Subject: I want to touch me and you a cup of coffee
Hey all!
Time sure does fly by. We have transfer calls next week, but at our zone conference, President Anderson said he was planning on keeping me in one place for awhile. I told him I guess I'd unpack my bags now :) He also said he figured it would just be one set of sisters in Göteborg, so we can kiss the 4-woman apartment goodbye. We've had so much fun!! It's cramped, but a lot more exciting.
Well, the miracles are still flowing in. We really wanted to make our goals this week and we ended sunday one teach short. We decided to contact on the way home for weekly planning and the second person we talked to said, "I know a little about your church, but not much. What do you stand for?" We were able to give her a short first lesson there on the street. Though she wasn't interested, it was a positive interaction for her, and the Lord showing us again that He cares.
We also had a cool experience where we didn't know exactly where to go to contact on Saturday, so we just went to the spår vagn to see how we felt when we got there. We decided to take the first one that came and talk to those we felt we should. We got off at Marklandsgatan and took the first one that came again. We got off at another random stop and had 5 minutes until the next tram. We saw a few african ladies carrying a couple of kids, so we decided to talk to them in the meantime. They said they had been here for a week, were from Rwanda and on an exchange program with Gothenberg university and were looking for a doctor for the baby. Sis Lövgren asked a passing couple and we went with them to the emergency care. We sat with them for a good 3 hours and then went with them to get the prescription for the baby. He had some kind of infection. Sis Lövgren was able to give one of the ladies a Book of Mormon and teach her about the restoration and they said we could come over next week. The coolest thing was being able to help someone. It's so hard sometimes to find ways to be helpful to people here.
So, our zone got 9 baptismal dates this week! We were very excited. The saddest part about that is that one of them was ours (who really only speaks Arabic and French), but the next day he sent us a text that said "Hallo maxwell how are you i want to touch me and you a cup of coffee outside the church as possible? And at the same time i do not want to bother, and i hope that my call receptive, the spectrum of week, thank you" First of all, no coffee. Second of all, I have only met him once and he's a bit older than me. And third of all, I'm a missionary!!! We sent him a text back and said we didn't have time, but we'd like to meet next week, and had he read anything from the Book of Mormon yet? He texted back saying "Hi, i am for you and for your beauty saghere all the books and i did not asittie to sleep and i'm thinking of your beauty and the book. lol lol"
We had a good laugh over that one and so did the elders when we had to call and ask them to take our investigator. There seems to be quite the epidemic of this. Maybe it's because it's february?
Otherwise, I am happy and things are going really well. Sis Lövgren and I are starting to annoy each other by our similarities, but it's funny. We take it in stride. Well, the work goes forward. It's amazing to see. Thanks for all your prayers and support!
Love,
sys m
PS forgive the type-os! Ack!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Week 47
Subject: These boots were made for walkin’
Hejsan allihopa!
It's been quite an interesting week in preparation for Valentine's Day! With our investigator calling us 'baby' instead of sister and then the other Sisters' baptismal date expressing his love to Sis Gotberg, we've had quite enough of the Valentine's sentiment :) He told her he's going back to Africa this week, and wouldn't she like to go with him? When she said no in her usual Sis Gotberg manner (nicely and with a sense of humor) he followed up with a texted poem about his love for her. He tried calling over and over and after a lot of agonizing conversations with the rest of us told her that she wasn't practicing what she preached because Jesus wouldn't avoid people. That was mature of him. So, in the end we gave S to the other sisters and they gave M to us. We are trying to meet with M again to see what his real intentions really are and if he is interested in continuing to learn more and set up a new baptismal date.
So, it's been quite cozy with all four of us in the apartment. It seems to take forever to get out of the door in the morning, but we can run and be ready for study at 8, so that's been impressive. Otherwise, I can never find anything and all my clothes seem to be permanently wrinkled from being stuffed in half a closet. After 2 weeks, we've worked out the kinks. We haven't divided up the area at all--we just communicate to make sure we won't be at the same place at the same time. The other sisters have more responsibilities over the institute center and teach Swedish class and such. It's been really nice to have the center to teach people. No more sitting at the library! It always struck me as funny that we didn't have a good place where we could go to teach people. It feels much more professional to have a place of our own to meet (in Örebro and Sundsvall, the church was a bit out of the way).
In other news we've seen so many miracles this week. I have done this three times now it seems. Go to an area, find out there are 1-2 investigators and then spend the next two weeks working as hard as we can to try to build up the area. It seems that on that day where I just don't think I can contact one more person, the Lord blesses us so much. Last weekend we gave pass along cards to 2 people who contacted us either that night or in the next few days. We met with one man, M, 3 times last week and found a fellowshipper who clicked with him immediately! Even when I feel so inadequate, the Lord shows me that He's the one who's taking care of everything. We had another miracle. We'd had a really poopy day the day before and I was sitting on the tram pleading with the Lord to give me strength to keep going and I got the strongest impression to just get off the tram and start contacting. The first person we talked to was a man from Colombia (Spanish speaker!!) who has Mormon friends and a Book of Mormon at home! He invited us over :) These things happened over and over again this week.
Just one more really cool thing...Last night we went tracting and the first door we knocked on the lady said, 'jag vet vem ni är. kom in!' We were so shocked we didn't really know what to do at first, but we took our coats off and sat down. She gave us tea and kladkaka and we showed here the new translation of the Book of Mormon. She was really excited about it. She said she likes to open up the book at random and see what the Lord has for her that day. She demonstrated and the scripture she read at random was Alma 10:8-9. I just got chills. The Spirit was so strong, we tried to explain the story, but we don't know if she really got it. In any case, we got her number and an open invitation to come back. It was really cool. Another tender mercy was that I was feeling bad making Sis Lövgren work while she was sick. We got to have a nice chat and drink tea. Wonderful.
Well, I love Sis Lövgren. She's just fantastic. We are so similar that we laugh about our same quirks. We both have a tendency to micromanage each other. It's great. I also got to wear Sis Gotbergs new boots to stretch them out for her and she wore mine. It was nice to trade in my clunky boots for nice sleek ones for a while. They have no tread, so I would hold onto her backpack and she'd pull me along the ice. Who needs ice skating? Anyway, that's the news. Oh, Elder Olsen is my zone leader. He played football with Aaron Lee. I gave him all Aaron's letters. He was very excited. 30 seconds left! Have a great week!
Love,
Sis M
Hejsan allihopa!
It's been quite an interesting week in preparation for Valentine's Day! With our investigator calling us 'baby' instead of sister and then the other Sisters' baptismal date expressing his love to Sis Gotberg, we've had quite enough of the Valentine's sentiment :) He told her he's going back to Africa this week, and wouldn't she like to go with him? When she said no in her usual Sis Gotberg manner (nicely and with a sense of humor) he followed up with a texted poem about his love for her. He tried calling over and over and after a lot of agonizing conversations with the rest of us told her that she wasn't practicing what she preached because Jesus wouldn't avoid people. That was mature of him. So, in the end we gave S to the other sisters and they gave M to us. We are trying to meet with M again to see what his real intentions really are and if he is interested in continuing to learn more and set up a new baptismal date.
So, it's been quite cozy with all four of us in the apartment. It seems to take forever to get out of the door in the morning, but we can run and be ready for study at 8, so that's been impressive. Otherwise, I can never find anything and all my clothes seem to be permanently wrinkled from being stuffed in half a closet. After 2 weeks, we've worked out the kinks. We haven't divided up the area at all--we just communicate to make sure we won't be at the same place at the same time. The other sisters have more responsibilities over the institute center and teach Swedish class and such. It's been really nice to have the center to teach people. No more sitting at the library! It always struck me as funny that we didn't have a good place where we could go to teach people. It feels much more professional to have a place of our own to meet (in Örebro and Sundsvall, the church was a bit out of the way).
In other news we've seen so many miracles this week. I have done this three times now it seems. Go to an area, find out there are 1-2 investigators and then spend the next two weeks working as hard as we can to try to build up the area. It seems that on that day where I just don't think I can contact one more person, the Lord blesses us so much. Last weekend we gave pass along cards to 2 people who contacted us either that night or in the next few days. We met with one man, M, 3 times last week and found a fellowshipper who clicked with him immediately! Even when I feel so inadequate, the Lord shows me that He's the one who's taking care of everything. We had another miracle. We'd had a really poopy day the day before and I was sitting on the tram pleading with the Lord to give me strength to keep going and I got the strongest impression to just get off the tram and start contacting. The first person we talked to was a man from Colombia (Spanish speaker!!) who has Mormon friends and a Book of Mormon at home! He invited us over :) These things happened over and over again this week.
Just one more really cool thing...Last night we went tracting and the first door we knocked on the lady said, 'jag vet vem ni är. kom in!' We were so shocked we didn't really know what to do at first, but we took our coats off and sat down. She gave us tea and kladkaka and we showed here the new translation of the Book of Mormon. She was really excited about it. She said she likes to open up the book at random and see what the Lord has for her that day. She demonstrated and the scripture she read at random was Alma 10:8-9. I just got chills. The Spirit was so strong, we tried to explain the story, but we don't know if she really got it. In any case, we got her number and an open invitation to come back. It was really cool. Another tender mercy was that I was feeling bad making Sis Lövgren work while she was sick. We got to have a nice chat and drink tea. Wonderful.
Well, I love Sis Lövgren. She's just fantastic. We are so similar that we laugh about our same quirks. We both have a tendency to micromanage each other. It's great. I also got to wear Sis Gotbergs new boots to stretch them out for her and she wore mine. It was nice to trade in my clunky boots for nice sleek ones for a while. They have no tread, so I would hold onto her backpack and she'd pull me along the ice. Who needs ice skating? Anyway, that's the news. Oh, Elder Olsen is my zone leader. He played football with Aaron Lee. I gave him all Aaron's letters. He was very excited. 30 seconds left! Have a great week!
Love,
Sis M
Monday, February 7, 2011
Week 46
Subject: 4 girls in a 1 bedroom apartment spells trouble
Hallå
So...It's been an interesting week. We've had a few miracles and lovely weather. It's been above freezing all week and we've watched the ice slowly melting. It also rained on Tuesday, making the sidewalks and roads a slippery icy mess. It was like walking on a bumpy ice rink. I haven't fallen all winter, but fell twice in two days last week.
The other sisters let us have one of their investigators, a lady who has been in contact with the church and coming to activities for 8 years. She's very chatty and nice and just needs to read the Book of Mormon because she thinks she knows what it's about, but turns out she doesn't really.
We also met a man from Jordan who is very Catholic, in his late 50s, and quite debonaire (I have no idea how to spell that). He's met the missionaries before who gave up on him after a couple times teaching him, but he came to church on Sunday and brought a friend, so we'll see how it goes.
We also had another miracle investigator pop up. The Utby elders called us and the other sisters and we were the ones who were available. He's from Nigeria and relocated here from Denmark 2 months ago. He was introduced to the church in Romania where he went to the University and one of his friends got baptized. He's really nice and really positive, but also looking for a place to live, so we'll give him some time to see what his real interest is. I also had to have Sis Lövgren start calling him and answering his phones so he'd stop answering the phone, "Hey, Baby" or "Hey, Sweetie". I had a feeling the other sisters should teach him, but they encouraged us to keep him. Hopefully it will be ok if we always have a member when we teach him...
He absolutely loved the center for young adults when we showed it to him. And so do I! The Stockholm center is really fun, but the Göteborg center is absolutely beautiful. It's in this old building with marble stairs and an elevator straight out of the 20s. The center is on the 3rd floor and out of every window you can see all the fun, architecturally wonderful buildings around it. It's on the same street as the main building of Göteborg Universitet. Vasagatan 46 if you want to google earth it, dad. There are also all these really fun cafes along the street beside it. Sis Gotberg and I went to one of them after we renewed our visas. It was empty and dark in the day but seemed like it would be a fun place to go in the evenings.
It's been fun having Sis Lövgren as my companion. She's been teaching me Swedish and I teach her the little English she doesn't know already. She also picks up on things I wouldn't hear or don't pay attention to. For example, when we got on a bus, I heard two kids in the back say, 'Controllen!' (The people who check that everyone has valid tickets). I stopped listening after that, but Sis Lövgren said that one of the kids was freaking out trying to get his card to work, touching it to the reader over and over. His friend asked him if he was sure it was the control, and he said, "Yes! Didn't you see their nametags?" They got off the bus before us and looked back at us to figure out who we really were.
Well, the work goes on and Sis Gotberg keeps talking about when we go home. I still have a good 5 months left, so it's definitely not time to start talking about it. Oh well. I'm excited about this next week and the new people we'll find and the creative brushoffs we'll hear. Well, I love you all, and hope you are doing well. Don't forget to get your last minute letters in! I promise I'll write back now. Love you all!
Amy
PS I had one of those moments this week where someone was praying for the missionaries and it dawned on me that I'm one of those and in Sweden. Strange.
Hallå
So...It's been an interesting week. We've had a few miracles and lovely weather. It's been above freezing all week and we've watched the ice slowly melting. It also rained on Tuesday, making the sidewalks and roads a slippery icy mess. It was like walking on a bumpy ice rink. I haven't fallen all winter, but fell twice in two days last week.
The other sisters let us have one of their investigators, a lady who has been in contact with the church and coming to activities for 8 years. She's very chatty and nice and just needs to read the Book of Mormon because she thinks she knows what it's about, but turns out she doesn't really.
We also met a man from Jordan who is very Catholic, in his late 50s, and quite debonaire (I have no idea how to spell that). He's met the missionaries before who gave up on him after a couple times teaching him, but he came to church on Sunday and brought a friend, so we'll see how it goes.
We also had another miracle investigator pop up. The Utby elders called us and the other sisters and we were the ones who were available. He's from Nigeria and relocated here from Denmark 2 months ago. He was introduced to the church in Romania where he went to the University and one of his friends got baptized. He's really nice and really positive, but also looking for a place to live, so we'll give him some time to see what his real interest is. I also had to have Sis Lövgren start calling him and answering his phones so he'd stop answering the phone, "Hey, Baby" or "Hey, Sweetie". I had a feeling the other sisters should teach him, but they encouraged us to keep him. Hopefully it will be ok if we always have a member when we teach him...
He absolutely loved the center for young adults when we showed it to him. And so do I! The Stockholm center is really fun, but the Göteborg center is absolutely beautiful. It's in this old building with marble stairs and an elevator straight out of the 20s. The center is on the 3rd floor and out of every window you can see all the fun, architecturally wonderful buildings around it. It's on the same street as the main building of Göteborg Universitet. Vasagatan 46 if you want to google earth it, dad. There are also all these really fun cafes along the street beside it. Sis Gotberg and I went to one of them after we renewed our visas. It was empty and dark in the day but seemed like it would be a fun place to go in the evenings.
It's been fun having Sis Lövgren as my companion. She's been teaching me Swedish and I teach her the little English she doesn't know already. She also picks up on things I wouldn't hear or don't pay attention to. For example, when we got on a bus, I heard two kids in the back say, 'Controllen!' (The people who check that everyone has valid tickets). I stopped listening after that, but Sis Lövgren said that one of the kids was freaking out trying to get his card to work, touching it to the reader over and over. His friend asked him if he was sure it was the control, and he said, "Yes! Didn't you see their nametags?" They got off the bus before us and looked back at us to figure out who we really were.
Well, the work goes on and Sis Gotberg keeps talking about when we go home. I still have a good 5 months left, so it's definitely not time to start talking about it. Oh well. I'm excited about this next week and the new people we'll find and the creative brushoffs we'll hear. Well, I love you all, and hope you are doing well. Don't forget to get your last minute letters in! I promise I'll write back now. Love you all!
Amy
PS I had one of those moments this week where someone was praying for the missionaries and it dawned on me that I'm one of those and in Sweden. Strange.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)