Stoeltzing Surfing Stockholm

Week 90; August 3, 2015 – God Does Work in Mysterious Ways!

Well, the week started-off fairly simple, then it quickly got really confusing. I ended-up traveling up and down Sweden and visiting five different cities as well as unexpectedly moving into another apartment... It’s not what I was expecting at the beginning of the week, but it turned out great. 

Our P-day on Monday was a blast! The Beckstrand's had a great idea to have every zone in the mission host a volleyball tournament, so we went over to Göteborg and jumped on a train to a little town called Trollhättan to play some volleyball! It was super fun to do something so competitive! Even though my team didn't win, we still a great day! 

Tuesday was awesome! We taught Mattias and had a big Q&A session where we answered a lot of his questions. He's progressing really well and doing an amazing job keeping his commitments! 

It was on Tuesday night and Wednesday when things got interesting. The Sister missionaries have some crazy neighbors that have been giving them a hard time. They told the mission office about the problem and it seemed serious enough that we were asked to move them the very next day. We were pretty surprised, but we knew it was for the best. So, we spent most of Wednesday running bags across town to expedite the move… It was the fastest I've ever had to move. Haha! 

Zone Training

Also, on Wednesday I got a surprise invitation to attend a new trainer meeting up in Stockholm. It was supposed to be for the new training group, but Elder Farnworth talked President Beckstrand into letting me go as well. I was super thankful for the experience. He answered a lot of my questions and I know the next 6 weeks will be great as I continue to train Elder Blackburn while serving as a District Leader in one of the largest and coolest districts in the mission, covering Borås, Jönköping, and Skövde in Southern Sweden with 10 awesome missionaries!

Our District

On Friday we had a fun bus ride back to our area with a lot of my friends; Elders Stinnet, Dicksson, Petterson, Smith, and Pearson, who will all be training new missionaries next week! On the way back, Elder Dicksson and I had a crazy conversation with a lady who was furious at us because we weren't open to the possibility that Jesus could have been a woman. While she was screaming at us, another lady walked-up and said she was a feminist from America… I prayed that we wouldn't get destroyed by the two ladies on a crowded bus. My prayer was answered when the lady explained that she was a feminist as well as a devoted Christian. This answered my prayer in a very unusual way. 

The best part of the story was that there was another woman sitting next to us that had become intrigued by the conversation, and when we had finished talking to the other two women, she allowed us to share a lesson with her the rest of the way home and, it turned-out that she actually lived right next to the church! She said she would come to church as soon as she could! God truly does work in mysterious ways! 

The rest of the week got back to normal after all the craziness. We had a great lesson with Mattias on Sunday and I feel really happy with the trust he is putting in the Lord. He bore his testimony in Priesthood meeting and he wore a suit to church, so it was really cool for all of us to watch him grow. 

Elder Blackburn teaching Mattias how to tie a tie

Well, that was our week… Hopefully next week will be a little more relaxed. But, we always seem to keep things interesting in Borås, despite all the craziness. I’m loving every second I’m able to serve! 

I Love you guys tons!!!

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