My first Dop!! Which means Baptism!

Hello everyone! Syster Vistaunet here reporting live from Sweden. This past week was easily one of my favorite weeks I have had thus far on my mission. We had a wonderful Baptism yesterday!!! The church is so true! I truly have never been so happy in my whole life... except maybe when I am at a rock n' roll show. Haha. Just kidding. Which reminds me, Sahara Hotnights played an outdoor concert here in my town a couple of weeks ago. Crazy. I really miss music, but I am willing to sacrifice something that good for something even better.... The TRUTH.


So, I am freaking out right now because three of my really good guy friends are getting married and I am not going to be there! Crazy. Congrats to Nate, Kamalei, and Alex!! That is some really amazing and wonderful news and I am sure that all of those girls are awesome! I am very excited to get to know them better and meet them. Thanks for being such great examples and friends to me. I love you guys! And I will be thinking of you in September and December! Marriage! Man alive, when I get back who am I going to hang out with?! Haha.


Okay, back to my awesome Sunday story. Yesterday was an amazing day. I was feeling really frustated with the language, which is nothing new, and wondering if I am really making a difference here? And then Bam! The Lord told me to keep doing what I am doing and that I am making a difference. When I speak Swedish I feel like I can't be myself, because I don't know how to best express myself. But, with lots of hard work and lots of study I know that I will be able to get there. It really is amazing how much I can speak and understand. I am speaking Swedish! Ahhh. That is just so cool to me. Anyway, I had a goal to speak to at least 3 people at church in Swedish all by myself and I can proudly say that I did it!! It was an amazing experience. Luckily the people here are super nice and are very willing to help me. I still say "rad" all the time and sing. Haha. I talked to a lot of people in church and that was neat. Then after church the Bishop and his family invited us over for lunch.

They live about 20 minutes away and it is a very pretty drive. They have four kids and one of them is on his mission in Finland. The youngest son is someone that Serina would LOVE. Haha. I am dead serious. He has the best fashion sense ever. Anyway, he had two of his friends over who are not members and we had the amazing chance to teach them the first lesson. It was really neat. We spoke in English too because they thought it was really cool that we came from America to preach the gospel. The Bishop's son is 19 and wasn't sure if he wanted to go on a mission yet. I had the chance to talk to him yesterday and we talked a lot about missions and life. I think he will go on a mission! The Spirit was present yesterday and for that I am very grateful. After lunch we all headed to the church for George´s baptism. The amount of people who showed up to the baptism was awesome. Our ward is so great and very supportive. Music is amazing and can bring the Spirit so well. Syster Dabb played the piano while Syster Ridl and I sang "I know that my Redeemer lives" in Swedish. When we were singing I looked out in the crowd and I saw George wiping away tears. It was a very tender moment. Then he was baptized.


I LOVE being a missionary!

We also had an amazing Zone conference on Wednesday in Stockholm. My favorite quote from it was... "They don´t care how much you know, until they know how much you care." Which really can apply to life. We must always remember who we are and that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love each one of us. I have been reading in Jacob lately and today I read chapter 5, the parable of the Olive Tree. Re-read it if you haven't read it for awhile. It is an amazing chapter and my favorite verse is 71. Can I also tell you how much I love my companions! They are both so amazing and very patient as well. We all get along so well and we have a little choir, which I love. We are using our talents and singing all the time. My love for music is growing even more.. if that is possible.

Thanks for sending the package. I am looking forward to it. Syster Dabb's cute mom sent me and Syster Ridl packages last week. Because Syster Dabb has been out for one year... so we were supposed to help her celebrate. That was lovely. She sent skittles and I loved it. You can't get those here. I ate them so fast. We are just going to take it easy today and I love it. I will be writing a real letter today also. Telling more stories about my crazy experiences. I am learning so much every day.


Well, I love you all! Thanks for all the great support and prayers! I can feel your love and prayers. The work is moving forward and life is really good here in Sweden.


Love, your sister missionary.... Talisa.


P.S. Happy Birthday to Uncle Dave!