I KNOW THAT CHRIST LOVES EACH OF US INDIVIDUALLY

Hello my lovely people! 

Wow.  This has quite possibly been the hardest, yet best week of my mission so far.  I'm not going to lie...it's been hard.  But, at the same time I have LOVED every day.  There were really yucky times, but then there were those special moments that only serving the Lord can bring.

So, I had a fun start to the week...I may have just quite possibly, ever so slightly, kind of hurt my ankle...!  Don't be alarmed.  It was only kind of discolored and swollen... and then I ran on it the whole next day as I was on splits in Uppsala with one of our wonderful STLs!  So, it was all good!  Lots of prayers were said, and it truly was a blessing/miracle because it was like all the way healed 2 days later.  I was not expecting that!  

But aside from that... my first splits!  We started our journey early in the day to meet up with the STLs half way.  On the way Sys. Bateman came up with two really good questions that I think everybody needs to think about (haha!): 

Question 1: If you, yourself, your personality could be any food...what would you be?

Conclusions: Sys. Bateman- Mueslie (oats mixed with nuts and raisins)

                        Sys. Campbell (me)- Strawberries. 

Question 2: If you could be reincarnated into any living thing...what would you be?

Conclusions:  Sys. Bateman- a Sunflower

                         Sys. (Me)- a baby huskie...white and grey with blue eyes. 

So don't worry...we don't do this all the time...just when we have to travel a lot.  And I think they are very important things to know about a person! 

But aside from the good quesions...back to splits-----

It was a really neat experience!  I got to go up an hour north, so that is always cool!  It was like -17c--which equals cold in Fahrenheit.  We had to run...like, book it to just about every bus/train we needed that day...which was a lot--my ankle was not very happy with me!  But, we go to the church, get the information for a referral we got and found out she only spoke Spanish.  So, we run back to the apt. to get an El Libro De Mormon...go on the Pendalton (train thingy) for 30 minutes just to walk 30 more minutes and find that she lives in an apartment complex that needs a code to get in, and there wasn't even a number to call her. Yeah, NOT cool.  

So, then for the first time that day, we started leisurly walking--and then the STL (Sister Trainer Leader), Sys. Irene, said, "Oh, if we hurry, we can pick up a chocolate bar for this new member, take it to him and make it to our train!"  So we run to the store, get the chocolate, then on our way out the phone dies because it is TOO COLD!  That's just not right!  So, I spend the next 5 minutes breathing on it to see if it would bring it back to life...and it did!  Then we run to his place and we spend like 10 minutes on the phone with him, trying to figure out where he lives!  

While Sys. Irene is on the phone, this random guy comes out of the store and then comes up and talks to me.  He's just like, "so, do you go to school here...do you live around here?"  I was just dying inside, but I just said, "No, but we are missionaries for our Church!", and basically gave him a mini little lesson!  Haha!  He then held out a bag of muffins and said, "Well I just bought these...", he looks down at the half-eaten one in his hand and said..."they're not very good, but they're not bad!?" And asked if I wanted them!  Haha!  Oh, I was trying so hard not to laugh!  I was just like, uh... okay.  And took them and then I gave him a mormon.org card!  Oh, it was so funny!  

Then he was on his way, and I turn to Sys. Irene and hold up the muffins and she was so confused!  She said, "Where did you get those?!" I pointed to the guy walking away, and she immediately said, "Sweet!  We got dinner!" 

Then Lloyd finally came out.  He's just this funny, sassy, college dude, and we hand him the chocolate bars and he looks over at the train station, and says, "Isn't that your train?"  Then Sys. Irene says, "Darn! well, bye Lloyd!" and starts bookin' it!  Haha, I hobble sprint along and Lloyd comes with us and says, "Wait--I'm coming, too...I want to see your faces when you miss your train!"  Haha--sorry, Lloyd...We made it right as the doors were closing! MIRACLES happen every day. 

Then we ended off with this awesome lesson with a guy named Amie.  He is from Iran and he is so cool!  The Systers have taught him before, but he'd been in Afghanistan for 5 weeks, so we kind of reviewed everything, and we had this awesome guy Mohammad come and translate for us and it was just the coolest lesson.  He is getting baptized February 6th!  SO COOL!  I just wish he was over here in Täby!  It was just the coolest experience though.  It's really amazing to see that with the Lord and the Spirit, languages don't have to be a barrier. The Spirit can cut through that wall and touch hearts no matter what language. 

Onsdag, Wednesday was good.  Felt like a very wintery, homey day!  So naturally we went out to talk to some people!  By the way, some temperatures are just not right to be out in. Sweden often likes to reside in those temperatures.  But we went out to try and find our ward mission leader's home and then we got lost.  And to top it off, our phone died because it was TOO COLD!  Oh man!  So we just hopped on the bus, made our way back home, charged and warmed up the phone and then went back out.  This time, we went to a new train station...Mörby Centrum.  We decided to change it up from our usual Täby Centrum contacting...and it was actually really cool! 

We wanted to focus on showing the "Because of Him" video.  Sadly, only one lady was actually willing to watch it, but it was a really neat experience.  We showed her the video, and she just cried!  After, we asked her what she thought, and she said, "I am actually just coming back from a funeral for a friend and that was just what I needed.  There is so much hope in Krist.  Thank you for sharing that with me."  The Lord knows all and is aware of all, and my testimony of that was quite strengthened right there. 

Then Friday came along...and this is what has made my week.  I don't even quite know what to say about it other than it was just one of those days where everything seems to come down on you all at once.   It was my one month-mark in Sweden.  It feels like I have been here forever...and then it feels like 2 days.  I have come to find that timing on the mission is just not what you would expect--where a week feels like a day, and a day feels like a week.  

I realized that it is quite possibly because we are on the Lord's time.  It feels so fast because so many wonderful things are crammed into such a small time frame...or it feels super long because being out on a mission seems to be the best way to pull out your weaknesses...and that just makes things drag.  But, that is why everything that happened Friday helped me so much...... 

At the end of the day we got a call from the Elders, and they started to ask, "How are you Systers?"  And then half way through, he switched the question out of nowhere and said, "Syster Campbell.  How are you right now?  How are you actually doing?"  I just said I was good, and eventually we all ended up talking about starting a mission and how it really has a way of kind of breaking you down.  

One of them said something that has just been on my mind ever since.  He said that while on your mission (and in life) you tend to feel inadequate.  Inadequate in more areas then you can even think of at times.  But this is just the Lord's ways of showing us our weaknesses. 

This just kind of opened my eyes...he then went on to say that it is only after we know what our weaknesses are that we can turn them into strengths.  I felt the spirit so strong at this point, and I just knew that was true.  There is a fine line with feelings of inadequacy, I have found this week.  But the difference is if you just look at them as something that has always been there and always will be, or if you decide to look at it as a gift from God.  An area, and a special point in you that he has highlighted to give you the opportunity to make better.  

If you submit an essay outline to your teacher and get it back with corrections and suggestions on how to make it better, you're not going to just sit there and then submit that one again as the final...You're going to want to make it better!  So, when you live your life and the Lord helps you see a quality of yours that you can make better for your benefit and the benefit of others, are you just going to sit there and everyday say, "Oh, I just can't do this!"  Or, "I'm no good at this!"   NO!  We take it and we turn to the Lord and ask for help on how to turn this weakness into a strength.

I was very grateful for the help of those around me--for helping me to see that in a new way. Being out here has really helped me find many things that I can make into strengths!  And I am so grateful for this year and a half I have to be out here, in a Land more up North than most people will ever be.  It is pretty crazy to think about, and I guess this whole week has been filled with similar thoughts!  

Just like the ever so re-occuring thought that my dearest, sweetest sister Sarah is going home this week!  After serving wonderfully for a year and a half in the beautiful land of Argentina, which is oh, so far from me....but diligently serving with all of her heart, might, mind, and strength--it is pretty crazy to think about.  And I try not to think about it too much, because everytime it seems to end up with tears!  I just know that missionary work is such a special thing and I am so grateful to have seen her beautiful spirit become even greater and even more beautiful by serving her Father.  Being out here really does help you see things in a different way. 

Another really special thing we got to do this week was help at a refugee camp.  All of us Täby Titans went Saturday morning and it was just so cool.  We got to sort through hundreds of boxes of clothes and things that people had donated and we got to talk to the beautiful people there.  

(Annie said this picture is her attempt--and "failure" to properly label a box at the refugee camp!)

People from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and many other countries.... they are just the sweetest people I have ever met.  It was another instance where language is no barrier to the Lord and the love he has for his children.  

Sys. Bateman and I went around playing with all of the children, running, playing, hugging. When I first went over to all of them, this one little girl ran up to me.  I knelt down and she just grabs my cheeks and looks into my eyes...... 

She stays there for a second and then just leans into me and squeezes me.  She kissed my cheek and she just stayed there for the longest time.  I don´t know if I have ever felt so much of the Lord's love for someone as I did right then.  

Then, four other precious kids ran over and all took a place on my lap.  I could not stop smiling and laughing because I could not think of a time where I have felt so much joy, and happiness and love.   

(Annie sent us a couple of pictures of these precious children sitting on her lap, but let me know that they weren't to be published publically.  I felt it was fitting, instead, to share these pictures of the Savior with children, as His servants went in His place--each wearing His name--to the refugee camp that day...)

The Lord loves all of His children, and I am just so grateful to have this knowledge for myself so I could tell those precious little children that day  that they mattered to Him and that He loved them.

Oh--and another special little note:  On Sunday, after being with all of these beautiful people the day before, I read a talk from President Uchtdorf, talking about when he was three years old and HE was a little refugee child...Just look at these precious faces (referring to the pictures of the refugee children sitting on her lap), and think of their beautiful potential! Isn't that amazing?! 

Sunday morning, as I started my personal study, I just started to look back on the week and just thought about all of the amazing things that had happened.  I though of all the good, and all of the things that were seemingly bad at the time, but I was able to see how they--in the end--helped me to learn something very important this week.  One amazing talk I found taught me something very important.  It was talking about being broken. 

("Called of Him to Declare His Word", Elder Randy D. Funk, October 2013)

It said, first-- the field must be broken to plant the wheat.  Then, the wheat must be broken to make the bread.  Then the bread must be broken for the Sacrament.  Then our hearts must be broken to partake of the Sacrament.  We cannot be made into something better unless we are broken first. 

I know that the Lord gives us trials so that we can turn to Him so that He can strengthen us. Just like He always has and He always will.  If we turn to the Lord in all things we will become more than we ever could by ourselves.  We can touch more lives.  Strengthen more testimonies, and bring more of his children unto Him again.  With Him, we can bring others back to the remembrance of something they have lost but previously knew.  

We have this gift--the knowledge of the Gospel in our lives.  The knowledge that we have a Savior and He loves us.  So many in this world do not know this, and I am so grateful to be here, in my dear Sweden, teaching people from ALL over the world.  Sharing the pure and true message from my Father.  That He is there.  That He cares and He loves us all. 

Med Älskar,  

Syster Campbell