Day 579

Tjena!

Hello family and friends! I'm going to be spitting this email off at the speed of light because of a shortage of time. But everything is going well in Gubbängen and I love it here. I love the ward and the members. They are such amazing people. I love all the missionaries I get to be in contact with and work with. And I love this city! I am so grateful to be serving my Savior in this beautiful country. I love my mission and I am so grateful for how it has changed me and for everything I have learned. I can truly say that a mission is the best decision I have ever made in my life. I have grown and come closer to my Savior in ways that I can't explain. I love Him and I know he has been with me every step of the way!

Well, this week we were basically on splits or in the computer room doing stake reports. Okay that was an overexaggeration but that's what it felt like sometimes. But on Tuesday we were able to meet with an investigator that I actually hadn't met until then but her name is Hanna. She is from Peru and grew up Catholic. She is married to Jorge who is a member but is kind of less active. We meet them with a member named Hector who translates for us. Hanna can't speak very much Swedish and can't speak any English. So Hector was translating from Swedish to Spanish for us. The whole time I was just thinking how cool it would be to have one of my buddies who can speak spanish teaching that lesson with me. Anyways, the lesson was really good and the spirit was definitley there. We basically focused on the Book of Mormon. She thinks it's a good book, but she has a hard time accepting it as scripture. She had a lot of questions about little details in the book and we did our best to answer them the best we could but let her know that it all comes down to asking God whether or not it is true. She said she has prayed about the church before but never specifically about the Book of Mormon. We challenged her to do that and bore our testimonies of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. Hanna is doing great and came to church on Sunday!

On Wednesday, we had a specialized zone training. Which means that President and Sister Beckstrand and the assistants were holding the training! It was really really good and was about Obedience. Our mission is not disobedient at all. In fact, the mission as improved sooo much over the last few years in terms of obedience and success. It is incredible. I am grateful to be a part of the change. Anyways, the training was awesome. The assistents focused a little bit on the spirit of the law vs the letter of the law and it was really interesting. Obedience is so key in everything we do and it is the first law of heaven. It is an act of faith. God loves us so much and wants us to return back to him. To help us do that, he has given us the commandments. It is up to us whether or not we want to follow them or not. But as we obey, we increase in faith, knowledge, wisdom, testimony, protection, and freedom. Our Heavenly Father knows us perfectly and knows exactly how we need to live our lives to acheive the greatest amount of happiness possible. That is why it is so important that we are obedient. Sister Harkness, a sister in my group, used to always tell us this quote and I can't even remember who said it but it has always stuck with me as a missionary. “When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.” This is so true and I have seen it in my work as a missionary and in my everyday life. Decide now to want to be obedient! I promise you that it will make a difference in your life and bring you closer to Jesus Christ.

Thursday we were able to teach Daniel again! We retaught him the first lesson and it was awesome. He is doing so well and he is so happy. We also read 1 Ne chapter 1 with him to help get him started on the BoM from the beginning. It was super good!

Well boys and girls, I have to head! It was good to write to ya! keep fighting the good fight! I love you all! Have a good week!

Love,

äldste Bailey