Week 20 – March 24, 2014; From Perfect Pizza to Street Dogs!

Wow, Crazy Week!

So, it was finally time to say goodbye to Kungsbacka. We started out on Monday with one more trip to our favorite pizza place, Mossens. They love the missionaries there and we may be their best customers! Then we sailed out to the islands off the coast of Göteborg one more time and had a ton of fun. We spent the rest of our time saying goodbye to the families and investigators we got the closest too. 

The Best Pizza in Sweden!

Mossens Pizzeria

We actually had to drive 20 minutes to and from our area every day. Now I’m kind of really good at driving. Elder miles and Elder Knecht were both crazy good drivers so they broke most of my bad driving habits. Elder Knecht said I was close to perfect before I left, so I finally can say I feel very confident driving, especially on the freeway.

But, it definitely won't be the food or the cool cities we served in, or even the car that I’ll miss; the thing I'll miss the most about Kungsbacka, will be the people. I couldn't have asked for a better place to start my mission than with the people of Kungsbacka. Saying goodbye to everyone was really hard. It made me feel so good to hear members say they appreciated what we did and how we helped them in their lives. I learned so much from the two companions I served with there. I really had a better start to my mission than I could have ever imagined and I hope to take everything I've learned and go forward with it. 

Prepping for the transfer went a lot better than I expected. I listened to Elder Knecht’s wisdom and started packing four nights before, so the last night was pretty low stress. I'm going to miss the Västra Frolunda apartment a lot. I've had some incredible memories there and I hope I can go back there later on in my mission. I was really sad to say good bye to Elder Beus and Forsyth. I've been around Elder Beus longer than any other missionary, so moving out was tough. Elder Knecht and I rode together most the way to my new area, Linköping, then we had to say goodbye. He's picking up a short-time Swedish missionary, who is a recent convert named Elder Morely. I don't know too much about him, but I have heard that he will take excellent care of Kungsbacka, so I know Elder Knecht and he will do amazing things there.

Linköping has been great so far. I came in with high expectations, but it's even better here than I thought it would be.  My new companion, Elder Farnworth, is super cool and the other Elders, Hills and Steen, are awesome too! They've all done amazing work in Linköping and I was lucky enough to come in at a very good time thanks to their hard work. I've gotten to meet just a few of the investigators here so far. Elder Farnworth got sick so we've all been taking turns caring for him at the apartment, but he's finally better today. 

Dome Kyrka

Elder Steen and I taught this really cool investigator named Valentine on Thursday. She's actually Jewish, but she says if she can feel that Christ is there, she would convert.  She is only 17, but she’s almost done with her bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and she will most likely finish her PHD before I’m done with my mission. So, I did my best to talk to her about whatever I could and it turned out really good. She wants to meet with us again soon. 

The branch here is really different. There are maybe 12 active members, but they are all supper devoted to missionary work and I know if we work together we can do great things with them. I'm excited that I'll have a closer relationship with the whole branch. As an added bonus, we have the second largest missionary apartment in Sweden!  It's kind of huge for the two of us, but I definitely won’t complain!

Researching Family History... Swedish Style!

I'm super optimistic for the time that I'll be spending here and I feel like it's going to be great. I'm loving my mission and I can't wait for another great week. Unfortunately, I will be eating only hot dogs in Linköping. Sadly, I started out with the best pizza in Sweden, but Linköping has some of the worst pizza. They do have excellent street dogs though.

Oh, one more thing for you to reference, so you know how to say the name of the city correctly; Linköping is pronounced, Lean-shipping. This is a huge city, but it feels like a little Göteborg!

Jag Älskar Alla Er!, 

Äldste Stoeltzing

Week 19 - March 17, 2014; Goodbye Kungsbacka... Hello Linköping!

Hej!

So, this was my last week in Kungsbacka.  I feel like I'm leaving too soon.  I've really loved my time here.  This ward has been incredible and I've had two awesome companions and a lot of great people to work with here.  I know it’s getting left in really good hands though.  Elder Knecht is picking up a new missionary from Sweden (a native) on Wednesday.  He joined the church about two years ago and he is going on a three month short-term mission.  I'm sad to leave Kungsbacka, but I know if I only had three months to serve a mission, Kungsbacka would be the place to do it, so I'm excited Elder Morley gets to experience his mission here.  It's been a really great last week and I'm really happy with how we left it. 

Saying Goodbye to our friend, Johanes

Monday was a really fun P-day.  There is an Island chain off the coast of Göteborg, so we went out there to hike a really cool trial around the island.  We were hoping to go back out today for my last P-day and hike around the biggest island. 

Exploring an Island off the coast of Göteborg

Tuesday we had our Zone Conference and it was really good seeing a lot of my MTC group and Elder Miles again.  We’re all done with training now, so it feels really weird, but good to be done.  It's hard to believe it was three months ago yesterday that we landed in Sweden, it's gone by to quick, but I've really loved my time here.

On Wednesday, Elder Knecht and I had an awesome experience.  We drove out to teach Fredric, the man who walked into church last week and wanted to be taught.  We played guitar a little before we started.  Fredric might just be the best guitar player I’ve ever met; he played Eruption from Van Halen perfect, note for note, which is like the craziest song you could ever learn, so I was very impressed!  We had a member come with us and he loved the lesson.  At the end we asked him if he'd like to be baptized and he said yes!  I'm really sad I don't get to teach him all the way through to his baptism, but I'm so glad I get to leave Kungsbacka knowing we helped at least one person prepare for baptism. 

Visiting an old castle in Varberg

On Friday and Saturday Elder Knecht and I went on a road trip through the outskirts of Kungsbacka to visit some of the less active members that don't get visited very often.  Saturday was really cool.  We went to a city that used to be Denmark’s capital, in Sweden, called Varberg, and naturally we had to visit the old castle while we were in the neighborhood.  We almost struck out there, but then the last family finally let us in.  It turned out that the lady we met there actually helped Elder Knecht's mom decide to get baptized years ago, so it was super cool that we got to meet them.

Ruins of a 13th century Christian Church at Varberg Castle

Sunday was really amazing.  We sometimes teach a class for new members and investigators on Sundays.  I've seen three people in the class before, but this Sunday most of the sister’s investigators and a few of ours came as well, and I got to see almost 20 people in class… By far the best turnout I've ever seen in the class yet.  It was hard saying goodbye to people after church.  I sat next to Yvonne and her baby in Sacrament meeting.  She was the first really strong investigator Elder Miles and I found and the ward is being super supportive of her.  I'm sad I won't get to teach her any more, but I know that she'll be ready for baptism soon and she’ll make a great member of the church.  Saying goodbye to the ward was super tough.  I think the highlight was talking to one of the parents in the ward who said Elder Miles and I helped solidify his son’s desire to go on a mission.  It was one of the best feelings of my mission so far and it really made me feel good about the work I was able to help with here.  I'm going to say goodbye to more families tonight and I’ll leave on Wednesday morning.  My first area went bye to quickly, but I'm really grateful for the start I've had here. 

Marcus is super cool.! He was the first guy I taught in Sweden

Saying Goodbye to our Bishop and his wife

Brother Mardby taught us some pretty deep doctrine!

 So, next week I'll be working in Sweden's fourth largest city, Linköping.  It will be really different. The city is way bigger, but the ward is way smaller, but it looks like it will be a lot of fun.  Linköping used to be the capital of Sweden and it predates Stockholm, so there will be a lot of really cool history to explore there.  My new companion will be Elder Farnworth.  I met him a few times before he transferred up there and I'm really excited to be missionary companions with him.  He seems like a really cool guy.  I'm really excited to see what chapter two of my mission will look like… I hope it will be everything that Kungsbacka has been for me. 

From Goteborg to Linkoping, Sweden

 Love you guys!

Äldste Stoeltzing                      

Week 18 – March 10, 2014; Change is Good!

Hej (Hello),

It's been a crazy week!  Elder Miles was transferred to Malmö on Wednesday. It's been a great nine weeks. I really couldn't have asked for a better trainer to start my mission. Elder Miles taught me to love every minute of my mission and work hard at every step along the way. We had a super fun last couple of days in Kungsbacka. We also had one last pizza with our friend Jonas, a young single adult that we've gotten super close to. After that, we went and visited all the families that we'd gotten close to in the ward and he said goodbye to everyone. It will be hard to do the same thing myself in the near future when I am transferred. I'm sad we didn't get to finish our training together, but I know Elder Miles will do great work as the new Zone Leader in Malmö.

My new companion, Elder Knecht, is super cool. He only has six months left on his mission and he grew up in Sweden until he was nine, so we have been practicing Swedish a lot. He spent much of his mission as the secretary in the mission office, so he never got to train anyone. He will be finishing-up the next few weeks with me and then he's actually going to train another Swed in Kungsbacka, making them the only double Swedish companionship in the mission.

Ironically, Elder Miles and I have been trying to plan a day to teach a high school English class. The teacher expected two American's to come in and teach a class about American culture. He had to cancel a few times and the day we finally set up is March 19^th, which will possibly be the day I leave the area and Elder Knecht's Swedish greeny gets here. So, what was going to be a class about America will now be taught by two Swedes, one of which will have been on his mission for a day, so that will be interesting to see. Fortunately, Elder Knecht lived in the states for a while and the new missionary has lived in England, so it will all work out fine, but it’s still quite ironic.          

Our first few days together have been really good so far. We went to visit an elderly investigator on Wednesday to do some service work. I made a wrong turn on the way out and we got really lost in a really big apartment complex. It took us about 20 minutes to find the car, but I haven’t gotten us very lost after that, so all is well. Elder Miles actually switched areas with Elder Knecht. The night we got lost Elder Miles's new companion got lost too and called Elder Knecht for directions. After the call I said, “Well, it looks like both of our directions guys got transferred.”  We had a good laugh!  

Lost!

This Sunday in church we had one of those crazy situations that you only here about, that never really seems to happen, happen to us. A man walked into church off the street who found out what time church was meeting all on his own. He said he wanted to learn about the church and he really likes everything he's read so far about the Mormons. He also wants to speak English with us, and, oh... he's a professional guitar player and he wants to jam with me and then have us teach him on Wednesday. So, yes, the "golden investigator" does exist!  I couldn't be more excited for Wednesday! 

Golden Investigator!

Elder Knecht is teaching me a lot about missionary work. He is really good at working with members, so we've set up meetings with every ward leader this week to share our vision for the work with them. We've also been setting up a way to help the ward with home teaching as well. I've been extremely fortunate with the start I've had to my mission so far and I am blessed to have another great companion. I hope to finish strong in Kungsbacka and learn all that I can with the time I have left.  

Thanks for reading!

Äldste Stoeltzing            

We received some terrible news this morning that one of our fellow missionaries, Elder Mason Bailey, was killed in an auto accident in Vasteras, near Stockholm, on Sunday. It's hard to believe that a tragedy like this has happened here and I want to express my deepest condolences to his family and friends. Please keep them in your prayers as they go through this difficult time. 

Week 17 – March 3, 2014; A Tragic Loss

It's been a sad and interesting week in Sweden. We found out it Elder Miles will be transferring to be a Zone Leader in Malmö (Mal-mu), so we've been trying our best to finish-out strong this week. Elder Miles has been an awesome trainer and I'll be really sad to see him go on Wednesday, but Malmö has been where he's wanted to go his whole mission so I'm really happy for him. We've had a great nine weeks here in Kungsbacka and I couldn't have asked for a better start to my mission.  Malmö is the third largest city in Sweden and it’s one of the most culturally diverse places, so it will be a big change from little Kungsbacka, but it looks like it will be super fun.

Enjoying Home-made Fried Chicken Dinner in our Apartment

Of Course it's Good - Look at ALL These Spices!

My new companion will be Elder Knecht. He grew up in Sweden and lived in the US for four years. He'll finish up my training. I don't know how long I'll stay with him, but it would be wise for me to use the opportunity to practice my Swedish as much as possible before I'm transferred.

A Missionary Serving in the Field!

Monday was a really cool. We stopped by to see a less active member and got in for the first time. We started off just getting to know him and were going to end by leaving a quick spiritual thought. We asked him a question and he opened up to us and told us the full story of how he became inactive. We talked for almost an hour after that. He's got a long way to go, but he is open to talking to us now and I have a lot of hope for him.

Two-by-Two

Tuesday was absolutely crazy! Elder Miles and all of the other District Leaders and Zone Leaders went to Stockholm for the day and I spent the day in Kungsbacka with two of the newer greenies. I was super nervous that day, but it ended up being really good for all of us. I planned every swing-by visit in the book and we walked the whole day to contact even more. We easily talked to 70 people and found a couple people that were willing to learn more in the future. It was really good for the three of us. I think we realized that we can do a lot more than we felt we were capable of doing. Even though we didn't get in to teach, it was one of my favorite days on my mission so far because I realized I really can do this. What I'm learning is that there is no reason for me not to be confident in myself because this really is the Lord’s work and he's going to help me with everything I need to succeed in my missionary work.

Working Hard With New Missionaries

Kungsbacka, Sweden

Proselyting by the Baltic Sea

It's been an amazing start to my mission and I'm super thankful for my time with Elder Miles. He's taught me how to work hard and enjoy missionary work. I really feel like I can do this after my training with Elder Miles and it will be exciting to take what he's taught me into the next chapter of my mission with Elder Knecht.

-Äldste Stoeltzing

Week 16 – February 24, 2014 – Stuck in the mud!

Tjena Tjena (Hey Hey),

It's been a really great week, an unusual week, but a great week. We started out our P-day touring some of the historical landmarks in Göteborg that we hadn't seen yet. First, we saw the Dome Kyrkan, a massive church built in the late 1600's. Afterward, we went to see one of the two large watchtowers that are on both ends of Göteborg, and we got a picture looking over the city. We finished the day at what I believe is the largest church in Göteborg, Oscar Fredrickson’s Kyrkan from the Gothic architecture era. It was one of my favorite P-days so far in Sweden.

That night we weren't sure where to go in Kungsbacka, so we prayed about where we needed to go, and we felt that we needed to visit a less-active member that lived about 45 minutes away. We decided to take a drive out to a town called Valda. We met a lady there who gladly let us in. She had been struggling a lot recently and she hadn't been home taught in over 5 years. She was so thankful that we had come by. We left knowing we went exactly where the Lord wanted us to be that night.

Tuesday was another interesting day. We have to renew our Visas after a year, so we had to spend the first half of the day in the immigrations office so Elder Miles didn't have to get sent back to America. I met a really cool guy named Moses from Uganda there. He's been in Sweden for 6 months playing semi-pro. We talked about religion for an hour and we had an amazing conversation. He said he's seen Mormons in Uganda before and he met with them a few times. His dream is to build a nice chapel in Uganda for his mom and he said he'd love to build a Mormon chapel there because he really likes our church. He lives in a town called Barås, so we referred him the Elders in that area.

Because our immigrations visit took so long, we missed our cable car. So we took pictures at Ullevi Stadium across the street were Göteborg's pro soccer team plays. 

Later that day we had an interesting turn of events in Kungsbacka. We were late for a teaching appointment, so we took a short cut through some grass. We thought that there would be dirt at the end of the trial, but it was actually a mud pit about a foot deep. It was so sticky I lost a shoe and Elder Miles had to help me fish it out of the mud with a stick. Both of my shoes went from black to brown and they had a good half inch of mud on them. As we were cleaning them off, President Newell called and said that Sister Newell would be flying in on Wednesday for the Sisters Conference and he asked if we could drive her to Göteborg from the airport. Needless to say, I spent that night getting my shoes back to their normal condition again.

Wednesday was crazy. We picked-up Sister Newell at about 9:30 with my newly refurbished shoes. We also spent an hour cleaning the car the night before, but it was dirty by the time we got there due to the rain. We had a good ride with Sister Newell and then we drove across town with Elder Beus and Elder Forsyth to pick up a mountain of pizza for sister conference. Of course, we got some pizza from the trip, so I was more than happy to help! The conference went really well and we took Sister Newell back to the airport later that afternoon.

Saturday was another really good day. We have been a little sad that people don't ask us to do any service, but we got our wish this week. A lady in the ward had to move and only had a day’s notice, so the two of us and some ward members went to her apartment to help. Elder Miles and I had the privilege of taking all of her large pieces of furniture down from her fourth floor apartment. It was the longest move I've ever helped with… Coming in at four hours, but she really needed the help and we were both really glad to be there.

Afterwards, we had an amazing lesson. I wrote about Yvonne last week, the Brazilian lady we met in the train station. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and it was really touching to her. We taught her about the power of prayer and she started crying after she prayed. She said she would be baptized if she felt that the Book of Mormon was true and she started reading it this week. I can't wait to teach her again and help her prepare for baptism.

So, it was another great week here in Sweden and I'm so thankful to be here doing this work. Thanks for reading… Love you guys!

Hej Då (Ta Ta)

Week 15 - February 17, 2014 - Magic Happens

Great week! We started with our usual P-day meet-up in Göteborg last Monday and, believe it or not, I'm no longer the newest missionary in Sweden!  There are two newer missionaries in the area now. I can't believe that an entire group has gone through the MTC since I left! They are both really cool guys and I'm glad to finally have other missionaries that are where I am with my Swedish language skills... Just beginning!  

Romanian Street Performer in Goteborg - Floating in air!

While we were in town, we saw a Romanian street performer that looked like he was holding a pole and floating in the air. There is a new dude on it every time we go to town doing magic for donations. We also found a cool shack when we went to visit a less-active member. The GPS said he lived in Kungsbacka, but little did we we know, he lived way out in the sticks of Kungsbacka, but we had a really cool drive out there. This old shack was behind their house. 

Quaint Country Cottage in Kungsbacka

Elder Miles has been trying to get me to do more solo contacts to practice my Swedish. It's helped me a lot but, the first one I tried this week became sort of a train wreck. It went something like this (translated to English):

Me - "Hey, we are missionaries with the Church of Jesus Christ and we have a message about how Jesus Christ can help us find happiness in our lives.  Do you have faith in Jesus Christ?"  

Contact - "Yeah" 

Me - "That's great! How have you seen Jesus Christ help you in your life?"  

(What I Thought He Said) - "Jesus Christ caught my attention and I have faith in him."

(What he actually said) - "Well I think Jesus caught a lot of peoples attention, but I don't think he was anything special."  

Me - "Super cool!"  

(What I thought he said) - "So how long have you been speaking Swedish?"

(What he actually said) - "So, how many people have you stopped like this today?"  

Me - "Well I've only been speaking Swedish for about two months, so I'm not that great but he (Elder Miles) has been in Sweden for almost a year so he's really good! You should talk to him!"  

And then somehow Elder Miles salvaged it and we ended-up getting the guy's number, so it will be interesting to see how that lesson goes. The rest of my contacts have been going really well though. To practice, we sometimes split-up apartment complexes, so I have been able to set a few appointments on my own... It's getting better! 

Contacting people door-to-door in Kungsbacka

Really cool experience this week. We got stood-up at a teaching appointment at the train station, but we found this awesome South American lady to teach. We invited her to church and she committed to come. In missionary work, it's often true that at the times you are the most frustrated you finally run into the right people.  

Yvonne, the lady we met at the train station, was the first investigator we've ever had to church. She took a bus for 45 minutes to get there, so it meant a lot to us that she she made the effort to come. We saw another guy that we had contacted in the middle of the week walk into church when we drove up as well. We both had forgotten his name and we never would have guessed he would actually come to church. He stayed for an hour and we hope to work with him next week. It was a great Sunday and it was great to finally see people coming to church after all the hard work we've put in.

 I'm loving my mission and can't wait for another great week!  

-Äldste Stoeltzing 

Weeks 13 & 14 – January 3rd &10th, 2014 - Tracting at Downton Abbey (Well… Almost)

A lot has happened over the past two weeks. The first week was a little slow, but we ended it by attending a baptism on my birthday. The sisters found an investigator named Jami from Afghanistan about three weeks ago. He loved the gospel from day one and he was ready to be baptized super quick. Elder Miles got to baptize him, which was super cool, and I gave a talk about the Holy Ghost.  

Jami's Baptism

 

After the baptism, we went out into the countryside to have Semlor (A Swedish cake or pastry kind of thing) with the family Jami lived with, a Swedish lady and her husband from Iran, Hommie (the coolest name ever). They were giving Jami a place to stay while he got established in Sweden. Although they were part of the Swedish Church they were super happy for Jami joining the church and they supported him 100%. We got back to Göteborg kind of late that night, but we had just enough time to grab a Birthday pizza and we celebrated my 20^th with Elder Beus and Tietjan, so it was a great birthday! 

My 20th Birthday Pizza

Unfortunately, the beginning of the next week was sad for everyone. We had one of the largest transfers in months and Elder Tietjan and Sister Anderson got transferred to new areas. They were both super cool and they helped make my first seven weeks in Sweden awesome. Elder Tietjan got sent up to Jacobsbörg (Yacobsberry) and Sister Anderson went to a really cool little city down on the Southeastern coast called Karlskrona. I'm sad to see both of them go, but I know they'll keep doing amazing work in their new areas.

Saying Goodbye to Elder Tietjan and Sister Anderson

The Elder that transferred to Göteborg is super cool. His name is Elder Forsithe. He came down from Umeo and was training one of the missionaries from my MTC group before he left. The new Sister who was sent to Kungsbacka is really nice. Her name is Sister Pearson. She grew up on a farm in Nevada and has 12 younger brothers and sisters. It's hard to see my friends go, but it’s part of the mission and I think I'll really like the new members of my zone. Oh, I'm no longer one of the newest missionaries in Sweden. A new group came in from the MTC, so there is a newer missionary than me in the zone now! It seems crazy that an entirely new group has come and gone from the MTC since I arrived. My time in Sweden has gone by a lot faster than it did in the MTC.

Tracting at Downton Abbey... Well, not quite!

We had a lot of cool stuff happen this week, starting with the giant castle we found in the middle of nowhere. Elder Miles and I were driving through the countryside, and then, out of nowhere, we saw this big pink castle and we had to stop to take some pictures.  We found out later that night that the castle/summer home was owned by a member of Sweden’s royal family, so it was a pretty cool stop.



Gasevadholm Castle in Kungsbacka, Sweden

Practicing my Swedish door approach

 

We also found two really cool investigators this week. The first one is a guy named Olan, who we met on the street.  He told us he used to play stick ball with missionaries when he was about ten years old. He has always had good feelings about Mormon missionaries, but he never met with them to talk about what they believed in. Olan really liked speaking English, so I got to be more effective in the lesson. He believes in a higher power, but has a hard time believing in God with all the evil that's in the world. We taught him part of the Plan of Salvation lesson and he really liked the conversation, so are coming back to teach him again later this week.

The next promising investigator we met was a referral from an older member in our ward. He's an older guy named Stieg who was super excited to have us over. He told us all kinds of stories about when he played soccer growing-up and about the trip he took to America about 20 years ago.  We started teaching him about the restoration of the church. Then he stopped us and asked if we believe if we will see our family members after we die. He explained to us that his son had been hit by a train over 40 years ago when he was only 15. He has been wondering if he would ever see his son again since that time. We told him he would absolutely see his son again and we started teaching him the Plan of Salvation. The lesson really touched him and he almost committed to a baptismal date at the end of the lesson. I am really excited to keep teaching him. It means so much to me that we could help someone to find the peace that he’s been struggling to find since the death of his son 40 years ago. Experiences like this are what make every second of my mission worthwhile.

I can't believe that by the end of this week, I will have been in Sweden for two months! It has been an amazing experience so far and I'm loving every minute of it. I’ll write more next week.

Love you guys!