Jakobsberg Week 20 - July 2, 2018

Hälsningar från Sverige!

Did June feel short for anyone else? I can't believe it's July 2018! I hope that you are all doing well.

Each Tuesday evening, we have an activity at the church. This week, it was really well attended. Bishop Fhors gave a presentation about 'putting God first,' he is a really good public speaker. It was based on the scripture in Matthew 11:6. After the presentation, we played a fun Scandinavian game called kubb- look it up!

Jakobsberg Week 19 - June 25, 2018

Glad Midsommar! 

Elder Gordon and I got up at midnight on the longest day of the year, the plan was to take a picture of how bright it was outside. We ended up just looking out the window and then getting back to bed. But yes, it was light out at midnight!

This week was awesome! We have some great transfer goals set up and Elder Gordon and I are looking forward to the next six weeks.

Jakobsberg Week 18 - June 18, 2018

Hello!

Another great few days here in Sweden!

Most of the missionaries in the Stockholm and Stockholm South Zones planted flowers at the temple together on Thursday! I saw so many great friends and we had a great time catching up. I talked a ton to my MTC companion Elder Wayment, it is hard for both of us to believe that it was 11 months ago that we started this great adventure! The flowers at the temple ended up looking super nice. Our job as missionaries was just to plant the flowers, they had already been laid out in intricate patterns. I didn't realize that as I was placing each plant into the soil, it was after the job was done that I recognized that the patterns were there. This was an interesting insight into missionary work and life in general for me. 

Jakobsberg Week 17 - June 11, 2018

Hello! 

This week went by quickly as usual and lots of great things happened as usual!

Elder Gordon and I got to help clean the temple on Friday! We were there for about 3 hours. It was wonderful to be in the Lord's House again. They are doing some pretty big renovations inside and out, the Temple is well cared for! 

The ward had a "Grillfest" on Saturday. It was super fun! None of the missionaries knew that you were supposed to bring your own meat, but it didn't end up being a problem since 3 families brought extra "for the missionaries." The fest was on the lawn outside of the church and it felt like home! Two of our investigators, Simeon and Sajad, were able to come. 

Tracting lately has been really fun! We have been working closer to where we live and focusing on having better conversations with people. In the area we are currently working, there have been about 10 people that have been willing to have us come back and talk more with them. That is pretty unusual for both Elder Gordon and I! One cool conversation that we had was with a teenage boy who moved here with his family from China a few years ago. Somehow, we ended up showing him the "Mormon Beliefs" video about life after death. (You can see the video here.) At the end of the video, he was super excited and said, "it's 100% positive!" That was the most true thing I heard all week! The Plan of Salvation is 100% positive, and it was cool to see that even someone who is not a member of the Church recognized the happiness in God's great plan. 

Have a happy week!

Äldste Francis

Jakobsberg Week 16 - June 4, 2018

Hejsan! 

It was pretty hot again this week, unheard of for Sweden in May! There was a huge downpour tracting last night, it was a good relief from the sun. This week has been full of great experiences, being a missionary is the best!

Zone conference was this week. It was cool to see Elder Petersen again, it was strange having him there and not being his companion! It sounds like he is doing great up in Borlänge. Zone conference  is always a boost, my favorite part was when we discused the talk that Elder Renlund gave to Sweden a few weeks ago about doubt and faith.

Jakobsberg Week 15 - May 28, 2018

Hejsan!

Happy Swedish Mother's Day and Memorial Day!

I loved reading the email about the exciting week you had in Texas! I receive strength when I read about the amazing things that we are blessed with because of Papa's goodness. It sounds like the relative race is going well! I am excited to see all of the pictures and to here what everyone did. 

I am doing well here! Elder Gordon and I are very motivated to reach our transfer goals. We have goals for how many lessons we want to reach, potential investigators we want to receive, new investigators we want to get, how many people we want in sacrament meeting, and how many baptismal dates we want. I have set these types of goals for my whole mission, but this transfer Elder Gordon has shown me how to remember the goals we have throughout the 6 weeks. It has been really cool to see us making progress the last few weeks, we have been meeting weekly goals so far and it is empowering. I am really grateful for Elder Gordon, he is an answer to prayer. We both feel like exciting things are happening in Jakobsberg and in the Church in general. We are truly a part of the 'hastening' that the prophets have prophesied of for generations. I loved reading the email from you this week, our whole family is a part of the hastening! 

'The Lord is extending the Saints’ understanding, Restoring their judges and all as at first. The knowledge and power of God are expanding; The veil o’er the earth is beginning to burst.

Jakobsberg Week 14 - May 21, 2018

It's hot here! For May/mig, at least! The trees in front of the church were covered in blossoms for a few days and lots of people were taking pictures of them. I got one, too! It has been a fantastic week.

A few fun events...

We did service at a member's house, his name is Andre! We helped him load a trailer and got to hear about some of the cool songs he has written. 

On Wednesday, I went on splits with Elder Marineau again! It was fun to talk about Davis things. While we were tracting, we met two brothers that invited us back to tell them about the Restoration! Elder Gordon and I taught them the next day and they were really excited to read the Book of Mormon.