Subject: A Swiftly Tilting Planet
Hey you guys!
So last week, I thought the fall weather would go away and it would be summer for just a little bit more. Nope. It's been raining all week and getting colder and colder. The sun penetrates the forest in the mornings less and less. Normally I wouldn't be so obsessed with the position of the sun and the temperature in the mornings, but the fact that EVERYONE who isn't Swedish automatically goes on what Sis Robinson terms 'a winter rant' as soon as one mentions snow or winter makes me nervous for the coming 6 months. Oh well. They say I'll make it through. It's still light when we get up and just getting dark at 9, so I still have some time, but all the geese are flying south. It's weird seeing them so early, but they have a long way to go. It's understandable. There are also huge flocks of black birds that come and hang out in the winter, and they are already starting to trickle in. No good.
The irony is the only beautiful day we had was Monday, and we decided to make it a nap day. It was much needed. As a result, Sis Robinson can now run twice as fast in the morning. Tell me how that works. Still sad about missing the sun, though.
We taught the two Spanish speakers we met last week on Tuesday. One of them had a 14 month old baby who was hilarious! He kept slipping around on his little socks and rolling all over the floor. Nice for laughing, not nice for teaching. They also think I'm a ditz.
The rest of the week we put up flyers for a Swedish class we want to start here. We realized after we'd put them all up that we can be there the first time, but the next two times, we will be in Stockholm. Oops! This weekend is our big meeting with Elder Nelson and then we have sharpening which is zone conference pt II the next time we have class. After that there are only like 3 weeks until the transfer ends.
One of our investigators moved back to Uganda this week. He finished school and went back home. That was sad. We liked him.
Also, we've been teaching our baptismal date a little more. He lives way out in the middle of nowhere and the train rides there are beautiful! We got off at Storå on Friday to meet him and there was nothing there when we got off! Just a little shelter, time table, and cement. We went down the hill a ways and found a small little town on the edge of a lake. We took lots of pictures. Oh, and I saw my first Swedish moose! It was a girl moose. I missed the boy moose because I was sleeping. Too bad!
We also played in the first game in the stake soccer tournament on Saturday. Rather, I played until someone better came. It was fun, but one of those, "people care about you because you’re the missionaries, but don't really want to spend too much time with you because they have real friends" thing. They appreciated that we played, though and I'm starting to be able to tell the difference between all the tall, blond young men.
We made lunch for the district on Thursday. We made this delicious Hungarian soup called Lesco I think. Meat, peppers, tomatoes, onions. Served with lots of bread! We made the bread and baked it during the meeting. It was all so good! Our District Leader has been sick recently and keeps going to Stockholm to figure out what’s wrong with him. He had a weird rash thing and then just felt horrible. They told him he must have ulcers, so we thought having him eat lots of bread would be a good thing. Turns out it wasn't. We got a text on Saturday that said, "Was there basil in the food on Thursday?" (He's also allergic to basil) Nope! He said that he thinks he has a gluten allergy, then. It runs in the family, he says. Celiac's strikes again! We were very sorry for him, but even more sorry that we were the ones that helped him realize that :( In other food adventures, we made a beet, mango, tomato, hot dog pizza on Saturday. We liked it much better than the cucumber, zuccini, tomato, onion, banana pizza we made a couple of weeks ago. The beets were good, I think. It was Sis R's first time not eating beets pickled. She thought they were ok.
Anyway, I think that's it.
Love you all,
Syster Maxwell
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Week 22
Subject: They do exist
Hejsan allihoppa!
So this week was back to normal and filled with little miracles and awkward moments. Monday was a stressful P-Day. I'm glad it's not Monday anymore. Or rather, that Monday anymore. We went shopping for Sis Robinson's going home presents for her family (don't expect any from me, people). I did get to take a nap, though.
Tuesday we set a baptismal date with a guy from Uganda who is seeking asylum here. He doesn't have any paperwork, so I'm afraid he won't get approved. We'll see. The recent convert who is actually the other guy's roommate thought ahead and made a clean exit from his country. Sure, he only had a small bag and the clothes on his back, but he has good proof about why he needed to leave his country. They won't just take your word for it. Something I'd never talked to people about before. It's interesting. Well, we were very excited about the first man's desire to be baptized, but the problem is that he lives an hour or so out of Örebro and is currently dirt poor. The people who would be able to give him a ride can't right now or ever in the near future because they have a puppy who has separation anxiety, so they have to take him to church with them. They train sled dogs. It's a big puppy. So the puppy goes to church and the man with the good heart stays home....
Wednesday was one of those strange days. We had a kid teaching with us who is going on a mission to Salt Lake Central? North? in a month or so. Sadly, both were strange teaches where we dealt with a lot of concerns, so he didn't get to say much. Needless to say, he was out of there as soon as possible. He didn't even stick around for the fish pies we were given from another Ugandan friend. We ate them, though, after we had pulled up to the nearest patch of rugged wilderness. The ground around here is rocky and flatish for the most part. It's also very lake-y country. Is that glacial, Scott? Anyway, we had a nice lunch where we were attacked by mosquitoes and then angry yellow jackets. It was strange. For the most part they were normal--annoying and all over the food, but one of them got aggressive and came up and dive-bombed my face, commandeered my sandwich, and right in front of me while I was still holding my open-faced, vegetable-laden turkey sandwich, did a little dance in a circle and came away with a perfect little circle of meat which he rolled up and took away, almost crashing from the weight, but he managed. It was incredible. We started holding out little bits of apple and then when they were found acceptable by the nearest yellow jacket, we set them down on the ground and continued eating. Sis Robinson dubbed me the Wasp Whisperer and likes to call me Dubb Dubb from time to time. It was funny, but maybe you had to be there. And that's all I've got. Nothing else funny happened this week.
Well, that evening we were talked to by the Jehovah's Witness family who were all very frustrated that their logic and telling us over and over again that the Bible was complete didn't seem to stir us or sway us in the least. Sis Robinson is experienced at offering proof from the Bible, or what maybe could be termed by some 'Bible Bashing', but we didn't even want to go there. They asked for the evidence though, and promised that they were open and ready to learn, so she gave it to them. They could offer no logical response, and were obviously not open for rational discussion. They also completely misread Hebrews 11:1, but I can see why. Oh, well.
Well, I'm getting better at soccer (sort of), and we are going to teach a former investigator that doesn't want to be baptized, but her husband is basically making her (and making us teach her). The story is that there was a missionary here last year who came back for a visit. They actually named their baby after her and love her, so that's what prompted the change, it seems. We'll see how long that lasts, but we are being positive. Always positive. We met a really cool girl from China who when we set up the appointment said, "I'm Buddhist. Is that going to be a complication?" She's really cute.
I spoke in church on Sunday which is always interesting, but it went ok. We also found three Spanish speakers we will be meeting this next week. Yay! They do exist! We also talked to a guy who grew up Orthodox in Turkey. Hasn't really read the Bible, but he is sure that Jesus was born out of the left side of Mary, not in the normal manner because that is what has always been preached. Anybody know where that comes from? We also almost saw the king this week, but we got there late because we were teaching. Too bad! We stalked the castle a little and then went home for weekly planning. :)
Anyway, I hope my letters aren't becoming boring. It's a lot of the same. But Sweden is beautiful. It already feels like fall. I love what we have and I hope to continue understanding more. Have a good week and don't forget to write!
Syster Maxwell
Hejsan allihoppa!
So this week was back to normal and filled with little miracles and awkward moments. Monday was a stressful P-Day. I'm glad it's not Monday anymore. Or rather, that Monday anymore. We went shopping for Sis Robinson's going home presents for her family (don't expect any from me, people). I did get to take a nap, though.
Tuesday we set a baptismal date with a guy from Uganda who is seeking asylum here. He doesn't have any paperwork, so I'm afraid he won't get approved. We'll see. The recent convert who is actually the other guy's roommate thought ahead and made a clean exit from his country. Sure, he only had a small bag and the clothes on his back, but he has good proof about why he needed to leave his country. They won't just take your word for it. Something I'd never talked to people about before. It's interesting. Well, we were very excited about the first man's desire to be baptized, but the problem is that he lives an hour or so out of Örebro and is currently dirt poor. The people who would be able to give him a ride can't right now or ever in the near future because they have a puppy who has separation anxiety, so they have to take him to church with them. They train sled dogs. It's a big puppy. So the puppy goes to church and the man with the good heart stays home....
Wednesday was one of those strange days. We had a kid teaching with us who is going on a mission to Salt Lake Central? North? in a month or so. Sadly, both were strange teaches where we dealt with a lot of concerns, so he didn't get to say much. Needless to say, he was out of there as soon as possible. He didn't even stick around for the fish pies we were given from another Ugandan friend. We ate them, though, after we had pulled up to the nearest patch of rugged wilderness. The ground around here is rocky and flatish for the most part. It's also very lake-y country. Is that glacial, Scott? Anyway, we had a nice lunch where we were attacked by mosquitoes and then angry yellow jackets. It was strange. For the most part they were normal--annoying and all over the food, but one of them got aggressive and came up and dive-bombed my face, commandeered my sandwich, and right in front of me while I was still holding my open-faced, vegetable-laden turkey sandwich, did a little dance in a circle and came away with a perfect little circle of meat which he rolled up and took away, almost crashing from the weight, but he managed. It was incredible. We started holding out little bits of apple and then when they were found acceptable by the nearest yellow jacket, we set them down on the ground and continued eating. Sis Robinson dubbed me the Wasp Whisperer and likes to call me Dubb Dubb from time to time. It was funny, but maybe you had to be there. And that's all I've got. Nothing else funny happened this week.
Well, that evening we were talked to by the Jehovah's Witness family who were all very frustrated that their logic and telling us over and over again that the Bible was complete didn't seem to stir us or sway us in the least. Sis Robinson is experienced at offering proof from the Bible, or what maybe could be termed by some 'Bible Bashing', but we didn't even want to go there. They asked for the evidence though, and promised that they were open and ready to learn, so she gave it to them. They could offer no logical response, and were obviously not open for rational discussion. They also completely misread Hebrews 11:1, but I can see why. Oh, well.
Well, I'm getting better at soccer (sort of), and we are going to teach a former investigator that doesn't want to be baptized, but her husband is basically making her (and making us teach her). The story is that there was a missionary here last year who came back for a visit. They actually named their baby after her and love her, so that's what prompted the change, it seems. We'll see how long that lasts, but we are being positive. Always positive. We met a really cool girl from China who when we set up the appointment said, "I'm Buddhist. Is that going to be a complication?" She's really cute.
I spoke in church on Sunday which is always interesting, but it went ok. We also found three Spanish speakers we will be meeting this next week. Yay! They do exist! We also talked to a guy who grew up Orthodox in Turkey. Hasn't really read the Bible, but he is sure that Jesus was born out of the left side of Mary, not in the normal manner because that is what has always been preached. Anybody know where that comes from? We also almost saw the king this week, but we got there late because we were teaching. Too bad! We stalked the castle a little and then went home for weekly planning. :)
Anyway, I hope my letters aren't becoming boring. It's a lot of the same. But Sweden is beautiful. It already feels like fall. I love what we have and I hope to continue understanding more. Have a good week and don't forget to write!
Syster Maxwell
Monday, August 16, 2010
Week 21
Subject: If you want to destroy my sweater...
Hej på er!
So this has been an...interesting week. Don't worry, there is a happy ending, so don't be distraught. We had a 80% blåst rate this week; only 3 of our appointments went through, and two of those were with recent converts who meet with us every week. Blåsa in Swedish means to blow, so missionaries use it in the sense of to be blown off, but I'm pretty sure that normal Swedes don't say that.
So Monday started with us emailing, doing laundry, getting ready, personal study, cleaning, buying food, packing, and catching a train all before 11am. It was slightly intense. We did an abbreviated companionship study on the train which consisted of me reading to Sis Robinson from Preach My Gospel because she gets sick if she reads. We were in Stockholm by 1 pm and spent the day getting souvenirs she wanted, taking pictures, touring Stor Kyrka (the big cathedral where the princess just got married. It costs money now. Too bad.), and waiting for a lot of other missionaries to show up and to decide what they were doing. We went to Vällingby that evening which was weird, but fun.
Tuesday was zone conference which was fantastic. They are doing new infield training which I like. I think it will be really beneficial and backs up some of the opinions I've had but have never felt justified in expressing. It also means doing more things that are uncomfortable. But, I think it will be fun especially because of the training videos. They are fun, and I could relate.
Wednesday was one of those typical missionary days that they like to scare people with. It was lovely though. We had 4 scheduled appointments and only the one with a recent convert went. Our back up plans weren't home and no one was especially interested. We ended up eating fast food (not our first choice) at the place where we were most recently stood up and then headed off on our bikes to tract the night away. Only problem was that it was pouring rain. Imagine trying to carry a side bag, an umbrella, and keep your skirt from flying up while riding a bike. It was slightly ridiculous. We got to the point where we had to cross the rail road tracks and then take a sharp turn down a ramp. Sis Robinson already has a hard time with tight spaces. Needless to say, we both crashed. She actually got across the tracks to the other side and then crashed hard into the railing. I did a sympathy bail right after the tracks and into the stinging nettle. Very wet, but not so stingy. It kept raining the whole time we were tracting, and we even taught a guy a first lesson. Problem was that he was Muslim but didn't believe in any prophets, ever. They are all after their own gain, he said. Problematic for people trying to share that God called another prophet. :) On the way back, we biked out of our way to talk to a lady and her daughter who told us she was in no mood for discussing religion because she had just gotten back from Göteborg, so leave them alone! Sad, wet, and bruised, we started on our way home. I saw a guy who I felt like I should talk to, so I stopped and talked to him. We have a system where we ring the bell if our companion is ahead of us. I rang the bell, and went to talk to the guy. I talked to him for a good while always expecting Sis Robinson to come back, but she never did. He was really nice and curious about our message, so I got his number and wrapped up quick, because my companion was gone. I biked and biked expecting to see her coming back any minute. I biked for a good 10 minutes before I found her. She had gotten almost all the way home and was freaking out when I found her. Oops!
Friday and Saturday passed with not so much happening. We did go to Karlskoga to search for some less actives to teach, and had a fun little "teach" outside an apartment building we visited with a Kurdish speaking family from Iraq whose son (our age-ish) kept asking us if we wanted to convert to Islam. The mother was fasting for Ramadan which is really hard in Sweden since they have to eat after 9 and before 3 right now. They were really fun and really brightened up our week. Tender mercy. One of the son-in-laws said that he has a sister and brother-in-law who live in NC, Raleigh area. He asked if I knew Manhatten Bakery. I assumed he meant Manhatten Bagel (Manhatten Bageri in Swedish) and told him we had gone there almost every morning! He said they had had a deli in NY, but then moved to NC. Isn't that the story of the Manhatten Bagel people, Dad? They thought that was really cool. I didn't tell them I hadn't ever really met them but once though because I'd always wait in the car. Yes, Ted, that was that time of my life when Dad drove me to school every morning. See how important it was?
Anyway on Sunday we had our miracles. We set up two appointments for next week and talked to the first really interested people we'd talked to in a week. Great conversations. Lots of laughs. 5 new investigators. We tracted into a Jehovah's Witness family. They are awesome, but out to convert us as well. We didn't want to go in really, but we did anyway. Don't worry, they threw scriptures all over us, but we just bore testimony and didn't succumb to fighting about it. I had some great logical arguments which they kept asking for, but decided not to pursue it so much. They really wanted us to come back, so we agreed to it because they were so nice. So, we got three new investigators, and they got two. :)
Anyway, again, this was far too long, but there was lots to tell. Last Monday I ruined my favorite white sweater and the pajama shirt that I got from Mike and Shelley for Christmas last year. They didn't react too well to the boiling hot white wash. :( A very sad day. I also don't think I ever told about trying your eggplant recipe, Mom. It was delicious except for the nutmeg that we put in that tasted like pine sol. Unfortunate. We will try again with nutmeg we can trust.
Well, it's weird that Brian's going home this week. I'm still here, and it's great. Love you all! I love the Spirit! It's really nice.
mvh,
Syster Maxwell
PS Here's Sister Robinson's take on the whole experience:
So we kept going. I was pretty tired by then. And we had to get home. So home we went. I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure Syster Maxwell was behind me. And we were nearly home when the biker I THOUGHT was Syster Maxwell passed me and...well, didn't end up being a sister at all. I thought, "Wait...where's my companion?" I turned around - and she was NO WHERE in sight. I panicked! I'd lost my companion! I started biking back in a frenzy, praying out loud in the rain. What happened? She get hit by a car? She get kidnapped? Did she just give up on Örebro and make a break for it? Should I call President? I biked back a ways and saw NOTHING. Oh no! Worst thing you can possibly do - lose your companion. Oh no! But five minutes later she came riding up, big smile on her face as though nothing was wrong. "Hej," she said and kept biking towards home. I was like, "What do you mean Hej? I thought you were dead!" Turns out she'd stopped to talk to one more person and thought I'd have seen it. Well, with her being behind me and it being dark and rainy and me being half blind anyway - didn't happen. But she got their number. Later, upon calling them, they didn't seem too positive though. But that was the kind of night that missionaries live for. That is just a hard core missionary night. And you know what? Sometimes when the opposition is thrown at you, it's a test to see what you'll do - if you'll keep going, if you'll talk to that last person, if you'll still trust in the Lord. It was awesome.
Hej på er!
So this has been an...interesting week. Don't worry, there is a happy ending, so don't be distraught. We had a 80% blåst rate this week; only 3 of our appointments went through, and two of those were with recent converts who meet with us every week. Blåsa in Swedish means to blow, so missionaries use it in the sense of to be blown off, but I'm pretty sure that normal Swedes don't say that.
So Monday started with us emailing, doing laundry, getting ready, personal study, cleaning, buying food, packing, and catching a train all before 11am. It was slightly intense. We did an abbreviated companionship study on the train which consisted of me reading to Sis Robinson from Preach My Gospel because she gets sick if she reads. We were in Stockholm by 1 pm and spent the day getting souvenirs she wanted, taking pictures, touring Stor Kyrka (the big cathedral where the princess just got married. It costs money now. Too bad.), and waiting for a lot of other missionaries to show up and to decide what they were doing. We went to Vällingby that evening which was weird, but fun.
Tuesday was zone conference which was fantastic. They are doing new infield training which I like. I think it will be really beneficial and backs up some of the opinions I've had but have never felt justified in expressing. It also means doing more things that are uncomfortable. But, I think it will be fun especially because of the training videos. They are fun, and I could relate.
Wednesday was one of those typical missionary days that they like to scare people with. It was lovely though. We had 4 scheduled appointments and only the one with a recent convert went. Our back up plans weren't home and no one was especially interested. We ended up eating fast food (not our first choice) at the place where we were most recently stood up and then headed off on our bikes to tract the night away. Only problem was that it was pouring rain. Imagine trying to carry a side bag, an umbrella, and keep your skirt from flying up while riding a bike. It was slightly ridiculous. We got to the point where we had to cross the rail road tracks and then take a sharp turn down a ramp. Sis Robinson already has a hard time with tight spaces. Needless to say, we both crashed. She actually got across the tracks to the other side and then crashed hard into the railing. I did a sympathy bail right after the tracks and into the stinging nettle. Very wet, but not so stingy. It kept raining the whole time we were tracting, and we even taught a guy a first lesson. Problem was that he was Muslim but didn't believe in any prophets, ever. They are all after their own gain, he said. Problematic for people trying to share that God called another prophet. :) On the way back, we biked out of our way to talk to a lady and her daughter who told us she was in no mood for discussing religion because she had just gotten back from Göteborg, so leave them alone! Sad, wet, and bruised, we started on our way home. I saw a guy who I felt like I should talk to, so I stopped and talked to him. We have a system where we ring the bell if our companion is ahead of us. I rang the bell, and went to talk to the guy. I talked to him for a good while always expecting Sis Robinson to come back, but she never did. He was really nice and curious about our message, so I got his number and wrapped up quick, because my companion was gone. I biked and biked expecting to see her coming back any minute. I biked for a good 10 minutes before I found her. She had gotten almost all the way home and was freaking out when I found her. Oops!
Friday and Saturday passed with not so much happening. We did go to Karlskoga to search for some less actives to teach, and had a fun little "teach" outside an apartment building we visited with a Kurdish speaking family from Iraq whose son (our age-ish) kept asking us if we wanted to convert to Islam. The mother was fasting for Ramadan which is really hard in Sweden since they have to eat after 9 and before 3 right now. They were really fun and really brightened up our week. Tender mercy. One of the son-in-laws said that he has a sister and brother-in-law who live in NC, Raleigh area. He asked if I knew Manhatten Bakery. I assumed he meant Manhatten Bagel (Manhatten Bageri in Swedish) and told him we had gone there almost every morning! He said they had had a deli in NY, but then moved to NC. Isn't that the story of the Manhatten Bagel people, Dad? They thought that was really cool. I didn't tell them I hadn't ever really met them but once though because I'd always wait in the car. Yes, Ted, that was that time of my life when Dad drove me to school every morning. See how important it was?
Anyway on Sunday we had our miracles. We set up two appointments for next week and talked to the first really interested people we'd talked to in a week. Great conversations. Lots of laughs. 5 new investigators. We tracted into a Jehovah's Witness family. They are awesome, but out to convert us as well. We didn't want to go in really, but we did anyway. Don't worry, they threw scriptures all over us, but we just bore testimony and didn't succumb to fighting about it. I had some great logical arguments which they kept asking for, but decided not to pursue it so much. They really wanted us to come back, so we agreed to it because they were so nice. So, we got three new investigators, and they got two. :)
Anyway, again, this was far too long, but there was lots to tell. Last Monday I ruined my favorite white sweater and the pajama shirt that I got from Mike and Shelley for Christmas last year. They didn't react too well to the boiling hot white wash. :( A very sad day. I also don't think I ever told about trying your eggplant recipe, Mom. It was delicious except for the nutmeg that we put in that tasted like pine sol. Unfortunate. We will try again with nutmeg we can trust.
Well, it's weird that Brian's going home this week. I'm still here, and it's great. Love you all! I love the Spirit! It's really nice.
mvh,
Syster Maxwell
PS Here's Sister Robinson's take on the whole experience:
So we kept going. I was pretty tired by then. And we had to get home. So home we went. I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure Syster Maxwell was behind me. And we were nearly home when the biker I THOUGHT was Syster Maxwell passed me and...well, didn't end up being a sister at all. I thought, "Wait...where's my companion?" I turned around - and she was NO WHERE in sight. I panicked! I'd lost my companion! I started biking back in a frenzy, praying out loud in the rain. What happened? She get hit by a car? She get kidnapped? Did she just give up on Örebro and make a break for it? Should I call President? I biked back a ways and saw NOTHING. Oh no! Worst thing you can possibly do - lose your companion. Oh no! But five minutes later she came riding up, big smile on her face as though nothing was wrong. "Hej," she said and kept biking towards home. I was like, "What do you mean Hej? I thought you were dead!" Turns out she'd stopped to talk to one more person and thought I'd have seen it. Well, with her being behind me and it being dark and rainy and me being half blind anyway - didn't happen. But she got their number. Later, upon calling them, they didn't seem too positive though. But that was the kind of night that missionaries live for. That is just a hard core missionary night. And you know what? Sometimes when the opposition is thrown at you, it's a test to see what you'll do - if you'll keep going, if you'll talk to that last person, if you'll still trust in the Lord. It was awesome.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Week 20
Subject: Brännesla Nätel? No idea how to spell that
Hello all!
What a terribly strange week! We spent a gazillion krona at the grocery store because Sis Robinson's bike tire was still flat and we had to go to the expensive one. Then we spent most of the afternoon fighting stinging nettles and mushy weeds, trying not to destroy the raspberries. Now we are experts at identifying stinging nettles by sight, sound, smell, taste and feel. Not very pleasant. Sis R got some nice welts on her arm. Ok. Not really by taste. They are all over the place here, turns out, lining the bike trails. Dangerous. We also had some of the young men from the ward come over and fix Sis R's bike tire. It had five holes in it, they said. They did a really good job patching it up, but the next morning it was half flat. Slow leak! So we just carried the bike pump with us everywhere and pumped it up every time we had to go somewhere new. I liked to tell people it was my night stick or billy club when they asked. Don't worry, we just decided to change the inner tube on Saturday, and we did it ourselves. Our apartment is swimming in tools! So exciting!
So, we had a lot of appointments fall through this week. That's been depressing. A run down of what we've been doing: Bike contacting. Very interesting. You have to get over any geek complexes pretty quickly. Helping an investigator quit smoking. Challenging a family to baptism who Sis R felt like she stayed here for. Getting our challenged laughed at by said family (we are not deterred!). The daughter really wants to be baptized, actually, and we'd love for them to be baptized all together, but they've already been baptized. So they don't feel like they need to again. I have many thoughts on that one, but I will spare you all, and I only have 10 minutes left. We are going to Stockholm today and have only a little time.
We also had a cool experience (I hope) where we had a guy come up to us and start talking about the church. We set up an appointment with him and got his address. Then, later in the week, we called the guy that I had talked to in the train station on Saturday. We set up an appointment with him and got his address. We set them up one after each other and turns out they lived in the same street! We felt like the Lord was telling us something. We still don't know who we might find there, but when we got there it was student housing! We've been looking for some way to talk to the students from the university here! We'll see how it goes. We actually had a great teach with two graduated students from Africa (Ghana and Uganda). They know the bible really well and are very smart. We went back last night to tract and at 1A we got caught in what Sis R terms "an old man trap". An 65 year old man answered the door in nothing but his briefs and proceeded to talk to us for 45 minutes. We tried to get away, we promise! But neither Sis R nor I are bold enough just to say, "ok! See ya!" and close the door. He chatted with us about how he'd already lost 30 kilo and wanted to go down 20 more by just eating pita bread and vegetables and how we needed to only read the Bible. Not even commentaries. It was really a non-stop stream with no break. Amazing! Well, we'll try again some other day.
Love you all! No time left! Laundry to switch!
Syster Maxwell
Hello all!
What a terribly strange week! We spent a gazillion krona at the grocery store because Sis Robinson's bike tire was still flat and we had to go to the expensive one. Then we spent most of the afternoon fighting stinging nettles and mushy weeds, trying not to destroy the raspberries. Now we are experts at identifying stinging nettles by sight, sound, smell, taste and feel. Not very pleasant. Sis R got some nice welts on her arm. Ok. Not really by taste. They are all over the place here, turns out, lining the bike trails. Dangerous. We also had some of the young men from the ward come over and fix Sis R's bike tire. It had five holes in it, they said. They did a really good job patching it up, but the next morning it was half flat. Slow leak! So we just carried the bike pump with us everywhere and pumped it up every time we had to go somewhere new. I liked to tell people it was my night stick or billy club when they asked. Don't worry, we just decided to change the inner tube on Saturday, and we did it ourselves. Our apartment is swimming in tools! So exciting!
So, we had a lot of appointments fall through this week. That's been depressing. A run down of what we've been doing: Bike contacting. Very interesting. You have to get over any geek complexes pretty quickly. Helping an investigator quit smoking. Challenging a family to baptism who Sis R felt like she stayed here for. Getting our challenged laughed at by said family (we are not deterred!). The daughter really wants to be baptized, actually, and we'd love for them to be baptized all together, but they've already been baptized. So they don't feel like they need to again. I have many thoughts on that one, but I will spare you all, and I only have 10 minutes left. We are going to Stockholm today and have only a little time.
We also had a cool experience (I hope) where we had a guy come up to us and start talking about the church. We set up an appointment with him and got his address. Then, later in the week, we called the guy that I had talked to in the train station on Saturday. We set up an appointment with him and got his address. We set them up one after each other and turns out they lived in the same street! We felt like the Lord was telling us something. We still don't know who we might find there, but when we got there it was student housing! We've been looking for some way to talk to the students from the university here! We'll see how it goes. We actually had a great teach with two graduated students from Africa (Ghana and Uganda). They know the bible really well and are very smart. We went back last night to tract and at 1A we got caught in what Sis R terms "an old man trap". An 65 year old man answered the door in nothing but his briefs and proceeded to talk to us for 45 minutes. We tried to get away, we promise! But neither Sis R nor I are bold enough just to say, "ok! See ya!" and close the door. He chatted with us about how he'd already lost 30 kilo and wanted to go down 20 more by just eating pita bread and vegetables and how we needed to only read the Bible. Not even commentaries. It was really a non-stop stream with no break. Amazing! Well, we'll try again some other day.
Love you all! No time left! Laundry to switch!
Syster Maxwell
Monday, August 2, 2010
Week 19
Subject: The Garden State
Hello Beloved Family,
Well, I'm in Örebro. Transfers went nice and smoothly. I was packed and ready to go by 3:00 the day before and we could just take it easy the rest of the time. The day of transfers we had our studies, finished tidying up and decorated our planners with the flowers we'd been collecting and drying the whole transfer. I put lavender on mine, so now it smells delicious! I'll just try not to smell it in public. We took both of my overloaded suitcases on the bus to Vällingby first to meet IA. That was great! He still wants to get baptized and come to church, so we gave him the number of a Spanish speaking ward missionary and my number in Örebro. The only question is, why did he avoid us for 2 weeks if he's still excited about everything? I don't know.
So then it was off to the ring to meet all the other missionaries. Sis Wood got tranferred down to Lund for her last transfer which is an answer to prayer. She really wanted to get out and see something different since she's basically been in Stockholm her entire mission. Only trouble is that they speak a different dialect of Swedish down there which is hard to understand. I'm sure she'll have fun with it though. Elders Gardner, Bush, Wood, and Dean were at the ring too. They were in my MTC district and are basically switching places too. Elder Bush didn't think too highly of us sisters in the MTC and now sister Page is in his district. Hope he's gotten over that since she was the rowdiest of the group... The sisters all went out to eat at a café we would eat at for district meetings. It was pouring rain on the way back, so our shoes got slightly soaked. Quick goodbyes and off to catch my train. My first real train in Sweden! None of this commuter train stuff. I said goodbye as we passed by all my old haunts and then off to the west. We're still in the Stockholm stake, but we are two hours out, so there will be no more Stockholm trips which I'll miss, but I already like Örebro, so I'll think I'll stick around.
It's been raining basically since I got here. Hard to take after our rainless, hot July. So getting transferred out of my first area felt like moving away from home. I keep feeling like I'll be going back sometime. I even find myself thinking, "back home our shower..." and then I remember how ridiculous that is and it's not my home. The whole mission slang with 'being born', 'dying', having a 'mom' or 'sisters' or a 'grandma' is making a little more sense to me now. Also it's so much easier to say you are going to 'kill' someone than saying 'I'm going to be their last companion before they going home' or even 'they are going home thing transfer'. Rather, 'she's dying' or 'I'm going to kill her.' So much simpler... or maybe it's still just ridiculous.
Anyway, they had a baptism here last week and he was confirmed in church on Sunday, so as happens after a baptism, there is a void in the people for us to teach (because not so much energy is focused on teaching the baptismal candidate even though we still teach him once a week), so we'll be doing a lot of finding work. My favorite! Örebro is like an actual city and the castle is right in the middle of it, so we pass by it to go contacting. We bike everywhere which is awesome, but we need to buy baskets. I just can't live without a basket for my bike. I was being silly, but they are nice, and it's so Swedish!
So, Sis Robinson tells me I've come to Zion. Örebro is an actually functioning ward with the sacrament actually being passed by youth, about 20 young single adults, and 100 active members. Crazy! Our ward mission leader is AWESOME. He is starting a program to have members of the ward bring people into their homes to be taught. Not people we find, people they invite. When people get baptized, the members take care of them. They've had five baptisms within the last year and 4 our of 5 of those is still coming to church (5 if you count the man baptized last week). It's so wonderful. I hope we can really do some good work here.
The best thing about this week is (maybe not the best...most ironic) that when sister Robinson told me we were on the bottom floor, I got excited and asked her if we had a little yard, then. (Most of the bottom floor apartments here have little yards that people like to dress up and actually put money into even though they are just renting. It's a different mentality). It was a "yard" she said, but there was no way we could go out in it since it was covered in very tall weeds. When I saw it, I got excited about cutting everything down and making it look nice. She was not so enthused, so I figured I'd just do it on my own for therapeutic reasons. So on Friday, we get a knock on the door and the community people tell us we have to clear our weeds within a week else, they will come in and do it for us and then send us the bill. Sis Robinson said, "well, I guess you get to have your garden after all" Yay!! It's raining today, but we are going to clip as much as possible. Our mission leader brought us some small clippers from the church, but after he got a look at it he went and got us bigger clippers and said, "You're gonna need these." Fun times! So Sis Robinson is also into transfer themes, so we decided to make the theme "The Garden" and relate it all back to Jesus Christ. We will be studying different aspects of garden symbolism as relating to the plan of salvation and atonement each week as a companionship. Her favorite CD is also "the Garden", that musical production that came out a while ago. Didn't they do that in Apex or somewhere? So, it all ties nicely together and would make for a nice seminary video.
Well, I'm really excited about this transfer. Sis Robinson is really sweet. She is from Palmdale, CA, studying to be an English teacher at BYU, and is more soft spoken upon first meeting people than I am. Weird. She's fun and open to new things, so that's nice. We also have a dryer now, so I don't have to have a stinky towel anymore!!!
Well, that's all for this week. I hope everyone is doing fantastically well and enjoying August. I love this work. It is the Lord's. I know we will see miracles this transfer as long as we truly desire it and stick with it. I discovered Helaman 3:24-30 this week. Love it!
Love,
Syster Maxwell
Hello Beloved Family,
Well, I'm in Örebro. Transfers went nice and smoothly. I was packed and ready to go by 3:00 the day before and we could just take it easy the rest of the time. The day of transfers we had our studies, finished tidying up and decorated our planners with the flowers we'd been collecting and drying the whole transfer. I put lavender on mine, so now it smells delicious! I'll just try not to smell it in public. We took both of my overloaded suitcases on the bus to Vällingby first to meet IA. That was great! He still wants to get baptized and come to church, so we gave him the number of a Spanish speaking ward missionary and my number in Örebro. The only question is, why did he avoid us for 2 weeks if he's still excited about everything? I don't know.
So then it was off to the ring to meet all the other missionaries. Sis Wood got tranferred down to Lund for her last transfer which is an answer to prayer. She really wanted to get out and see something different since she's basically been in Stockholm her entire mission. Only trouble is that they speak a different dialect of Swedish down there which is hard to understand. I'm sure she'll have fun with it though. Elders Gardner, Bush, Wood, and Dean were at the ring too. They were in my MTC district and are basically switching places too. Elder Bush didn't think too highly of us sisters in the MTC and now sister Page is in his district. Hope he's gotten over that since she was the rowdiest of the group... The sisters all went out to eat at a café we would eat at for district meetings. It was pouring rain on the way back, so our shoes got slightly soaked. Quick goodbyes and off to catch my train. My first real train in Sweden! None of this commuter train stuff. I said goodbye as we passed by all my old haunts and then off to the west. We're still in the Stockholm stake, but we are two hours out, so there will be no more Stockholm trips which I'll miss, but I already like Örebro, so I'll think I'll stick around.
It's been raining basically since I got here. Hard to take after our rainless, hot July. So getting transferred out of my first area felt like moving away from home. I keep feeling like I'll be going back sometime. I even find myself thinking, "back home our shower..." and then I remember how ridiculous that is and it's not my home. The whole mission slang with 'being born', 'dying', having a 'mom' or 'sisters' or a 'grandma' is making a little more sense to me now. Also it's so much easier to say you are going to 'kill' someone than saying 'I'm going to be their last companion before they going home' or even 'they are going home thing transfer'. Rather, 'she's dying' or 'I'm going to kill her.' So much simpler... or maybe it's still just ridiculous.
Anyway, they had a baptism here last week and he was confirmed in church on Sunday, so as happens after a baptism, there is a void in the people for us to teach (because not so much energy is focused on teaching the baptismal candidate even though we still teach him once a week), so we'll be doing a lot of finding work. My favorite! Örebro is like an actual city and the castle is right in the middle of it, so we pass by it to go contacting. We bike everywhere which is awesome, but we need to buy baskets. I just can't live without a basket for my bike. I was being silly, but they are nice, and it's so Swedish!
So, Sis Robinson tells me I've come to Zion. Örebro is an actually functioning ward with the sacrament actually being passed by youth, about 20 young single adults, and 100 active members. Crazy! Our ward mission leader is AWESOME. He is starting a program to have members of the ward bring people into their homes to be taught. Not people we find, people they invite. When people get baptized, the members take care of them. They've had five baptisms within the last year and 4 our of 5 of those is still coming to church (5 if you count the man baptized last week). It's so wonderful. I hope we can really do some good work here.
The best thing about this week is (maybe not the best...most ironic) that when sister Robinson told me we were on the bottom floor, I got excited and asked her if we had a little yard, then. (Most of the bottom floor apartments here have little yards that people like to dress up and actually put money into even though they are just renting. It's a different mentality). It was a "yard" she said, but there was no way we could go out in it since it was covered in very tall weeds. When I saw it, I got excited about cutting everything down and making it look nice. She was not so enthused, so I figured I'd just do it on my own for therapeutic reasons. So on Friday, we get a knock on the door and the community people tell us we have to clear our weeds within a week else, they will come in and do it for us and then send us the bill. Sis Robinson said, "well, I guess you get to have your garden after all" Yay!! It's raining today, but we are going to clip as much as possible. Our mission leader brought us some small clippers from the church, but after he got a look at it he went and got us bigger clippers and said, "You're gonna need these." Fun times! So Sis Robinson is also into transfer themes, so we decided to make the theme "The Garden" and relate it all back to Jesus Christ. We will be studying different aspects of garden symbolism as relating to the plan of salvation and atonement each week as a companionship. Her favorite CD is also "the Garden", that musical production that came out a while ago. Didn't they do that in Apex or somewhere? So, it all ties nicely together and would make for a nice seminary video.
Well, I'm really excited about this transfer. Sis Robinson is really sweet. She is from Palmdale, CA, studying to be an English teacher at BYU, and is more soft spoken upon first meeting people than I am. Weird. She's fun and open to new things, so that's nice. We also have a dryer now, so I don't have to have a stinky towel anymore!!!
Well, that's all for this week. I hope everyone is doing fantastically well and enjoying August. I love this work. It is the Lord's. I know we will see miracles this transfer as long as we truly desire it and stick with it. I discovered Helaman 3:24-30 this week. Love it!
Love,
Syster Maxwell
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