Week 60 Volleyball Tournament, Transferred to Göteborg with the Sing Songy Accent!

Running in the Mornings by the river :) (by the way it is 6:30 in the morning)

Hejsan!!

Först och främst, I need to apologize for the lack of an email last week we had some very serious volleyball tournaments to take care of. No but really, the whole zone came down to play volleyball in Umeå so we were running around taking care of that!! Also, Äldste Kapp and I totally won... in our hearts anyways. We set up on two beach volleyball courts that were super nice right by the lake and played tournaments of 4 and then by companionship and it actually went super well. It rained a little bit but other than that it was super fun. Our zone is definitely filled with some of the best and most inspiring people that I have met and that is one of the coolest things about being on a mission surrounded by some of the best people that the world has to offer. It really is an amazing experience and I have learned so much in the past 3 months in this Zone.

Volleyball Tournament

We had some really fun experiences this week as well as some amazing miracles that we have been a part of. We had the opportunity to have a service project and some lunch with the Carlsson family and that was a blast. They make amazing food and then we got to pick weeds in their grass and it reminded me of my summer picking dandelions when I was 14 but for some reason it was a lot worse then than it is now :) In that same day we were on splits with the elders in Sundsvall and we taught a woman named Flora who is here in Umeå to study. We contacted here just last week and talked to her about the Book of Mormon and why we were there and this was the second time we met. She told us that it was really hard for her to read the Book of Mormon because the rest of her family wouldn't put it down.... that is a bad problem to have (so we gave her another one). But we had a really powerful lesson about the gospel of Jesus Christ and what He has done for us and then we invited her to be baptized on the 12th of September and she accepted!! She is really wanting to prepare herself to take that step and her testimony of the Book of Mormon has been growing and it is so cool to see.

Service at the carlssons

We also are continuing to teach Catherine who is a friend of a less active named Niels. He is in a wheelchair and was paralyzed in an accident but burns for the gospel and we met her through him. She is also in a wheelchair and they are two of the most sarcastic/amazing people and examples in my life. We have really bonded with both of them and we taught about the Plan of Salvation with her. It was super simple and the spirit was really strong. She wants to have the same joy and happiness that she sees and has when we come over and that she sees Niels have. She is preparing herself to be baptized in September as well!! It is absolutely amazing to see the successes of people wanting nothing more that to come closer to God and being happier in life. That is all the gospel is about being happy and coming close to God. I have learned recently that you really cant have one without the other and that they go hand in hand.

I love this area and the people here and the work of the Lord, I know that it is His work and all we have to do is try to be instruments in His hands and He will take care of the rest. Sadly we got transfer calls and I am leaving Umeå and the great white North/never ending light. But I am going down to Göteborg to a place called Utby!! It is a town right outside of Göteborg and I am super excited to go there and see what happens. They speak more sing songy there and I want to pick that accent up down there. I am excited to see where it goes and Elder Kapp and Elder Featherstone are going to take care of Umeå and will do a fantastic job. I am excited to see where everything takes me and the adventures on the West coast!!

Ha en bra vecka!
Äldste Israelsen

1. Volleyball tounament!
2.running in the Mornings by the river :) (by the way it is 6:30 in the morning)
3.service at the carlssons
4. splits with elder James (smöret means "the butter"... its a preschool...?)