​Arto, a member, is taking us site seeing today for P-day. Overall this has been a really great week. For Thanksgiving our district had lunch together in the church and also that night a member from America had us over for Thanksgiving dinner. It was super good. We had mashed potatoes, turkey, and stuffing. It was a great thanksgiving. Also, it was Äldste Falkner's first thanksgiving too! It was really nice of them to have us all over. Not a lot of people know what Thanksgiving is here ether.  
 
On Saturday we got a text from one of our investigators, David, at about 2:00 in the morning with a picture of containers of food and he asking us if we would help him give food to people on the street. XD David is a really nice guy. He is an inspirational speaker and has been meeting with the missionaries for about a year now. He just loves the fact that we go out and talk to people. So we ended up helping him give food to some of the refugees. There are so many refugees that they put them in school gyms, they have beds and cardboard walls for privacy. A lot of really nice people are here. The kids came running up to me and were hugging me. Really cool experience. 
 
On Sunday the Church had a Choir concert. It was really good! We were able to invite a lot of non-members and meet a lot of people and get them to come to the church. Also on Sunday it was the beginning of the new Christmas Initiative. So as a missionary we have to Share a video on the street with people. It's Called a Savior is Born. I really like it. We have special Christmas pass-along cards. I hope everything is well for you all! Sorry for the short email. Was thanksgiving good for all of you?
 
Swedish Word of the Week
 
En Frälsare är Född - A Savior is Born.         

This week was awesome! We went up to Umeå again on Monday till Tuesday. This time it was for Specialized Zone Training, which means President Beckstrand and his Assistants came up to teach us things. We first talked about being Diligent. Since the sun goes down at about 2 o'clock now and it's super cold and no one is out to talk, a lot of missionary work goes down. President and his Wife tried to teach us to remain diligent, and to work hard. He said that winter is a hard time for missionaries and it can get a little hard. They showed us a talk by Joseph B. Wirthlin. It really is a great talk. Here is the link: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2009-01-03-come-what-may-and-love-it?lang=eng  
 
They taught us to love missionary work and remember to stay happy. They then showed us the new Christmas Video that the Church is putting out and how we can use it in our missionary efforts. It's called A Savior is Born. We shared testimonies on why the Savior is so important in our lives. In a country were the Jesus Christ is just another religious figure it’s amazing how important It is to understand Christ. President Beckstrand is such an awesome guy. I love my mission president and his wife. 
 
On Wednesday Äldste Cragun and I went on Spits. Which means our trainers went out for a day and it was just the Greenies to go out. It ended up being an awesome day. We had 4 lessons and about 16 contacts. It was cool because we both don't have amazing Swedish yet so it really pushed us to Speak instead of just relying on our trainers; which is good because we only have two weeks left of training. I feel like my Swedish is really getting there. Also this in Sundsvall they have put up a lot of Christmas Lights up and a big Christmas tree so the town is really pretty. I kinda feel like I'm in Woodville though sometimes. Also there is an Ice Sculpture of a dragon in the middle of the Square. Sundsvall loves their dragons. This week was also one the sister missionaries one year mark so we burned a shirt in the fire pit by the chapel and had marshmallows. 
 
The Mission has been great. We meet with Per this week finally. He seems pretty sick, but he is still happy and positive. On Sunday I said the Sacrament Prayer in Swedish, which went well. We make sure to stay involved in the Branch. We help them with service, they help us with lessons. A member invited us over for Thanksgiving this week, so that will be nice. Hope you are all doing well and I love you all!    
 
Swedish word of week: 
 
Tack - Thank you

​Europe is a little crazy with what happen in Paris. We have no idea what happened. All we heard was that 200 people were killed in terrorist attacks by the some of our investigators. Our Mission President texted us to ask that we needed to keep the people in Paris in our prayers. What happened? Whatever happened people are worried here. Sweden has been taking a lot of refuges. In fact I would have to say half the people we teach are refuges. I have given out about as many Arabic Book of Mormons as I have Swedish ones. I guess that’s how God gets to his children were missionaries can't go. This week we were able to meet with one of our old investigators named Ali, he has a pretty amazing story about how he escaped from Malaysia. Really cool guy. 
 
This Saturday the Sister's had a Baptism. They baptized a woman named Shirin and she is from Iran and speaks Persian. Her son Armin was baptized a few months ago and he helped translate for the sisters. The Baptism was really cool because he translated for her and also got to baptize her. So that was really cool. We were able to get two of our investigators to come to the baptism.
 
The Weather has been really weird here. Our weather app keeps saying it’s going to snow, but then it doesn’t. So no snow in Sundsvall yet. It's just been a bit cold but I have a jacket and scarf so I keep myself warm. I also bought a hat today to keep me warm. Funny you should ask about the car.... I am great at driving it. However last Tuesday it was very slippery and so the Sisters got in a tiny accident because the car slipped. We had winter tires on the car too. Anyway we all learned we need to be careful out on the ice. 
 
I mostly find my investigators through contacting people on the streets. We can't really tract in most of our area because a lot of them are Apartment buildings that are port coded, so we can't get in. However I did get a new Investigator on Sunday through tracking. That is was going on with me.
 
Swedish Word of Week:
 
Dop - Baptism 

​This week on Wednesday and Thursday we went up to Umeå for Zone Training. Train rides are always so fun because everyone in my district sits together in the social area of the train and share funny stories from back home. Then when we got to Zone Training we had to stay with another set of Elders in their apartment. Way fun! Then Zone Training was awesome. We talked about how when Christ called the Apostles they all dropped their nets to follow him. We then talked about what were some of the "nets" we needed to drop to become a better missionary. This idea really helped me focus on the things that matter.
 
Other than that things have been pretty normal here. I currently have 6 investigators right now. It is so cooling getting to talk with them and help them come closer to Christ. It's kind of crazy the things people will tell you after just meeting them when you are wearing Christ name on you. Somethings people tell us they say they have never talked to anyone about it before. People aren't supposed to confess their sins to us and we aren't supposed to give them any personal advice or tell them what to do. But I have found that it really helps people to just talk about it. So that’s probably my favorite part of a mission is just hearing peoples stories. 
 
Per is supposed to be off snus this week however he has been really sick. It makes me worried because last time he tried to quit snus he got so sick he had to go to the hospital. Hopefully history doesn't repeat its self this time. The member, who is a doctor, made the plan is going to check up on him this week and make sure everything is well. 
 
My Swedish is coming along. I am supposed to study daily and I do most days. However there are a few days were we are just too busy to study so we just speak the language on the way. I will hopefully continue getting better. 
 
Swedish Word of the Week:
 
Tåg - Train