MTC FINAL WEEK!!!!

Just a few more days and Sverige here we come!!

So last friday we got our travel plans, we were so excited!! We're taking a short flight to Atlanta, layover, long haul over the ocean to Amsterdam, layover, then we get to our home sweet home for the next two years! Only downside is that one of my comps, Äldste Richards, didn't get his travel plans. We had to go into the travel office last week to fix some stuff on his visa because it got sent back. So we asked them about whats going to happen and he's going to be serving stateside for 6 weeks then heading off to Sweden. We're all praying for him and wish the best for him cause he's put in more work than the rest of us combined to get to Sweden!

On Saturday 5 of us promised eachother to only speak Swedish all day! It was one of the most exhausting days in the MTC, especially mentally, but it helped so much! I love speaking Swedish and talking about other people in Swedish around them haha all good things of course. We're going to try and do a couple more "english fasts" before we leave cause they helped so much!

It's crazy how musically talented our district. In the sunday night devotional for the whole MTC one of our own, Äldste Castleton-Rudolph (nicknamed Christopher Robin) performed an incredible piano solo, the Joseph Smith medley comprised of 'Did You Think to Pray', 'Joseph Smith's First Prayer', and 'Praise to the Man', that he wrote himself. I went on exchanges with him a lot so he could practice for the big night and I even gave him some input since I'm soooo musical haha. On that same Sunday, our own Äldste Johannsen and Sister Nielsen performed at the missionary departure devotional, singing and playing the piano. If only they had guitars in the MTC...

Sunday was also bittersweet though, the Danes left monday morning so that was our last day with them. They came in a week before us and left a week before us and we got super close with them. Monday morning we hugged all of them bye, they're gonna kill it over in Denmark and I hope some of them get to serve in my old home of Aarhus.

On tuesday the ole tri-pan went on an off-campus field trip to the dentist. That was the first time other than temple walks that we'd been off campus and it was nice to see the real world, even from the window of a shuttle bus. Äldste Richards had a toothache so we got to tag along, I even sat in a chair next to him in the dentist's chair in case he needed a hand to hold. They couldn't find anything wrong with him other than that he had a bruised tooth, so he pretty much just has to deal with it till it gets better. The pain got a lot worse that night and so Äldste Reed and I had the opportunity to give Äldste Richards a blessing of comfort. It was a wonderful experience and my first blessing as a missionary. What I've learned is that blessing's are conditional upon the faith of the blesser, the faith of the one being blessed, and the will of God. Priesthood authority is so powerful and Äldste Richards has definitely been doing a lot better since then!

Today was our last p-day in the MTC and we were all pretty stoked to get 5 new danish missionaries in our zone today, 4 Elders and 1 Sister! We've already met almost all of them and they seem like they'll fit in great, we're already planning our usual Scandinavian hazing rituals haha kidding of course...maybe. My comps and I spent most of the day running errands, getting some sharp missionary haircuts, and picking up last minute stuff from the bookstore. We're all pretty excited that we leave in 4 days but I think we're all starting to get a little nervous as well. 

In teaching this week we've really focused on teaching people, not lessons. That has been so helpful for me and I can tell a HUGE difference in our lessons and how we meet the needs of our investigators. It feels so much more personal and the way that Jesus would teach. I have to ask them what they cherish, what matters most to them, what they hold dear. Then listen. If I listen with love, I won't need to wonder what to say, it will come to me. 

For studying this week one cool thing that I felt like I should do is to write down all my blessings that I've seen in my life and DANG it was crazy! I took up a whole page and they just kept coming to mind. That was a humbling and gratifying experience and I definitely don't acknowledge the Lord's hand in my life as much as I need to! The theme for me this week has really been about faith and how faith in Christ leads to action because you can't convert people beyond your own conversion. Faith is something that must be cultured and sought after and is always more powerful than knowledge. I studied in Mosiah 4 and would encourage you to study it and apply it to whatever you're going through in your life! I love verses 11-12, I wrote next to them in my Scriptures "steps to humility and happiness". Also verses 16 and 19, I'm realizing more and more how we are all beggars and while not everyone is a beggar in the literal sense, especially not in Sweden, we all depend on God for all that we have and we must have faith in Him.  

Fun language thing I learned this week is that "en val" is "a whale", "ett val" is "a choice" haha I've probably gotten those two mixed up more times than I even realize!

Jag vet att den gong det du alskä andrar mer den din själv, du ska bli lycklig

Har en bra vecka!!

Äldste Hainsworth

P.S.  "Many are cold, few are frozen"  D&C 121  (Appropriate as he's about to head off to Sweden, land that includes the Arctic Circle)

Tenny's zone while in the MTC. Consisting of the Danes, Nordes, Swedes & 2 Dutchies.  (Once he's in Sweden his zone will just  be missionaries somewhat near him in Sweden. I'm not sure how many zones there are in the Swedish mission.  Maybe there's only 1?   Sherri)