And the work goes on!

This one'll have to be short, mostly because this week contained lots of work, with the remainding time being filled with work and a fever of 103.8! Just kidding, there was no fever of 103.8, it was only 100.8 (so not even a real fever, pop an ibeprofen in the morning and you're set for the day).

But yes, up here in Ö-vik the work is going forwards, faster and faster! We have many investigators, but one in particular could use some prayers. His name is Youssef (Joseph in Arabic, it's a soft "J") and will be having a surgery this week because he has throat cancer. He's a great friend, and loves meet us and reading from the BOM, he just smokes all day. Makes great Bulgar though, he was a navy cook for a very long time and has been all over the world.

Other than that, I have been asked the following questions which I will now answer:

What is in your apartment?

We have a fairly standard missionary apartment, but it's a little bigger. We have a big bathroom, a closet room, a study/living room, a kitchen with a table, and a bed room. My bed is small and hard, but I've been sleeping great in it. We also have two couches and two chairs that match the couches. It's pretty nice.

What kind of transportation you use?

An Opel car.

When you look out the window what do you see?

Popcorn popping on the apricot tree. Just kidding, when I dare to look out the Window, a nice Swedish city covered by a blanket of fresh and growing snow (it's snowed every day this week). However, we must be very careful looking out our widows as our across-the-way neighbor is a young woman who could be a model but (as per Swedish custom) doesn't wear clothes or close the blinds when home alone.

How are your language skills now you have been there a while?

Great! I still cannot do my "R's" right, but it's definitely not a problem. And having a slight American accent is a bonus most of the time, Swede's wish they could be Americans.

Dreaming in what language?

People speak their native language in my dreams, except for Claire who speaks fluent Swedish. Don't know why, but her Swedish is phenomenal.

How large is your district?´

My district has two branches in it, Örnsköldsvik and Umeå. There are two missionaries in Umeå, the ZL's (Äldste Bringhust from my group and Äldste Stapley) and a set of Sisters (Syster Edwards who's been in Sweden 4 months and Syster Adams who's been in Sweden 1 month), and just Äldste Prososki and I in Ö-vik. It would take about 3 hours to drive from the districts top to bottom on the freeway, and it extends all the way to Norway from the coast. But the district members are so solid! If anyone were to be missionaries in a district roughly the size of Utah from Bear Lake to Provo, it'd be these ones! The zone itself is about the height of Nevada and is covered by a meager 9 companionships and 5 branches.

What do you do on P-days? 

Not much. Buy groceries, play chess, email home, check out shops in Ö-vik central, the such.

Well, unfortunately the only picture I have to send home is this video from when we were tracting and this massive snow drift made my companion want to jump off of the second story of a apartment complex. Don't worry, he only fell like a meter and a half and the snow was up to my waist (and deeper if I were to have tried to tunnel deeper) when I also jumped off, so it was super safe :) And fun :)

Have a great week!

Äldste Wilson

Yay for winter!

I'm finally experiencing a good Swedish winter! It's amazing! I love how cold it get up here, and the humidity is only helping! This week was the coldest I've seen in Sweden, (only -21 C, so around -5 F?) but because of the humidity everything was frozen. It was a little unfortunate when the car doors were frozen shut in the morning, but I took a super cool video when we were driving up to Umeå for district meeting. Literally everything was white. The video doesn't show it that well, because as soon as I took out the phone we got to a spot with green trees every now and again, but literally everything was completely white. I love it though!

The work in Ö-vik is also going amazing! We have the perfect set up to get stuff done: a small branch that loves the missionaries, a city square (type of thing, in Swedish it's called stan but they don't really exist in the US) with plenty of nice people to contact, and tracting for days! We're getting stuff happening, and the beastly qualities of Elder Prososki sure help! He's a great companion, very social and willing to get out and talk to people.

This week though, we did so much! I love it all. The work in Sweden is the best, nothing tastes better than the sweet dessert of new investigators for the branch after the cold bitterness of rejection. And we're getting lots of desserts.

We also had splits with the ZLs, and I was with Elder Bringhurst! He's from my MTC group, and he's the best. Totally Idahos best actor, he's already written a musical and it'll make Broadway some day.

That's all I got time for now! Have a great week, allihoppa!

Äldste Wilson

2806: splits pics!

2796: Could be in a Hyundai commercial

3277: Gotta love these Congo-men! And no, he had no idea what Salt Lake City is.

3272: Elder Prososki and Sovann trying the glasses look

3274: Elder Prososki and Sovann still trying to look cool, but not understanding that you need to be like me to accomplish that.

3245: Gotta love a good Swedish sunset. This picture was taken at 14:57, the sun's staying up later and later! Yay!

3249: The view outside my window. The picture's not that good though, you can't really see the bay in it.

​

Örnsköldsvik!

This week has been amazing! It started with a big Innebandy (very similar to indoor hockey) get-together for pday, then on tuesday I said good bye to Handen :( and hello to Örnsköldsvik! :)

After a nice 3.5 hours of alone time on the train, navigating though the Stockholm airport, and flying I was warmly welcomed by my new companion Äldste Prososki in the Ö-vik airport. We drove home (yes, we have an Opel car now), slept, then the next morning took Äldste Buchanon (the Äldste I'm replaced) to the airport, then we got to work! And let me tell you, Örnsköldsvik is the best for working. There are 15 active members, but with various less active members and the missionaries we get an average of 18 members in church a week.

But those 15 members are super nice! Not only that, but all 15 are cambodian! However, when I said I have a sister in Cambodia they all got exited and said "Where's she serving?" to which I replied "I have no idea". I feel like a bad brother.

But for real though, Ö-vik (the official shortening of Örnsköldsvik, so you don't have to struggle saying Örnsköldsvik. To pronounce Ö-vik think "Uu-veek") is a dream. I'll send some pictures, but the best ones cannot be taken. For example, when we were driving to the airport to drop off Äldste Buchannon we were driving through a beautiful forest, with a slight snow adding to the 3 feet that already existed, and the sun was rising so the entire sky was purple-orange, and over a far away hill/mountain the moon was looking massive and super super white. It was so unreal, I couldn't believe it.

Äldste Prososki is super cool though, he knows most everyone I do, including the entire MV5 ward, so we have some great story time after 9. Justdet, he's from LP as well, that's why he knows everyone.

The work in Ö-vik is going forwards! The tracting game is where it's at, soooo many apartment building without portcodes. Enough talk though, pictures!

3221- on the way back from the airport, but the sky wasn't as purple-orange and the moon disappeared.

3222- On the way out the door my first day I hear this "Tjena missionärer!", or "What's up missionaries!" for those of you that cannot Swedish. Anyways, it's Äldste Sargent, who served in Ö-vik in 2012, on visit with his family.

3226- The view of Ö-vik from the front of the old bank the church rents out for the branch. The full name of the city, Örnsköldsvik, means Eagle Shield Bay, so that is Eagle Shield Bay at the end of the road.

3229- A very traditional Swedish house, it's massive, a bright color, and it smelled super good. I'm also finally getting the Swedish winter I've been wanting!

3230- speaks for itsself

3231- Those sun sets though...

Well, have a great week!

Äldste Wilson

Seeing as we just talked, I thought to just send pictures today and explain them :)

9907: The mission decided to allow finely groomed moustaches

9917: I think this was the first time I saw the Sun in all it's glory (no clouds, not rising or setting, and I'm not inside) for over a month

9920: Swedish Pepparkakor done right, with Swedish Milk.

9926: Or, for a more breakfast-y version, through them in your Pumpkin Spice Quaker Oats :P

9935: But you gotta be careful, if you eat pepparkakor to much and save the boxes it comes in, you end up with a tower that goes over your waste. 

Merry Christmas!

It was super cool to get to see all of my godchildren, thanks for joining in the call Brooke, Sam, Meghan, and Tony!

Ellie and Covey, I have high expectations for when I get home...

Taylor, you're not off the hook either...

Iallafall, ha ett gott nytt år!

Äldste Wilson

Transfer calls!

To start it off, we got transfer calls, and I'll be moving up in the mission! Litterally, I'm going up to Norrland. My new area is called Örnsköldsvik, so it'll be quite the change for me! My current companion, Elder Rasmussen, came to Handen from Övik so he's already told me all about the 15 members there, quite a change from the 150 members here in Handens ward. I do look forward to it though, I've heard great things about the small-branch vibe, and it's cold and snow-ie up there. Also, my companion is an Elder from Lone Peak High, so that'll be cool to serve with him!

However, I don't have to much time :( Lots of stuff has to be done before I transfer. But a story I wish to share:

This past week I've read the entire Book of Mormon. Our mission president asked us to do so between Christmas and New Years, and gave us extra time during the day to do so. This time though I learned a LOT of info, a good deal of which was informational (better understanding of Chronology, better grasp on the Culture, ext.), but more importantly, I gained an even stronger testimony that the Book of Mormon is truly the Word of God. The teachings of Christ that exist in the Book of Mormon are amazing, and can bring someone closer to God and give them more happiness than they thought possible. I know that because I've experienced it personally and seen it in others.

That's about all I got now!

Hejdå!

Äldste Wilson