Week 86 - Midsommar!

This week's been a lot of fun! But plenty of work too I promise :-)

On Tuesday we helped a member push start his car. We also met with one of our recent converts which was fun. We also went to a member's house and one of our investigators came with his family as well. It was a really fun time and it went really well. They enjoyed it a lot.

On Wednesday we got to eat lunch with some members in our Ward which was fun. We met with another lady in the ward and read the book of Mormon with her. That night we taught our investigator from the night before with a member, we taught about the word of wisdom and it went really well so we were really excited about that. the member bore an awesome testimony. I am so grateful that God cares enough for us in all aspects that he gives us guidelines to take care of our bodies and help us be better able to listen to the Spirit.

Thursday was a little crazy. We had District meeting and a member meal for Lunch and then after that another member fed us for dinner. So we're kind of busy. We then got to bike back home in the pouring rain because we had biked to the church in the morning but then it started raining all day and we didn't want to leave the bikes at the church, so we biked home instead... We got pretty wet... But we were having a good time. 

Friday was Midsummer which was a ton of fun. We did weekly planning in the morning but then we went to the Jonsson's home. Most of the branch was there and even the stake president was there as well with his family. We got to help put the branches on to the midsummer pole and decorate it and then we got to dance around it to the usual songs which was a ton of fun! There was then lots of grilling and eating it was a lot of fun and then we played some soccer together. It was great!

Saturday we played some innebandy and then we went to work for the rest of the day and started inviting people to an activity next week.

Sunday we had church and then interviews with President Youngberg. I always love those few minutes we get with him and I feel like I learn a lot from him.

I love you  all and wish you a great week!

--Elder Ashford

Week 85 - Äldste Ashford and Äldste Tolman part 2

Monday was pretty cool. We found the statue of John Forsgren in Gävle, we had no idea it was basically in the middle of town. John Forsgren was the first missionary to Sweden, he was Swedish but was a sailor and become a convert in the US but then came to Sweden in 1850 and started here in Gävle where he baptized his brother as the first convert in all of Scandinavia. Pretty cool!

Tuesday we had a lesson that went pretty well and we even ran into one of our members while we were teaching him at the library so that was fun. We also called this one guy that had met with the missionaries about a year ago but then got too busy to meet, he was super nice and was happy and willing to meet in a few weeks when his schedule clears up so that was super awesome. That night we passed by this one restaurant on the way to a member meal and we saw some of the employees outside. We were on our way back home afterward and we went by the same restaurant and some of the same employees were there and and started talking to us. We chatted for a bit and one of them asked for a Book of Mormon in arabic the next time we came around. We haven't had much time to find so it was cool to see how the Lord puts people in our path. 

On Wednesday we served lunch as service again and that was pretty fun. We then went and met with a member and read the Book of Mormon with her which is always fun. We had coordination meeting and branch council which both went well.

On Thursday was district meeting of course. We then had planned to bring our ward mission leader with to visit a member but then the member wasn't home so we real quick swung by a few other people in the area instead.

On Friday we traveled out to Lingbo again and helped a family out there start plucking up lupines that had started growing in their yard. In case you didn't know, they are pretty flowers, however they have roots that go pretty deep and they are a chore to dig up and they spread everywhere. So maybe think twice before you plant them...

On Saturday we had lunch with some members and talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ while reading out of 2 Nephi 31 which was really great. We then had a few lessons that didn't pan out later in the day but I guess that's missionary life for ya.

On Sunday we had church and we had a great set of meetings. Someone gave a a great talk in Sacrament meeting about how we have a living prophet. She felt like when President Nelson became the prophet she didn't really know him very well so she went back and started listening to every talk he has given since he became an apostle which was a really cool idea. She had some great insights. We also had some food after church which was fun and we got to interact with the members a bit. We knocked a few doors in the rain which is always fun. We also got transfer calls and Elder Tolman and I are staying another transfer together! It should be fun, I feel like we have been working well together so it should be good.

Today we had a member take us out for lunch at this sort of ski lodge thing which was pretty cool.

All in all it's been a great week. I really enjoy being able tell people about what means so much to me. The Book of Mormon has been such a blessing in my life and I love listening to modern day prophets and apostles that continue to speak to us today and I just wish everyone else can feel the same. 

Have a wonderful week!

--Elder Ashford

Week 84

On Tuesday we took a train out to Lingbo to meet with a member, we helped him clear out some weeds and stuff and then read the book of Mormon with him. It was really good. we tried to also swing by an old referral but then they weren't there... oh well. We had dinner that night with our branch president and it was a super good time.

 Wednesday we had exchanges so I was with Elder Jordan here in Gävle. We headed to do some service but they were closed because of Swedish National Day. So they didn't need us. So instead we headed home and ate lunch. We met with a member who's was baptized just a few years ago and read a chapter from the book of Mormon with her. We had a meeting with our branch mission leader which was really good and then we really quick met with one of our investigators and had an awesome discussion on prayer and the scriptures and we read in Alma 34 verses 15 - 27.

Thursday we had district meeting and wrapped up exchanges. That evening we had dinner with the Jonsson family and then the husband came with us on a lesson to one of our investigators. We taught about the Gift of the Holy Ghost because our investigator Juhani really likes feeling the Spirit and that the step before being confirmed is baptism and so we asked if he would be willing to baptized, and essentially he said "sure, when?" It caught us a little off guard, we were too awe-struck. We decided next time we meet with him we will set a date (we still have some more lessons to teach him). It's also a little tricky because he works every other week in Lycksele (way way North) but he has the Book of Mormon app on his phone so he will keep reading and praying while he's gone and we'll try to set something up once he gets back. 

Friday was a little crazy. We were on our way to a lesson when we realized that it was studenten (graduation) and we were on a bus. To explain, when people graduate here in Sweden all the girls are in white dresses, all the guys are in suits, and they are all wearing sailor hats. (Regrettably I forgot to take a picture.) The spend a lot of the day driving around blasting loud music and drinking either in cars or in these massive trucks where they just party in the back. So as you could imagine this had some effect on our bus ride as traffic was hectic in town but it was entertaining to see, they were even parading down the other side of the street at one point holding signs with their names and baby pictures at one point.

Saturday wasn't too eventful other than Innebandy (which I have now learned is called indoor floorball in English although it doesn't really have the same ring to it) and we also went by this one guy that we know and showed him the Easter video from last year which he enjoyed.

Sunday was awesome. As a little bit of backstory:  Last Tuesday, the Jönköping sisters called us asking if we had the number to a less active that they had called that had moved to Gävle. We didn't and so they gave us her name and number and some basic information about her. We went to coordination meeting with our mission leader and we mentioned that at the end, almost off-handedly and he told us that the branch has been searching for this member and her family for the last several months. She came one time last fall but no one got her name or contact info and they had no idea where she went. We called on Thursday and said we were the missionaries in Gävle and invited her to church and she came with all three of her kids! Her husband who isn't a member drove them so we were able to meet him briefly as well, it was amazing!

Juhani even came to church with his daughter and loved it and got invited to a member's for dinner once he gets back after this next week! We also had a lot of guests. We had some members that used to live here and then their daughter served as a missionary here later that were there. We also had a guest speaker who also used to live here. He gave this awesome talk about listening to the Spirit.   At one point when he was younger he felt like he needed to leave his job at this bank and try this other job. He got the job and he absolutely hated it, he oversaw a sales team that had low moral standards and would lie to their customers to sell and he was not okay with that. He ended up talking to his boss and he was about to quit and the boss was about to fire him so they agreed on that. He was really confused as to why he would feel so strongly that he needed to take that job. He started looking for a new job and went back to working at the bank in the meantime. He got a new job and after about 7 interviews and several weeks he finally got this new job that he wanted and that he loved. At one point he asked, while trying not to pry to much, why he was the one that got the job and they pointed to his position at the job that he hated as the experience that made the difference for them. Sometimes we don't always understand why God gives us promptings. The job the man got originally was not the job he wanted but the one he needed to get the job he wanted. God knows what we need, even if we don't.

God bless you all and have a wonderful week!

pictures this week are:

Of this gate with the words  "close gate" on it 

(please notice lack of closure, lack of fence, and overall lacking in effective use of said gate), 

as well as a fork that one of our members adapted into a phone stand,

and to wrap up we were in Naturkompaniet and I saw the same model of backpack as mine... 

guess which one I bought 18 months ago because when I bought it, it was the same color as the other one.