Vecka 56, Plane is Becoming Gotland Boat, Three Month Book of Mormon Challenge

HEJ!!!

This week has been an absolute organized mess! haha We had the opportunity to go down to Stockholm again on Monday for a mission leadership council meeting on Tuesday. I feel like that plane is becoming my new Gotland Boat and I am not sure how excited I am about that haha. We are in Stockholm a whole lot but I love MLC I feel like we really pull things from it that help us in our own missionary work and help us to help our zone to become better missionaries as well. The main focus that we put on MLC this time was consecration and the Book of Mormon. Just knowing that we have been called to come and to preach the gospel should be enough motivation to be consecrated missionaries but sometimes we need a little extra reminder. It was an amazing training just on the Book of Mormon and how it can be better used. The thing that I really took from it was the burning testimonies of our forefathers of the Book of Mormon and how that was the basis of their knowledge and sometimes I think we forget that about our own testimonies. So we have been challenged to do the same thing that we have asked our investigators to do so much and that is to read the Book of Mormon and to find out for themselves. If they can be in the habit of reading the Book of Mormon every day there will not be anything that can sway them whether that be addiction, temptation, tragedy, hardships they will always have that strong foundation and we can have the same thing. It was a really strong training and we have loved the things that we have been able to apply during the week in our own area.

We also had Zone training this week and a bunch of people to teach so we didn't get a whole lot of sleep haha but it was a fantastic week. Its a good problem to have. But everyone came in from Zone training and we wanted to convey our testimonies of the Book of Mormon and to help them to amp up their motivation as well. The missionary work here in Sweden has gotten a lot better and the missionaries that have been coming in are really ready to take the work here to the next level. The training was focused on how we can be consecrated and to go higher and to reach the next level that our heavenly father knows that we can reach. That is what this whole life is about in reality it is to go a little farther and reach a little higher. Become uncomfortable so that we can increase our comfort zone and I am so thankful for that opportunity.

We have been blessed with a lot of success recently and in the last week. We have 5 people that have accepted a baptismal date and are ready to really search for their answer and we are really excited to be working with them on their own journey to the path that they want to be on and that their Heavenly Father wants to see them on. We had an investigator that we called to set up an appointment with and she asked if we were looking for an apartment (and we have for the past few months but it is really hard to find anywhere in Sweden) She said that she would help us look and we thanked her and set up a time we had only seen her once before. After 20 minutes she gave us a call and had an apartment that was just put on the market and got us there to look at it the next morning. We now have that apartment so she is just a miracle lady and we are really grateful for her and to be working with her and her husband to make their goals in the next couple of months. We love the work right now and we are trying to sit in the things that we need to do with being away from the area about 1 or 2 days of the week. It is fun to be able to work with all of these missionaries in the zone and to see them step it up and to make me want to do the same. The missionary work here in Sweden has never been this good in terms of missionaries, obedience, or even just success and we are so excited going forward. God is really actually hastening His own work but it is just up to us if we are willing to jump on the train or not.... SO JUMP ON THE TRAIN!

One thing that I have learned recently is the importance of spending time with people and just going that extra mile. We have a less active that has been through a ton in his life and we had the opportunity just to go by and to bring him some ice cream and talk with him. Not gonna lie before my mission I probably wouldn't think of doing something like that but the power of just showing someone that you care and spending a half hour with them means the world and can make the difference in peoples lives. Thats what home teaching is all about, it is giving us the opportunity to do that with certain people and to make sure that THEIR needs are met. A chance to forget our own needs and help some other people meet their needs and wants. Think of a person that needs exactly that. Make the difference for someone else thats the best feeling you can have.

These next 3 months we have given the branch a challenge to read the book of Mormon over again. To take the next little amount of time and read and focus on the Book of Mormon. I would give the same challenge to whoever reading this email. Take the next 3 months and read the book of Mormon through (about 3 chapters a day) and see the difference that it will make. We have been promised that this book will bring us closer to God than any other book on the face of the planet... thats a strong promise so test it and see what happens in the next 3 months. I know that it has helped me so much in my life and I know that IT IS TRUE and will bring more happiness than we can even imagine.

Have a fantastic week!!!