Vecka 57 To Stockholm for Specialized Training, 7 Hour Drive to Stockholm and Then Back to Umeå

Elder Kapp och jag

Wow,

I am not sure how much more we can possibly shove into a week but I think we are going to try and beat it this upcoming week. Life has just been fantastic and very spiritual as well over this week. On Monday we had the pleasure of having almost everyone in the Zone come down for a specialized training again even though we had one for the other week. It wasn't super easy to find housing for all of the sisters and stuff the elders in the apartments up here in Umeå but it happened!! Thanks to the amazing members here in the ward everything worked out in the end. The specialized zone training was just a review basically of everything that President Beckstrand has been trying to emphasize recently and then it was a family home evening with the zone. We were able to sit down and get to know each other a little better and then get to ask them a bunch of questions just about their lives. The purpose was to have them more accessible which was needed. Apparently we are the 7th largest geographical mission in the world which just means there is a lot of ground to cover and you can feel a little isolated sometimes so it was pretty incredible to be able to hear all of their stories and how they really have applied the gospel in their lives.

Åsa made us dinner at the church!! Super ridiculously nice of her!!

After that training I had the pleasure of going down to Stockholm in a car that needed to be traded in so from Umeå to Stockholm was a 7 hour drive and I did that with elders Featherstone and Noso... I was on splits with Elder Noso in the office in Täby the next day. So on Wednesday I renewed my visa and was asked a bunch of questions about that. While we were there I talked to this lady that was actually from New York but had lived in Sweden for 34 years but still wasnt comfortable in Swedish. So we spoke and she would throw some swedish words in their and she still had a very thick New York kind of gangster accent and she would just randomly put Swedish words into the sentence for example, "man , I dont wanna take care of those, they are INOMHUS CATS!" She would just yell this and I could barely stop myself  from laughing because it sounded so out of place. But in the end we gave her a Book of Mormon so I hope she gets an opportunity to read it.

Literally right outside of our apartment

Back in the office we ran to different places teaching quite a few people actually. I love being with elder Noso his testimony just shines through and he loves teaching and talking to everyone. We knocked on one door the whole day and it happened to be a finnish lady so they started speaking finnish and for those of you who have heard finnish you know my pain haha. It was still a fantastic opportunity and I learned a lot from being with him. The next day Elder Featherstone and I drove whats called the "man van" ( a giant van to help us to move our apartments) back up to Umeå.. another 7 hours back up. Then we moved all of our stuff out of our old apartment into the new one. Still trying to move in while teaching lessons and being normal missionaries but sometimes that isnt as easy as it sounds. We got it done though thanks to Elder and Sister Delgado the senior couple in Ö-Vik they are fantastic and we could not have done it without them.

The days following were just as crazy but fun we have a couple of new investigators to add to the list this week and it is just so cool to see them progress and to see them start at a place that they know that there is no God to reading in the scriptures and parying everyday and the difference is huge its absolutely amazing. Everyone is still doing well. some of them are coming along slower than others but they are coming and we just feel that everything is going really well here in Umeå we have been incredibly blessed with the things that we have to do and the people that we are able to affect.

One miracle that was really cool this week was that we met with a less active member. He has had troubles smoking and had a tough life in general. We have been meeting with him and he decided the other day that he is going to stop smoking and get back on the path that he knows is right. We were able to give him a blessing to help him and the spirit was super strong and it helped me to know that it really doesnt matter what we have done in the past or who we are but who we want to become. Those changes are the most amazing and the most rewarding when everything is said and done. So set those goals for the person you want to become and then figure out how to get there it just takes a step you dont have to be perfect. God doesnt expect immediate perfection he expects immediate progress. I know that is true for me in my own life and in the lives of the people around me and I am so priveledged to be a part of these people changing their lives.

Älskar er! Ha en utomordentlig bra vecka!!

Äldste Israelsen

P.s. Keep reading the Book of Mormon!!!