Service is Key

From: Jennifer Juker <jennifer.juker@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, Aug 13, 2012 at 2:37 AM
Subject: Service is Key

Nära och Kära,
This week has been an interesting week of travel and some upset stomachs and lots of teaching! In other words its been great!

I onsdags we had our first Zone Meeting. It was kind of like President Andersons "Sharpening". It was great! They talked about Alma being rejected and leaving Ammonihah and being commanded to go back another way. We got some great ideas for another way in our attempt for the Summer of Seventy! It really boosted us up and brought the goal again into grasps! We role played a bunch and then got out on the streets to try it out! It was great to see how other missionaries do things. I went out with Syster Sprague and we were able to teach a woman who was somewhat interested at first but once the Book of Mormon was brought up she wanted little to do with what we were saying. The spirit was present as we testified of the Book of Mormon but she wouldn't have it. She told us she would throw it away. I couldn't help but be hurt as I saw someone who was so kind and such a follower of Christ deny a chance to have more faith. It hurt but I hope she gets another chance.

We had to make it back to Stockholm from Västerhanginge so we didn't have lunch with them. We caught both of the trains and headed home. We got back and had a great discussion about things we can do on our level to help reach this goal. We had a youth activity and were going to go around and do a picture scavenger hunt but hardly anyone came. We were able to talk with Myriam about Young Women and found out that they haven't had a girls camp. It was supposed to be this next week but there was an accident where they were planning on going and now it was cancelled. I learned so much those times I was attending girls camp. I wonder if we can make something happen for them.

I torsdags we actually were able to get all of our studies in this morning before catching a bus out to Bettna. We visited Eleonora again because she wanted to make us swedish pancakes. It's a pleasant experience to go and visit her but it always takes so much out of our day and we end up being sick afterward. Not sure why yet. We are doing the new member lessons with her still and we talked about the Plan of Salvation. She pretty much understands it but she had a different idea about accepting Christ. Evidently the world accepted the Savior in 1987 and when we tried to explain how it's been our choice from the beginning she got defensive and angry. It was a little disheartening and we were not entirely sure what to do. We continued on in the conversation and she relaxed again. On the way home we were both praying for each other because neither of us felt well. Luckily we were able to make it to Katrineholm and bike home so as to use the restroom. It must have been something we ate because we were pretty ill. We had an appointment with Åsa and she is begining to go into depression so we focused on helping her to see the happy things and laugh a little. She is very open with us and we plan on heart attacking her or something so as to help her be happy!

I fredags was a bit of an experience of following the Spirit. We had a youth who wanted to attend a dance and had a ride back but not too. Since it was a last minute ticket we got it for cheap and were able to help her get there. We both just felt like it was something we should do. So we stopped by her house to give her the ticket. She came to the door with a bloody napkin in her hand and blood dripping from it. We came in as she explained she was cleaning and doing her chores when a vase fell and she tried to catch it as it shattered. She had no first aid kit and had to clean everything up, shower and pack still before catching the train in about an hour. We bandaged her up with what we had with us and told her to shower as we cleaned up the glass and such. We booked it home got a first aid kit with some medicine and were able to make it back in time to fix her hand and begin the walk to the station. She had to get a jacket from Solveig who was around the block. We walked with and she was able to get her jacket and run to the train. Solveig always takes care of us and insisted that we eat lunch with her or that she pay for our lunch. Instantaneously we were payed back for the money we had spent on the ticket for money for food. She didn't have time so she left us to get lunch. She is so sweet! We began planning after lunch and made our way back in town to catch the bus to Bie. The Palaminos were just as normal and we really enjoyed our time with them. We talked about music, because they all have a soft spot for music and shared Doctrine and Covenants 25:12 about how music can be a prayer. It was cool to see their faces light up as we talked about that. We then invited them to come listen to us sing on Sunday and it sounded like they were going to come. We were looking forward to it. 

I lördags was a bit of a crazy day as well. We met Leif and Rosmery at church early to help them clean it. Solveig was out of town and asked if we could fill in. We thought it would be an opportunity to teach them. It ended up not so for Leif. After walking into the building he talked about how nice it felt to walk into the building for the last time. He had made the decision to stop the 7 year experiment and said it would be his last time in church. He is going to go to Svenska Kyrkan and take Angelina there with him because they have children there. It felt like a knife went straight through our hearts! We really love this family and to hear that broke our hearts. We know he will realize the truth but want him to just know it now instead of experiencing it for himself. We cleaned with Rosmery and mentioned about singing as well and she thanked us for mentioning it because she wasn't going to come but now she will. We were super thankful that it came up in conversation. We went home did studies and lunch before doing a bit more planning and then heading to Flen to talk with Alf and Maria. They are awesome and such a powerhouse of strength. We talked about the ward and how much they want to wake them up and get them to church as our percentages of member attendance is pretty bad. About 30% of our members actually attend. We felt like we were strengthened and that they are willing to help us out in anyway possible. It was great! We made it back in town to travel to Aminas. On the way there we saw a woman balancing a huge package on her bike seat with bags full of packages and decided to help. Turns out it was Amber! She had come back from Stockholm with lots of presents for her kids birthdays. We were able to help her up the stairs of her apartment with the packages and keep them hidden from the kids. Which reminded us we needed to practice with Mike so we set up time after our meeting with Amina to do so. Amina is muslim and we help her occassionally with her swedish. She is reading the Book of Mormon storybook in swedish and we help her that way. We asked if we could end with a prayer and she said yes. Then afterward she asked about the specifics of prayer and we were able to teach her a bit about it. It really felt great too. She asked about Amen because they use amen as well. It was cool to see how the commonality of prayer opened the conversation up to more spiritual things.

Igår was a day of miracles! We had our Branch Counsel and were able to take some things up to the ward about our investigators and got some help with it all. We then practiced once with Mike playing and got a glass of water. As we walked out of the kitchen we heard a familiar voice! It was Hans! Our investigator who just recently quit snusing came to church! We were so excited we could jump for joy! As the meeting began Rosmery and Angelina came in and Alex as well. We had been praying that the spirit would be present through our song and throughout the meeting and boy was it. The speakers spoke to the hearts of our investigators and we all felt the spirit. I was able to teach primary second hour because our primary president was out of town. We talked about keeping the Sabbath day holy and Moses and his manna. It went well and we drew activities that we can do on Sunday to keep it holy. After church Eleonora had come to second hour and wanted to play a game with us after church so we did. She invited Alex as well. It was interesting. By that time we were starving so we went and ate dinner before visiting Cat. She is still a bit stressed. We talked about Christ and showed her a song "I Can Only Imagine" by Mercy Me. We talked about what would we do if we opened our front door to leave and Christ was standing there. It was a neat experience to think about. Finally we finished weekly planning and got our area book updated. 

Idag we have cleaned and washed our clothes and apartment, almost done with emailing and soon to go shopping for groceries! Gotta love a busy pday! But time is going by so fast there is no time to waste! 

Challenge time! http://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/08/the-saviors-call-to-serve?lang=eng Find a way this week to more fully serve someone around you. I have recently noticed that serving is a tremendous tool in introducing someone to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Afterall, that is what He did isn't it?

Love you all! Keep up the hard work!
Love 
Syster Juker