Subject: Raindrops on Roses
Hej på er,
So, it's been a long week, but not so gut wrenching as other transfer weeks have been. It's really nice to have a dying companion because I was fairly positive I would be staying and she would be going. The week was spent loaded with appointments and trying to make the transition to next transfer. Sister Robinson was finally breaking the news to everyone that she was leaving this week. We had more than one teach that ended with, "Well, I'm leaving this week..." followed by shock from those we were teaching. Some of the outbursts of emotion surprised both of us, but it's nice to know people care. President had to go pick up the new missionaries from the airport, so he didn't call us until almost 1. We were one of the last ones to know, but I'm staying as expected, and sister Porkka, a Finnish sister who I did splits with once and also loves This American Life is coming to be my companion. I hope we have a lot of fun together and get along well.
I'm keeping this short because we have A LOT to do this afternoon and we are going to be taking the 5:55 train to Stockholm tomorrow so we can go to the temple, so it would be nice to go to bed early. I guess we'll just hit the highlights of this week. First, the Word of Wisdom lesson with A who is addicted to snus, a popular kind of chewing tobacco here. His family kept coming in and out and he would go off on tangents on how important it is to take care of our bodies and how he knows all about the body and how the woman's body is especially a temple of God because she carries children, etc. Then his dear, sweet sister came in who is very sick and takes lots of medicines which affect how clearly she thinks. Her Swedish is only ok, so she often misunderstood what we were talking about. It was almost funny, our attempts to keep the lesson going so we could get home on time, but being sidetracked by her random comments about us and what we were teaching and then A replying and commenting on them too. For example, we went to the teach fasting, and she just couldn't understand why we didn't want anything to drink, so she kept asking over and over if she could get us something and then insisting that we needed to eat. I wish I could better describe it, but the long and short of it is that we got home really late, but they invited us back to eat food :)
On Sunday we took our recent new convert (R) to meet a lawyer who is an inactive member of the church and, frankly, isn't living the commandments. R needs help with his application to stay in Sweden and specifically needs a lawyer, and this man was the only way we could think of to be of assistance. He was willing to see him and gave him some good advice, helped him to understand the situation better, but we had to do some serious damage control afterwards. Basically, honesty. Always honesty. Something else that is very common here is for people to find a sambo, or live-in girlfriend, so they can stay. It's like getting married to get a green card in the US. We had to discourage that one too.
We had a really sad teach with a guy who is a member but has lost his faith and isn't really willing to take the steps to get it back again. He's willing to keep meeting, but isn't really planning on doing anything on his own until the desire hits him again.
Well, I'm off. Thanks for all your letters and prayers. Love you all!
Syster M
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Week 26
Subject: Baptism Week
Hello everyone,
Still here. This was an interesting week. We took a lot of long bus rides through the grey countryside. We only got soaked once though. The highlight was the fact that the fields are really green from all the rain and we saw a few late blooming lupines and lavender. The weather has taken to being a little warmer this week when it's not raining. We're back to wearing tights though. It's just too cold now for footies. Yesterday was beautiful. The air was just slightly crisp and smells like apples. There are apples everywhere. It seems like everyone (who has a house) has an apple tree and rotting apples litter their yards. We've had quite a few dinners with the members this week and almost all of them gave us a bag up apples to take home. We are rolling in fruit! I also discovered last week that the brown paper bags under the sink are for compost. No more burying my own compost in the back yard! There is a little place to put it next to the garbage depository. It's so convenient. Oh, we finally bought some bulbs which we'll be planting in the back yard. We've decided it's symbolic for not seeing the fruits of all our labors here in Örebro since neither of us will still be here when they come up (I hope--that would be a long time here!)
The big news this week was that R got baptized. His was the second baptism I've attended since I've been here. He also was denied his asylum seeking status and was said that he had two months until he had to leave Sweden. He's going to appeal and we hope the best for him. It was really hard to hear. He's so humble and good we hope the Lord will guide him to the place where he can feel settled and build a new life. AW, his roommate and the one who introduced him to the church when he was baptized a couple months ago, got his approval to start language classes. It looks like he'll probably be able to stay then. The baptism itself was lovely. We had it right after church, so many from the ward stayed. Sis R and I sang, but it was only ok because I got nervous as usual. We only had a slight glitch in that R's pants were too big. They couldn't find any belts, so they held them up with a tie :) He's very shy, but he got up and said a few words afterwards. He just thanked everybody and said that he would never forget this day. It was very sweet. Sadly, they all had to run and catch the bus right after, but we snuck some cakes into a bag for them. D is getting baptized next month, and the baptism made him really excited about it. Hopefully having all three of them come into the church around the same time will help them keep coming. We made apple pie and apple cake for the baptism. The apple cake called for 4 cups of grated apple, so we got rid of all the nasty ones :) I also had orange fingers the rest of the day.
Now for the rest of the story... We went to Nora again and the ice cream place is closed for the season!!! We had no idea how much of a tender mercy our getting the ice cream that one time was.
Sis R is going home in like 10 days now and she's trying really hard just to stay with it. I think she's doing great, but the district leader and his companion think it's funny to try to get her trunky. I think it just makes us all feel bad. Well, gots to go. I love what I'm doing and you all are in my prayers!
Love,
Sys Maxwell
Hello everyone,
Still here. This was an interesting week. We took a lot of long bus rides through the grey countryside. We only got soaked once though. The highlight was the fact that the fields are really green from all the rain and we saw a few late blooming lupines and lavender. The weather has taken to being a little warmer this week when it's not raining. We're back to wearing tights though. It's just too cold now for footies. Yesterday was beautiful. The air was just slightly crisp and smells like apples. There are apples everywhere. It seems like everyone (who has a house) has an apple tree and rotting apples litter their yards. We've had quite a few dinners with the members this week and almost all of them gave us a bag up apples to take home. We are rolling in fruit! I also discovered last week that the brown paper bags under the sink are for compost. No more burying my own compost in the back yard! There is a little place to put it next to the garbage depository. It's so convenient. Oh, we finally bought some bulbs which we'll be planting in the back yard. We've decided it's symbolic for not seeing the fruits of all our labors here in Örebro since neither of us will still be here when they come up (I hope--that would be a long time here!)
The big news this week was that R got baptized. His was the second baptism I've attended since I've been here. He also was denied his asylum seeking status and was said that he had two months until he had to leave Sweden. He's going to appeal and we hope the best for him. It was really hard to hear. He's so humble and good we hope the Lord will guide him to the place where he can feel settled and build a new life. AW, his roommate and the one who introduced him to the church when he was baptized a couple months ago, got his approval to start language classes. It looks like he'll probably be able to stay then. The baptism itself was lovely. We had it right after church, so many from the ward stayed. Sis R and I sang, but it was only ok because I got nervous as usual. We only had a slight glitch in that R's pants were too big. They couldn't find any belts, so they held them up with a tie :) He's very shy, but he got up and said a few words afterwards. He just thanked everybody and said that he would never forget this day. It was very sweet. Sadly, they all had to run and catch the bus right after, but we snuck some cakes into a bag for them. D is getting baptized next month, and the baptism made him really excited about it. Hopefully having all three of them come into the church around the same time will help them keep coming. We made apple pie and apple cake for the baptism. The apple cake called for 4 cups of grated apple, so we got rid of all the nasty ones :) I also had orange fingers the rest of the day.
Now for the rest of the story... We went to Nora again and the ice cream place is closed for the season!!! We had no idea how much of a tender mercy our getting the ice cream that one time was.
Sis R is going home in like 10 days now and she's trying really hard just to stay with it. I think she's doing great, but the district leader and his companion think it's funny to try to get her trunky. I think it just makes us all feel bad. Well, gots to go. I love what I'm doing and you all are in my prayers!
Love,
Sys Maxwell
Monday, September 13, 2010
Week 25
Subject: I dry vegetables on the dish rack
Hello all!
So, this week has been fantastic! Or, at least interesting. I was feeling quite distraught about the weather in August and the season quickly turning to the dark side, but the words of an older ward member a couple weeks ago were prophetic. He said that sometimes in September there is a short 'second summer'. Ta da! It's been lovely this week! We're still holding out on the nylons as long as possible.
So, on to the week. On Tuesday, we got up early to be out the door by 6:30 to catch a 6:55 train to Stockholm for Zone Conference. We got everything ready the night before and were out the door by 6:35. Sis Robinson stopped dead in her tracks just staring at the bikes. We were in a hurry so I pushed her a little and said, "Come on! What are you waiting for?" "Look!" she said, pointing in the direction of the bike rack. I looked, and there was only one bike. We went and checked it out and found that someone has cut the wire. Oh the irony. I had been so careful about locking the bike securely. Sis Robinson thought I was paranoid at first. Nope. They didn't take my bike probably because it's not a very good bike and the back tire was locked. We quickly ran through our options. Couldn't take the bus, we'd missed it. We decided to just both go on the one bike. We grabbed another lock from inside and started off with 15 minutes to make it to the train station with a double loaded bike. I drove and Sis Robinson sat on the back trying not to let her feet drag. We get stared at a lot on any normal day, but today, everyone that passed us did a double take. We were crawling along two grown women, helmets on, in suits and tights, sweat streaming down my face, and can't forget the name tags. Needless to say, we didn't make the train. We got to the station, mascara all over my face, and 10 minutes too late. We talked to the lady at the desk and our only options were to take the really expensive, fast train, or to wait and hour and 15 minutes. Pres. Anderson asked if we could just come tomorrow to Stockholm South's zone conference. We decided to just wait for the next train because we had a lot of appointments the next day and this was Sis Robinson's last conference. We had prayed for a miracle, but thought it hadn't come. We had been on the train 15 minutes when we got a phone call from the district leader. The power in the Gubbangen chapel was out, no explanation, so we would be holding the conference in the institute in Stockholm which cut 30 minutes off our trip, and allowed us to get there just in time. Wonderful! We got sis Robinson's brand new, shiny bike yesterday. Our saintly mission leader bought it and had his son put it together. Yay!
We bought a plant today. If I get transferred in a few weeks, I'm taking it with me. It will be my friend during the winter. We also have been trying to germinate avocado seeds. They germinate rather slowly, but they are making progress. I think I'll take those too.
Sis Robinson and I were discussing the quirks of having a companion and how you have to adjust to each person's peculiarities each time you work with someone new. She leaves the bathroom cabinet door open all the time. I don't like to step onto a wet bathmat (Brian's fault--he doesn't like it either). Sis Robinson had a companion that demanded that the toilet seat be left down. She said that after that transfer, she missed putting the toilet seat down. Today, I put a carrot in the dish rack to dry after rinsing it. Sis Robinson said when she saw it later, "What's that carrot doing in the dish rack!?" I said, "Drying off. What do you think?" That was very strange to her. I didn't think it was so strange. Things like that. It's like getting married every two months. Or so I've heard. I'm not sure if Elder's really deal with that or not because I have shopped and cooked with each of my companions as well. Also interesting.
Anyway, yesterday was amazing. We've had almost no one come to church all transfer. We had 10 non-members come in and out of church yesterday. Some were there the last half, some only the first half, but they all came! It was crazy. We had a lady with her two kids come yesterday. Everyone was really excited about that, but we aren't sure if she'll come back or not. She goes to the Syrian orthodox church, so our church was rather strange to her. She's great though!
Well, I am trying to keep Sis Robinson's head on. She goes home in 3 weeks and is starting to get tired. She says she's losing her mind. That might be true. She never knows what I'm talking about. But she's not trunky, just crazy.
Let me conclude by saying the Lord is mindful of His missionaries. We see miracles (though usually small) every day. I love you all! Thanks for your prayers and support.
Love,
Syster M
Syster Birthday Princess
Hello all!
So, this week has been fantastic! Or, at least interesting. I was feeling quite distraught about the weather in August and the season quickly turning to the dark side, but the words of an older ward member a couple weeks ago were prophetic. He said that sometimes in September there is a short 'second summer'. Ta da! It's been lovely this week! We're still holding out on the nylons as long as possible.
So, on to the week. On Tuesday, we got up early to be out the door by 6:30 to catch a 6:55 train to Stockholm for Zone Conference. We got everything ready the night before and were out the door by 6:35. Sis Robinson stopped dead in her tracks just staring at the bikes. We were in a hurry so I pushed her a little and said, "Come on! What are you waiting for?" "Look!" she said, pointing in the direction of the bike rack. I looked, and there was only one bike. We went and checked it out and found that someone has cut the wire. Oh the irony. I had been so careful about locking the bike securely. Sis Robinson thought I was paranoid at first. Nope. They didn't take my bike probably because it's not a very good bike and the back tire was locked. We quickly ran through our options. Couldn't take the bus, we'd missed it. We decided to just both go on the one bike. We grabbed another lock from inside and started off with 15 minutes to make it to the train station with a double loaded bike. I drove and Sis Robinson sat on the back trying not to let her feet drag. We get stared at a lot on any normal day, but today, everyone that passed us did a double take. We were crawling along two grown women, helmets on, in suits and tights, sweat streaming down my face, and can't forget the name tags. Needless to say, we didn't make the train. We got to the station, mascara all over my face, and 10 minutes too late. We talked to the lady at the desk and our only options were to take the really expensive, fast train, or to wait and hour and 15 minutes. Pres. Anderson asked if we could just come tomorrow to Stockholm South's zone conference. We decided to just wait for the next train because we had a lot of appointments the next day and this was Sis Robinson's last conference. We had prayed for a miracle, but thought it hadn't come. We had been on the train 15 minutes when we got a phone call from the district leader. The power in the Gubbangen chapel was out, no explanation, so we would be holding the conference in the institute in Stockholm which cut 30 minutes off our trip, and allowed us to get there just in time. Wonderful! We got sis Robinson's brand new, shiny bike yesterday. Our saintly mission leader bought it and had his son put it together. Yay!
We bought a plant today. If I get transferred in a few weeks, I'm taking it with me. It will be my friend during the winter. We also have been trying to germinate avocado seeds. They germinate rather slowly, but they are making progress. I think I'll take those too.
Sis Robinson and I were discussing the quirks of having a companion and how you have to adjust to each person's peculiarities each time you work with someone new. She leaves the bathroom cabinet door open all the time. I don't like to step onto a wet bathmat (Brian's fault--he doesn't like it either). Sis Robinson had a companion that demanded that the toilet seat be left down. She said that after that transfer, she missed putting the toilet seat down. Today, I put a carrot in the dish rack to dry after rinsing it. Sis Robinson said when she saw it later, "What's that carrot doing in the dish rack!?" I said, "Drying off. What do you think?" That was very strange to her. I didn't think it was so strange. Things like that. It's like getting married every two months. Or so I've heard. I'm not sure if Elder's really deal with that or not because I have shopped and cooked with each of my companions as well. Also interesting.
Anyway, yesterday was amazing. We've had almost no one come to church all transfer. We had 10 non-members come in and out of church yesterday. Some were there the last half, some only the first half, but they all came! It was crazy. We had a lady with her two kids come yesterday. Everyone was really excited about that, but we aren't sure if she'll come back or not. She goes to the Syrian orthodox church, so our church was rather strange to her. She's great though!
Well, I am trying to keep Sis Robinson's head on. She goes home in 3 weeks and is starting to get tired. She says she's losing her mind. That might be true. She never knows what I'm talking about. But she's not trunky, just crazy.
Let me conclude by saying the Lord is mindful of His missionaries. We see miracles (though usually small) every day. I love you all! Thanks for your prayers and support.
Love,
Syster M
Syster Birthday Princess
Monday, September 6, 2010
Week 24
Subject: Blackmailed!
Hejsan allihopa!
So it's been a big week this week. Mother, I'm going to be making big tortellini soup this week. I'm very excited. I was even more excited when, after looking for sausage a couple of weeks ago and finding the selection slim by the deli meats, we found the real sausage/hot dog section this week! It was beautiful!
On Tuesday we went to a little tourist town, which according to Lonely Planet, was supposed to charm the pants off us. We had an appointment with a friend of the man who is getting baptized in a couple of weeks. When we got there, he wasn't at the library, and his phone was busy. We had an hour until our bus left, so we made phone calls. About the time we had to go, a man I recognized as a visitor in church last week came up to us and said, "I have a picture I'm going to send to your mission president unless you give me $50...Blackmail, an American tradition! Are you supposed to be here?" Busted! We were supposed to be there, but it looked rather suspicious, us sitting in the sun by the quaint plaza. We explained, he and his family bought us ice cream, and then we had to run to the bus. They were really nice, and I hope they don't think we were slacking. It was fantastic ice cream. If you are ever in Nora, get the ice cream!
We had a fun little miracle on Wednesday. We went to Storå to teach our investigator with the baptismal date. It was rainy and cold and the library was unfortunately closed. We were sitting waiting for him to come when a man passed by us and said, "Hello! Praise the Lord!" He stopped to talk to us and said he is from India and was a preacher, but had to leave because his life was in danger. He preached a little too much for some people's liking. Or maybe it was what he preached. We don't know. He then told us that he had gotten baptized into our church a year ago. We will be getting a Hindi Book of Mormon this week, so we'll be able to take it to him. We were happy he found us.
This week I also agreed to buy a sewing machine from a man we taught a first lesson to. Oops. Turns out just nodding and saying ok to everything you don't quite understand is not always a good idea. Otherwise, the language is going well. I still have a horrendous accent, but most missionaries do.
Anyway, the rest of the week was filled with teaches with lots of great people, crazy train schedules, and trying to pack everything into 4 days. We went to Stockholm on Friday evening for preparation for our meetings with Elder Nelson and the area presidency the next day. We got to the mission home a little after 9 and found out that Elder Nelson had just left at 8:30ish. He'd been there to have dinner. Just missed him! We got to meet him the next day, though. I also got to meet Elder Kopischke who served with Dad in the office in Germany on his mission. That was fun! We took a picture. The missionary meeting was awesome, and the conference the next day was great! Also, spending the evenings at the mission home and with Sister Anderson was really fun and we went on splits in Uppsala with the sisters serving there. We have sharpening tomorrow, so we are going back to Stockholm bright and early. Mixed feelings on that one. Anyway, the church is true. This is the Lord's work, and I am happy to be on His errand. Have a great week!
Love you all,
Amy
Hejsan allihopa!
So it's been a big week this week. Mother, I'm going to be making big tortellini soup this week. I'm very excited. I was even more excited when, after looking for sausage a couple of weeks ago and finding the selection slim by the deli meats, we found the real sausage/hot dog section this week! It was beautiful!
On Tuesday we went to a little tourist town, which according to Lonely Planet, was supposed to charm the pants off us. We had an appointment with a friend of the man who is getting baptized in a couple of weeks. When we got there, he wasn't at the library, and his phone was busy. We had an hour until our bus left, so we made phone calls. About the time we had to go, a man I recognized as a visitor in church last week came up to us and said, "I have a picture I'm going to send to your mission president unless you give me $50...Blackmail, an American tradition! Are you supposed to be here?" Busted! We were supposed to be there, but it looked rather suspicious, us sitting in the sun by the quaint plaza. We explained, he and his family bought us ice cream, and then we had to run to the bus. They were really nice, and I hope they don't think we were slacking. It was fantastic ice cream. If you are ever in Nora, get the ice cream!
We had a fun little miracle on Wednesday. We went to Storå to teach our investigator with the baptismal date. It was rainy and cold and the library was unfortunately closed. We were sitting waiting for him to come when a man passed by us and said, "Hello! Praise the Lord!" He stopped to talk to us and said he is from India and was a preacher, but had to leave because his life was in danger. He preached a little too much for some people's liking. Or maybe it was what he preached. We don't know. He then told us that he had gotten baptized into our church a year ago. We will be getting a Hindi Book of Mormon this week, so we'll be able to take it to him. We were happy he found us.
This week I also agreed to buy a sewing machine from a man we taught a first lesson to. Oops. Turns out just nodding and saying ok to everything you don't quite understand is not always a good idea. Otherwise, the language is going well. I still have a horrendous accent, but most missionaries do.
Anyway, the rest of the week was filled with teaches with lots of great people, crazy train schedules, and trying to pack everything into 4 days. We went to Stockholm on Friday evening for preparation for our meetings with Elder Nelson and the area presidency the next day. We got to the mission home a little after 9 and found out that Elder Nelson had just left at 8:30ish. He'd been there to have dinner. Just missed him! We got to meet him the next day, though. I also got to meet Elder Kopischke who served with Dad in the office in Germany on his mission. That was fun! We took a picture. The missionary meeting was awesome, and the conference the next day was great! Also, spending the evenings at the mission home and with Sister Anderson was really fun and we went on splits in Uppsala with the sisters serving there. We have sharpening tomorrow, so we are going back to Stockholm bright and early. Mixed feelings on that one. Anyway, the church is true. This is the Lord's work, and I am happy to be on His errand. Have a great week!
Love you all,
Amy
Monday, August 30, 2010
Week 23
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
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 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.
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