The Miracle of the Rainboots

Well, things continue to get warmer and sunnier here in Sweden. We are starting to see little green things on the rocks in the Farsta Strand Tunnelbana station, and yesterday I nearly started jumping for joy when I saw some leaves on a bush (although, it's also possible they've held on since last fall). The sun is coming up earlier and earlier. Yesterday morning, I had a moment where I realized that it's going to be very different in the summer. 6:30 AM in February, and it's already light enough out that we can see around our apartment without lights and with the blinds shut. I am rejoicing a little more each and every day as it gets warmer and sunnier. Yes, it's true that I've learned to love the cold here in Sweden, but I'm ecstatic to see how beautiful Sweden is once it starts blooming.

So far as lessons go this week, they've been fantastic. Our recent converts, Shafik and Sajjad, are still doing great. Sajjad still isn't having any backpain, and Shafik is as happy as ever. The language barrier is still there, but the spirit is always so present in their lessons, and they're so eager to learn more and more about the gospel.

We also had a lesson with an investigator this week named Sebastian. It was a little interesting; he was a referral from the Västerhaninge sisters. He's from Africa, and very well rehearsed in the Bible. We were trying to get through a lesson on the Doctrine of Jesus Christ with him, but we got stuck on baptism and why it's essential to have proper priesthood authority. I cannot deny that he has a very strong faith in the Bible, but I also have to say that I'm grateful for the simplicity of the gospel. As he was talking about the specific wording of a verse  that was fulfilled later in the Bible, and how the power of Christ never left the Earth, and all of these other small complicated details, I was grateful for how simple the Gospel and the message of the Restoration are. Yes, it's true that there are some interesting words we use, and the story of Joseph Smith is nothing less than incredible, but the more I teach about the gospel and its necessity in our lives, the more it simply makes sense and falls into place.

Now to explain the rainboots. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for how present He is in every facet of my life. On Thursday morning, I'd woken up earlier than usual with a low blood-sugar. I went into the kitchen for some food, and when I looked out the window, I saw snow out there that hadn't existed when I went to bed. A little frustrated, I went back to bed, and hoped it would have melted in the morning (Side note: I don't mind snow at this point, I just felt lied to that it had been warm and sunny for most of the week and then it snowed). Unfortunately, at 6:30, Syster Robbins went to look out the window and shouted, 'Syster Maxwell, there's snow out there!' Which, later in the day turned to slush. As I was walking around, I realized it was too warm for my big winter boots and that the boots I was currently wearing were not very water proof. So, I began to think it through. There've been several times out here that I've missed the rainboots I left at home, but never so much as last Thursday, and as I was talking with Syster Robbins, I realized that the rainy season here in Sweden is going to be starting soon. So I began to wonder, would it be cheaper to get my rainboots sent here to Sweden, or to buy rainboots here? The only rainboots I had seen in Sweden cost the rough equivalent of $200.00 US, and I didn't want to spend that much, but it's also pretty pricey to ship rainboots the whole way to Sweden.

I wondered about it for a while, then forgot about it until later in the day, when we went to pick up Syster Robbins boots from the repair shop in Stockholm. They told her that they couldn't repair them, so she got her money back, and since she still needed boots to wear for the next few weeks, we went to another shoe store closer to T-Central during our dinner hour. While there, we passed a pair of rainboots on sale for 100 :-, which is about $18.00 US, which was far cheaper than either option I'd had earlier that morning.  It really was amazing to see how in the same day, a vague, far off concern was taken care of much more neatly and efficiently than I ever could have managed on my own.

Also this week, I was able to take part in and view some amazing meetings. This past Wednesday, we had a meeting with all the Systers on this side of the mission. I was able to see Syster Stewart and Syster McCollaum, as well as to meet many of the other amazing sisters serving from Södertälje to Luleå. We were able to have an amazing time listening to Syster Newell.

Mom's note : I'm the one in the sassy socks.  :)

As we were sitting in the conference, I was reminded of the verses at the end of John 6, where the masses leave Christ, and he asks the apostles, 'Will you also go away?' To which Peter responds, 'Where will we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life' (sorry for my terrible paraphrasing of scripture).  I was sitting there, and it occured to me that there was nowhere else I would rather be. I think about it often actually that many of my friends from high school are enjoying their freshman year of college. Some are preparing to go on missions, and some are preparing for other things. But what I do know is that I am exactly where I am supposed to be, and that  I am grateful to be here in Sweden at this time.

And then there was last night. Last night, Syster Robbins and I made the trip back to Hägersten for a music fireside. They had begun to plan it when I left Hägersten three and a half weeks ago, but it didn't happen until last night. They had me come back so that I could play a violin duet of 'I Know that My Redeemer Lives' with Äldste Lambson, and play the violin part to 'Savior, Redeemer of My Soul.' This is quickly becoming one of my favorite hymns, and I love the words of the 3rd verse: O'er rule mine acts to serve thine ends/ change frowning foes to smiling friends/ chasten my heart till I shall be/ in perfect harmony with thee./ Make me more worthy of thy love/ and fit me for thy courts above. I feel this is such a large part of what I do. I am not a perfect missionary, and I make mistakes all the time. But I try, and as I try, He blesses me with all that I need to accomplish His will.

I got some exciting news last night as I was back in Hägersten. There was a sweet little Persian lady named Masoumes we had just begun teaching. We'd actually contacted her as we were doing a drop-by in Huddinge, and we'd headed exactly the wrong direction without realizing it. She was amazing to teach while I was there. In her second lesson, we'd asked her what she thought of the Book of Mormon, and she said she'd recieved an answer to her prayers as she read, because she'd begun reading as though she already knew the Book was true. Last night, Syster McCollaum told me that Masoumes has a baptizmal date set for the middle of March. I can't describe how excited I am to hear that; knowing that someone I've worked with wants to be baptized. It's something very special, and I know that even though I may not be there to continue to work with her, I'll be doing all I can from Gubbängen to help her to that day.

So, yeah, there was my exciting week as a missionary. I love you all tons, and I hope all is well at home. I pray for y'all all the time, and I love getting to hear from you! Thank you for your prayers and support. Love y'all!

Love,

Syster Maxwell

I live in Stockholm. In the Forest. In Stockholm

View at our bus stop

Hej hej! It's been another blissfully warm week here in Sweden. It's been raining like nuts (really, I've gotten soaked this week more than once), but we've had moments of sunshine that have been absolutely amazing. It's been a little fun; we're getting to Spring time, and since we're so drastically far north, the amount of daylight we get changes drastically between winter and fall. In December, it was absolutely normal for the sun to come up at 9:30 and set by 3:30, but now we're celebrating that we're able to see across the street when we wake up at 6:30, and it doesn't really get dark until about 5:30. It's been great.

I'm still loving my new apartment and my new companion, Syster Robbins. We've had a little bit of fun with getting to our apartment. It really is in the forest in the middle of nowhere. There is a single bus that runs by every half hour, and it's already happened more than once that we get off the Tunnelbana right as the bus pulls away from the Farsta Station, and we end up walking home. It's also happened more than once that right as we turn up the street leaving the main road we've watched the bus pull up at the last stop. It's been fun, and suffice it to say that if I wasn't already getting my daily hike, I do now.

This week has been fantastic. I'd like to take a second to express my gratitude for Syster Eriksson. She's in the MTC now, and I hope all is going well for her, but I have to thank her for how much my Swedish has improved in the last few weeks. It's been a huge blessing here in Gubbängen that while I'm still trying to learn the area from Syster Robbins, I don't also have to be relying on her to understand what people are saying. I may not understand every word that people say, but after talking so much with Syster Eriksson, I can actually have a real conversation in lessons.  I fully realize that I still have a ton to learn, and just over a year in which to do so, but I'm grateful for the amazing start that she gave me.

P-day fun

This week was a little different since we went on exchanges after zone training. I was able to go out with Syster Faux again, which was more than a little interesting. I'm still trying to figure out how to get around my new area, so we had a little fun getting to and from lessons. More than once, we left the Tunnelbana or the Pendeltåg going the wrong direction, and it was fun to meet these people for the first time. But really, it was an amazing day. We were almost always running late, and there was plenty of stress involved, but the Spirit was so present in all that we did, and I felt myself being strengthened the whole while.

And then swapping back companions at the end of it was interesting. As a rule, we generally meet up by the front entrance of T-Central, which was a rule we followed. There is always something going up there, and this week it happened to be that they were finally dedicating the station. Apparently they forgot to do that at the turn of the century when the station was completed (?). In any case, it was more than entertaining for the missionaries to see, since, as a part of the dedication, they had a silent disco party going on. Yes, they were handing out headphones, and there was an enormous group of teenagers silently dancing in T-Central. It looked ridiculous, and it was definitely something worth filming.

We've also had some amazing lessons this week. One of them was an amazing lesson with a pair of new converts. They are both Persian, and only speak a little Swedish and English. What usually happens is the one who understands more Swedish ends up translating into Persian for the other. There's an enormous language barrier, and I have to admit, initially I was doubtful they really understood what we were talking about. But then I started listening to the Spirit. And it was so present; there was an amazing power as they bore their testimonies in broken Swedish and Persian. 

We had an amazing experience with one of them this week; he came to the lesson with a sore back. He was doing all he could to stay focused, but it was clear that he was in a lot of pain. We asked him if he would like a blessing from the elders at the end of the lesson, which he agreed to. It was a beautiful blessing, and at the end, he sat straight up and smiled. I asked him later in the week how his back was doing, and he told me that the instant the elders had said amen, he felt fine, and that he hadn't had any pain since. I'm continually amazed by his faith and his willingness to do those things he knows to be right. I may not understand a lot of what he's trying to communicate, but his testimony is still an amazing witness to me of what can happen as we truly exercise our faith.

As part of our work, Syster Robbins go to visit a lot of the older single women in the ward. It's one of those things no one really mentions when you put in your papers, but as a missionary, you go not just to find people who are ready to accept the gospel, but to strengthen those who already have as well. There was one particular older woman we visited this week that was special. She was old, maybe late 80's or older. Still living on her own, but with hemtjänst to help out. Her back was bent so that she stood at a 90 degree angle. She looked so frail, but she was so sweet, and only wanted to know what she could do to help us. We just shared a simple message with her about service, but she began talking about how much we do to serve her, and how grateful she is for us coming to visit her. "Jag aldrig kommer att glöma er," was what she said said several times. These cute little old women are the sweetest, and I know that our stopping by even just for half an hour means so much to them, especially when so much of the world keeps flying past them without even a backwards glance.

Our "investigators" for role plays

I'm continually amazed by all of the blessings I get as a missionary. I'm strengthened so much by the people I teach and the experiences they share with me. Missionary work is hard; you work all day every day, and you have to put your all into it, but it is so worth it. 

Love you all, hope all is well. Sweden is awesome, and y'all should be jealous.

Love,

Syster Maxwell

Gubbängen

Well, I love my new area. Can I just say that? I've only been here a few days, but I love my new ward area, and of course my beautiful companion, Syster Robbins. I'm definitely still trying to figure out my way around, but it will come, and until then, I'm loving meeting the amazing members of our ward and getting to know the people who live in our area. Oh, side note, the names of different places do actually mean something in Swedish. 'Gubbängen' means 'Old Man Field.'

And Syster Robbins... where do I begin with Syster Robbins? She's amazing,and an absolute angel. She's been in Gubbängen for a few months already, so she knows her way around like nobody's business, and has a great connection and love for the members and investigators. She was a Sister Training Leader before becoming my companion, but she's staying in Gubbängen for the last 6 weeks of her mission, so I'm the lucky sister who gets to have her for the last little bit of her mission.

This last week was exciting; Sister McCollaum and Sister Eriksson were SO sweet for my last few days in Hägersten; they even made me a good-bye pie. And it was delicious. But really, while I'm very glad to have Syster Robbins as my companion, I also miss them. We said good-bye at T-Central early Wednesday morning. They went back to our old area, and Syster Robbins and I stayed at T-Central to help other sisters meet with their new companions and manage their luggage.

It was an interesting week. A lot of the mission transferred, and a lot of the mission moved apartments. On Wednesday, we helped a sister move her apartment, and then on Friday, we ourselves moved apartments. I'm still not sure how I'm feeling about this. I absolutely adored both apartments, but the new one is essentially in the forest, and it takes us about 20 minutes to get to the nearest Tunnelbana station if we catch the bus at the right time. And if we miss the bus.... well, we're working on figuring out the walk way, but it's a ways to walk. And that in and of itself is weird. We live and work in Stockholm. In the forest. It just kind of boggles my mind. However, I can also say that it's absolutley gorgeous, and I'm amazed by the place that we're living in.

In any case, we've been able to meet with some of the members of the ward, and I've loved them all so far. The bishop is amazing, and has two adorable daughters who are one and two years old, and his counselors are these two hispanic guys who both are just amazing. I love our ward. We've also gotten to meet with some of the women in our ward and their families. 

Speaking of them, I just want to throw it out there, I've been asked several times if I miss Mexican food. In the last few days at members houses, I have had tacos twice. No, I don't miss Mexican food, because I haven't really had the chance!

And, of course, there have been ups and downs. At one members house, her cat decided it was in love with me, and I couldn't get it to go away. It just kept rubbing up against me, and trying to eat my backpack, and the whole while, I'm trying to gently nudge this cat away (because I don't think this member would like it if I kicked it away) without touching it so I wouldn't end up having puffy red eyes and sniffing like I'd had the flu for a week. Other than the cat trying to kill me by means of allergy-attack, the appointment was great, and we had a very great, spiritual lesson.

We also were at a members house the other day, when their little daughter went and hid behind the couch. We were talking about how we need to build up our families when we heard a few little toots come from behind the couch. The wife was mortified, but the husband just kind of laughed as we continued at the lesson.

But really, we have some amazing women in our ward. I've gotten the chance to talk with a few of them and hear their testimonies, and I can say that these women are amazingly strong, and have made the decision to stay strong in their faith. They have all had some very hard times in their lives, but each of them would say without fail that they had decided to rely on the Lord, and that, while it may not have been easy, they have been supported through every trial and every hardship they have faced.

Perhaps one of my favorite moments in the last week was when I got up to introduce myself to the ward. As a missionary, I get to bear my testimony all the time, but it's rare that I get to share it with so many people at once. However, I love getting that opportunity, because it's at that point you talk about the simplest, most basic parts of your testimony, and very often, they are some of the strongest points as well. I know this is God's church, and that we are here to build up his kingdom. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer, and that He has such an infinite love for us all that he would suffer in Gethsemane and then on the cross for us individually. He knows our pains and our sorrows, our joys and our blessings. He is there with us every step of the way if we will only allow Him to support us. The scriptures are true- there is so much power in truly studying the scriptures, and through them, we can find answers to every problem we face if we will simply study them with an open heart and mind.

I love you all, and I hope all is going well for you! You're in my thoughts and prayers.

Love,

Syster Maxwell

Syster's Working Song

Hey, everyone at home! It has been another fantastic week in snowy Sweden. It's actually been a little warmer in the past few days, and while there's still snow on yards and houses, it's begun to melt off of the roads and sidewalks. This is definitely a bonus- until you get enormous puddles right in front of corners when you need to cross the street, but oh well, it's warmer, and I'll enjoy that while I've got it.

This past week, we've had the amazing opportunity to teach the cutest little Persian lady. She's very sweet, and very smart. Her English may not be the best, but she's very studious, and she really thinks deeply about the church and the doctrines we discuss, and she asks us some of the most interesting questions. It's been a little harder to  teach her sometimes because she doesn't always understand exactly what we're saying, but she nevertheless is making amazing progress.

We also got to to teach two men yesterday right before church. One was a Christian, and the other was his Muslim friend. It was a strange lesson since the Christian couldn't speak Swedish, and the Muslim couldn't speak English. Luckily, even though he couldn't speak English, he understood it, so we spent the whole lesson speaking in English and getting Swedish responses. The Christian was far more receptive than the Muslim, and stayed for Sacrament. However, it also came out that  he lived in the Elder's area, so we gave him to the Elders to translate for Sacrament meeting. Apparently this was a good idea. The Elder who was translating for him later mentioned that he was looking for a wife, and he was wondering where the Sisters had gone. I think it's probably a good thing that the Elders will be taking him. In any case, it was great to teach him. 

We also had a great opportunity this week to give service. Just before Christmas, a woman in our ward died, and her daughter has been left to take care of everything. It's been very hard for the daughter in the past month and a half. Since she comes from Ukraine, she doesn't have so many friends here in Sweden, and her mother and her son are all that she has in the world. This past weekend, she had to clean out her mother's apartment, and she had several difficulties in getting it done in time for the landlord. We went to help her several times over the weekend. (As a side note, when I submitted my mission papers, I did not think that my call included getting on my hands and knees to scrub someone else's kitchen floor. I was proved wrong this weekend). It was honestly the best place for us to be. She needed that help so badly. The last hour or so was probably the most special. We'd moved almost everything out, and were getting the last bits of grime and dirt. You could see she was despairing, and really just wanted to give up for the day. Someone, I think Syster Eriksson, was humming 'I Need Thee Every Hour,' quietly in the next room. Then I joined in. Then Syster McCollaum. And then the daughter began singing with us in Russian. You could feel the Spirit lighten in the room as she began to smile and really sing the hymn. When we asked her later, we found out that that was her favorite hymn. It was such a simple thing to do, hum a hymn while cleaning the window panes and vacuuming, but I know that it made such an enormous difference to her. When we left a little bit later, she seemed so much lighter and stronger than she had when we came an hour earlier.

Now for the big news of the week: I'm transferring to Gubbängen on Wednesday! I have finished up all of my training with Syster McCollaum, and I'm getting unleashed on the world. I'm so excited to get over there. I'm not going too far; Gubbängen is in another zone, but truthfully, we go through Gubbängen to get to the rest of our zone, if that gives you any idea how far I'm going. But really, I'm excited to go over there and see what comes next!

Love,

Syster Maxwell

It's -4 Celsius and Toasty!

Well, life continues here in the frozen north. It actually made it up to about 0 degrees today, so I was able to wear my pea coat for P-Day, which was fabulous.

Missionary work continues as always here. We've been trying a lot to work with less actives lately, and we've had some success with drop-bys lately, however, there was one drop-by that was actually really quite sad. We went to a house looking for a man, and a woman answered the door, so we asked if he was home. It turns out the man was her father, and he died last March, and no one in the ward had known. It got a little awkward after that, so we said good-bye and got out of the building pretty quickly after that.

But all of our lessons went fairly well outside of that. We had a bit of a miracle last Monday. P-day hours had ended, so we were doing drop-bys in Flemingsberg, which is mostly port-coded apartments, so it's hard to get in since we generally don't have the code. However, we got in to our very first apartment. They weren't home, but we were able to get in, and that in and of itself was something. Then we went several doors over, and it happened again. And again. And again. All told, it happened 7 times that we made it into a less active member's apartment building out of the 8 buildings that we went to. And then the crowning glory was when we went to the apartment building of a less active family. We couldn't remember their name, so we were reading off the list when a woman who'd been searching for her keys by the door asked us, 'Are you looking for me?' She'd been standing there searching for her keys for several minutes when we came up. She instantly invited us in, and we were able to teach her and her children briefly before going out to find more less-actives. We didn't understand it at the time, and we still don't understand it, but the Lord was watching out for us, and we were blessed that night.

We also had several other lessons during the week that were.... interesting. We had one with a Muslim, and one with a Buddhist that stand out to me. Unfortunately, I am not a perfect person, so I got impatient in the lesson with the Muslim. It was an interesting lesson, because while we were trying to teach him about the Book of Mormon, he was trying to convert us to Islam, which of course, we weren't having. However, in hindsight, I realize now that every time I spoke, I was bearing my testimony and stating with certainty the things that I know to be true, and that is of itself a blessing. The lesson with the Buddhist wasn't frustrating, but he had a lot of interesting stories about life, and by the end of the lesson, I was grateful for my faith and that it's led me down such a nice, safe path of life.

We also had the opportunity again this week to teach the youth in our ward. This is going to be a more regular calling for the sisters here in Hägersten, which I'm very excited for. I love getting to work with the youth and drink in their amazing spirit. 

Oh, and today, we had the amazing opportunity to go to an amazing look-out over Gamla Stan. I got some amazing pictures which I'm hoping to get to send to you this week, but suffice it to say that Sweden is beautiful, and that I'm grateful to be serving in such a wonderful country!

And yeah, there's a week in the life of Syster Maxwell! I hope everything's going well for everyone there!

Love, 

Syster Maxwell

The Adventures of the Laundry Room and the Ice Cream Truck

Hej! So, things continue here in Sweden. It's been a little slower here since New Year's, but we're starting to see things go up again. Hopefully that pattern continues in the next few weeks. It's still beautifully cold and snowy here; it actually snows a little just about every day, but the amount of the snow on the ground usually stays about the same.

Updates on Syster Eriksson: she finally got her visa this past week; however, she's already been here for half a transfer, so it's been decided that she will finish a transfer here in Sweden and then head to the MTC in the middle of February before finally heading off to Spokane, Washington. I'm glad that this has finally been worked out, and I'm glad for the chance that we have to enjoy having her with us for a little longer. I can definitely say that my Swedish has improved A LOT having her there to talk to and figure out what I'm saying wrong, but it's also been great having a third companion. Sometimes, it is a little stressful, but at other times, it's great because she has that many more spiritual insights to offer, and she is always ready to say something in a lesson.

So. The laundry room. We had some fun this past week in doing our laundry. Because of the Embassy trip, we didn't have time to get all of our laundry done last p-day, so we decided to get a little done during weekly planning this past Friday. To get into the laundry room, you need a key fob. There is one door out on the walkway to get in to a tiny waiting area where there is a booking thingie (that's a technical term), and another lock you need your fob for to get into the actual laundry room so that no one can walk in and steal your clothes. Syster McCollaum and I both have fobs on our keychains, so there is never a problem with getting in and out of the laundry room.

Except for on Friday. Friday as we were leaving, Syster McCollaum asked if we could run and get my keys from the apartment because she'd just left hers on the dryer. So we started towards the apartment for my keys. Then we realized the apartment was also locked. So, we quickly ran back to the laundry room. The inner door had already shut (through which we could still see her keys on the other side through the window), but we made it before the outer door had shut, so we all three ran in. We decided to camp out there until someone from the office came with the spare key, which in and of itself was a process involving several phone calls and someone getting lost on the way to our apartment. All in all, we waited about an hour in that tiny room with our wet laundry. However, I am proud to say that we were effective with our time, and we got our nightly planning done on a Family History card using the very end of the lead in Syster McCollaum's pencil. I love laundry.

Another interesting story from this week: I saw the ice cream truck. Here in Sweden, the ice cream truck goes around for the whole year. It has a reputation among missionaries that somehow you can always hear it several streets over, but it is very rare that we ever see it. And honestly, the tune it plays is kind of creepy. I swear, you could put the ice cream truck in a horror movie. Anyways, we were dropping by a  less active member last week when we heard the ice cream truck for the first time. The less active wasn't there, so we went to a nearby bus stop to wait. And then we heard it again - from a different direction. We were starting to get a little freaked out. Then we heard it from ANOTHER place, completely unrelated to where it had been three minutes earlier. Creeped out, we got on the bus. Just as the doors to the bus shut, it pulled up to a house just around the corner and parked, just out of view of our cameras, and not so close we could see the ice-cream cones on the side (according to Syster Eriksson, there are pictures of ice-cream on the truck). And it just sat there until we had pulled away. It was the creepiest thing, but I can now proudly say that I have seen the ice cream truck.

Yesterday, we also had an interesting experience in Sacrament meeting. Syster Eriksson and a ward member got permission from the bishop to play in Sacrament meeting, so for possibly the first time ever, we heard a trumpet duet of 'I Feel My Savior's Love' during the meeting. It was beautiful to hear; Syster Eriksson is really talented, and it brought an amazing spirit to the lesson.

One more thing: I love the new youth curriculum. For the second week in a row, we got the opportunity to teach the youth in our ward for Sunday School. Preparing for that lesson was interesting; we pretty well have memorized the lessons in Preach My Gospel, but it was a little different to plan by the new Youth Curriculum- and by the way, this all happened in Swedish. However, as we were preparing and discussing, the Spirit was with us, and then again later as we taught the Young Women who were in Sunday School. I love how it opens up the opportunity to discuss and question and strengthen each other. Seriously, the new youth curriculum is an amazing tool, and when the youth become really involved in the lesson and choose to talk about the things they know to be true, there is such power in their words and their testimonies. It's just awesome.

And yeah, there's a week in the life of Syster Maxwell. Love you all, hope all is well at home.

Love,

Syster Maxwell

Where Did the Sun Go?

Actually, to say the sun is gone isn't entirely true, however, we've seen a lot less of it in the last few days, because we finally got snow! It started snowing on Friday morning, and it finally stopped in the last 12 hours or so. We don't have a ton of snow, but there's definitely a feeling that the snow is here to stay. As it is, the air has been a lot colder. My breath has started freezing on my scarf, and I've been bringing out my enormous boots so that I don't slip on the ice.

However, even with the cold, life is still great as a missionary. We went to the Embassy this morning (which I think is part of why I'm so focused on the cold), and while Syster Eriksson went in for her Visa interview, Syster McCollaum and I were waiting outside for 2 hours, with the end result that hopefully her visa is sent to us in the next few days. We did a happy dance right there outside the Embassy, we were so excited for her. We're not sure yet how much longer we'll get to hold on to her. We're half hoping that she goes soon because she's already been waiting so long, and half hoping to hang on to her, because she's just amazing.

This week was a little harder with lessons. We've had some problems meeting with our investigators in the past week, and we had to drop one of them, so we didn't teach as much as we would've liked, but hopefully that will get better in the next week.. As it was, we had the most amazing lesson with a less active this week. We'd met her while we were out dropping by, ironically, less actives, and it came out that we should stop by her house sometime before she left on vacation and before Syster Eriksson left for the States, so we set a time for Thursday. But, since we had district meeting on Thursday morning, we didn't get any time to plan for her lesson until we were on the bus to her house. For some reason, I had the thought to talk about studying the scriptures daily, and about 1 Nephi 10:19, and how to find answers to our questions in the scriptures. We had about 5 minutes to plan, so we stuck with that simple lesson plan, and went to her house for lunch. 

It turned out to be absolutely perfect. She'd been reading something on a post put up by the church on Facebook about scripture study and had had the thought she should do that, but hadn't been able to commit to studying  regularly in her scriptures. We were able to answer a lot of her questions about how to study in the scriptures, and ideas for how to help deepen her understanding. The spirit in that lesson was so amazing. Syster McCollaum tried to attribute it to revelation later, which I'll accept only because I know I'm not bright enough to know on my own that that was exactly what  she needed at that time.

And for the record, we as missionaries are so blessed to get an hour of personal study every day. I love personal study. I think it is quite possibly my favorite hour of the day. It's the unique time we get between us and the Lord to be spiritually prepared for the day ahead and to be spoken to by the Spirit very directly. Maybe I don't get a lightning bolt every day, but I do know that I get fed spiritually, and that more often than not, even if I'm just reading the next page from yesterday's study, the questions I have for myself and for my investigators get answered, and my understanding of the gospel and our Savior's love for us increases. Honestly, the scriptures are the best thing on the planet, and I love them so much.

As always, it's great to be a missionary. I hope things are going well for everyone at home. Thanks to everyone who gives prayers and support. I miss you all like a fat boy misses cake, but to be here serving the Lord is worth it.

Love, 

Syster Maxwell