This weekend was the New Mission Presidents' Seminar, so 110 new mission presidents and almost all the apostles were wandering around the whole time. We hardly saw them at all because security was so tight around the admin building, but Brother Harris, our teacher, got to help out with the whole thing since he's been a teacher for a year and a half. He told us about how he saw 13 of the 15 apostles (Elders Packer and Hales weren't there) and shook hands with about 10 of them. President Monson even made fun of him for being 23 and not married! :) And Elder Oaks gave him a hug because he does that for everyone he meets named Dallin. What a great group of people! It was fun to hear some stories about them all having a good time.

 

Also, Presidident Monson had a tie on with a bunch of world flags. Brother Harris said he overheard him say, "Do you know what flag this is?" pointing at one of them. When the person he was talking to didn't know he said, "It's Sweden!" Yes. :)

 

We spent all weekend checking everyone we saw with the question, "Is that an apostle?" but the real event was the Tuesday night devotional. Just before it started, 10 apostles and their wives walked in. Wow. It was the whole Quorum of the 12 except for Elders Packer and Hales, and they brought such a power to the room! Elder Perry gave a great talk, and his testimony at the end was very powerful as the 9 other apostles behind him all joined in in spirit. What a meeting to be at!

 

That morning we washed windows, and it was cool to know that I was the one who washed the glass doors that 10 apostles walked through 7 hours later to get into the building for the meeting. Awesome, right? :D

 

Another amazing experience: On the Sunday night Devotional, we sang We'll Bring the World His Truth for the opening hymn. That song is meant to be sung with a little over 2000 missionaries. There's just no other way. :D

 

We get mail twice a day, right after lunch and then dinner (1:00 and 6:00). Except not Sundays and just afternoons on Saturdays. We all go to the mail room together and the district leader gets it from the box and hands it out. Elder Francom is our new district leader.

 

I often get letters from Kaylyn, and I've gotten some from some other friends, including April and Jenni. Mail means SO much to a missionary, so I'm grateful for everything I've received.

 

Apparently the article in The Times (a London newspaper) is out now. Maybe it's online--I don't know.

 

Jacob, I found you in the new testament! It's Mark 5:9. :D Keep it up you vast body of the priesthood!

 

Did Bishop Kent go to Denmark on his mission? I can't remember. If he did, that's really cool because I can pretty much understand Dainish now. It's weird but fun. Since we have a lot of ancestry there, Jacob might go there. That would be REALLY fun. :D

 

Every Friday we get to teach at the TRC where real people come in and we teach them as themselves in Swedish. That's always really fun! Last week we taught Marcus Mathews, who is apparently on the BYU football team. That's cool I guess.

 

Fun fact: In Swedish, "dog" means "died." I think you might appreciate that.

 

We learned a new word this week. It's jo (pronounced yo). It's a disagreeing yes, so if someone asks, "Did you forget to do your studying?" you can say, "Jo!" meaning, yes I did it or no I didn't forget. That's so useful! English is confusing!

 

We also like Elder Day's name. Day sounds like dig which means you in Swedish. They other way, day is dag (pronounced dog) in Swedish, and dog is hund in Swedish. So he has a lot of names, leading to a lot of puns. It's funny.

 

I know this church is true. I know that God cares about each one of us and is guiding our lives. I hope to learn how to better follow His will. His will is to bring the salvation of every one of His children. He's preparing each one of them to hear the gospel constantly. So I hope to be the best tool in His hands I can be to bring to pass that marvelous work.

 

I love you all very much! Thanks for all you've taught me and every opportunity you've given me to learn and grow, spiritually, musically and socially. Things are great here. I'm so excited for Sweden!

 

You're all in my prayers.

 

Love,

Elder Lawrence