Our travel plans arrived on Friday, so that was a very exciting day. Unfortunately one of our Elders' visa hasn't arrived yet, so he will be serving in California for a transfer since he can't leave yet. We all feel bad for him but surprisingly he is excited, even if he does have a little longer before Sweden.
Saturday was a pretty normal day. We had a great discussion in class though about faith while reading out of Alma 32 (verses 26-43) about faith being like a little seed. We have to plant it and let it grow. It's amazing how fun talking about scriptures is in the MTC. People seem to always think it's boring but when you really get into it with others who are also interested, it's a lot of fun and everyone learns a lot! I also read a talk that one of the Elders gave me. It's 'The Fourth Missionary' by James Corbridge. It is amazing at explaining how as missionaries we need to be obedient to be effective and be able to change others' lives, but we also need to be obedient in our thoughts and heart if we want to be able to change ourselves. If our mind and heart aren't aligned with God, then even if our might and strength are, we don't benefit because we haven't given our whole self to God's work. It's a really good talk and I highly recommend it for anyone considering a mission. If you can learn the principles in there early, I can guarantee you will be ready by the time you serve a mission.
Sunday was Fast Sunday! It was an awesome day. In Priesthood we talked about the Book of Mormon and how our entire religion rests upon it like the keystone of an arch. Because we know it to be true, we know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that God has restored his church on the Earth, and that His priesthood power and authority have also been restored to the Earth. It was an awesome discussion. Fast and testimony meeting was really powerful. The spirit was so strong. Our whole district got up and bore our testimonies and most of the Finns did as well. We all got up and testified of Christ, and then we all sang the 2014 Mutual theme 'Come Unto Christ'. The Spirit was so powerful I was tingling for about a half hour. My heart was so full. After Sacrament meeting my district started practicing our departure song for the next sacrament meeting. We are singing 'How Great Thou Art' which is actually originally a Swedish tune. We are having the Nords sing a verse, we sing a verse, we all then sing a verse in English, and then the last verse we all go back to our own mission languages. Hopefully it will go well. That night we also watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. It had some great reminders about Christmas, such as the fact that Christmas is important because of Easter, if Christ hadn't atoned for us, His birth would not have the same importance. He has also given us better gift than we could ever give, which is His atonement. It was an amazing devotional, so if you have spare time I recommend watching, it should be on LDS.org. Sunday night Elder Beveridge and I realized we got care packaged the same light up tie so I will link that down below, we totally got a picture of it.
Monday we had a great discussion in class on the importance of having investigators make commitments and then following up with them. We actually taught ourselves because our teachers had their own devotional to go to. Elder Beveridge and I also taught our replacement zone leaders so they can take over on Sunday. It's crazy to think we are almost done with that assignment. I still feel like I've only just started my assignment as zone leader.
Tuesday we had our last Tuesday Devotional. We got to hear from Craig C Christianson of the Presidency of the Seventy (FYI he spoke during the Christmas devotional on Sunday). He gave an amazing talk on the importance of yoking ourselves to Christ, our companions, and members. If we yoke ourselves it means we have to work together, but we also gain the strength to do far more than we can alone. Tuesday night it was Vanhin Crump's Birthday (one of the Finns) so we had a bit of a celebration. It was funny, they lifted him up in the air in a chair Bar Mitzvah style, it was hysterical.
Wednesday we had our last TRC so Elder Beveridge and I talked with Hampus from Sweden over Skype. We had a great time talking about Christmas and the #LighttheWorld initiative the church has. It is so much fun to be able to have great discussions with actual native speakers.
Sorry this email is so long, but it's my last one before Sweden!
I hope you all have a wonderful day and enjoy the Christmas season and take a second to ponder why we celebrate it.
Vi Ses!
-Elder Ashford
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