Day 55

Hej Hej!

Hello everyone! This week was full of ups and downs! I'm not gonna lie, its been a really hard first two week here in Sweden, but I am doing great! I'm pretty homesick but I love it here! It is so pretty! I don't get to see anything foresty because I am in the middle of the city but the city is so cool and beautiful! It is really old, which makes it look pretty sweet (but there are also some pretty ghetto parts too haha). We are also in the area by the beach. You can see Denmark from where I am! it's so cool! 

My Swedish is coming along alright. I am in a region called Skåne (Scona) and they speak a dialect called Skånska (Sconish). It is the hardest dialect is Sweden to understand. So I am trying my best to learn it haha. 

There is not too much to tell about this week. Tuesday, we taught a less active named Alex who is a pathological liar. Haha he is really funny. But he speaks swedish which is good because I was able to practice teaching the restoration in Swedish and it really helped! I struggled teaching it but that's okay because I am getting better! I was able to understand a lot more this week! But Alex told us this week (every week is different) that he stole secret information about the US from President Obama's facebook page and gave it to Iran. He said the FBI is after him and he is top on the Most Wanted list. He is a great guy with a great testimony. 

Wednesday was not so good because every single person we had an appointment with canceled on us. So we did a lot of talking to people on the street. This week a lot more people listened to us! I am not the biggest fan of stopping some random person on the street and talking to them about religion (when most people here aren't religious at all) in a language I dont know very well. The scariest part is not knowing what they are saying back haha. 

Thursday, I went on splits with the Zone Leaders. We are already really close with them because we live across the street from them and do most things together. We work in the same ward. I went with Elder Sheldon and it was so cool! He has been out 21 months and he is the most amazing teacher and is so receptive to the spirit. It was such a blessing to spend 24 hours with him and learn from him. We taught an investigator named Diego and I was able to recite the first vision in Swedish and it was so amazing! I felt the spirit so strong! Then Elder Sheldon thought to stop by a less active who hadn't been to church in like 10 years who lived right by diego. We knocked on his door and waited a while. We were about to leave when David opened the door and invited us in. He was really happy to see us and gave us drinks and cinnamon rolls and kept asking if there was anything else we needed. Elder Sheldon was really surprised because he said that this guy hasnt opened his door for months. But when we sat down and talked, David said he knew that we came for a reason. He said he has really been struggling and he just divorced his wife and his job isnt going well. He said he has been thinking about God and church a lot lately and how he needed comfort and guidance in his life. We taught him a lesson and he invited us back tonight actually, but sadly I am not Elder Sheldon's companion so I wont be going back. But it was so amazing to see that miracle happen! That night we stopped a guy on the street and found that he was super high or drunk or something. We told him in swedish that we were missionaries and were from the Church. Then he started swearing at us and stuff in english. Then all of a sudden he calmed down and laughed and reached out to shake my hand so I did then he started to suck on my knuckle hahaha. This guy was nuts. I wanted to punch him but that's not what missionaries do. We gave him a card and got outta there haha. 

Sunday we were able to meet with Bill, one of our investigators. He is from Libya. His girlfriend is a member of our ward and he has come to church the past two weeks. We were able to sit down with him the 3rd hour of church and talk about baptism. He said he knows it is right and he wants guidance in his life. I told him the gift of the Holy Ghost will give him that. He said he wants to be baptized but he needs to feel that it is the right thing to do and he wants to know more about the church. We set a baptismal date for March 28!!! We are going to work towards that date and hopefully he will be ready! He is sooo awesome and an amazing guy! I felt the spirit so strong as I testified that it is the right thing to do and he will be blessed tremendously for it. 

I am running low on time so I have to wrap this up. But I love it here in Malmö so much!!! I love being a missionary! It is really hard, but it is so worth it. I have growth so much both temporally and spiritually. My testimony has been strengthened so much and I have just been strengthened as a person. I love this church and this gospel and my Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you for all your support and love and prayers!! I love you all!!!! 

Love, 

Äldste Alex Bailey