Syster Maxwell: Spider Killer

Hey,  guys! Well, I'm starting to get all settled in down here in Malmö! It has been so absolutely crazy; my first morning here we went for a walk down to the beach for exercise. That's right, THE BEACH. And do you know what I saw from that beach? COPENHAGEN. Yup, I am close enough to Denmark that I can see it across the water. How's that for crazy? That, and, signs on the trains show up in Danish half the time. It's kind of been amazing to realize that while I can't speak Danish (the accent and word choice fly by too fast for me), I can actually read it well enough to get the gist of it. At least in the emergency bits on the trains.

But, let's see.... Well, first off, leaving Borås was hard. I loved it there so much, and it's still not fair in my mind that I only got to be there six weeks, but so far, Malmö has been great, so I'll take the trade. 

So far, Malmö has been warm. Like, not just 'Holy cow, I've gone from freezing winter to summer!' warm, but even the Swedes are saying this is the warmest it's been in years. I kind of feel like a baby considering that it's about the same temperature as May in Utah, but it's also crazy to realize how much I've adjusted to the temperature here. But, it's okay; it just means that I get to find the least possible layers of clothes I can manage, and I get some pretty great tan lines from my ballet flats (seriously, those things are BEAUTIFUL). 

I think one of the hardest things about transfers (aside from leaving so many of the people you love so suddenly) is learning the new area. This week has been crazy in trying to figure out names of investigators and members and less actives.... I'm almost scared to try to count the number of people I've met in the last week who's names I'm supposed to remember and can't. Oh well, it will come with time!

I think the biggest adjustment so far has been the bugs. There are bugs EVERYWHERE. On the walls, the ceiling, my arms, my companion's hair, and pretty much everywhere else imaginable. I don't know where they come from, but suddenly there are bugs all over the place! And the worst is the spiders. I had to go and get the vacuum the other day to suck up a spider that was about 4 inches in diameter (like the ultimate daddy long legs) off our ceiling before we felt safe going to bed. And the spider webs that just pop up all over the place are seriously just sick-nast. Really, I have no idea how they just pop up everywhere so quickly, but I have seen more spiderwebs here in Malmö than I think I've seen in the last 10 years of my life.

But, otherwise, life is good. Syster Ludwig is an absolute sweetheart, and it's been fun getting to know her. She so far falls into the category of 'companions who will sing Disney songs with me', which, translated, means that we get along just fine. And as for the area, it's so good. It's definitely got a bigger feel than Borås did, but it's not as fast paced as Stockholm was. We have Africans and Persians to work with again, so I feel right at home there. 

I think probably the highlight of my week has been getting to know our new investigator, Sanny. We met him for the first time my first full day here in Malmö, and it's been really amazing in the past few days getting to know him and see how eager he is to get to know more about the gospel. He's far from a full understanding of things just yet, but he's getting there, and it's already been so cool to see how the gospel is impacting his life.

And yeah, there's week one in Malmö. Love you all tons, and hope you have a great week!

Much love,

Syster Maxwell