Living in the moment

Wow. One thing that I keep seeming to re-learn is how to enjoy every single moment because you never know when it is going to change.

Gävle is a very pretty city! And it´s actually quite large. It reminds me a lot of my first area- Örebro. I also think it is one of the most Swedish towns I have been in yet. Everyone only speaks Swedish. So, I am getting much better at Swedish. We don´t have very many investigators. So we are doing a lot of finding work and visiting less-actives. One thing we have been doing is contacting people on our way to the less actives homes. It is a much better use of our time, because that way we can tell Heavenly Father where we will be and pray that He will lead us to those who are prepared to hear our message all over our area. We have already seen many miracles from it.

Saturday, we met a really nice Swedish man who seemed very closed off at first but the more we talked and testified of a loving Heavenly Father the more he seemed to listen. By the end of our conversation we got his phone number! He is actually going to come with us tonight to a dinner with some new members! A father and his son who were baptized last summer. I am very excited for the missionary work here in Gävle. I know that there is a lot that needs to be done and that there is a lot that I personally can do. I know I am here for a reason. Now I must find that reason and that person who needs my help. Or people.

This week we have collected eight phone numbers of people who are actually ready to hear our message!I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers and I know that I am here in Gävle now for a reason. It was really hard the first couple of days, but things have gotten better and every day is a new adventure. When life gets hard what should we do? Pray. I have been studying a lot about prayer lately and I am so grateful for my knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father.

I love being back with Syster Jenson! It is really fun being with dying (soon to go home) missionaries. She will be the third dying missionary I have been with. Crazy thought. It's fun to be with dying missionaries because it gets you thinking about your mission and what you want to do with the time you have left. Plus all the dying missionaries really want to go shopping, which is fine by me. Haha. That means I am going to have a lot of sweet Swedish stuff to bring home. I have been thinking that it is possible that I am going to stay here for the rest of my mission. But, then again.. look at my track record. Maybe not. I know that I will be here for the next 4 months. Because in March when Syster Jenson leaves I will be getting a new missionary to train and that program lasts three months. I feel like the next missionary I am going to train is going to have a much better experience because now I have had some practice. I am so grateful for Syster Francis and her patience with me. She is such a great missionary!

Pictures: We made yucky heart cookies - oops.

Then this week we did district meeting through skype. I did not like it at all. It was really hard for all the missionaries to stay focused. I felt like I didn't get much out of it. I am told that we are one of the test districts in the mission to see how effective it is to do district meeting over skype. I think because it will save money and time for us missionaries. So, this is a picture of us using it at our church. Strange.

Then we did some weekly planning in a sweet art museum and did some contacting around old town. Very cute.

We found a really sweet slide and went down it. It was pitch black and super fun to go down.

Ok, yesterday was my first Sunday here in Gävle and it was amazing! There are about 40 active members here. I shared my testimony and Syster Jenson gave a great talk on Spencer W. Kimball. After church a sweet couple invited us over for lunch. They are awesome and we had a lot of fun together! Then they dropped us off in town for a teach with an African woman and her daugthers. Her daugthers are super cute and they totally opened up to us. We talked about the importance of prayer and why we pray. We asked them if they pray and they said sometimes. The little girl who was 8 years old has been having some nightmares lately and we told her that whenever that happens to pray to her Heavenly Father because we know that He will hear her and help her. Syster Jenson did such an amazing job at following the Spirit's guidance. The mom was so happy that we took the time to teach her daughters about prayer and told them that God loves them. We left while the Spirit was still very strong. I love being able to see Syster Jenson in action! She is one amazing missionary. I feel very blessed to be with her again. I am going to take full advantage of this time I have with her in order to learn how to be an even better missionary.

Well, I am living in Sweden and loving it. Remember to enjoy the little things that life has to offer. Today a member is going to take us on a tour of Gävle!! I am so exctied. Pdays are going to be fun again! Then tonight we will head over to his house for FHE with our new investigator friend! The gospel is a beautiful thing.

Live the gospel every day and then life will be better! I promise. Look for those people whose lives you can help change for the better.

Love, Talisa!!