Week 34 - Midsommar!

I know I say this a lot but this week was actually super crazy!

Monday was our missionary volley ball tournament so that was a lot of fun.  We took a train out to Södertälje and played volleyball for about 4-5 hours on P-day.  A lot of us were still pretty pale from no sunlight in winter and then always wearing proselyting clothes every day but just about everybody left a few shades redder than when they got there.  It was a lot of fun.  We then came home.  It was kind of crazy though.  

We got invited to Family Home Evening with the Bishop's family and so there was a bus that left at 6:20, we got off our train at 6:06, ran to our bikes that we had parked at the station, biked home, changed into a white shirt and slacks, and then biked back in time to catch the bus with a less active we were bringing with.  It was pretty crazy. We got to Söderköping okay though and the Bishop and his family took us to this place called Smultronstället which is literally an ice cream restaurant.  Not a restaurant that also has ice cream but literally the entire menu is ice cream.  They had some crazy looking ice cream and they could get pretty big too.  It was delicious!  We also walked up a big hill and got a beautiful view of Söderköping.

Photos from Hike to Söderköping

On Tuesday one of our lessons didn't show up so we did family history for a little while at the church. We then biked to meet one of our investigators and had a super good lesson with him.  We then biked back to the church to meet one of our recent converts.  We had a great lesson with him.  We then had to go buy food because we didn't have time the day before so we bought food, biked home, then biked all the way back and past the church for a member meal.  The next day Elder Olson estimated that we had biked for about 2 hours the whole day just trying to get back and forth everywhere.  We could kind of feel it.

Wednesday we met in the morning with one of the kids in the ward.  He is 9 but wasn't baptized when he was 8 so we have to teach him now before he can be baptized.  He wants to though and it was pretty fun being able to teach him, we'll be meeting with him quite a bit over the next few weeks.  We met with Nils-Erik and had a great lesson with him.  It's so awesome to see how he has such a strong personal testimony of the church, and he just hit his one month mark!  We also had a lesson with another recent convert and we saw a hedgehog on the way there!  We talked about the article "The Faithful High Councilor" from the June Liahona with her.  It's a super good article.  We came home and called a whole bunch of people trying to get lessons set up without a ton of success but we went out for the last 15 minutes of the day and on our way home we ran into 3 African guys who asked us if we were the Mormons.  Apparently one of them had visited one of the chapels in Stockholm so that was fun.  We managed to get all 3 of their numbers and we are going to try to meet them this week.

Thursday was district meeting which went well.  It was in Linköping so we then traveled back and had a lesson with an investigator before riding a bus out to Finspång to meet another investigator that just moved from Linköping.  It was funny though because on our way back we missed our bus and so we just walked into a nearby kebab place and we ran into two teenagers we had just sat next to on the spårvagn the day before.  It was funny and we said hello.  We then finally caught our bus home after that.

Friday was Midsommar!  It was a non-proselyting day for us so we got invited to the family gathering for one of the families that makes up roughly half the ward here in Norrköping.  There were about 42 people there, it was wild!  It felt kind of weird not having to leave to go make it back for a lesson somewhere.  We had all sorts of food and we went to a nearby church to see them put up the Midsummer pole and dance around it.  It was fun to just kind of rest for a day.

Saturday we had a P-day schedule so we took it easy.  We went to the church and played some pingpong. Walked around the city for awhile but all of the stores were still closed.  It's kind of interesting how Swedes actually close down everything for Midsummer.  Almost nothing was open while everyone was at home or visiting family, the streets are practically empty.  We listened to a few talks and then we went and visited a member, we had a really good lesson on likening the scriptures to ourselves and seeing how they can have personal application.  It was a really awesome lesson and it kind of helped me remember why I love the scriptures.  They were written and preserved for us to be able to read, learn from, and apply to our own lives and when we do so they become more meaningful.  Try to read this week from the scriptures and see how the scriptures can apply to your life and see how your studies change.

Yesterday we had church which went really well.  We had a great Sacrament meeting and second and third hour were also really good.  It was pretty crowded with everyone's extended family also in town, the chapel was almost completely full!  We also had a member meal right after which was fun.  We then came home and did our weekly planning.

P.S. I know this week seemed like a big party but I promise we also worked hard 

- Elder Ashford

Midsommar Photos!

These pictures were from when they carried in the pole and put it up.

Next set of photos with everyone dancing around the pole and

 then of course Elder Olson and I needed a picture(s) with it.

 

Week 33 - Studenten

Monday after our P-day we went and helped a member with a little bit of lawn work and then she fed us dinner after so that was awesome.

Tuesday we had was pretty normal. We had a lesson that fell through but we went out and talked to people. 

Wednesday was pretty cool.  We had a lesson and then as we were walking out we had a pretty funny occurrence.  I was on the phone with one of our investigators from Syria setting up an appointment for later in the week, we were on our way to meet our Syrian recent convert and we ran into one of our Syrian potential investigators, it was kind of funny.  We had our lesson which went really well.  We challenged Alex, the recent convert, to teach us a lesson next week and he accepted so that was awesome.  As we were leaving we were waiting for the Spårvagn with him and a lady who was also waiting for us started talking with us and asked if we were missionaries from our church.  It was kind of weird for someone to start a conversation with us for once instead of the other way around.  It turns out she used to meet with the missionaries a few years ago, so we got her number and it was actually super cool.  We also had a zone conference call talking about our vision for the transfer and we focused on the why.  Why we do what we do, why are we where we are, etc...  It was really great because when we understand why we do something it becomes easier to do it.

Thursday had district meeting and we had a great discussion on the power of bringing members with us on our lessons and using the scriptures.  It was a great reminder for us that we have some amazing resources that we can't forget to use.  Afterwards President Beckstrand showed up and gave a few of us interviews that he hadn't gotten to last transfer. That night we had dinner with the Bishop's family which was fun.  On our way home we got kind of stuck because our bus didn't come and we waited for about 20 minutes for the next one that came later so we could actually get home.  It was fun though, we talked to 2 pretty cool middle eastern guys the whole bus ride.

Friday was Studenten.  It's the graduation day from gymnasium (their version of high school).  It's kind of funny because all the guys wear suits, all the girls wear white dresses, but then all of them wear these sailor hats, I'll put a picture down below. We had a lesson set up in a park but it didn't really work because the other thing they do is they meet up with their classes, rent out semi-trucks with flatbeds and party in the back with the music blasting and their had to be at least 6 at a time just driving around.  It was wild.  We then traveled out to Nyköping to visit some members.

On Saturday we had a few lessons that went super well.  We met with one of our members and watched President Monson's "Finishers Wanted" talk from 1972.  It is super good.  We also had a member buy us dinner which ended up tasting fantastic.

Today we had a really good Sunday and the Stake President was even here which was fun.  In priesthood we listened to a BYU devotional by Gordon B. Hinckley that had to deal with Leadership which was super good. (Mom's note: He later added the talk was entitled "The Loneliness of Leadership.") Yes, I am also emailing on a Sunday but do not be alarmed, we got a little time to email now because the missionaries have a volleyball activity so we will be in Södertälje all day tomorrow and won't be able to email but I promise that next week will have a ton of pictures.

Happy Father's day everyone! 

The pictures are of the studenten graduates walking around with their hats, a cool tower outside a church in Söderköping as well as a cute little stream nearby.

- Elder Ashford

Note from Mom: Here is a map that shows a few of the areas he mentioned above.

Week 32 - American Flags on Swedish National Day

Last Monday we kicked a soccer ball around with the Linköping Elders. On our way home though we tried to use a public air pump to pump up our bike tires. Elder Olson hooked up his tire and we heard the air flowing so we thought it was working but then realized that the tire wasn't filling up. Upon further investigation we learned that the pump didn't work and the sound of rushing air was in fact the air escaping, not entering, his tire. We laughed as we then walked our bike home as his tire was now too flat to ride. We did some contacting and tracting though and we had a really successful time. We gave out 4 Book of Mormons, which was highly unusual so we were kind of excited.

Linköping is about 42km from Norrköping and just under 30 minutes by train.

Tuesday was Swedish National day, which was interesting. We walked through a park where they were holding their celebration since we were in the area and they were handing out little Swedish Flags and they had some people bringing their fancy old cars for people to check out. What was really funny though was that I saw a lot of people wearing shirts with the American flag on it, and virtually none with the Swedish Flag. I found that to be pretty funny. We had a lesson and then later we had a member meal. While we were there we played a fun game with them that I think is called Kubb but I'm not entirely sure. Basically you both sides have a line of blocks and you throw sticks at them to try to knock the other team's down.

Mom's note - Apparently Kubb is really popular in the Midwest - especially in Minnesota and Wisconsin. There is a lot of Swedish and Norwegian ancestry in this area. We will have to get ourselves a set and/or check out one of the tournaments. Here is a link to a Minnesota Group.

Wednesday was very wet and rainy. We had a lesson and did a little family history which was fun. We then biked to a member meal and it was fine outside when we left but it started raining on the way. I wore a jacket so I was okay but Elder Olson was pretty thoroughly soaked. When we got to the member's house she immediately got him a towel to dry him off, and when she then saw that it wasn't working insisted on taking a hairdryer and blow-drying him, it was really funny to watch.

Thursday we had district meeting and set some goals for the transfer. It was still kind of rainy though. But not all the time. The weather here changes on a dime. We went out contacting and brought our umbrellas because we would seriously put them up, then 10 minutes later it would stop raining, we would keep going for another 10 minutes, and then it would start to rain again and the umbrellas went back up. It was kind of funny. We also had a member meal that night with a family in our ward but that is actually the Branch President for Linköping so he invited the Linköping Elders too. We were on our way to go catch the spårvagn, when we stopped to talk with a member we saw on the street. The spårvagn then starts leaving without us and we see the Linköping Elders onboard. We realized that if we ran we could cut the corner since the route kind of curves so we ran through the city and through a park to a few stops down in time to catch it and sit down next to the other missionaries, it was kind of fun. (for those of you, wondering a spårvagn is a tram.) We had a great member meal and then since the four of us were there we did exchanges.

Elder Wilson and I were in Linköping on Friday, we had a good time, we spent a lot of time talking to people on the street. We also had an activity with a few members so that was pretty fun.

Saturday I was back in Norrköping with Elder Olson. We had a busy day. We met with one of our recent converts and then he stuck around for when we met one of our investigators which was awesome! We also had dinner with Nils-Erik, our recent convert, and it was awesome. He showed us some of his music equipment which was pretty cool. We also had a really good discussion on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We then had him drop us off at the university here to meet with one of our investigators. He was leaving for Austria the next day so we wanted to meet with him. A lot of our investigators have been either getting sick or going on vacation so it's been kind of an odd situation for us.

Sunday we had church, unfortunately all our investigators were busy so they didn't come but we had the opportunity to talk with some primary kids for like 10 minutes which was fun! They were talking about missionaries in their class so the teacher had us come in to answer a few questions. It was great. We then ate with some members for lunch which was pretty fun as well. We then got to come home and do weekly planning! So that took up a lot of the rest of our day.

It's been a great week and I feel like I can see the Lord's work going forward. It's so cool to be a part of it and I'm really grateful for that. Have a wonderful week!

- Elder Ashford

Week 31 - Norrköping Part 2!

This has been a wild week but it was a lot of fun so here we go.

Tuesday evening we traveled to Stockholm to spend the night for Zone Conference on Wednesday. That meant our only real time to get much done was in the morning and early afternoon. We had met two investigators and another member pretty much back to back so we were going all over the place.  We then packed our bags before heading to the station.  We got to stay the night with the Office elders and the Assistants as well as another set of elders who traveled all the way from Karlstad.  It was fun though.

Wednesday was zone conference.  It was also President and Sister Beckstrand's last zone conference as they will be going home in a few weeks. We had a great training though.  The Assistants talked about remembering to take the scriptures and liken them to ourselves, to see the personal application, as well as then help others see how the scriptures apply to them too.  The Beckstrands then gave us the training that they usually give to missionaries when their going home since they won't be able to give that to all of us later.  I really liked President Beckstrand's thoughts. He essentially went through  President Monson's talk from 1972 titled "Finisher's Wanted".  It is a great talk and reminds us of how important it is to stick it out to the end instead of giving up before we earn our reward.  We then had lunch and then time to take pictures as it was essentially the Beckstrand's big goodbye to all the missionaries.  We then went and got on a train home.  We hadn't realized earlier in the week how late our train was going to be so we had scheduled a lesson for right after we got back.  After the lesson we finally got home.

Thursday we met with one of the people that we had got a phone number from.  They invited us over in the morning to what turned out to be... the Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall!  We met and had a good discussion but we could tell that they weren't super interested in our message.  We then met with Nils-Erik, the man who was baptized recently, and we went over the Plan of Salvation.  It was a great lesson and we even watched the Mormon Message "The Refiner's Fire" which is fantastic if you haven't seen it.  We also took a train all the way out to Nyköping to meet several people only to have them all cancel on us so we had a good time just contacting instead since we had to wait for our train home.

Friday was a pretty quiet day and we had a good member meal.

Saturday was transfer calls!  Elder Olson and I are staying in Norrköping together so that will be fun.  We had a few lessons during the day and then we had dinner with some members that night.

Sunday we had church and it was great as always.  We also did some studies and contacting later in the day.  That night though was an awesome experience.  We went out tracting, we first knocked on a few doors that had been pretty positive when we tried them several weeks ago.  Neither of them answered so decided to continue knocking our way through the building where we had left off last time.  We didn't have a ton of time so we were expecting to just knock a few and then leave to get home.  The very first door we knocked on opened up.  It was a guy from the Ivory Coast and he had actually met missionaries a while ago.  We were talking at the door when one of his kids comes up and says "Mom says they can come in" so they invited us in.  They had just had a party for their 3 week old baby, as in we had heard their guests leaving in the stairwell about 5 minutes before we knocked.  We sat down and had a great lesson.  The man had a lot of really good questions that we were able to answer and was happy to have us back again.  It's one of those experiences where you just know that God put us there in the right place at the right time.  It was so cool.

God really does know each and every one of His children and knows what they need and when.  He loves each and every one of us.  I hope you all have a wonderful start of summer!

-- Elder Ashford

Pictures

The first one is my district at zone conference

Then it's Elder Olson and the other 3 of us who have all been companions with him

Then the last 2 are us riding majestically as knights on this random outdoor chess we found while contacting

Bonus Photos

We had half of our MTC group at Zone conference so we got some pictures as a group with the Beckstrands.