Transfer to Eskiltuna

Hey everyone,

  This week has been a bit more interesting (and this time it actually has, I'm not just writing this in hopes that I'll think of something interesting to write). 

  First off, this week we were able to visit a less active family, the F's. They invited us over so we went and visited with them for a while. It was nice, they have a good family and I think that they really appreciated the visit; they seemed to have a good time. They gave us this Chilean dish that was sort of like a hot pocket (which is a really bad way to describe it, but it's the only frozen pocket pie thing I can think of) with hamburger, olives, and a few other things. It was pretty good.

  Then, on Thursday we had exchanges with our zone leaders. It was pretty good, we actually ended up going to Helsingborg and joining in on their district meeting (which was kind of fun, since there's actually other missionaries in their district. And it's in Helsingborg, which is really just a cool city). I then went with Elder O and we returned to Växjö and did some work here (though nothing terribly out of the ordinary, just swing by's, tracting, etc.). Then, in the evening we joined some of the YSA for institute, which was taught by Elder Boyer. Overall, things went fairly well.

  The next morning we met back up with Elders Ricker and Day again and returned to our areas. The splits went well, but it was kind of a lot of time on the train over the two days (it takes about 2 hours to get to Helsingborg). But it was kind of nice, sort of a fun change of pace.

  Then, on Saturday, we got a call from the President. It turns out that I'll be transferring to the town of Eskilstuna, which is a little ways west of Stockholm. My new companion will be Elder Miller, and, for those who are interested, Elder Sandquist will be replacing me here in Växjö (still with Elder Ricker). I think I've enjoyed my time in Växjö so far, but I'm looking forward to Eskilstuna. Should be an interesting change.

  Anyways, good hearing from you all. 

      Eli

 

 

                                                             Eskiltuna Sweden

 

IKEA

IKEA in Sweden!

Another week in Vaxjo

Things have been going fairly well here. This week has been fairly ordinary. We've largely visited the usual people and whatnot, so it hasn't been too exciting. We've been able to visit some of the branch members and try to help some of them out (service), and that's been kind of nice.

  We also (per the Senior Couple's suggestion) went out to visit one of the branch members, A, who had some ideas for trying to find new people. Some of them were pretty good ideas, like putting fliers up at the university for the single's FHE and other activities or trying to give a short lesson on our religion to a class or something (which is something I've done before; it's kind of fun). But, at the same time, she had some kind of interesting ideas, like giving coffee to people who pass by the church in the evenings (which is apparently something that some of the other Swedish churches do). All in all, I feel like she did have some good ideas.  A was enthusiastically talking about how everything will help, and Elder Ricker and I. All in all, I think it was a good, helpful meeting.

 

                                                         Elder Ricker and his recorder

                                                              A view in Vaxjo

 Zone Conference in Helsingborg- If you look behind the missionaries, that's Denmark off in the distance

Helsingborg The mighty Radhuset was completed in 1897 in neo-Gothic style and contains stained-glass scenes illustrating Helsingborg’s history.

Uncle!

Hey Everyone!

 

   First off, congrats to Jared and Britt on their new child! I'm glad to hear that everything went well and everything. It should be super exciting for you guys, a whole new chapter in your lives! Yay! And I'm an uncle now, too, which is cool! I saw a few pictures of the baby and he looks cute! Congratulations!

  Secondly, Happy Birthday to Jessica! Hope you have a good birthday (it sounds like you had a good celebration with all of the family in Utah). Gratis på din fördelsedag, as the people say here. Hope you have a good year!

  Things have been going fairly well here. This week, we had another Zone Training meeting, though this time it was in Helsingborg (last month it was in Kristianstad). The meeting itself was kind of odd; they pretty much had a short learning activity and a few testimonies, the whole thing only took about 30 to 40 minutes (as opposed to a usual length of about 2 hours or so). But we were able to meet with people we don't see very often, walk around the city some (which is a really cool city), get lunch, etc. I did actually take some pictures of the festivities, though once again I managed to forget my camera back home... So I'll upload a lot of pictures next week! (Sorry guys!)

  Also, earlier in the week, I was able to visit the mother, who's not a member, of one of the YSA here in the branch (M). It was actually kind of spur-of-the-moment meeting; we stopped by the church in the late afternoon to look something up, and we found (M) there. We talked to him for a little while, and then he invited us over for dinner that evening, so we went over and had a rather nice dinner with him and his mom. She seemed like a really nice person, and seemed to really enjoy having our company for a while. It was fairly enjoyable, and we're hoping to be able to meet with her more later.

  This week we also got a referral from Mormon.org, and someone actually requested a visit from the missionaries. They lived out in Älvesta, which is about a 20 minute train ride away, so we went out there on Saturday. He ended up not being home, but we left a note for him with our phone number, so he can call us now, and we're hoping to be able to head back out there this week sometime. Hopefully something good will come of it, I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes. 

  Anyways, I love all of you guys! Have a great week!

    Eli

Hey Everybody!

Hey, Everybody!

  This week has been fairly good. It hasn't been too eventful, but there's been a few interesting happenstances and whatnot. 

  This week we were able to help one of our branch members, "D", move from Älvesta to a new home in Växjö. There was only a few seats in the van we were taking, so we ended up taking the train to Älvesta, took a few minutes finding his house, and then helped him move, for about 10 or 15 minutes. It turns out that he really didn't have a lot of stuff, and we had 4 people helping him move. So that went fairly well, though we ended up taking a lot more time traveling than helping. But I still think that he appreciated the help, so it was still good that we could come and lend a hand. 

  In other news, I got your post card this week! It was actually kind of funny, because it came in the morning while we were still at the apartment, and Elder Ricker, who is from Portland, went to see what had arrived when we heard the mail slot open and close. He saw that the card was from Portland and apparently thought it was from his family, but, much to his dismay found that it was addressed to me instead. It was funny. 

  What else... This week I also decided to try to have a jar of pickled herring for dinner (which I had before and kind of liked), and they sell it at the grocery stores, so I picked one up and cooked some potatoes to have with it. That actually turned out to be a pretty terrible idea. It makes an okay side dish, but just eating herring with potatoes was kind of gross. So don't try that. 

Either way, things are going fairly well here. Love all of you guys! Hope everything goes well with the baby!

Love you!

  Eli