Day 167 - Glad Midsommar

Hey everyone! 

I hope you all had a good week. This week went by fast and was full of great experiences. I have some exciting but sad news.. I will be transferring from my birthplace  of Malmö this week (mom's note: this what they call their first city that they are assigned to on their mission). I will be transferring to a small town called Katrineholm. It is about an hour west of Stockholm. It is a really small city with a small branch. There is about 15 active members in the branch. So that is going to be a little weird coming from a larger ward and city like Malmö. I am pretty sad to leave this city and the members and people I was working with. But I know it is necessary for me to grow as a missionary and it's time for me to meet new people and share the gospel to new faces. I also need to see some more of Sweden besides this southern part. I am going to miss the members and people I worked with so much. But there is other work that needs to be done. And I know I will love Katrineholm almost as much as Malmö ;) Yesterday, I gave my last testimony in sacrament meeting. It was bittersweet. I get really nervous when I talk in front of people. But, I already have a talk assigned for this Sunday in my new branch so I think I am going to get used to speaking in church haha. I had to say a lot of my goodbyes yesterday, but I think the most of them will come within the next two days before I leave. I hate goodbyes, so I just call them "see ya later"s. I hope I can come back to this city one day to visit these amazing members and friends I have made. 

Okay, now a few experiences from the week. I had a really awesome experience this week while visiting Elisabeth. She called all four of us missionaries over to her house because she needed a blessing. She had fallen out of her wheelchair that morning and hit her head. When we got there, Elder Downing asked me if I wanted to give the blessing. I was not prepared at all, but I agreed anyways. As I walked over to Elisabeths bed, I said a little prayer in my heart that I would be able to give a good blessing and that the spirit would guide my words. It was also my first blessing I gave in Swedish, so I was pretty nervous. As I laid my hands on her head, I felt a calm feeling but nothing really was coming to my mind. Then a few simple sentences came. I said a few things like, "we bless you with strength and peace" and "the Lord loves you and wants you to know everything is going to be okay" and a few other things that I cant remember. It was a really really simple blessing. After the few short phrases I said, nothing was coming to my mind at all. So I closed the blessing. Elisabeth thanked us and we left. I left feeling really frustrated. I knew I could speak much better swedish than what I said in that blessing. And I was really wondering why the Lord didn't give me more to say to her. I was also worried that she would think that it wasn't that good of a blessing. I was talking to Elder Beck about it afterwords. I told him that nothing was coming to my mind after the few phrases I said. I told him I knew I could speak 100x better swedish than what I said. And he said something that really hit me hard. He said, "you know, we have given Elisabeth about 3 blessings in the last two weeks. I think you said exactly what the Lord wanted her to hear. That everything is going to be okay. Plain and simple." Then the Spirit hit me really hard. I knew that I had said everything that the Lord needed to say to her. It then reminded me of a scripture I had read that same morning. Jacob 4:10. "Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works." This scripture taught me to not rely on my own counsel and what I wanted to say, but to really rely on the Lord and his counsel. And to trust him. To not question the thoughts and promptings that come to my heart and mind from the spirit. I am thankful for that experience and for what I learned from it. The next morning, Elisabeth called me and told me that she felt much better and that she was really thankful for the blessing. That made me really happy. I am going to miss her. 

On Friday, there was a holiday in Sweden called Midsommar. Midsummer is an occasion of large gatherings. It is a swedish holiday to welcome summer. It is a huge holiday in sweden. So basically they raise this giant pole called the maypole. It is an ancient symbol representing fertility.  
Then the maypole is raised in an open spot and traditional ring-dances ensue. It's really strange haha but fun I guess. We got the day off as missionaries. We were able to go to the chapel and take part in the midsummer activities. According to other swedes and missionaries, our midsommar was no where near as fun and big as they usually are. usually they are outside. But ours was inside because it was raining. 

Yesterday, Reza got the priesthood! (Majeed was out of town.) But I am grateful I got to see him get the priesthood before I left. He was really excited and happy. I am happy to see both of them continuing strong in the gospel. I love them and I am really going to miss them. 

Before I end, I want to quickly give a shout out to my dad. HAPPY FATHERS DAY DAD!!! He is the best dad in the world. I am so lucky to have a Father who raised me in the gospel with the spirit present in our home. He is such an amazing example to me. He taught me to work hard and to serve those around me. My dad is the hardest worker I know. He works hard everyday to provide for me and my family because he loves us. And whenever he has free time it seems like he is helping out someone in the neighborhood. I look up to him tremendously. I want to be exactly like my dad when I grow up. I am thankful to call him dad and my best friend. I love you and miss you so much dad!!

I hope you all have an amazing week, and when I hear from you again, I will be in Katrineholm! Weird! Anyways, I am doing well and I love you all! Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers! See you soon!

MVH
Äldste Bailey