Week 27-Member Support, Swedish, Blomberg Service, Blowing Rain and People Placed in Your Path

Hejsann allihopa!!

This week has been super cool!! I think that the work is beginning to go a different way here on Gotland beseech the past couple of weeks we have had investigators drop us but then we are blessed in being able to find other people that we are able to teach it has been really cool to see. I have been very grateful for the fact that we have the members that we have here on this island. They are so supportive of the missionary effort and are all ready to jump in and I think we have been a little weary about trying to use the members because it is a sacrifice for them but they have said that they love it and will jump at every opportunity that they can. It is just amazing to see how passionate they are about the gospel and are willing to share that with the other people in their life.

One of the really sad parts of the week was when we tried to see Lucia which is a big cultural Swedish party thing and on Gotland it is particularly good in this huge church. We figured that we would go check it out and it started at 7. Being the good missionaries, we tried to proselyte all we could until about 15 minutes before which meant that the church was apparently super full and no one else could go in... Sweden 1 Äldste Israelsen (as a trainer) 0. Haha so that was disappointing but we did find out where we will be for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! We have Christmas eve with Kerstin and Ragna. One of them is a member from Germany and the other is one of the 2 that were just baptized and she is excited about us coming. We call her mormor (grandma) because that is what she is to us honestly haha. We are going to be able to skype from her computer as well which was really relieving to find out.

It has been a really cool experience training and seeing this area change and grow. I have seen that the Lord really does help those that are called because my Swedish has gotten better along with my comprehension when people talk to me which is really nice because sometimes on this island even Swedes have to just smile and pretend like they know what is going on haha. We were able to do some more service with the Blombergs this week because they are still trying to make their house ready to sell. They have been a huge strength to the branch so it will be hard to see them go but we love to give as much service as we can and we hope that they are able to benefit from it. The weirdest thing right now is the fact that there is no snow. Because we are on an island, the temperature stays mild and there is too much wind to help the snow. So, instead, we have blowing rain which is almost as cool as the snow haha. But it is totally ok because we have the car until the senior couple comes which we hope is the beginning of January but I guess we will find out exactly when.

Hey Jake!  I don't think Tebowing is a Thing Anymore???

We hope to have at least one baptismal date this week because we have a few people who are right there and really interested so we would appreciate a few prayers to try to help them get over what they are nervous about and accept those blessings in their lives. We are super excited for this week though and how it will turn out. The weeks are flying by and I feel like we don't have enough hours in the day to get everything done but somehow it all works out and for that I am really grateful.

One miracle for the week. We met this guy named January at a members house and talked to him. Saw him a week later and asked if we could come and teach him. He said he would love that and we found out that he would only be here until the middle of January. So the only contact with the church is on this island and we were able to meet with him and he loves everything we have been talking about and it seems like it is something that he has been searching for in his own life. I have a testimony that the Lord can put in our path those that are ready and they may only have a limited time frame so I also know that if we feel the need to act we NEED to act so that we can see those miracles happen around us.. so that we can be the hands of God.

Also I would like to report that I got a haircut from a Swedish Frisör and not my companion or myself... actually I tried little while ago and the trimmer died right when I started so I had this kind of really weird spot on the side of my head... I have heard you aren't a missionary until you have some sort of story like that right? Haha I just want to say I love you all and I love hearing from you!!

med kärlek,

Äldste Israelsen

oi! Vi också hade en fäst den har veckan och hade julgröt och det ser ganske otäck ut men det smaka ju bra faktist! Jag älskar er! ni kan kolla på bliden nedsan.