Week 13 - One Crazy Week

This week was really crazy.

Tuesday we had a specialized zone training in Malmö.  The mission department has changed the missionary schedule so we had a lot to talk about that.  I'll get into it more once I get to  Thursday.  We talked a lot about diligence and President Beckstrand tied it to Michael Phelps.  

Michael Phelps has had a number of times where he got distracted in between Olympics and people thought that his career was over.  He then would go back to work and focus and we all have seen the results of that.  

In Preach My Gospel it defines diligence:

"Diligence is steady, consistent, earnest, and energetic effort  in doing the Lord’s work."

President Beckstrand emphasized this principle a lot.  It was a really cool training.  The training took up most of our day because we had to travel to Malmö, were there for 6 hours, and then go back.

Wednesday was pretty fun.  We did a lot of contacting.  We then had dinner with a member and her friend who are both from the Philippines.  They are super funny.  We then had to go to the church because the ward invited us to an activity.  It's a way to get one of the less active members an opportunity to be involved and she is really good at yoga so she led a yoga class!  I have to admit, I was not expecting to be doing yoga on my mission but it was a lot of fun.  Because of yoga though we actually missed the World Wide Missionary Broadcast so that brings us to Thursday

We did our studies and ate an early lunch on Thursday so we could get to the church to watch a recording of the broadcast.  They emphasized the importance of teaching about faith in repentance and then announced some big changes.  They changed our schedule, so that we have less companionship study but we get out a lot sooner than we used to and have more time to proselyte.  Our schedules are now a little more flexible and we are able to go to bed a little bit sooner if we want because of this weird thing called "sufficient sleep".  They also changed the points that we focus on in missionary work and simplified it.  We used to have 9 key indicators that we would report numbers for but now we only have 4 and it is really helpful.  It makes it a lot easier to focus on the people we meet instead of worrying about numbers.  To quote another missionary "It's like the First Presidency was inspired or something".

Friday we went to Halmstad because one of the missionaries had a pre-going home meeting in Stockholm so we had to go pick up his companion.  We spent some time contacting up there before coming back to Landskrona where he stayed with us.  Saturday we got transfer calls so we found out who is moving where.  I'm still going to be in Helsingborg with Äldste Murtonen though.  

Saturday was interesting because we still did missionary work but now we had 3 missionaries instead of just 2.  We talked to a lot of people on the street and met with several people.  We had lunch with some members and shared this awesome talk by President Monson (Principles and Promises) about how sometimes we still need to ask God for blessings we may already be entitled to.  We also had another meeting with a member and we talked about the Plan of Salvation.  It was awesome how strong the Spirit was there.  We had an amazing discussion and we got to know him better because we had never met him before.  That night we had to bring Äldste Porter back to the train station so he could catch the train his companion was on so they could get back to Halmstad.

Sunday we had church.  We had a really good Sacrament meeting and the classes were really great.  We then had dinner with the Bishop's family and we shared from Alma 34:32 about how our time on Earth is a time to prepare to meet God.  If that's the case we need to try to do our best and it is really cool to see how Christ's Atonement comes into it.  Everyone always remembers that the Atonement helps us overcome sin but people forget that it also helps us to overcome our weaknesses, pains, and trials.  It was a really good lesson.

I hope that you all have a great week.  I'm sorry I don't have any pictures this week, I didn't have a lot of time to stop and take any.

-Elder Ashford

Week 12 - Joy Despite Challenges

This week was a good week.

Tuesday we helped a member.  He is older and had some things in storage that needed to be moved to his apartment so we helped him out.  We then had a great lesson with him.  He shared with us his conversion story which was awesome!  We also shared some thoughts on prayer using Alma 37: 35 - 37.  We actually used those verses a lot in our appointments this week but they are really good description of the power of prayer and why it is important to pray to our Heavenly Father every day.  We had a lesson with an investigator fall through when he didn't show up ( missionaries here even have the term 'getting blåsted' for that situation (sounds like boasted)).  We ended up contacting for awhile and then calling some ward members and potential investigators.  

Wednesday we had a lot of good lessons on the street and we had a great lesson with an older lady in the ward that really brought the Spirit into our day, so that was awesome.

Thursday we had district meeting.  We had a really good discussion on what blessings do we receive from the other topics for this month which were setting goals, learning from opposition, and serving our companion.  It was also Äldste White's last district meeting so we had a funeral which was really funny.  We got him a pineapple instead of flowers which made it even funnier.  Just imagine a 20 year old guy laying on a table with a pineapple on his chest while we give our remarks as if he's dead.  It was hard to keep a straight face.

These are from the funeral, and the last 2 are pictures of our district.

I wasn't kidding about the pineapple.

Note from Mom: Mormon Missionaries often have their own unusual customs that are common in areas all over - where ever they may be serving. One of the admittedly stranger traditions is "funerals."  When Missionaries are near the end of their mission, they often have a "funeral."  It is a time when the missionaries they are serving with will say nice things about them as though they had already passed on (to a life beyond their mission) and as you see, they have fun with it.

Friday we did some service and raked leaves outside of the church.  We also did a lot of contacting because we got blåsted again... by the same guy.  Let's just say we are learning patience this week.  We had fun though contacting, we walked all the way to the edge of Landskrona, about 15 to 20 minutes away from our apartment, and then we waited for about 5 minutes for a bus back and right as it is about to pull up, my companion realized he left his bus card at the apartment... so we got to walk back instead.  It was rather amusing.  

Saturday we did another stand outside the church but no one was really interested.  We then had a member dinner.  We had weekly planning after that so that took up the rest of our day.

Sunday I gave a talk in Swedish!  It was only 5 minutes and I had to write the entire thing out ahead of time but it went really well.  A lot of the members said they liked it which was good.  The subject was how to experience joy despite life's challenges.  I ended up using the talk from this last October General Conference titled "Joy and Spiritual Survival" by Russell M Nelson.  It is a really good talk about how joy comes not from what happens to us but what we focus, especially if we focus on the Plan of Salvation, Jesus Christ and His Gospel.  I also shared Doctrine and Covenants 122:7 about how we have difficulty in this life to give us experiences for our good.  I then went back to the talk and shared the story that Elder Nelson talks about from Eliza R Snow about the saints in a freezing winter huddled in a cabin with wind blowing through the cracks and then he quotes 

Eliza recorded: “Not a complaint was heard—all were cheerful, and judging from appearances, strangers would have taken us to be pleasure excursionists rather than a band of gubernatorial exiles.” 

Eliza’s report of that exhausting, bone-chilling evening was strikingly optimistic. She declared: “That was a very merry night. None but saints can be happy under every circumstance.”

I really loved this great example of how they were able to find joy despite the unpleasantness of their situation because of their focus on the Gospel.  If we have an Eternal Perspective, or God's perspective, we can always find joy.

I hope you all have a wonderful week and find the joy in life.

--Elder Ashford

Old Water Tower in Landskrona designed by Frederick Sundbärg in 1903-4. 

Week 11 - Weak Things Become Strong

This week was not as eventful for the most part as weeks past but here goes...

Monday was P-day.  We actually had dinner with a member family.  The dad is from the US so they made us enchiladas which was awesome!  (It's kind of hard to get Mexican food here.)

Tuesday there was not a lot that happened.

Wednesday was windy Wednesday.  Most of the south got some heavy winds and further south of us was so bad that I think 3 trains had issues so trains couldn't get through and I think Malmö for a time didn't let any trains out of the station.  It wasn't as bad in Landskrona but we tried to go contacting and there was nobody out there so we gave up on that pretty fast.  I doubt anyone would have wanted to stay and talk with us anyways... if they could even hear us.  We had a lesson with an investigator but he liked to talk and it was hard to really teach him anything.  It was really frustrating for me to deal with.  Swedes seem to be happy to talk to you but for the most part are kind of content with their lives and don't want to change.  It has definitely taken some getting used to.  The title for this week comes from Ether 12:27 and it talks about how if we are humble and come to God, he will strengthen us where we are weak.  It was a good reminder for me and a good opportunity to learn patience and diligence.  Unfortunately I can't make decisions for others, they have to choose the Gospel for themselves, so I need to do everything that I can and not feel so bad if others choose not to.  It's a great reminder of how God gave us agency and the ability to choose.

Ether 12:27
And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness.
I give unto men weakness that they may be humble;
and my grace is sufficient for all men
that humble themselves before me;
for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me,
then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

Friday we met with an older lady from the ward.  We gave her a lesson and the sacrament and it was a lot of fun.  She is always very funny and I love visiting her.  We also had an appointment with an investigator... except he didn't show up.  As we went back to the apartment however, we got a call from a less active in the ward who teaches with the missionaries on and off asking if we could meet.  Since we had a sudden opening we accepted and we met and talked.  He actually told us about some old investigators who could be interested in being taught again so we made some calls and actually set up an appointment with one right then and there!  It was awesome!  While it was unfortunate that our one appointment fell through it was awesome to see how we were ready for this opportunity.  I don't really believe it was a coincidence, I think God may have had a guiding hand in it.  What a miracle.

Saturday we did a lot of contacting and had an awesome lesson with a less active family about the restoration.  We watched the twenty minute video called (believe it or not) 'The Restoration'  and then talked about it.  The spirit was there and the family loved it.

Sunday we had church and we actually spent time testing the translation equipment (some of the units needed batteries) because some of them were not working last week.  We also had a really good meal with a member family with rice and stew.

Today we actually went bowling which was a lot of fun. 

 We also walked around Helsingborg and took some pictures. 
My camera actually worked this time! 

I'll be sure to send some of them but warning: it might take a few emails.
(Mom's note: it took 2 additional emails.)

Hallå, Denmark!

    

Week 10 - Faith, Trials, Miracles and an iPhone

So this week has been super wild so bear with me here.

Let me just go ahead and start with Sunday.  The Halmstad Elders came down and worked our area with us, so I was with Äldste Porter.  We went out contacting and we meant to just go out for an hour.  We ended up talking with a guy from Uruguay for like 20 minutes and it went pretty well, but we ended up missing our train so we decided we would just keep contacting for half an hour until our next train came.  We then ended up contacting a Swedish man.  I was expecting it to be a short conversation like we usually get but it turned into a discussion that lasted at least 35 minutes.  It was so awesome to meet him and hear about his life and to testify of the gospel.  We actually ended up giving him a Book of Mormon and switched numbers with him.  He was my first potential investigator I've gotten for my own area!  We had had little success during the Christmas season finding anyone we could teach and we finally got one.  Äldste Porter and I actually missed our second train while talking to him so we ended up going to the station to make sure we didn't miss the next one, but I know that that man was the reason why we missed the first train.  We needed to talk to him.  He was actually only the first of 6 potential investigators we got over the span of 4 days!  It's so awesome that after a lot of prayer and work that we finally are seeing more success.  

Monday we went to Malmö to do some shopping so I got a better winter coat, some other stuff, and a hand clicker for counting contacts!  (It's so much fun to click it)  Later that day we went back to proselyting and we talked to 21 people and got 4 lessons on the street and found 2 more potential investigators!  I started getting really excited because after getting rejected so many times by people we were finally finding more people to teach about the Gospel.

Tuesday we did more contacting and downloaded a Book of Mormon onto CDs for one of our potential investigators.  (well, at least the first half because we only had 10 CDs.  Fun fact: we discovered that the Book of Mormon requires 23 CDs to get the full thing)  We also found another potential investigator and gave him a Book of Mormon in Persian.  (another note.  I've started keeping track of the countries and languages I've run into because there are so many.  So far in 4 weeks I've met people from at least 25 countries that I know of and probably upwards of 20 languages)

Wednesday we contacted, tried and failed to meet with a potential investigator, and I also did some family history.  It was super cool because I actually found the parents for someone we didn't have before!  I was so excited to find people that we didn't know about!  We also got a self-referral so we stopped by, got his number and gave him a Book of Mormon.  We then went contacting and actually found another potential investigator, it was awesome!

Thursday was where it started to get... interesting.  We had a really good district meeting and talked about how we deal with trials and how we can learn lessons from our hardships.  It was a really good reminder of why we have opposition and difficulty in this life.  Speaking of opposition, I ended up dropping our phone and the screen went black... and it wouldn't turn on again... oops.  We went on splits with Halmstad after that, and we were down a phone.  We weren't able to set up any appointments without the phone so we went contacting.  I felt like going to the less busy area of Landskrona, in the residential area for some reason so we went out and tried to talk to people.  There were not many people at all and we didn't have many that wanted to talk to us.  But at one point I just felt like following the spirit.  I just felt like going down one road then the next, then cross the street, and sure enough I stopped this woman who was just running home.  We had a really good discussion and we explained the First Vision.  We gave her a Book of Mormon and she took our card.  With the phone not working I forgot to actually get hers so I hope she eventually calls us.  *fingers crossed*

Friday was the 13th day after Christmas which is another holiday so all the bus and train schedules were a little different.  We met back with Äldste Murtonen and Äldste White to end splits.  We then went to the church because they brought Äldste Porter's iFixit kit so he ended up working on our phone for about 4 hours, including during our ward Christmas party.  He couldn't find a way to fix it unfortunately but we did discover that the mission office would reimburse us for it if we went to get it fixed. 

Saturday we went to the store and turned in the phone, they said that it might not get fixed until the next week.  We then went to Helsingborg in case we needed to use the Sister's phone to set up an appointment with anyone.  The sisters then got a call from the store, our phone had been fixed within 3 hours!  It was a miracle!  We had been praying so hard to get it working again so that we could get a hold of investigators and it went from needing a week to a mere 3 hours.

On Sunday we got a call while we were at the church about a half hour early from one of our less actives that he wants us to help him get from the station to the church and that he would be there in 20 minutes.  Äldste Murtonen and I had to rush to the station to pick him up, thankfully one of the members was willing to drive us.  The sisters also had a new investigator.  He was someone they had contacted on the street but never met with and he came to church!  It was amazing!  We have had so many miracles!

If there is one lesson I have learned it is that miracles happen as long as we have faith.  In Ether 12:6 it says that "faith is things hoped for and not seen, wherefore dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."

Week 9 - Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone!

 I know I'm emailing a day early but because of New Year's we have a P-day schedule and I don't know if I will have a lot of time to email tomorrow because we are going to Malmö for our actual P-day.  

Monday for P-day we went to to the mall and I got a Fjällräven backpack.  It's a Swedish brand that is really popular among missionaries.  We also had a member dinner with more Christmas food because the day after Christmas is sort of like another  holiday in Sweden, the food was really good.  

Tuesday we did a lot of contacting on the street.  It has been really hard to meet with people to teach because of Christmas and New Year's.  At one point Äldste Murtonen had the thought to swing by one of our investigator's that we weren't planning on visiting and that we hadn't been able to get in contact with.  We ended up running into his girlfriend actually.  He had lost his phone and had gotten a new one but we didn't have his number and we got it from her.  It was a small miracle!  We had some good conversations on the street as well and I have been trying to contribute more, even with my limited Swedish.  

Wednesday we traveled an hour away to meet with a less active who recently moved into our ward.  Him and his daughter served some really good arabic food that was delicious.  We had a really good meeting with him and we could tell that he has a really strong testimony of the gospel.  We then had run a little bit to catch our bus back to Helsingborg, it was even a double decker which I thought was especially interesting.  We did some contacting and then had yet another member meal for dinner that was also delicious.  We had a great meeting with them and a a fun discussion about temples.

Thursday was great.  We had district meeting and part of the preparation for that was that we were all supposed to read the talk "What lack I Yet?" from the October General Conference in 2015.  It is a great talk about how we can ask God what it is that he wants us to improve on.  He [Elder Larry R. Lawrence] shared some examples of people's experience and I thought it was interesting that the Spirit only gave them one thing to work on at a time, and it was something surprisingly simple.  It's a great talk and I would definitely recommend applying it because there is always something we can improve on.  Our district meeting was on planning and the importance of goals.  If we don't have goals we lack the direction to really achieve anything.  I have been able to accomplish so much more in the day because we set goals and plan everyday.  I never have to wonder if there is something I should be doing.  Later that day we met a less active family for dinner.  We shared a message on the Gospel of Christ.  It was an awesome discussion... despite the efforts of their very energetic 16 month old daughter.  They also had some really good other questions for us about sharing the gospel with others, questions others have asked them, and others that we did our best to answer and I could feel that we were really able to bring the Holy Ghost into their home.  It was awesome!  On a funny note, on our way there, we actually got stopped for once by someone who gave us some pamphlets about Islam.  It was interesting to be on the receiving end for once.  I ended up giving him one of our pass-along cards in exchange.

Friday my visa paperwork and residence card showed up so Äldste Murtonen and I had the fun experience of going to fill out paperwork so that I can get a Personnummer, which is the Swedish version of a Social Security number that you need every time you go to the doctor, go to the dentist, etc...  We also visited an older lady in the ward and had a wonderful discussion on the Plan of Salvation.  Two other women in the ward came in a bit late but they also joined in.  They also all missed the sacrament on Sunday so we got to help give that to them, it was my first time in Swedish to so that was cool.  We had yet another member dinner that night (My companion tells me not to expect so many meals with ward members after New Year's) this family was actually the first family I had dinner with in Sweden.  After that meal we went to Helsingborg and did more contacting.  We actually had a really great conversation with a muslim couple and we even gave them a Book of Mormon!  We weren't able to get their number but hopefully something comes out of that.  We actually missed our train because we talked longer than expected and had to contact for another half hour until the next train came.

Saturday we did some weekly planning and thought of some new ideas for how to have the members help with missionary work and how we can find some new ways to find people to teach.  I'm kind of excited to see what happens.  We had a member dinner for New Year's and there were actually 3 families from the ward there which was a lot of fun.  Unfortunately because the next day was Sunday we had to be home by 10.  I had prepared a thought but we didn't get a chance to share it but I can share the talk with all of you.  It was "A Year of Jubilee" from the 1999 October General Conference from the Sunday Evening session.  It was a great talk [by Elder L. Tom Perry] about using the new year (because it was the last General Conference for the century) to set goals and make time for the things that matter like family scripture study, family prayer, and family home evening.  There was also a great quote in it from Spencer W Kimball about changing our environment to invite the spirit more.  It was a fantastic talk that is worth studying for New Year's.

After we got back to the apartment we tried to go to bed at 10:30 like we were supposed to but it was hard to sleep and then at midnight it became impossible.  We live right by the park in the middle of Landskrona and people were setting off fireworks.  These Swedes were going crazy with the fireworks, they were all over the city!  We ended just getting up and watching for a few minutes because we knew we weren't going to be able to fall asleep until the fireworks calmed down.

It's been a great week and I'm so excited to see what the rest of my mission holds in store.

I hope you all have a great 2017!

P.S.  I have a whole bunch of pictures both from this week and last.

Main Street in Helsingborg.  Their apartment is nearby.

A few photos of the Tower in Helsingborg.