Welcome to Skane

You guys... this place... is hicktown! I can't stand how they speak here.... Skånska is literally the worst. Haha. An investigator asked me if I could Swedish and I said, "Yeah, but I've only been in Skåne for a few days so speak slowly." Their vowels are different... and they say their R's like they have a speech impediment. Just when I was feeling comfortable... that's pretty much the story of the mission..

Well, now that that's out.. I will tell you about my last few days in STHLM. Saying goodbye was terrible! But Monday night, we met with ____, and she made us some incredible food from her country (Afghanistan) and told she wanted to be baptized. We had talked with her about it before, but she was always nervous, but this time SHE brought it up and just said, "I saw a miracle. Jesus answered my prayers and I want to be baptized." So her family moved from Afghanistan to Sweden four years ago, but her mom had adopted a baby there (whose parents couldn't take of her) so she was part of the family, but not legally so they couldn't take her with when they moved. They had been trying to get her to Sweden this whole time and it never worked, but she prayed and then a week later they got her! It was a really cool story... and she bore her testimony of the Book of Mormon and how you can find truth in every single verse and apply it. She said she had wanted to read the entire book but she said she knows it's true and she decided she wanted to be baptized. We asked her when and she said, "I have a test on Thursday... so... Friday?" Haha. She is going to be baptized next Saturday though, and I am SO STINKING SAD I AM GOING TO MISS IT. My luck is terrible on these things... But either way, it's happening. :) Best note to leave on ever.

Also, my BFF Alison (a YSA) is going on a mission to SINGAPORE, mandarin speaking... cause she already speaks it.... cause she's flippin awesome. I am so excited for her! 

Other than that we just said bye to a lot of people! Yesterday we made some really sad lasagna that was crunchy due to being burnt and also undercooked (HOW?).... but it made me miss the Pence's so much. They took such good care of us, and if Skåne drives me too crazy I will just run away to their house again. You guys have to meet Jensyn when she comes to Utah. Oh! And I gave Mikael Gustavsson your phone number and address, and he said he might come by when he goes next month. He served his mission in Vegas. You'll love him. 

I can't be too negative about it down here, because there are a lot of good things. First, the people are super nice and way more chill. Second, THE SANDELINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sister (Sara) Sandelin took me contacting my first day in Sweden and she just barely got home. Where is home for her? KRISTIANSTAD. We eat dinner with them once a week and we are going to spend Christmas with them. They're half Chilean, half Swedish. And hilarious. And loud. I asked where the bathroom is and they told me they only had one outside... it seemed so real! They were making me get my shoes on and everything when Sara came and saved me. They made fun of me. They also told us about this 99 crew.... this group of kids on bikes that attack people on the streets in Kristianstad. They told us about how some missionaries got concussions from them... I didn't know whether to believe it or not... but as soon as we leave this group of kids on bikes come screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaming down the street with brooms and crap and who is it? The Sandelins. Haha. They're ridiculous and I love them already.

We had a Christmas Party that was way fun and I've already met a few of the investigators. I love them! Sister Woolsey is the sweetest human on the planet. We are trying to make it feel like Christmas here because it just doesn't... I will get my packages at Zone Conference in Göteborg on Friday. But we have made gingerbread cookies and apple cider... We just really need some snow. Oh and we went to Lucia! Where the girl has a bunch of candles on her head and they sing and have a concert. It was beautiful... but every time I sit down on the mission I just fall asleep haha. I'm used to it. 

En sak till... Our district went out to Kebab, because, as rumor has it, Skåne has the best Kebab. True or false? TRUE. It's really flippin' good. You guys know what Kebab is right? I don't know why I am capitilizing it like it's a proper noun...but it's meat that's cooked really slowly and it's kinda sketch. But anyways, Elder Payne... (I'm around all baby missionaries and they are so cute and little...) ate more than half of the biggest pizza I have ever seen in my life. He was so sick... you would have died, Mom... Pictures will be included. This was kind of random... but definitely in the highlights of the week. You'll understand.

Here's a scripture I like from this week, Luke 4:

 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hathanointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to thecaptives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set atliberty them that are bruised,

Let's do this during this Christmas time! Let's go out and find hearts to heal and do what Christ would do. I've been thinking about what it means to me that a Savior was born and I'll encourage you to do the same. I made a 12 days of Christmas and I'll send it to you guys. :)

LOVE YOU SO MUCH! You're all in my prayers.

Syster Stetler

Transfers!!!!

Well, remember how my entire mission has been a straight line down Sweden? The trend continues. I am going to..... KRISTIANSTAD. Christian Town. Hopefully that's an accurate name haha. It's about 40 minutes north of Malmö. Just look it up on a map. :) I am going with Sister Woolsey (who came with Sister Jackson) and she is super cute. I am replacing Sister Kimball. I definitely knew I was going there because I could eliminate every where else because I have already been close to there or I have already had that companion. I'm definitely OLD in the mission. But it's sunnier there and smaller... and it is known for having a TON of Chileans. And for PDAY I will be able to go to the Denmark temple! I was actually really sad when I found out I was going there, but I am a lot more excited now. 

But I am definitely still super sad to leave Stockholm. I cried at church. :( And at the Pence's. 6 months is a really long time! I bore my testimony and just stood there and looked at everyone and thought about the amazing examples they have been to me and how much they have taught me. I HAVE TO COME BACK. God blessed me so much for the last Sunday. A guy came up to me and said, "did you leave a cake at my house?" I was so confused, but it was a less active that I have swung by so many times and he was there! ____, an investigator, CAME. And he loved it! And the investigator that the Guerra's invited over after stake conference! He came too! And we had a lesson with him and at the end he told us he wants to get baptized. IT WAS MAGICAL. 

We also had a ward party! And Tommy, a less active, came to it! He hadn't been there since he was like 12!!!!!!!!!!! SO GOOD. His sambo (live together person) and daughter came too. Everyone loved them. It was really happy. :) And we did a skit. It was terrible.... I couldn't stop laughing. But everyone liked it. :) And we had a Christmas concert. Christmas basically already came... haha

BUT YEAH. We also had a Christmas Party at the Strauss's. (Half american, half Japanese) and they invited ALL the ladies we have been teaching english to and we ate a bunch of sushi and other japanese food. We did a white elephant gift exchange and everyone hated my gift hahaha. They were trying to get rid of it. I'll send a picture and you will understand. Hilarious. But anyways, we taught them about the Christmas symbols and connected it all back to Christ and members bore their testimonies and it was really powerful. It's cool to feel the spirit even when you don't understand. And then we gave them all Books of Mormon. I am so happy. :) I could not have had a better week to end my time here. :)

I also went on splits with my beloved Sister Griffes. I love her so much. She is going to Luleå...hahaha... that'll be fun! 

THE CHURCH IS TRUE. GOD IS GOOD. I LOVE YOU GUYS. 

Love,

Syster Stetler

I don't have many, and I don't have much

Nov 30 at 1:22 AM

Hi everyone! How's it going? It is getting cold and super dark. The sun is going down at 3 or so. I will seriously believe that it's 7 and it will be 4:30. I'm ready for it to snow and lighten up a bit. It's still been raining. Training calls have been going around and both of our elders here are training so that's super fun. :) we will find out Saturday about transfers. I want to go to Göteborg soooooooo bad.

Last Monday we played football for about 2 hours. My hands were about to fall off, but it was nice to do something sporty.... Even though I am really bad. People think runners are athletic..... We just run because it takes less coordination.... I do anyways haha. 

Tuesday we had zone training. It was really, really good. We talked about the new Christmas video (WATCH IT, share it!) and about diligence. A lot of people shared their testimony and it was really powerful. I have been thinking a lot about my relationship to Christ and how I can come to know him and understand him better, and I think I have learned that I have learned the most about Christ's character through seeing Christlike attributes in others. There are some incredible missionaries and when they share their testimony, it's not just their words, but it's backed up by their life and all their actions and efforts. That's a testimony. Same goes for members. There is a guy in our ward who has had stomach cancer and doesn't feel well at all, and he just SERVES anyways... He is everywhere. Every person we visit talks about him and how much he has done for them. He said, "Everyone that lives in our Ward boundaries in God's eyes. We are responsible for serving them and helping them." Another guy in our Ward is the best missionary I've ever seen. He calls us ALL THE TIME with referrals. "My last hairdresser wasn't progressing (he had given her a Book of Mormon) so I went to a new hairdresser. It's all the same haircut. I might as well find someone who wants to learn more." And another lady! I said a prayer and asked God a very specific question and at church she answered it. She just felt inspired to share a story "I don't know why I am sharing this..." and it made a huge difference to me. I've seen people handle some really hard trials with gratitude, faith, and determination. It motivates me to change and to be better. I'm not so impressed with the things I used to be. "I don't have many and I don't have much. In fact, I don't have any but I borrowed enough." 

Well... That was a rant haha. But I mean it. I love the people here and they have taught me so much. I will be so sad to leave.

Thursday was THANKSGIVING!!!!! So fun. We went to the Beckstrand's with the Pence's. It was such a good meal!! And beforehand, none of us had a ton of motivation to be honest. But we had a contest with the elders to see who could give out the most Books of Mormon. And I prayed for help beforehand to be directed to someone who would listen, especially because we were in a really busy part of town. I felt inspired to talk to a swede, she was interested and took the book. I was really surprised I gave one away... Then I only had an English one so I prayed that I could meet someone that spoke English. I was shocked when I got "I don't speak Swedish. I'm from Atlanta" It was fun. Praying can be so powerful, and every chunk of time, no matter how big or small, can be beneficial and change lives. I feel like I am super sappy haha but I just love my mission and I love Stockholm. Sister Beckström is going home soon and it reminds me I don't have a ton of time left and I want to use every bit of it! 

I LOVE YOU GUYS! Have a great week!

Love,

Syster Stetler

Missionary Experience

Hallåååååååå. :)

This week, like others, was full of adventure and a fair share of disappointment. But mostly adventure. It was Sister Beckström's birthday! We had such a fun day. We didn't have much to give so we made her jello and lit candles in it. 'Twas awesome. I love having her as a companion. She's so fun! All we need is for Sister Jacobs to dye her hair red so we can have all three. :) 

So I went on splits to Uppsala and it was really cool. They are having sooooo much success there and I asked why. They got a new bishop and he said that they have always had good missionaries, so that wasn't the problem, but that their ward got 100% home teaching last month and they believe that's because the ward is taking care of each other, the Lord is blessing them with more and more members. I like that reasoning a lot! It's not just the missionaries! The members are a huge contribution to the work! So we are going to work on that as well as our "Missionary Experience". Have you guys looked at that? The members are really liking it! Which is good because it took forever to make haha. We are making a less active version and a kid version too. #experience

It's dark here. And coooooold. But nothing is that bad after Luleå haha. This winter should be pretty mild. GUESS WUT. Sister Jackson is going to LULEÅ!!!!!!!! They got kicked out of their apartment and she is heading up on Wednesday. Craziness! I am so excited for her to go up there and meet everyone and kill it! The area needs her. It's struggling haha. But I'm really sad because I don't know if I will see her for the rest of my mission..... Hopefully we have one last sisters conference before I go home!

Let's see... We went to Nisse's and met his cute cute daughter. I love her! And I met a really cool guy on the street from Estonia. He was really interested and had thought a ton about religion. He was like "Did you feel guided to talk to me because I need a lot of help?" Haha.  

We had Stake Conference this weekend and it was really good. Sara came Saturday! And then we had 5 people say they would come the next day.... Guess how many came? 0. Haha. Next week! But something incredible happened! We had a dinner planned with a family from Peru and they grabbed us and said "Meet Leondel, he just walked in the church and wanted to learn more. He's coming over for dinner" We taught him the restoration and a bit of every other lesson! We ate some amazing food and had a lot of fun. I wish I knew Spanish! The members here are amazing though. 

I'm reading D&C and marking every time I feel the spirit confirm that something is true. It's been interesting to see. I really have to pray and ask for the spirit to be with me during my studies and then pay attention and ask continually to know and distinguish truth. Have you ever read D&C through? It blows my mind haha. I've read a lot about the temple and a lot of prophecies for the future. I also read the story of Job this week. That's a really interesting story! My adjectives are so limited haha... interesting, cool, amazing, ... yeah! PLEASE PRINT OUT MY CHALLENGE AND DO IT! I will be following up haha... I want to know if it helps or if you think it could be better. Let me know! I'll ask again next week. :)

And, as President King would say, (I actually have no idea, I just hear he says this and love him for it) "Every day you don't read the Book of Mormon you put your spiritual life in danger." I can't deny it's true. I would have gone home a looooooooooooong time ago if it wasn't. It's true and brings safety and peace to the soul in a world that is surrounded by darkness and confusion. If you haven't read it, read it! If you have read it, read it daily. 

LOVE YOU GUYS. The gospel is FASCINATING and true.

Syster Stetler

Tripan

 Hi everyone!

We had english class and we had 13 people come!!!!!!!!!!!! It was awesome! We gave a Book of Mormon out, invited someone to institute, and the elders taught a formal lesson to one of them! It's super fun and I feel so blessed that it's going ok!

Other than that, we got a new investigator and he is awesome. We also taught a bomb street lesson to a swedish couple! I'm talking real Swedes. We also gave 3 of our investigators away because no one actually lives in our area... But it's all the same work, right? WRONG. No, just kidding. It's right. I'm just selfish haha.

So... to get spirichaaal....

I have been feeling a little sick. One thing I loved is I have been asking a lot of "why?" questions to God. One thought that came to mind was "Sometimes things are hard to understand and you wonder why. But the Lord is in control." I know that is true!

LOVE YOU GUYS

Syster Stetler

There Can Be Miralcles

Hello everyone!

 Sister Jacobs is here. She is perfect. I love her so much and we are already great friends and so excited to see what we can do here in Stockholm for my last 6 weeks here.

I made some goals for this transfer. I decided I want to learn about faith and about my divine potential. Two things I don't really understand as well as I would like to. First, please listen to 

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/lord-i-believe?lang=eng 

It's beautiful. That's how I feel. Lord, I believe! Help thou my unbelief. I do believe but I want to be like Russel M. Nelson said, "We need women who know how to make things happen by their faith." And then the divinity of every human being and what we can do and become. That topic keeps reappearing and I really need to learn and discover the truth in that we really are God's children.

So this week we got Sister Sorenson and Sister Mod off and it was super sad! But Mod already emailed me so like, yay. :) We went and saw a church with lights all around the graves because that's what they do for "halloween" or "all saint's day". It was beautiful and really calm. I am really starting to get super close to everyone here. I love church and all activities because I know people and feel so loved. :) The Beckstrand's had a fireside and it was really great. :) Sometimes I have the thought that God really wants us to be strengthening the members and ourselves because of where the world is headed... We, of course, always need to share the gospel with nonmembers! But we need to make sure we have our oxygen masks on before we help others with theirs. 

A spiritual thought... God loves us so much. He blesses us so much, especially when we are struggling. Jacob 5:

 22 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto him: Counsel me not; I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore, I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time, and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit.

 I feel a lot like the poor spot of ground a lot of times, and it's wonderful to know that Christ can make more of us than ever seems possible. 

I LOVE YOU ALL.

Syster Stetler

 Syster Stetler and Syster Jacobs in front of the church!

 A bus full of missionaries

 I honestly don't know what this is...

Beautiful Alyssa and her new companion:)

Transfers!

How's it going? It's starting to get INCREDIBLY beautiful here, I bet it's gorgeous there too with all the fall colors and everything. :)

This week was great! PDay was fun, we carved pumpkins and had pancakes with a bunch of missionaries. Stockholm is the best place for PDays. My trainer (first companion) is going home and my freind is going to be AP. (Assistant to the President :) I am really going to miss MOD! :( I know she will email me though cause she's the best. :)

Wednesday was awesome!!!!!!!! Annelie came to dinner and Institute. It was so fun. She is adorable. I said goodbye to her because I figured she was leaving...nooope. Haha. But it was a blast to see her anyways. :) I think she liked the lesson too! We had about 3 other people there too. It was really, really fun. I have absolutely fallen in love with the YSA here. We have so much fun!

OK. What else? THIS. AREA'S. ON. FIAAAAAAAAAAAAAARE. Kind of haha. We have some investigators and english class is blowing up! Jonathon has 2 friends that each brought someone else to the halloween party and we had a lesson with all of them! :) Two other people from English class came and it was just awesome. I have learned that God blesses me the most when I am struggling in certain areas.

I was reflecting on all the things I have learned now that I have been on my mission for a year. I have learned my flaws and my strengths, things I didn't even realize before. I feel like I have become softer and more understanding. I have learned what it means to turn to God. Gosh, have I learned that haha. I have learned that you need to read the Book of Mormon every. single. day. if you don't ever want to doubt the gospel. I have learned more of what it means to love people and how dependent we really are/need to be on God. I could go on and on... but I have a completely different view on life and the gospel. 

A spiritual thought: I have been reading a lot in Romans 8. It is a beautiful chapter. I was praying and then pondering about it.

 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the daylong; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,nor things to come,

 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It hit me so hard. WHO is going to separate us from Christ? For neither trials, nor a difficult companion, nor dark, nor cold, nor exhaustion, nor doubts, ... Trials don't have the ability to separate us from the love of God, but Satan will always try. DECIDE that you won't let it happen. Turn to him instead. "You are not a victim" is probably my favorite thing I learned from Sister Jackson. I believe we sat down with God and told him we would endure these specific trials we are going through and that we would endure them well. We are not victims! Whatever it is, keep going! "Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come 'till heaven. But for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ THEY COME!"

I love you guys so much. Thank you for all your prayers and love! I can honestly feel the difference when people fast and pray for me. I have been incredibly blessed and I am so glad I am here. The church is true! God loves you all! And I do too. :)

Love,

Syster Stetler

 Syster Stetler and her zone using chalk art to share the story of the Restoration

 Syster Stetler, her trainer (Syster Modersitski. left) and her greenie (Syster Jackson)

 Syster Stetler and Syster Sorenson

Syster Stetler and some Halloween fun

Second harvest BEGAN IN STOCKHOLM

Hey guys!!! Guess what.... I dyed my hair! I'm a brunette now haha.... Guess what else??? I have 6 months left. How weird is that??? I don't even know how I feel..

But this week was great! STUFF IS FINALLY HAPPENING. We met with a guy named Harry that we met with when Sister Jackson and I first got here. He is really positive! We had a great lesson with him with 2 members. Also! We met with Nathan and his family. They're adorrrrrrable. We taught them the restoration and they have been reading the Book of Mormon. He has come to church/conference 3 weeks in a row. Also, Jonathon is still introducing us to all of his friends and teaching them about the gospel. He is seriously incredible... If every member was like him we'd have SOOOOO many people join the church. He has so much faith and really prays for these opportunities. We are so thankful for him! Debra is also GREAT. She had us come over and said she wanted to get back on board with helping the missionaries. She is having us over once a week and she asked for 2 Books of Mormon today! MEMBERS ARE THE ANSWER. We are excited to see what comes. :) Our ward is incredible. They are serving each other, holding Family home evenings for investigators/less actives. And I can think of at least 6 people that I know of that are really trying to share the gospel with their friends. I'm happy. :)

We also worked a ton on English class! We have new people coming! I'm super excited :) and we are doing a Halloween party in a few weeks. We have enough Americans to convince the Swedes to party. I don't know why they wouldn't want to spend the night surrounded by people in costumes, eating hand shaped food, and scaring each other in our place of worship. There's really no reason...

Well... I think that was the week :) we need to talk more about Conference.

Two spiritual thoughts: 

First, conference is over :( My first "ponderize" scripture was James 1:22 "Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only." I was reflecting back on an experience in the MTC when I was with a sister missionary. She wasn't feeling very good and we were going to go to the hospital on a Sunday night. I was feeling pretty upset, because I thought maybe Elder Holland might show up the one night I wasn't at the devotional. I expressed my frustration to Reed and he said "Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only." It really didn't mean much to me then, but as I was thinking about Conference... I realized I really LOVE to hear the word (I made a countdown to conference..) but I don't know how well I "do" or act on the words. It's all for nothing if we don't change because of the words we heard. There were a lot of themes, so what are your goals? What spoke to you? How will you be more Christlike? For me, I heard over and over again that I need to have a STRONG line of communication with God... I need to pray often and sincerely, and be clean and prepared to receive revelation. I did the "What lack I yet?" question as well. Answer: read the Book of Mormon eeeeevery day. I love you guys! The world is getting scary and confusing. Cling to truth and make sure you are moving forward, no matter the pace.

"The person standing at the bottom of the stairs looking up is better off than the person at the top looking down."

Love,

Syster Stetler

Conference (Part 2)

Hey family! 

Wow. Conference was soooo good. I haven't watched the last session yet, but the other 3 were amazing! I really, really want to go back through and study a lot of things. :) What did you guys think? What stood out? What did you learn? What hit you hard? For me, I would say honestly, that I saw a lot of ... not desperation... but emphasis in their voice. We watched all of them on a really big screen and I really felt like they were just staaaaaaaaaaring into my eyes and speaking with their entire hearts and souls. Testifying with all they had. That was the biggest thing I noticed. But I also noticed a lot about women... why? That was so interesting! Also, a lot about how we need, NEED to have the Holy Ghost with us constantly. We need to have a very clear and open channel with our Heavenly Father if we are going to make it in the times ahead. I always thought the topic of "Sabbath Day" was literally the most boring topic ever, because what can be said about it more than do's and don'ts? Not true at all. Church and sacrament meeting (fulfilling/receiving the benefits from baptismal covenants, receiving a remission of our sins, receiving strength from Christ to continue....) will carry us through any challenge that comes. I never really realized that before. It had a way different emphasis than I have seen before. We should all go through these talks and make constant goals to come closer to God every day. I felt a lot of urgency in the message... emphasized on women, mothers, and youth, especially. 

Other than that, the second harvest started a few days ago! Haha. I was on splits and we got 6 numbers. It was a good day! 

I love you guys so much! It's time to deepen our understanding and turn to Christ! The gospel is true! I felt it be confirmed to me over and over during conference. The church brings safety! 

Love,

Syster Stetler

Conference!!!

HI FAMILY. Oh, how I miss you guys. WHAT'S up with all the end of the world stuff? I've heard quite a bit. What's going on? The reason I worry about the world nowadays is the Proclamation.

"Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets."

I also am seeing a ton of division in the church. Those who believe in these things, and those who don't. Those who support gay marriage, and those who don't. Those who served missions, those who haven't. What is happening????

The highlight of the week was easily Shaun! So get this: he comes to Sweden from Afghanistan and he is Muslim. So he meets a guy on the subway also from Afghanistan and takes him to church and he becomes converted to Christ! And he is SUPER strong. So then we meet him... guess where... on the subway. And he is the coolest. We are so excited to get him hooked up with the YSA :) We had a really good lesson with him and he clearly felt the spirit. :)

The other highlight was one of the YSA's traveling with us to Täby and reciting almost an entire Holland talk next to a random guy that must have thought we were super crazy haha. 

I love you guys so much! Have a great week. :)

Syster Stetler

Transfer Drama

My baby is leaving............ She's going to Norrköping. Ever heard of it? Didn't think so... haha. I am really going to miss her. :( And I am getting Sister Sorenson! The really talented Sister that does all the chalk art. She's just in Täby so she is making a really small move, same chapel and everything. But I'm excited, it'll be fun.

Ah, I don't have my planner so I'm trying to remember what happened this week. Probably something about missionary work. That's usually how these things go.... We are reading Sister Jackson's brother's email in Arizona and he already committed someone to baptism and he has been there for a week. I'm just trying to make anything from this week sound relatively cool now haha. 

We gave out a few more of our "Family Mission Plans" and we have gotten really positive and not so positive reactions. We have had people say, "Oh, I feel so guilty! I have not been doing this!" and we have had "No one is interested here. No one wants religion. I've tried, it doesn't work." It's easy to lose faith here. I'm seeing it everywhere. But we also got a really positive response yesterday. The Chilean couple came up to us and told us all about someone they are planning to invite over and asked us to pray for them and she was just GLOWING and so excited. It was really cool to see! If I can just get the ward excited about missionary work and talking to their friends in addition to my own efforts, I will feel okay about my time here in Stockholm. It's been really clear that this is what we are supposed to do! 

We also made some Rice Crispie treats and brought them by less actives. One of them was so confused, "Is this rice?????" Haha. Oh! And Soledad is doing awesome! We are going to start having family home evening with her family once a week and we are going to help her teach her kids about Jesus and stories from the scriptures. I can't wait. :) If you want to pray for her and her family, that would be awesome. I really hope her husband will respond to it well! Also, an older Finnish lady's son came to church after about 20 years of not coming, and why? Because a member called him and invited him. Don't ever underestimate how powerful a simple invitation can be!  That's all we are asked to do as members of the church, but we need to do it!!!! "Just do it" is our motto nowadays, or "Gör det bara."

Oh, so we tried to do chalk art again... Fail. We did it in this really public place and we were drawing a map of the world and all the sudden there was these two little tiny Chinese boys that started singing Michael Jackson and crowds of people started gathering... Then, I was in the middle of teaching a lesson and all the sudden I looked up and saw a bunch of signs for "Human Rights" and a HUGE crowd gathering around and all the sudden people were chanting "No borders! No nations! No segregation!" "Borders are illegal not people!" It was incredibly ironic that we were drawing all the different countries as this was going on, we realized pretty quickly that we didn't want to be associated with that so we took off. But yeah, there's quite a bit of political talk here about whether or not Sweden should let so many immigrants in, especially with everything going on in the Middle East. It was interesting to say the least. 

A cool story I read about repentance that I wanted to share. Repentance is one of those topics that we hear about so often that I think we brush it off and think "I know" kind of like prayer. But we need to ask ourselves:

Am I repenting every day?

Are my weaknesses becoming strengths?

Am I relying on the grace of Christ every day? 

Am I using the sacrament to renew my baptismal covenants and become clean as I was after baptism?

Are the scriptures/conference talks/church meetings ... etc. leading me to CHANGE?

If not, we are living under our potential. So that's something I'm working on! Those are just my thoughts.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1986/10/come-back-to-the-lord?lang=eng

Oh my gosh! I just realized this talk is from Elder Howard! In our ward! WHAT. MIND BLOWN.

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Syster Stetler