Subject: Weird days and lovely muggy weather
Hejsan hejsan!
So it's been an interesting week. Lots of ups and downs and I think it was really long. Last Monday we went to the Nobel Museum and learned a lot about Alfred Nobel. We were sad that there wasn't more information about the people who had won Nobel Prizes. They did highlight a few controversial prizes like the one awarded to Sartre which he rejected until a few years later, but he couldn't get it because the time was up for him to collect his money. Interesting. We saw a little clip about Martin Luther King Jr. and I had forgotten how inspiring the things he said were. What I've read and heard of his speaks to my idealistic hopes.
Sis Swenson and I have talked a lot about our teaching methods this week and things have gotten a lot better. I thought she didn't like what I would share in lessons, but turns out she just had no idea where I was going. Typical. I'm working on clearly expressing myself.
On Tuesday we had 'Sharpening' in Gubbangen. We get together and have short learning activities put on by the Zone Leaders and then President Anderson speaks for a little and then we have district meeting. In the meantime we have interviews with Pres. Anderson. That was followed up by running over to Spånga where we were supposed to meet IG and take him to a Spanish speaking member's house for a lesson on tithing. The members are a great asset, but it's hard to get a word in edgewise because they probably figure they can explain it better. I felt like maybe I wasn't doing a good enough job teaching him everything until he told me he didn't understand the concepts they had explained to him. I realized he probably understands me because I speak slowly and clearly since Spanish isn't my second language, so that's all ok.
The next few days after that were weird. We sat around a lot waiting for IG to show up and having a lot of other things fall through. Part of the weirdness is that Sweden basically shuts down in the month of July because everyone has 5 weeks of mandatory vacation and for some reason I still don't know they all seem to take it in the month of July.
On Friday we ended the weird days streak with a teach with a former member who wanted to talk about the Priesthood and blessings and things. So, like I said, we've been working on teaching together and I've been trying to finish the things I start, so when I asked him what he remembers about his own priesthood and service he started talking about the Priesthood as the power that keeps the universe in motion or together or something (Big words in Swedish...). When he had finished his thought, I was like, "....Uhhhh...." Desperate look at Sis Swenson, and then I just dove in with something about faith and God's love and our potential and it all connected and came back to the lesson, but in Swedish, who knows if it made sense. So that was fun. And embarrassing. But everyone was nice.
On Saturday I was reminded about the non-status that missionaries have in the ward at our ward grillfest. Everyone loves us, but we are tied to no one, and there's always a lurking distrust that we will freak out there friends or "eat them alive." It's sad that missionaries lose common sense of what makes people uncomfortable and that members don't trust us. (All the ward members are very nice and I feel a part of the ward, but we still are the transitory ones that no one really feels particularly attached to in most cases).
The last memorable experience of the week was yesterday evening. We went to go teach a guy who is a former Jehovah's Witness and is now seeking the truth. He said it would be him and his friend (a girl). When we got there, the apartment was decorated really dark but creatively, it smelled thickly of smoke and such, and there were not 1 but 3 big young guys and their friend (the girl). So, not what we were expecting and rather intimidating and borderline creepy. But, it was really cool. They listened intently and respectfully and had seeking questions, not skeptical questions. It was lovely and they were lovely people.
Anyway, that's too much. It's raining and we left our clothes out to dry. I knew it was going to rain. Why didn't we take our clothes in? Or bring an umbrella? Typical.
Well, do your family history work and "watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives...And now, O man, remember, and perish not." Mosiah 4:30--one of my favorites but not one I get to share very often :) Have a lovely week! Love you all
Syster Maxwell
Monday, July 12, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Week 15
5 July 2010
Subject: Short sleeves and flip flops
Okej, not flip flops, but it was beautiful all week with temperatures in the mid to high 20s and I think we even broke 30. I have 3 short sleeve shirts which aren't really cutting it. Time to shop! I've become more of a shopaholic on my mission. It's strangely hard not to buy new things. I think it's my way of breaking up the sameness of it all and trying to feel normal.
This week was interesting. We had the sister's training (which we are not calling a conference because that would sound like a sleepover). It was really fun to see everyone again. We found out that the unnamed companionship that I thought would be an interesting and difficult combination actually has been really rough, so it was good for them to have people to talk to. It's hard to protect privacy and make that interesting at all. It was also really fun to have our MTC group back together again. Everyone had their group of sisters that they were being reunited with and it was fun to see everyone so happy to see each other again. We had great sister themed workshops complete with an abundance of tears and emotion. We also went out and did contacting training with the office elders and some of the others in the area. It was a little strange contacting with the elders but worked really well and we learned a lot from them. We split up so it wasn't paired off, but someone had recently told me that having an elder go out with two sisters was a little awkward because people would ask if the sisters were the elder's wives. Inget bra. So, I was a little wary of the set up, but it worked. As a grand finale we all went to the temple together. It's amazing the difference it makes to understand the language and to not be jet lagged. Much more uplifting.
We lost contact with our Portuguese-speaking baptismal candidate last week and were freaking out because we didn't know why he had just disappeared and then didn't come to church like he'd said. We had given him a quick Word of Wisdom lesson and he asked if he could drink leite. I didn't register that he was talking about leche, or milk, and we thought he meant latte. So we said no. He said that was going to be really hard! We were surprised because he's accepted not drinking coffee easily. Finally I realized he was saying milk and we had a good laugh about it. Oops. But then we didn't see him again. But, we were in Vällingby yesterday teaching a Muslim man and were finishing up explaining about Joseph Smith when we saw IG go by across the way with a big smile on his face motioning for us to follow him. We were so surprised and happy that we quickly wrapped up the current teach, made a return appointment and ran after him. A lot of times I feel like a stalker, but this time he told us to follow him, so it was ok. Turns out he lost his phone and met someone, two reasons he wasn't making us a priority anymore. We told him we'd have to push back his baptism and then I gave him a law of chastity lesson in Spanish! All by myself! Obviously.
So all is well there. We also went to a BBQ on Saturday at a friend of Nick's who also comes from the states. I've turned into a real missionary because I 'forgot' to bring the wine down and made jokes about the Word of Wisdom to Niklas and Sandra, two members who Nick had also invited. I've succumbed! It's good though.
We also set up a baptismal date with A, an investigator who actually lives in a different area, so we'll be passing him off. It's a really cool story though. Lawal was really late to his confirmation on April 11th and was standing by the train looking really distressed. A saw him and asked him was wrong. He said "I'm really late! I 'm really late!" A offered him a ride to the church and Lawal was surprised, but gratefully accepted. A thought to just drop him off, but Lawal said, "Brother, I think you should come in," so A went in and was greatly impressed by how calm, happy, and stable all of the members seemed. He is really nice and has been fun to teach.
Oh! On Wednesday we went from the Sister's Training to the laser doctor who lasered Sis Swenson's feet! It was gross, but really fun to watch! She is much happier now. Sis. and Pres. Anderson came and picked us up which was really nice of them. When we got home the water was turned off and came out brown and in sporadic bursts for the next few hours. Ok. Not that interesting, but we were worried for a bit.
Well, I am loving what we are doing here.
Subject: Short sleeves and flip flops
Okej, not flip flops, but it was beautiful all week with temperatures in the mid to high 20s and I think we even broke 30. I have 3 short sleeve shirts which aren't really cutting it. Time to shop! I've become more of a shopaholic on my mission. It's strangely hard not to buy new things. I think it's my way of breaking up the sameness of it all and trying to feel normal.
This week was interesting. We had the sister's training (which we are not calling a conference because that would sound like a sleepover). It was really fun to see everyone again. We found out that the unnamed companionship that I thought would be an interesting and difficult combination actually has been really rough, so it was good for them to have people to talk to. It's hard to protect privacy and make that interesting at all. It was also really fun to have our MTC group back together again. Everyone had their group of sisters that they were being reunited with and it was fun to see everyone so happy to see each other again. We had great sister themed workshops complete with an abundance of tears and emotion. We also went out and did contacting training with the office elders and some of the others in the area. It was a little strange contacting with the elders but worked really well and we learned a lot from them. We split up so it wasn't paired off, but someone had recently told me that having an elder go out with two sisters was a little awkward because people would ask if the sisters were the elder's wives. Inget bra. So, I was a little wary of the set up, but it worked. As a grand finale we all went to the temple together. It's amazing the difference it makes to understand the language and to not be jet lagged. Much more uplifting.
We lost contact with our Portuguese-speaking baptismal candidate last week and were freaking out because we didn't know why he had just disappeared and then didn't come to church like he'd said. We had given him a quick Word of Wisdom lesson and he asked if he could drink leite. I didn't register that he was talking about leche, or milk, and we thought he meant latte. So we said no. He said that was going to be really hard! We were surprised because he's accepted not drinking coffee easily. Finally I realized he was saying milk and we had a good laugh about it. Oops. But then we didn't see him again. But, we were in Vällingby yesterday teaching a Muslim man and were finishing up explaining about Joseph Smith when we saw IG go by across the way with a big smile on his face motioning for us to follow him. We were so surprised and happy that we quickly wrapped up the current teach, made a return appointment and ran after him. A lot of times I feel like a stalker, but this time he told us to follow him, so it was ok. Turns out he lost his phone and met someone, two reasons he wasn't making us a priority anymore. We told him we'd have to push back his baptism and then I gave him a law of chastity lesson in Spanish! All by myself! Obviously.
So all is well there. We also went to a BBQ on Saturday at a friend of Nick's who also comes from the states. I've turned into a real missionary because I 'forgot' to bring the wine down and made jokes about the Word of Wisdom to Niklas and Sandra, two members who Nick had also invited. I've succumbed! It's good though.
We also set up a baptismal date with A, an investigator who actually lives in a different area, so we'll be passing him off. It's a really cool story though. Lawal was really late to his confirmation on April 11th and was standing by the train looking really distressed. A saw him and asked him was wrong. He said "I'm really late! I 'm really late!" A offered him a ride to the church and Lawal was surprised, but gratefully accepted. A thought to just drop him off, but Lawal said, "Brother, I think you should come in," so A went in and was greatly impressed by how calm, happy, and stable all of the members seemed. He is really nice and has been fun to teach.
Oh! On Wednesday we went from the Sister's Training to the laser doctor who lasered Sis Swenson's feet! It was gross, but really fun to watch! She is much happier now. Sis. and Pres. Anderson came and picked us up which was really nice of them. When we got home the water was turned off and came out brown and in sporadic bursts for the next few hours. Ok. Not that interesting, but we were worried for a bit.
Well, I am loving what we are doing here.
Week 14
27 June 2010
Subject: Hey!
Ok. We booked computers at the Stockholm City Library, but we think we might have missed our time on accident, so we only have 30 minutes. Back to the MTC days! Also, the mouse wasn't working, so I switched them with the comp next to me, so people keep coming up and jiggling my mouse. Anyway. Crazy week this week. We went shopping on Monday. I got some silver earrings b-c that's all that seems to work for long periods of times in my ears. Then we had the Örebro sisters over on Monday. They waited with us at the Spånga station while we waited for our Baptismal Date to run to Spånga from Vällingby. He wasn't even breathing hard when he got there. Then on Tuesday we had zone conference which was amazing. Then on Friday we had Midsummer which was super fun. It is the biggest holiday here next to Christmas. So we went to a big activity on Friday with the Stockholm and Stockholm South stakes and others from the community and we went to Tyresta, the national forest south east of Stockholm. It was great fun! All the missionaries were there and we brought an investigator, Nick. We started the day playing frisbee, then ran a 5K (28:30 b/c I had to stay with the other sister and we really didn't train for that, but it was fun nonetheless, we borrowed shorts from the elders) our investigator got lost on the 5k and didn't come back for 2 hours, then we bbq'd and waited for the dancing to begin. They dance around a large cross dressed with leafy branches. There are two rings that hang from each side of the cross. It was fun to see them set it up. and then the dancing began. They form a few rings around the pole and follow a 'caller' I guess you could say. It's kind of for kids and very silly, but it was so fun. Sis Swenson and I agreed that it was kind of surreal. She felt like we were in the movie Big Fish. It was a really cool thing especially when we went around the circle with all the rings together in one giant spiral. Then tug o war and ice cream in Stockholm. It was a day off for us, but we worked extra hard the next day. This is terribly written, sorry.
Anyway next day was a day of miracles. It all came together and we had 7 teaches. Real teaches. Not fake teaches. Anyway. Love you all!
Syster Maxwell
Subject: Hey!
Ok. We booked computers at the Stockholm City Library, but we think we might have missed our time on accident, so we only have 30 minutes. Back to the MTC days! Also, the mouse wasn't working, so I switched them with the comp next to me, so people keep coming up and jiggling my mouse. Anyway. Crazy week this week. We went shopping on Monday. I got some silver earrings b-c that's all that seems to work for long periods of times in my ears. Then we had the Örebro sisters over on Monday. They waited with us at the Spånga station while we waited for our Baptismal Date to run to Spånga from Vällingby. He wasn't even breathing hard when he got there. Then on Tuesday we had zone conference which was amazing. Then on Friday we had Midsummer which was super fun. It is the biggest holiday here next to Christmas. So we went to a big activity on Friday with the Stockholm and Stockholm South stakes and others from the community and we went to Tyresta, the national forest south east of Stockholm. It was great fun! All the missionaries were there and we brought an investigator, Nick. We started the day playing frisbee, then ran a 5K (28:30 b/c I had to stay with the other sister and we really didn't train for that, but it was fun nonetheless, we borrowed shorts from the elders) our investigator got lost on the 5k and didn't come back for 2 hours, then we bbq'd and waited for the dancing to begin. They dance around a large cross dressed with leafy branches. There are two rings that hang from each side of the cross. It was fun to see them set it up. and then the dancing began. They form a few rings around the pole and follow a 'caller' I guess you could say. It's kind of for kids and very silly, but it was so fun. Sis Swenson and I agreed that it was kind of surreal. She felt like we were in the movie Big Fish. It was a really cool thing especially when we went around the circle with all the rings together in one giant spiral. Then tug o war and ice cream in Stockholm. It was a day off for us, but we worked extra hard the next day. This is terribly written, sorry.
Anyway next day was a day of miracles. It all came together and we had 7 teaches. Real teaches. Not fake teaches. Anyway. Love you all!
Syster Maxwell
Monday, June 21, 2010
Week 13
Subject: Weddings and Bicyles
Hello everyone,
On Saturday Princess Victoria got married. She's up to be queen next, so it was a very big deal. There was a lot going on in Stockholm in celebration, but we didn't go. We saw lots of pictures of all the dresses and things, though. The tunnelbana was free over the weekend, which made us excited about getting investigators to church, but then we realized it was only the tunnelbana. Not the buses and not the pendeltåg, which is the train that runs by our house and the church. So, on to the exciting things.
On Monday we went to Sigtuna to celebrate Sis Wood's birthday. Sis Swenson made her a Princess Torta which is a layer cake with jam, pudding and whipped cream in the middles and covered with marzipan (fondant?). It was not as pretty as the ones in the stores, but still very impressive. When we went to eat it the next day, much to her chagrin, all of the pudding and whipped cream had leaked down the sides and been absorbed by the marzipan or the cake itself. Not quite the same experience, but it was still fun. We ate it at a picnic table by the ruins of St. Olaf's church and accompanying graveyard. Very picturesque. Then we went into St. Maria's I think it was and saw stained glass windows from the 14th century and a baptismal font from the 9th century. Everything else was old too. Very cool.
On Tuesday, the miracle of Vällingby Centrum continued. So I said last week that "we went to Vällingby to contact for about 40 minutes before an appointment and found a guy who was really excited about getting the Book of Mormon. He thanked us for it and we set up a return appointment with him." Turns out he wasn't interested. It was weird because he had actually called us a couple of times to schedule appts that fell through. Well, we didn't have his number at first so, we went one day to just see if he was there. He wasn't, but we talked to this Ghanaian woman who really liked Jesus and wanted us to come back to talk more on Tuesday. We came back on Tuesday and she wasn't there, but we contacted another guy who was there who was really interested in the Book of Mormon and said we could come back the next day. When we went back the next day, he said he was more interested in the World Cup than talking to us, so we just did some more contacting and talked to a guy who is from Portugal and speaks no English or Swedish. We gave him our number and continued on our way. About half an hour later he was still sitting there and motioned for us to come over. He wanted to know more, so I gave him an explanation of the restoration in Spanish. We met the next day to give him a Portuguese Book of Mormon. Basically, long story short, we've taught him a few times this week and yesterday he asked me how he could be a missionary and when he could get baptized. I was like, "Uhh....." I'd never been asked that before, and it was kind of surprising especially since I didn't think my Spanish was that impressive or that he was actually very serious about the whole thing. So, we'll see. We set a date for three weeks out. He doesn't smoke or drink because he's a runner. He's here training for the Olympics and is determined to be the fastest man alive (meaning, he runs the 100m and 200m). He says that people here only like him because he's fast and awesome and not because they like him, so that's why he likes hanging out with us. We didn't know he was going to be rich one day when we talked to him :)
Yesterday we took him to lunch with Niklas Salo (speaks Swedish, English and French) and Sandra (Swedish, English, Spanish), his fiancé. They served us this cool French thing where you melt cheese in little dishes in a little hot double tiered skillety-oven thing and cook meat on top. Then you eat it over potatoes. It was really fun, but I don't remember the name. So, our French and English speaking investigator was also there, so it made for an interesting experience. There were five languages flying around the room. We would teach in English, Sandra would translate into Spanish, IG would answer in Portugues, and Niklas would answer explain things in French because IG can also understand French. Quite the brain numbing experience.
Also exciting this week were our interactions with Waldemar, a Polish member in our ward. He served us some jello with fruit this week and it was one of the funniest things I'd seen in a long time. It was just like a foreign film. The jello kept falling off the spoon and he would mutter in Polish as he tried over and over to get the jello from the bowl to our plates. I couldn't help but laugh. He lives in a tiny little apartment next to a row of greenhouses just down the road from us. Sis Swenson has been having problems with her bike, so we decided to take it by on Friday for him to fix it up. On Thursday, we took the bikes 5 min away to a trail through the woods because we were short on time for running and Sis Swenson has shin splints. We hooked them to a tree and had a nice run. When we came back, I unlocked my bike, but Sis Swenson broke her key in the bike lock. Bad news! We couldn't get it unlocked with the nub we had and when we came back the next morning, the pliers just broke the key more. No good. We called Waldemar and he went with us to cut the lock off. He thought it was very strange that the bike was locked in the middle of the woods. But it was nice of him and then he even fixed her chain and gave us more jello!
I think that's it. We also met a really cool kid from Portugal on the train on Friday. Found him by a miracle too. Sis Swenson felt prompted to sit by him even though the train was empty. Very awkward, but it turned out to be really great. He was very open, so we'll see if anything ever comes of that.
Man, a lot of cool things happened this week, but I can't talk about them all because this is, as usual, very long. Well, have a good week each and every one of you. Don't forget to write. Don't forget I have a new address. :)
Love,
Amy
(see Week 9 post for her new address)
Hello everyone,
On Saturday Princess Victoria got married. She's up to be queen next, so it was a very big deal. There was a lot going on in Stockholm in celebration, but we didn't go. We saw lots of pictures of all the dresses and things, though. The tunnelbana was free over the weekend, which made us excited about getting investigators to church, but then we realized it was only the tunnelbana. Not the buses and not the pendeltåg, which is the train that runs by our house and the church. So, on to the exciting things.
On Monday we went to Sigtuna to celebrate Sis Wood's birthday. Sis Swenson made her a Princess Torta which is a layer cake with jam, pudding and whipped cream in the middles and covered with marzipan (fondant?). It was not as pretty as the ones in the stores, but still very impressive. When we went to eat it the next day, much to her chagrin, all of the pudding and whipped cream had leaked down the sides and been absorbed by the marzipan or the cake itself. Not quite the same experience, but it was still fun. We ate it at a picnic table by the ruins of St. Olaf's church and accompanying graveyard. Very picturesque. Then we went into St. Maria's I think it was and saw stained glass windows from the 14th century and a baptismal font from the 9th century. Everything else was old too. Very cool.
On Tuesday, the miracle of Vällingby Centrum continued. So I said last week that "we went to Vällingby to contact for about 40 minutes before an appointment and found a guy who was really excited about getting the Book of Mormon. He thanked us for it and we set up a return appointment with him." Turns out he wasn't interested. It was weird because he had actually called us a couple of times to schedule appts that fell through. Well, we didn't have his number at first so, we went one day to just see if he was there. He wasn't, but we talked to this Ghanaian woman who really liked Jesus and wanted us to come back to talk more on Tuesday. We came back on Tuesday and she wasn't there, but we contacted another guy who was there who was really interested in the Book of Mormon and said we could come back the next day. When we went back the next day, he said he was more interested in the World Cup than talking to us, so we just did some more contacting and talked to a guy who is from Portugal and speaks no English or Swedish. We gave him our number and continued on our way. About half an hour later he was still sitting there and motioned for us to come over. He wanted to know more, so I gave him an explanation of the restoration in Spanish. We met the next day to give him a Portuguese Book of Mormon. Basically, long story short, we've taught him a few times this week and yesterday he asked me how he could be a missionary and when he could get baptized. I was like, "Uhh....." I'd never been asked that before, and it was kind of surprising especially since I didn't think my Spanish was that impressive or that he was actually very serious about the whole thing. So, we'll see. We set a date for three weeks out. He doesn't smoke or drink because he's a runner. He's here training for the Olympics and is determined to be the fastest man alive (meaning, he runs the 100m and 200m). He says that people here only like him because he's fast and awesome and not because they like him, so that's why he likes hanging out with us. We didn't know he was going to be rich one day when we talked to him :)
Yesterday we took him to lunch with Niklas Salo (speaks Swedish, English and French) and Sandra (Swedish, English, Spanish), his fiancé. They served us this cool French thing where you melt cheese in little dishes in a little hot double tiered skillety-oven thing and cook meat on top. Then you eat it over potatoes. It was really fun, but I don't remember the name. So, our French and English speaking investigator was also there, so it made for an interesting experience. There were five languages flying around the room. We would teach in English, Sandra would translate into Spanish, IG would answer in Portugues, and Niklas would answer explain things in French because IG can also understand French. Quite the brain numbing experience.
Also exciting this week were our interactions with Waldemar, a Polish member in our ward. He served us some jello with fruit this week and it was one of the funniest things I'd seen in a long time. It was just like a foreign film. The jello kept falling off the spoon and he would mutter in Polish as he tried over and over to get the jello from the bowl to our plates. I couldn't help but laugh. He lives in a tiny little apartment next to a row of greenhouses just down the road from us. Sis Swenson has been having problems with her bike, so we decided to take it by on Friday for him to fix it up. On Thursday, we took the bikes 5 min away to a trail through the woods because we were short on time for running and Sis Swenson has shin splints. We hooked them to a tree and had a nice run. When we came back, I unlocked my bike, but Sis Swenson broke her key in the bike lock. Bad news! We couldn't get it unlocked with the nub we had and when we came back the next morning, the pliers just broke the key more. No good. We called Waldemar and he went with us to cut the lock off. He thought it was very strange that the bike was locked in the middle of the woods. But it was nice of him and then he even fixed her chain and gave us more jello!
I think that's it. We also met a really cool kid from Portugal on the train on Friday. Found him by a miracle too. Sis Swenson felt prompted to sit by him even though the train was empty. Very awkward, but it turned out to be really great. He was very open, so we'll see if anything ever comes of that.
Man, a lot of cool things happened this week, but I can't talk about them all because this is, as usual, very long. Well, have a good week each and every one of you. Don't forget to write. Don't forget I have a new address. :)
Love,
Amy
(see Week 9 post for her new address)
Monday, June 14, 2010
Week 12
Subject: Miscellaneous
Hej på dig,
So, I remember this being a good week. ´The weather has turned gray again which is unfortunate. I finished decorating my planner. Don't worry. It's quite classy, complete with a spiritual touch. It's Chinese and faith themed, or at least I think it's Chinese. I got all the clippings from an Ensign article about a Chinese family. Sis Swenson let me have some dried flowers that she brought with her from Uppsala which are a nice accent.
I don't think I've talked about our Swedish class before. Or maybe I have. It has not really been a success. We had a good showing for awhile and there has only been one time where no one has showed up. The Latvian couple that used to come stopped coming when they went on vacation. Then they never came back. We don't know what happened. There was another man who used to come, Tamaz, from Georgia to practice his Swedish and English. Then he would bring people with him. Once he brought 3 other Russian speakers, so we had to do the class in Swedish, so Sis Wood taught the class because I was too embarrassed to teach Swedish in broken Swedish to people whose Swedish was just as good or better than mine. But it was ok, because she's a teacher and likes that kind of thing. Ever since the new transfer, though, we've had an average of 1.3 people in class each time because Tamaz is in Russia for two weeks. Hopefully he’ll come back, but we'll see. We had a guy come last week who was displeased that we were going over fruit and vegetables and demanded that we start over from the beginning. "Teach us the alphabet so we can read!" he said. "We are all educated people here. I have a PhD and speak 5 other languages!" So we started over with pronunciation with him telling us what to teach and how to do the examples. I don't think he knew we weren't Swedish, but he's never been back. It's mostly been a good way for us to have more contact with investigators.
We have a new investigator this week from New Jersey who came to a YSA activity last week and then Swedish class and then church. It's been kind of intense for him, sadly, so I hope he can take it. The first Swedish class it was him and 4 teachers b/c we had a couple from the ward come to do pronunciation. Then in church he got a talk on the Law of Chastity. Then, after sacrament meeting, he asked if we had any coffee, so we broke the Word of Wisdom news to him, and we took him to our English gospel principles class where he got a long lesson from our mission leader on making covenants, including baptism, and how happy they will make him even though it's hard to be a member of the church and when people become members we have to then be missionaries and try to convince people to join our church, which is hard too... I felt really bad because I felt like we were sitting there trying to convince him to get baptized. Hopefully it came across as sincere; which I'm sure it was. But, he said that if he found out that it was all true, he would get baptized. So that's good.
We've been getting new investigators again, so it's been more encouraging this week. I also am hoping the culture shock phase is over now because that was a little rough. We have seen a few miracles this week as well. We went to Vällingby to contact for about 40 minutes before an appointment and found a guy who was really excited about getting the Book of Mormon. He thanked us for it and we set up a return appointment with him. We also found another investigator when we tracted a building in Yvonne's area. We actually weren't going to, but there were noisy kids in the other one next to it, but we found 3 people who were interested in getting Book of Mormons in Arabic. Cool! We went back the next day and taught one of the ladies and we are going back next week. That's a big deal, Brian :) That was the first time I've found someone who was interested while tracting.
So, tracting and contacting. I think with tracting I almost prefer when people do the 'Sorry, not interested' and shut the door thing. Some people just stand there awkwardly listening and won't cut you off and then say they aren't interested when you could tell they weren't the whole time. It's like killing a dying animal or insect. Have mercy! It's mostly non-Swedes that do that. With contacting I'd rather that people stop and listen just a second before giving us the brush off. It's more like public humiliation when they just won't stop or listen. We aren't salesmen. We'll let you go if you don't like what we are offering. (I will at least). Contacting has made me realize how silly I always must come across when I give lame excuses to people who are taking surveys or selling something on the street.
Well, that's all this week. It's nice to know it's true. And it's always lovely to bear testimony. I discovered 3 Ne 22:13-14 I think it is. It's a lovely thought for those with families. Make your homes a safe haven. Love you all!
Amy
Hej på dig,
So, I remember this being a good week. ´The weather has turned gray again which is unfortunate. I finished decorating my planner. Don't worry. It's quite classy, complete with a spiritual touch. It's Chinese and faith themed, or at least I think it's Chinese. I got all the clippings from an Ensign article about a Chinese family. Sis Swenson let me have some dried flowers that she brought with her from Uppsala which are a nice accent.
I don't think I've talked about our Swedish class before. Or maybe I have. It has not really been a success. We had a good showing for awhile and there has only been one time where no one has showed up. The Latvian couple that used to come stopped coming when they went on vacation. Then they never came back. We don't know what happened. There was another man who used to come, Tamaz, from Georgia to practice his Swedish and English. Then he would bring people with him. Once he brought 3 other Russian speakers, so we had to do the class in Swedish, so Sis Wood taught the class because I was too embarrassed to teach Swedish in broken Swedish to people whose Swedish was just as good or better than mine. But it was ok, because she's a teacher and likes that kind of thing. Ever since the new transfer, though, we've had an average of 1.3 people in class each time because Tamaz is in Russia for two weeks. Hopefully he’ll come back, but we'll see. We had a guy come last week who was displeased that we were going over fruit and vegetables and demanded that we start over from the beginning. "Teach us the alphabet so we can read!" he said. "We are all educated people here. I have a PhD and speak 5 other languages!" So we started over with pronunciation with him telling us what to teach and how to do the examples. I don't think he knew we weren't Swedish, but he's never been back. It's mostly been a good way for us to have more contact with investigators.
We have a new investigator this week from New Jersey who came to a YSA activity last week and then Swedish class and then church. It's been kind of intense for him, sadly, so I hope he can take it. The first Swedish class it was him and 4 teachers b/c we had a couple from the ward come to do pronunciation. Then in church he got a talk on the Law of Chastity. Then, after sacrament meeting, he asked if we had any coffee, so we broke the Word of Wisdom news to him, and we took him to our English gospel principles class where he got a long lesson from our mission leader on making covenants, including baptism, and how happy they will make him even though it's hard to be a member of the church and when people become members we have to then be missionaries and try to convince people to join our church, which is hard too... I felt really bad because I felt like we were sitting there trying to convince him to get baptized. Hopefully it came across as sincere; which I'm sure it was. But, he said that if he found out that it was all true, he would get baptized. So that's good.
We've been getting new investigators again, so it's been more encouraging this week. I also am hoping the culture shock phase is over now because that was a little rough. We have seen a few miracles this week as well. We went to Vällingby to contact for about 40 minutes before an appointment and found a guy who was really excited about getting the Book of Mormon. He thanked us for it and we set up a return appointment with him. We also found another investigator when we tracted a building in Yvonne's area. We actually weren't going to, but there were noisy kids in the other one next to it, but we found 3 people who were interested in getting Book of Mormons in Arabic. Cool! We went back the next day and taught one of the ladies and we are going back next week. That's a big deal, Brian :) That was the first time I've found someone who was interested while tracting.
So, tracting and contacting. I think with tracting I almost prefer when people do the 'Sorry, not interested' and shut the door thing. Some people just stand there awkwardly listening and won't cut you off and then say they aren't interested when you could tell they weren't the whole time. It's like killing a dying animal or insect. Have mercy! It's mostly non-Swedes that do that. With contacting I'd rather that people stop and listen just a second before giving us the brush off. It's more like public humiliation when they just won't stop or listen. We aren't salesmen. We'll let you go if you don't like what we are offering. (I will at least). Contacting has made me realize how silly I always must come across when I give lame excuses to people who are taking surveys or selling something on the street.
Well, that's all this week. It's nice to know it's true. And it's always lovely to bear testimony. I discovered 3 Ne 22:13-14 I think it is. It's a lovely thought for those with families. Make your homes a safe haven. Love you all!
Amy
Monday, June 7, 2010
Week 11
Subject: French and Fanatics
Hej hej,
Weather is holding out nicely in this part of the world. This last week was really busy and weird, but it seems like a lot of weeks are weird. We usually get done with a couple of days a week with the general consensus that it was not necessarily good nor bad, just weird.
We have been developing speed tracting. I'm sure it's been done, but our idea is to knock on as many doors as we can before one of them gets answered and then talk to whoever comes out or just preach to the whole building at once if they all come out. It would be more time effective that way.
So an interesting tidbit. I didn't know about this, but apparently in the Congo and probably other parts of Africa religion has been turned into a lucrative business (and South America for that matter--a certain gold toothed minister asking for money on the bus in Guatemala comes to mind. Ok probably everywhere in the world). But when disasters or bad things occur preachers go around and tell the people that they are being punished or that this is just a type of things to come. Lots of Hell fire and damnation. Then they urge everyone to be baptized. All they have to do is give half of all they own, their car, their house to the Lord and they will be saved. People will believe and get baptized again and again. One of our investigators does not want to be baptized because of this. We've explained over and over how he can know if it's right or not, but he won't pray about it for some reason.
We had at least three lessons this week where the people were willing to let us come because they just wanted to chat and we were nice, but there was no real interest in anything we had to share with them. We made a few elderly ladies happy, though, I think.
We also went to visit a guy from Eritrea who spent an hour showing us a string of scriptures from the Bible about why Jesus Christ and God the Father are the same person. The funny thing was a lot of those same scriptures are ones we would use to prove otherwise. We kept telling him we interpret them differently. He said he was not interpreting, but just taking them literally. Semantics, my friend, semantics. I showed him Exodus 11:33 where is says God talked to Moses face to face and the first thing out of his mouth was, "But that can be interpreted...." Oh the irony. We showed him the Restoration and I bore testimony about Joseph Smith and tied it back to Stephen's vision in Acts. The Spirit was so strong and he seemed to have felt it, but he couldn't get over his own thesis enough to even consider something else. Oh, the best part about this is that when we went in, he asked if he could wash our feet. Ummmm...no thanks. Not as a sister missionary. Would have been uncomfortable. Sis Swenson has terrible warts on her feet (I had her permission to say that) because she hasn't gotten them taken care of, so we had 'her injury' as an excuse.
We had a few days this week where we just couldn't get anything to work. I had the realization that this is what it's going to be like. Event planning. Trying to get everything to work perfectly every day in an effective manner. Making phone calls, confirming appointments. Sales. Business. Doing inventory for books and other supplies. Meeting everyone's needs. Meeting goals, going hungry until you do. *Sigh* But, I was thinking today about the nature of Eternal Life and how we don't believe in Eternal Vacation. Work with no deadlines. No stress. That actually sounds nice--being productive without the negative feelings that accompany it.
We had a lesson with a guy that only speaks French this week. Interesting. A guy in our ward speaks French, but he couldn't come, so we showed a video and told him to save his thought for next time. We think. We also gave him a Swedish lesson since he was the only one that showed up for our class on Saturday. They say that's the best way to learn a new language, but it just seemed frustrating to him.
Well, life carries on. Sis Swenson's bike chain keeps falling off, but there are flowers everywhere! I need to create a tag line like Eric or Aaron. Don't forget about me from Sweden, where the children do what they want.
Love,
Amy
PS We don't actually Speed Tract. *Snap, snap* That was a joke.
Hej hej,
Weather is holding out nicely in this part of the world. This last week was really busy and weird, but it seems like a lot of weeks are weird. We usually get done with a couple of days a week with the general consensus that it was not necessarily good nor bad, just weird.
We have been developing speed tracting. I'm sure it's been done, but our idea is to knock on as many doors as we can before one of them gets answered and then talk to whoever comes out or just preach to the whole building at once if they all come out. It would be more time effective that way.
So an interesting tidbit. I didn't know about this, but apparently in the Congo and probably other parts of Africa religion has been turned into a lucrative business (and South America for that matter--a certain gold toothed minister asking for money on the bus in Guatemala comes to mind. Ok probably everywhere in the world). But when disasters or bad things occur preachers go around and tell the people that they are being punished or that this is just a type of things to come. Lots of Hell fire and damnation. Then they urge everyone to be baptized. All they have to do is give half of all they own, their car, their house to the Lord and they will be saved. People will believe and get baptized again and again. One of our investigators does not want to be baptized because of this. We've explained over and over how he can know if it's right or not, but he won't pray about it for some reason.
We had at least three lessons this week where the people were willing to let us come because they just wanted to chat and we were nice, but there was no real interest in anything we had to share with them. We made a few elderly ladies happy, though, I think.
We also went to visit a guy from Eritrea who spent an hour showing us a string of scriptures from the Bible about why Jesus Christ and God the Father are the same person. The funny thing was a lot of those same scriptures are ones we would use to prove otherwise. We kept telling him we interpret them differently. He said he was not interpreting, but just taking them literally. Semantics, my friend, semantics. I showed him Exodus 11:33 where is says God talked to Moses face to face and the first thing out of his mouth was, "But that can be interpreted...." Oh the irony. We showed him the Restoration and I bore testimony about Joseph Smith and tied it back to Stephen's vision in Acts. The Spirit was so strong and he seemed to have felt it, but he couldn't get over his own thesis enough to even consider something else. Oh, the best part about this is that when we went in, he asked if he could wash our feet. Ummmm...no thanks. Not as a sister missionary. Would have been uncomfortable. Sis Swenson has terrible warts on her feet (I had her permission to say that) because she hasn't gotten them taken care of, so we had 'her injury' as an excuse.
We had a few days this week where we just couldn't get anything to work. I had the realization that this is what it's going to be like. Event planning. Trying to get everything to work perfectly every day in an effective manner. Making phone calls, confirming appointments. Sales. Business. Doing inventory for books and other supplies. Meeting everyone's needs. Meeting goals, going hungry until you do. *Sigh* But, I was thinking today about the nature of Eternal Life and how we don't believe in Eternal Vacation. Work with no deadlines. No stress. That actually sounds nice--being productive without the negative feelings that accompany it.
We had a lesson with a guy that only speaks French this week. Interesting. A guy in our ward speaks French, but he couldn't come, so we showed a video and told him to save his thought for next time. We think. We also gave him a Swedish lesson since he was the only one that showed up for our class on Saturday. They say that's the best way to learn a new language, but it just seemed frustrating to him.
Well, life carries on. Sis Swenson's bike chain keeps falling off, but there are flowers everywhere! I need to create a tag line like Eric or Aaron. Don't forget about me from Sweden, where the children do what they want.
Love,
Amy
PS We don't actually Speed Tract. *Snap, snap* That was a joke.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Week 10
Subject: Jakobsberg Again
Käre familj och vänner,
So, Sister Swenson is very nice. She is from Logan, Utah, plays the viola (which she brought with her), was studying Physiology at BYU and is an amazing ballroom dancer from what I hear. She has a great enthusiasm for the work and likes to work hard. Both she and sis Wood crack their necks a lot. Not a good sign for me.
Well, I have been sick with a full blown cold since Wednesday. I thought I was safe, but I guess not. Sis Wood left it behind for me to remember her by I guess. It was good though because it gave Sis Swenson an excuse to stay home and get a feel for the area instead of just going out and working without knowing anything.
On Saturday we actually went up to Uppsala for a display that the young single adults had organized. It rained only for about half an hour, but was fairly clear the rest of the time. We kept getting caught in the pouring rain this week which was fun, but cold.
Yesterday we went to church and had no investigators there for the 4th week in a row. It was mothers day so all of the kids in the primary talked about how much they loved there mothers. All the women were crying. We got rice krispy treats and roses. They gave them to us too which was nice, but kind of funny being a missionary. "You'll be mothers too some day... " they said. We just don't think about that right now, do we?
After church we rode our bikes to Vällingby and talked to people in the plaza there. We talked to a few interesting people. Of course there were those who rudely declined to chat, those who wouldn't even look at us, those who pleasantly said, "Too bad! I'm not interested," those who stood there awkwardly not knowing how to get out of the present situation, those who would talk, but said they were already Muslim, orthodox, or something else, and those who didn't speak Swedish or English and had no idea what we wanted or why we were talking about a book. We talked for a few minutes with a young man from Bosnia whose family was killed in the civil war there. He blamed religion (clearly) and because we were missionaries, us. I've met a few people who lost their faith because of the horrible things that they have been through, but there are others who cling to their faith. He told us we were addicted to religion and that we were just pawns in a political machine. We have no choice and we need to wake up to that. That always helps me to reevaluate why I am here. I lack that motivating burning fire of testimony (it comes and goes as needed), but I always feel the calm reassurance that I'm in the right place.
We also had a long conversation with a young man who had a psychotic episode right after a car accident and is studying epistemology, I think. We asked him what the meaning of life was and he went on for 15 minutes about how we know what we know and was throwing words around like 'emic' and 'etic'. I realized it's been a long time since school and I had to switch back into that mindset. It was a very interesting conversation since a lot of what we do is epistemological. Helping people know what we know through the Holy Ghost. I wished my Swedish was better. We set him strait about a few things on our church since his knowledge was based on episodes of South Park and sent him on his way.
So to end, fun fact about Sweden. The street names here are very creative. They are more often objects than names. For example on the 541 bus we go down 'Flower King's Way' and 'Childhood Home Way'. Those maybe aren't that great, but I can't think of any others right now. Well, times definitely up. I hope you all are doing excellently well. Write me. The Church is true and we are part of a great thing.
Much love,
Syster Maxwell
Käre familj och vänner,
So, Sister Swenson is very nice. She is from Logan, Utah, plays the viola (which she brought with her), was studying Physiology at BYU and is an amazing ballroom dancer from what I hear. She has a great enthusiasm for the work and likes to work hard. Both she and sis Wood crack their necks a lot. Not a good sign for me.
Well, I have been sick with a full blown cold since Wednesday. I thought I was safe, but I guess not. Sis Wood left it behind for me to remember her by I guess. It was good though because it gave Sis Swenson an excuse to stay home and get a feel for the area instead of just going out and working without knowing anything.
On Saturday we actually went up to Uppsala for a display that the young single adults had organized. It rained only for about half an hour, but was fairly clear the rest of the time. We kept getting caught in the pouring rain this week which was fun, but cold.
Yesterday we went to church and had no investigators there for the 4th week in a row. It was mothers day so all of the kids in the primary talked about how much they loved there mothers. All the women were crying. We got rice krispy treats and roses. They gave them to us too which was nice, but kind of funny being a missionary. "You'll be mothers too some day... " they said. We just don't think about that right now, do we?
After church we rode our bikes to Vällingby and talked to people in the plaza there. We talked to a few interesting people. Of course there were those who rudely declined to chat, those who wouldn't even look at us, those who pleasantly said, "Too bad! I'm not interested," those who stood there awkwardly not knowing how to get out of the present situation, those who would talk, but said they were already Muslim, orthodox, or something else, and those who didn't speak Swedish or English and had no idea what we wanted or why we were talking about a book. We talked for a few minutes with a young man from Bosnia whose family was killed in the civil war there. He blamed religion (clearly) and because we were missionaries, us. I've met a few people who lost their faith because of the horrible things that they have been through, but there are others who cling to their faith. He told us we were addicted to religion and that we were just pawns in a political machine. We have no choice and we need to wake up to that. That always helps me to reevaluate why I am here. I lack that motivating burning fire of testimony (it comes and goes as needed), but I always feel the calm reassurance that I'm in the right place.
We also had a long conversation with a young man who had a psychotic episode right after a car accident and is studying epistemology, I think. We asked him what the meaning of life was and he went on for 15 minutes about how we know what we know and was throwing words around like 'emic' and 'etic'. I realized it's been a long time since school and I had to switch back into that mindset. It was a very interesting conversation since a lot of what we do is epistemological. Helping people know what we know through the Holy Ghost. I wished my Swedish was better. We set him strait about a few things on our church since his knowledge was based on episodes of South Park and sent him on his way.
So to end, fun fact about Sweden. The street names here are very creative. They are more often objects than names. For example on the 541 bus we go down 'Flower King's Way' and 'Childhood Home Way'. Those maybe aren't that great, but I can't think of any others right now. Well, times definitely up. I hope you all are doing excellently well. Write me. The Church is true and we are part of a great thing.
Much love,
Syster Maxwell
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