This area is great so far. It is by far the prettiest city I have seen. It also has a great ward. I am really excited to be in this ward, I will learn a lot more Swedish and the young adults are a lot of fun. Plus, we get to play soccer with the young adults, less actives that come, investigators and the friends that come along! It is a great way to build relations with people to just play with them, to have fun and then they realize we are real people, and it is easier to get into a conversation with them! I got to play last Tuesday in Karlstad and I got into a good conversation with a Swede, he was studying to be a religion teacher as well. Religion really interests him though he has been agnostic his whole life. They were really nice! It was just me, Elder Rice, and one of our investigators, and a ton of Swedes who had invited us to play with them.
My new companion (Elder Wood) is great! I am really excited to be with him this transfer. He has been my district leader until now and now he still is but is also my companion! He is really fun and a good missionary.
Jonkoping is the most religious city in all of Sweden, supposedly, and so instead of people not interested, they already have a religion! So, it is a little different. Jonkoping has very few investigators right now who are making much progress. We are doing a lot of finding work right now and trying to see if we can begin to teach a lot more. The ward had about 120 people in church yesterday. I was asked to give a talk-ish in church, more just introduce myself, bear my testimony and share a scripture and such...in Swedish. It was really hard getting up in front of all of them and speaking - I need some more work on my Swedish. It was horrible, but went well at the same time! I stumbled a lot. I did it though, and it took up a couple of minutes! People came and told me that I had good Swedish in any case...
I met a family that had been to Beaverton, they have friends that live there (the Bairds) and had visited them recently. It was really cool, I didn't expect them to know Beaverton, though they do know Oregon, that is where Elder and Sister Rassmusen are from! They are in TJ's ward and are serving here now too.
The streets and buildings here are very beautiful. I think this city is amazing so far. I am really enjoying it. The apartment has a great view over the lake and we get to stare at it every night. We just can't go in it.... I am hoping to stay here for a long time.
I am really happy with my Swedish. We had a middag (meal) yesterday and I was able to keep up with all the conversation and participate! After a whole 3 hours of Swedish in church! I love Swedish, it is a beautiful language and is a lot of fun. I just need more practice! I am excited to see what happens this transfer in Jonkoping!
I am currently reading in Jesus the Christ, I have about 50 pages left, it is an incredible book! I love being able to read it and to learn about all of Christ's life, what is important, and be able to get a better grasp on everything that happened! It is a good place for me to begin to think, and has gotten me really excited to learn more from the scriptures, personal study and the Holy Ghost which does testify of truth, it helps us to understand and grow. I love this gospel, the opportunity I have now to learn and to grow.
Thanks for writing, I love you!
Aldste Maxwell
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