I Love Lucia (and a Russian tjej?)

Email written: 12/18/17

God Jul vänner och familj!  

3) Hook 'Em?

Holy Moly Guacamole, where has the time gone? Christmas is only 1 week! Next week I probably won't be sending out an email since I'll be skyping my family, but just know that this next week will be just as good as the previous week (especially with all the food that we're going to eat with all the members here). 

4) Lucia i Kyrkan

Pretty early on in the week, we celebrated Lucia Dagen, which is some random Swedish holiday where girls dressed in white robes and holding candles (with the St. Lucia wearing a crown of candles) come into the church and sing a bunch of songs. Anne-Lill, one of the members in the branch, took Elder Berlin and I to the biggest church in Gävle, Heliga Trefaldighets Kyrkan, to really celebrate it the best way possible in Gävle. All the tjejer were so talented, and there was actually a talented opera singer man who really added to the whole experience, so I really enjoyed myself. Sometimes it's good to take a quick step back and enjoy the culture around you instead of stressing out about what person we're going to talk to next, or what lesson we need to go to. Elder Berlin even had a nice little nap through the whole thing, so I was a good companion and gave my bro a nice back scratch.

That same day, only earlier in the afternoon, Elder Berlin and I were on the way to a lesson with someone and realized that we had a bit of time to get there, so we were going to talk to a bunch of people on the way there, and hopefully get a potential investigator out of it. We ended up meeting a girl named Katja, who is about our same age, and was super receptive to what we had to say. We found out that she and her sister were actually adopted from Russia when she was 9 years old. Her whole life she had believed in God, but then the family in Sweden that adopted didn't believe in God, so she wasn't really sure what to do at that point. I can't even imagine what that would be like. All I know, is that i'm so thankful for my family that has strengthened my faith in God. Well, shortly after we found out that she was from Russia, I pulled out my daily planner where I had written down a simple phrase in Russian that Alanna told me to tell people who can speak Russian. The phrase is 'God loves you', and so I tried my best to pronounce it, and I guess it came out me saying 'I love you', and to my surprise, she said 'I love you too' back to me in Swedish. It was quite the awkward experience, but Elder Berlin and I were able to have a nice laugh about it afterwards. Katja was able to come to our Pizza night on Saturday and we talked a little more, and I found out that she was actually born in YEKATERINBURG. what a small world...what a small world. 

1) MY POPPA

This past week we also had our zone conference down in Handen, which is just south of Stockholm. There, I was able to see my poppa Elder Harper. I really missed that kid...we got along so well and have the same sense of humor. I was so happy to tell him about all the miracles happening in Gävle. We cracked jokes to each other the rest of the conference and just were so happy to see each other again. At zone conference, we actually ended up watching 'It's A Wonderful Life', and wow...what a classic. It made me 'trunky' (a word to describe a missionary who misses home), but it also gave me a good perspective on my life and the mission! 

On the way home from zone conference, we were waiting around for our train to come at the Handen station. A bunch of other missionaries were waiting there with us, but I wasn't really fitting in with the group, so I went out to find a new friend at the Handen station. The first thing that caught my attention was a dude wearing an American flag beanie. I immediately went up to him and started talking about his hat and how much I loved it...because USA BABY. And we just became instant bros and had an awesome conversation. Then, my companion comes out of nowhere and is just like bro, we have a message from God that you need to hear. And Ahmed could recognize immediately that we weren't lying. We found out where he lived and got him the number to the missionaries that live in his area. He ended up calling them right on the spot and said to them that he had just met us and that he wants to be a part of the church. Fast forward...and HE CAME TO CHURCH for all 3 hours and just talked about how happy he was to be in church. All it takes is just a little bit of courage to open your mouth, and miracles are sure to follow. 

Hope you all have a great week and fantastic Christmas, whether that be with friends or family, just appreciate all the amazing things you have in your lives and think about the true meaning of Christmas....the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Ha det fint! Hejdå. 

-- Äldste Steele

Pictures:

1) MY POPPA

2) one of my lil homies. one of our investigators, Alexandre, has 8 kids and this is one of them

3) Hook 'Em?

4) Lucia i Kyrkan

5) We got a special tour of the hockey arena today and got to not only watch their practice, but also meet the team! Skål för Brynäs!

6) We were able to do that, thanks to SAM THE MAN, one of the members of the branch who worked for the hockey team

7) A dog of an investigator that unfortunately dropped us this week

2) one of my lil homies. one of our investigators, Alexandre, has 8 kids and this is one of them

5) We got a special tour of the hockey arena today and got to not only watch their practice, but also meet the team!
Skål för Brynäs!

6) We were able to do that, thanks to SAM THE MAN, one of the members of the branch who worked for the hockey team

7) A dog of an investigator that unfortunately dropped us this week

Hit the Quan

Email written: 12/11/17

Hallå! 

Wow, another week out here i det utvalda landet! With only 2 weeks left till Christmas, 2 days till St. Lucia, and Zone Conference this week as well, the time is just going by so fast as we anticipate all the amazing celebrations members have in store for us this Christmas season.

This week was a pretty random week I would say, so there isn't really an overarching story that I can tell that links the days together, but I can share some really awesome experiences in finding, but also experiences I would say that have turned me from a boy to man. 

1) Our man Erik

The week started off with our normal trek across the street to Willy's for our weekly grocery run (mom, don't worry, im eating lots of fruits and veggies). As we were walking into the store, a sweet, old woman said that we looked like some nice boys and asked for help to put a giant bag of dog food into her car. We agreed enthusiastically, as we love to give unplanned service throughout the day! After getting the job done, we began to talk about the church as it was right across the street. She had always seen the building, but never went in. We were able to switch numbers and she actually gave us her address too for us to come by one time. Later in the week, we went over to her apartment with an elderly couple in the branch, and we have an amazing lesson about God and Christ and how we can learn about them in the Book of Mormon. She straight up told us that she doesn't believe God helps people because she's gone through a divorce, she battled breast cancer last year, and so many other hard things in her life, but we were able to promise her so many blessings as she started to seek the truth and find out more about God's plan. Her name is Maöd, and I still don't exactly know how to say it, but we are super hopeful for the future with her!

Another cool experience was when we hopped onto a bus from the church back into downtown. I saw an Asian woman sitting alone reading a book, so I decided to go sit next to her. For all of you that are wondering, yes her name is Quan, hence the subject line. I politely asked what book she was reading and it was In Cold Blood, a book I read for summer reading before my junior year. We were able to talk a lot about the book and I was able to promise her it gets good, the beginning is just a little slow. Well, her bus stop came way too fast, and we had to cut the conversation short, but I quickly mentioned another book that we have that she could read (aka Mormons Bok). We switched numbers in lightning speed, and then she was on her way. A few days later, we were able to meet again, give her a Book of Mormon, and answer some questions she's had about life. She is so fantastic, and isn't afraid to ask questions! 

Now, to the tough parts of the week.....take a seat and grab some popcorn, because it's about to get real.

On Wednesday, we had so many lessons planned in the evening, that we were slowly beginning to realize that there was no time for dinner. As we thought about it, and thought about the needs of our investigators, we decided to have a fast from food and water for 24 hours for that extra spiritual boost our investigators needed. Since we now have bikes in our area, it is the most common form of transportation. So we biked all Wednesday, on top of us not eating or drinking that day. After all was said and done, and many lessons had been taught, it was time to go home, but we were all the way at the church and it was 9pm. We were just completely exhausted and I really just wanted to crash, but we had to bike 6km (that turned into about 8-9 since we got lost) back to our apartment, with a huge chunk of it uphill. It was one of the hardest things physically that I've had to do, biking all the way back in the cold after a long day of missionary work. As we biked back and I was fighting up the hill, I just began to cry, both with tears and in a prayer to God, asking why I had to go through this. Why, why, why. I didn't receive an answer then for why, but we finally made it back to the apartment and I just crashed on the bed and didn't move until the alarm went off 8 hours later. 

The next day we went to a pizzeria for dinner and a little Book of Mormon study session. During our study session, a lady come up to us trying to Bible bash and the two guys behind us were making Islam jokes, so that was an interesting experiences. Ms. Bible Bash became a potential investigator and the two guys are buying the pizza this week :) Well, we then went to the church with Erik (the member were with at pizzeria) to teach our investigator Selma. Pretty soon after we arrived, Selma just started crying and ended up telling us a huge chunk of her life story, how hard it's been, and how many messed up things she's gone through, details of events that I'm not going to repeat out of respect for her, and it was just a really heavy conversation. Erik, was then able to tell a bit of his life story for Selma, because his life really hasn't been that easy, and then he began to cry. Lots of tears this week people. But it was just such a tender moment. The room then got quiet, and a thought came into my head. 'It's because I'm preparing you for something greater'. The answer to my cry for help the night before. Elder Berlin and I were then able to teach with so much power about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The spiritual experiences here on the mission are unbelievable, and I know without a doubt that God does answer our prayers!

We had a nice end to the week at church yesterday, where I gave my first ever talk in Swedish! I talked for a whole 10 minutes about Christ-like love. From what the members said, it went super well! I also was able to bless the Sacrament, lead the hymns, and teach gospel principles the 2nd hour! Super super busy, but so happy that things are coming together in the branch! 7 people (plus 2 kids) came to Sacrament meeting!!!!! So many miracles :)

Life is good. Love you all! 

Pictures:

1) Our man Erik

2) Library study sesh with members Annelie and Ulrika!

3) After wednesday night #såtrött 

4/5) One of our investigators invited us over because he was going to make some food with his friends. Turned out to be an all out Arabic feast and all the guys there loved us so much and wanted us to have dinner there every night haha. 

6) Cykel grind 

-- Äldste Steele

2) Library study sesh with members Annelie and Ulrika!

4/5) One of our investigators invited us over because he was going to make some food with his friends. Turned out to be an all out Arabic feast and all the guys there loved us so much and wanted us to have dinner there every night haha. 

5

Don't Judge a Bock By It's Cover

Email written: 12/4/17

The rest are just of the giant goat. enjoy!

Tjenare Familj och Kompisar! 

It has been such a fantastic week and it was another week where so much happened, I just can't tell it all. I am so happy that it is December now and Christmas (Jul på Svenska) is in full swing, with lights, and pepparkakor, julmust, glogg, and so much more. There is so much to be thankful for the Christmas season, one of those especially being that people have been so open to talk about Christmas and their traditions, which makes it easy for us to transition into our message of Christ.

Briefly in my last email, I mentioned Selma, one of our new investigators. I thought I might want to tell a little bit more about her progress, because she is so amazing! She has now been to church two times, our monday night activity, a relief society activity, has the number of almost every member in the branch, came to dinner last night with us at a member's home, and to top it all off.....she reads the Book of Mormon every day!! Selma originally is from Iraq, but moved her back in 2001, so has been here for quite some time. She has 2 daughters here in Sweden, but unfortunately she doesn't get to see them too often, so she has expressed so much how she just loves the new family she has at church now and just cannot wait until the day she gets to wear 'vit kläder och döpa sig' 

A quick preview for the little story of the week. In Gävle, every Christmas, they have a huge straw goat in the middle of the city. It's called the JulBocken. Hence the subject line. But anyways, they had a huge dedication for the goat last night and there were fireworks and music, and pretty much the entire city of Gävle. It was so much fun and the perfect finding opportunity.

But anyways....A few weeks ago Elder Harper, Mihail, and I were waiting for a bus from the church back to Sätra where we live. As we were waiting there, a random man came up to us, saying a bunch of crazy things about drugs and members in the church using drugs and what not, and came to found out that he was a recovering meth addict as well. It was a super weird conversation and I hoped I would never seen the man again. But then fast forward to the first monday that Elder Berlin and I were together as we were waiting for the same exact bus back and the same guy came back to talk to us. Oh great...I thought, not again. But then I put aside all past thoughts and focused on the present and actually had a super fantastic conversation with him. We found out he is friends with some of the branch members and in the past has thought he's unwelcome in church because he's on certain medications to recover from his addiction. We cleared that up, switched numbers, and invited him to church. Sure enough, our man Patric walked through the church doors yesterday and had an amazing time. He asked for a Book of Mormon and wanted us to write our names and a note in the book. He also downloaded Gospel Library app and was just going crazy on it, talking about how he's going to read on the bus and send scriptures to friends and share them on faceboook. He is just all over the place and a little jittery, but has such a good heart and really wants to learn more. There's a lot of things to overcome for him, but we have faith that he will overcome it all. Don't judge a bock by it's cover!

Honorable Mention This Week:

-I talked to a lady on the bus briefly asking her if she liked chocolate because I had a ton of extra chocolate in my bag. She said sometimes, so I pulled out the chocolate and tried to give it to her. She then said to me 'Jag vill inte ha din choklad, och jag vill inte bli frälst' People are great.

But seriously, a billion things happened this week, but I just don't quite have the time to tell it all. Elder Berlin and I actually are about to go on a walk with a member who just became homeless and hopefully give him some spiritual strength to kämpa på.

Ha en fin vecka! Jag älskar er. 

Pictures:

1) Christmas came a little early. We got some new bikes.

The rest are just of the giant goat. enjoy!

-- Äldste Steele

1) Christmas came a little early. We got some new bikes.

The rest are just of the giant goat. enjoy!

The rest are just of the giant goat. enjoy!