Week 39 - President says I'm a real Missionary now

So here comes the story of my first full week in Vendelsö.

Tuesday we had a super good lesson with Moses about the Plan of Salvation which was great.  We also had an English class and only one person came, and he's a member from Västerhaninge's ward, but it was fun. We helped him out a bit and we had a good time.

Wednesday is quite a story. Buckle up because here we go.  We had splits and Äldste Anthon went to Handen so I was with Äldste Jackson who had been in Sweden for a week at the time.  We had a super awesome lesson on the Restoration with a lady.  It was great, she said she would even come to church next week. After that we went talking to people on the street nearby. We ran into a few interesting people as always happens when you just talk to everyone. We then came home to get some dinner so that we could go knock on some doors later that night.  Well... plans change.  Our neighbor has a dog that is notorious among missionaries for barking angrily at us.  Now normally I feel like dogs like me but apparently not this one. The door to where we live is around the back of the house because we live in part of someone else's house and there is a stairwell that runs along the side by the fence to get back there.  Well, as we were walking back there the dog decides to jump over the fence ahead of us and bit my arm. Thankfully it wasn't anything too serious and the owner was right there and got the dog under control. We went inside and washed it out real quick and called the senior couple in charge of medical advice. He told us to go to the clinic and get it checked out just in case so we did.  We got there and they determined that is wasn't serious and that they could fit me in for an appointment 2 hours later. We were going to have to break curfew for that so we called the mission president and I asked for permission to receive medical assistance and he approved.  He asked to hear the story so I explained what happened and we laughed about it.  He even told me that I'm a real missionary now so it's official.  I got checked out later and everything was okay.

Thursday we had district meeting which was fun. We also had correlation meeting with a member and then a member meal that night but on our way home as we were about to get on the bus Elder Anthon realized he couldn't find his bus card so we had to search for that. We retraced our steps but couldn't find it. 

On Friday a member said he found the bus card in his house and brought it to us which was awesome.  We also made some cookies and brought some to a member and one to an investigator family so that was fun.

Saturday we got to help out at a move.  They were just going to a bigger apartment within the same complex but they lived on the top floor in both so for every trip we carried stuff down 3 floors, went across, went up 3 floors, dropped the stuff off, went back 3 floors over and up 3 floors again. We just repeated that cycle for 3 hours but it was super good. We then had to go up to Gubbängen because our friend Moses who we met on Tuesday doesn't actually live in our area but in Gubbängen so we wanted to make sure he could meet the missionaries there and know where the church was. It sounds pretty simple but it turned into it's own adventure.  We got to Gubbängen and we didn't see Moses so we called him to say that we were there at the train station. Well, he said that he was also at the train station.  We went around trying to find him but couldn't figure it out. The Gubbängen elders came and after talking with him for a little while determined that Moses was not in Gubbängen but in Globen, which is one line over on the subway. They then helped give him directions for how to get to Gubbängen and finally, after 90 minutes of confusion and trying to give directions, Moses got to Gubbängen. We had a great lesson with him and he should do great there now. We then had to run to catch a train because a member in Handen's ward had invited not only the Handen Elders but us as well to dinner. 

Sunday we had church which was pretty awesome.  We had a great Sacrament meeting. We also had a great lesson during third hour.  Our ward mission leader was in charge and he had one of our converts from a few months ago explain the process of how she found the church and how it had affected her life.  It was awesome. He then had another member of the ward who joined the church a few years ago share her story of how she had had interactions with the Church for a while but it took some time and encouragement of a friend to actually meet the missionaries. It was a really great lesson.

It's been a wild week with all sorts of ups and downs but it's great.  I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Pictures are: first of this pigeon just hanging out in the subway train with us

then there is a picture of the dog bite because I know someone was going to be curious, 

and finally there is Äldste Anthon and I hanging out waiting for the metro back from Gubbängen

- Elder Ashford

Week 38 - Living the Vendelsö life

This week has been rather interesting so here goes.

Monday we found out while we were emailing that we would as a matter of fact not be leaving on Wednesday but rather on Tuesday, so we had just a little bit less time to figure out our few last minute details before we shipped out. The Linköping Elders came and we played some ping pong at the church. They left and we just continued working on our transition report and getting everything figured out for the Elders coming in.  We then went home for the night and finished packing up all of our stuff.

Tuesday We finished our report and printed it, we then cleaned the church and met with a couple people before we left. We then went home, made sure we had everything, and then left for the train station. I took a train to Stockholm where the Vendelsö Elders came and picked me up. Elder Anthon will be staying here in Vendelsö with me and then Elder Barker would be leaving for Skellefteå the next morning.  We got all my stuff and then brought it down to Vendelsö.

Wednesday we dropped Elder Barker off at the bus stop super early in the morning and then came home and finished getting ready for the day. Vendelsö is definitely a little different from what I am used to. Helsingborg and Norrköping were big enough cities that they had a main street that kind of makes up the center of town and so we could just go there to find people to talk to.  Here in Vendelsö it's all suburbs and we have a very small area. So we walk around but we don't see quite as many people, we also tend to knock a lot more doors here so it's going to be a bit of an adventure this transfer, I haven't done as much knocking doors so far in my mission but that is about to change.

Thursday we had district meeting which is fun. The missionaries in Visby, which is a city on an island off the coast of Sweden, are part of our district so we got to Skype them so they could be part of our district meeting. Elder Anthon and I are the only companionship in the district right now that aren't training right now besides the Senior missionary couple that also lives in Visby. It's kind of an interesting thought.  The meeting went super well though as we set goals and plans for the transfer. Never underestimate the power of goal setting, sometimes it's boring but it really does help you get things done.

Friday we did some planning for the week and we knocked some doors.

Saturday we did some tracting and then we had a really good lesson with one of our investigators. It went super well as we explained the Restoration and the Book of Mormon to him. He had some questions about how some things in the Bible get him kind of confused and we were able to show him how the Book of Mormon helps clarify some of those things from the Bible. It was awesome!

Sunday we had church which was great. The ward is a little bit bigger than some of the ones I'm used to but it's pretty nice. We also had a really good lesson on the Plan of Salvation with someone and we had nice member meal in the evening as well.

This week I am really grateful for the scriptures. I had the opportunity to finish reading through the Book of Mormon this week and I have loved it. There is a special feeling that comes from reading it. I love being able to talk to people about it and explain some of the simple truths that it holds in its pages.  I'm really grateful for my time in seminary. Every school day during high school I got up early to learn about the scriptures.  Those things that I learned have really helped me in my mission and this week I have been able to use some of the scripture mastery verses that I had memorized so that I could find scriptures to explain ideas to people clearly with the use of the scriptures themselves.  I know the Book of Mormon is true and that it really does bless our lives as we read it and understand the principles it teaches.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

--Elder Ashford

Pictures this week are of:

a little summer cottage we walked by

 the next is of a sign that clearly is instructing to be aware of such risks as monkey bars, 

break dancing, yoga, walking with small children, as well as cats and chickens

 then there was this thermometer that we ran into while knocking doors, no I cannot read everything it says because it is actually in Norwegian but I can make out some of it

 then there is the maze which Sweden occasionally uses instead of speed bumps, 

however not everyone actually slows down while weaving through

finally there is Elder Anthon and I

Week 37 - If you roll doubles, roll again, If you roll doubles again, roll again.

This has been a fantastic week and I will explain the title a little bit later, if you are too curious you can go ahead and hop down to Saturday.

Monday we had a super fun member meal with a family before they went on vacation.  We also had a fun lesson with one of our other members as well.

Tuesday we taught Alvin, the 9 year-old, at the church and it went super well. He's great! We then had 10 minutes to get from the church to the station and be on our bus. (keep in mind it takes ten minutes to bike to the station and we would still need to lock our bikes) We raced through the city and as we near the station we see our bus start to pull out. The number 40, a big double-decker and our only ride out to Finspång. It gets caught a little bit in the morning traffic and so Elder Olson and I continue our furious pedaling to the next bus stop where we know it is headed.  We find some nearby bike racks, locked the bikes, and rushed out to the stop in time to make the bikes.  Mission accomplished.  We were both a little out of breath so I believe that counted as our cardio for the day.  We took the bus out to Finspång where we had a great lesson with some investigators on the Plan of Salvation.  We finally came home and lunch afterwards (we didn't have to run for the bus this time). We had another great member meal with another family in the ward which was pretty fun.  On our way back we got a call from the Linköping Elders, they were stranded at the Norrköping train station. They had been on their way back from splits when there was a train accident further up on the tracks and their train had to return to Norrköping until the track could be cleared. They were stuck there for a few hours. When we got back to Norrköping we kept them company for a little while until we could determine that they would actually have a train to be able to get home.

Wednesday we met Alvin and his mom again and finished teaching him the rest of the lessons, he's a stud. Seriously. We also met with a nice older lady and helped her with her computer and she fed us lunch which was awesome.  We met with Ahed, who is our investigator who comes to church every week and we got a baptismal date with him! That was super exciting.  We also met another investigator and she bought us some ice cream. We had dinner and then went tracting.  One of the doors we knocked, the lady wasn't interested to learn more but was super nice and gave us some chocolate. Tender mercy of the Lord right there. We then got home and, in the words of the senior couple in charge of the apartments, had a "wardrobe malfunction". He reached in his dresser and bumped the back of it. The back popped off leaving the rest of the dresser unstable and so the shelves fell down and the whole thing started to lean. It was kind of a shock but kind of funny.

Thursday we started the day early. It was district meeting and it was our District Leader's birthday too, and it was the last district meeting of the transfer so the Katrineholm Elders just got here early and then we blew up a whole bunch of balloons and made a cake for the birthday boy.  It was pretty fun, not gonna lie.  We met with a member and had a lesson with her which was fun.  

Friday was a super fun day.  The Apartment couple came and fixed Elder Olson's wardrobe and then reinforced the other ones just to be safe.  We then went and met a member who drove us to Pizza Hut for a lunch buffet.  He then was nice enough to drive us all the way out to Nyköping so we wouldn't need to take a train there.  We had a fantastic lesson with a member there.  We then went to another member family there and we had dinner with them and then we had an awesome lesson. We talked about how the family is central to the Plan of Salvation and then we talked about The Family: A Proclamation To The World.  It was a super great lesson and the husband started to cry a little.  He told us how thankful he was for all that we did for him and his family by visiting every week. It reminded him a lot about his own mission and the families he would always visit and his love for them. It was special moment, especially since while we hadn't received transfer calls, we kind of assumed Elder Olson would be transferring.

Saturday we got our transfer calls.  I'm doubling out again! It's crazy! I doubled out of Helsingborg and I guess I did a good job because now I'm doing it again!  Elder Olson is headed to Västra Frölunda and I am off to Vendelsö.  It's in southern Stockholm. It's kind of cool though because that's where Elder Murtonen, my trainer, was trained. 

We then left to go to a ward activity.  It was a blast, Ahed came and we got to play a bunch of games and get some pictures with bunch of the ward members before we left. We then went to Finspång and met our investigators there again before coming back and meeting Wenjain.  Wenjain is the best.  He's a 4 foot Chinese man who is super funny.  We had one last lesson with him before we leave.  We watched one of the videos from the Mormon channel from an event called Hope Works.  It's basically like a Ted Talk.  One of them is super funny while being super insightful and is called "Humans, We have a problem".  Go check it out.

Sunday we had church. We got to bear our testimonies before we left which was awesome.  A lot of the ward members said they're going to miss us. We went home and did studies after church and then came back and began writing up our area notes for the missionaries coming in.

I am so grateful for the time I have spent in Norrköping.  It has been absolutely phenomenal here.  I love the people here and I have loved the work.  I have seen the Lord's hand in the work and the work is progressing. I have no doubts about that. The Lord has a plan and apparently I'm needed in Vendelsö and I am excited to see where this next adventure leads!  

--Elder Ashford

Pictures are of:

the front door of the church with all of the birthday balloons.

Then a couple with various members of the ward.

Then there is a picture with all of our district at lunch together.

finally there are a couple of pictures one night in Norrköping because it is super pretty.

Week 36 - America! And A New Mission President!

We traveled all over the place this week!

Tuesday was the Fourth of July!  We started by going to meet some investigators a half hour away in Finspång.  We caught one of them at the bus stop, he was on his way to Eskilstuna...for several weeks... awkward.  He forgot we were supposed to meet.  We chatted for a few minutes before going and meeting with our other appointment.  We had a really good lesson on the Plan of Salvation.  His roommate wasn't there but he ended up being on our bus back to Norrköping so we talked with him on the way back.  We then packed up all of our stuff for zone conference and caught another bus out to Kolmården for a member meal.  The husband is American so we had a 4th of July barbecue with them.  They even had a cake that looked like the American Flag, it was awesome.  We then went back to Norrköping so that we could catch our train to Stockholm for zone conference the next day.  We stayed the night and there were 8 of us all sleeping in one apartment meant for 2 Elders... It was a party.

Wednesday was zone conference.  We met our new mission president and wife, President and Sister Youngberg!  They seem really awesome so I am looking forward to getting to know them better.  It was a fantastic zone conference.  We then got a train back but we had to get a later train because we missed ours due to a connecting train running late.  It was super funny though because on the train back to Norrköping the missionaries across from me recognized the shirt of a girl that walked by as an American football shirt but didn't know the team, turns out it was a Wayzata High School shirt from Minnesota!  When she walked back I asked her if she was from Minnesota, she looked pretty surprised at first, so we talked for a minute or two before she returned to her seat.  When we pulled into Norrköping it was a complete downpour, there was even hail and a little thunder which never seems to happen in Sweden.  Elder Olson and I had of course forgotten our umbrellas and were in suit coats so we ran to the Spårvagn and then from the spårvagn walked quickly back to the apartment but we were pretty wet. Of course about ten minutes later it cleared up and the sun started shining again...

Thursday we taught our 9 year old with baptismal date before we had exchanges so I got to be with Elder Domino from my MTC group while Elder Olson went down to Linköping for the day.  It was super fun.  We had a couple of lessons and did a little bit of contacting and got to kind of catch up with each other.

Friday was another busy day. We ended exchanges at the train station and then waited there for ten minutes before our train to Nyköping came.  We went there and met with some members.  We read a talk entitled "Do Not Delay" from Oct 1999 from then Elder Eyring.  It is a really good talk about the blessings from repenting now instead pushing off things for later.  We then came back and met with another member before then going and helping another member move some furniture around her apartment.

Saturday we went out to Finspång again and taught one of our investigators.  We did a little bit of contacting as well.

Sunday we had a great day at church and then we got fed afterwards.  One of the families, their daughter just got married on Friday, had a lot of food left over and so they essentially went "we have all of this food that needs to get eaten, let's have the Elders come over".  We ate a lot of pasta salad.  It was super good.  I didn't even need to eat dinner I was still so full.

It's been a very busy week but I am so grateful for the chance I have to serve here and to see the Lord's work go forward.  God loves each and everyone of His children and watches over them!

Pictures for the week are: 

...there is me with all of our train tickets for Tuesday and Wednesday...

Mom's note: The tickets are as tall as he is!

...the Elders Olson, yes, we have three of them right now...

...we also had another hedgehog sighting on Monday...

...I also got a care package for 4th of July so Yay America!

Mom's note: I know he got another 4th of July package as well.
We requested a photo of him in his Old Navy Shirt.
Also you may notice the socks...they have fireworks on them. :)

--Elder Ashford

Week 35 - Back to Work!

This week has been utterly amazing!  There is so much good stuff happening!

Monday for P-day we went with the Linköping Elders to the Flyggvapen Museum (literal translation = plane-weapon museum).  It was pretty cool!  They had a lot of old fighter planes there and they also did a lot of kind of explaining the Swedish mindset during World War 2 and the Cold war.  It was a lot of fun.  

Tuesday we met with our 9 year old investigator and he is awesome!  We had asked him to read the Book of Mormon with his mom who is a member and when we asked about it he preceded to give us a marvelous summary of the first several chapters of 1 Nephi.  It was awesome!  We had to meet with them pretty early in the morning so we went home and finally did our personal study that we hadn't had time for when we got called by 5 different people.  It was the oddest experience.  Normally we sit down and try to call a bunch of people but this time they all called us!  We also had another lesson later that day in Finspång, about a 30 minute bus ride away.

Wednesday we were pretty busy, we met several investigators throughout the day. We even went to Finspång again to meet with two potential investigators.  They are both from Africa, one from Nigeria and the other from Sierra Leon.  We taught them the Restoration and the Spirit was so strong!  It was amazing.  We gave them both their own copy of the Book of Mormon and invited them to be baptized.  They accepted which was awesome!  Within a week we went from having none of our investigators with baptismal dates to work towards to now we have 4!  The Lord's work is moving forward!

Thursday we had district meeting and we talked about what we talked about at our last zone training about being finishers.  Our district printed off a really good poem called The Race by D.H. Groberg.  It's a fantastic poem about finishing our race, even when we struggle and feel like we have failed or lost.  We met a couple more investigators later that day and had a great lesson with a member. 

(Mom's note: here is a link to a video depicting the poem : The Race)

The Race

--attributed to Dr. D.H. "Dee" Groberg

Whenever I start to hang my head in front of failure’s face,
    my downward fall is broken by the memory of a race.
A children’s race, young boys, young men; how I remember well,
    excitement sure, but also fear, it wasn’t hard to tell.
They all lined up so full of hope, each thought to win that race
    or tie for first, or if not that, at least take second place.
Their parents watched from off the side, each cheering for their son,
    and each boy hoped to show his folks that he would be the one.

The whistle blew and off they flew, like chariots of fire,
    to win, to be the hero there, was each young boy’s desire.
One boy in particular, whose dad was in the crowd,
    was running in the lead and thought “My dad will be so proud.”
But as he speeded down the field and crossed a shallow dip,
    the little boy who thought he’d win, lost his step and slipped.
Trying hard to catch himself, his arms flew everyplace,
    and midst the laughter of the crowd he fell flat on his face.
As he fell, his hope fell too; he couldn’t win it now.
    Humiliated, he just wished to disappear somehow.

But as he fell his dad stood up and showed his anxious face,
    which to the boy so clearly said, “Get up and win that race!”
He quickly rose, no damage done, behind a bit that’s all,
    and ran with all his mind and might to make up for his fall.
So anxious to restore himself, to catch up and to win,
    his mind went faster than his legs. He slipped and fell again.
He wished that he had quit before with only one disgrace.
    “I’m hopeless as a runner now, I shouldn’t try to race.”

But through the laughing crowd he searched and found his father’s face
    with a steady look that said again, “Get up and win that race!”
So he jumped up to try again, ten yards behind the last.
    “If I’m to gain those yards,” he thought, “I’ve got to run real fast!”
Exceeding everything he had, he regained eight, then ten...
    but trying hard to catch the lead, he slipped and fell again.
Defeat! He lay there silently. A tear dropped from his eye.
    “There’s no sense running anymore! Three strikes I’m out! Why try?
I’ve lost, so what’s the use?” he thought. “I’ll live with my disgrace.”
    But then he thought about his dad, who soon he’d have to face.

“Get up,” an echo sounded low, “you haven’t lost at all,
    for all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.
Get up!” the echo urged him on, “Get up and take your place!
    You were not meant for failure here! Get up and win that race!”
So, up he rose to run once more, refusing to forfeit,
    and he resolved that win or lose, at least he wouldn’t quit.
So far behind the others now, the most he’d ever been,
    still he gave it all he had and ran like he could win.
Three times he’d fallen stumbling, three times he rose again.
    Too far behind to hope to win, he still ran to the end.

They cheered another boy who crossed the line and won first place,
    head high and proud and happy -- no falling, no disgrace.
But, when the fallen youngster crossed the line, in last place,
    the crowd gave him a greater cheer for finishing the race.
And even though he came in last with head bowed low, unproud,
    you would have thought he’d won the race, to listen to the crowd.
And to his dad he sadly said, “I didn’t do so well.”
    “To me, you won,” his father said. “You rose each time you fell.”

And now when things seem dark and bleak and difficult to face,
    the memory of that little boy helps me in my own race.
For all of life is like that race, with ups and downs and all.
    And all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.
And when depression and despair shout loudly in my face,
    another voice within me says, “Get up and win that race!”

Another thing on Friday was that we had a little bit of time left after our train got in to Norrköping so we went and talked to people on the street.  As we were walking on our way home we see this guy on the street talking with this guy up in the window when the one on the street says "Hey look, Mormon Missionaries".  Apparently he's a member and he was here visiting with some of his friends playing in the music festival that was going on, one of them being the friend up in the window who turned out to be the drummer for the band The Killers!  That will be my small claim to fame for the week.

Saturday met with another new investigator and then met with one of our members and had a really good discussion about testimony.  We even talked about the first story in Bonnie L Oscarson's talk from April 2016 titled "Do I Believe".  It's a really great story about how when a mother is in a helicopter with her sick son on the way to the hospital, she has the thought that while she knows all about the Gospel and the Plan of Salvation, the question was did she truly believe it?

Sunday was pretty wild.  We had an excellent fast and testimony meeting.  Afterwards we were trying to arrange some appointments with some members when one of them walks up and says that 2 investigators were walking in.  We go up expecting to see some of our other investigators who hadn't made it to church when we see Chassa!  She used to be an investigator and she runs the Kebab restaurant we always get lunch at after District meeting.  Apparently she was on her way somewhere else but figured she would swing by so she came for Sunday School.  We went and met a new investigator after church which went really well and then met with a recent convert.

Today for P-day we checked out these viking carvings in some rocks about a 15 minute bike ride from our apartment in Himmelstalund park.  They were pretty cool.  Apparently they date back to the Bronze Age.

It's been an awesome week and I have really seen the Lord's hand in the work.  I am so grateful for the wonderful people I get to meet and to see how the Gospel can bless people.  Love you all!

-Elder Ashford

The first few pictures are of the Viking carvings including me paddling in a boat.

Then there was an American Flag flying for some reason so we got a picture with it.  Happy 4th of July this week! 

Here is all of us Elders at the plane museum including me doing my best airplane impression.

 Also there is me and Elder Olson in our matching ties we received.