Gott Nytt År!

Email written: 12/31/18

Hej! Gott nytt år på er! Anyone have good new year's resolutions? I'm thinking about going vegan....just kidding aldrig i livet.

The past week has just flown by as we had the chance to celebrate on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with some of the members in the ward. For some reason, Sweden celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve and Santa Clause (tomte) shows up in the evening just at the back door to deliver the presents to the kids. It's a little different than what we americans are used to be, but it was a ton of fun, and we ate plenty of pickled herring and Christmas ham, along with rum gallons and gallons of julmust. 

We were also given extra study time this past week to study everything we possibly could about our Savior, Jesus Christ. As a challenge issued in 2017 by President Russell M. Nelson, we were to use the 57 subheadings of Jesus Christ located in the topical guide in order to grow a deeper appreciation and love for the Savior. I have learned so much about Him and it was the perfect way to wrap up the great year of 2018. 

Just like last new years, I was able to eat some surströmming with the office crew.. It is now my 3rd time eating surströmming, the absolute worst smelling fish in on the planet. It was just as bad the 3rd time. I might just make it a new year's tradition from now on to eat surströmming, might be kind of fun. 

A few weeks ago, Äldste Derr and I were out knocking on doors and right before we were about to go home, we saw this massive mansion sitting on top of a hill and we knew that we needed to knock on it. Most houses in Sweden are pretty modest and none of them really stick out, but every once in a while you will get a mansion that sticks out like a sore thumb and I just love knocking on those houses (like when I did it back in Övik and turned out to be a professional hockey player something Näslund). Well anyways, we go up and knock on this door and a girl about our age answers the door and we start talking a bit, but early on into the conversation we found out that she is a satanist. She told us that she wouldn't want to listen to us as she was happy following Satan and she was going to shut the door, but then at that moment I asked her if I could tell her something before she shut the door, and then after she said yes, I powerfully preached that Satan's only desire was for her to suffer, and that she needed to come unto Christ, whose only desire is for her to have joy. Äldste Derr then pulls out the Book of Mormon and testifies like a BEAST, and then her entire attitude changed in an instant and she told us she would love to take a Book of Mormon. When we went back a few days later to see what her thoughts were on the few verses we gave to her, she told us that she actually ended up reading the entire chapter, plus a few more chapters after that because the Book of Mormon was so interesting for her to read. It really was a testament to me that we as missionaries have the power and authority of God and that we shouldn't be afraid to be bold with those that we come in contact with. 

Thanks everyone for a great year! I'm excited to see what 2019 has in store :D Until next time, happy new year! Take care!

Pictures:

1) Christmas couple 

2) solnedgången 

3) typical swedish house 

4) earlier today eating surströmming in the woods 

5) Christmas present from the Stenkronas

-- Äldste Steele

1) Christmas couple

2) solnedgången 

3) typical swedish house 

4) earlier today eating surströmming in the woods

5) Christmas present from the Stenkronas

God Jul

Email written: 12/24/18

God Jul!

God is good and Christ lives! 

--Aldste Steele

Har du haft en speciell dag?

Email written: 12/17/18

Hejsan!

Well, one week closer to Christmas everyone! I am getting so excited for Christmas here in Sweden and we finally got some snow on the ground and trees here, so it truly has a magical feel in Sweden during this time of year. We just got back from going on a random adventure in the forest and we came across a little horse pasture where these people were legit riding around in this horse cart things. I asked the guy if he could take me for a spin but he just took off so that was fun :)

This past week was the Swedish celebration, St. Lucia, which somehow also has some sort of tie to Italy, but the guy sitting next to me at the celebration didn't really know the story. He told me to go to a library and read a book about it or Google it. But, the celebration is more or less a 'Luciatåg' that comes in through the middle of the church, the head girl wearing a crown of candles, and everyone following her has candles in their hands. The concert we went to involved a lot of young kids, and so the small ones, or even the older kids that were a lot more rowdy were given just lights instead of a real candle haha. But, I really enjoyed it! It was a nice little concert, and the songs were stuck in my head the rest of the week.. 'Saanktaa luciiiiaaaa, sanktaaaa luciiiia'

Also this week, we were out tracting, as usual. We have been going a lot to this area called Sjöberg becuase we got a good feeling about it and missionaries really haven't ever been there. As we came to this one door, we knocked and becuase I was on the side opposite to the direction the door opened, I assumed Elder Derr would take the beginning of the conversation before I come in. For some reason, my head was in the clouds somewhere and when the door opened, Elder Derr didn't say anything and so I was like oh umm and without thinking I just said, 'hej, har du haft en speciell dag? ' I had no idea what I was saying haha, I had just asked this man if he has had a special day. It was kind of a weird question and I felt bad that I wasn't totally engaged in the conversation. He was kind of taken aback by the question but then after recovering quickly, we got to have a good conversation and he told us we could come back and give him a Book of Mormon. It was just proof to me that even if we stumble in our attempts as missionaries, God makes up the difference and if they're prepared, it won't necessarily matter what you say to start the conversation! But, with that being said, I hope all of you can make each day, en speciell dag! :)

One last thing! We were in kind of a dilemma Saturday because we had too many things planned and needed to figure out what things we would opt of participating in and which things we would do that evening. After careful thought, we decided to attend the baptism of a young girl that has grown up in the church. Not sure why we went, but it felt like it was the right thing to do. Sure enough, when we came into the chapel for the beginning of the baptism, we saw this couple that we have wanted to start teaching the past few weeks! The wife doesn't come as often and the man isn't a member (yet). He had wanted to come to the baptism to see how it all works because one day he might be doing the same thing! We got to sit by them and get to know them better and we got one step closer to begin teaching them! It was cool to see that little miracle there!

Life is good here in Täby! Zone conference is this week and Christmas is just right around the corner! Until next time, God Jul och Gott nytt år!!! 

Pictures:

1) jag och min kompis här 

2) svenska kyrkan där vi kollade på Lucia

3) kontoret squad med hästar

4) vackert 

-- Äldste Steele

1) jag och min kompis här 

2) svenska kyrkan där vi kollade på Lucia

3) kontoret squad med hästar

4) vackert 

Light Explosion

Email written: 12/10/18

Hej allesammans, 

So, I waited till the very end of the day to type out how my week went, and so I don't have much time to do it :O

But, we were able to witness a ton of miracles this past week. Probably the biggest one was that the new missionaries all got their visas last minute and all of them came this past Tuesday. They continue to send the best of the best to Sweden. President Youngberg actually told us recently that 3 of the Apostles have said that they send a really special type of missionary to the Sweden Stockholm mission and so it truly is an honor to be serving here along with all the other bright, talented and dedicated servants of the Lord. 

A few weeks ago, we had asked this sweet lady in our ward to write her testimony in a Book of Mormon so that as could give it out to someone in the neighborhood. We were able to give it to someone a few days ago and we went right over to give a report to this member that had written her testimony in the Book. On our way there, we met this older man that were able to have a nice conversation with and he told us how much he liked the way that we try to missionary (att missionera is actually a verb in Swedish) so that was nice. But then, he told us that if we would start walking down the road, we would see an ultimate light explosion and so we kept going down the road and then boom, there it was, a house with around 60,000 Christmas lights in the middle of a nice Swedish neighborhood. We asked the member all about the house and she told us the whole back story and she even explained it to some people walking by that asked if it was some American who lived there. 

Well, later after we talked to the member, we went to talk to those Swedes that made a comment about America and started talking to them in front of the light explosion house. It was pretty easy to start a conversation since we are Americans and they had made a comment about the house. Turns out, they live right next door to one of the members in the Stockholm ward and it was such a small world connection just right there! 

But, life is good and I can't wait for Christmas! Don't forget the real reason for the season.. Our Savior was born. Have a good week! 

Pictures:

1) Light Explosion 

2) me and Äldste Baggett, who is home now

3) sightseeing with new missionaries 

4) a Swedish church 

-- Äldste Steele

1) Light Explosion 

2) me and Äldste Baggett, who is home now

3) sightseeing with new missionaries 

4) a Swedish church 

How Many Days till Christmas?

Email written: 12/3/18

Hej allihopa! It's December now! Helt otroligt!

It's been another crazy and good week in the office with Äldste Derr. We found out a few days ago that we will be staying together for another transfer so we both are pretty excited about that. It was neat to be a part of the transfer board now as an assistant and really be a witness to the inspiration that President Youngberg receives for the missionaries and different areas. Elder Derr and I will be staying together, but because of the decrease in the amount of missionaries in Sweden, the sisters in the ward will be moving to other parts of Sweden and so it will just be me and my companion in the Täby ward now. 

Out tracting this week, we saw a very very large man through the window not wearing any clothes so that was interesting. But anyways...

Light the World initiative has officially begun and it was supposed to start off with a worldwide day of service, but after calling all the second hand stores in the area, and trying to set something up with our bishop, everything fell through and so we ended up not doing anything too crazy but we did think about how we could serve the zone leaders and were able to send them all a really nice text to let them know all the good they are doing. 

During weekly planning, we got started on a discussion on how we can help more Swedes to come to church. I've noticed that those that make the most progress in their gospel learning are those that are willing to come to church and so we need to do all we can to find those that want to come. Right after we had said this and prayed over our plans, we headed out to this new area called Sjöberg.. We had never been there before but it was pretty close to our apartment and it was the first area that popped into my companions head. So, we headed on out there and on the 2nd door we knock on, this middle aged man comes out and starts talking with us. He actually came out to his balcony instead of opening the door so it kind of awkward as we were yelling up to him on his balcony. But, we just started talking and he told us about how great of a guy he is and how much he tries to help and how he is santa for Christmas and he donates money to cancer research and so he is just such an overall trevlig and snäll. We brought up the Book of Mormon and he finally came down off his balcony and took the book!! He told us that he is going to read the whole book before the end of the year. We then told him that he is more than welcome on the 23rd of December for church and he said that he will be coming for sure and he will be taking his wife with him!! Just like that, after making plans of getting more Swedes to church, we meet a man like Tomas. It was such a big miracle for us this week.

Well, we have a lot to get prepared for as the new missionaries all come tomorrow! Ha en bra vecka!   

Pictures:

1) we went on a boat today 

2) riding a boat through stockholm

3) the classic elder derr face

-- Äldste Steele

1) we went on a boat today

2) riding a boat through stockholm

3) the classic elder derr face

Husen är låga och Världen är liten

Email written: 11/26/18

Hallå! It's Äldste Steele again in another weekly email!

This week was another special one because for starters, we got to celebrate Thanksgiving at the Youngbergs. It felt like we were back at home since we had a full Thanksgiving meal with a bunch of other Americans. We were able to go around the table and all say something that we are thankful for. Obviously everyone knows that I am thankful for my family and for the gospel, and so I said that I was thankful for all of my other friends that also decided to serve missions and their example for me! I truly am thankful for the example that all of my friends have set for me.

The week started off with some zone conferences and traveling. For some reason, at the beginning of my mission, I was terrified to talk to people on airplanes, but I've overcome that fear and seen the blessings of it. I sat next to this woman on the plane ride from Malmö to Stockholm and not too long into the conversation, she told me that she wished she had a belief in her life because it would be so nice to have one. I immediately pulled out a trust Mormons Bok, testified of the way my faith has grown by reading the book, and incited her to read it. She gladly accepted and we got to have such a trevlig conversation the rest of the way to Stockholm.

Later on in the week, I was on splits with Äldste Sirrine, who is a zone leader up in Umeå and is from my same MTC group. We had about an hour to find on Saturday morning before their flight back home, and so we prayerfully thought about where we needed to be and who we needed to find. I got the impression that we needed to be in Ella Park and Elder Sirrine felt like we would meet a woman holding a child. And so, with those thoughts in mind, we went out trying to find those interested in the message. After lots of the normal no's that we get when knocking on doors, we come to this one door where a lady answers the door. I can't see her at first, but all I hear is that she wanted to speak English with us and we were like please we want to practice our Swedish and she's like I'm American though!!! And that totally took us off guard and so we told her that we also were from the land of freedom and she let us right in. After talking for a bit, we find out that this woman is from PLANO, TEXAS. What are the odds of that!? I'm in Stockholm, and I meet someone that lived just 15 mins away from me in Texas. I about lost my marbles on this one. But get this, it gets better... She was holding a dog in her hands, and while it wasn't a child, I knew exactly that was the woman Äldste Sirrine thought of in the morning. As we got to know her more, she said, guys, you won't believe this. Just this past week in school my daughter decided to study the Latter day Saints and so you'll have to come back and help her learn more!! What a miracle..

Yesterday at church, we had a million härliga upplevelser. At the end of elders quorum this week, a man by the name of Paco asked if he could have a few minutes to share his testimony. Paco is someone that the sisters contacted into this past week as they were running to catch a bus. He stayed for all 3 hours of church! But back to the story he shared.. he asked for the floor and began telling us this great story of his upbringing and where he's at in his life. He told us that he had grown up Muslim in the land of Congo, but since the rest of his family was Christian, they always would persuade him to come to church and become a follower of Christ. Finally he listened and began searching after a church to go to. The man spoke of how much he loved being in church, how welcomed he was and how we wants to keep coming. He then looked around and said, what is today? And we all told him it was the 25th and then he said that from today, the 25th for the rest of my life, I will be a part of this church. I will be here every week and serve in this church. I am here to serve God. Everyone just about fell out of their chair and tears filled my eyes. All the brothers in the elders quorum came up to meet him and welcome him in. It was so unbelievably special. Miracles continue to happen here in Sweden. We are finding those that are prepared and making sure they are taken good care of by the ward. Shortly after the meeting, we got a phone call from one of the newest baptized members of the ward, Moses, and he was literally on cloud nine. He told us how happy he was that Paco came to church and how excited he is to see someone join the church. He expressed to us further that he just loved the church so much. Yesterday was almost overwhelming because of how special it was and sorry if I can't quite explain it all that well.. Hard to convey emotions in an email.

But, life is so great. We have decorated our apartment with all our Christmas decorations and we look forward to participating in #EttLjusFörVärlden! Until next week, ha det fint!

PS, to explain the title.. There is a classic Swedish song called 'Välkommen Hem' and one of the lines in there says, Husen är höga och Världen är stor... But since I had a small world moment, thought to change the lyrics :)

Pics:

1) Äldste Sirrine!

2) Gamla Stan from last Pday

3) Happy Birthday Syster Bailey!

4) Me and Moses!!

5) God JUL

1) Äldste Sirrine!

2) Gamla Stan from last Pday

3) Happy Birthday Syster Bailey!

4) Me and Moses!!

5) God JUL

First Round of Zone Conferences

Email written: 11/19/18

1) our office

Hej ni fina!

This week has been absolutely incredible with all the different zone conferences that we had this week. It's really interesting to see how all the zone conferences differ and the different impressions President Youngberg gets for each individual zone.

Elder Derr and I had the chance to lead a training on enriching our personal studies. We came up with our one-liner to end the whole presentation and it was 'When you read, you'll count the pages. But if you study, you'll make the pages count.' It's gotten a lot of good responses from the missionaries and we have heard from a few missionaries that their personal studies have become so much better over the past few days! Studying the gospel is so amazing and I've been able to learn and understand so much since being a missionary. It was kind of cool to talk to Elder Derr about it as he complimented my scriptural knowledge and understanding, and it's honestly just come from the past year and half.

After the Stockholm south zone conference on Wednesday evening, we were all just socializing in the foyer, when this man just walks into the church. I just assumed that the missionaries in the area had set up a lesson with someone and so we didn't really know what to think of it. But no one was coming to talk to him and he's just like um could someone show me around? And my mouth about dropped...a 23 year old Swedish man just randomly walking into a church to learn more. The elders in the area hopped on it immediately and we went out to the car to load up before we headed home. We got in the car but Elder Derr felt we should go back in and introduce ourselves to this man and make him feel more welcome in the church. And so, we came back in and joined the Haninge Äldster right there in the chapel.

We found out that the man's name was Tony and that he had met missionaries once or twice a few months back but had been too busy to meet but he felt like he needed to check out the church that evening. What a miracle it was that the exact evening he wanted to go there, we had just finished zone conference. Also, a big topic of our zone conference was short and powerful statements as well as the Book of Mormon. And as we were standing in the chapel teaching Tony, he asked each of us to give one powerful sentence about the importance of the Book of Mormon and so it was cool to see things come in full circle. To top it all off, we taught him how to pray and before we left, he said a prayer with us and it was a special moment for all of us there! I'll never forget it.

We also had the chance to have stake conference yesterday. 3 of the wards that I have/currently are serving in were there: Gävle, Stockholm, Täby. I felt so much joy to see my good friends from all the wards, gathered together for an uplifting conference this past weekend. One of the speakers at stake conference, was someone that was baptized into the Stockholm at the beginning of the year....a Swedish mom that has 4 very young kids. She shared such a powerful testimony and everyone at the conference was touched, including our mission president that had the chance to interview them for baptism and now he gets to see them prepare for the temple. Miracles continue to happen even here in Sweden people! 

Other than that, the work continues to move forward. The Lord is hastening His work and giving us the opportunity to see big changes happen in the lives of the Swedish people. Doesn't get any better than this. We'll be catching a plane this evening and heading back to Göteborg to continue our zone conferences there. There honestly never is down time here in Täby. Makes life interesting :D 

Pictures:

1) our office

2) I've been on way too many flights in sweden...

3) the sun came out in Stockholm this week

4) Dessert at a member's yesterday

5) MTC companion

6) BONUS PICTURES from other missionary mommas!

-- Äldste Steele

2) I've been on way too many flights in sweden...

3) the sun came out in Stockholm this week

4) Dessert at a member's yesterday

5) MTC companion (Äldste Butler)

6) Äldste Bills

6) Äldste Baggett

Reunions

Email written: 11/12/18

Kära läsare!

2) happy halloween from Drottninggatan 

What a week it has been. Just when I thought life couldn't get any crazier since moving back to Stockholm. Äldste Derr and I decided to go on 3 splits this past week with 3 of the zone leaders that we have in mission. I was able to learn so much from all the splits, but one of the biggest things that I learned was that we shouldn't do that many splits again in one week. It makes it feel like you're not even companions anymore with your companion and that's not good especially in prepariton for zone conferences this week and the following week! 

But, one of the greatest things about the splits was I got to fly down to Göteborg to my old area. I teamed up with Äldste Lee, who i actually knew back in my BYU days. We got to visit some of the people that I taught and we even got to have a good Swedish lesson with my swedish grandpa, Lennart. It was a lot of fun to be there and realize that, even thought I'm not there anymore, life continues to go forward for everyone there. It felt as if so much had changed in the 3 weeks that I had moved here to Stockholm. 

The very next day, I got to be with Äldste Gordon, someone who I also knew back at BYU and so it was like a big ol' BYU reunion this week! Äldste Gordon and I put in some serious work and on the last door that we knocked, we met a Swedish family that was totally interested in hearing the message!! It all started when we swung by a member and asked them to pray for us before we went out knocking on doors and sure enough, prayers were answered, and we got a return appointment with a Swedish family. Blessings on blessings...

And then, to top all the reunions off, I got to be back with Äldste Butler, my MTC comp!! It was crazy for us to talk swedish to each other all day and see how much progress that we have made. We got to visit one of our good friends Wuang who is trying to learn a song on the piano and we were there to help him out with the song. We looked at the music and listened to the recording and I knew he wouldn't be able to play it. And so I said, with all due respect Wuang, how in the world do you think you are going to play this song?? And we all just started laughing, he gave up on the song, and then we got to talk about the gospel so that was fun. A nice bonus was a gourmet salmon dish for dinner. 

But, I'm loving life here in Täby. It's great to see the successes of all the missionaries here in Sweden and to see the efforts of all of us trying to help others come to Christ. We will have 3 zone conferences this week, including one in Norrland, where I get to see my dear son, Äldste Thompson again. It will be a great reunion...same thing with Stake conference when the Gävle branch members will be making their way down to Stockholm and so I get to see them this week as well. Aren't reunions the greatest?? Well everyone, have a great week! 

HEJDÅÅÅ

Pictures:

1) Åhlens building decorated for christmas

2) happy halloween from Drottninggatan 

3) äldste lee!!

4) äldste gordon hahaha

5) saturday morning fotboll

-- Äldste Steele

1) Åhlens building decorated for christmas

3) äldste lee!!

4) äldste gordon hahaha

5) saturday morning fotboll

Following the Spirit and Learning About Radios

Email written: 11/5/18

5) Äldste Lewis!

Tjena! 

Wow, what a week it has been my friends. Being an assistant really has been a huge adjustment from just me and my companion putting in work in our area. It's now, putting in work in our own area, as well as going on splits with zone leaders in the mission, and not to mention a lot more meetings, but it's a blast here in the office and I love having this opportunity to serve with Äldste Derr, along with our mission president, President Youngberg. 

To start the week off, we traveled all the way down to Malmö with splits with the zone leaders. On our way to the airport, we hit some really heavy traffic, and so we ended up missing our flight there, but thankfully we were able to book a new flight that night that was WAY CHEAP. That being said, we almost died coming in to land in Malmö. I've never been in such bad turbulence in my life. The plane literally got thrown side to side, so that was pretty fun, since we made it safely. As were all freaking out on the plane, I said a little prayer and I really felt at peace. This lady turned over and looked at me terrified, and I just gave her a nice smile and it made her feel at peace too. 

But anyways, I was able to work with Äldste Lewis (past companion) the whole day and words can't describe how awesome it was to be back with him for the day. One thing that we really focused on in our contacts, was having the spirit with us so that we could teach and invite according to that specific person's needs. It's so true that we need the guidance of the Holy Ghost in order to know what to say. So many conversations would end and Äldste lewis would be like dang äldste, where did you get that idea from? And I would just give him a little smirk and say 'Anden', which means the spirit for those that don't know swedish. 

Right after that split, we had district council and I got to go on another split with my district leader, Äldste Barney, who actually is from my MTC group. It was the first time that I actually got to go on splits with an elder from my group and it was so much fun. We got to see how much we've both grown in the past year or so in Sweden. When we were out tracting, we got let in twice so that was pretty amazing, usually doesn't happen that often here in Sweden. One of the old guys that let us in had a ginormous radio tower just in the middle of his yard and so I started asking him about it and he started giving me this whole lecture on radios and then I asked him if he could show me his equipment and then he just let us right in. We got to share a quick message with them and prayed with them as well. I totally pulled a President Nelson on this man...the following quote taken from the April general conference:

'I gazed about the room with wonderment and said, “Brother [Sven Svensson], I have always wanted to learn more about amateur radio work. Would you be willing to teach me about it? I’m sorry I can’t stay any longer tonight, but could I come back another time?”  

The very next morning, we had another great experience that involved following the spirit in the work. As we were planning for the morning, Elder Barney and I tried to set a goal for our train/ stan contacting. We set the goal for one, but I was like äldste we need to get more specific. And so, we thought about who the person would be, and I got the impression that it was going to be someone very very quiet. And then Äldste barney added, and probably around 5'6, 5'7, and so then we prayed over our plans, and as Äldste Barney was praying, he said henne without even thinking and so we knew that it would also be a woman. And so they we were, trying hard to find the one. We tried our hardest and invited quite a few people, but no one was interested. Then, as we come to the last contact, we stop this girl in stan. We start talking to hear and she just stands there listening to what we have to say. About half way through the conversation, I'm like, wait a minute, this girl is very very quiet. And she is also about 5'6.....She said that our message sounded 'helt underbart' and that she would want to hear more about it. That experience was so amazing and quite the miracle!

I'm loving the work and I'm loving all the great things that we are experiencing as members of Christ's church in the latter days. I thought to end my email with another great quote from our prophet, Russell M. Nelson. About the coming days and about all the changes that have happened in the church recently, he said, "If you think the Church has been fully restored, you're just seeing the beginning. There is much more to come. … Wait till next year. And then the next year. Eat your vitamin pills. Get your rest. It's going to be exciting." We truly are living in some exciting times and i'm thankful to be a missionary at this time. 

Until next week, ha det så bra! 

Pictures:

1) äldste barney!!

2) flying for splits 

3) jakobsberg chapel 

4) more nature in sweden 

5) Äldste Lewis!

-- Äldste Steele

1) äldste barney!!

2) flying for splits 

3) jakobsberg chapel  

4) more nature in sweden 

First Week in the Office

Email written: 10/30/18

Hej på er!!

You know at water parks and sometimes on the lazy river they have a big whirlpool that spins around pretty fast? Well, that's pretty much like what it felt this past week as my first week in the office. There were about a million things to do and my head was always spinning, but it's so great to be here, back in Stockholm with Äldste Derr. 

1) The new group of missionaries

The first part of the week was concerned about the transfers, which included new missionaries coming in and old missionaries going home after their two years. RIP pappa harper. We had the privilege to pick up the brand new missionaries from the airport on tuesday morning and it was so much fun to be around new missionaries. They had such a fire for missionary work and were so excited to meet their trainers and get to work. We were able to take them to a church that was pretty close by when we had a little bit of downtime and that experience in of itself was super cool to be a part of.  When we got there, the church was completely closed and it kind of bummed me out, and everyone was freezing cold anyways and wanted to go inside, so I keep looking around for an entrance. We come up to a glass entrance, and i try pulling on the handle to get in to the building. A woman sitting at a desk looked very angry at me for trying to get in to the church. Also, it probably didn't look too good with 16 or so missionaries just knocking on a door of another church. It was pretty unfair for her....16 soldiers in the Lord's army vs. 1 swedish church priest. But, she got up from her desk and asked us very sharply what we were doing. I replied politely and respectfully and her entire countenance changed and she offered to give us a whole tour of the building! We got a great language and swedish church history lesson all in one! At the end of the tour, Ä. Derr and I had the opportunity to testify powerfully of the message of the restoration and gave her a card. It was great to see the change from someone being very angry at us to very accepting of us and curious to see who we were. 

Amidst all of our other meetings, we had the chance to get out and do some classic missionary work, which is where the true joy lies in a mission. As we were out knocking doors this past week, we had a goal to get let in. After knocking for about an hour, and not facing much success, we had a quick conversation about our goal for that evening. With a new determination to reach our goal after remembering the one we had prayerfully set that morning, we knock on the next door. This snygg swedish man dressed up in a suit comes walking out and starts talking with us. We find out that the reason he is dressed up so nice is just because he had family night...like dang what a cute family they were!! The man welcomed us in and we taught them all about the gospel that has been restored to us! We are going back this next week to teach them more!! 

The reason that I'm emailing today, was because yesterday we had mission leadership council. In our councils, President Youngberg just brings up topics and we get to discuss our views and experiences, so that we all can get a pretty good feel for what is going on in the mission. The spirit was so strong in that room throughout the whole meeting and it was amazing to see how each and every discussion was inspired. The leaders that we have right now in the mission are unreal...hur duktig som helst!! 

Too many times in our lives, we have the tendency to focus on the things that we are not doing or doing poorly, and seldom on the things that we are doing right. I'm nowhere near perfection in my calling as assistant now, but instead of beating myself up over the areas that I lack, i instead can joy in the successes and take 1-2 things at a time to work on, and eventually, i'll reach perfection. Not in this life, but in the next life. 

Hope you all have a great week! I'm flying out to Malmö in a few hours...so gotta blast! Hej då

Pictures: 

1) The new group of missionaries

2) stockholm temple 

3) hejdå pappa

4) halloween activity this past saturday 

5) too cute,,,had to send 

-- Äldste Steele

2) stockholm temple 

3) hejdå pappa

4) halloween activity this past saturday 

5) too cute,,,had to send 

Hejdå Göteborg, Hallå Stockholm

Email written: 10/22/18

4) New comp in Gamla Stan

Hej!

It's been a crazy and stressful past few days. On Thursday night, Elder Harper and I get a text from President Youngberg. The text was just for us to give him a call when we get the chance.

Well, fast forward to that evening when we finally get home. We give President a call and hes like, we'll Äldster, sisters are coming in to Utby.. To which I reply "But president, where am I going??" He just goes, we'll get there, hold on.

He tells us all we need to know to prepare for the sisters doubling in and let's us know that the time we have to do it is very very limited. President goes "The reason you need to get this done so soon is because Äldste Steele will be coming to Stockholm and will be companions with Äldste Derr, which means he will be assistant." 

So, I'm back in Stockholm now. In fact, I just got back from Gamla stan! I'm going to be working pretty closely to President Youngberg as one of his assistants. It's going to be a great learning experience and I'm excited for this opportunity to serve. There's a lot more meetings and what not to prepare for this week, so I don't have a ton of time, but I'll have more time next week to share some more cool stories about the people we are teaching! Until next week, ha det bra!   

Pictures: 

1) Family Pictures

2) We had Stake conference yesterday at a huge conference center 

3) funny sign i found

4) New comp in Gamla Stan

5) I forgot how beautiful Stockholm was 

6) still a child sometimes

-- Äldste Steele

1) Family Pictures

2) We had Stake conference yesterday at a huge conference center 

3) funny sign I found

5) I forgot how beautiful Stockholm was 

6) still a child sometimes