Member Missionary Work

                 
                           
                                                           Byebye Gävle. On the train - moving again.

    Our new chapel here in our new city. There are really some wonderful members here. 

Kristianstad is such an amazing place! It is like no other place I
have been in Sweden. The people here are very friendly and are
very willing to talk with us about God. The weather is perfect and the
Branch is a dream.


The Malmö Stake has a goal to have every member in the Stake give out
a Book of Mormon before the next Stake Conference, which will be the
15th of September. So, we hopped right onboard and starting visiting
the members, encouraging them to think of some people who they can give
their Book of Mormon to. Our Mission President has also sent every
missionary a really neat DVD with pictures of every missionary with
their Bishop and then ending it with pictures of Baptisms! Within
the next couple of weeks we are going to be visiting every member in
the Branch here and show them the DVD and get them excited about
giving away a copy of the Book of Mormon. We have already had a
great response and we are getting a list of people to pray for
every night and then we have plans to follow up with the members and
the names of the people they gave us to see if eventually these people
will be ready to take lessons from us! It is a great way to get
referrals. The members here are truly amazing and want to help us with
everything that we do. This last week was a little slower, but we can
tell that it is going to pick up a lot this week and once we both get more
familiar with the area the work is going to really take off!
This upcoming week we have lunch and dinner plans almost every day with a
member. Haha. The Branch really wants to get to know us. I feel
very blessed to be here in Kristianstad. We also went to a tourist
place today. There is a lot for us to see here. We also get to spend
Midsommer here!!!  YES. This will be such an amazing place to celebrate
Midsommers. And with such a great Branch too.


Another huge blessing that we have with being down here is our
distríct. I really didn´t think things could get any better. We
have amazing district leaders - Elder Leirimaa from Finland and
his companion Elder Brown from California. The Zone leaders - Elder
Hart from California and Elder Kleis from Finland, and then we have an
older couple -  The Dunns, from Utah in our district. So, we are a
California, Utah, Finnish group. It´s quite lovely. We get to travel
to Lund or Mamlö every Thursday for our district meeting. Yippee.


Oh yeah!! This weekend a lady that I taught while I was in Halmstad is
getting baptized and she invited me to come. And our Mission President
said that would be okay! So, on Friday we will be traveling up to
Halmstad for her baptism. That means that I get to see Senja and
Mikael again!! And then hopefully I will still be around the Malmö
zone for the Stake Conference right before I go home and will get to
see their baby. So, another baptism this weekend! Syster Jacobs and I
will be performing a musical number as well. I love life!


This morning I studied leadership and what it means to be a leader and
I learned that the best leaders are those who get their hands dirty
and do the work alongside with their peers. Syster Jacobs and I are
looking forward to putting our leadership skills to work here in
Kristianstad. We should be getting the missionary/visiting teaching up
and going here this week too!  The best leaders are those who serve
Christ and try to develop all those Christlike attributes. "I am trying
to be like Jesus.. in all that I say and do!"  I love that Primary song.
Just sing it and then you will be reminded what´s important in life...
LOVE. We have also been praying as a mission to have more Christ like
love for all the people we meet. It helps and it has helped me
want to talk to everyone that I see.


Much love,
Syster Talisa Vistaunet!

Kristianstad!

Hello everyone!

Well, the Mother's Day skype session was wonderful and I am very happy here in my new area. 


Kristianstad is a wonderful town way down South. Syster Jacobs and I were bouncing off the walls when we heard that we
would be going down South. We found out Wednesday morning that we would be leaving that day! It was quite the surprise. We spent the entire morning packing like crazy and cleaning. We left that day around 3pm. 


We were on the phone all morning saying goodbye to our wonderful friends that we have made there in Gävle. I was really sad that I didn´t  get the chance to have a proper goodbye. But, that is missionary life and by now I am used to that. I am really hoping and praying that this will be my last area. I think that there is a good chance of that. But, with my track record one never knows.

We spent Wednesday night in Vasterhängie with the sisters there and went on spilts  with them. I went with Syster Talbot. We really have some amazing sisters in our mission and I am so grateful for all of them. The next morning we left and had a 3 1/2 hour train ride down South. I love Sweden!  I feel very lucky that I have been able to see so much of this beautiful country. 


Once we arrived in Kristianstad a member picked us up at the station and by chance he mentioned that
his wife would be going to a Relief Society activity that night and I jumped on that and said "hey, could we come?" So, we had about 1 1/2 hours to unpack and then his wife came and picked us up. It was such a great way to meet the women of the branch here.  Everyone was so nice and this branch really feels like a big family. The branch has people from all over the world in it, which makes it fun. Chille, Iceland, Sweden, Mexico, America, and Denmark. We feel very blessed to be here together. 


The neat thing about Syster Jacobs and I is that we are so similar that we have a lot of the same strengths. Which really makes our companionship super. It is also funny because we tend to have some of the same weaknesses. Haha. We feel like we have been called here to Kristianstad together for a reason. We know that nothing happens by chance. So, we are ready to find those people who are ready to hear and accept this wonderful gospel.

Our first weekend here has been great. We actually already have a baptismal date planned. We went out to Hässleholm, which is about 20 minutes away by train, still in our area,  to have our first teach with an investigator and that went great. 


We also taught a sweet Chinese lady with a new convert who is Chinese as well. When we were walking back I felt a prompting to ask him if he had time that we could teach him right then in his school and he said sure. So, in we went to teach him. We talked about why church is important and why we go to church. While we were talking we noticed
another man in the room and we could tell that he was listening to us. When we got up to leave he came over and said "hey I heard you talking about the bible and I would love to learn more"! This never happens. So, we talked with him for about 20 minutes and then invited him to church the next day and he came!! He stayed for all three hours and really enjoyed it. I think we really impressed the branch with bringing an investigator our first Sunday there. Booya! Haha. 


This branch is amazing and is so welcoming to everyone. He felt very loved and we challenged him to be baptized on June 8th and he said yes he would love to work towards that goal. WOW. The next day he went with us to FHE at a members house!


People are being prepared all over the world. All we have to do is open our´mouths and talk about the gospel. Bearing testimony does wonders. We can already tell that this is going to be a great place to serve.  The Spirit was strong and he could feel it. Life is good and the church is TRUE.



I love you all! It was the best day ever last Sunday when I got to see my family and meet my new little nephew. Thanks for everything and i love you all so much!!!

Love, Talisa!

Igor var underbart!

Hello family! 

So, today has turned into a crazy day and we don't have much time to email so tomorrow we will be emailing more. So, just know that I LOVE you all so much! And I will write more tomorrow. So, be on the look out.

Love,

Talisa!!!

                                              Skype with Sister Vistaunet on Mother's Day!!

                                        Aunt Talisa meets her nephew Henry for the first time!

                                                                              Family photo on Mother's Day!!

 

The Stockholm Weekend

                                                                   Stake Conference.

                                            Valborg! This is how the Swede's welcome Spring.

                                                           Sister's sleepover in Stockholm.

                                                    I got my hair cut! It feels so much better.

Hello one and all! 

Another amazing week has disappeared. The most exciting thing is that we are actually emailing from Stockholm because we came down here bright and early yesterday morning for Stake Conference and then we had the chance to go on work overs with the sisters in Vasterhangie-which is where the temple is located. We are going to spend our pday in Stockholm with a bunch of other missionaries today!

Yesterday we left at 5:40am to catch our 6:30am train down to Stockholm. The best part was that we traveled down with one of our investigators that is a cute Chinese student who actually contacted us through mormon.org. We had an amazing day with her and the Spirit was so strong at the conference-the focus was on finding power in the scriptures. Just what she needed to hear. We had a really neat meeting with all of the new members and investigators with the Stake President, our Mission President and his wife, and with Elder Buhm from the area Seventy. There was about 13 new members and one investigator there and they all shared their stories about how they found the gospel. I felt very inspired listening to all of their sweet and simple stories. Heavenly Father really loves and watches after every single one of his children.

It was really neat to see people from Örebro, my very first area. Many hugs were exchanged and I could actually understand them and speak Swedish with them this time around! 

Elder Buhm from the area Seventy talked about having patience with our Heavenly Father-He will always answer our prayers, but He will always do it in His time. In order to recieve answers to our prayers we must do our part...which includes; 

reading the scriptures, attending church, and praying every single day. Elder Buhm also talked about not comparing ourselves with others around us. It doesn´t matter how smart we are, all that matters is what we do with our knowledge. What kind of member am I? How am I fullfilling my missionary member role? Are we still rejoicing? This gospel is a gospel of JOY. So, go and spread that joy.

 

 After Stake Conference we headed out to Stockholm to walk around a little bit with our investigator. She is super sweet and we think that today was a really good day for her to see and understand a little bit more about the church. She wants to get baptized, but she really wants to finish the Book of Mormon first. We told her that she didn´t need to do that, but she really wants to. So, we are praying for her to find the time to read. She is in 2 Nephi and is really enjoying what she is reading. 

We then said goodbye to her and headed to meet the sisters to do work overs. I went with Systers Hill and Brinton to a new converts for dinner and to re-teach them about the Restoration. It was a wonderful experience to be able to teach with two other sisters in unity. We taught and played off each other really well. It was a great learning experience for me. There is power when you teach the Restoration in one setting and when you teach the lessons all the way through. I want to re-focus on teaching them all the way through. The Spirit is so important whenever we are teaching because that is the way that we can know exactly what the person needs to hear. 

We have so many wonderful sisters in this mission and i am so grateful for that! We had a sister sleepover last night with Sisters Hill, Talbot, Brinton, Francis, Jacobs, and I. It was great to see Sister Francis again! She is doing great and really enjoying Sweden. I also got a really good update on Karlskrona. Things are going well down there. And now she is in Norrköping. Fun.

Oh, yeah I also finally got a hair cut!! A lady in our branch offered to cut it for me. It is amazing to me how much more I feel like myself. I just am a short haired person. I am happy.

 

During this past week we got another baptismal date- for June 8th. And then tonight we are going to get one with another investigator for June 8th also. So, hopefully we will have two baptisms for June 8th.

 

Wow!! Baby Henry is super cute! Haha. I loved the picture of him meeting all of Dad´s action figures. I am glad to know that nothing has changed with Dad. When is little Henry going to be blessed? I am super excited to see him this weekend over Skype.

 

Well, we ran out of time. Bummer.  I love you all!!!

 

Love, Talisa!

Zone Conference, DOP, and Auntie Talisa

Wow! What a week! 

Baby Henry is so cute and little. I send my love and kisses for my new little nephew. This seriously has been a missionary dream week. And then I get the news that my sister had her baby...which made the dream week even better. Thank you for sending so many pictures. I am really looking forward to seeing him on skype in a couple of weeks!  We will figure out more next week on email. I am getting really excited!

 

Okay now onto the Dop! (which means baptism) It was this past Thursday. What a good day. We had a lovely program and I have never seen someone so happy. Christian was beaming the entire night. He has grown up in Gävle and has quite the life story. A couple of months ago he met Cicci-his fiance- who is a member. They came to church for the first time the last week of March. The next couple of weeks we taught him all the lessons and it was really neat to watch the change taking place. We could see the light and happiness coming into his life from our wonderful message.

We got a great phone call from him a couple of days before the baptism and he said that he had just helped an older man in his yard and then spent most of the day with this older man, that he didn't know, because he felt the love of Christ. I am so grateful for this wonderful gospel and for the chance that every one of God´s children has to hear of it. Christian asked Syster Jacobs and I to give the talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost. Then Annicka sang "I like to look for rainbows" out of the children´s songbook with Syster Jacobs playing the piano. It sounded great! We were very grateful for Annicka - we asked her that morning if she could sing and she said yes! She has a wonderful voice and did a great job. The spirit was so strong throughout the entire program. When Christian came up out of the water you could tell that he felt his Heavenly Fathers love and that he was a changed man. Christian and Cicci will be getting married on May 19th and we have been invited! Then they have the goal to be sealed in the temple in one year. Maybe I will be able to travel back to Sweden for that occasion. Yes.. that´s my goal.

 

We also had a wonderful zone conference this past week up in Sundsvall. The theme of the conference was the Plan of Salvation. President and Syster Newell did a outstanding job of teaching all of us missionaries the importance of God´s plan. We did many role plays throughout the day, all in Swedish. That was fun to speak Swedish with lots of other missionaries. We focused a lot on Alma chapters 40-43. I know that we are all God´s children and that one day we will all be able to live with Him again. 

Syster Jacobs and I were in charge of teaching about the resurrection. So, the night before the conference Syster Jacobs came up with the idea of making a spirit. I was down for that. Then I realized what that meant. I sat on a chair and let her wrap my body in tape, it was a very uncomfortable experience. And the best part was that President called in the middle of all of this. He called to see how our companionship is going. I just had to laugh. We are like sisters and President also told us that we would be together for a while. Yippee! Summer time in Sweden with the best companion ever.

 

Miracle of the week: On Friday we were out traveling around and a lady came and sat by me on the bus and we started talking and she asked me if I was Swedish. I said no. And she said "I thought so because you are just so happy and very social". We talked for about five minutes about life and what I was doing in Sweden and then she said "last week my husband, daughter, and I saw you and your friend on the bus and we wanted to talk to you but then you got off the bus. Then today I run into you again!"  God´s work I told her. Syster Jacobs and I were really happy and a little bit hyper on the bus that night when she saw us and she said that we made her day. She and her husband had been talking about us and wanted to see us again. While I was talking with her on the bus I felt God´s love for her and her family so immensely. Everything happens for a reason. We exchanged phone numbers and she said that she would love to hear more about God's plan for her. I found out while talking with her that both of her parents are dead and so I got the chance to apply what I had learned at zone conference with a lady on the bus and we will be meeting with her this week.

God wants to bless us and He will bless us, we just have to be doing our part first. Syster Jacobs and I also decided indepently to fast for the same reason yesterday! To find those people who are prepared to hear our message. And then yesterday we found two new investigators and had an amazing dinner with one of them! The church is true and i know it.

 

I love you all and I am so grateful that I am Heavenly Father´s missionary at this time in Sweden! This weekend we are having stake conference in Stockholm. Syster Jacobs and I get to travel down there and stay overnight at the Systers apartment in Vasterhengie. Then we'll spend pday in Stockholm with lots of other missionaries. Isn´t life grand! And today we are heading to see Jay and Ullis and spend the day with them. Friends for life.

I send all of my love again to my new little nephew... Henry! I am so happy for that good news. Congrats Corryn and Rob! Good work.

 

Love, Auntie Talisa!

 

Pictures: Our spirit from Zone Conference. And a Baptism!!