{Thank-you, thank-you, Kimberly Pence!!!}
Wow...well, what to even say! I feel like there is just so much to say! This has been another really cool week full of learning and growing....needless to say, I just absolutely love being a missionary--especially here in Sweden! (Honestly, I don't know how I got to go to the best mission!)
Well, last Monday--P-day, we had a little mother daughter (trainer and greenie) fieldtrip! We went to the Vasa Museum!
It was so cool...we just set off for the big, beautiful city of Stockholm all by ourselves...it was really quite fun to just be able to explore Sweden! Well, as long as the activities are approved and done within the hours of 12:00 to 18:00!
So, the Vasa was a HUGE ship that was apparently a little too big. It was supposed to just be one of the greatest ships but, sadly, it was just too heavy!
It sunk the same day it set sail! Quite sad, actually--and it wasn't brought up out of the water for 333 years! That's a long time I'd say!
Without trying to sound too morbid, one of the coolest things was to see the bones all laid out from those that were stuck when the ship went down.
I just stood there and since I just recently took anatomy, I was trying to name all of the bones I could--and I was happy to realize that I had remembered almost all of them!
But then we had to walk away because we both started to get a little light-headed! But the rest of it was just super interesting! I think our next museum adventure will be to the Abba Museum in a couple weeks!
Then Tuesday, we went to one of my favorite member's house, Catarina--she is just the sweetest lady! She wanted to have a little spa day with us, so we painted our nails! While we did, she told us one of the coolest, most random stories I have ever heard!
She said that there is this guy that manages her money, and he has always had a problem with her wanting to pay tithing because he just doesn't think she can, with everything else to think about. Apparently though, just as of last week he said, "Because those sisters from your church always come by I'll let you pay."
WHAT?! Hahaha, how the heck?! What even is that?! It is so random and awesome! I don't know what us coming over has to do with her paying tithing, but WOW! So cool! When we left we were just like...how does he even know we come, and why would that even make him change his mind on tithing? But, we decided to not question it anymore and just be grateful for it!
Oh, yeah--and then there was this random time that I was writing "Moron.org" on a bus stop wall in the ice, and this old man asks Sys. Bateman why I wrote "Moron.org"........Haha, embarassing! MORMON.ORG! Wow...I'm ashamed that I am even telling you all this!
Now onto the sweetest little new family we found! As we were tracting this last week, we meet the cutest little family--OH, the one that we gave the Chinese Book Of Mormon to that I talked about last week! Well, we went over to their house and thankfully they were all there and they let us in, and it was just the best lesson ever!
They have the 2 most darling kids! We were just talking about the Book of Mormon and answering questions...and the mom, Jessica, had super good questions! But the sweetest part of it all was at the end we were showing them the pictures in the front of the Book of Mormon, and then stopped on the picture of Christ--and then we started talking and asked them if they would want to come to Church, and they said they would, and they wanted to!
And then the sweet little girl comes up and points to the picture of Jesus, and says, "I want to meet him! I want to go if he's there!" Oh! It was just the cutest thing ever! And they DID end up coming to church yesterday, and they loved it!!!
Then Friday, we had a little day trip to Norrtälje! The dreamiest little town! We had some pretty interesting experiences...but we'll just keep it to the best two for now.
First off, we were just talking to everyone while walking through the main part of town, and we see this cool looking old sailor man down the road and were like, "He looks cool!" Haha, well he definitely was interesting!
Sys. Bateman starts talking to him, and pretty soon he is just yelling at us in public about how religion has killed more people than Hitler and Stalin combined, and the whole time he was yelling at us, his dentures kept falling out, and he would just shove them back in and then continue on with his little rant! It was pretty hysterical actually! I have never tried so hard to not laugh while we were talking to somebody! I thought I was going to lose it! I was just crying, I was laughing so hard inside!
Then, the next story was a little scarier! We were just tracting in some apartments, and we run up the four flights of our last building--and the very first door, I knock...and then Sys. Bateman taps me on the arm and points to a sign hanging by the door...
I read it, and it has every single cuss word under the sun--basically saying 'there better not be any church people knocking on our door', to put it nicely. It was actually quite a freaky sign.
We look at each other in a very confused and slightly scared way, and then decide to quickly run down to the next level. All of a sudden, we hear the door open and we just freeze. We were freaked out! We were just SILENT! But the worst part was that they wouldn't close the door! We could still tell they were there for like 2 minutes, and it was so freaky! We finally just decided to book it down the rest of the 3 floors and run to our bus stop! Haha, it was pretty freaky!
But aside from that, Norrtälje is just SO dreamy! We took so many pictures and just enjoyed it all!
The day before, we had an interview with President, and he told us to make sure that we were having fun and enjoying ourselves while working hard, so we did! We enjoyed the beauty, did heal clicks, and talked to everyone we could!
Then, after working on my talk and slightly stressing about it all week, I finally got to give it. I actually do enjoy giving talks...but it's a little different when it comes to giving it in a foreign place and in a new language! But, with much prayer, I actually think it went pretty well.
As I was reviewing it my hands were just shaking, and then I came across a part where I was talking about how much the scriptures can bless us and bring us peace and comfort. Then, I read the scripture I was going to share--L&F 6:36, "Vänd er till mig i varje tnake, tvivla inte, frukta inte." (D&C 6:36, "Look unto me in every thought, doubt not fear not.") One of my absolute favorite scriptures. It just made me feel so calm. The scriptures really do bring peace and comfort!
One of my new favorite quotes comes from Elder Packer. He said, "Peace can be settled in the heart of each who turns to the scriptures and unlocks the promises of protection and redemption." Among all of the great things I have done and experienced this week, I think my favorite was being able to see just how much the scriptures mean to me--and to see all of the ways that they can help me in my life, and all of the ways that they have helped me in my life.
{Syster Campbell's District leader and her trainer...aka...her shoulder angels, of course!}
I hope that all of you will find that the questions to any and all of our answers can and will come from the scriptures. All we must do is open and read, and the blessings and answers will follow. It is such a simple act of faith to just open up the pages and read. Whether your book is worn and marked all over, or yours has hardly been opened and is covered in dust. Start now. It is never too late to start. The Lord is inviting all to come unto Him, and everyday we have the opportunity to chose to follow Him! I love this gospel and everything I have learned and experienced because of it. It truly is the greatest blessing in my life.
I love you all dearly! And one last thing...don't forget to have fun and be weird and just laugh!
Med kärlek,
Syster Campbell
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