A Swedish Syster: RUNNING THROUGH THE DAYS!

Well hello there, lovely people!

Looks like we are already into the second week way down here in Kristianstad! Crazy how fast time goes by! Okay--and even crazier--in 14 days I hit my 5 month mark! What is this?!?

This is going WAY too fast and I don't like it. I will have to look into extending for another year and a half I think...

Well, needless to say, I absolutely LOVE it here. There is never a dull moment in K-stad, and especially not with my new companion, Syster Stetler!

Oh, my goodness...I just love her so much and we just get each other! We laugh way too much and I don't even think 5 minutes have gone by where we haven't laughed. It feels like we have known eachother forever, and that we have been companions for months. The Elders the other day said, "You guys have WAY too many inside jokes for only knowing each other for a week!" Haha, it is all too true!

People on the street have also asked how long we have even known each other, and have been so shocked that its only been a week! Haha! So, things are going good-- let's just say I have been very blessed with the BEST companions.

So, Kristianstad is interesting, as I was telling you all last week--it's a funny place...and I absolutely LOVE it! Let's see...

1. So people here are just so straight forward. Last week, as we are doing our laundry--just pulling all of our clothes out of the wash--all of a sudden, three construction workers just come in and say "we need to measure the window". Um...What? Haha, they just walk in because the door was finally open, and just barge in right as were pulling our things out of the washer to come and measure the windows!

{the son of a Chilean family in their branch. He took their camera and "took about 50 selfies"!}

Seriously, most Swedes completely believe in personal space--and at the same time they just come up all in your space! Haha--Sys. Stetler wasn't so happy...and I was just cracking up the whole time!

2. Oh, and then yesturday we were running to the bus, and it just pulled up to the stop--we were still running--not too far away from the bus--make eye contact with the driver, and then she just drove away! WHAT?! NO! If you see someone running, you stop! And then a few minutes later, we get a text from the Elders and they said, "Sorry...we tried to make her wait for you guys!" Haha, so they were on that bus and just watched us pathetically miss it! Oh the struggle....

3. So, along with the last running story, we have been waking up at 6 every morning to get in an hour of execise, and we just run for most of it--and let me tell you--that has been so very needed. I can't even tell you how many trains and buses we have sprinted to and have barely made. Oh, man...that is definitely one of the best feelings ever!

Oh, and the best one! So, we had a Zone training last week, and some Elders that had to travel far, noticed that their train was coming soon, so they just booked it out of the church! Then after a couple minutes, Sys. Stetler was like said, we should probably take that one too. So, we grabbed our stuff and just sprinted to the bus stop to make it.

After 5 minutes of straight sprinting, we caught up with the Elders at the stop, and we all missed the bus that would take us to the train station. The Elders called the ZL's to drive them really quick, and so they came and took them to the train station--but we were wanting to get on the same train too, so we waited for the next bus and it finally came, and we had 11 minutes to still get to the train, so we felt fine--and then we were one stop away and out of nowhere, we only had 5 minutes left, so we decided to just sprint to the station!

We get into the station, and we are just frantically looking for where we need to go. We see the sign, and run down the escalator. Once were down there, the sign says the train is coming in at a different spot--so we quickly run up the escalator--and by this point, our legs are just dead! Back at the top, we look at the sign and see that our train is at another spot, so we run down as fast as we can--get to the train, get on, doors close--and we barely made it!

Oh, gosh! We then walk through, and find the Elders and sit by them--and their faces just drop--they were like, "How did you even make that!" Haha! It's all thanks to running and doing sprints at 6 in the morning!

Well... those are just some of our adventures of the week. On the happy side...it's starting to look like SPRING!!! Oh, it is just gorgeous!!! One random day last week, hundreds of little blossoms just appeared out of nowhere, and every day there are just more and more, and I just can't wait till they are just EVERYWHERE!!!

Okay, and Sweden is so funny--so, the seasons seriously make a difference in peoples' attitudes! So, at the beginning, it was just cold, and the people were just more closed and didn't really want to talk at all. Then, it started to get warmer--and people got happier and just started talking to us! Haha! It is so weird! But, hey...I ain't complaining!

And that leads into my favorite new thing...CONTACTING!!! So, we are starting to do it in a little different way. We are just putting our whole heart into each contact, and trying as hard as we can to show them that this seriously is something that they want!!! It has been so fun!

So much harder that just saying that "we are missionaries", and if they listen, then cool, and if not, then we just give them a card. But now we say that we are with our Church, and we're going around asking people about their beliefs--and if they say, "no thanks", and start to walk away, we say, "Har du an annan kyrka?" "Do you have another (or your own) church?"--and just about all of them stop and answer, and then after that, they are usually a lot more willing to stay and talk!

We have just had some of the coolest experiences since doing that, and I really just feel the biggest difference! I feel like I am just putting my whole heart into each contact and just really try to talk to them and teach them. Basically we went from teaching 19 lessons last week to 28 this week!!! That is crazy for here!

Contacting has by far been my favorite thing. Just stopping people on the street and then asking them that question--they come back, and then teaching them the about the Restoration. Unlike anything else, if you ask me! It's so crazy how even though this can be so exhausting, we just find that the work just gives us so much energy--more than ever before--to just teach everyone and spread the thing that has brought us the most happiness in life!

So that's that. And now for just a little example of what a week here will be like, we met with (including members) 2 ladies from Kosovo, 6 Swedes, 1 American, a lady from Ghana, a guy from Syria, a Chilean family, a family from Iraq, and a girl from Eritrea. And that is not even including street lessons! Oh, I just love Sweden!

Now back to contacting a little...So, out on the streets, we often hear the same things over and over. One of the most common--the well-known reference in Revelations 22:18, " If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book." Hard stuff, right?!

Well, the ancient American prophet Nephi answers that like this: "Thou...that shall say; A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible." "Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I am the Lord your God? Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall recieve more of my word?...And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today and forever and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure...For my word is not yet finished, neither shall it be until the end of man." It's pretty clear. I have yet to use that--but I just love this whole section:
2 Nephi 29:6-11.

But, on a happier note, Jacob 3:1-2--Pray to God, every day. Have faith, and "Feast upon his love, for ye may if your minds are firm, forever."

Put God first. Set your sights on Him and you will soon start to see that everything will start working out for the better--that you will have a clear mind, a clear vision, and as you focus on the Lord, everything that is less that important will slowly start leaving you.

You will start to find that you are happier. That there are less of life's worries on your mind, and that you can feel free from previous burdens and trials.

The Lord is there and the Atonement has already been done for you and for me. So apply it. Start now to make it a habit for the rest of your life. Rely on the Lord and He will never let you down.

I know this to be true, and my testimony of it grows more and more every day. I promise that as you try to apply the love of the Lord in your life, you will soon see that there is no other way to live life!