Day 139

Tjena Tjena!

I hope everyone had a great week! This week was great! I am continuing to grow physically and spiritually while I am out here and I love my mission so much!

On Tuesday, we were able to attend a funeral for an elderly man who had passed away. He was a really nice guy and a great member of the church. He actually helped construct the chapel here in Malmö. I really hate funerals. I just don't like death. But as much as I dislike funerals, this one was very peaceful. It was really cool to be able to witness it. The man's name was Emil. I never really got to know him very well, but most of the members knew him quite well. It was a very spiritual experience as member after member got up to share how great of a man Emil was and to bear their testimony about the gospel. I felt the spirit so strong. From what these members where sharing, it seemed like Emil was a very selfless man. He was always looking for ways to help others and bless others lives. That is something I really admire. His family is doing well. After the funeral, we were able to meet with Reza and Majeed. They are doing so well! They still haven't missed a week of church and they are continuing to read in Mormons Bok and to Pray. After people are baptized, the missionaries are supposed to reteach all the lessons to make sure they understand everything and to help them grasp the ideas better and learn more. We had planned to teach the Restoration, but as we started, they said they had a lot of questions they wanted answered. We were more than happy to answer them. We answered all of their questions (including polygamy). They funny thing is that these guys are so faithful that if polygamy was allowed, they would have accepted it haha. We also shared our testimonies about the importance of continuing to read and pray and feasting upon the words of Christ. I felt the spirit so strong as I bore my testimony of how the scriptures and prayer have helped me in my life and how I have stayed close to God. It made me think of something my dad shared with me concerning Lehi's dream. How the mist of darkness, which is temptation and trials, covers the wicked as well as those clinging to the rod. Also, the people that fell away had the iron rod right there in front of them. All they had to do was grab onto it.  I never have thought about it like that. but it is very true. We all experience trials and temptations. And if we are holding to the rod, we will become stronger as we learn important lessons from our trials and become stronger as we resist temptation. If we arent holding to the iron rod, or the word of God, we wont be able to endure those trials and come out a better person. We will fall into temptation. And it is so easy to hold on to the rod. Its right there. We just have to have the desire and the willpower to actually do something and to grab onto it. Our scriptures are right there infront of us. We just have to read. As we strive to keep the commandments and follow the word of God, we are blessed as we have the strength to resist temptation and to endure trials.

Wednesday, we had zone training. That is when all the missionaries in our zone come down to Malmö and we receive training from the zone leaders. It was so awesome to see everybody! And that is what most of my pictures are this week so sorry about that haha. But It was so fun to see all the other missionaries. I have gotten to know them all super well. But the training went well! We were taught about the importance of investigators keeping commitments. We were taught that it is so important that the people we teach do something on their own and strengthen their relationship with Gud themselves. They need to receive their own answer. After all, we as missionaries are just guides. We cannot force an answer on anyone and we can't convert people ourselves. In the end, it is all up to the person we are teaching to change. That is why commitments are important. We were taught that as we are helping investigators keep commitments, we are helping them repent. They are changing from their old ways and turning themselves to God. Something that I think is cool is that in Swedish, "repentance" and "conversion" is the same word. Omvändelse. And "to repent" is the same word as "to turn around" or to "reverse". Att omvända. As we repent, we really are converting ourselves again to the Lord. We are turning around from our old ways and changing our thoughts and perceptions. We are turning to Christ and continuing to live according to his gospel.

On Thursday, we had a really cool experience while talking to people. As we left that morning, we were set on talking to every single person we passed. And sure enough, the first man we talked to listened. We taught him about the restoration. Elder Sweat kind of took over the contact and I was just listening. That morning, I had prayed that I would be able to share my testimony to someone about the Book of Mormon on the street sometime during that day because we were having a hard time with contacts lately. But as Elder Sweat was teaching this man about the Restoration, and just as he pulled the Book of Mormon out of his backpack to talk about it, another man came up to Elder Sweat and I and started asking us questions. Elder Sweat handed me the Book of Mormon and told me to continue to teach this man while he talk to the other guy. So just like I prayed for, I was able to teach this man about the Book of Mormon and bear testimony of its truthfulness and how it has helped my life. I felt the spirit so strong as I promised this man this book would change his life and bring him closer to God than any other book. Both people we talked to were interested and wanted to learn more. We hope to continue to teach them. But i am so thankful my prayer was answered that day. Also, as we tried talking to everyone we passed, to our surprise everyone was super nice that day and gave us smiles and stuff. I am grateful for the friendliness that we were shown on that day. It felt good to not have everyone just pass by and say no.

Later that day, we had the opportunity to teach Bill. Bill is doing so well also! He too comes to church almost every week. His testimony is growing as he is striving to be the best he can be. We taught him about the restoration and tithing. He is struggling a little bit financially but has promised to pay his tithing first. It was an awesome lesson. Another member named Dennis was there and I felt the spirit so strong as Dennis shared his testimony about the gospel and the importance of continuing to read Mormons Bok and praying. It was a great lesson.

Bill and his girlfriend (who is also a member), Dorkas, invited us over to Dorkas's house for dinner on Saturday. It was so awesome as we ate dinner together and laughed and talked together. The sisters shared a spiritual message and it was really good. I think the night was so good for Bill. He told me the next day in church that he loved having us over so much.

So we have been really trying to find new people to teach lately. And on Sunday, I was sitting in sacrament meeting and felt like I should go outside to see if Bill was there, because a lot of times he will just sit out in the foyer during sacrament. So when I went out in the hall, there were not just one, but three African guys sitting out in the hall. So I greeted them and brought them translators to they could understand. Afterwords, we talked to them and their names where Stanley and Williams. Williams is a member of the church in Jönköping. He was visiting in Malmö and brought Stanley to church with him. Stanley told me that missionaries gave him a card awhile ago and he wanted to come visit. Williams brought him along and they both had a great time. Both of them made comments in Sunday school and in priesthood. I gave Stanley a Book of Mormon after church and he was super excited about it and he said he will read it and pray about it. I can tell he is going to be baptized. He has been in Sweden 4 months and is looking for a church. God led him to the right one. I am excited to start teaching him. I am thankful that God answered our prayers and has given us another person to teach and help them receive the restored gospel.

I am thankful for the time I have to be serving a mission. I know, without a doubt, that this gospel is true. It offers me hope, strength and happiness in everything that i do. I am so grateful for you all and for your thoughts and prayers. I love you all so much and you are in my prayers!

Have an amazing week!

MVH

Äldste Bailey