Week 29

Subject: The Joy of Missionary Work

Hello friends and family.

I am well. This was an incredibly long week.

Love,

Syster Maxwell

(next email)
Subject: PS

No really...Tuesday feels like an eternity ago. I do remember that it was a really long day, but it was busy and fun. I introduced Sis Porkka to all of our favorites and we had a teach with RR, our Chinese investigator who studies at the University and her friend G. People kept poking their heads in and once they saw we were reading the scriptures, G would invite them in. At one point there were 6 people besides us. It was quite the party. It's hard to teach to a person's needs when they are all from different religious backgrounds and cultures. RR loves the Book of Mormon, though and came to church on Sunday! She's always so happy and it was fun to have her with us in Relief Society. She's our age, so she's also a good friend.

On Wednesday we cajoled A to fast with us on Sunday. We told him we would all start at 6 and go until 6 the next day. "Without anything?!" he said. "And what time is church, 6 pm?" "No, 11am," we replied. "You all are going to kill me!" was his perplexed reply. He did it, though, but he didn't come to church. He tried to come to the recent convert/investigator dinner afterwards, but Sis Porkka was in a bad mood and wouldn't tell him how to get there. No church, no dinner! He has already cut back more than planned for on the snus, so he's doing great. We just have to get him to activities before 2 pm.

After that we tried to get to the 7th Day Adventists' house. I'd never led the way there before, so that was an adventure. I got us completely turned around and she had to come get us. But on the way we asked a few people for directions. The first people were three people who we saw walking out of the park. I could tell they were drunk and told Sis Porkka not to ask them. She obviously didn't hear me because she immediately asked them for directions. While the two ladies were trying to direct us toward the street, the older gentleman came up to me and tried to grab me. I protested and he told me to hold still. I did so he would stop making a fuss, and I could get away, but he tried to grab my face and give me a kiss. I think he was going for my cheek, but still.... I pulled away, and Sis Porkka also immediately came to the rescue and scolded him, "No, no, no!!!" He was wondering what the big deal was and one of the ladies said, "Not them. They're Mormons!" or something to that effect. It was pretty funny and silly. I wouldn't like that as a non-missionary either.

The teach with the 7th Day Adventists was interesting. They basically said that they can't accept the Book of Mormon because the Bible makes no mention anywhere of a person being both a spirit and a body. We gave them as much evidence as we could think of, but he always said the words meant something else. Typical. So, we thought that was over. We read parts of 2 Nephi 33 together and bore testimony of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon and left expecting that to be that, but they called a couple days later to set up an appointment! Sis Porkka has taught 7th Day Adventists before and just doesn't know what to do with them. We'll see how it goes.

We keep finding English speakers to teach. On Sunday the English speakers outnumbered the Swedish speakers in the Gospel Principles class. There were five of them and there was one more that meant to come, but got lost on the way. It was ridiculous.

Anyway, the rest is just the same, finding, teaching, seeing them slip away or being frustrated by lack of progress. It's hard to understand why some people keep meeting with us even though they don't want to read, pray, or go to church.

Well, it's getting colder, so we've switched to long underwear, socks and tights already. The Jul Must (a popular Christmas soda) is already in stores and some people have started putting lights in their windows. I also have found that a person can't get Jimmy Dean sausage here, meaning the kind that you can fry up. Also, there is no vanilla extract, only vanilla sugar which is basically powdered sugar with vanilla flavoring. Also, Sister Porkka said that inviting yourself over for dinner isn't a weird thing, but just dropping by to visit is. You can drop by, but don't take your shoes off and expect to stay. I'm trying to remember cultural things I haven't shared thus far. Anything anyone wants to know about? Well, have a great week. Hope you all are doing what you should be.

Love,

Syster Maxwell