Stoeltzing Surfing Stockholm

Week 71; March 16, 2015 – Finding Truth In The Library

Wow, a lot of good stuff happened this week… We were really blessed!

We went thrift store shopping on Monday and I found some new shirts and I bought a new journal. 

Working in a very Swedish-looking neighborhood

Tuesday was another really good day. We didn't have much planned, but we went out to an area we like to visit and we just worked hard. We taught someone on the street, then we saw an old investigator taught him a lesson. The day ended-up jam packed and we developed new opportunities for the future as well! 

Halmstad Library

Wednesday morning was really cool. Our printer broke at the Church, so we went to the library to print some new teaching records. As we were working there, a man sitting next to me asked if I could help him to navigate a housing website that he was looking at. I had no clue how to use the site, but together we figured it out and we were able to submit his request on the site. He noticed my name tag and asked us if we worked for a Church. We told him what we did as missionaries and he asked if we could meet. He said his name was Yotham from Tanzania and he was trying to become closer to God. It was an awesome experience and we decided to meet later in the week.

Later that day we went to Trang and Lassie’s house and she made us her Vietnamese peanut sauce, it was really good! It was also the first time I've had onion in a peanut sauce, which was a little different, but I liked it. 

A great game of Innabondi with Elder Sheldon

Enjoying home-made pizza with Elder Sheldon

On Thursday we went to Helsingborg and Elder Bybee taught the district meeting. Afterward, I went on splits with Elder Sheldon who is actually from Galt, CA! We had a great time and we talked a ton about California! That night we started fasting with a less-active member who's been struggling and we had a lesson about finding God's light in his Life. He decided to take it seriously and I'm hoping it will help him get closer to God. 

We were able to teach Yotham the next morning and we had a really good lesson with him. He's really searching for truth right now and he is already willing to come to Church next week! We didn't have a ton of time, but we set realistic expectations and we feel like he's ready and willing to make quick progress! 

That night we taught Stefan. He'd been thinking a lot and he came with a lot of questions. We did our best to answer them, but the star of the lesson was our ward mission leader Heekee. They were both about the same age and Heekee gave some answers that Stefan could really relate to. The best part was that Heekee forgot his reading glasses, so he and Stefan were switching-off glasses through the whole lesson… It was really funny and they both laughed about their age! Stefan felt good at the end of the lesson and he is happy to keep reading and praying as he searches for answers.

My torso next to the Turning Torso in Malmo - Torso & Torso

Elder Bybee and the Turning Torso

The next morning we went down to Malmö for stake conference. We started-out with interviews, and it was good to sit down with President Beckstrand again. Afterward, there was a whole session about missionary work. There were some outstanding talks. My old friend Luis Hurray from Kungsbacka spoke and he really hit it out of the park, encouraging members to get out of their shells and help the missionaries. And, he encouraged the missionaries to get out of their shells and serve the members to gain their trust. It was a call to action for both of us. 

Elders Silvernoinen and Stoeltzing

Elders George and Mott

Sister Beckstrand’s talk was also amazing! It was about member missionary work as well. She told the story about how her grandparents didn't join the Church when her mom was baptized. Her grandpa never joined, but her grandma eventually moved-in and lived with them. For eight years they were examples to her and they lived the gospel the best that they could. After seeing her family living righteously, united by the gospel, she realized that she knew the Church was true and she was baptized! Sister Beckstrand taught us that by living the Gospel we are a light to all those around us and by having the courage to invite others, we can change people’s lives with the gospel. President closed with a great talk that he gave in Swedish, exciting the audience about missionary work!

On Sunday we had another round of conference talks and they spoke about the temple. We even got to hear from Denmark’s Temple President. He was quite difficult to understand. He was an American who tried to speak Danish. I think most of the audience understood pretty well, but it was still hard for us to understand. Danish and Swedish are close, but they are defiantly different languages. It's always fun to try and understand it though!

We ended the weekend having a dinner together with all the missionaries and we had a great time before we headed back up to Halmstad!

The work moved forward this weekend and we had a great time along the way! I hope everyone back home is doing well and I hope you all have an excellent week!

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