Forget Yourself and Go to Work

Email written: 10/16/17

Hallå mina käre vänner! Allt är bra här i Gävle. Hur går det med er?

So this past week was probably the craziest week so far on the mission. So many miracles happened this week and we got so much work done here in Gävle. To give you all a summary before explaining this past week, we got 6 new investigators this past week, and 5 investigators have set dates to be baptized. So..how in the world did all of this success happen?? I've got 3 words to describe it: hard work and diligence. 

At the beginning of the week, we met with a man by the name of Rudes. He was born in Jamaica, lived some of his life in America, and has been in Sweden the past 9 or 10 years. He had never officially met with the missionaries, only had switched numbers a few years ago. Well, we had a lesson with him over the Restoration, brought up all that we have to do to be baptized, and he agreed to work towards baptism! It was so cool because he agreed with everything our church stands for and the message we had to share. When we get a baptismal date, we have to call the mission president. When we called the mission president, he thanked us for calling, but then he told us that 3 wasn't enough. He expected a call in 2-3 days with another baptismal date. We immediately got back to work.

The next day we were in the middle of studying as a companionship when we got a text from an old investigator by the name of Serdjo. He told us that he could meet us at the library right then. We dropped everything we were doing and got to the library 15 mins later. We didn't have the most time in the world to meet with him, but we had a powerful lesson and he set up a baptismal date! Meeting with him was not in our plan for that day, but apparently it was in God's plan for us. 

On Saturday, we went to visit an old investigator by the name of Cynthia. We showed up to teach and her husband, 2 kids, and a friend were all there. They were all watching a soccer game, and we asked them to turn it off for the lesson. Well, they turned off the sound and still had the TV on. It was very hard to compete with little kids running around and a soccer game playing in the background. But, Elder Harper and I were determined to keep going, hoping that someone would listen to us. Well, the friend who was over, Blessing, did listen to us. He accepted a Book of Mormon and agreed to come to church tomorrow. Well, sure enough he showed up to church yesterday. Since he couldn't speak Swedish, someone needed to translate for him. Elder Harper went to help pass the sacrament, so it was just me and Blessing for the first part of the meeting. I began translating for him, and I felt that I really could translate the rest of the meeting. So that is exactly what I did. I was able to translate a whole hour long meeting for Blessing. It was truly a miracle, because 6 weeks ago, I really didn't understand anything that was going on. The Spirit truly will bless us in times of need and according to the needs of the people we are helping. Blessing wanted to stay for the rest of church, so we found a classroom to teach a lesson. Well, Syster Christensen, a missionary who just completed her mission, was with her family and they came to church in Gävle. Since they spoke English as well, we all were there for the lesson with Blessing. We taught the Plan of Salvation, and at the end of the lesson, he asked us how he could be baptized in this church. He has set a date to be baptized November 18th. 

There's just so much that happens that can't be described in an email. Y'all will just have to wait another 21 months to hear the full stories. 

Amazing things are happening in Gävle and all throughout Sweden. Thank you for your prayers and for you support as I continue to work hard here as a missionary. I love you all! 

So funny story, since we were working so hard this past week, taking pictures didn't even cross our minds. Here's a picture of Elder Harper and I on our first day together as companions. 

-- Äldste Steele

BONUS email received 10/16/17:

So we actually ended up visiting the house of John Forsgren, the first missionary in Sweden. They have a statue of him just right outside his old house. 

The story of John Forsgren is super interesting because he grew up here in Gävle, moved to America for a bit, and then he came back to Gävle, baptized a bunch of people, got thrown in jail, they burned his Books of Mormon, he told them that the city would burn just like they were burning the books, sure enough a few years later, half the city burned down.....what a legend. 

Love y'all

-- Äldste Steele