This week has been pretty all over the place. On Monday night I got a call from the assistants telling me that I needed to transfer to my new area that night. Which was different than the transfer report we got. So I wasn't packed at all. It all went smoothly because my new companion came and slept the night at my old apartment while I packed. Then I transferred down on to Gubbängen. It was a pretty chill transfer. It only took about 40 minutes by public transportation to get to my new area. Gubbängen is just south of the main city Stockholm. I actually have a pretty big area still. I mean it's not as big as my Norrland areas, but population wise it is a lot bigger. So that is good, there will be a lot of people to talk to! Before I left the Pence family took us all out of bowling. They got all the missionaries leaving socks and chocolate and a goodbye balloon. So they really had a way of making you feel special.
My new companions name is Elder Pfost. He is a stud. He is a super hard working missionary and is a really skilled missionary as well. He also just served in Eskilstuna, so we talk a lot about the Branch in Eskilstuna because we love them so much. Apparently Sarah is going to be giving a talk in the upcoming Stake Conference! That is super cool to me.
Well, somehow for the first time in my mission I got a pretty bad cold this week. Earlier in the week I had a head ache and runny nose. I was able to get over the head ache pretty quickly by just drinking a lot of water. But I have continued to have a runny nose and a bit of a cough, but mostly I just felt super tired. Being sick on the mission is different than at home because at home you can take it easy, but on the mission you still got to work and talk with everyone. If I wanted to I could have called Sister Beckstrand and gotten the day off, so don't think that the mission was forcing me to keep working. Haha. I just felt like I needed to keep going strong despite feeling sick because I didn't want to make my new companion think I was weak, and more importantly I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn't weak. However, despite the motivation I had from wanting to prove to myself something and despite all the water and vitamin C was taking; I still felt tired.
Then Thursday morning I was reading a talk by President Eyring on the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood. He read about a promise that the Lord made to those who received the Priesthood. It read, "For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies"(D&C 84:33). There was the cure. I guess I had been thinking too much about how sick I was and not about who I was. I was a missionary. I had things to do. So I decided to just forget myself and go to work. I knew that if I would work hard then God would restore my strength. Well I went out and gave it my all and I felt really good. I know that God gives us strength, not only for those who have the priesthood, but for us all.
He has also said, "And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions." When you do your part the Lord adds his power to your efforts. Needless to say I am still not feeling 100%. But I am still going.
The new area is super cool. I am in a huge ward now. There are a lot of members here. So that is pretty cool, because they are pretty good about feeding the missionaries here so I am going to have to be careful. It has been pretty fun so far as a Zone leader. We got to all everyone in the Zone so that was fun that I have the opportunity to get to know a lot more missionaries and be able to travel around and work with them. It is going to be a really good transfer I can feel it. The other day we got a referral from Church headquarters about a Swedish man who wanted to get the missionaries lessons and a Book of Mormon. We went to visit him the next day and he was just the nicest guy ever. He is a 32-year-old Swedish man and he is just the humblest guy. Which is super cool. Then his friend showed up we were able to talk to her and she said she wanted to meet with us also! So it was a good day. So yea.
Well hopefully you all are having a fun time today. We are actually going to be going to a second hand store. I am at the point of my mission where all of my pants and shirts have holes in them and I have had to re-sew them. My suit coat also has had some problems as well; the inner lining of the arm has torn. Haha. By it's been cool I have been able to hem it all up. Well, I haven't really pictures to send this week... Sorry.
Love you all!
Swedish Word of the Week:
Förkyld - Cold