Monday, January 30, 2017

FACE THE FUTURE WITH FAITH


Well, hello there!

Hoppas att ni har haft en jättebra vecka...

So, I clearly don't even know what to say in my letters anymore, and I sit here
thinking...uh....okay....well.....um......and I just pick up my Book of Mormon--get distracted and then think, okay.  Focus.  And you know--I can really relate to Moroni here;

Ether 12:23-24, "And I said unto him: Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things, because of our weakness in writing; for Lord thou hast made us mighty in word by faith, but thou hast not made us mighty in writing; for thou hast made all this people that they could speak much, because of the Holy Ghost which thou hast given them.

 24 And thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the awkwardness of our hands. Behold, thou hast not made us mighty in writing like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty even as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them.

25 Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we cannot write them; wherefore, when we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words."
Oh!  How I just love the scriptures. They truly are just so applicable to our daily lives!

But that just reminds me of something that I have been thinking a lot about lately.  So after having some scary realizations that I have only two transfers left, I have tried thinking of some of the main lessons I have learned throughout my time here in lovely ol´ Sweden.  But one that I'm currently being taught kind of feels like a combination of all of them...
I started thinking about it as I read the talk, "Face the Future with Faith," by Elder Dallin H. Oaks. One part that I just love says: 

"Why do we need such resilient faith?  Because difficult days are ahead.  Rarely in the future will it be easy or popular to be a faithful Latter-day Saint.  Each of us will be tested.  The Apostle Paul warned that in the latter days, those who diligently follow the Lord 'shall suffer persecution.'  That very persecution can either crush you into silent weakness or motivate you to be more exemplary and courageous in your daily lives."

"That very persecution can and will either crush you into silent weakness, or motivate you to be more exemplary and courageous in your daily lives."  Okay---it sounds harsh, but just think about it a little more.  It is so very true!  This persecution.  These trials.  Hardships.  Burdens--or even blessings--that are sometimes quite heavy and appear to be as burdens at times. These things can and will, in President Oaks words crush you!
It's that moment where we think that we cannot go any further that we choose the outcome.  That moment where you hit the peak.  Whether that be the peak of your patience, hope, charity, or faith. When we feel like we have nothing left--that is the moment where we get to chose.  Will we choose to be the natural man, and succumb to the feelings of anger and hatred?  Or will we chose the Lord. Choose . to see the good. To experience growth...to NOT GIVE UP!  The choice is ours, and that is the beautiful thing about agency.  We essentially choose the level of our conversion based on our willingness to let go of the natural man.

So, when those moments come--and they will--that is when you have to make the decision to follow Christ.  To choose the higher path.  To not act as you acted before, but rather to act as the person that you can be.
I picture the Savior as He asked the for the bitter cup to be removed.  I picture all that He went through, and I think of what would have happen had He opted out.  Well, thankfully He didn't, so we don't have to worry about that. But that´s the thing. He never opted out. He drank the bitter cup. He endured for you and me so that we can too have the choice. 

So, those times where you think, "I cannot go a step further!", invite the Savior into your hearts--and take a step further.  With the Savior as our focus, and His infinite sacrifice as our safety net, we always can take ´just one more step.´  As our lives are centered on the Savior we will begin to see the world as the Lord sees it.  All of the potential just waiting to be reached.  And to think that it all just starts with realigning our hearts and our minds to the will of the Father.

And never forget that while praying to the Father, never ask doubtfully but ask faithfully.  As our dear Prophet has said, "Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith."

Med Kärlek,


Syster Campbell

Monday, January 23, 2017

MORMONS BOK

 {for this week, I decided to fill her post with pictures of Syster Campbell with the Book of Mormon that she loves so much.}

Well, I don't know why it is still just as hard every week to think of what to say, but it is!

This week was good, but I just don't really know what to say about it--so I'll just talk about where my thoughts have been this week...
3 Nephi 28.  I am just in love with this chapter.  It's all about the Three Nephites that chose to stay on the Earth.  This absolutely fascinates me! 

In verse 4, the Savior says: "What will ye that I should do unto you, when I am gone unto the Father?"  5: "They sorrowed in their hearts, for they durst not speak unto him the thing which they desired.  6:  "And he said unto them: Behold, I know your thoughts, and ye have desired the thing which John, my beloved, who was with me in my ministry, before that I was lifted up by the Jews, desired of me."

Now I love this story, and have every since the first time I heard about it.  I remember when I was 15 and I was trying to finish the Book of Mormon all the way through before I turned 16.  Yes--many people have read it multiple times before that point, but that was when I first really read it through for me.
I remember ever day after seminary coming home and just being excited to read! I have never liked reading, but I have found that for some reason the Book of Mormon and other church books have been a special exception to that particular dislike. I love reading them. I remember driving home and wondering what I was going to be reading about. 

That was quite possibly one of my favorite reasons for doing homeschool.  That, and the amazing time I got to spend with my family.  Looking back on it, though, there were so many things that I did during that time--my last 3 years of highschool--that I would have never gotten to do had I stayed at school.  But, just as I was saying, one of those things was being able to begin to discover my love for the Book of Mormon. 
Every morning kneeling at my bed, and beginning with a prayer--and there was one particular morning that I remember more than the rest--and that was the day I read 3 Nephi 28.  I remember I had just prayed, so I was still on my knees, and unlike every morning before when I would hop into bed and begin reading, I stayed on my knees this time and I grabbed my Book of Mormon and just began reading. 
I just remember being so shocked and just thinking about what it truly meant--that there are four of Jesus' disciples that lived during His time that are on the earth today.  After reading that, I just stared off into space just thinking, "no way!"  It was just the most amazing thing to hear! And the testimony of it came shortly after...

Well.  I don't really know why I just shared that, but there it is!  But I can't even tell you how much I just love the Book of Mormon. 
We have ridiculous people throwing out their sadly pathetic claims on the Book--and they have never even given themselves the chance to read it.  Well,the Book of Mormon is here for us to read, ponder, and pray about so that we can form our own opinion about it.  It's a beautiful thing.  And whenever I hear people saying these things about the Book of Mormon, in my mind I just hear the voice of our dear Elder Holland saying:
"For 179 years this Book has been examined and attacked, denied and deconstructed, targeted and torn apart like perhaps no other book in modern religious history—perhaps like no other book in any religious history.  And still it stands.  Failed theories about its origins have been born and parroted and have died—from Ethan Smith to Solomon Spaulding to deranged paranoid to cunning genius.  None of these frankly pathetic answers for this book has ever withstood examination because there is no other answer than the one Joseph gave as its young unlearned translator.  
"In this I stand with my own great-grandfather, who said simply enough, “No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.

"I testify that one cannot come to full faith in this latter-day work—and thereby find the fullest measure of peace and comfort in these, our times—until he or she embraces the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it testifies.  If anyone is foolish enough or misled enough to reject 531 pages of a heretofore unknown text teeming with literary and Semitic complexity without honestly attempting to account for the origin of those pages—especially without accounting for their powerful witness of Jesus Christ and the profound spiritual impact that witness has had on what is now tens of millions of readers—if that is the case, then such a person, elect or otherwise, has been deceived; and if he or she leaves this Church, it must be done by crawling over or under or around the Book of Mormon to make that exit.  
"In that sense the book is what Christ Himself was said to be: 'a stone of stumbling, … a rock of offence,' a barrier in the path of one who wishes not to believe in this work.  Witnesses, even witnesses who were for a time hostile to Joseph, testified to their death that they had seen an angel and had handled the plates. 'They have been shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man,' they declared. 'Wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true.'”
 I love this talk with all my heart.  "Safety for the Soul", from  October 2009 General Conference.   Now go and read it--and the Book of Mormon as well.  And put your whole heart into it, because "The reader determines what is learned."

I love you all!

Ha en bra vecka!

Syster Campbell

Monday, January 16, 2017

DÖPTE

Hello there!

Well...our friend got Döpte!  He is now officially a member of Jesu Kristi Kyrka av Sista Dagars Heliga!

But, before we get ahead of ourselves, let's look at all that happened before we were even able to get to that point!
 Tuesday--Work-overs with Örebro sisters.  That means that we went on a super fast, long train to get there, and that we all stayed there and worked--as opposed to splits, where one companionship is in each area...but this was too far for that.  

So, these things usually never turn out as planned.  Let me tell you what I mean...
{now that's a big bench!}
I was actually to be on splits with my old companion Sister Christoffersen!  Good to be back with her!  I have now gone on splits with 3 of my previous companions!  Anyways, well we had it planned to go visit a less active lady that was apparently living in a rehab center. Yeah... no.  We basically spent 30-minutes looking for this rehab center that didn't exist--because guess where she actually lived?  A Psychiatric Hospital!  HA!   Well, wasn't expecting that one!

Well, after going through a lot of weird, slightly creepy halls and rooms with big, shiny, silver, bolted doors, we get into this triple-locked room.  Once in there, we had to take off our jackets and bags and put them in lockers and then continue on into this little room with 4 chairs and 2 nice little flower paintings...the door shuts, and we were literally locked in.   And we wait.  Syster Christofferson and I were continually making eye contact and I'm pretty sure she was making the same face I was.  It was sketch.  Now, for all of you "Psych" fans out there--that episode at the Psychiatric hospital?  Yeah, that was going through my head the whole time! 
The lady eventually came in, and we taught her a little lesson.  At the end, she left and went to go get the people to let us out.  As we were waiting both of us just looked at each other and said,  "That went pretty well, didn't it?"  "I think so..... but what just happened...?"  "I don't really know....."   We realized that during the whole thing, nothing was really that off, and I think that's why we were the most freaked out--everything and everyone seemed fairly normal.   So, what did they even do to get in there?  We had a lot of time to think as we were escorted  out of the room, down the hall and walked out the back door.

You know, it's little things like that that you would never just think would happen in a typical day.

Anyways.  That was a long day.
Wednesday we traveled back--and on our way home, something just felt not quite right. Soon after a 2 hour train ride, having a "no show" lesson or "blåst"--then another hour train ride to a member's house for dinner--I realized that I was not doing so hot.  However, there just so happened to be a blizzard on this day, as well!  I'll spare you the details. We were basically out in this blizzard (my first blizzard!) for over an hour--on the way to and from their house after dinner. The whole time I just wanted to throw up so bad so I could just start feeling better... 

My sweet companion would try to comfort me and I was just like, "Go!  Keep walking!  You're fine!  Your footsteps are the only things giving me hope of getting anywhere right now!  Keep going!"  Haha!   Apparently I'm not good at letting other people help me when I'm sick!  But I was literally crying/just short of sobbing the whole way.   We then have another hour long train ride and 20-minute bus ride before we were home.  This was agony. I don't know if I have ever been able to use that word before.  But it feels quite applicable for this situation.
Anyways, long night.  No fun.  But the next day, I just stayed on the couch and slept.  That is, until one of the systers later that night asked,  "Is that couch even comfortable?"  "Uh, it's good--I'm like 6 inches too tall for it, but it works!"  Then she says, "Oh yeah, this is a pull out bed!"  Hahaha--"What!?"  About time!  So she helped me pull it out and oh, so much better! 

Well, my comp and one of the other sisters went to go teach a lesson we already had scheduled, and my sweet little 5'2 syster stayed back and gave me like a 90-minute back rub and then painted my nails.   When the other systers came back they were astonished by the Spa our apartment had turned into.  Needless to say, they are so sweet and they take good care of me!
 Well, there's no resting longer than what you think you need, because the next day was Distrikt Meeting an hour away--and then another splits!  I got to spend the rest of that night setting up for our baptism the next day and oh, my are there a lot of little things that you wouldn't normally think about.  So, that was fun and completely exhausting for a sick girl...but great!

But, then the day of the Baptism!  Everything was perfect--okay, well we could have probably explained for the 5th time how to BEND the knees!  Though kind of hard to watch, he went under and came up again.  That's the point, right?  Well, it was great!   He was so happy, and we just can't stop being amazed at just how prepared he truly was.  Afterwards, he was going up to all of the members and saying thank you, and just saying how good it felt! Oh, it was precious!
{Sys. Campbell asked me not to post a picture of the wonderful man who was just baptized--but this picture is too wonderful not to share--so I just cropped him out. Systers Anderson, Campbell and Aldste Cragun}

It was truly a miracle.  But that's just the start.  Priesthood and temple are coming soon!

But along with that, he has also already gone above and beyond, and has been bringing a friend with him to Church!  He kind of has taken this one under his wing.  It is his colleague's son, and he is just kind of acting as another father to him.  He has gone through a lot so far in his life,  and our sweet new convert is making it his job to bring him into the light and joy he has felt.  Amazing, right?
{Their Chapel}
The next week she texts us and says that he wants to meet us.  She actually has a son on a mission.  She has been divorced, and her ex-husband has custody over the kids, but she has been in close contact with her son and wants to become active again for him.  So her and her husband came in to Church, and they just start talking about when we can come over.  The husband then asks if we could pray for his niece who is actually a member in Germany and is quite sick.  Then she said, "we thought you two could come over this week and teach us about fasting and then we could all fast together."
Isn't that amazing?!  The Lord's work is going forward!

Well...that was a lot.  But that was a good lot.  Maybe that didn't really make sense--but hey, I've gone through a lot this week. 

Great week--but now I think I just need a little nap!
 But for now, go read, "If Ye Had Known Me."  One of my very favorites from this past October General Conference, given by Elder Bednar. 

Med Kärlek,


Sister Campbell

Monday, January 9, 2017

TURNING OUTWARD


{No pictures from Annie this week, so many thanks to Claudia and Eloisa!}

Hello, there!  Hope you all have had a wonderful New Year so far!

It has been really, really cold over here, okay--and, Hello! I have seen more snow this week then I ever have!  One morning we woke up and the snow went up mid-shin!  I know that probably isn´t a lot for most of you, but I was born and raised in California.  This was a big week for me!  All of the sisters I am with here in Södertälje have all had their fair share of snow in their life, so they're not use to being around someone who hasn't seen it much!
  
Well, this week has just been wonderful.  We had MLC (Mission Leadership Council) on Tuesday, and got to change the Mission Standard--or Goals--for 2017!  That was exciting. and had really good homemade soup which has just made me crave soup ever since!

We also have had multiple lessons with one of our investigators.  He is amazing.  Seriously, such a tender mercy.  He is so prepared, and anyone that meets him is like, "Where did you find him?!"  We actually met him on the street, and he just came to Church the next Sunday...and has stayed ever since.  
{Annie's dear companion, Syster Anderson, welcoming everyone to Church!}

His baptismal date is this Saturday, and he is just so excited!  He had his interview with our District Leader on Saturday, and afterwards, our DL came over and talked to us--and he was just stunned.  He said he had never seen someone so prepared.  He is seriously just one of those people where you just learn so much more from them than you could possibly ever teach. 

Well, also for this week I have been trying to focus a lot on the goals I have made.  Some of those being: focusing on two Christ-like attributes, and studying a new parable of Christ each week.
As far as the attributes, I feel like I am finally trying to take it much further than just thinking: "okay, I want to work on this"--and that's it.  That's all you do.  I got the idea from one of the systers here, to write down every night something someone else did that day to portray that attribute, and 3 things you tried to do. 

For this transfer, we asked the systers to all focus on one attribute they wanted to work on, and we have just been getting so many good ideas from them as we call them and follow up-- it has been so helpful!  I love being able to talk to them all and just hear all of their thoughts and insights because it just helps you to open your mind so much more, and just leave the little 4 walls of limitation that we usually tend to create for ourselves. 
I think the idea of humility is so fascinating .  Just like gaining muscles, you've got to break it down to gain more.  But with us, we've got to chip away at the pride to find what is actually under the hard shell.

One of the attributes I actually chose was Humility.  Something I didn't really think of as a problem for me before.  Little did I know that humility wasn't being down on myself, but as one of the missionaries here once said, "Humility isn't thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less." I realized that I was doing the complete opposite. 

When you're thinking less of yourself, you are then in return thinking of yourself more. That's stinking prideful!  After thinking about that for a while, it just all made sense.  When you lose yourself in service that is when you truly find yourself--a motto that I have tried to live by all of my mission. 
{A beautiful meeting up with sweet Italian friends--grazie mille, Eloisa!}

That realization came probably at the end of my first transfer--and it has just really stuck with me throughout my mission.  But it is just so true.  There is NO need to feel down when you can serve.  Yes--that sounds a little weird, but I promise it works. 

Whenever you feel down, just simply go talk to someone else!  Worry about their problems or their thoughts.  Ask them what they hope for in life!   It makes the world of a difference for them.  As Elder Bednar has said, "turn outward".  When trying to heal what's inside, one must turn outside.

Try to make it a goal of doing a least one random act of service EVERYDAY!  You never know what can come of it!

Med Vänliga Hälsningar,

Syster Campbell









Monday, January 2, 2017

NYÅRSLÖFTE!

Happy New Year to you all! 

Hope you all enjoyed the New Year's celebrations!   I, for one, celebrated it twice.  Seeing that I couldn't fall asleep due to thinking of the ankommande and the avgående år, I just sat in the darkness thinking...waiting for that moment at 00.00 that is just so distinct, yet there isn't anything that really changes...but somehow you can feel it!  
Well.  I have never quite heard a fireworks display quite like they had here, so that may have also been another contributing factor to the not sleeping!  But then the second celebration was counting down with you all!  Okay, well mostly for you Mountain Stanard Time people, because that was when our personal study time  started, so we started off studies welcoming in the New Year that we were already 8 hours into!

But,  we're going to rewind just a little bit:

 In the morning of Nyårsafton, we started out by going to a baptism in Västerhaninge (by the Stockholm Temple).  The baptism was for a 22-year-old Swede.  He is amazing.  I actually got to help teach him one day while we were on splits, and so it was really amazing to be able to go and just see how much he has just grown in faith.  

The first time I met him--which was just outside the Temple--we were walking over to the Chapel and we were just talking, and I totally thought he was just a member by the way that he was just talking about the Church.  Then we were starting the discussion, and the Syster I was with was just like, "alright--so we are going to talk about Jesu Kristi Evangelium", and I just thought, what?  This is the guy we're teaching?  Haha! I could have sworn he was already a member!  Anyways, bottom line is that it was a really neat experience to be a part of.
But onto that night.  Here we are in the morning thinking we were just going to be sitting at the Church all day writing in our journals, but then the Bishop calls and invites us over!  So then,  we are thinking it was just going to be this kind of casual dinner with their family.  Ha. No.  

Okay--we get there, and they have us head over to the barn.  The "barn" is no barn.  This is the classiest barn building I have ever seen!  Everyone dressed to the 9's, and we're just thinking..."What is this?!"  A three-course meal and dessert to finish.  When it was all over, we left and were just thinking, "What just happened?!"  It was the coolest thing.  Seriously--candle lit dinner and all.  I've never been to anything fancier.  Quite the experience!
 Then the next day, we just had Sacrament Meeting and then again we thought that we were just going to spend the day at the Church, because it was another "Red Day."  But then the other systers ask our Ward Mission Leader's wife if they had any games we could possibly borrow for our day at the Church, and she just said "Games?!  Oh, you're coming over to our house!"  She Loves games, so we got to spend the whole day with them making grilled cheese and playing games!  It was such a good start to the year!:)

Well...along with all the other new starts to the new year, I hope you all have been thinking about some good resolutions.  I have been trying to think a lot about what I want to work on, so I have just gotten started on some life-long lists--such as my bucket list--and just seeing what I  want to do in my life!  
I also really tried to focus on what I can become and/or strive to develop.  I was reading a lot in "Preach My Gospel"-- chapter 6, in "Christlike Attributes", and really trying to focus on Charity and Humility.  I decided that in addition to a lot of other smaller steps to help me along the way, one thing I want to do every week is focus on a Parable of Christ and just study it and analyze it and just come to know Christ more and more.  
I started with it this morning, reading John 5.  The story where Christ healed the man on the Sabbath.  I just found it so fascinating!  Yes, I have read it before, but I just love reading things with more of a purpose. 

Well, I will try to have some cooler stories to share on that later, but real quick before I go... investigator sum up!
Okay, so we have this really amazing investigator right now!  We have been working with him for the past couple weeks.  He is a Swede, and he is just the greatest.  He has come to EVERY lesson--which may seem like a little thing, but trust me--that is so incredible to us! Every lesson he returns having already read the pamphlet for the lesson that we will have that day.  It is just so incredible! 

We are finishing up the commandments with him, and he is just devouring it all!  He usually doesn't even have any questions just says that he understands and that the principles just really make sense to him.  He has also already read so much from the Book of Mormon, and just reading so steadily and really studying it!  My favorite part, though, was a couple days ago.  
We asked what he liked from his reading and almost immediately he said, "Mosiah 4:9".  We flipped there, and read it--and our hearts just melted!  

"Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend."

This has been like the greatest tender mercy to just be able to teach him.  Oh, and not to mention by our second lesson, he had already found the Gospel Library app and had it downloaded!  Had already found the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Channel on this radio app, and it was the first one on the list in his phone.  He is gold.

Well.  That's about it for this week!  Bring on the New Year!

with much kärlek,


Syster Campbell