Oh, How Swede It Is!: Glad Pask pa er!

Letter sent March 28, 2016:

Easter in Stockholm

Hejsan allihopa!

This past week was amazing and so busy. We had a zone conference on Tuesday which was incredible as always. We combined zones with norreland so I got to see Syster Davis! That was super fun and good and she said one of the prayers during the meeting and it was so fun to hear her Swedish since I haven't heard it since the MTC. President and Syster Beckstrand talked to us about developing a personal relationship with the Savior. And how the Savior can give us energy. President told us that if we aren't happy or satisfied with our days and work, it's because we aren't being diligent enough. I think that's true and I also think that it applies to everyone, not just missionaries. If you aren't satisfied with how the gospel is working for you in your life, you probably aren't being diligent enough in your daily scripture reading, praying, or church attendance. We can always do more and as we do more we're able to come closer to the Savior and strengthen our relationship with Him. Then at the very end of the conference they tied it all back into the Easter initiative and how we have hope through Christ that we can live with our families forever and how that's what we're spreading with everyone right now. Then they started this slideshow video of all the missionaries in our zone's pictures of their families. Maybe you knew about this? Basically literally everyone was sobbing. lol and then they just wrecked us even more and we sang families can be together forever as the closing psalm and maybe like 6 people managed sing. Haha it was so good. Conferences are so good and energizing.

On Thursday we went on splits with the Gubbängen sisters. Syster Haikkola came to Jakobsberg to be with me. She is technically in my group but she already spoke swedish when she came to the MTC so she left after 2 weeks and came earlier to Sweden. She's from Finland and is just darling. We had so much fun together and taught super well together and it was really just a good experience.

With Syster Haikkola on splits

On Saturday we had a little missionary activity that Elder Richardson and our zone leaders organized. A bunch of us got invited to go to Stockholm and they were making waffles at the YSA center and then tons of missionaries went out and told people that they could get free waffles to celebrate Easter and then there were missionaries inside the center that would eat and talk and teach the people in. Basically at the begining nobody really thought it would be that successful but you've just got to change it up sometimes but it turned out to be super legit! SO many people came in and so many lessons were taught in just a couple hours.

Then Saturday night we went to Ekerö (an island in our area that we hardly ever go to because it takes like 1 hr 45 min to travel to) and had dinner with the Engstöms. The kids were so adorable, I was dying. The mom, Jasmine, speaks Danish, English, and Swedish. So the kids know all those languages for the most part. The littlest one, Benjamin, is 3 years old and he was impossible to understand. Just imagine trying to decipher baby language in a different language that is possibly Swedish and possibly Danish. Possibly a combination. It was soo stinking cute. The oldest boy, Tobias, is super super smart at math and was teaching me all these math tricks which was just so satisfying and fun.

Yesterday in church we did our missionary musical number. It I Know that My Redeemer Lives. Everyone was so happy about it. Which made me super happy because, don't tell the other missionaries, but it didn't sound all that good. Haha noone is really a fab singer. Just dece. Everyone was like, "Where did you find that arrangement?? I've never heard something like that." Basically I think they were anticipating us just to sing and play a hymn straight out of the hymn book. I was like, the internet, people. Search it up on the google. That was clearly an unheard of idea. They're still working on technology skills. Then we had a riktig easter dinner with the Nilsson's after church with lamb. Lars read us some poems that he wrote and they were actually so good. He is an old man of many talents. He's the one that was in the Olympics for bobsledding and was a professional boxer. Turns out he was also a super good artist and now he writes poems. They are a darling couple.

We taught Emilliano a few times this week. He is soo good. I wish you could meet him. When we taught him about the Word of Wisdom he told us that he drinks tea but then he was like, "That's such a small sacrifice to come closer to God." Like, okay. Yes. If only everyone could have that mentality; members and non-members alike. He tells us this church is true all the time and that he just feels it more and more as he comes to church and reads the book of mormon. Right now, he is wanting to be baptized on the 16th next month. And guys, his prayers are out of this world amazing. There's no such thing as a bad prayer, blah blah blah. But you all know that some people just say super eloquent and bomb prayers. Emilliano. He does that. And he's only 15! After one of our lessons last week the bishop was like, Wow. that prayer was amazing. So sincere.

Have I told you how obsessed with Jakobsberg I am? I love it. Ise passed the sacrament last week!! That was super exciting!

Yes, we celebrate Easter here. Yes, we had daylight saving yesterday (the way you get destroyed and lose an hour of sleep). Easter was sooo cute here!! I will send pictures of the Easter trees. Adorable. They don't have plastic eggs here...but they have these gigantic carboardish eggs that they stuff full of godis (swedish candy).

Love love love.

Syster May