Week 6 - SWEDEN

Preface:  Before I could even recieve Carter's email this week, I received a message from his new companion's (Äldste Cook) Mother. She reached out to me and sent me some quotes from Äldste Cooks email to her this morning in regards to Äldste Denton and training him for a week. Kind words from his senior companion. Glad to hear Carter is doing well, and working hard.

 "The new guy is doing great! His name is Elder Denton from Pocatello, Idaho. He is a stud. His Swedish is crazy better than mine was coming out of the MTC and he is a lot less shy than I was too. He is super good at jumping in and being a part of the conversation or discussion. He knows his stuff about the doctrine too. He has made training pretty easy on me. He's a funny guy. Good at music. Also really into Mtn. Biking. We have a ton of fun together. " 

 "They gave me Elder Denton. He's a heck of a guy. He is very outgoing and pushes himself to do and learn more every day. It has been easy training him this first week. He is not afraid to jump into the conversation when there is a pause and he doesn't hesitate to bear his testimony. He knows A LOT about the doctrine of the missionary lesson. Probably more than me. He'll be leading everything around here pretty soon."

Here is Äldste Denton's email this week.....   SWEDEN - Week 6

Helllllooooo everybody!

     SWEDEN. IS. BEAUTIFUL. I had pretty high expectations... I really did... and they were smashed to pieces by how much it delivered. On a scale from one to ten, I had to get a new scale because mine broke. I would live here in a heart beat. 

     I was assigned to labor for this next bit of time for... drum roll.............. Sundsvall! Which, don't worry, I also had know idea what that was or where it was or even how to say it when I read my paper thing (It's pronounced Soonds-voll) but It's about four-ish hours north of Stockholm by train... I'll send a picture with a map. We are in the Norr Land Zone, and guess who is a zone leader there... Äldste Nick Bringhurst! I'll get to go on splits with him this transfer! Ahhh! I have talked to him already when he called us to say hi for new transfers and we were super excited to find out that we were in the same zone. 

     I'm going to attempt to sum up my first impressions of Sweden, Swedes, and all things Swedish I have seen so far. Have you ever seen Lord of the Rings? You know the hobbits that live in Middle Earth? They're something like that. Ha ha, only in a few ways, for instance, they have what's called fika which is like a very serious thing actually. It's just a snack, but it's so much more. They have it all the time and it's serious. I've had three in one day already. Also, they're really clever, especially with like household things. Their showers, their soap dispensers, their everything... They really focus on details here. Everything is just the right size and no bigger. Everything works just the way it's supposed and they think of really cool ways to solve every day problems. Also, their ideals here are different. It's more about balance, precision, and functionality here than bigger and stronger like I think is of pretty high value in America. They're a very practical people from what I can see. 

    I have been learning a lot about faith. God can do so many things and I'm learning to trust Him and His power. Isaiah 41:10. That's been my scripture this week. Check it out. It's a good one. I'm really short on time, but I will tell more stories next week. For now, I love you all and appreciate your support. The language is coming great and my companions name is Elder Cook. He's awesome. I can honestly say I've never been happier. I love life. I'm learning every day and serving the Lord. 

Until next week!

Love,

Äldste Denton

   

   

    Seving in Sundsvall with Äldste Cook

 

                                          

 

                                                   

                                                                      

     

      P- Day