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

Transfers

Hi Everyone!

  This week has been pretty good. I'd say that the most eventful thing this week has been transfers, which happened this last Tuesday! Elder Jensen went up to Boden, where he'll very likely stay until he goes home in December, and, Elder Ricker came into Växjö, where he'll probably be until he goes home at the same time. On the day of transfers, I was paired with the Boyers for the day, as Elder Jensen departed at about 10 in the morning, and Elder Ricker wasn't scheduled to arrive until about 8 in the evening. With them, we visited a less active member and another branch member, looked for some repair parts for some bicycles and a few other errands. It was a fairly good day.

  And I've been able to meet Elder Ricker. He seems like a really interesting individual. He's kind of crazy (he's from Oregon though, so that kind of explains it), but he's a really nice guy. I've really enjoyed my time with him so far, he's good a keeping things fun and enjoyable. He's quite musically talented, and he enjoys playing his recorder and flute. It's been good.

  Aside from that, it's been a fairly ordinary week. We were able to meet a friend of one of the branch members, named D. He was really nice, and we played ping pong a little with him. I'm not sure whether he'll be interested in meeting much, but we'll see where it goes. It was good to be able to meet someone new and have an enjoyable time with them. 

Either way, it's been a pretty good week,

Eli

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