Monday, February 23,
2015
Hej hej!
It is so good to
finally be here!!! Just a quick overview: I have been assigned to Västerhaninge
and my trainer and companion is Syster Poulson. The area is super small and we
basically walk everywhere. Sometimes we take the tåg (train) to some families
that live a little ways away but other than that it is all walking! Everything
is relatively close and we have the temple in our mission! Which means that we
also have all the temple missionaries so that is cool too!
The flights over here
went relatively well. Except for that last flight when I called you and I was
almost in tears. The Lord really softened the heart of the workers there or
they would not have helped us and ran down to get our passports out of our
carry ons. The plane was delayed basically an hour - whoops. BUT WE MADE IT! We
got to Stockholm and did some tours and what not. Took some pics, I'm sure the
presidents wife sent them to you. By the way, the president and his wife are
the nicest people ever. We also went to a baptism that evening which was pretty
cool. We came back to the mission home and ate dinner and passed out right
after that, we were so exhausted. Syster Hong and I slept in really comfy bed
so it was a great night of sleep. We woke up the next morning and were still
pretty tired but had breakfast (got some cool mittens :) ) and went to the
church for more training. And that is where we met our trainers! We had to stand
up and read off basically another call letter and then we were assigned an area
and a companion. All the trainers are super cool - but mine is the best. Her
name is Syster Poulson and she is from Tehachapi California which is cool. We
get along really well and we both have a super positive attitude about this
area and the mission in general. IT'S GREAT!
So Västerhaninge is
amazing. I love it. It is so small and so cute and it is just so awesome to be
here. We've had dinners almost every night and the members are super supportive
and loving of the missionaries (especially the sisters)
Our apartment is so
small - but it is sufficient for our needs. It is one huge room and a small
portapotty size kitchen and bathroom. Oh and our shower... you stand in the
bathroom and hold the knozzle over yourself. hahah it's different but
interesting haha the whole bathroom gets wet and it's just....great. Our first
day we locked ourselves out...my trainer felt so bad that she didnt remember
the keys. It was totally my fault too. So we went out and contacted (without
coats) and then got too cold so we went and chilled in the temple until the
assistants brought the keys to us. Turns out the president was in the temple at
the same time...needless to say, we booked it out of there as quick as we
could.
I tried this thing
called kebab..apparently is a big thing in Sweden. Not too shabby actually!
Also, apparently crepes are Swedish pancakes and that the french took it from
us...who knows haha.
We play soccer on
Thursday nights with a bunch of cool African guys..it's awesome. Oh also, there
are all sorts of people, religions, and ethnicities here...it's cool.
Funny moment: The
elders had this really great baptismal service for one of their investigators
and she is way cool. She is a super cute, young, black lady and she had the
cutest outfit on before we slapped some baptism clothes on her. Anyways..she
came out of the water and in her testimony to everyone she said..I quote,
"That was the f%&#ing best of my life!". Needless to say the
elders probably didn't cover language with her hahaahah
Spiritual experience
of the week: Syster Poulson and I seriously talk to almost everyone we
can...and we had a Book of Mormon that we both highlighted our favorite
scriptures in and we decided we wanted to place it. The whole day had gone by
and people just kept giving us the hand and saying nej and whatnot. So 8pm
rolled around and there weren't too many people out but we decided to cruise
over to the train station. We ended up talking to this guy named Bozedal and he
seemed really interested in the Book of Mormon and agreed to meet with us
again!! He asked how much the book was...haaa we just told him he could have it
(obviously). Anyways, it was really cool and we might be meeting with him tonight.
Church on Sunday was
good! I could understand some stuff...except for the Hispanic Spanish is super
hard for me to understand right now haha oh well! I said the closing prayer in
sacrament meeting..it seemed to go okay! I met a lot more people and it was
just really good!
Oh and I found out
this morning that I have been eating moldy bread for 4 days. WHOOPS. Needless
to say, we tossed that.
THE LANGUAGE: It's
coming. We talk to so many straight up Swedes all the time so I get lots of
practice. Syster Poulson is really impressed (not sure why) with my Swedish
butttt really it's not that good. But I love it. I love Språk study and
studying the language all the time. I just really enjoy learning it. So
basically when I don't understand something someone on the street or in church
says, I just turn to Poulson and she translates for me haha.
"You've had
eternity to prepare for this mission, and you have eternity to look back on it,
but you only have 18 months to live it". It's hard work, and it can be
hard not to get down on life when it is cold, dark, and people don't like you.
But I know that this is the time that I will remember for the rest of my life,
and I want to live it in such a way that I enjoy looking back on it. I want my
head to hit the pillow every night knowing that I did everything and anything I
could to help the people in Sweden that day.
Love and miss you all
SOOOOO mycket. I can't wait to read through your emails :) Gud var med dig
tills vi möts igen!
Syster Lund
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| Watch out Sweden...here come the new sister missionaries and their trainers. |
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| Syster Lund and her trainer and new companion, Syster Poulson |
