Attitude is the key

Hey guys! It's been another fabulous, windy week here in Malmö. 

Things were truthfully a little slow for us here in Malmö; we still have been going out teaching and contacting our butts off, but for some reason, a ton of our appointments just fell through this week. Silly people! All the sisters want to do is tell you that you're a beautiful son or daughter of God and help you have a better day and eventually better eternal life. Sillies. 

Anyways, a definite bonus of this week was getting to travel up to Göteborg for mission tour, which is essential Zone Conference with a general authority. Something that I really enjoyed was how much I felt like they emphasized how much your attitude determines things- contacting, lessons, and your overall success as a missionary, and much more than the numbers ever will. It helps me realize how much I have to work on. I've got to be honest, it can be discouraging when you have sweet grandmas shout at you, or a less active slams a door in your face, but it says right in the first chapter of Preach My Gospel not to let this be discouraging; that weakens your faith. And that really is something I want to strive after- remembering that it doesn't matter how they've reacted, I've fulfilled my purpose in inviting them to come unto Christ and giving them an opportunity to learn about the gospel.

Another upside to mission tour: I saw two of my most favoritest women ever there. I walked in, and the first person I saw was Syster Stewart. There may or may not have been immediate enormous hugs and laughing and a small shout/scream of joy involved which may or may not have scared all the greenies. You get excited when you haven't had the chance to talk to a person in 10 months! And, right after her, I saw Syster Byrd. I gotta be clear, I love Malmö, but in some ways I'm still really sad I didn't get longer in Borås with Syster Byrd. In any case, it was so exciting to get to see her again and to find out that one of the investigators we found together was supposed to get baptized this past Saturday(still haven't gotten the Second Harvest email, so I'm not going to say he was baptized until I know for sure- also, for those of you who are regular readers, this is the guy who prayed things could be like cowboys), and that another has a baptismal date for the weekend before my birthday. Even if I was only there six weeks, I in no way feel like I didn't have a purpose there, and that it was exactly where I needed to be for myself and the people there.

As for Malmö, things are still going well with Sanny. It was a little harder for us to meet this week because of his work and some health problems he's been having, but after our lesson he was asking if we could talk a little more about baptism. We've gotten to meet with some great less actives in the past week too, from one of which, I got a really good recipe for cherry saft-which also apparently works for Strawberrys. It will not die when I leave Sweden!

So, there it is. Sorry, there's not a ton this week, but know I love you guys ton, and I hope you have a great week!

Med vänlig hälsningar (MVH)

Syster Maxwell

My Name is Syster Maxwell and I am a Closet Nutella Eater

Hey family! So, this past week was super great! It finally cooled down a lot, and guess what- wind is really cold when it blows in off the ocean a kilometer away when the temperature drops to under 70 and it's raining. Just for those of you who weren't aware.





Speaking of the ocean, it's absolutely beautiful. Last week for P-Day, we went out to Alles Stenar, which is essentially a Swedish stonehenge. The rocks aren't as big, but overall, it was one of my favorite p-days so far. We had fun with the rocks, but I think being so absolutely close to the ocean was the best part. Alles Stenar is one of the southernmost points of Sweden, and it is so beautiful. The rocks were up on an enormous ridge, where the wind blew so unbelievably hard it felt like I was in a wind-tunnel.  We got the chance to climb down the ridge to the beach, and it was so much fun just to be so near to the water. Seriously, it was just so beautiful and calm (except for the wind) that I'm not really sure how to describe it.

As for the rest of the week... let's see, what adventures have I had? Well, to begin with, I cut hair for the first time this week. Apparently the elders got desperate, because they asked Syster Ludwig and I for haircuts. Overall, I think it turned out okay. No one's bald just yet, so we'll take that as a sign of success!

Also of worth to mention is my recent nutella addiction. I had successfully avoided nutella my entire mission, and then when I got down here to Malmö, they had a jar of it in the pantry. I was doomed. I've already finished off one big jar of it, and I'm a good way into the next one. I think the best is that Syster Ludwig has a habit of finding me scooping out just a little bit when I want just a few carbs before bed- essentially hiding in the closet as I eat nutella straight out of the jar, smears of it still all over my face. I'm a classy chick, okay?

As for the work, it's going. Things are still progressing with Sanny, and we're still working towards mid-September. I think between the changes he's been making and some other things going on in his life, he's been struggling a little bit, but he's always so willing to do whatever we ask him for a commitment, and he's so concerned for us and the elders. He really is so amazing. We've also met with a few other investigators, including an African woman named Chika who's super sweet, and a Korean woman who is trying to prove that Mormon's don't believe in the Bible. While she definitely knows her Bible, she hasn't stumped us yet!

A major blessing of this week was realizing the worth of gratitude. I mentioned almost a year ago that I'd had a habit of keeping a gratitutde journal. For space reasons, I'd decided not to pack my gratitude journal and just to write it in my normal journal, but eventually even that died out.  And then my mission got hard. And then it got better, but I still felt like I wasn't anywhere near the missionary I wanted to be- and SHOULD be- after 10 months out in the field. I'd been wondering for  a while what I could do to change my attitude and to find new energy. And as crazy as it may or may not sound, the thought that came to me in the middle of my personal study was to start writing down the things I'm grateful for again. Now, I'm by no means saying everyone needs to go out and buy a small notebook to write down the things they're grateful for again, but I can say that it's amazing even the last week to see how big an impact being grateful for the blessings we recieve can have on missionary work. I am so extremley blessed in so many ways, and  I really am so grateful for the time I have out here to learn and to grow, and to bring myself and others closer to my Savior, Jesus Christ.

I love you all; miss you like a fat kid misses cake, and have a great week!

Puss puss and love y'all!

Syster Maxwell

It's Like the Bruce Lee of Religions

Hej käre familj och vänner!

So, this was yet another fantastic week in Sweden. Things are going really well with our investigator Sanny. We meet with him pretty regularly, and it's been amazing to see the changes that he makes in his life so automatically from partying and going out drinking to coming to the church and reading in the scriptures and watching 'I'm a Mormon' videos on mormon.org (By the way, those things are the BEST EVER- WATCH THEM). It's just fun to get in lessons and have him tease us about seeing us in nightclubs, and then instantly turn it around to something he's learned and done to apply the gospel in his life. It is so cool to get to teach him! By the way, the post title comes from a member present in one of our lessons with Sanny.  I think they were discussing how being an active member of the the church takes a lot of work, but it makes you strong like Bruce Lee. :) 
We've finally got a baptismal date set with him for mid-september- wish us luck!

Other things this week.... Well, we finally made it out to one of the parts of our area that's just outside Malmö in Trellleborg. Guys, it was crazy. There were chickens and roosters and peacocks running freely around Stan! I seriously stopped for about 20 minutes just to look at all of the birds- they were in trees, on fences, on the ground. I think the best was when we were walking through the park, and we could see a man walking to a bench. Following about 3 feet behind him was a chicken. It followed him exactly for a good hundred feet or so until he (the man) finally sat down on the bench, and it was discovered he had breadcrumbs. Suddenly thirteen birds or so ran (most of the chickens didn't really fly) to the man and swarmed on the bread. I really wish that I could have filmed it.

We also celebrated Syster Ludwig's birthday this week, which was a ton of fun. I told the elders it was coming up, and they made some very yummy cupcakes to surprise her with after church yesterday. I have seriously had so much cake in the last few days it's not even funny. Princess tårta, Äpple tårta, and cupcakes, and I honestly don't know that I could tell you which was my favorite.

I think the biggest thing this week was when I had a moment of profound insight. I was studying in my scriptures during personal study, wondering what I could do to be a better missionary (10 1/2 months down, and I see PLENTY of room for improvement), and I started reading in Alma 46:12, or the title of liberty, and Moroni says, 'in memory of our God,our religion, and freedom, and peace, our wives, and our children.' It just kind of hit me that of all things he could have listed, he put his faith and family first, and that, more importantly, he put God first. And in so many ways, though I am more focused on ever than the gospel, it kind of sank in how easy that even as missionaries, it is so easy to put other things first- pleasing members and investigators, schedules, trainings, 'did I really do my best in that contact' and how much your feet ache after a day of walking/running all over Stan. Those are all so much a part of missionary work, but that's not why I came out here. I came out here because in that moment, I put God first. I had enough faith to act on that prompting I got that I needed to get on a mission, and it's that same faith that will see me through the next few months.

The final connecting thought I had is a phrase that's been bouncing around my head for a while now. Come unto Christ. It's the Youth theme this year, but I think it's worth mentioning as well that this is the focus of missionary work. There is an amazing article in this months Ensign called 'Why We Share the Gospel' about missionary work, and there was a thought at the end of the article that has stuck with me. The plan of Salvation can be summarized in just three words: Come unto Christ. As missionaries, we invite others to come unto Christ, but really, the goal of everything we do in Church, and hopefully in everything else we do is bring ourselves and others closer to Christ.

I love you guys tons, sorry for rambling. I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Syster Maxwell

Angel Ludwig and Angel Maxwell take Malmö

Well, I strangely feel like I have nothing to say. Just give it a second or two and then I'll babble away.

Okay, so this week was super fantastic. Malmö is so much fun. Like, I'm still missing Borås, but things are really getting going here in Malmö, and it's been amazing to see how much the Lord has blessed us already even in just the last week.

We've been able to meet a ton with Sanny, our investigator this past week, and it's been absolutely amazing to get to see the changes going on in his life. I think my favorite is probably when he prays in our lessons. He always prays that things will go well with my diabetes and that we'll have success as missionaries, and that we'll extend forever so that we can always stay here as missionaries. I remember one prayer where he called us 'Angel Ludwig' and 'Angel Maxwell.' He's just started making so many changes in his life, and he's doing so well. It is seriously so fun to teach him, and so great getting to see the blessings coming.

Let's see, other highlights this week included going on splits this past week with the sisters in Lund. We had a crazy day running around Malmö, but we got a buttload and a half done, and it was fun getting to see so much of Malmö. So far, I've been able to go out past the fields in the country (sadly, I just missed all the yellow rape seed flowers, but the fields are still amazing) with windmills all over the place, and in downtown Malmö, there's the river, and the Turning Torso, and so many other amazing things to see. It really is beautiful down here, even if every so often I have serious problems with Skånish (kidding! It's just really fun sometimes to listen to the strange ways they pronounce things).

One thing I'm noticing that's lingering from my time in Borås is that I LOVE the rain. It's rained twice in the last week, and it's been HEAVENLY both times. I guess a month and a half of never knowing if it'll be scorching heat or pouring rain had it's effect on me.  

Highlights of the week include that one time I saw a reindeer in the grocery store. Like, legit reindeer, once living and now a victim of taxidermy standing in the middle of an add for polarbröd. I could have touched it's fur- already touched that by the way, and it's not too soft- but it was just standing there, in the middle of the grocery store.

Another funny story this week. On the way to the grocery store (where we saw the above mentioned taxidermical exhibition), Syster Ludwig was texting the elders to let them know that we would be at the church soon and it completely escaped her attention that there was a pole right in front of her. I never thought I'd see someone plow into a pole like that anywhere but a movie, but I am here to tell you it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen when without missing a beat she walked straight into the pole and then bounced off again with a confused look on her face that just said 'When did that get there?'

Ooh, also, I think I've discovered a new beautiful food. You know 'The Best Two Years' when Elder Rogers ( I think that's his name) stops to buy Dutch waffles? I have found them. They are AMAZING.  We happened to be going through a store for språk the other day and we found them, and I'm now slowly making my way through a package of them. SO GOOD.

To close, if there's one thing that I definitely feel I've learned this week, it's that I need to do a better job of relying on the Lord. I like to be so stubborn and try to insist I have enough strength on my own to do everything that's demanded of me as a missionary, and sometimes, I just have to admit to myself and the Lord that I can't do it. It is an ENORMOUS work that we have been called to, and to come out and rely only on ourselves stunts our growth in so many ways. I know that I want to go home in eight months changed for the better; I want to be a little stronger, a little more loving, a little more converted, a little more confident, a little more like my Savior. I'm so grateful for the time I've got out here to do that, and I really hope that in the next few months, I can get closer and closer to that goal.

I love you all tons, and I miss you like a fat kid misses cake! Have a great week!

Love,

Syster Maxwell

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

You Are Kick-ed from Borås

Well, it's been another week of dying in the heat. Not really. But it's been beautifully warm and sunny, and, in the absence of air conditioner, I really am coming to love it more and more. I never thought that once things got above 70 Farenheit that I'd be dying of heat, but I really am some days. It's so wonderful and so hot. I don't really know what to do with it, but I guess I'll enjoy it until I go back to freezing and 3 hours of sunshine this winter.

We had fun this week. On Tuesday, we went on splits with the Sister Training Leaders, which was, as you would guess from my last sentence, super fun. It's always great to get a different perspective on how you can do missionary work in your area. However, on Tuesday while on splits, we had some more fun than we were expecting. We were on the bus home from Göteborg after swapping to head out on splits when we got a call from President Beckstrand looking for Syster Byrd. We told him where she was and then sent a text to the Sister Training Leaders phone to tell them to call us as soon as they were done talking. Turns out, Sister Byrd is training this coming transfer starting tomorrow!

So, we went through the rest of the week basically anticipating a call on Saturday. As it was, we really had a great week. We were able to meet with our Swedish cowboy wannabe again, and things actually went really well with him. I don't think he fully understands everything just yet, but one day it'll come. 

It was really great this week as well in and of that I got the chance to get ready for a music night in Jönköping. I got to play in a few numbers, including Stradivarius and Savior, Redeemer of My Soul. It's so interesting to realize that while I may not have my own violin with me, I always have managed to find one and play Savior, Redeemer of My Soul for some reason or other in each of my areas. It's such a beautiful hymn, and I really do feel like in so many ways it describes a mission- you can't do it without the Savior there beside you, and though we're so imperfect in all we do, the Savior makes it into something beautiful- He makes US into something beautiful as we really seek to learn of Him and be like Him.

Well, I guess you've waited for long enough. Saturday, the call came as expected. Syster Byrd will be staying here in Borås to train, and I'll be moving down to Malmö tomorrow night. In so many ways, I'm still trying to process this. I absolutely love Borås. Syster Byrd and I joke that it's the Swedish Disneyland. It's so pretty here, and the ward is absolutely amazing. We had the bad luck of having a mission farewell here yesterday, so on my last Sunday, we closed with 'God Be With You 'Till We Meet Again.' I know they weren't singing it for me, but it kind of got to me by the third verse looking around at the ward that I've come to love so much in the last six weeks. I am never going to forget their extraordinary kindness to me and how welcoming and loving they were. I'm sad to be leaving after only six weeks; it doesn't feel long enough. I did NOT think when I left Stockholm that I would only be here a little more than a month, but there it is. 

As it is, I'm excited to be headed down to Malmö- I'm terrified to be surrounded by Skånish. It is a DIFFERENT language. You know 'The Best Two Years'? "That's not the language they taught me at the MTC!" We had a member speak a little to us the other day when we told him I was leaving, and I thought the word for 'boy' was 'train'. They sound just as dissimilar in Swedish as they do in English. 10 months out, and I'm learning a new language. Should be fun!

I love you all, and I hope you have a great week!

Much love,

Syster Maxwell

Hallelujah, Amen!

Hey, people!

So. The weather. There are weeks I legitimately wonder why I always have to start with the weather, but really, it can be pretty exciting here in Borås. Okay, not really, it's actually been nice and sunny all of the last week (I almost dropped dead of shock), and so warm that we were kind of dying of heat. And the true miracle in all of this is that after years of being super white, I have tan lines. Yes, the impossible has happened, I am no longer perfectly white. I'm this strange mixture of brown and red patches (still working on turning the last of those burns into a tan) with freckles all over. It's kind of exciting to see I still have possibilities to become brown next summer when I'm home. 

So, adventures of the past week.... Well, for one, we had some fun teaching a rather unexpected lesson last week. We were waiting in one of the main squares in town to meet with a new convert (who ended up blåsting us), when we heard this 'Hej!' come from the other side of the street. This strangely smiley and open Swede walked up to us and started talking. Apparently, he'd met with the Sisters here in Borås once or twice before I got here. As it was, it was more than a little fun for me to come in halfway through all of this. He was a minister from the Pentecostal Church, and was super friendly, and ended just about every sentence with the phrase 'Hallelujah!' or an energetic 'Hallelujah, Amen!' He had a lot of energy for the Bible and the Savior. It was just sort of an interesting thought, not related to him specifically, but to many people that we meet, that they can be so prepared to receive the gospel, and not have any idea of it, and they (being stubborn little buggers) won't meet with us, because they 'have what they need'. People! We love them so much, and sometimes, they're just..... problems, bless their dear little hearts.

We also had a lot of fun with Zone Training this past week in Skövde. The Zone Training was great, but the really exciting part was that we got stuck in Skövde for the whole day because our train got delayed all the way back in Stockholm. Yup. So, we had fun for a while getting acquainted with the main square and center in Skövde, and watching a dance group perform on the street, followed by A LOT of knitting.

And. Let's see. On Friday, we decided to go out to find someone to teach before dinner and weekly planning, so we just starting walking in the area around our apartment. We contacted a few people with little to no success, and were starting to think we might make it the whole way to Stan before dinner when we contacted a boy walking his bike home. It was so amazing to hear how many questions he had. They were deep, and meaningful, and we kind of ended up throwing a whole tangled mess of doctrine at him to answer his questions before we were able to ask if he'd like to sit down and hear about the Book of Mormon. He willingly did this, and we taught him about how the Book of Mormon can answer every question, and he was so willing to hear all we said and really experiment on the word. At the end of the lesson, we invited him to offer the prayer, which he did after we explained that it was whatever you have in your heart. He took this very literally, and prayed for 'A world a little more like the one we lived in a few hundred years ago- without cars and electricity. Like Cowboys.' It was one of the more interesting prayers that I've heard on my mission without doubt, but, nonetheless, very heartfelt. 

Honestly, I throw my hands up in the air sometimes, saying 'oh well, gotta let go!' Because, let's be honest, I need to celebrate and live my life.... Really, though, missionary life is so good. I told Sister Byrd my analagoy for how missionary work can work sometimes this morning, and I thought it was quite genuisy, so I'm going to share it with you lucky people. Missionary work is an awful lot like when we were all little and our parents would tell us that if we could get our bedrooms cleaned, they would take us to a movie or to get ice cream. And so, we would work as hard as we could as fast as we could, being old enough to realize that Mom and Dad would check under the bed and in the top of the closet, so we should really just clean. And sometimes, we would get it done in time to go, and sometimes, we didn't. Either way, we end up with a clean room and happy parents, and, sometimes, we really did get to go to the movies. Sometimes with missionary work, we see exactly how our work has helped an investigator come into the gospel and repent. But sometimes, we need to show our Heavenly Dad that we're willing to 'clean our room' or go and work our butts off each and every day before He gives us that Golden Investigator, or that amazing experience that was always there, we just had to work hard enough to earn it.

Life's good. For those of you who are unaware, Germany won the World Cup (this is second hand information, but I've decided I trust other missionaries), so I've won a plate of cookies. I laugh hysterically, I eat yummy food (like cookies), and I learn so much. Missionary life is da best!

Love you all, and I hope you have a great week!

Syster Maxwell