Hello!
I think I can quite honestly say this has been the weirdest, most unusual--but wonderful-- week of my mission so far! I don't know how, but somehow it has seemed to surpass all
of the others in that regard...
First of all, we have literally been gone all week. Tuesday: Helsingborg and Göteborg, Wednesday: Göteborg, Thursday: Malmö and
Friday: Kobenhavn (Copenhagen!) So as you can see, it,s been a little crazy with
that alone!
But to start out, last Monday we had dinner at our friend Fadde's house! If you remember from a few weeks back, she is one of our awesome,
hilarious friends! Well, she was so sweet and made us dinner. When we were sitting
at the table, someone comes in the apartment, and immediately I recognize the
voice--I thought, "Surely it can't be the guy we met a couple days ago--the one who
tried to convince us that we were wrong and being falsely taught?!"
But sure enough, he walks in, and Fadde reluctantly says, "Hej Systers, this is
my brother." We just start laughing, and she says, "What? Do you know
each other?" Haha! And he says, "Yeah, we may have had a talk about
religion a couple days ago!" Fadde just says to us, "Oh no! I'm
sorry! When it comes to religion, he thinks he knows everything and that
everyone else is wrong!" Hahaha! Good times, I have to say--I was not
quite expecting to meet that guy again!
Then Wednesday--time for the Mission Tour! It was so great! Elder Dyches
from the 1st Quorum of the Seventy came with his wife, and we had an amazing
Conference! I'll talk about it a little more at the end of the letter, though...
First of all, the way there: Apparently, we were told wrong when
we heard that the travel cards that we have would take us to Denmark. So, while
we were on the long-anticipated trip, and starting the cross at the Øresund Bridge to Denmark, up comes the
ticket-checker, bearing the grave news that our passes were not sufficient...
To
our dismay, two 1000kr. tickets were given ,but he kindly said that he really
wished he "didn't have to do this" and that he's sure that if we email the travel
services, that they may take them away. He was really nice though, and he didn't give
me a ticket for some reason--I don't know how that happened, but he just said, "just really pull
the 'I'm an American card' when you email the people about the ticket, and I'm sure you won't have to pay
for them!" Haha! So, that was the start of our day!
{Bustling, beautiful Copenhagen!}
Once we got to Denmark, it was still
not quite smooth sailing--we spent forever trying to find where we could get day
passes for the buses--found it--then sprinted here and there trying to find our
bus while getting yelled at by motorcyclists in the middle of the road, almost
getting run over, then finally finding the bus--got on--rode on it for 10 minutes just
to find that it was going the wrong way! We got off and tried to find the one going the right way, chased after it and barely made it!
But then we made it! In the middle
of a crazy, busy city lays the beautiful Kobenhavn Temple! We go in and I feel
more peace than I have in over 7 months! It was so incredibly gorgeous,
peaceful and so very needed!
{with their "Swedish Grandpa", Bo Wennerlund}
After our
lovely time there, we were trying to find a place to eat--and out of all of the
places you could go to to eat in Denmark, somehow we ended up in the most
authentic Indian restaurant I have ever seen...
Then it was time to head back--back over the bridge, just
to find out our new passes didn't work, either!
We had been told by three different people working with the trains that
these tickets would work--little did they know they didn't! Thankfully though, somehow the lady didn't give us tickets this time! We were very blessed! Sadly though, the
long-anticipated ride on the bridge to Denmark that I was so eagerly looking
forward to is now and forever tainted with the memory of our 1000kr tickets!
Even with all of this, Denmark was gorgeous--but I have to say, its showed me just how
much I love Sweden--just kind of in every way I love it more! So, I guess that
was good! :)
Well--that was my week! A little crazy and a lot fun! But
now to my favorite part--what I got from our Conference!
So, the part that actually
hit me the most was while President and Syster Beckstrand were speaking. They
were talking about the Spirit, and how we each individually come to feel the
Spirit. They talked about how we each have a "pattern", and how we
must each come to find what our pattern is! They talked about their pattern--how they
have noted what they start to feel before they receive guidance, how they feel
during, and then after. They said that over time, they have just been able to see
it in each other, whenever the other was feeling the Spirit.
They talked about
the importance of noting how you feel and how that can help you to notice and
be more aware of the promptings of the Spirit. Ever since, I have really been
trying to think about this a lot--about how if we choose to we can feel the
guidance of the Spirit in everything we do. And not just occasionally--we can have this always. It's up
to "var och en"--each one of us--to decide if we are going to hear and
follow the still small voice--or if we are going to drowning it out with our
own thoughts, or the voices coming from the world.
While thinking about this, I
have also listened to a Conference talk given by President Eyring, called "TheHoly Ghost as Your Companion". Absolutely gorgeous message--talking about how we
can have the Spirit with us always.
He says: "We can, if we live worthy of
it, have the blessing of the spirit to be with us, not only now and then but
always." And he kindly suggests how we can come to feel the spirit more."
He says to those who are struggling to feel the Spirit:
" You have at
times felt the influence of the Holy Ghost. You can treat those moments of
inspiration like the seed of faith that Alma described in Alma 32:28. Plant
each one. You can do that by acting on the prompting you felt.
"The most
valuable inspiration will be for you to know what God would have you do.
Whatever it is, do it. When you demonstrate your willingness to obey, the
Spirit will send you more impressions of what God would have you do for Him. As
you obey, the impressions from the Spirit will come more frequently, becoming
closer and closer to constant companionship."
I absolutely love that. And
it is so very true.
As we seek to have the Spirit with us more we will be given
promptings. As we act on those promptings we will be given more. I have been
seeing this a lot lately. Sometimes we are out on the streets, and I feel a
prompting to go talk to someone, and when I do they just stick out their hand
and say, "Nej, tack!" , and walk away. I always have to stop and think
about it for a minute and think, " but I totally thought I have to talk to that
person? Why wouldn´t they listen?"
We must be humble enough to see that often we
may be too proud to listen to the seemingly small promptings we receive. As we
act on the smaller promptings we will see that we will be given greater
promptings because we have shown that we will act on the small things we have received. I
have found that this doesn't necessarily come quickly or easily, but it comes
with consistency...
As we consistently listen to the still small voice--the Spirit--we will be
able to feel it with greater abundance. Then we will feel that joy that comes with it more
prevalently in our lives.
Decide now that the moment you wake up tomorrow, you
will feel the Spirit in every aspect of your life that day. Pray to feel it, and
pray that you will be able to listen and to act on the promptings you receive. You
will never know if it works unless you try it!
Jag älskar alla er! Alma 5:14.
Med Kärlek,
Syster Campbell
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