The moment that definitely stood out the most this week was going to the temple last saturday with a few of our recent converts for baptisms for the dead. Three of them (Adam, Niloofar and Fariba if I mentioned them before) were able to do work for their families and the spirit was definitely extremely strong.
Collins is doing fantastically and is definitely ready for his baptism on Saturday! We've been through all of the lessons with him, even one over the phone at one point, but everything is all set up!
Frezghi and Moses are both doing well and they're both off of school this next week so we hope that we'll be able to meet with them at least once or twice (we plan on seeing Moses today at Eddy's/Balansama's place)
I officially finished off my second journal while on my mission and started my third... I think I'll definitely have to purchase a fourth one somewhere along the way.
I also found a candy that had the warning "Excessive consumption may cause laxative effects". I gave the bag of said candy to one of our elders, who apparently missed the warning, even though I told him multiple times about it. Oops.
We had root beer floats to celebrate my 9-month mark! A ward member tracked down some root beer and Reese's for us (neither of which are readily available here and Sweden) and I'll admit that root beer float tasted heavenly.
Have a good week!
Love,
Allie
28 October 2013
21 October 2013
Snow already?1?1 - October 21, 2013
Let me say straight off...I have seen snow. Last Friday, when we walked out of the apartment at
5:20am to catch a 5:30am bus to make our train for Stockholm (we had a zone conference in Västerhaninge), there was officially snow on the ground. It wasn't that much, and a lot of it has already melted, but some still exists. I do not like how fall here feels like winter back home, but with the added addition of snow. It feels so cold...not that having to wear a skirt helps anything.
We've been working with Collins, who really just is a cool guy. He wants to be baptized on November 2nd and he should definitely be ready by then. He was able to come to church yesterday and the ward just seems to love him! But honestly, how could they not?
We've been trying to find more people to teach. We have a lot of people that we currently work with, but a most of them are not really progressing. Or they will read the entire Book of Mormon, but not pray about it to see if it is actually true or not.
But it has been good to work with Moses and Frezghi after their baptisms. These two together on a lesson is one of the funniest things (and they both know it!) Last Thursday we ended up meeting with both of them. We were planning on showing Frezghi the Restoration video (since he had only ended up seeing a part of it when we taught him originally) and Moses most definitely did not want to see it again. So we ended up talking to Moses in another room, while Frezghi watched the Restoration by himself in English. We hear the video end and then restart, so Syster Hauglid goes to check on Frezghi (and to make sure it didn't start over in Spanish, which has happened before). But Frezghi had started it over in Arabic. Then when that one ended, he came in to where we were with Moses and widening his eyes, he said "I liked that movie. I watched it twice."
"Would you like a copy of that movie?"
Noise in the affirmative.
"We can get one for you then."
Then Moses was like, "Do you have any questions for the Sisters?"
"No."
"Well I have a question for you. Why did God and Jesus Christ come to Joseph?"
"Because they loved him."
Moses leaned forward as he studied Frezghi for a little bit. "Yes...okay, why did God create you?"
And then Moses just continued to ask Frezghi questions for about 5/10 minutes. Moses has been around us too much haha. He's just preparing to be a missionary himself =). Moses did tell us (and Frezghi) how much of a difference meeting us and learning about the church has helped him. They're both such good kids, I just hope they realize that.
It's strange to think about how I've been in Örebro now for over four months and have almost officially been on a mission for nine months. Definitely seems like the longest and shortest nine months of my life. I'll admit some things have been extremely difficult; sometimes I just wonder how I am able to just keep going everyday. Certainly not just through my own sheer will power. Prayer is a wonderful blessing. And all of the bad and heartache that I've experienced has definitely been for the good. Just seeing how much a person's life can change. True, an investigator doesn't always choose to accept the gospel at the time, but that doesn't mean that life hasn't improved. I'll straight up say that just working with Moses and Frezghi has been worth more than everything else.
Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;"
Love you all!
We've been working with Collins, who really just is a cool guy. He wants to be baptized on November 2nd and he should definitely be ready by then. He was able to come to church yesterday and the ward just seems to love him! But honestly, how could they not?
We've been trying to find more people to teach. We have a lot of people that we currently work with, but a most of them are not really progressing. Or they will read the entire Book of Mormon, but not pray about it to see if it is actually true or not.
But it has been good to work with Moses and Frezghi after their baptisms. These two together on a lesson is one of the funniest things (and they both know it!) Last Thursday we ended up meeting with both of them. We were planning on showing Frezghi the Restoration video (since he had only ended up seeing a part of it when we taught him originally) and Moses most definitely did not want to see it again. So we ended up talking to Moses in another room, while Frezghi watched the Restoration by himself in English. We hear the video end and then restart, so Syster Hauglid goes to check on Frezghi (and to make sure it didn't start over in Spanish, which has happened before). But Frezghi had started it over in Arabic. Then when that one ended, he came in to where we were with Moses and widening his eyes, he said "I liked that movie. I watched it twice."
"Would you like a copy of that movie?"
Noise in the affirmative.
"We can get one for you then."
Then Moses was like, "Do you have any questions for the Sisters?"
"No."
"Well I have a question for you. Why did God and Jesus Christ come to Joseph?"
"Because they loved him."
Moses leaned forward as he studied Frezghi for a little bit. "Yes...okay, why did God create you?"
And then Moses just continued to ask Frezghi questions for about 5/10 minutes. Moses has been around us too much haha. He's just preparing to be a missionary himself =). Moses did tell us (and Frezghi) how much of a difference meeting us and learning about the church has helped him. They're both such good kids, I just hope they realize that.
It's strange to think about how I've been in Örebro now for over four months and have almost officially been on a mission for nine months. Definitely seems like the longest and shortest nine months of my life. I'll admit some things have been extremely difficult; sometimes I just wonder how I am able to just keep going everyday. Certainly not just through my own sheer will power. Prayer is a wonderful blessing. And all of the bad and heartache that I've experienced has definitely been for the good. Just seeing how much a person's life can change. True, an investigator doesn't always choose to accept the gospel at the time, but that doesn't mean that life hasn't improved. I'll straight up say that just working with Moses and Frezghi has been worth more than everything else.
Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;"
Love you all!
Allie
The Gift
There is a short time
To fulfill a purpose sublime--
Direct our souls under
A constant onslaught of thunder
Evil abounds here
But I have no need to fear
I have tasted sadness
But overcame it with happiness
Through accepting a Friend
To be with me until the end
Who guides and atoned
So I'm never alone
I am among the children of men
All given the chance to live again
And to be with the One
Who gave us, His Son.
14 October 2013
Moses! - October 14, 2013
Hey Everyone!
Moses's Baptism! It went really well! And really smoothly honestly. He was definitely a little nervous, even though he certainly wouldn't have admitted it. He very visibly relaxed once he finished changing...particularly since that was when Cherry walked into the church. He was definitely super happy and grateful that Cherry came to watch.
The service then officially got started. Elder Muirbrook gave a talk, and I played a musical number. Robert, a ward member and our mission leader, baptized him. Afterwards Moses bore his testimony about how he was baptized when he was a child in the Catholic church and how when he came here and first met the missionaries and learned that perhaps he needed to be baptized again that it was hard for him to hear. He explained how we told him that he needed to ask God and how he knew that God and Christ were the ones that really knew what he needed to be doing. He received the answer that this was how he needed to follow Christ, through getting baptized again and how he felt extremely happy afterwards.
We had oreos and Fanta among our fika options...because we found out that from Moses that oreos "was my favorite treat in Africa" and Moses is a fan of Fanta. The oreos were a hit though haha. Quite a few of the Swedes hadn't really had them before (or so often).
We've been able to keep in contact with our other recent converts, Frezghi and Fredrik.
Scripture- I finished both the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants this past week and Moroni 10:32-34 and D&C 138:56-57 stood out to me. His grace is sufficient and we have been called to a great work. I'm grateful that we have scriptures to help us draw nearer to God and to Christ. They really do make a difference in everything.
Love you all!
Allie
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| Moses's Baptism |
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Moses's Baptism! It went really well! And really smoothly honestly. He was definitely a little nervous, even though he certainly wouldn't have admitted it. He very visibly relaxed once he finished changing...particularly since that was when Cherry walked into the church. He was definitely super happy and grateful that Cherry came to watch.
The service then officially got started. Elder Muirbrook gave a talk, and I played a musical number. Robert, a ward member and our mission leader, baptized him. Afterwards Moses bore his testimony about how he was baptized when he was a child in the Catholic church and how when he came here and first met the missionaries and learned that perhaps he needed to be baptized again that it was hard for him to hear. He explained how we told him that he needed to ask God and how he knew that God and Christ were the ones that really knew what he needed to be doing. He received the answer that this was how he needed to follow Christ, through getting baptized again and how he felt extremely happy afterwards.
We had oreos and Fanta among our fika options...because we found out that from Moses that oreos "was my favorite treat in Africa" and Moses is a fan of Fanta. The oreos were a hit though haha. Quite a few of the Swedes hadn't really had them before (or so often).
We've been able to keep in contact with our other recent converts, Frezghi and Fredrik.
Scripture- I finished both the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants this past week and Moroni 10:32-34 and D&C 138:56-57 stood out to me. His grace is sufficient and we have been called to a great work. I'm grateful that we have scriptures to help us draw nearer to God and to Christ. They really do make a difference in everything.
Love you all!
Allie
07 October 2013
General Conference - October 7, 2013
General Conference has of course been rather good the past couple of days. I still haven't been able to see the Sunday afternoon session, but I hope to sometime this week =) Of course it's a little more difficult to watch it live when it is aired at 10pm at night haha... but it was nice to being able to watch at least the morning sessions live.
I'll admit that it was a bit of a surreal experience to hear Elder Ballard talk about missionaries he met in Europe, knowing that I was one of them. Of course we talk about the importance of missionaries and members working together quite regularly while on a mission. I really liked all of the first presidency's messages and Elder Holland's talk. Okay... I liked a lot of conference.
I got to watch it in English at the church (they had it playing in Swedish in the chapel and in english in the primary room). The Västerås elders came down on Sunday to watch it with us (since their branch in Västerås wasn't broadcasting conference) and we had candy, cookies, and we may have even made a cake (it was one of the Västerås elders' birthday.) which we shared of course with the Örebro elders and various other men who attended priesthood yesterday morning (they had rebroadcasted it at 11 am our time).
In other news, Syster Spjut, my companion in Västerhaninge, is now officially engaged! I'm super excited for her =)
Moses decided he wants to be baptized! He said that he's been praying about it and he feels like that he has received the answer that this church is true and that he needs to be baptized because that is what God wants him to do. He's definitely ready now. We're trying to get everything ready so he can be baptized this Saturday. I'll keep you updated on it next week.
We've been keeping contact with our other investigators and recent converts, but as a whole, just about everyone has been super busy. so we haven't been able to meet. We hope this week will be better.
Love you all!
Allie
I'll admit that it was a bit of a surreal experience to hear Elder Ballard talk about missionaries he met in Europe, knowing that I was one of them. Of course we talk about the importance of missionaries and members working together quite regularly while on a mission. I really liked all of the first presidency's messages and Elder Holland's talk. Okay... I liked a lot of conference.
I got to watch it in English at the church (they had it playing in Swedish in the chapel and in english in the primary room). The Västerås elders came down on Sunday to watch it with us (since their branch in Västerås wasn't broadcasting conference) and we had candy, cookies, and we may have even made a cake (it was one of the Västerås elders' birthday.) which we shared of course with the Örebro elders and various other men who attended priesthood yesterday morning (they had rebroadcasted it at 11 am our time).
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| Fall Colors |
Moses decided he wants to be baptized! He said that he's been praying about it and he feels like that he has received the answer that this church is true and that he needs to be baptized because that is what God wants him to do. He's definitely ready now. We're trying to get everything ready so he can be baptized this Saturday. I'll keep you updated on it next week.
We've been keeping contact with our other investigators and recent converts, but as a whole, just about everyone has been super busy. so we haven't been able to meet. We hope this week will be better.
Love you all!
Allie
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| Orebro Castle with red ivy |
30 September 2013
Almost October.... - September 30, 2013
Story of the week: Our day started off a little bit interesting since everything that we had set in stone, canceled last minute. We had been meaning to drop off some cookies to a ward member to thank him for helping us with Frezghi's baptism last week, so we quickly made some for him and dropped by. At the moment we knocked on the door, there was about 15-20 people in the entry way. The ward member and his wife were definitely very excited to see us, so we just dropped off the cookies and left, feeling a little confused. The next day at church, the wife explained to us that all week she had been praying that the missionaries would come by the house (to have an unthreatening introduction to the church) while her family was visiting and at the moment that she thought it would be absolutely perfect for us to come, we knocked on the door. Everything worked out for a reason! =)
Moses- we met him quite a bit last week--he has several friends that he wants us to try to teach, so he's been sitting in on other lessons. It's interesting because he still isn't sure about baptism. He says that he wants to, but that he doesn't know when. We're encouraging him to keep reading and praying so he can know for himself.
Frezghi (recent convert) - was confirmed yesterday! He's doing well--he's still super happy he was baptized; though he is having a hard time with school.
Fredrik (recent convert)- wants to go to the temple, so we're helping him prepare for that time.
As for my studies in the last week this scripture stood out: 3 Nephi 15:24 in conjunction with Doctrine and Covenants 50:41-42. We never have need to fear of being lost.
Love,
Allie
Moses- we met him quite a bit last week--he has several friends that he wants us to try to teach, so he's been sitting in on other lessons. It's interesting because he still isn't sure about baptism. He says that he wants to, but that he doesn't know when. We're encouraging him to keep reading and praying so he can know for himself.
Frezghi (recent convert) - was confirmed yesterday! He's doing well--he's still super happy he was baptized; though he is having a hard time with school.
Fredrik (recent convert)- wants to go to the temple, so we're helping him prepare for that time.
As for my studies in the last week this scripture stood out: 3 Nephi 15:24 in conjunction with Doctrine and Covenants 50:41-42. We never have need to fear of being lost.
Love,
Allie
23 September 2013
It's almost October already?!? - September 23, 2013
Those are definitely some cool pictures you of the house/weather. Glad you were back home when the worst of it hit. As for me, it has been an extremely busy week!
So to start off for this week, last Tuesday we met with Frezghi in the library. We knew that we didn't have much time with him, because he had a friend with him. So one of the first things we asked him was if he thought more about deciding a date to be baptized.
He said, "Yes. Sunday."
"This Sunday?"
"Yes. I don't want to waste any more time!"
So we began to make plans with him to help him get ready for baptism that next Sunday (yesterday). We taught him the rest of the commandments and helped him get ready for his interview and his service. And yesterday Frezghi was baptized! A lot of the young adults were there to support him (he actually knows most of them thanks to all of the football activities) He just kept saying how happy he was and he is looking forward to being confirmed next Sunday! I included two pictures of Äldste Muirbrook (who baptized him), Frezghi, Syster Hauglid, Moses, and me from the baptism =) One's a little blurry, but in the other Moses's eyes are closed.... though I'm sending both anyway.
I'm also including a picture of me and Syster Faux who I saw at a training meeting for the sisters in the mission. I think we're looking pretty good =)
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Moses - He's been having a bit of a rough week, but he's definitely been thinking more about baptism. He came to Frezghi's baptism, so we hope to be able to talk to him about it the next time we meet. We think it was definitely a good experience for him.
Spiritual Moment - so many this week! The highlight would definitely be Frezghi's baptism and how everything just worked out perfectly for it in the end.
Scripture - Helman 6 - just because it is one of the few times in the Book of Mormon where the Lamanites are actively sending missionaries to teach to the Nephites. At this time, the Lamanites were a definite example of how we can fellowship others and try our best to help all to come unto Christ.
Love you all! And I hope all is fantastic with you all!
Love,
Allie
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