- Serving in Sweden -

Eskilstuna (where District Meeting was)

November 2, 2015

It's November whaaaaaaaat

I finally purchase a winter jacket this week! Not sure why, but it feels about 10 degrees (C) colder than it actually is. But we'll make it!!

I said hej då to my Borås home this week and hallå to Södertälje! My goodbyes in Borås were tough but I look forward to coming back and visiting. The last night there, we met with the bishop and his family for dinner and a message. It is always a good time when we meet and teach them and talk about the needs of the ward. They have a son who recently came home from a mission and holy moly, with his help the missionaries can to ANYTHING. He'll be a great asset to the missionary work there.

We had a lesson with our Canadian investigator that was INCREDIBLE. She wasn't sure why she needs to be baptized again, so we definitely ironed out some wrinkles with the help of one of the bishops counselors. It started out a little rough because everyone just started rushing into the issues and we didn't have time to say a prayer. Didn't even have time to squeeze in a pause. I called a major time out in the middle of the conversation as things were starting to heat up. The prayer changed it all. After that, the Spirit was there, and we could help this lovely lady come closer to Christ. And! She was really looking positive toward baptism at the end of the lesson! She received a priesthood blessing and knew that the member who gave it to her was an advocate for God and was working through his power. Oh man, I can't even describe it, it was just amazing. Sister Nielsen and I talked about it for like the whole night.

We said bye to Våge and his wife and had a great funny fika with them talking about how they did not want to be together in the beginning and then knew that they were supposed to haha. They're great.

TRANSFERS WENT DOWN THIS WEEK. I said goodbye to my beloved Borås and Sister Nielsen and set off for Södertälje. I had lots of help from Elder Stoeltzing with my bags (and his) for the first 2 trains. I even accidentally tripped him with his own suitcase as we were running for a train with 6 bags haha. And now he's home!! Weird!!

These past few days have been beyond hectic and we have had so much planned! I met a good amount of investigators, members, and less actives before Sunday even came haha.

We met with a guy who is from Sweden but working in Kosovo as a soldier. He has already read up to 3rd Nephi in the Book of Mormon and has only met with the missionaries twice. He gave a book to one of his fellow soldiers too and they are both SUPER interested. The only problem is they are like rarely in Sweden. The next time he will be back is Christmas. But he is READY.

OKAY CRAZY THING.

We had dinner with the Garcia/Lopez family (they feed us SOOO much) and after the message, Sister Lopez shared with us that she had dreamed about me the night before. She had woken up in the morning and told her husband and didn't really think anything more of it. But as soon as I walked in through the door she knew it was me that was in her dream (because of the hair...classic). Something about introducing me to her mom or something. So, there has to be SOME big reason why I am here, now I just gotta find it.

Halloween was pretty lagåm here. We did our normal missionary work and weekly planned. We went to the Schiazzano family in our ward for a little Halloween party too. It was cute, they had pizzas with little olive spiders all over it and "cow stomach soup" that was chicken noodle soup died like purple and blue. Something they do here in Sweden for Halloween is set out candles on all the graves in the graveyards. So after the Schiazzanos we took a nice walk through the graveyard with the elders to celebrate this Swedish holiday in the best way possible.

A random lady walked into church on Sunday and said she had gotten a card on the street about 2 months ago and when cleaning out her purse she thought, well, might as well go to church! She came in and sat right next to me...me being new, I asked her how long she had lived here, her name, if she had family, how long she had been in the ward...you know the classic questions. It was funny when she was like this is my first time here. I was like me too man!! We're in this together. She is super cute and from Syria and speaks pretty good English! She stayed all 3 hours and we are taking her with us to a members house this Wednesday!

PEOPLE ARE SO OPEN HERE It is unreal. At least what I've seen of the area. There is a lot of good stuff going on, and I am super excited to be working here with Syster Johanson!! She is a rockstar! It's opened my eyes this past week to see people that really have soft hearts and are ready to listen and apply the gospel to their lives. It's awesome!

Miss and love you lots! Have a great week!

Syster Jordan Lund

Me and Brother Schiazzano

Racing the elders to the church (they have a car...we lost)

Lights on the graves

Halloween socks

Fall colors

November 9, 2015

On our way to zone training

HEJSAN ALLIHOPPA!!

This has been a great week!

Not too many crazy things to report and we are running low on email time.

We had MLC on Tuesday and we learned a lot about how to grow in our faith in Jesus Christ and make it through this winter. We gotta keep the rest of the missionaries happy here! We are shooting to stay strong the whole winter and not dip down in numbers or anything, so hopefully all goes well. It was cool to be involved though!

We met with a lady named Katherine and talked to her about what her next step is in the church. She is super religious and wanted to be nun when she grew up. We invited her to pray, read, and come to church, so we are just waiting now!

We met up with the sweet girl that came to church last week and went with her to a members house for dinner. She even told us that she had gotten permission to stay in Sweden! SOOO Awesome. Now, if she wants to, she can officially be baptized! She is super sweet and awesome. We even played what are the odds with her on the train ride home. SO FUN. We also ended up teaching her a couple days ago about the Restoration and gave her a Book of Mormon in Arabic. Her and her mom prepared some fika for us and even offered us "Hubba bubba" which we thought was gum...turns out it was a hookah. The cultural diversity is great haha

We met with our investigator Rolf who has been taught for a while now by the sisters and he filled out his own baptismal calendar! Yeah that'r right! He's getting baptized!! His baptismal date is the 28th of November. And he is stopping coffee today too! Lots happening with him, and we are just keeping a nice sincere prayer in our hearts every second of the day.

We had zone training on Friday! The wonderful zone leaders here took everything that they learned from MLC and taught the other missionaries. We even got to add some thoughts for about 15 minutes about how to push through the hard times with Christ on our side. President and Sister Beckstrand randomly came, but lots of missionaries and them were saying it was a really good zone training...which it was. Major props to the elders here! They are rockstars.

We had dinner with a family in the ward who is just AMAZING. They live on a beautiful piece of land with their extended family and whatnot. Their dog, kids, and family were fun to be around, and get to know.

We had Stake Conference here and I was able to see a TON of members from VH! I even saw quite a few less actives that I had worked with when I had served there. It was super good to see everyone!

We've set up some great goals for this transfer and the sisters in our area! We are going to take this winter and just crush it!! I'm so excited. Also, I learned how to contact in Arabic..anddddd Sister Johanson and I are working on our Spanish skills so we can help and teach the Spanish members both active and inactive.

Hope all is well back home!! Life is so good here! We are ready to conquer winter.

Something really cool this week that I have been doing, is picking apart my testimony and faith. I've been taking different aspects of it (prayer, scriptures, prophets, Christ etc) and thinking back and recording the experiences that I have had that have built my testimony in that aspect. It has been super cool to see how the Lord has blessed me in giving me these experiences to help me develop everyday. And Sister Johanson and I have been able to share with each other spiritual experiences we have had.

Have a great week!! Love you all!

Syster Jordan Lund

Eskilstuna

"hubba bubba"

Rahaf and her mom

Halloween fangs

November 16, 2015

Hi everyone!! I hope you have all had a great week!!

SHOUTOUT TO TAY - happy birthday!!! Woohoo!! 18 years!! Hope it was fun :)

This week has flown by but SOOO much has happened.

Last pday we went to lunch with one of Syster Johansons investigators from Sundsvall named David. He is SUPER awesome. Super funny and just fun to be around. Anyways, he is moving to Santa Barbara in January to go to SBCC!! So that is super cool! I told him we would probably even be in the same ward!! Keep an eye out for him. If he remembers me it will be as "Earth Grove" (Lund = grove, Jorden = the earth). KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR HIM. We'll probably be having him over for dinner when I get home :)

Rolf is doing great!! Some minor set backs this week - his sister died, he had a cup of coffee. Some major awesome things this week - he came to church, we bought him blueberry tea that he has been drinking, he paid his TITHING (he isn't even baptized yet...he marched right up to the bishop), and his interview is this weekend! We were able to see his house for the first time and it was precious to see how excited he was to show us everything about his life and his wife who passed away about a year ago. He's a dime.

We went on splits this week! I was with an AWESOME sister named Syster Sandelin who is actually from Sweden! I took that opportunity to speak lots of Swedish and ask her lots of questions about the language and the country. We went to do service to a lady who is very pregnant but we ended up just making lots of rolls and kladkaka for her.

On the way to dinner with the bishops this week, we took a nice little tracting stund and found a super sweet lady who comes from Kritianstad. Her daughter was being somewhat distracting so we played a split situation, I took the kid and played with her while Sys. Sandelin taught the lady about the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement. It worked really well!! The little girl was just running around with our Mormons Bok. SO PRESH.

We actually had another split situation when we went to visit a GU. The lesson was all over the place and her three kids were screaming and running around. We decided to try the split again. I played with the kids and tried to keep them quiet while Sys. Johanson taught her the Restoration. It went well and we are meeting with her tomorrow!

We tried to swing by a less active who was referred to us by the VH sisters. The building was portcoded - what's new - but we knew we need to get inside. We tried all sorts of codes and finally said a prayer. We kept trying and just when we were about to give up we found out on the phone that the MA is the daughter of a NO (new member) and the code was written on her contact. We were able to get contact of both of them and get their new numbers to plan a new time to come back :)

We've walked a lot this week which has been a great opportunity for us to talk to people on the street and teach lessons on the street as well. They asked me to play the piano in primary (no one else was available) and gave me a random swedish song to sight read...didn't go too well haha.

To finish the week off, we had a lesson with an investigator named Roger!! We taught about the Plan of Salvation and invited him to baptism - he said yes!! We committed him to prepare for the 19th of December and he is super excited about it!! And so are we!!

Overall it's been a really good week!! This week I have really felt the love that Heavenly Father has for his children. Watching Rolf grow and progress as well as other investigators has really strengthened my faith that there are people out there that are seeking for something more in life. Whether they know if or not. It's given me more and more motivation everyday to get up at 6:30 and start getting to work :)

Have a great week!! Love and miss you all!!

Love,

Syster Jordan Lund

Lunch with David

Free tour in Stockholm last Pday

Hiking to a lesson with a member (Gertie, she's awesome)

Little girl running around with our Book of Mormon

Outside gym we've been working out with

November 23, 2015

The Jensen's daughter (Julia) did our hair. SHE IS SO TALENTED!

God morgon god morgon!!! This week has flown by but last monday seems like forever ago.

But, I hope everyone has had a good week!

Last pday was a big one, Sister Johanson and I fulfilled one of our companionship goals! She finally got her ears pierced!! Woohoo!! Don't worry we have other legit goals too. But they look super great on her!

We went on exchanges this week and I was able to go with this super super sweet girl named Sister Mecham! This is my second exchange and for both of them, I've stayed in the new area...so it's an adventure! haha We had family home evening and had a great spiritual message from the elders about the meaning of Christmas and how we can truly discover the real gift of Christmas. We also played ninja and Elder Featherstone got slapped in the face by accident.

Our investigator Rolf is up and down. He has a baptismal date for this Saturday but before his baptismal interview this past Saturday he told us that he wants really bad to be baptized and be a part of the church but that he cannot go against his children and have them angry at him. We encouraged him to have faith and pray and fast that his children's hearts will be softened and invited him to have the baptismal interview anyways to show God that he is willing to trust in Him. He passed the interview and we said goodbye to him. His sister's funeral is this week, but we are still going to do everything we can to prepare him for this Saturday. We've fasted the past 2 days (broke them in between) and been praying like crazy. So feel free to pray for Rolf!

We've recently been having group calls to talk about our testimonies and where and how we gained the faith that we have. This week we talked about the prophet Joseph Smith. I was reminded of all the cool little experiences that I have had that have built my faith in him. I was reminded of dad's old books and copies of the Book of Mormon as well as the book of commandments. I thought back to the first time I really read "Safety for the Soul" and watched the video to go with it. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to learn and grow every single day in my testimony of so many different things!

Roger is doing great! He has a baptismal calendar and came to church!! He seems to be grasping everything and agrees with everything we say...it's almost too good to be true! He's great!

We had Specialized Zone Training on Friday which was a real privilege. We focused on Joseph Smith, diligence, and the Christmas season. It was SUPER spiritual, and I knew that if I were to open my mouth to make any sort of comment I would have started crying. IT WAS SO GOOD THOUGH. I am so ready to tackle winter and spread the good word of Jesus Christ over Christmas.

We went to a baptism in Norrköping on Saturday for a guy that Sister Johanson taught! Due to Satan's mighty ways, we were late and BARELY made it on time for Sis Johanson to speak.

We went to the Jensens for dinner last night and holy moly their kids are crazy!! The elders are such champs and just take it and play with the kids, it's actually pretty entertaining to watch.

Big news of this week...we are getting two new sisters here in Södertälje!! They will be moving into our apartment with us to make it a 4 man! That's right, 4 sisters, one bathroom, oh no. We are really excited though! This could be the miracle we have been waiting and praying for. (one of the sisters served here about 5 months ago and taught Rolf). Their names are Sister Bolton (served here already) and the other is Sister Eriksson who is from Malmö and just waiting for her visa to America. Crazy Crazy!!

Ahh Thanksgiving is this week and I just wanted to say that even though I can't celebrate it in a SUPER American way, I have still be thinking about all the blessings I have in my life, and I can't help but feel an immense amount of gratitude to be here in Sweden sharing the gospel with these wonderful people. They are some of the kindest most genuine people I have ever met and I can feel God's love for them. I am also SO grateful for my family and friends that have supported me throughout my life and right now. I have learned so much from them (you guys) and can't even explain how much they have influenced my life.

Have an amazing Thanksgiving back there and eat some pumpkin pie for me!

Love you all!!

Syster Jordan Lund

Jensen's son tied their ties together.

Found a felt Christmas tree in our apartment

Filling up the gas in the elder's car #babyit'scoldoutside

Ears pierced!

Trying to contact people out here in the cold

Us and our Ward Mission Leader's daughter Patricia

November 30, 2015

Turkey Bowl 2015

God morgon!!

What a week! It has been super long, but a great week.

Last Pday was a BLAST. We got together with a bunch of other missionaries in Stockholm and played football for the traditional Turkey Bowl. I'm not sure if it was a tradition before, but it will be now! The ground was frozen and so were we, but we survived and had a blast!

Cool priesthood story! The elders gave a blessing to a less active named A. He usually has to take 16-18 tablets a day, but after the blessing, he hasn't needed to take any! It was really cool to hear him telling us missionaries this and how is testimony has grown. He's been to church a couple weeks in a row now :)

We had dinner with an awesome family this week! They made us paella with shrimp and oysters and octopus! It was SO GOOD. They spoil us, for real. We decided to prepare a lesson for this wonderful spanish family in SPANISH. That's right, we gave the lesson in Spanish. We talked about faith and discussed Ether 12:6. It was a little rough, but I think they appreciated it haha. I even prayed in Spanish!

Oh yeah, another thing with languages. Since I've been here, I can now contact in English, Swedish, Spanish, and Arabic! So that's something I didn't think I would need to learn how to do.

We've been working with a less active who has been living sambo with her boyfriend for 5 years now. She is so unhappy and doesn't trust him let alone feel safe. But she feels like she has already invested too much in the relationship. We finally hit her with the fact that she needs to either marry the dude or move out and she took it really well. She must have needed that and she said she would give it just a few more months (make it through the winter) and then make the call.

We met with a less active that we haven't met with before and got to know her a little bit better. She was so excited to see us and to talk about the gospel! Her main struggle holding her back from church is that she is married to a Muslim man - which is creating some issues. But she has such a sweet spirit and a GREAT testimony about Joseph Smith. I can't wait to meet with her again this week :)

Thursday was Thanksgiving and we celebrated with District meeting. Elder Heiner made us a Thanksgiving feast of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn. Major props to him because it tasted BOMB.

We met with Rolf and the other sisters at his apartment and had some tea! We talked about the responsibility that comes with blessings in our lives and how we grow from each and every ounce of knowledge and consequences. We helped him clean up his apartment a little bit while he did his laundry and he was very appreciative. He tried to give us some cash on Sunday for cleaning up. AH He is just the sweetest, I love him so much! I hope his kids will come around.

We had another Thanksgiving dinner with the bishopric and all of their families on Friday. It was hectic! The kids were punching and growling at me and I got fed up and said "Vem älskar Syster Lund?" and started offering piggy back rides to the ones that said it. Soon enough they were all climbing on me and I was on the ground trying to give them all piggy back rides haha. This thanksgiving, I am grateful for kids! We went around and everyone said what they were thankful for :) It was really nice of them to have this little celebration for us American missionaries.

Sunday was great! A good amount of less actives and investigators in church!

So we've got 4 girls living in our apartment right now. I think it's the only 4 person apartment right now in the whole mission. It's SO FUN. Pretty hectic, but really fun. They've had some trouble with their bus cards, and we only have one set of keys so we try to plan accordingly but sometimes someone ends up waiting outside in the cold for a little bit :( And sometimes it's hard to split the work up because we aren't sure how long they will be here so we don't want anybody to get confused or anything. But it is SOOO FUN.

Also, yesterday was the first advent so everyone had little candles in their windows! So presh.

BEST PART OF THE WEEK: The 2015 Christmas Initiative has begun!! WOOHOOO!! We have been contacting people with the new video about why we celebrate Christmas and it has been working miracles already!! I encourage you guys to share it on your facebook wall or whatever - it's a great video! the website for it is: https://www.mormon.org/christmas This Christmas season is the time to remember Christ in the midst of all the excitement! There is just something special about Christmas that softens people's hearts :)

HAVE A GREAT WEEK! Sorry this email is so horrendously long.

Love,

Syster Jordan Lund

District Thanksgiving

pepparkakor (if you push it and it breaks in three you get your wish)

Staying warm

Just smile ;)

The elders

Lil Johanson and I

December 7, 2015

Christmas decorations and celebrations at the Schiazzanos

December is here!! And that means lots and lots of Christmas spirit! We've been out and about with the Christmas Initiative and we've been able to see hearts change and attitudes lift. It's been super cool.

This week has DRAGGED on. But it has been really fun.

Last Pday we went to Stockholm and had lunch with Sys. Johanson's cousin. I tried glögg for the first time, I don't really know how to describe it...Christmas in a cup? Literally.

We met with Roger and talked to him about the Word of Wisdom this week, we still have quite a few things to teach him before his baptismal interview this Saturday! He came to church this week though, and we had a very recent convert sit by him and talk to him throughout the meetings.

Each sister in our apartment has their nails painted red for the month of December! We all match :)

I went back to Västerhaninge for splits this week! I was with a super sweet sister named Sys. Nielsen. We went to Nynäshamn to tract and swing by people before cruising over to the Ståhlberg's for dinner! I LOVE them! It was fun to catch up with them and hear from Sys. Nielsen all of the positive things going on in my baby area!

We also had workovers with Örebro, they came here and this apartment turned into 6 sisters! It was so fun getting to know Sys. Hoke who I was with. She served here a year ago, and all the members LOVE HER. So much. It was cool to see her reconnect with them as well. We went to the Wesemyers and made pepparkakor, played the violin, drank stinging neddles, and had a rockin time.

We taught a drunk man on the street too! He is supppper funny and said that our churches look like princess castles haha. We're in contact with him and might be meeting with him today or tomorrow.

We had dinner with the Garcias and they stuffed us! So full! I gave Ana a little journal thing that she can write her dreams in - I think she liked it :)

We had a lesson with our new investigator Seppo. We couldn't find any members to come with us to his house so we took the other sisters with us haha #perksofa4man We taught all about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. He smoked 2 cigarettes in the 40 minutes we were there, soooo I took his pack of cigarattes and said "De vinkar hej då till dig" (They are waving goodbye to you) and told him that because he only has one lung left, among thousands of other reasons too, he should stop smoking. He let us take his cigarettes and it was a big win for all of us!

Friday we had two member meals that were both SO GOOD. So stuffed. I guess this is just how Christmas goes. I love love love the food though, always good, and always good company.

We met with an investigator Saturday that gave me a hug after talking about Grandma Rudd's conversion story. She's sweet but we're not so sure about how much she wants it.

This week I have realized how strong the Spirit really comes when we testify. There is so much power in personal conversion. It's crazy! It has been so cool to watch their hearts change and turn towards God. I can't even describe the joy it brings me to be here and to see the process and change.

I hope you all have a great week! Thanks for all the love and support! Love you!

Syster Jordan Lund

Here is the link again for the Christmas message if you haven't seen it!

https://www.mormon.org/christmas

6 sister massage train

Södertälje by the canal

Me and Ana

All 4 of our black boots #swedishsisters

Seppo's cigs

Making pepparkakor and lussebullar

Jensen's house is always the place to be


Journeying out into the rain.

December 14, 2015

The Bautista kids Astrid and Hulger (my favs)

Hi everyone!! I hope all is well!

Since being in an apartment with 4 girls, it's been almost impossible to write in my journal and keep track of all the things that happened this week. But I will do my best!

Last pday we just stayed here in Södertälje and looked around town a little bit with the elders. We went to Mojgan's that evening with Rahaf and had a fun girl's night. We closed with a spiritual message about Christmas. It was SO fun!! Love those girls. We laughed so hard.

Tuesday started out really discouraging but turned out incredible. We contacted a guy on the street that wasn't interested but texted us 15 minutes later to thanks us for spreading joy. We met a guy on the bus who took our number and right when we got off the bus he called us and told us to save his number and we'd be in touch - he ended up coming to our ward Christmas party! We also met with Roger (our friend with a baptismal date) and a new member Peter. There is really a change in Roger's heart! It's so cool to see. And we found out today that Peter would be able to baptize Roger (he's getting the Priesthood soon)! It'll be awesome. We did have to push his date back to the 26th of December because he wasn't ready for his baptismal interview. All is well though!

We sent off Sis. Bolton Wednesday and sung "Gud var med dig tills vi möts igen" to her on the platform. She's done her 18 months SO GOOD. I'm so proud of her. We picked up Grönsak's (Sis. Eriksson) new companion Sis. Adamson.

We met with Seppo and talked about the Plan of Salvation. He was somewhat skeptical in the beginning but was starting to understand as the discussion rolled on. Unfortunately he is moving back to Finland sometime soon :/ We'll miss him!

Our ward is really trying to kick it into high gear to get the message of the gospel out to people. We discussed lots of really good, big marketing ideas in our Ward Council meeting - I felt like I was right back in Kids Helping Kids haha.

We had our ward Christmas party! It was super fun, we had a julbord and lots of singing, chatting, and laughing. Santa came, he scared some of the kids half to death haha. After all the kids had gotten their candy and gifts the missionaries were all called up to get something from Santa. It was sweet haha. And we had a good amount of investigators there as well!

Rahaf came to church on Sunday and was just ENVELOPED by fellowshippers that have been with us on lessons with her. They all just love her. And so do we. We're meeting with her this week :)

We got some crazy news that there would be another (random) transfer because a visa waiter finally got his visa. So that creates a little chaos, but all is well. 8 companionships were affected including the elders here in Södertälje. Elder Featherstone will be leaving today to go to Utby and we will be getting Elder Larsson here. Crazy and sad switch but we're excited for everyone.

We had Featherstone's last dinner at the Schiazzano family's house. It is always so good there. We come hungry and roll out happy.

This week Sister Johanson and I tried something new. We set aside 30 extra minutes to talk to God in prayer. At first I was just rambling and saying thank you for everything possible. But sooner than later it went really deep and I was talking about things that I really needed help with. It was SUPER awesome to just have that time to talk with God and not worry about anything else. You guys should try it!

I think that is it for this week!! Have a wonderful week! Miss and love you lots!

Love,

Syster Jordan Lund

Goodbye Sister Bolton! (Say hi to America for us)

Sister Adamson is here now!

Little Patricia at the Christmas party

No wonder the kids were screaming... haha

Södertälje on our walk to church

Baby demonstrating how missionaries pray in the morning

Getting our gifts from Santa

December 21, 2015

varm mjölk oboy stand

Merry Christmas everybody!!!

I hope everyone is doing well! Life is amazing over here in Södertälje. And WARM. Whatttttt. We have hit record highs the past week. It hasn't been this warm in over 50 years. It feels so good though! And today is the shortest day of the year which means it will only get lighter from here on out!

Roger passed his baptismal interview with flying colors this past Saturday. He will be getting baptized this Saturday! We are SO SO SO excited for him! And he is so excited too! He was telling us about how he told his mom he was getting baptized (she's gotta be like 100 years old because Roger is pretty old) and she was super excited for him. Oh man it will be great. THE BEST PART: he is going to be baptized by a guy the elders baptized last transfer. NEW CONVERT POWER. Oh man life is so good.

We've seen all sorts of miracles this week. We had two days of going out in town with all 6 Södertälje missionaries and just contacting it up with the Christmas initiative. It has proved to be HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL. It's really cool because the hearts of these people are softening right before our eyes. It's been amazing to see. We have gotten some potential investigators and had quite a few investigators from those contacting stunds come to church! It's awesome. We have also received several phone calls from random people that want to meet and one that says she wants to be baptized. The second harvest is just over the hill for the Södertälje area.

I went on splits with a sister named Sister Kimball! She is just the sweetest person ever! I learned soooo much from her. She is so positive and a good mentor. She just rocks.

We had zone conference this week and it was Christmas themed obviously. It was so cool to focus on the Savior's birth and feel the great Spirit that comes with it. There were lots of musical numbers that really added to the Christmas atmosphere too :) We had a white elephant gift exchange and there were some pretty good things getting passed around. President and Sister Beckstrand read us a funny Christmas story and changed the words a little here and there. Oh man they are just the best. They gave each companionship a big pack of oboy (which we used for the hot cocoa stand later). Christmas is awesome here in Sweden!

We had our Christmas program in church yesterday and it was really nice. We had an investigator show up and he even sang with us in the choir! We ended up going to see his church Christmas program as well and met some cool people there, even taught a lesson!

I've learned how important it is to give everything to the Lord this week. How nothing works unless I do. This is God's work and it's going to happen in His time under His circumstances. I am so grateful for this Christmas season and for the chance I have to spread Christmas joy around the streets of Södertälje and into the warm hearts of these wonderful Swedish people. I love this work with all my heart. There's no place I would rather be than right here.

Thanks for all the love, support, and prayers. I know that those things get me through the harder days of the mission.

Love and miss you all!!

Love,

Syster Jordan Lund

Christmas concert in the All Saints Church

President and Sister Beckstrand reading us a Christmas story

Salad and puzzles during lunch, we finished this 1000 piece puzzle this week!

varm mjölk oboy stand day 1 (there were 6 total missionaries)

Christmas time with Sister Johanson!

January 1, 2016

Cleaning the font before

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday season and are ready to kick off the new year right!

This past week and a half has been incredible! SO many miracles and fun times it's hard to count. Hopefully you can feel the experiences through the pictures I've attached.

Major points in the week:

CHRISTMAS!! Christmas eve we went out caroling to some of the members in the ward here. We had made cookies and bagged them up to drop off as well. We have some good singers here in Södertälje right now, so it sounded way good! We swung by a family and we ate and read a Christmas book together and sang after. The wife started crying and said that she knew she had been visited by angels. AW. It was really fun. I'm grateful that all the missionaries here in the area were willing to go out and do some service on a non-proselyting day. We were able to spend Christmas eve and Christmas day with the Schiazzano family. They are seriously the best and just bend over backward to help the missionaries out and to make the good times and holidays even better. We watched lots of Disney movies in Swedish which was SUPER FUN. It was fun to know the lines and to hear how they decided to translate the punchlines. We ate lots of DELICIOUS food and just lived like queens and kings. I also got to see you guys on Christmas too over the Skype! So that was really awesome too. We opened up our Christmas packages the morning of Christmas and it was fun to see what everyone got :)

ROGER'S BAPTISM!!!

Oh my heck Roger got baptized! The baptismal service was spiritual and even though there weren't tons of members there, Roger still felt the Spirit and that is the most important. He had to be baptized 4 times because the font had mysteriously drained from waist high to almost knee high in the span of the service. Long story short, the new member (Peter, he was baptized 8 weeks ago) was a champ and got Roger all the way under the water. We were able to laugh about it afterward haha. He was confirmed the next day and bore a very sincere testimony from the pulpit. Oh man it was glorious! We are working towards the priesthood and temple with him now :)

SPLITS WITH SISTER BANKS!!

I was able to go on splits with Sister Banks! Oh my I loveeeee her. She is just so sweet and the kindest human being to ever walk the planet. AND we are in the same group. I was able to visit Hägersten and see the good that is going on in that area. We had such a good time and saw a lot of success. It was legendary!

NEW YEARS!!

It was also spent with the Schiazzano family! We played lots of card games, ate lots of good food, had a talent show thing, and laughed so hard. Fireworks were going off basically the whole evening and especially at midnight! We did a Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes with every ding of the clock. It was super fun!! We watched Italo and Claudia light off lots of fireworks and we got our own personal sparklers! It was seriously the best new year ever, I was overjoyed. I can't wait for what this new year will bring!!

This has been a great holiday season filled with so much JOY. I feel so blessed to be out here on a mission and to help, support, and serve the people here. The blessings are truly innumerable if you are looking for them. Thank you for everything and I hope that you all have a wonderful new year!!

Love,

Syster Jordan Lund