Choose Eternal Life

From: Jennifer Juker <jennifer.juker@myldsmail.net>

Date: Mon, Feb 27, 2012 at 1:22 AM
Subject: Choose Eternal Life

Hejsan!

This week has been another testimony to me that when we live worthy of the Spirit and try to recognize its hand in our lives we are blessed and guided even more fully. So many times this week we had our plans be a little bit different then (I have no idea -en or -an too much swedish!) normal and questioned it a little bit but prayed and confirmed that it was right. Then by the end of the day we looked back and saw that it truly was Heavenly Father guiding us in His work. After all we all are working for him, we would be foolish to try to do it alone. Yup it's been a year since I was set apart and I am still working at always remembering those simple truths of the gospel. Anyway now to the happenings of this week!

Monday!

I really enjoy p-day here, Its a day that we can write and take it easy. We actually planned to take a nap and accomplished that. Other missionaries would think that's a lame use of time but with being so tired during the week. It's the best! We again met up with Leif and had swedish study with him. He is really great and helps us understand things like crazy swedish grammer rules. At YSA FHE we planned a heart attach for one of the young adults who we felt needed some upliftment. We went out into the parking lot a they were finishing up there activity and put them on her car. She was super excited and definitely made her day better. She said that she put them up in her room and that she is grateful that we are in Jönköping with her! She is also planning on serving a mini mission at the end of summer. So we plan to meet with her and introduce PME to her. She is awesome!

Tuesday!

This was an awesome day where we felt led by the spirit by the end of the day. We went to visit Inger, a member who lives in a nursing home. She finds it hard to talk but understands and likes visitors. We went by to visit and she was out in the foyer area eating with a couple other ladies. We pulled up chairs and began to talk with her as she ate. Another woman at the table saw our tags and was very upset that we were there. We tried to ignore her but she wouldn't even let us talk with our friend. We ended up moving Inga to another table and talking with her there. She still was upset. She kept telling us to leave and that Inga didnt want us there. Well Inga did want us there and she wanted us to read her scriptures, so we did. She really responds and it's awesome. As soon as we began to read from the Book of Mormon, the other lady was quiet and remained quiet so we could finish our conversation and leave. There really is such a  power in the Book of Mormon. We are so blessed to have it in our lives. Just think a second to where you would be without it, I would think that its not a very good place. At least for me it's not. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father has given us such a simple task as to read a book, pray about it and then have peace for the rest of our lives if we follow its precepts. Anyway back to the day, We left with our testimonies uplifted and happy again. The day was beautiful! On the way out Syster Schneiber said hello to a man with headphones and he took them out asking if he knew us. Of course we didn't but it became a conversation and we are going to meet with him sometime soon! We then went to visit a less active member but she wasnt home. We left a message on her answering machine and decided to sit outside on the swing set to get the calls made we needed for the day. It was wonderful, we were able to soak up some sun, call our investigators and talk to people as they walked past. Its amazing how drastically peoples mentality changes with a little bit of sun. They are way more willing to talk with us. We then had to catch a bus back to the church to meet Sabrina. We had Jennifer with us and we taught about faith. We explained it with the analogy about knowing the wind but not seeing it. She understood it. She recieved what she called "inspiration" about how just because you have a religion doesn't mean you have faith. She clarified things for herself. It was great to watch! Then as she would relate it to us she said, "When I was athiest..." We were stoked! She is progressing and reading in the Book of Mormon! Its awesome!

Wednesday!

We met with Pär and President Nilsson. The lesson went so well! It was exactly what Pär needed and a few things that we needed to hear as well. We watched a general conference talk titled Choose Eternal Life. From the last conference. It was awesome. I'll explain that for my challenge at the end =) We then had lunch with the Rasmussens and the Bishop and his wife. We thought that they work so hard as leaders of this ward and sometimes its hard to see the fruits of their labors. We showed them the video "Validation". (This was the weird inspiration we just followed) Despite having to have to figure out how to translate Validation into swedish it worked wonderfully. We were able to see their faces lighten with the fact that we noticed the things that they were doing even if it seemed like nothing is happening. It was great. Then Syster Rasmussen had been doing some missionary work and we were able to make some stuff happen with that. A lady in a travel office has some ancestors who moved to Visalia/Tulare area, but they have lost contact. She wants to figure out what happened so we were able to go meet with her and find out more information. It was great to testify of the eternal nature of families. During this lesson our phone began to ring! It was a welcomed surprise as we recieved a phone call from our long lost Albert. He has been going crazy with studying and writing his thesis. We were able to answer and Set up an apointment for later on. We even got Wilson to come with. We followed up on his trying to stop smoking and he said he quit for a week but then with the stress of things he started again. He has though made significant progress. We are going to get things back on track and help him find that peace again. We then met with Melanie the Relief Society President to get some ideas on how we can help the women in our ward and help in visiting teaching. How do you gain a testimony of visiting teaching? I gained mine by doing it, is there any other way? Let me know =)

Thursday!

We met with Jamie and taught him of the Restoration. It seems like he wants us to fix his problems, but he wont read in the Book of Mormon. We want to help but it's difficult to help someone who won't really listen. We are working on it though. For district meeting we had a wonderful lesson from Äldste Rice. He showed us the importance of the Book of Mormon and of testifying often. It was great and has really stuck in our minds. Afterwards we had planned to heart attack a members house for their birthday. We went out to her house and her whole family was there celebrating. We felt sheepish as we were invited in for cake and ice cream. We stuck around and did it as a surprise to her bedroom door before leaving. She also wants to participate more in lessons and things with investigators. We think it will be a way to help strengthen her! She is awesome and has been sick for a while now so we will see how that goes. Then it was back to the center for dinner with the YSA. There were a lot of them. It seems like they trust us more now that we have been around a little bit. They are willing to talk with us and ask us questions. It feels like we are making a difference. Johannes came and we talked with him about goals to set to become more active in church. We ran out of time so we couldn't watch the talk but he promised that he would as homework. Afterwards we talked a bit about his hospital experience and things as he got his jacket. Then out of no where came Isak. A YSA that I knew in Västra Frölunda. It was great to follow up with the goals that he had made last time we had talked.

Friday!

We met with Cecelia and had a good talk with her. She is still very strong in her reincarnation beliefs but we bore testimony about the Book of Mormon and incouraged her to read more often. Then in perfect timing we were able to visit the Wiklöfs and help them clean. It was very cool to exchange what we had learned recently from the scriptrures. I love hearing other peoples testimonies and applying what they have learned to things that I haven't ever thought about before or already know. Its such a strength! We were then able to head home and do weekly planning. It went really well and we are working out those problems by listening to each other better. We met with Sabrina that night with Ann-Sophie and watched Faith in Christ. Its sometimes difficult for people to understand Christ when they haven't heard stories from the bible. So we started there. After the video she told us that it sounded too much like a fairy tale. We bore testimony and were able to have her think a little bit. In the end, the Spirit was strong and she had lots of questions to ask Heavenly Father about. It was great.

Saturday!

We met with our ward mission leader and got a lot of different ideas to help the ward. Niklas is awesome! We were then invited by a less active to go and see her Handboll game. It was awesome! I had never seen such a sport. Its like a mix between soccer, basketball with the intensity of like waterpolo. I always wondered why she came to the center with Blackeyes and broken fingers. Its a brutal game. I'm excited to talk with her about it tonight hopefully. We then went to the church to eat lunch and met with Albert. But he never came. He just forgets sometimes. We were then able to visit Hannah's open house, she just got married. She is super kind and was happy to see that we could make it for a little while. Ulva was there, Markus' mom, so it was great to talk with them about sharing our testimonies! We went home and were able to do our companionship inventory and get things organized for the week. It went well and we have great plans to achieve our goals.

Sunday!

We had to meet early at church to practice for our song in sacrament meeting. We missed the bus and had to walk. It was interesting to walk and just have a little time to think about the Savior. We were excited to see Sabrina walk in dressed in a skirt on time for Relief Society. On Friday she asked if it was really important to go to all 3 hours. We testified that it was and she came! She is awesome! She told us that something wonderful happened after we had met on friday. It makes sense to her and is good! It was great to hear! In Sunday school we had 3 less actives in our investigator class and Syster Rasmussen was able to come in and testify. It was great to see everyone feel the spirit as Niklas taught the class. After church we talked with so many members about being involved this week with missionary work. then we were able to have dinner at a members house. It was great. We prepared for next week and studied some language.

Today we are doing splits with Allingsås and so we are excited. Thats why we wrote so early today. Lots to do. So now its time for Challenge time! P.S. Im still waiting on those lists from last week =) So there is this talk http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/10/choose-eternal-life?lang=eng&query=choose+eternal+life Choose Eternal Life. There are four different points towards the end of this talk. My challenge to you is to evaluate your choices and their consequences. It's a daunting task but it will help you to more fully choose eternal life. We are, no matter who we are, or where we are, making decisions that will affect us and our future forever. I know that and I have contimplated those decisions I have to make daily and consulted the Holy Ghost and our Father in Heaven He leads us. This week has been a testimony builder of that fact for me. No matter what we do we can be forgiven but if we make the right choice in the beginning we take out a lot of the heartache and pain of being silly.

I hope you all have a great week and remember to keep smiling. Our Father in Heaven Loves us each individually! 

Love you all

Syster Juker