Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Winter is definitely not over!! Mycket mer snö!

Hey Everybody! 
Mycket mer snö!


Winter is definitely not over!!  We just got quite a bit of snow and it’s nice and cold again!  A lot happened this last week, but there was the funniest thing I wanted to share!
Happy Alla Hjärtans Dag! (Kind of like Valentines day)
We got a call last Sunday from this girl saying she has an Italian man with her that goes around our city and preaches and needs a place to stay.  She said that he had a friend from the states that said our church can do that.  I talked to her for a bit and told her the Bishop would have more information about this and I happened to be with him so I gave him the phone.  They talked for a while surprisingly and he gave the phone back to me.  The Bishop told her that we can ask around and see if anything is available, but we don’t generally have resources to let people do that or let people sleep in the church.  Bishop told us to set up a meeting with them though and to bring up the Gospel and maybe teach them something.  So we set up a meeting with the girl and the Italian preacher guy over the phone two days from then.
Ya this road was as long as it looks... had to walk all the way to the end! But it was pretty so its ok  
We decided to have real American BBQ behind the church, and yes I'm trying to get a patty out that I dropped on the coals..

Little mansion village at the end of the road.
When I hung up the phone I was thinking, who this guy could be...  THEN I REMEMBERED!  I thought there is this Italian guy here in Uppsala that goes around and interrupts our lessons with people telling us "we will be damned" and “we're going to hell."  He has done this a few times and also approaches us agressivly asking, “Do you think you are going to heaven?"  and we will say... "Yes" and then he will say “No your going to hell!!!!" and we said.. “No...pretty sure you dont have the authority to tell us that.. haha”  He goes around saying he’s a "prophet" and has even been arrested a few times. He is not mentally there.  SO!  As the story goes on.. We meet this guy and girl that called us (she’s not mentally there either) at the church with a member.  We listened to them for a bit and everything he was saying was just yelling and aggressive. It was getting on my nerves!  But still being patient.. we sat and waited for an opportunity to say something and bring up the gospel.
A cute Pintrest pic for you all.


Who wants to be saved?
 So the time came when we spoke and shared our message and a little about us.  It did not matter what we said.  He would just go off yelling and get way off subject.  It was kind of hopeless and then he was saying things about our church and "warning" us about different things and that’s kind of when we had enough!  Elder Bentson and I were testifying hard and the Spirit in that room was so strong and it left them silent! …. At the end, we shared our testimony which is how THIS is a Gospel of happiness, love, and  salvation... not of "damnation" and "hell.”  I swear.. he said those two words more than he said God.  It was sure fun though! 
Last P-day was a great day of exploration! 
We have also been working with a person lately that has caused some heart ache and stress, but I have come to a conclusion. I can not let another persons testimony or view on this Gospel affect mine.  It’s not like I’m brainwashed, forced to be out here, or getting paid, or whatever.  I freely choose to sacrifice two years of my life because I KNOW it is true.
Thinking about taking a nice refreshing Swim! 

Some people are like “How can you know?  You don’t have "evidence."  I actually do have evidence.  Evidence is something that will convince you (deep in your heart) without a doubt.  It doesn't have to be a "physical fact.”  You receive that evidence when you read the Book of Mormon, when you sincerly pray about it, and when you ACT upon it.  It will become something you can’t deny. Trust me on this one.. It’s something I've thought about a lot.  I have talked to more theologists here in Uppsala then I have in my entire life.  The most important thing to me is the knowledge that I have of the gospel, and choosing to exercise and ACT upon that knowledge.

PEACE AND LOVE! 
Äldste Blackburn
Winter is totally not over. It's nice and Snowy again!

Super sick frozen lake! 

Definitely not thick enough to walk on though.
If you can't tell, this is the craziest man in the world in the ice/water. We looked over and saw this man wearing a swimsuit and he walked down the ladder into the water and bobbed his body up and down for a few minutes haha!

The famous Surströmming... I will be eating this bad boy in a few months from now. Straight up rotten nasty fish in a sense. Stay tuned for an awesome video!

These are the cutest dwarf horsies! 

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