redeemer of my Soul." It worked out pretty well, I felt the Spirit and I hope that the other listeners did as well. 

Zone conference was held here in the Handen chapel, and right after we ended a man we didn't recognize walked in. Around 10 missionaries were in the foyer talking, and all of us somehow sensed that he wanted a tour. Elder Burns and I started showing him around with the Assistants and the Visby elders. It ended up being a really, really neat conversation where we were able to teach about prayer. It was powerful to be teaching with six elders, especially after such an uplifting zone conference. I think that a person being taught by six others would have normally felt overwhelmed, but it seemed like Heavenly Father had prompted this man to come to the church when he did so that he could have the unique experience that he did. We have his address and will be following up soon! After conference, I was able to go on splits with Elder Bills again! We had a great time going around Haninge and ministering to our syskon who live here. 

Haninge Week 9 - November 12, 2018

Hello!

We have had the most interesting weather this whole week, the sky always looks like it wants to rain but the clouds never quite open up! It has been fun to remember how this time of year feels in Sweden.

We have had some great experiences with the recent converts in Vendelsö and Handen! On Thursday, we were able to teach Eddy about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Elder Burns and I decided to use a Bible video for teaching each point of the Gospel: faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, enduring to the end. It was neat to discuss each point and then see a clip from Jesus' life where he taught or emulated it. When talking about repentance, we watched the video Go and Sin No More where Jesus is confronted with the woman accused of adultery. It was amazing to watch and to remember that the Savior is always willing to show compassion. He understands that we are imperfect yet also that we can improve and become more like him! I encourage you to watch the clip.

Haninge Week 8 - November 5, 2018

Beautiful week! We went running and found a cool trail through a forest close to our house. The municipality we live in, Haninge, is quite close to central Stockholm yet there are forest and nature reserves everywhere. This area was used by the Swedish military for practice exercises, thus much of the forest was left untouched and is still here in Haninge today. 

We had our one District Council of the transfer where all three areas come together in person! It is so fun to be with the district. A large part of our council this week was learning more about the #ettLjusförvärlden (#LightTheWorld) initiative from the Church which begins in December. It will be so exciting to participate in and especially helpful in missionary work, there are some really great resources coming out for us to use. After the council, I was on splits with Elder Shwitters! He is from California/Idaho. This is his last transfer here in Sweden. (That is so strange because that means that a previous companion of mine, Elder Petersen, is also leaving in a few short weeks). It was fun to talk to Elder Shwitters and to do missionary work together. 

Haninge Week 7 - October 29, 2018

This is going to be a little short, sorry! It was an awesome week, though!

I dropped off Elder Hansen at the train station on Wednesday. It always feels strange to be alone, I waited there for about an hour for Elder Burns. Luckily, our ward mission leader happened to be there for part of the time and I was on splits with him!

Haninge Week 6 - October 22, 2018

This is it! The last week of the first transfer in Haninge. Helt galen, jag vet!

On Tuesday, Elder Hansen and I were on the bus to visit Johnny and Birgitta (a couple we are teaching) when we saw one of the members in the Handen Ward! She was on her way to visit one of her ministering sisters and needed help getting her walker off of the bus and walking to the house. It was a tender mercy that we were there and able to help her. We ended up meeting the lady she was visiting and got to see one of the coolest cats ever at the house! It's called a Norwegian Bush Cat or something like that, you can see how huge and fluffy it is in the picture below.

Haninge Week 5 - October 15, 2018

Hello! Another week is gone!

It warmed up a little this week, we'll see what happens in the coming days! I'm not quite sure how Autumn is already here and well on it's way. The weather reminds me of the days in Boden last year... Time has truly gone too quickly over the past 15 months!

Elder Hansen and I had some great experiences with unplanned service opportunities this week! The first one was on Friday. We biked past three little kids raking leaves and decided to help. Their dad came out after a few minutes and seemed a little confused at first. We ended up having the coolest conversation with him. He said that he was 100% never going to become a Christian at the beginning of the samtal but by the end it was 99.99%! Swedes are such wonderful people, this dad decided to stop his high paying job at Coca-Cola to become a fireman and do something he felt was a service to society. He is also very involved with Scouterna (Swedish Scouts) and was happy to hear that both Elder Hansen and I are Boy Scouts as well! He is closer to becoming Christian than he thinks. 

Haninge Week 4 - October 8, 2018

Hello!

The first big event of this week was zone conference! We traveled down to the Gubbängen chapel and were able to learn about some great new ways for us to improve as missionaries. One of my favorite parts was when Sister Youngberg had a turn to teach us. She told us about a District Conference that she and President were able to attend up in Umeå. Elder Massimo de Feo of the Seventy was at the conference and had three messages: 1) Remember the first great commandment before exercising the second, 2) Bless people, every one, every moment, in every way, 3) In order to minister in a holier way, be holier ministers. Sister Youngberg did a great job of connecting Elder de Feo's messages to missionary work. Zone conference is the best. At the end of each conference, the missionaries headed home at the end of the transfer all bear their testimonies. It is powerful to see, it's also strange that elders and sisters that I feel close to are on their way to the next chapter of life!

Haninge Week 3 - October 1, 2018

This week was so cool! 

We were able to teach one of our friends named Heli on Monday, and we felt like we should show her the Christlike attributes video that I mentioned last week. As Heli watched it, she started crying and we were able to explain and testify for her that the feeling she had was the Holy Ghost whispering to her. It was an uplifting experience, and Heli came to church yesterday! 

We were also able to meet a new friend named Jonathon this week! We had planned on meeting him at 4 pm but he was at the wrong train station. He eventually arrived but had to wait at the member's house until we were able to be there to teach him. While he was there waiting, the members were able to teach him a ton of the first and second lessons, by the time we got there we pretty much just testified of Joseph Smith and clarified what the Book of Mormon was!

Haninge Week 2 - September 24, 2018

Hello from Haninge! The Work of the Lord moves forward in South Stockholm...

On Tuesday, I was talking to a nice older lady on the bus. The conversation was okay, and towards the end of the bus ride I noticed another nice older lady staring at me. As Elder Hansen and I got off and were walking away from the bus stop, I felt like we should talk to the lady who had been staring at me. We turned around and headed back to the bus stop and found her waiting for another bus. We started talking to her and found out that her name is Linnea, she had talked to missionaries before, and that they had invited her to the church but she had never gone. We asked if she would be able to come to the church sometime, and she said yes! We got her number and called to remind her on Friday. Yesterday, she came to sacrament meeting with two friends! A cool part of the story is that a member who was on his way to church saw them waiting at the bus stop and felt prompted to invite them to church without knowing that they were already on their way! He sat next to them during the meeting and said that at the end one of the ladies said that the talks during sacrament meeting were exactly what she needed to hear. Hopefully we will be able to teach Linnea and her two friends this week.

Haninge Week 1 - September 17, 2018

Elder Hansen and Elder Francis

Not being in Jakobsberg feels strange! But Haninge is awesome, I already love this place! It's pretty small geographically yet we cover two huge wards (Handen and Vendelsö). Elder Hansen and I attended both of their sacrament meetings yesterday, we were at the church until 4 pm! The building is one of the newest in Sweden, it was completed around two years ago and the chapel looks a lot like the one way back home in Kaysville, Utah. Both of the wards are pretty big, around 120 to 150 members attend Handen each week and around 100 come to Vendelsö. I had the chance to meet a lot of them at church yesterday and I am so excited to get to know them better! There are quite a few families with young kids in the wards, I look forward to the primary programs coming up soon!

Our beautiful chapel

We saw a deer!

Jakobsberg Week 30 - September 10, 2018

Hello!

My final week here in Jakobsberg... So strange! I have lived here for around 7 months now and Stockholm honestly feels like home. I couldn't have asked for a better last week here, I saw so many people and places that I can't ever forget! 

One of the coolest parts of the week was that William, Mason, Mason's mother, Nathalie, and Michal all came to church! These are people that Elder Barney and I have been teaching, I felt so blessed to see them one last time yesterday. It's interesting being a missionary, strangers that you talk to on the street or at the door become such close friends! 

Jakobsberg Week 29 - September 3, 2018

This is a picture of Elder Barney and I in front of a tree, it was taken by the priest in the Swedish Church who we are teaching. We have become good friends with him, he always offers us delicious apples off of one of his many trees. 

Hello!

Well, here begins the story of Jakobsberg Week 29! 

Elder Barney and I received a Book of Mormon request about a month ago. In reality, we should have contacted the person the week we got the request. We hadn't forgotten about it, we just got busy with other things. Anyway, we were able to set up a time to meet the lady that requested the Book of Mormon. We delivered it on Tuesday and gave her the "21 Day Book of Mormon Challenge." It is a challenge happening right now in Europe, basically trying to get people to read from the Book of Mormon each day for 21 days. I encourage all of you to take the challenge, you can see it here. Anyways, we extended the challenge to the lady and it was so sweet to testify to her of this testament of Jesus Christ. She listened intently to what we said, I hope that she follows through with the commitment.

Jakobsberg Week 28 - August 27, 2018

Hello!

We had zone conference on Tuesday! It was a great training, so many great things were talked about and discussed and I felt like each one was directed to me! One of the focuses this transfer will be the Restoration, and President Youngberg had part of the zone conference be about the Prophet Joseph Smith and his role in the restoration of Jesus Christ's original church. I feel like my testimony of Joseph Smith as a prophet has really been strengthened the past few months!! One thing I have been doing that has strengthened that testimony is reading from the new book being published by the Church called Saints. There has been a new chapter from the book in the Liahona each month, and I have loved reading the story of the restoration in the way presented by the new book. It is incredible! I encourage you all to go through it, you can learn more and read it on this link. 

Elder Gordon came to Jakobsberg for splits! It was great to be together again. One cool thing that happened was that on the last house we knocked at the end of the day on Tuesday, we had a super good conversation with a man and his daughter and they said that we could come back sometime! We also got to eat dinner at Ikea with Antonio and Alejandra, it felt just like the good ole days! 

Jakobsberg Week 27 - August 20, 2018

Hej!

This was an awesome week! Elder Barney and I were able to teach quite a few people and set up some return appointments! Pretty fun. We also lead the discussion in Elders Quorum. The topic was the talk from the April 2018 General Conference titled, "Am I a Child of God?" Studying that talk in preparation for the discussion laid the foundation for a really solid week, I felt empowered remembering the divine identity that we share as children of Heavenly Father. We also had interviews with President Youngberg, that is always uplifting! Sorry for this short summary!

I hope that you are all doing well!

This is a picture from the video on lds.org about Sister Reyna Aburto, part 3. Look at the shirts of the dad and son! 

Love,

Äldste Francis

 

Sweden is beautiful!! One of the best parts of the day is the morning run, there are some majestic places around where we live in Stäket.