Week 64 It's Always Bigger in Goteborg

Morning Exersize, check out the shirt. Thanks MARY!!

Hallå eller?!

This week has been a huge weeks of ups and downs. Sometimes things just have to be set to the side and other things have to get done. And sometimes investigators do what you know that they should and other times they definitely do not. I think that one of the biggest points in life though is just to learn how to move forward and try to work  around what you have been given. It was a really good week though with a lot of miracles.

On monday we went and played volley ball with most people in the Götreborg area which is like 16 people or so. It is super cool to get to know some of these people a little more and to work with them. These are some of the most inspiring people that I have met in my life and I think the thing that I have learned the most in the past couple of weeks is just that people always have something to teach you and some of the most valuable lessons are the ones that we can learn from the people that we are with all of the time. 

recently baptized member Elaheh

Så I will tell you the worst and coolest experience that happened this week. So Emmanuel who is an incredible guy and super cool investigator just dropped contact with him right before a big institute activity that we had been working to get him to. We didnt know what was up and so he just didnt show up for that and we couldnt get ahold of him. Then the next day there was a couple from South America that came to the church and we went to see what was going on and they are from Panama and are some really cool people but they had no place to stay and had come a long way to get where they were. The bishop was out of town and they asked us to ring around to find them a place to sleep... So we did and fed them and about 5 hours later got a place for them to sleep. Then we had to get a ride to the place and it just seemed like everything was working against us. So Elder Brown and I didnt have the most fantastic day, however. On Sunday, we had Emmanuel that got back in contact with us and came to church!! As well as two other investigators that just showed up out of the blue! It was amazing to be able to show them what happens on Sundays and the meeting was exactly what we needed and what they needed as well. It was so cool. 

After church, Emmanuel said that he felt a feeling that he had never felt before there and that he felt like he was free. Like the life that we have can actually change and it can be the life that we want it to be. It was one of the more speciall moments while I have been out here. We are working with him right now to be baptized at the beginning of Oktober. I have decided that the absolut coolest thing that we can be a part of is helping other people to feel and recognize that God is there. That is why missionary work is so amazing and why people love it so much.

elder brown och jag

I also went on splits twice this week, one in Västra Frölunda with Äldste Adams who has been out for just a couple of weeks. It was really cool to go out with someone really young in the mission again and there is always so much that you can learn from them!! Also went with the other elders in Utby and I was with Elder Nillsson who is in the same group as Elder Adams and so it was a little extra studying this week but it was a lot of fun! The work is moving forward quickly in this part of the world as well as everywhere else. The trick is to just jump on board and do it. Try to give someone you know a Book of Mormon or just talk with them about it. It can change their life and it will change yours as well. 

I hope that everyone has a fantastic week and thank you for the support it means the world!!

Gud var med er tills vi möts igen

Äldste Israelsen

1. Morning Exersize, check out the shirt. Thanks MARY!!

2. elder brown och jag

3. recently baptized member Elaheh :)

Week 65 Rainy Göteborg, Stellar Zone Conference, Splits and Just Knock

Fmailjen Ludwig och couple from Panama

Tjena!!

How is everyone doing?? Everything is going amazing here in rainy Göteborg... but seriously it is super rainy here and it is the first time I think I have used an umbrella in probably my whole life.. I guess it is one thing when you can go home and dry off and another when you are out all day so staying kind of dry should be a priority. We had a stellar week with Zone Conference and fast Sunday and splits in Borås. The week went by so fast I thought i just wrote this letter yesterday when we were in the church last week to write. But the work is definitely moving forward and we are seeing that all over the west coast of Sweden. 

On Monday we got the opportunity to eat dinner with the Ludwig family who have the couple from Panama staying at their house!! They are going to stay for a little while longer to try and fix some things here and then I think their plan is to move here at some point. They just had some problems with money when they got to Sweden because the system is way different here so it has been tough for themm to make the banks cooperate and everything else. But it was really nice to be there and broder Ludwig was one of the first missionaries to be moved into east Germany when the wall came down so we were able to learn some of those stories from him and they were super cool. 

splits with borås

I have to tell you a few miracles this week and the first is the miracle of members. This week, we have been able to find interested families through the members of the ward. One family just told us to knock on the neighbors door because they had been talking and discussing with them for a little while now and so we did and they were curious about us and what we did and what the church stands for. so we will be back this next week to answer some questions and see what happens from there!! Then on Thursday we only had about a half hour before we had to be at another appointment but we had felt very strongly all day just to knock the doors that are right next to the member that we live with and we had done it before but no one was there. We knocked and on the second door we had found someone that did have a lot of questions just because they had lived so close and watched the Gerund family and he wanted to sit and talk. We were there for about a half hour and taught him the restoration and answered some questions about the family and what our church stood for and why we were there. So its amazing to see the influence that members have even when they might not even know it. So look around to your neightbors and make sure that you are en example and think about ways to start a conversation because the influence that you have is a lot bigger than you think. 

The next miracle on the week was with Emmanuel. We came to his house to have a lesson and he was just having a terrible day. I dont think he was feeling super good and people were being really rude so I dont think he was in the mood to talk so I just thought that maybe we should just leave him with something short and take it another day. But, there was something that told me just to go with the lesson that we had planned which was the restoration of the church. We ended up outside because the room we normally use was taken and we just kind of went for it. The spirit was so strong and by the end of it when we told him about Joseph Smith and everything his eyes lit up and his whole dimeanor changed. He was so happy and he told us that he could feel something that he couldnt describe but that it was the coolest feeling that he has ever had. When we were able to tell him that it was the Holy Ghost it was just one of the best moments on my mission so far. In his prayer at the end he said "jag tycker att... nej jag tror eller jag vet att vad de har sagt är sann." or "I think that.. no I believe or.. I know that what they have said is true." Super cool and we are so excited for his progression and we will see where everything goes. 

Universum last Pday

We also had a day that the assistants were supposed to come for workovers but it didnt work out that day so we had a day set up for 4 missionaries and now we just had 2... so with a little rearanging and divine intervention we were able to teach everyone and get everything done that was needed in preperation for Zone Konferens the next day. I would say that day in and of itself was a miracle I dont know how we managed it actually. And the conference was really good we had a member of the district presidency in Norrland Hokam Palm come and give us a presentation about missionary work in Sweden and what has happened and give us a little motivation and it totally worked!! We are all super jazzed about getting up and going thsi next transfer. 

From there I went on Splits with Borås with Äldste Blackburn which was really cool we got to do a lot of finding work and had a lot of success doing that. We found a couple of younger swedes that have had a tough time in life the past couple of months that have been looking for something and we gave them a book of Mormon and said that we would love to teach them. It went super well and Äldste Blackburn is a fantastic missionary and he has been in Sweden for about 2 transfers from California who is also a swimmer!! So that companionship went well. :)

Church was great becasue it was fast and testimony meeting and we found two new people that are interested in the church because they came!! Best place to find investigators is in the church that is for sure. 

We have had a stellar week and I am glad to hear everyone is doing well. Thank you for all that you do and all of the letters that I get!! I am working on responding to them :)

Älskar er!!

Äldste Israelsen

1. Universum last Pday

2. Fmailjen Ludwig och couple from Panama

3.  splits with borås