Well this has been a pretty eventful week in Stockholm. As you have all probably heard, there was a terrorist attack in Stockholm on Friday. It has been pretty crazy, it all everyone is talking about. On Friday we had a meeting with our ward mission leader and then we went out to talk to some people on the streets. We had planned that day to go talk with people on the island of Lidingö instead of in Stockholm. There aren't as many people to talk to on Lidingö, but we felt like it would be the right thing to do. We got back to our apartment around 3:30pm to start weekly planning, when we got a call from our ward mission leader asking where we were. We told him we were in our apartment and he told us to stay there because there had been a terrorist attack in Stockholm. There wasn't really any more information he could give us at the moment so he hung up to call the other missionaries in the ward. We looked out our window to see if we could see anything like smoke or something because we have a pretty good view of Stockholm from our window. All we could see was helicopters hovering over the city, we figured that something must be up. We called the other missionaries in Stockholm and we were a little worried because they weren't answering.
Finally, we got a call from our Zone leaders asking if we were all right. We were also able to get a hold of the other Stockholm missionaries. The other Elders and Sisters were in the YSA center in the middle of Stockholm and said that they could see police everywhere. They were then told to stay in the YSA center till further notice. We were getting a lot of text messages from members and even investigators asking us if we were all right. We were texting our investigator Ando, and he told us that a man drove a truck from Olofs Palmes Gata down Drottinggatan killing people and then drove into a store called Åhlens. Which is pretty crazy because we walk down that street almost every day talking with people. The YSA center is only one street over from where the tragedy happened. The other missionaries had to stay in the center from about 1-7pm. It was just madness in Stockholm, all the trains and busses were shut down. Everyone was trying to leave the city. The worst part was that the man who did it was able to get away. So it was a big man hunt throughout the city. All the missionaries in Sweden were told not to proselyte that night. We were told specifically not to leave our apartment. Well because of all the excitement, we were not able to focus on weekly planning.
The next day things had calmed down. We played soccer in the morning with the Ward on Lidningö. We were talking with all of them and they were all talking about how crazy the traffic was in Stockholm on Friday and such. They told us that they caught the man who did it. We were confused by why it was called a terrorist attack because it just seemed like a crazy man, but apparently similar attacks have happened in Paris and London. Some people weren't surprised that it happened because of all the other attacks. Later on Saturday we had to go to the YSA center so we were able to go by Drottinggatan. The entire street was tapped off and had police at every entrance to the street. There were a lot of people coming and leaving flowers everywhere. We could see that there was still a lot of trash and broken light posts all along the street. There was definitely a gloomy feeling throughout the entire city. It was weird to see a street that we had walked down a lot so empty. However, there was a large sense support from everyone in Stockholm.
I am very grateful to know that God has a greater plan for us. I know that God is a God of justice, and that all that was wrong will be made right through his Son's grace. There are tragedies that happen, but when we have faith, we can see that this life is only a part of a greater eternity.
Elder Cook once said "From the limited perspective of those who do not have knowledge, understanding, or faith in the Father’s plan—who look at the world only through the lens of mortality with its wars, violence, disease, and evil—this life can seem depressing, chaotic, unfair, and meaningless. Church leaders have compared this perspective with someone walking into the middle of a three-act play. Those without knowledge of the Father’s plan do not understand what happened in the first act, or the premortal existence, and the purposes established there; nor do they understand the clarification and resolution that come in the third act, which is the glorious fulfillment of the Father’s plan." I am a firm believer that earth has no sorrow that heaven can't cure.
This week as definitely been a pretty eventful week. Earlier this week we had a Zone Conference that was super great, we talked about seizing the day. The Beckstrand’s always do a great job of teaching us things that we definitely need to apply in our missionary work. We also went on splits with our Zone leaders this week that was fun.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Swedish Word of the Week:
Säkert - Safe
Finally, we got a call from our Zone leaders asking if we were all right. We were also able to get a hold of the other Stockholm missionaries. The other Elders and Sisters were in the YSA center in the middle of Stockholm and said that they could see police everywhere. They were then told to stay in the YSA center till further notice. We were getting a lot of text messages from members and even investigators asking us if we were all right. We were texting our investigator Ando, and he told us that a man drove a truck from Olofs Palmes Gata down Drottinggatan killing people and then drove into a store called Åhlens. Which is pretty crazy because we walk down that street almost every day talking with people. The YSA center is only one street over from where the tragedy happened. The other missionaries had to stay in the center from about 1-7pm. It was just madness in Stockholm, all the trains and busses were shut down. Everyone was trying to leave the city. The worst part was that the man who did it was able to get away. So it was a big man hunt throughout the city. All the missionaries in Sweden were told not to proselyte that night. We were told specifically not to leave our apartment. Well because of all the excitement, we were not able to focus on weekly planning.
The next day things had calmed down. We played soccer in the morning with the Ward on Lidningö. We were talking with all of them and they were all talking about how crazy the traffic was in Stockholm on Friday and such. They told us that they caught the man who did it. We were confused by why it was called a terrorist attack because it just seemed like a crazy man, but apparently similar attacks have happened in Paris and London. Some people weren't surprised that it happened because of all the other attacks. Later on Saturday we had to go to the YSA center so we were able to go by Drottinggatan. The entire street was tapped off and had police at every entrance to the street. There were a lot of people coming and leaving flowers everywhere. We could see that there was still a lot of trash and broken light posts all along the street. There was definitely a gloomy feeling throughout the entire city. It was weird to see a street that we had walked down a lot so empty. However, there was a large sense support from everyone in Stockholm.
I am very grateful to know that God has a greater plan for us. I know that God is a God of justice, and that all that was wrong will be made right through his Son's grace. There are tragedies that happen, but when we have faith, we can see that this life is only a part of a greater eternity.
Elder Cook once said "From the limited perspective of those who do not have knowledge, understanding, or faith in the Father’s plan—who look at the world only through the lens of mortality with its wars, violence, disease, and evil—this life can seem depressing, chaotic, unfair, and meaningless. Church leaders have compared this perspective with someone walking into the middle of a three-act play. Those without knowledge of the Father’s plan do not understand what happened in the first act, or the premortal existence, and the purposes established there; nor do they understand the clarification and resolution that come in the third act, which is the glorious fulfillment of the Father’s plan." I am a firm believer that earth has no sorrow that heaven can't cure.
This week as definitely been a pretty eventful week. Earlier this week we had a Zone Conference that was super great, we talked about seizing the day. The Beckstrand’s always do a great job of teaching us things that we definitely need to apply in our missionary work. We also went on splits with our Zone leaders this week that was fun.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Swedish Word of the Week:
Säkert - Safe
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