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This week was actually pretty hard and slow but still super good! We worked our rumpor off and haven’t seen too much success. But we are happy! We know as we continue to work hard, the Lord will bless us. We know that because we have seen it. Sometimes the Lord waits until we have reached our extremity before he blesses us. When he walked on the sea to the rescue the apostles, he waited until the "fourth watch", which meant between 3:00 and 6:00 in the morning. The apostles had been rowing all night against a contrary wind. He waited all night to come, but he came. I know that the miracles and blessings of the Lord come, but sometimes not until the fourth watch. The Lord will bless us in his own way and in his own time. We just need to put our trust in him and keep on rowing.
It is getting darker and colder here, but nowhere near what it is going to be in the middle of winter. I am preparing myself. I actually like the cold so this country is a good place for me, I guess. We had some amazing experiences this week! I love being a missionary! I don't have as much time this week, so I will try to write a few of the experiences that happened this week!
On Tuesday, we had planned to meet with Fredrik, the 14 year old boy who came to conference. About an hour before he was going to meet us, he called us and told us that he wouldn't be able to come and wouldn't be able to meet all week because he was going out of town with his family. That was kind of a bummer. So I asked him over the phone if he was able to read the chapter in the Book of Mormon we gave him. He said he didn't. I got even more bummed. But then he said that he did pray. And I asked him how it went. He told us that he really felt like there was someone there who was listening and who loved him. It was so awesome! He told us that he feels like he got his answer that Heavenly Father really is there and that he loves him. We were so happy! We told him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon as well. I am so grateful that God answered that boy's prayer. I love my Heavenly Father so much and I am so thankful for prayer and the connection to God that it provides. I would be nowhere without prayer. I have such a great relationship with my Heavenly Father because of prayer. If you don't feel like you have a personal relationship with God or that he doesn't listen, talk to him! I know he is there and that he loves and listens to each and every one of us.
On Thursday, we had district meeting in a city called Gävle. It was a really good meeting. Afterwords, we usually go to lunch as a district for about an hour. Instead, this time a member in the Gävle ward wanted to teach all the missionaries kung fu, haha. So we used our lunch hour and had a kung fu lesson. It was actually super fun! We all paired off and he taught us a bunch of fighting stuff. I actually like fighting a lot, haha. Anyways, we had a lot of fun with it and laughed a lot which was much needed. At the end, the guy teaching us set up a giant sparring tourney where we all fought each other until there was one left. Guess who won? Your boy, Äldste Bailey ;) I got to spar with the guy teaching us and he kicked my butt, haha, but it was super fun. Afterwords, he shared with us the amazing story of his life and conversion. This guy had a crazy life! But he told us how he found the missionaries and was really against them and being baptized, but eventually he received his answer. His overall message to us was to keep going, and if he can be baptized, anyone can.
This week, we were able to meet with a man from Africa named Paul. He has been in Sweden for 2 months and has been studying as a student at the university here. This man is prepared. When we found him on the street, we taught him about the Book of Mormon and he asked us to pray for him on right then and there. We said a prayer right there in the middle of the street and the spirit was so strong! He took a Book of Mormon and said he would meet up with us another time. We were able to meet with him twice this week. We met him for the first time on Wednesday. The lesson went so good! It was basically us answering his questions. He had a lot. He has been visiting a lot of other churches. He said he had been to all the churches in his country (Nigeria), but has never come across our church. I assured him that our church was in Nigeria but he just didn't recognize the name. He said his biggest reason for this spiritual search was that he wanted to find God. He believed in God but didn't feel like he knew him. We promised him that he can have a relationship with God. But it will take work and some faith. You can't get to know someone without talking to them. And it also takes time to build a relationship with someone. He is willing to try and give our message a chance. He also really liked the idea of the Plan of Happiness. He was really upset about his grandparents who never even heard about Jesus. He was also troubled with the idea of Hell and eternal punishment. As we explained the Plan of Salvation a little bit, a smile began to show on his face and the spirit definitely became stronger. He promised to pray. He hadn't prayed in years. Then we met him on Saturday and it was such an amazing lesson!! He told us that he really did feel good when he prayed. We testified to him that those feelings were the Holy Ghost testifying to him that God is there and that He loves him. In this lesson, we taught Paul the Restoration. He loved the message and showed up with his Book of Mormon in hand. And during the lesson, he was just looking down at his Book of Mormon and he was holding it backwards and I was wondering why he was just staring at the back. Then he looked up and pointed to the church logo on the back of the book and said, "Is this you guys?" and we told him it was. Then he said, "I know this church. I walked by it almost everyday on my way to work. You guys built a library for little kids in my village and I really like that." He just had the biggest smile and expressed his thankfulness for our church and what they did for the kids of his village. How they now have somewhere to read and study and he kept saying how he liked that we go out of our way to serve others. It was the coolest feeling to see him make that connection. He can't speak Swedish and the wording is a little different on our tags and I wouldn't expect him to recognize the font size of the logo. So when he saw it in English, he made that connection and it was so cool to see. The spirit really entered his countenance and he was a lot happier. I am really thankful for the church and the humanitarian work we do. It really does bless lives and lead others to the gospel. Paul ended up coming to church on Sunday and he really loved it! We are hoping to get a baptismal date with him this week! The sisters are actually have an investigator who is getting baptized his week who is from Africa as well. They met at church and they are already great friends! We are hoping to have Paul at the baptism so he can feel the amazing spirit that will be there.
Well, I am about out of time. I want you all to know I am doing well and loving my mission. I am so grateful to be a representative of my Savior Jesus Christ. I love Him and know that He lives! Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.
Hi! So great to hear that even during a down week you still works hard. You are so right that the Lord will do things in his own time. So cool you had the chance to try Kung fu, I am so jealous! I will pray about Paul and hope he finds his way! keep up the awesome work!
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