Elder Carter Denton

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Week 92 - Fwd: Robin Hood

"Sherwood, like the forest in Robin Hood."

My new companion says this whenever someone has a hard time pronouncing his name. It works every time. Apparently his nick name back home was Robin Hood too.

We've been having a super fun time together and getting a lot done. From helping the branch start with ministering, to playing volley ball or soccer with the youth, to just plain old knocking on doors, it's been a fun week.

Today for p-day we decided to check out an old church that is apparently one of the most beautiful churches in Sweden. We got close and read that it was only open from Tuesday-Friday. But we tried the door anyways and it opened! So we checked it out and it was pretty nice. Then there was a lady there who actually happened to be in charge of tours that was training some youth to give tours or something. We asked if we could go up to the top and she said yeah! So she took us through the organ (like literally through it... there were pipes on either side of us) and up all the way to the bell tower. There was a sweet view.

We also went up to the top of a mountain in town yesterday where we found that there was a huge concert going on down in town. We could kind of hear it so we listened from a distance and made some friends who were up there. It turned out to be really awesome actually. Apparently there is a free concert in Örnsköldsvik the 7th of July every year at 7:00 P.M... In case you ever end up in Ö-vik in July, now you know.

Well that's been my week,

Hope you have a good one!

Äldste Denton

Friday, July 5, 2019

Your missionary's new leadership assignment - July 5th - zone Leader

Dear Brother & Sister Denton,

We are grateful for the service of your son, Äldste Carter William Denton, in the Sweden Stockholm Mission. Recently Äldste Denton has been assigned to serve as a zone leader in the Örnköldsvik I area. He is an exemplary missionary, demonstrating the work and faith which have earned the respect and trust of the mission.

As a zone leader he is in a position of sacred stewardship in the Sweden Stockholm Mission and can have a tremendous impact on the culture of the mission and the missionaries themselves. Thank you for your efforts in preparing Äldste Denton for this assignment.

Thank you for your continued love, support, and prayer on behalf of your missionary and the Sweden Stockholm Mission.

Sincerely,

Michael J. Youngberg

Michael J. Youngberg, President

SWEDEN STOCKHOLM MISSION

New leadership assignment for your missionary - May 26th - District Leader

Dear Brother and Sister Denton,

We are writing to express our appreciation for your son, Äldste Carter William Denton. Äldste Denton has been assigned to serve as a district leader in the Umeå Örnsköldsvik District of the Sweden Stockholm Mission. He is a wonderful and well-prepared missionary, and this added leadership responsibility will be a blessing to him and to the mission.

A district leader is a position of sacred stewardship in the Sweden Stockholm Mission as it can have a tremendous impact on the culture of the mission and the missionaries themselves.

Thank you for your continued love, support, and prayer on behalf of your missionary and the Sweden Stockholm Mission.

Sincerely,

Michael J. Youngberg

Michael J. Youngberg, President

SWEDEN STOCKHOLM MISSION

Monday, July 1, 2019

Week 91 - The Last Transfer

Well here it is. My last companion. My last area. My last transfer. I'll be staying put in Övik and Elder Gilson is out of here. He's been an awesome comp and I'm sad to see him go. I'll be getting Elder Sherwood and I'm excited. He sounds like an awesome guy.

We had a great week meeting with returning members and non-members. I really feel like I'm getting to know the members of our branch and it's starting to feel like home here. We helped our branch president move a bunch of wood out at his little farm. It was fun.

We also had a youth night where we played badminton and drove other sports. That was pretty fun. I love spending time with the youth. They are awesome.

Well that's it for me.

Love you all!

Äldste Denton

Elder Gilson got a big American flag and sunflower seeds from home. She's a grand old flag.

And here's us stuffing our faces with soft serve ice cream :)

Week 90 - Midsommer

Week 90 - Midsommer

Hej hej,

What a spectacular week. We had a lovely midsommar celebration in a little village out in the country. Some people from our branch were there. We also got to go over to the branch president's house and grill with them. Pretty fun. They put us in charge of the grilling part and then they went into the kitchen. We did a pretty good job I think. It started pouring rain us while we were out there so they gave me a jacket to wear. It didn't have a hood... or sleeves... haha it was so much fun though.

We had some visitors in church from Saratoga Springs, Utah. The daughter of some people in our branch who now lives in Utah with her family came for a visit and made us all really happy to see some more people in church :)

I also did splits in Umeå this week with Elder Ahonen. We went to the MTC together so it was so awesome to be back together with him. We had a great time and gave Book of Mormons out like candy.

Well that'e been my week!

Hope you have a good one,

Äldste Denton

Here's some midsummer pictures, us painting as volunteers at the Red Cross, and me singing the Sound of Music because these hills are alive if you know what I mean.

Sunday, June 23, 2019

Week 89 - Spring Has Sprung

Well the flowers have all bloomed and it's gorgeous up here in Övik. Moving from Stockholm to Norrland meant I got two springs since spring comes about four weeks later up here. #countyourmanyblessingsnamethemonebyone We've had just about as good a' weather as you could ask for too. So we went and hiked a mountain today. That was pretty fun! We ate lunch on top of it and got rained on a little. We also met two guys that had rock climbed up the backside where it's sheer cliff. They were from Minnesota and South Dakota. Always fun to meet some Americans!

During the week we had a lesson cancel, so we went on a walk looking for opportunities to share the gospel. We went into the mall and ended up in a men's clothing store called Dressman. Then I suggested that I could try on a shirt and then Elder Gilson could try to talk to the people waiting for their friends trying on shirts. Well it kind of worked. The lady sitting there was speaking Spanish which kind of threw Elder Gilson off, but when I came out with the shirt on, a guy looked up and just said basically, "Dang that looks really good on you!" Haha he was a nice guy and we talked for like 20 minutes. I thought it was so funny, I just went ahead and bought the shirt! Then on the rest of our walk, we saw two people we had been trying to get in contact with! It was a really inspired walk apparently.

We had a girl who hadn't been in a while come to church yesterday and she brought her family who aren't members. It was fun for us to meet them. We had played sports with her little brothers before and it was fun chilling with them too :)

Well that's been my week. I hope you all have a good one :)

Love,

Äldste Denton

Week 88 - Hitting the Links

Elder Gilson had his birthday so we celebrated by making our own kebab plates and having the youth come have a party. It was a hit and a new guy came and then came again for our activity on Friday. Super fun! Elder Gilson manned the deep frier and I was in charge of frying the frozen kebab meat.

We helped our branch president plant potatoes this last week too. He lives way out in the country. We got to eat a nice fish and potato stew afterwards with him, his wife, a friend who's considering being baptized, and her three month old baby. If you've ever sat behind a tractor and loaded potatoes then you know how much fun we had. It was my first time ever planting potatoes actually. It's funny that I'm born and raised in Idaho and I had to come to Sweden to try it for the first time :)

We decided to golf for p-day today. Super fun. The boys at the clubhouse were just spendid and gave us discounts and free stuff and yeah it was a blast. It was a beautiful course out by the water.

Well that's it for this week! Love you all, the Book of Mormon is true. It can change your life if you read it.

Love,

Äldste Denton