Wonderful life in Sweden!

District Meeting with the elders and sisters.

Our Farewell luncheon for Elder and Sister Pearson

APs Elder Spjut and Ashworth, Office Secretaries Elder Lewis and Dawson.

This week has just flown by and this is the first chance I have had to write. We had some wonderful visits with Kyle this week and when they brought the twins home, he Skyped us so we could see both Eva and Leila. What beautiful little girls! That Skype is GREAT! Kyle and Kandace are adjusting to the additions to their family and loving being parents. Our thoughts and prayers are with them. How grateful I am for the faith that God is watching over our loved ones.

We had the sister missionaries over for dinner Monday evening and were supposed to have Birgitta as well, but she became very ill and was unable to join us. She sent the sweetest note telling us she could not come. We keep her in our prayers as she is such a wonderful person and truly felt the Spirit of the Lord when she was in our home just before Christmas.

Wednesday we spent all day in the temple. It is always such a blessing to serve there. We are actually learning a few Swedish words as we work. I’m sure the Swedes get a kick out of how we pronounce some of the words. However, they are most helpful and kind.

Our District meeting was Thursday and since it takes us one and one half hours each way to get to the meeting, most of the day was gone with travel, and lunch, then a 2 hour meeting. Elder Gomez had prepared a good lesson using the techniques taught in Zone Conference by Elder Kopischke on how to engage in conversation with people the missionaries meet. We had a practice session that focused on using the technique they were taught.

Two senior couples are going home this Thursday so we had a lunch at the mission office on Friday as a farewell together. We will miss these couples as they leave. It is amazing what a wonderful bond we share as we work together. I made three dozen rolls for the lunch.

Our ward temple day was Friday so we spent four hours helping at the temple, then we attended a baptism of a young man from the Congo who has moved to Stockholm. He was golden and had looked up the church as he wanted to know more. When he was 16 he had learned about the church while living with his grandparents. His father would not let him get baptized. He then moved where there was no church but kept searching. When he moved here, he searched on the internet and after some difficult roadblocks, was able to connect with the elders to be taught. He was confirmed in church today.

This coming week we have some Public Affairs training on the key messages on media training, so that will keep us busy.

Zone Conference, BYU Meeting, Birth of our Twin Granddaughters

Leila Lewis born Jan. 16, 2009

Eva Lewis born Jan. 16, 2009

Singing "Happy Birthday" at Zone Conference to all the birthday people.

Pres. Anderson, Elder Kopischke, Rex, Vicky, and Elder Ford at Zone Conference

Public Affairs meeting at our apartment Jan. 16 with Eva and Per Akebrand of Key City Council, Vicky, Ed Blaser from BYU, Ryan Koch from the US Embassy, Michael Holmgren - Bishop of Borlange Ward, Erlend (Pete) Peterson from BYU and Rex.

I was so excited to run into Birgitta and her husband today as we were walking to the post office. She immediately told me she wanted to come to our apartment to set up a time for dinner with us and the sister missionaries. A few hours later she knocked on our door and spent about half an hour visiting and telling me how much she felt something very special the last time she was here. She was deeply touched by the message the sisters gave her and the song they sang for her. When I told her that the sisters might get transferred at the next transfer, she told me to tell Pres. Anderson that he couldn’t transfer these sisters as she needs them. I know that she is excited to come and share an evening with us and the sisters. This is really exciting for me and such a great blessing for Birgitta.
We spent the day at the temple and loved participating in such invaluable service to those who cannot do it for themselves. We are trying to learn the Swedish necessary to be more effective at the temple. I just have to say, “We absolutely love our mission!”
When we returned home tonight, there were some exciting emails waiting for me to reply to. I got information from Bonneville Communications that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has a long term ongoing relationship with all the major networks in Scandinavia. We were unaware of them so we are planning on doing some major Public Affairs work to get this information to the public. The Danish and Norwegians also have relationships with the Choir. What exciting news!! I am also working with the Liahona Magazine to see if our Key City Council can publish a quarterly article promoting the Public Affairs work we are doing. It continues to be exciting as we find new leads and avenues to pursue in our Public Affairs work. The Lord is definitely in charge and inspires us daily.
Kyle emailed us today telling us that the ultrasound Kandace had today showed the twins are growing well. One appears to be over 6 lbs. but the other is 4 lbs. 10 ozs. and is be deprived of nutrition by the larger twin. We are praying that all goes well and that the Lord will bless them as they bring these precious little spirits into the world.
Today was one of the most powerful days of gospel instruction I have ever received. We attended the Zone Conference where President Kopischke of the Europe Area Presidency taught us, along with Elder Ford, an Area Seventy from the United Kingdom. They were powerful, yet witty, and such fabulous teachers. I will share just a couple of things they taught us. The Sweden Stockholm Mission motto is “Framgang Genom Lydnad” which means “Progress through Obedience.” President Anderson, the mission president shared the 2009 Mission Standards and the first one was obedience with exactness. Elder Kopischke taught us that our “consecration determines our elevation.” Success starts in our hearts and in our heads. He quoted Ether 12:19 and the “eye of faith”. A vision in our head and a desire in our heart lead to faith. Faith is action combined with God’s power. Faith is doing something with our plan and keep doing. Our faith cannot over rule the agency of others. D&C 63:9-11 was quoted. Use faith to work and do, then leave the power in God’s hands. D&C 43:8-9, 16 assemble – instruct – edify – sanctify. Keep our teaching simple. Elder Ballard said that “Complexity comes from the devil.” He instructed the missionaries to teach and invite those that “will receive them.” The GA’s showed with role-play the impact of their teaching and how to be more effective. Everyone was edified and uplifted. It was marvelous to feel the spirit so strong all day long.

January 16, 2009

WHAT AN EXCITING DAY!!! This morning I got an email from Kyle that Kandace’s water had broken and they were at the hospital. The doctor was going to do a c-section in about 90 minutes and he would keep us informed. We were on pins and needles watching for an email. As soon as we received the email, we called Kyle at the hospital and he shared the exciting news of the birth of their little twin girls. The first one was born at 1:34 a.m. weighing 4 lbs. 2 ozs., 17 ½ inches long named Leila. The second little twin was born at 1:35 a.m. weighing 5 lbs. 6 ozs., 18 ½ inches long named Eva. Kandace, Kyle, and babies are all doing well. Kyle said they are “beautiful” with lots of hair and he has taken hundreds of pictures. I expect to receive some soon. We are so grateful to the Lord for his tender mercies in bringing these little spirits into the world safely and all is well. They will be at the hospital a few weeks until the doctors are certain everything is functioning properly and that they are eating well. Now the long wait until we can hold them in our arms and love them.
We had a busy afternoon and evening with Ed Blaser and Pete Peterson coming from BYU to check out the venue and plans for the BYU Young Ambassador tour coming in May. After checking out the venue, they came to our apartment for dinner, along with six other people on the committee to help with the tour. I made a yummy ham, homemade rolls, funeral potatoes and Scandinavian brownies, with a nice relish tray. Eva Akebrand brought a salad. It was a productive evening with a power point from Ed and decisions on how to proceed with the plans for the BYU tour.

January 17, 2009

Several of the senior couples have been talking for months about the flea markets (Loppis) they attend every Saturday. We have never been able to go, but today we had time to attend with them. We went to three different ones and they knew how to shop for what they wanted. This being my first experience, I was much more hesitant and didn’t find the bargains they found. I guess “one woman’s junk is another woman’s treasure.” I just keep thinking of what it will cost to get it home with the price of luggage and shipping things. I probably won’t come home with much extra. We ate a great lunch together and then had the rest of the day to enjoy and relax.
We got pictures of our new little twin granddaughters Leila and Eva today. What beautiful girls they are. We feel so blessed they are here and doing well. We are also grateful that Mother and Father are doing well also. Their work now begins!

3 King's Day

3 Kings Day with the Karlsson Family on 6 January 2009.

Vicky and Laura Koch at the baby shower for Laura's baby due the end of January.

It was snowy and cold this morning as we pulled our little red cart and took our bags with us to Willy’s to grocery shop. I believe it was the biggest load we have had yet, 1007 SEK and the groceries weighed 101 pounds, as we weighed everything when we got home.
Elder and Sister Wright came for lunch and Elder and Sister Hanson, from the temple, came to have supper and share FHE with us. We enjoy hearing their many experiences as Mission President and as MTC counselor, and now as Assistant Temple Recorder in the Stockholm Temple.
We were invited to Bishop and Sister Karlsson’s tonight to celebrate “Three Kings” holiday. Three King’s Day is celebrated January 6, twelve days after Christmas. It is often viewed as the last day of the Christmas season (the end of the 12 days of Christmas). The food was incredible and was in abundance. Besides me and Rex, they had Elder Lewis and Elder Dawson from the mission office and Sister Goates and Sister Cherrington of our ward. The Bishop and his wife have 7 children. They are really a neat family and so loving.
Our entire day was spent in the temple today and is such a spiritual place to be. We are trying to learn enough Swedish to really be helpful. It is especially helpful for Rex to know it.
We had our Key City meeting tonight also. There was a great deal to report and goals for 2009 set in the area of Public Affairs. It is such a blessing to be able to help them with this great work.
Thursday was our district meeting and it was focused on good teaching techniques. One of the recent converts came, who has only been a member for a week. He bore his testimony and shared the joy in finding the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The baptisms are increasing each year. The Lord’s elect are finding and accepting the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our ward temple day was Friday so we went and did two sessions with our ward. It is such a wonderful opportunity and blessing to have this flexibility in our schedule.
I went to a baby shower of one of the ladies in our ward, Laura Koch, whose husband works at the US Embassy. It was attended by Embassy workers and wives of Embassy workers. I made friends with one of the women whose husband is 2nd in command under the US Ambassador. The lady giving the shower has a live-in Nanny who is from Korea. She fixed the most fantastic Korean food to eat. It was a fun day!

New Year's Week

Our New Year's Eve group at the Mission Home: Andersons, Karlssons, Pearsons, Rosevears, Johnsons, Hansons, Wrights, and Lewises -- December 31, 2008

Vicky and Rex New Year's Eve at the Mission Home

Rex, Sister Karlsson, Vicky, Pres. Karlsson (previous Mission President) Sister and Pres. Anderson (current Mission President) New Year's Eve Party

Sister Johnson, Vicky, Sister Hanson, Rex, Sister Pearson, Johanssons

We had such a wonderful New Year’s Eve tonight. Eight senior couples met at the Mission Home about 4 p.m. to begin the festivities. Eating was the major thing we did. However, we were privileged to have our previous Mission President (Karlsson) and his wife stop by for a while as they were in Stockholm for the blessing of their new grandson this coming Sunday. We watched the movie “Emma” and ate and ate. Then we played some really fun games in which I think I laughed harder than I have in years. One is the knife and fork game that you pass around the circle in opposite directions and can’t respond as to what it is without going all the way back to the beginning for the answer. There were two of the sisters who couldn’t get it right and we were literally rolling on the floor laughing at them. Then we played a game where you try to get 4 men or 4 women on the couch. The men win in they get 4 men and the women win if they get 4 women. However, you have to draw names as to who you are, as you aren’t yourself. The tough part is remembering who is who. We never ever finished the game as no one could remember who people were. It couldn’t be our ages!!! It ended up a tie, with 2 men and 2 women on the couch. We were all given a gift and as one person read a story that has the words right and left in it, we passed the gift in the direction of the word until the story was over. Then we kept the gift at that point. We rang in the New Year at 10 p.m. as we all needed to get back to our apartments, but we had hats, blowers, noise makers, etc. It was one of the most fun New Year’s Eve parties I have ever attended. We love these wonderful people with whom we serve here in Sweden. What a fabulous 2008 it has been!

We awoke to a beautiful New Year's day in Stockholm with the sun shining for the few hours that we get sun. However, the temperature is 18 degrees Fahrenheit. A nice tradition here is to watch the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra playing Strauss music for an hour and a half, beginning at 12:15 p.m. It was very uplifting and inspirational. This is quite different from the football bowl games that we watch in the US. Rex wasn't so sure that it was a good replacement. I really miss the Rose Bowl Parade though.

Today we spent at the Stockholm Temple serving wherever we were needed. It was an exceptionally wonderful day with the spirit of the Lord in abundance. The temperatures continue to drop. Today it was about 10 degrees Fahrenheit. It looks like snow as there is so much humidity and it freezes leaving a few inches of frost on the ground and everything else too. Our days are still short with the light coming about 8:45 a.m. and it is dark by 3:30 p.m.
Great quote by Pres. Benson: “When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes a quest, in that moment God will empower us with power.”

Our fast and testimony meeting was wonderful. I feel blessed having people who can translate for us each meeting. We invited Eric Riley for dinner tonight. He is a young 25 year old student studying here from Portugal. He is an impressive young man that has his life in perspective. He is here only another week before going back to Portugal. Another awesome week! I made extra rolls so took some up to my friend Birgitta. I will miss her when we go home.