Wow!
Getting ready to travel down to Stockholm tomorrow to pick up my new "son." SUPER EXCITED! I also found out I will be staying here in Uppsala to train. My companion, Äldste Bailey, will be moving down to Utby, Göteborg to train! I’ll miss that guy but he’s going to do good things down there!!
I"ll start off by saying why
I'm emailing on Tuesday instead of Monday. Äldste Bailey and I had to travel up to Gävle yesterday to teach a High School class about our religion. It was an interesting experience! It was a class of like 14 girls and 1 boy. They really didn't care and didn't want to be at school so we tried to be as entertaining as possible. We made them laugh a bit! (laughing with us, and not at us.. so that is good). We pretty much taught them the first lesson we teach all people, but in a more fun way! We also explained a bit about us, and why we are out here (on missions). We showed them the Church Christmas video for this year "En Frälsare Är Född” (A Savior is Born - LDS.org) and then opened it up to questions. They were not super interested but it was a cool experience! So we were there for a while and got back in time for Family Home Evening at the Church.
Today we had to shop for the week, do laundry, and email! We also taught a few lessons. We were also able to visit some people before Äldste Bailey leaves. Gävle is an awesome city! Every Christmas they have a massive straw goat that they put up and see how long it can last before it burns down. The city doesn't burn it but people every year find secret clever ways to burn it. haha BUT if you are caught doing it, you can go to jail! Crazy! One year people actually tried to fly in a helicopter and take it out but that didn't work haha. Pretty awesome I must say!
Äldste Bailey and I have been going hard this last week together. Despite the lack of sunshine and the approaching cold, we have been spending every last minute together working hard! I have been thinking a lot about how I should train the new missionary that I will be training. One thing I want to focus on the next 12 weeks with my new "son" is the fact that we all have been given gifts and talents. We need to find out what they are and use them to relate to people. That is really a major key i think. Also, to be confident on what he does know. With the Swedish language for example, just not being afraid to talk to people with what he has learned so far and going hard everyday and don’t leave anything behind! (to go for it) This will be a major learning experience for both of us for sure! :D I feel a lot more comfortable with my Swedish now and I feel like I can understand pretty well. ~ Better than I can speak. That’s the only thing I’m worried about with training is the language. BUT the Lord doesn't call people to do something without a way to do it. I know that He will help me as I train this new missionary!
In other news, Caroline is doing so fantastic! So much has happened with her that I dont even know where to start but I’ll sum it up by saying how much of a desire she has to do what is right and feel God. As we first met with her, we told her that we would invite her to do certain things. If she does them, she will feel God stronger than she has ever imagined. We also taught her that if she reads the Book of Mormon and prays about it with a sincere heart, she will receive an answer and that this is the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth today. This last week she sent us a text saying she has received an answer and was trying to say over text how happy she is and how she was crying with joy! She said a lot more, trying to describe how she was feeling and how she was wanting to meet with us in person to share it with us! We have met with her a lot this week and we have a baptismal date with her for January 3rd! She is so set for that :) My green and I will continue to prepare her for that and make sure she feels ready. She is a walking testimony to me. Äldste Bailey and I were talking and we were saying how she is that one person on the mission that makes it all worth it. Love it!! Every time we meet she is "hungering" for more information! Having that desire to know is the key. Acting on that desire is the other.
Quote I took from Äldste Bailey this last transfer and something I’m going to take with me for the rest of my life is ~ "Everybody wants to be a beast! .. Until its time to do what beasts do. If you want it to happen, get your butt up and make it happen!"
Love you all! <3
Äldste Blackburn
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| Fint middag med Familjen Hammar! (nice dinner with the Hammer family!) |
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| The famous massive straw goat in Gävle! |
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| Kung foo lesson after distict meeting again! |
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| One of my favorite members here gave us socks for christmas! |
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| Last dinner with all of us together at the Hammers house! Syster Kamauoha and Äldste Bailey will be missed |
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| Our "funeral" for Syster Sandalin :( She has served a good 18th month mission here in Sweden and is heading home! But she is actually Swedish and lives in Sweden so she wont be missed too much. haha |
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