Ja, Må Han Leva!

Hey Everyone! 

  The last week has been pretty good! We've been able to do quite a bit, including having the Zone Leaders over for work overs, a rather enjoyable birthday party or two, and a branch barbeque. Overall, a lot of it was quite a bit of fun. 

  On Thursday, we had our zone leaders, Elders Day and Lappalainen  over, and we split with them and headed off to different parts of Växjö to try to see what we could do for the work here. I went with Elder Lappalainen, and we tried to visit a bunch of less active members and old investigators in and around the downtown area of Växjö. It went well, we were able to meet with a less active member named P. A., who largely said that she never really had a testimony that the church was true, but would be happy to visit with the missionaries when she can. Then, later that evening, we went on a home teaching visit with another member, J-E, to a member named P. N. We just went through the First Presidency message with him (on thankfulness), and it went well. I think he enjoyed the visit.  

  Then, that evening, we went to the Boyer's (the senior missionaries') apartment for cake. I actually ended up being quite a bit late (Elder Lappalainen and I had trouble catching a few busses), so instead of coming at 8 or 8:30, we ended up showing up at about 9 ish. Either way, we had a good time. Sister Boyer baked us a super good cake, and we sang Happy Birthday (in Swedish and English). It was fun. 

 The next day, I opened my package from you guys (Thanks for everything! It was pretty funny; I like the pet parrot). Then we went back to the Boyer's for round two of birthday cake. It was still really tasty, and we were all wore the laies and glasses and everything (which was probably most of the photos that were sent to you). We had a pretty good time, and we also helped them set up a dvd player for a branch activity later that evening. It was good.  

Then, on Saturday, we had a branch BBQ at the F's house (a less-active family). We had a grill and barbequed hotdogs (grillkorv, in Swedish), and of course ate a ton of hotdogs. We then played Kubb with a bunch of the people there (I'll have to make sure to bring a kubb set back to the states, it's pretty fun), and roasted marshmallows. Around that point people started leaving, but we stayed for a bit longer and played some more with the F's kids and P. N. We threw an American Football around some, played some (non-American) football, and then just sort of ran back and forth across their lawn. It was really fun, and the F's had a really good time as well. It was a really enjoyable Saturday. 

  Either way, it was a pretty good week. I love all of you guys, I hope you all have a good time in the various places you find yourselves! 

  Love you!

    Eli

 

                                                         Partying with the Birthday Parrot!

           Celebrating my 20th Birthday with Elders Day, Jensen and Lappalainen

                            Inside our church in Vaxjo-what does that sign mean above the door?

                                            Outside of the church in Vaxjo-yes it is in an office building

 

 Kronoberg Castle, a ruined fortress constructed in the 15th century. This castle was used as base by rebel Nils Dacke during the Dacke War. The fortress has thick walls and an interesting array of artillery portals that face out onto the lake Helgasjön to the north

 

                                                         Interesting bathroom signs