Week 39

Hejsan Allihopa!
One more day! It's 2:45 now and almost dark. It's been snowing the last few days, so the snow is about 2 ft deep now I think. Or maybe more. It's hard to tell. It might be up to my hips, actually, so that's deeper.

So last Tuesday we had a miracle day. Everything we planned happened, and we were on time to everything. This included a really positive teach with a girl who missed her baptismal date last year, but still wants to be baptized :) Wednesday we drove to Hudiksvall, about an hour and a half away to teach S & E, a couple who the missionaries have been teaching pretty consistently for the last 3 years. S has been in contact with the church for 40 years, since his first wife passed away. It's really hard. He's so ready and knows everything. Just stubborn. We of course have that faith that all new missionaries to an area do that we can be led to say something that will change his heart, but it comes down to his agency. He has to choose.

So from there we drove back to Sundsvall and caught the train to Stockholm for the combined zone conference/Christmas party. Our train was delayed because of a wreck, so we didn't get in until 10:18, so that made for a late night. We stayed at the mission home with all the other sisters, so it was a party :) It was great catching up on how the work in Örebro is going. It hasn't been long, but everyone is doing great and RR was baptized on Saturday. Yay!

The conference was fun. We sang and played and learned. We had a gift exchange and I got a Santa beard and hat. It was very exciting :) Another highlight from the week was Saturday when we met with a recent convert who just moved up here and his non-member friend. They are from Africa and came to Sundsvall to look for work. They were living in the train station here, but someone found out and hotels in the community offered them a place to stay for the short term. The branch offered them help getting to church and made sure they were ok, and they said, thanks but no thanks. We've seen them off and on and this time went and read Mosiah 24 with them to help them feel comforted.

The Spirit was so strong, but after we had borne testimony, the friend started a rant about how what we give him does him no good and he needs something tangible. He'll go to a church that can help him. We listened to him rail on white people for a good 15 minutes. He blamed our ancestors for his misfortune and said if his friend was American, the Church would have helped them a long time ago. I let him know that they had said no to our offers of help. Once he realized that he was nice again and they both said that had been a miscommunication and they did want a place to stay and help from us. It was sad to hear him talk about Europeans in such a derogatory way. A lot of what he said was true, but there was much that wasn't. He said a lot of things I could comment on (which technically I'm not supposed to), but in the end, their situation is really sad, and I wish I could do something to help, but all I have is my testimony and the scriptures, so that has to be help enough for now.

Well, in lighter news, I get to play the flute in church on Sunday, and we had a really yummy dinner with the Muslim couple we visited last Sunday. They are so nice and I wish we could be their friends...

Well, it's 3:15 and dark outside. Just going to get better from here!

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas! It's such a great time to remember our Savior and share that good news with those we love. As the advertisement in the window of Lindex says, "Do good. Feel good. Look good." Not in that order. I love you all!

Syster Maxwell

P.S. Thanks Mike and Shelley for the Christmas package. We were very excited to get all your greetings and treats!