On Tuesday we went to Lingbo again but it was pretty funny because on the way to the train station we ran into our investigator's 12 year old daughter Saga and she said hi and then said "You need to come over more often" haha, I think they enjoy having the missionaries over. Anyways we headed out to Lingbo and did some service and then afterwards we went by a few people and then that night we went tracting. We hadn't been seeing much success in the area we had been in and so we were exploring some other options. We decide to start in this new area and come to the first building and start going up. Not to many answered, a few people weren't interested, but on the second or third floor up this woman answers the door and asks "Are you Jehovahs?", "no" we reply, and then she says "come in" and waves us in. We had a great lesson on the Restoration and she had some good questions and comments and seemed very interested in what we had to say. It was awesome! God really does prepare some people to hear the gospel.
On Wednesday we did service at RIA again serving lunch to people that otherwise wouldn't be able to afford it and it was a good thing too, they were apparently short on kitchen staff so the were really appreciative of the extra few hands. We had a few meetings that day as well to which was nice.
On Thursday we had district meeting and we had it in person this week. It was actually really good. We talked about what we had heard in last zone conference about successfully failing and I think a lot of us having been so scared of failing or making mistakes in missionary work, especially in using our new technology capabilities, that we haven't really dared try anything.But we talked about how sometimes failure is essential to growth and we have to be willing to try new things. It was a really great meeting. Here comes the title for the email. Swedish has the wonderful verb of "orka" which means to "have the energy to" essentially, and that is not how one would my describe my bicycle on the way home from district meeting. The chain came loose and so it fell out of place rendering all pedaling useless. This happened not once, not twice... but three times in the same trip... We got home and tightened that up first thing, it was quite the adventure. We then swung by our investigator's family and delivered banana bread (Saga loves Elder Tolmans banana bread) and then delivered a Book of Mormon to someone else. It was a really good day.
Friday wasn't too eventful but we did teach a lesson over the phone which was an interesting experience, it wasn't what we had ideally wished for but it went really well actually.
Saturday was interesting, we had Innebandy which went well, we then swung by an event a member was holding but we could only stay a half hour. We then went to the church for a missionary activity... but only our branch president showed up... whoops.
Sunday was Fast and Testimony meeting. It was a really powerful meeting. I love that we have a chance every month to listen to what other feel strongly and know to be true and how they strengthened their faith. It's really awesome. We also had a member meal that night which was nice.
I have been thinking a lot about the difference between pride and humility recently. Pride is something that we are all guilty of in some way at some time. It comes from thinking of ourselves and it's interesting as we feel like we will be happier when we achieve our own selfish ambitions, but in reality it's not the case. I have noticed in my life that as I humble myself and put others first I am a lot happier. I am sure that's why missionaries love their missions so much and why I feel like a lot of church members are happy despite what we see in the world, because serve others. I am sure that is why the Savior was able to endure all the hardships He did. He loved us so much that He did everything He could for us, and that was what gave him joy. As we continue to strive to be like him and serve each other, as individuals, families, and communities, we too can feel that joy.
I wish you all a wonderful week!
I haven't had time to send pictures for a few weeks, here are 2 pictures from midsummer, our boy Ruben who went mini-golfing with us, and an obligatory elevator selfie. Also included is us chilling on our balcony at 10 PM, gotta love being the sunshine up here while it lasts, as well as a picture of our district.
---Elder Ashford
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