"But we've been here a month already." --Obi-Wan Kenobi
HI! Everything is going well! Every day is a little better, and I'm finally to the point where I'm enjoying it here. :)
Now I'll try and write a cheerful letter. :)
Elder Per G. Malm of the Seventy came on Tuesday to speak. It was really cool because he's Swedish! He even told us how to say Shadrach, Meeshach and Abednego in Swedish, "for any of you going to Sweden." YES! He's a really cool guy.
The guy from the BBC came on Friday. He was really cool! Elder Tomlinson, Elder Tietjen and I all answered some questions He wrote down our answers and got our names and pictures, so we'll probably all be quoted. I'll get you the link when the article comes out.
After two weeks of volleyball, we played soccer again yesterday. That was fun! It turns out that Elder Tomlinson didn't ever play for Notts County FC, he just has their jersey with his name on the back. He played for his local Scarborough team.
Elder Tomlinson and I are getting along really well. Our whole district is having a lot of fun! Yesterday we put some Swedish fish into a bag of water and brought them to the class as pets. We named 6 of them Jonas and 1 Nemo, which really touched Jonas (Brother Winegar). Sadly, they all dissolved by the end of the day.
Our lessons with our "investigators" are going really well. We're good enough at Swedish now to have basic conversations and answer questions rather than just give a rote presentation. It's fun! We've also started speaking only in Swedish at lunch times, which is hard, but fun. We still can't understand the native Swedes here though because of the accent.
Swedish is fun! Mom, it's cool that you tried to follow some Swedish! I like Swedish because the vowels are very consistent. There's 3 extra, but that makes each just have 1 short sound and 1 long sound, so it's really easy to pronounce once you know how. The consonants are fun too. There are a few combinations English speakers wouldn't expect, and a soft k makes a sh sound, but that's also really fun.
Sister Ewell, going to Romania, asked me to accompany her singing Savior, Redeemer of My Soul by Rob Gardner. She is REALLY good!! We auditioned this afternoon and it went really well, so we'll probably be preforming in some event this Sunday before she leaves on Monday.
She gave the music to me yesterday and I was amazed at how fast I picked it up. It was pretty hard stuff, so I guess those lessons at BYU really worked!
It's good to be learning so much here, and not just the Swedish. This is the BEST place in the world to learn the gospel! I'm learning so much about the message I'll be teaching, and why it's important.
Thank you for all the spiritual thoughts you've shared with me. They've been matching up with everything I've been learning.
There's really not too much to talk about anymore now that I'm in a pattern. Each day goes by fairly consistently, with a couple main poiunts learned each day. And the steadily increasing testimony, language skills and district unity.
Even though I don't have too much to say, I do miss hanging out with you all somewhat. No one here really gets my randomness or my singing, and I can't tell any inside jokes because I just met everyone I know. But I'm getting used to it and coming to love the people I'm with.
I think it's interesting here how there's a time and a place for everything. There's a time for each type of studying (personal, companion and language). There's a time for learning and a time for teaching. And there's a time for rest, 8 hours of it per day. They don't really overlap at all, even the different types of studying. That really simplifies life because all you have to do at a specific time is what you planned. That's why planning correctly is so important.
I've done a little comparing of D&C 130 with Abraham 3, especially with the word "order." It's fascinating stuff!
I hope I can be inspiring! I hope my prayers can help you stay safe and happy! I love you all very much and wish you the best.
Jag vet att Mormons Bok är sann. Jag vet att Gud älskar oss och kan hjälpa oss bli lycklig. Jag vet att Jesus Kristus är min frälsare och att hans evangelium är sant. Jag älskar Gud och jag älskar ni.
Thanks for everything! You're the best!
Äldste Lawrence
