Tuesday, December 15, 2015

We are never alone...

I'm glad I will be in this
beautiful city for 6 months!
WELLLL! 
This week was BIG!  Äldste Bailey and I decided we were tired of each other :) and that we wanted to go down to Västerhaninge to pick up some new companions.  So we did that on Wednesday morning!  Our train left at 7:22am so we had to get up pretty early.  We then proceeded to travel to Stockholm and on the bus ride I remembered one thing.  I forgot one of my tickets at home on my desk!  It was the ticket from my city to the Church in Stockholm where we would be picking up our new missionaries, haha. SO... We got to Uppsala station and I had to buy another ticket, and that worked. That was just dumb on my part but we made it there. :)  

We showed up and there were about 26 trainers and new missionaries that we briefly saw.  HUGE GROUP!  The trainers went down stairs to wait about 30-45 minutes while they had the presentation and meeting with new missionaries up stairs in the Church.  That was exciting!  We had no idea who we would get and we were all on the edge of our seats! :D  The time came when President and Sister Becktrand walked down stairs and the big moment was approaching!  The time came and they talked to us for a few minutes and then said that it’s time to go up!  I was so excited!  As soon as we walked into the room with all the new missionaries, it became silent and you could see how nervous/excited all of them were!  I was scanning out for potential companions.  Just then at the next moment, President would begin to invite a new missionary to come up and read their letter with there Trainers name and their new city they will be serving in.  

They went through all 24 until there were two new missionaries and two trainers left.  We both happened to be sitting next to each other too!  President then called both the new missionaries up to the front of the room and I saw Äldste Bentson and knew I would be getting him!  I could feel it in my soul!!  The other new missionary then read his first and announced that it was the other trainer!  Then last but not least, Äldste Benston announce he "will be getting trained by Äldste Blackburn and has been called to serve and labor in Uppsala.” I WAS SO EXCITED!!   I ran up there and gave him a big hug!  The rest is history, but we have a had a good time together so far.  

Off with the old and on with the new!
Parting ways with our new missionaries :)
Äldste Benston is so cool and we were made for each other.  We have been working hard this week and have had fun as well!  He’s not too bad at Swedish either!  He can understand for the most part what people say when we are contacting and has so much potential.  I’m super excited to see how the next 3 months are going to be.

CAROLINE!  She is the most coolest person ever!  Right now we are focusing on preparing her for baptism on the 3rd of January.  Her faith is so strong!  She is struggling a lot with pressure from friends. We have been in contact with her quite a bit and she was telling us about different situations and how she doesn't really know what to do.  In particular, she shared how she has a friend that was saying some bad things about the church.  We told her that before you take a big step in life towards Heavenly father such as Baptism, Satan will do everything in his power to try and distract you from this.  I told her it was the same thing for me as I prepared for my mission, and shared an experience of mine.  We told her that people say these things because of misunderstanding and shared that if her friend wants to understand what we do and how we live as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we would be more than happy to meet with him to help him understand! :)  She said that he wants to come to church and meet us, but warned us that he might be mean. But I’m excited!  I think he will be surprised with what he sees! :D  The important thing here at the moment is Caroline and her faith.  She made it clear to us that it hasn't changed and that she still wants to follow God with all of her heart.  She knows that God is there, that the Book of Mormon is true, and that this is Jesus Christ's Church restored on the earth today. It is important to remember, as with anyone, that a testimony is a very personal thing.  Everyone has times in their lives when they must stand “alone”.  Christ and Heavenly father are always there, with arms wide.  We are never alone. 
Äldste Blackburn


 
Äldste Bentson!!!

This is a tradition in the mission to K"baptize" your son.
This delicious looking pizza you're looking at is the first time
Äldste Bentson has had this wondrous creation.
 It's called Kebab pizza!

Lucia Concert in the Domekyrka!
More Lucia!
Domkyrka at 3:00pm!!
Yessss.... My slave.. :)

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