It started with a lot of packing, and moving. I got a train at 8:05 am on Tuesday to go to Stockholm, then from Stockholm to Esklistuna. The train from Sundsvall to Stockholm was about a 3-hour train ride, then I had an hour in the Stockholm train station before taking an hour train ride to Eskilstuna. On the train I read a little from the scriptures, wrote in my journal and took a nap. It was nice to have an hour layover in Stockholm because all the missionaries who are transferring meet in the station and you get to talk with them. So I got to see some missionaries from my group I haven't seen in a while.
I got to Eskilstuna at about 2:00. I meet my new companion Äldste Linchenko. My new apartment is pretty nice. It's kinda far from town but it's nice. I forgot to get pictures sorry... But missionaries have been living there for a while now so it has a lot of posters and stuff.
Äldste Linchenko is an awesome guy. He has spoken Swedish to me 24/7. He has really good Swedish and it has helped a lot. We also go running every morning. Like every morning. For like 5 miles it feels like. It's awful. I feel like I am going to die every time, but actually I have kinda enjoyed it. He says that I run a lot further than his last companion. Also, I have been pretty willing to go running so he likes that. I have been really sore, but I feel a lot stronger. I feel tired but also a lot more accomplished.
This is definitely going to be a transfer of growing. When I got into this area they had maybe one investigator. Apparently they weren't really working very much. It's a hard area, and the branch is small. It was kinda hard to leave an area where I had 10 investigators and a baptismal date, to an area that had one investigator. However, this week we have been working really hard. Äldste Linchenko is a really good missionary, great at contacting, a really good teacher and great at speaking Swedish. I guess his last companion was holding him back a bit. So this week we were able to get 5 new investigators and one of them to even come to church! I think this companionship is good for us. He helps me with Swedish and running and I give him motivation. It will definitely be a transfer of growing.
Eskilstuna is really cool. Apparently it's one of the top 3 ugliest cities in Sweden, but I think it is really nice. Plus, it's Sweden so how ugly can it get. This week we watched a World Wide Broadcast for all the missionaries. It was pretty cool. Elder Bednar and Elder Oaks taught about how we need to focus on our purpose as missionaries. It was really cool.
I hope everything is going well for all of you. Can't believe it has been snowing so much there. Anyway, that's how it's been for me! I love you all!
Swedish Word of the Week:
Prästadömet - Priesthood.