Hope that all is well in Zion! I don't have a ton of time today but this week was super busy! We traveled a lot for splits and then we had District (Stake) Conference on Saturday and Sunday. We had to take care of all the missionaries in Norrland those two days so they consisted of shuttling them out to the island we live on a couple times and then some others to the other Elders' apartment and also taking them and picking them up from the train station and all that jazz. Yeah it was a ton of driving. I let Elder Luke drive cause he loves driving and I just controlled the music and danced in the passenger seat the whole time ;)
Speaking of Elder Luke, transfer calls came this week! Elder Luke will be transferring to a city called Jönköping (good luck pronouncing that one). I am going to miss Elder Luke. He is a super good missionary and I learned a lot from him and a lot about myself as well. I have grown a lot since being with him. I know he will kill it down there in Jönköping! I will be receiving Elder Olson from down south! Elder Olson is super cool and I am excited to work with him! I don't know him super well, but he was an office Elder here for awhile and I talked to him every now and then. He is a stud and it is going to be a great transfer! Elder Jones will also be getting Elder Carrigan's son, Elder Gergitz. We are ready to tackle another transfer here in Umeå!! I honestly love it here so much!
This week we were able to meet with a new investigator named Shahin. He is from Iran and is Christian. He is super awesome and funny hahaha. He has lived here in Sweden for over 20 years and has been going to multiple different churches over the years. About a week ago as we were walking down the street, he said hi to us right before we were going to stop him. So we still stopped him and he said "You want to talk about Jesus Christ don't you?" We told him that we did and he got a huge smile on his face. This guy loves Christ and was very willing to discuss about him. We started talking and then pulled out the Book of Mormon in Persian and told him that it would strengthen his relationship and bring him closer to Jesus Christ. He gladly took the book and we taught him a little bit about it and he said he would love to meet up again. Since then, we have taught him two times. The spirit was the strongest in the most recent lesson we had together. He loved the idea of the Book of Mormon and everything but he didn't believe that God could answer his prayers. He is very depressed in his life and not very happy. He expressed to us how he felt lonely. We testified to him that this gospel will help him and bring so much happiness into his life. The spirit was so strong in the room when we told Shahin that his Heavenly Father knows him personally, loves him, and cares about him more than he can comprehend. I could feel the spirit guiding my words when I told him that he will receive an answer to his prayers if he is sincere. Shahin also agreed to set a goal for baptism to work towards. We told him that if he does the things we tell him to do and if he is honest and sincere, God will answer his prayers and he will want to and will be ready to be baptized by 23 July.
We were able to go on splits up in Boden this week. Boden is about five hours north of us haha so it is pretty high up! It was sick!! It was such a fun time and we worked really hard! Both Elder Cox and Elder Olson are such studs!!! They work really hard and are fantastic missionaries. We had a ton of fun! Boden is super pretty and just plain cozy. We were also able to go to Luleå the next day. We were there for their district meeting. I absolutely love being up here in the north! I love the missionaries up here as well! Anyways, we were up there for a couple days just working. It was a good experience. I was with the legendary Elder Cox. He is such a stud and I learned a lot from them!
Super quick there was a baptism here in Umeå that the other guys had this weekend that was so good! It was a really cool story. So basically, they just ran into her downtown and started asking her about God and stuff. By the way her name is Isabella and she is 19. Anyways, she told them that she used to be a member when she was a little girl. She believed in everything that we believe in as church and was down to meet up. It turns out that her parents used to be members but divorced and left the church when she was in primary. When she came to church for the first time, all the members remembered her and it was so cool cause they were so good at fellowshipping her. They just gave her hugs and helped her feel welcomed. Anyways, she ended up getting baptized and it was such a good baptism! The spirit was so strong and she was so happy! Her mom even came to the baptism! She definitely felt the spirit that was there. She even bore her testimony in District Conference and it sounded like the testimony of a long time member! She is awesome and will do great things in this branch. Anyways it was just kind of cool how she found the church again and how God has a plan for each of us.
I got to bounce everyone! Sorry for the short letter! We didn't have a whole lot of time today! Hey, remember that the church is true and that I love you all!
mvh
äldste Bailey
Wow! You met elder Chugg! I'm super jealous. I love that guy! I love how you always starting your letters with I don't have much time but always ends up writing lots.
ReplyDeleteI'm so greatful that you had the chance to see Boden. It's a beautiful place.
So happy for Isabella. And that the missionaries were able to meet her. I think it's sad that you can fall away from church as a kid just because your parents choose for you. but at the same time she's a great example for others that this gospel is true and that we always find our way back to Heavenly Father because he loves us and he knows what we need.
Keep up the good work and hope to see you soon. Love, Pia