I was on my sixth splits with Elder Callor during this week! We were in Malmö this time. We had a wonderful time proselyting and teaching together. We also went running during our morning exercise. We ran about 3.5 miles. 3.5 miles is the longest run either I or Elder Call or have done for at least 20 months. We started off briskly at our Davis Cross County pace but quickly noticed that that was taking more of a toll on us than it used to!! The run was fun, we were able to see Copenhagen, Denmark from the dock in Malmö! I learned a lot from being with Elder Callor and we had some great conversations. One thing that we discussed was prayer. Both of us agreed that prayer is one of the biggest keys to success in missionary work.
Church yesterday was uplifting! We had testimony meeting because of stake conference last week. Many of the members bore their testimony. I love this branch! The branch president and his wife here in Växjö are from England. I met them for the first time two weeks ago, and we were able to have lunch with them last Wednesday. They live in a little town outside of Växjö called Virserum. It was awesome to travel there and to see more of the beautiful Swedish forest along the way! We had a delicious taco buffet with them and even got to try a special English dessert called Knickerbocker Glory. It is made of fruit cocktail with ice cream topped with whipped cream and sprinkles. Quite glorious!
We ran to catch a lot of buses this week. On one of our runs, Elder Childs dropped his phone. The phone was fine, but once we were on the bus he realized that the stylist that fits inside of the phone (Elder Childs has a very advanced phone) had fallen out. We went back to where the phone was dropped at the end of the day and looked all over for the lost pen with our flashlights. We were about to give up, but right as we talked about quitting Elder Childs realized that he was pointing right at the pen with his light! It was such a cool feeling to see the pen laying in the wet grass and knowing that our efforts were worth it. I have drawn a few ties to missionary work from that experience.
We decided to have an exciting preparation day today and visit a castle near Växjö! The bus doesn't go out to the castle area very often, so we planned out our schedule so that we would have time to go and come back in time. We got there on the bus and walked up to the huge castle gate. It was locked!! It was open last time Elder Buckley and I visited the castle. The next bus wasn't coming for two hours so we walked for half an hour to another bus stop. It was disappointing to not see the castle but walk through Swedish wilderness was worth it! I hope that you all can see this place some day.
My personal studies have been very edifying for me recently. On Friday as I was studying about the Gospel of Jesus Christ in preparation for a lesson, I felt a quiet reminder that repentance is real! I was pondering some things that Elder De Feo taught us during his visit to our mission, one of them was that "power in missionary work increases as a missionary overcomes the world." How do we overcome the world? My study lead me to Mosiah 3:19 where we read that "the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." I am grateful for the "enticings of the Holy Spirit" that encourage all of us to become better. What a gift! I am grateful for all of my little siblings who show me what it means to be "as a child." I know that repentance is real and that it is possible because of the Atonement of Christ the Lord!
I love you all!
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