This week feels like it's been a
lifetime, but at the same time, I can't believe it's already been a
week! Life is different here and you have do without a lot of things,
but every day you start to miss those things less and less.
I love my district. There are 19 elders and sisters going to Sweden,
10 are in my district. We have four sisters and six elders. One of our
elders is from Finland. He's twenty-one. He came all the way here for
the next couple weeks just to go back to Sweden. He's pretty good with
the language so far, but Finish is completely different than like every
other language ever so it's not helping him much. The poor Finnish
missionaries have to stay here nine weeks to figure out that language.
On the floor of our residence hall we have missionaries heading to
Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Finland, Belgium/Netherlands, Holland,
and we had one missionary going to Mongolia, but he left on Monday.
We're all in the same branch and there's about 60-70 of us. Everyone is
really cool. Our zone leaders are the elders going to Iceland (or the
Icies). There are only six elders in Iceland right now and they are the
only ones here. Their language is ridiculous and they will also be here
nine weeks. Swedes, Nords, Dutchies, and Danes are only here six, so I
will be leaving mid October for Sweden.
For those of you
who know Carter Williams, AJ Barrot, or Isaac Sanders, I have seen them
all here and they look like they're doing great! I know Cameron Dey
came in yesterday, but I haven't seen him yet. I'm sure I will though!
My companions name is Elder Dumas (pronounced Doo-miss). He's
nineteen turning twenty this month. I'm senior companion for now but we
switch in two weeks hahaha. He's sooo chill. He is really humble and is a
hard worker. He is a certified welder and used to have hair something
like Shawn White before he came (I hope spelled that right). I love him
and we are getting along great.
We have been teaching
almost every day since our third day here in Swedish. yesterday we
committed our "investigator" to baptism. Honestly we were just so
excited we knew enough Swedish to get her to the point that she
understood what we wanted from us. The word for "to be baptized" and "to
do drugs" is only subtly different. We had to practice a lot so that we
weren't asking her "Will you commit to do drugs next month?" Hahaha,
you never know, maybe she is still confused about that! Hopefully not
XD. Swedish is coming along great though. I'm amazed at what I can do in
a week. The Savior is truly helping us to learn.
On
Tuesday this week Elder Oaks came and gave a devotional. I was impressed
by the simplicity of his message and his apparent love and
understanding for and of us. It was super neat. I was singing in the
choir for that devotional so we got to be in the same room as him. I
testify that he is an Apostle to Jesus Christ.
Some
thoughts I have had this week: when Jesus said it is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of the needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom
of God, I don't he was talking about an actual needle. The Eye of the
Needle is the name of the smallest passage through the walls of
Jerusalem. It was often used by single travelers. In order for the camel
and his rider to get through, the camel would have to be stripped of
any packs and bags to fit. Then, preceded by its master, the camel would
have to kneel and crawl through without being able to see anything but
its master's feet. Only then would they be able to enter the holy city
of Jerusalem. This applies to many things, but it specifically applied
to me this week. In order to serve a mission, I have had to strip myself
of the baggage that would make it impossible to properly serve. That
includes my own life at home, my pride, my doubts, and many more of my
actual physical possessions. Only then can I have the power of God with
me in preaching His word. I have felt that power already. I testify that
it is greater than my own.
Anyways, I love you all! I
sent some pictures of my companion and I, my district, a panting of the
sons of Mosiah in the new facilities, and my tag with the Swedish flag
in the background :) Let me know if there's anything you want to here
about and I'll try to stick it in next week!
Love,
Elder Denton
(No, that's not how you say it in Swedish, but I can't make those characters with this keyboard...)
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