Happy New Year

(Letter From January 2, 2014)

Hey! Sorry that I missed last week, but things got more than a little crazy with Christmas and Christmas Eve here in Sweden. We're all still doing great over here.

Christmas Eve here was amazing, and kind of a miracle truthfully. The Sunday before Christmas, I was able to play in Sacrament here again. It was just Away in a Manger from the hymnbook with a few ornaments, but it was amazing to get to play. Afterwards, people were talking to people, and it came up that we hadn't been invited to someone's house for Christmas Eve yet, and this sweet hispanic woman instantly said, 'That's not okay,' and bustled off to talk to somebody. She came back a few minutes later to say we were welcome to come to her house for Christmas Eve. This was great; Syster McCollaum and I were a little sad that this meant we wouldn't get to see Kalle Anka (Donald Duck), but we were ecstatic to have a place to go.

Later that night, however, another member called us to invite us for a real Swedish Julafton. We told her what had happened, and that maybe we could stop by before going to this other member's house. She called over to her, and arranged it so the elders would be at the first members house, and we would get to have a real Swedish Christmas.

And truthfully, it was amazing. The family has 3 little boys, and they're so sweet. We got to watch Kalle Anka with them, and have a julboard (Christmas Dinner), and then wait for Jultomton to come. And honestly, this family was amazing. Their little 3 year old was terrified of Jultomton (Santa Clause), but it was the sweetest thing to watch how excited he and his brothers were about their Christmas gifts; every gift meant someone got a hug, and they all three were beyond excited when they unwrapped the tiny little Kristus statues their parents had gotten them.  It's probably also worth mentioning that this amazing family made sure that Syster McCollaum and I had Christmas presents to open, and so we got several amazing gifts from this family.

And of course, Christmas Day was amazing. Thank you SO MUCH to the ward at home for they're package, I loved everything I got, and I may or may not have started crying as I was reading all of the notes from the Laurels. You guys are the best!

We also got to spend time with several more members, and skyping home of course was fantastic. We actually got to go to a baptism on Christmas day as well. It was different, but it was so cool to see someone showing their commitment to follow Christ on the day we celebrate Him.

New Years we got to spend with an amazing couple in the mission. The Tolley's are over all the apartments, and for New Year's eve, they had all of the Sisters in the greater Stockholm area to their house. We were the only ones to stay until about midnight, and then they drove us home. And truthfully, that was the coolest thing, because we left just in time for them to start fireworks all over Stockholm. There was no one else on the roads at that point, so it was safe to be out, but from every angle, all you could see was fireworks being launched from apartment roofs and street corners. I really think everyone else should be jealous, because we had the world's best firework show.

The biggest news this week is that I have another companion! Syster McCollaum and I have been joined by the lovely Syster Eriksson. She's a native Swede who's going to the Washington Spokane Mission, but she's starting here in Hägersten while waiting for her visa. It was a little hard this morning; she had an appointment to get her visa, but we got there, and were informed that we didn't have everything necessary, so she wouldn't be able to have her appointment today. She was more than a little upset about it, but it means that we get to hang on to her for a little while longer, and work on our Swedish. It's interesting, because she hasn't even been to the MTC yet, but she's definitely excited to begin teaching, and has so much energy about teaching the gospel. 

So, yeah, there's the Holidays in Sweden. Life's great, and while having 4 non-proselyting days in the last two weeks has been nice, I'm excited to get back into regular missionary work, and find even more people who are prepared to accept the gospel. I hope everything's going well for everyone over there, and I love and miss you all tons!

Love,

Syster Maxwell

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

I think I jinxed myself last week when I mentioned that snow had finally come to Sweden, because the day afterwards, it melted away completely, and while it snowed once last week, we haven't had anything that's stuck. I'm still hoping for a white Christmas next week, but we'll see what happens with that. As it is, it's been warm enough I can shed a layer or two, and rainy. Contacting in the rain has definitely been fun in the past few days. Some times I think the US Postal Service motto fits the missionaries better- Come rain or snow, we'll be there.... or something to that effect!

The work is progressing, we're still working with the guy who started cussing us out on the street. He actually is really nice when he's not having a bad day, and it's amazing how much progress he makes. We've been working to get more lessons every week, and we're slowly but surely making it there. We've also gotten to teach a guy from Africa this past week who is... interesting. He's a self-proclaimed evangelist, and he has an enormous faith in Jesus Christ, which has been fantastic to see and to feel. He has some of the most bizarre word choices I have every heard, and it's kind of funny sometimes when he says one thing, and we say another, and after a few minutes of back and forth, we figure out we really meant the same thing. He's a challenge to teach at times, because he LOVES talking, and he'll get distracted on tangents, but really, it's just great that he has such a strong faith already.

Oh, I  suppose I should mention last week's Christmas concert  had some unexpected side effects. A lady from Hägersten Församling was there at the concert, and she heard me play, and decided it would be wonderful if I could also play for our sacrament meeting on the 22nd. She wasn't, however, sure who in the ward had a violin, so after a little bit of talking around, she decided that she wanted to take me to a violin shop and rent me a violin- and I have to say, it was a very sweet thought, and I would love to have a violin all the time, however, that's not something I want to ask someone else to do for me. It is too expensive on a missionary budget, and it is too much to ask a member to pay for, and beyond that, while transfers typically happen every six weeks, it isn't impossible that I could get called to another area unexpectedly. So, I tried to tell her I didn't think it would work and that I didn't want her to do it, which I think she misunderstood as me saying I don't know that it would be okay by the mission rules, because she then called the District and Zone leaders to get me permission to go to this violin shop and to see if it was okay to rent a violin for me. Then she called the proselyting office to be sure I wasn't transferring. And just to be sure everything was okay, she called President about it, which resulted in President calling me to figure out what was going on. I explained the situation to him, and told him I would much rather borrow a violin for as long as it was needed then give it back. He said he would see what he could do, and the next morning he called back and told me he had found me a violin for this coming weekend.

Really, I'm touched that this woman wanted to help so much; I'm an American missionary who she's known less than a month, and she was willing to sacrifice a lot for me, and that means a lot. I'm also grateful for President, who was able to calmly and effectively help us all figure out this situation. And I'm grateful as well that I'm getting to use my talents here on my mission; I've said for years that I would much rather play in sacrament then give a talk in church. Now all I do is talk in or about church, and I'm starting to realize how special the violin really has been to me, and it's great.

Speaking of talking in church, we had an adventure yesterday. We had just sat down in Sunday school after talking with some of the members when Syster McCollaum jumped back up and said we needed to go right then because we were teaching the Relief Society lesson. Apparently, she had recieved a phone call a few days before asking us to teach the lesson, and in all likelihood, she told me, and I promptly forgot, which explains why yesterday afternoon I was completely lost, and had no idea we were even supposed to be teaching in Relief Society. So, with 20 minutes until the meeting began, we started preparing a lesson about following Jesus Christ's example in our own lives. And I must say, it actually went very well. I'm still not able to understand all of what people say in church or lessons (it doesn't help that everyone has an accent from somewhere besides Sweden), but I could feel the spirit very strongly as we taught. It was really amazing to look at those women and hear their testimonies and hear a little of where they come from, and to know we are all united in and of that we are all members of the same church, and that we are daughters of our Heavenly Father.

And the other most spiritual moment of the week was Saturday, as we were able to go with Angie to the temple. She was going in to do baptisms for the dead for the first time, and she wanted to have us come with her, for which I'm extremely grateful. As missionaries, we're not allowed to be baptized, so instead, Syster McCollaum and I were able to sit and just soak in the Spirit for an hour or so. It's true I've only been out here a month, but I all ready miss having weekly temple visits; the temple is one of my favorite places to be, and I love the peace and strength that I can feel there. Syster McCollaum and I also had the chance to do some confirmations while we were there, and it was really cool to get to take such an active role in someone's baptism. It says in Preach My Gospel that temple work and missionary work are exactly the same, and in that moment in the temple, I could understand that statement very fully. That was one of the best moments I've had out here, and while maybe I wasn't out teaching or contacting, I felt very effective as I was helping others come to Christ through temple work. I'm sorry, temples are just the best. Seriously, they've got it wrong, Disneyland isn't the happiest place on earth, it is the LDS temples. They're just awesome.

One last note: things are changing here in the next week. This week is transfers, and while I'm not going anywhere, one of our elders is leaving, while another is coming in, and the two elders we have will be training two of the twelve elders coming from the MTC this week. I'll miss Äldste Hills (but he'll be great in his new area), but I'm also excited to see who the new elders we'll get will be, especially as I was able to meet them in the MTC before coming out here. I'm also very excited for this because, while I may still be the youngest sister in the mission (in terms of actual age) for a few months, I'm not going to be the youngest group (in terms of when we got here) anymore! and it will be fun, because it means we'll have three greenies here in Hägersten, but it will honestly be great to have six missionaries here, and that in and of itself is great. Oh, and we'll also be having Zone Conferencethis Thursday, which means I'll get to see a fair portion of my MTC group, and that we'll get to have a ton of missionaries together right before Christmas.

And that about sums up my week! I hope things are going well for every one at home, and that I'll hear if it's otherwise! So, wishing you all a god jul, or a very merry Christmas from here in Sweden where I'll be eating clementines and peparkakor while drinking julmust and watching Kalle Anka. Lots of love and prayers, especially at this Christmas time,

Love,

Syster Maxwell

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

So, it finally snowed in Huddinge this week! I've been waiting since I got here in November to see snow, and it finally came this week, which made me ridiculously happy. That is until I realized that Swedes don't believe in snow plows or shoveling their sidewalks, and they don't do anything to really get rid of the snow. Because this means that I'm walking on 1/2 an inch of solid ice everywhere I go. Actually, I'll be honest, I'm just glad that it finally snowed, and I'm willing to pay for that by learning how to ice-skate in my boots every day. I haven't slipped yet, so we'll hope that pattern continues in the next few months.

Sweden continues to be beautiful. I love all the candles in the window for Advent, and we're starting to get little
blurbs of Christmas music in the stores. I miss American Christmas songs, but I've found a few Swedish ones to love, and every so often, we hear a little bit of an American song in the grocery store or coming from korv carts.

I actually had an amazing experience with music this past week. It's been really strange for me not to have a thousand concerts and rehearsals for Christmas this December, and I'd been missing it when Äldste Lambson asked me if I'd be willing to play with him in the Stake Christmas Concert that was in Västerhaninge last night. It took a little finagling, but we were able to find me a violin, which was absolutely gorgeous, and I was able to play a song called 'Betlehems Stjärna' last night, which was also absolutely gorgeous. It was absolutely amazing to get play and rehearse, and to get to share my testimony with others through music again. I love getting to do that, and I'm doing everything I can to get more opportunities like that.

However, we were only a small part of the concert; most of the concert was a local sånggrup who were absolutley amazing to listen to. They had the most amazingly in tune and pure voices, and the arrangements of songs they sang were stunning. The spirit was so strong in that meeting, and I consider it a privilege to have been a part of it. One of the songs they sang was a more traditionally Swedish song called 'Bereden väg för Herren.' We're supposed to be singing it in Sakrament in a few weeks, and I'm excited to learn it. They also sang 'Believe' from 'The Polar Express' and 'O Holy Night' in Swedish. It was amazing. I feel like I've said that a lot, but really, this was one of the most amazing concerts I've been to in a very long time.

We've also had a lot of fun in normal missionary work this week. We continue to contact all sorts of lovely individuals (some may not always seem so lovely, but I'm sure that they really are when you know them). I actually got a lesson on humility this week from that; we contacted a Turkish man on the street near our apartment, and he started freaking out on us and swearing at us because of how people of other faiths have treated him in the past. I was more than ready to leave, but Syster McCollaum patiently waited for him to stop swearing, and asked him if he wanted to meet with us. I was still not entirely sure I wanted to go through with this, but I didn't say anything. Friday, we met with him, and it was the most amazing lesson. Really, he would talk and talk and talk, but as he talked, you could feel the Spirit so strongly. We're continuing to meet with him, and we're hoping that he'll continue to progress.

Obviously, I don't know everything, because if I'd had my way, we probably wouldn't have met with him.

But luckily for everyone involved, I have an amazing companion and a Heavenly Father who understands much more than I do. I don't think we've had a single investigator so far that I would have really sought out so much before my mission, but they've all been amazing to talk to and teach.

I'm excited for Christmas to come. It means a lot more clementines, pepparkakor, and julmust for one, but for two, there's a different spirit in our meetings, and I feel like people are a lot more open to talking about faith and Jesus Christ.

Anyways, I hope people are enjoying the start of the Christmas season back at home! I love you all, and I think you're pretty amazing.

Love,

Syster Maxwell

December's finally here

Hey, family and friends, love you all, and I miss you like a fat kid misses chocolate cake. I heard that from my companion this week, and I've been dying to use it on you, because I thought it was hysterical.

It continues to be cold and dark here in Sweden, and I know that I'm being blessed in and of that I'm learning to love the cold. I really am; I don't know what I'll do the next time I'm in hundred-degree weather, because the cold is just so beautiful! We were out contacting the other day, and I thought it was the most fantastic thing that every time I breathed, I could see my breath come out in a cloud of fog and that my scarf was growing icicles because of it. Any and all water freezes, and so the sidewalks glitter when you walk, because tiny little water droplets get stuck in the cement.

I'm also learning to love Swedish houses. They are so VIVID. I love the colors, and the variety you'll see when you're walking down the streets. Syster McCollaum probably gets a little frustrated that I do it so often, but I love stopping to look at the fantastic colors the Swedes have everywhere. It does get dark and grey by about 2:30 here, but there are so many colors around me that I hardly notice.

There's also a ridiculous number of Christmas lights out. It's different from the States in and of that they don't put so many lights on the actual house. Instead, they have candles in the windows for advent. It's so different, but I love it.

I also got my first taste of Julmust this week, which is the soda the Swedes drink just for Christmas. YUM. I don't usually drink soda, but I may make an exception at Christmas time for Julmust, because it's amazing.

It was an interesting week for missionary work. We are still working with our druggie investigator. He progresses really well, quite truthfully, and we're hoping to see him baptized by the end of the month. We had fun with another investigator this week when he informed us he supports polygamy and thinks the church was wrong to end it. That was an interesting lesson in SO many ways, but that was definitely not the least of them.

We had a rough(ish) experience with one of our new converts this week. She wanted to go to the temple, so we set up a time with them for her to go do baptisms. We got there and talked with the front desk, and she told us she was planning on going through a session. It was a little heart-breaking to have to tell her she couldn't go through the temple yet, but she was sweet about it, and patiently let us explain to her that she would have to wait a year, and that she could do baptisms for now.

And I would also like to say, we have the most AMAZING ward. Angie is just one example of our amazing ward members, but there are others. Last week, we went to a dinner with a member family, and they noticed that I was wearing my big thick boots. The wife asked if I was cold, and we told her that quite honestly, it wasn't that I was cold, it was that I had another pair of boots, and they were making it impossible for me to walk without limping, and that none of my ballet flats work for contacting in the snow and rain. So, she put out a facebook notice, and today, I am wearing a pair of the most wonderfully broken in, fitted perfectly to my feet boots. And that's not the only expample I have of how wonderful the Hagersten ward is, but that is the most clear example I have of what a blessing a ward family is, and how much my Heavenly Father must love me. Seriously, it's awesome.

Love you all, and I hope everything's going well for you!

Love,

Syster Maxwell

We Have Hit Negative Temperatures!

It’s true, we have finally hit the negatives for Celisus temperatures. I don’t know exactly how cold it is, but Äldste Hills was having fun ice-skating on the roads last night on our way out of a dinner appointment last night. Syster McCollaum continues to inform me that we haven’t hit real Swedish winter yet, but it’s also consistently sitting around 0° C. It’s not completely frozen yet, but weäll get there.

We’re finally getting to get more appointments and lessons in. One thing I’m starting to learn very quickly out here is not to judge. Everyone has their own set of problems, and everyone comes from different backgrounds. I’ve met people from just about everywhere, including China, India, Kenya, Ghana, Colombia, Uzbekistan, Canada, Chile, and SO MANY OTHERS, and from every walk of life too. It’s fantastically amazing who I’ll get to meet every day.
 

So, just a fun tidbit, the Stockholm temple is actually in my zone. It used to be in my district, but due to a complicated set of transfers, it’s now only in my zone. However, last week for District meeting, we met in Västerhaninge (the town where the temple is), and I walked straight by the temple. There are NOT many missionaries in Sweden who can say they saw the temple in their first week in the country.



District meeting last week was also my first chance to try kladkaka, which is the Swedish equivalent to brownies, and completely delicious, as well as kebab.

Let me explain kebab in Sweden- it is NOTHING like shish-kabobs in the states. There is no resemblance whatsoever. Kebab is fried lamb meat cut in very thin slices and put on pizza with sauce, peppers, and french-fries. The kebab I had last week also had tomatoes and lettuce, which Syster McCollaum tells me isn’t how it usually is (and I had kebab last night that would agree with that statement). It sounds bizarre, but it is SO GOOD. I think I’m in love with kebab and kladkaka, and it’s a good thing it doesn’t fit in the missionary budget to have both all the time, or I would be coming home as a very fat missionary at the end of my mission.

 

Another weird thing about Sweden, everyone here has a dog, a baby, or smokes, or sometimes a combination of all three. I think I have seen more pregnant women here than I did walking around BYU campus, which is a statement in and of itself. I’m also fairly certain that if I develop lung-cancer later in life, I will blame that on the Swedes. I love them to pieces, but sometimes, I wish the bus-station didn’t smell like tobacco.

Lessons are going great, and they’re always interesting, as is contacting. We do a lot more contacting than anything, and that’s mostly because we’re building up our area. For those who’ve been wondering, we do contacting, and not tracting, and that’s mostly because almost every apartment building in Sweden has a passcode on the doors. Unless you have the code, you can’t get in to ring the doorbell, and so, usually we just end up walking up and down the streets in Flemingsberg and Älvsjö looking for people to talk to.

It actually led to an amazing experience last week. We hadn’t been having much success in our contacting after District meeting last week, so we went to the side of the road and said a quick prayer. We went back to the road, and within seconds, we met this guy who was just out for a walk. We started talking to him, and he told us he had time to sit down and talk, so we sat on a bench, and taught him the entire first lesson. He had so many questions, and we could feel the Spirit so strongly as we taught him. It was freezing, and the rain was coming down, and we were pretty well soaked by the time we were done, but it was worth it! Seriously, it was the most amazing lesson I’ve been to yet. 

 

We still have not had any real snow; so far, it’s just been these frustrating little flakes that are almost more like a mist that is just cold enough to freeze and stick to you. I’m still waiting for some real snow to come, but Syster McCollaum says to be patient, because soon we’ll have so much snow we won’t know what to do with it.

Oh well, I haven’t frozen yet, for which I’m grateful!

Love, Syster Maxwell

Ursäkta

So, first and foremost, I'm still alive in frozen Sweden!

Actually, from what I hear, it's about as warm here in Sweden as it is at home. I'm actually not sure what the temperature has been here because I'm still not sure where a thermometer is, but itäs been about 5 degrees Celsius on average, if not a little less.

President and Syster Newell are amazing, as are all of the Senior Couples. We were welcomed in right away, and I can't say that things are uncomfortable right now, aside from going from sitting in a desk all day to walking around Stockholm for hours at a time.

I've been assigned to an area just south of Stockholm. We're lucky; our apartment belonged to senior couples before us, so it's HUGE, and really nice. It's a little different, because they shower is not at all seperated from the rest of the bathroom ( really, we have to hang the rug over the shower curtain every morning so it can dry out), but considering that that's the only strange thing I can find about it, I'd say we've got it made.

Speaking of 'we,' I have an amazing new companion, Syster McCollaum, who is a Doctor Who fan! We've both been celebrating our mutual nerdiness all week. She is from Delta, Utah, and only has a few more months out here on her mission. She's been great so far, and an amazing help with learning the language.

I got out of the MTC, and I quickly realized, I don't know the language half so well as I thought I did. Everyone speaks so fast here, and they fluctuate their words in spots Americans would never think to. I'm at least able to seperate different words, but Syster McCollaum does most of the talking when we're out contacting since I'm still trying to figure out what in the world people are saying to me.

It's definitely been different here; it's usually dark by about 4:30 p.m., and we stay out contacting until about 7 or 8. The phrase I'm working to master right now is 'ursäkta' or 'excuse me.' Contacting is harder than expected. I'm still not entirely sure what people are saying when they talk to me, so I'm a little more cautious when I approach them, just to be certain I'm not somehow saying something ridiculous or offensive.

I have done more running for Tunnelbanan and Pendeltåget than I have ever run for any form of transportation in my life in the past week. I'm pretty sure I'm getting just as much exercise walking around Sweden as when I exercise in the morning. We've yet to get an actual lesson in; we keep scheduling them, and people keep cancelling or not being home. Hopefully that changes in the next week, especially since we have a good number lined up.

We've also done an amazing amount of singing in the past few days. We had some Elders from the next zone over have us come and sing with them at a mall, which attracted a fair number of contacts. We also went to the Stockholm Stake conference to sing there. I was actually briefly able to see President Nyman, but due to time and language barriers, I didn't get to talk to him much. We've also been asked by the ward to sing 'If the Savior Stood Beside Me' as part of the Primary Program next Sunday. Also musically connected, my district leader is a violinist! He was playing yesterday after church, and I kind of did a little happy dance out in the hallway to hear strings played again.

The members are awesome, or at least, I think they are from how much I can understand when they talk (we're still working on that). They also love the missionaries. They had me get up to bear my testimony på svenska on Sunday in Sakrament, which was terrifying, and kept very short so I didn't have too much room to mess up, but great. They've also already had me pray in meetings. My hope is that I'll be forced to speak the language so much that it'll just start coming as I need words.

Oh, and one last thing: Sweden has been perfect for my diabetes so far. I do work hard, and once or twice, that's brought my sugars down, but never to an actual low. The food has SO much less sugar than the MTC or just American food in general. My sugars have been AMAZINGLY on track in the past week, which has been an enormous blessing as I've been out working all day to meet people interested in the gospel. It's been an answer to so many prayers from the MTC, especially given how hard it was to focus and progress there with out of whack blood-sugars.

Love,

   Syster Maxwell

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Hejsan, hej då!

So, we have officially entered my last week at the MTC! It's so strange, but it's finally here! I'm leaving in a week! I had my last trip to the temple today, and it was gorgeous. It was a little bittersweet, because, although there is a temple in Stockholm, I have no idea how often I'll actually get to attend the temple, so this is going to be my last temple visit for a while.

 

This week has otherwise been great. Yesterday, we had a minor adventure early in the morning. We woke up and had a bat outside our door, just laying on the ground. At first we thought it was fake, but Syster Stewart decided to touch it with a fork, and it twitched. I thought I reacted pretty well to a bat in our Residence, but Syster Stewart disagrees. Apparently shrieking, running into our room, and refusing to come out until the bat was gone is not a positive response- although for anyone who's ever seen me react to any sort of rodent or animal I'm expected to touch, you will know this was a huge step forward from me. I successfully avoided the urge to climb on my bed and scream for about 1/2 an hour, which is pretty big for me. 

 

So, things are a little different this week at the MTC. Usually, a new district arrives the 

Wednesday after the last one leaves, however, since that means that the New Swedes would be leaving the week of Christmas, this means that they're arriving today and tomorrow. Our teachers have been telling us we're not allowed to confuse them by refusing to speak English to them, but I'm pretty sure we'll still be speaking whatever Swedish we can to them.

Oh, and the fantastic news: I'M FLYING OUT A DAY EARLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We got our flight plans last Friday, and we'll be flying our from SLC INT early Monday morning, and arriving in Sweden early the morning of the 12th. And even more fantastic news: I HAVE MY VISA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, if all goes according to plan, at this time next week, I'll have been in Sweden for a few hours! Oh, goodness, I'm so excited to finally get out to the field! I've loved the MTC, but I want to get out into the field. The idea both terrifies and thrills me, because I've talked to native Swedes in the last few weeks, and I fully realize I'm far from fluent in the language, and I know I'm a less than perfect servant, but I also have faith that the Lord qualifies who he calls and that I'll be fine so long as I'm doing all I can to serve Him. Okay, one more little moment of freak-out.......... I'M GOING TO SWEDEN IN A WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M GOING TO FREEZE TO DEATH BUT I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!.

 

They tell us to be quietly dignified. Technically, nothing audible happened there, so I think we can choose to overlook it. The only downside to this is that it means I most likely will not be allowed to email next week, so it may be a while before the world will enjoy another of my lovely updates. There's a slim chance I'll get to email when I first arrive, but I wouldn't say to count on it.

Anyways, I  think I'll tell you about my experience with native Swedes so far. For TRC every week, people come in and we teach them lessons on the gospel. So far, we've taught a fair number of native Swedes, including a family from Göteborg last week, who were amazing to teach. There was an amazingly strong spirit there, even though we'd only known them for about 20 minutes, and they were so excited to learn we'd be in Sweden in just a few weeks. We've also been having fun getting to know Syster Bussman. She's a sister from the northern part of Sweden going to Russia. We've had fun getting to practice our Swedish with her, and while she's shared swedish candy with us (it's VERY different from American candy), she nearly started crying when I told her she could have some of the knäckebröd I have in the residence. She's been absolutely adorable to get to know, and has only fed into my excitement to get over to Sweden. 

I love the fact that I'm a missionary. It's a struggle; it's not easy, but it's so amazing. I know I'm where I need to be, and I'm excited that in a few days, that means I'll finally be in Sweden! 

Med kärlek,

Syster Maxwell