Week 3

Hello all,


Spring here is hardly Spring at all. There are no leaves on the trees. There are no flowers. There is lots of wind and gray. Luckily, those days are becoming fewer and fewer. We are hoping to take the bikes out soon; though, I tried riding them and they are only såder (so-so). One of them had a hard man-seat and the other one has a rack on the back which scrapes against the tire. It also has a gear looking thing that rolls along the tire. I don't know what it's for exactly, but it creates more resistance. There is also a wire basket on the side of both bikes. Most people seem to have those on their bikes, but I'm not used to it, so when I tried to get off the bikes (on an uphill--we have a steep driveway), I fell off and got a nice bruise next to my knee. This happened both times. Not like I was riding both bikes at the same time. That would be impressive.

So, we had our first baptism this week. It went off really well. Sister Wood was freaking out the whole day about the font getting full enough and then that Lawal would actually come and then that everything would be perfect. Not to worry, the font got full, in part because Lawal didn't show up until right when the baptism was supposed to start. All the missionaries in Stockholm came because they were going to bring investigators. They didn't end up having anyone come, but they made up half of the congregation, so that was good. Also, 2 of them were the ones that found Lawal, so they came and took part. I said the closing prayer. I feel like I helped a little because I got to teach him most of the commandments. Yeah!

So, we just hope that he stays active. One of the problems they have here which is the same the world over is that people who don't speak the language and come from another culture have a hard time staying active in the church because they feel like they don't have a place or role. We actually have a number of African males that we have been teaching and another one that joined the church in November. If they all came, they would have a great group and be a great support for each other. Another problem is that transportation is expensive here as is everything else, so it's a burden to come to church. Lawal for example takes an hour to get to church because he takes the tunnelbana and pendetåg (trains) instead of taking a direct bus because he can't speak Swedish and it's easier to buy a ticket for the train with a real person than trying to use the machine to buy a bus ticket. That's our theory anyway. The awesome thing is that he got confirmed yesterday. He was 40 minutes late, but he brought a guy he met on the train with him! He loves saying hey and talking to all the African guys on the street. It's great.

So another struggle I'm facing is the missionary culture. I suppose I should just accept it. Sis. Wood has missionary voice really bad. And she loves to decorate her planners. And tell lame jokes. And let go of personal appearance (not that I ever was very big on looking so fashionable). It's not just her. It's everyone. I realized those things and other things I can't recall at the moment are very important to her and I need to find a way to compromise. We are going to decorate our planners. I will just make mine classy. Don't worry, this isn't affecting my testimony.

So, another thing about Swedish people that's very interesting is that they have a wall up against religion. They were painted to me as a cold, closed people, so I was pleasantly surprised when people were pleasant and even friendly to us when we had a question or needed help. But bring up religion, and there's nothing. Not even a discussion about it. Unless you are talking to a Jehovah's Witness or someone who isn't originally Swedish. We got preached to by a young Islamic man this week. He told us to go home and sincerely pray to God to know that he was there and that he promised us we would receive an answer. He also talked about the perfection of the Quaran and told us to read it to know that it was the word of God. We were like, "Hey! That's our line!" It was funny. Anyway, one of the members in the ward said that she thinks they may not talk about it because they have no way to defend their beliefs because they have nothing backing up their non-belief. That's interesting and I want to understand that better.

Anyway. I need to get going. We have zone conference tomorrow. We have Sisters staying at our house tonight and tomorrow, so I get to see Sis. Page and Gotberg from my MTC group again. Yay! It will be a kärleksfest! I hope I've explained that, so it doesn't seem weird. It's an inside joke (See 'Come Ye Disconsolate, verse 3).

Well, I am starting to see the miracles happening. Scriptures I happened to read being perfect. The bus being 5 minutes late when we are too. People seeing their lives improving and becomíng closer to their Heavenly Father. So, things are picking up and I'm still happy to be here.

Love,

Syster Maxwell