Break out the Short Sleeve White Shirts!

Dang this week was way good! The weather has been sunny and beautiful, who knew Sweden had warm summers!

So on monday we went to Laser dome and played laser tag as a zone, laser tag is the exact same in Sweden haha but it was super fun, I almost beat the little kids we were playing against. 

A cool experience we had this week was on tuesday night we were planning and decided to go tract a neighborhood but then we changed our mind and felt another neighborhood would be better instead. So we went with it and on wednesday as we were walking to the building we were going to start in, we contact a lady that ends up being a super positive potential investigator! We got to know her while her 4 year old son was playing on the playground. We gave her a Book of Mormon and set up a lesson for next week, I get so excited thinking about her and her family and teaching them! 

On thursday we went to do a swing by and decided to knock around her house first and knocked into a lady who said she wasn't interested but we kept chatting and ended up talking for over an hour. She was very inquisitive and we taught her a lot about the Plan of Salvation. We didn't get a return appointment but I'm really learning what President Uchtdorf said in conference is true, sometimes the things you can count, don't count, and things you can't count, do count. 

We got to try sur strömming (fermented herring) on friday! Elder Christensen hadn't tried it his whole mission so a member hooked us up cause you can only get it from Northern Sweden, that's it! As soon as she opened the container, the whole apartment stunk and I was wondering what we got ourselves into. But we ate it with potatoes and onions and it just tasted really salty and fishy and weird. I'm not gonna lie, it was gross, but the smell was a lot worse than the taste. Oh man I'm glad I tried it but I'm going to be making any request for sur strömming at member dinners that's for sure! 

We had an amazing lesson with our 64 year old investigator Bent on saturday. We taught the plan of salvation and after reading Alma 34;32-38 with him I think it really opened him up. In verse 34 it talks about how our attitudes, personality and desires will stay the same after this life. He changed his outlook about baptism and now it's not a matter of if but when. He also made a big step and bought clothes for church but couldn't come this week cause they weren't ironed haha but next week hopefully! I love Bent, he's the man! 

Elder Christensen goes home in less than two weeks so we're trying to work hard till the end and have no regrets, this week has really been amazing in showing me how God's plan is always better than ours and we should always be following the Spirit and willing to change our plans as the Spirit directs.

Hope this week has been sunny and warm for y'all, all the best from Sweden!

Äldste Hainsworth

 really cool river, running through this old city

What Swedes do when they graduate high school, drive around in a truck and party

 Sur Strömming!  (read more about this fermented herring above.  Brave boys!)

Midsummer cake! And Sister Spencer

No bake cookies I made, gotta fatten up Elder Christensen for his homecoming!

Rollercoasters & Birthdays

Emailed on June 8th:
Last monday we went to Liseberg!!! It's a big amusement park right in Goteborg and it was so fun! It was pretty expensive, 425 kr but totally worth it! The Helix was the best roller coaster I've ever been on. We got cotton candy, a member we were with threw up on a teacup spinny kind of ride, just the classic amusement park memories.  

On tuesday we went and did some service in the pouring rain for the Ternström family again and we got a lot done. He made us some great burgers afterwards and the food tasted amazing cause we were wet and dirty and tired, I love how that works. We caught up on our studies in the afternoon then went and had dinner at Joel and Molly Herrey's house. Their baby Emma loves to smile and play and it was almost I'd say stress relieving being around her, babies are the best. 

Wednesday a potential investigator blåsted (cancelled or didn't show up) on us so we just did some errands in the afternoon while contacting on the way. We taught Norbert at night and figured out how to work the sound and projector in the chapel (yes, there chapel has a projector that displays the hymns) so we watched the Restoration with Norbert and the Spirit was so strong during the First Vision. Norbert liked it but mostly looked at everything from an intellectual perspective and forgets about the spiritual perspective that is so important to conversion. I've gotten to know him really well and I love him and really want him to receive the happiness and joy of the gospel, we'll keep working hard with him.

På torsdag we took a train and bus to Åsa and walked around there doing swing by's in the beautiful sweater weather! No one that we went by was home but we tracted a little bit as well and got to check out the town. We went to a member dinner at Ann-Marie Höger's, she usually has us and the Sisters over every week, we had some good soup and Swedish pancakes. She kept saying how she's so blessed to have the missionaries over and to feed them dinner. We were curious why she kept saying that everytime we came over and she said something like "You are representatives of Jesus Christ so it's an opportunity for me to serve Him, my Savior". I loved that so much and it really reminded me who I am and what my calling as a missionary means.

We had zone conference on friday, my first one! It was titled Disciples in the Digital Age so everyone was talking about Ipads and Facebook and all this stuff but nope, just preparing us to get Ipads in the future. It was amazing, I learned so much, like that for many, the first impression of the Church is ME. That just emphasized what I learned from the day before about my calling as a representative of Christ and how important it is to honor and fulfill that calling, always. 

I turned 19 on saturday! It's the age in my life where I'll spend the entire year on a mission, crazy! Elder Stinett made me and all of us pancakes in the morning. I went on splits in Västra Frölunda with Elder Elinkowski which was fun. We tracted a bunch of buildings, got a few potential's and did a few swing by's. We also walked around in Goteborg and contacted people. We got a card handed to us for free entry to the biggest night club in Goteborg for that night...on my 19th birthday....but we didn't go of course! We met up with the other two Elder's in at I Heart Pizza and had the best kebab I've ever had for sure. I'm 19 and lovin it, I could now be on a mission if I was a girl!

Best sunday of my mission, maybe even life! We had 5 investigators in church and the sisters had 1 as well so 6 total!! It was a multi stake conference broadcasted from Scotland to all of Northern Europe. Elder Holland spoke on the Book of Mormon and gave the most powerful, emotional, incredible testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon I've ever heard in my life. The Spirit was so strong in that meeting. He quoted something saying "No evil man could write such a book and no good man would". My testimony was strengthened so much, the Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God, take God up on his promise in Moroni 10:3-5 and find out for yourself.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone, ha det så bra! 

Äldste Hainsworth

One night we were feeling patriotic so we had a ceremony of unfolding the flag then hung it up on the wall and said the Pledge of Allegiance to it

yard work in the rain

What I woke up to on Saturday!

 Liseberg amusement park.  Why is Tenny's cotton candy almost gone?

 Doing some afternoon language study:)

 rockin' the matching shirts & aprons that my mom sent in my birthday package.

 At Liseberg

 Didn't quite make the cut

 Riding the Helix with Elder Stinett

Sometimes you gotta take a break and do some little kiddy rides

The Liseberg crew

 Learned to play this new game called Munchkins, way fun

Elder Christensen taking a quick nap/sucking on his thumb

Vacker!

 Tjolöholms Slott  (above is one my fave shots from Tenny's mission so far!  his mom, Sherri)  Here's a link to this castle for anyone wanting to learn more about it.  

 backside of the castle

 tour of the castle

cool angel statue

at the castle gardens

From June 1st

This week was great! On monday we went to Tjolöholms Slott (Castle) with Äldste Elinkowski and Stinett and Sister Spencer and Mecham. It was a BEAUTIFUL day and the drive alone was a good enough activity for a p-day. We got to take a tour inside and it was pretty cool, the castle was built in the late 19th century. We had a fun dinner at a members house then went to family home evening with our investigator Norbert at the YSA center in Goteborg. I actually left as soon as I got there to go on splits with Äldste Mott.

Splits in Alingsås on tuesday were pretty uneventful, we had to get an apartment check so most of the day was just spent getting ready for that then fixing stuff up with the apartment. We baked an apple pie and made some cookie dough to bring back to the four man. We got to contact some people walking to and from the grocery store but a pretty slow day overall!

Wednesday we tracted in the afternoon about family history and familysearch.org and it was a lot more positive than what I'm used to, especially cause the neighborhood we were in was mostly older people that weren't as busy. We went and taught our investigator Bengt with a member and it was the best lesson with him yet! Bert, the member present, helped answer his questions with his super good Swedish and got him to think about coming to the Family History Center in our church. We went and did some swing by's at night at Stormgaton but we ended up tracting into a Jehovah's Witness lady which just turned into an intense discussion where we were fighting for control of the conversation so we just left. 

Thursday we took our car into the shop in the morning to get the oil changed, it cost 2590 kronor!!! That's ridiculous for just changing the oil! We went and did more yard work at a member's house. It was pouring rain but it felt good to work and get wet and dirty in normal clothes. The member made us steak and potato salad afterwards, super good! In the afternoon I put up a lot of sticky notes around the apartment of stuff I want to learn the word for, like mirror (spegel). We did dinner then went and picked up an RM member and went and taught Norbert. We were forced to take the lesson inside (the apartment buliding, not our actual apartment) when it started raining but then went back outside when the rain stopped. The lesson went well, Norbert's coming along slowly but surely! 

On Friday we had district meeting in the morning then went to Max Burgers for lunch. We did some weekly planning then helped a young couple move apartments. He gave us a sweet rug too! At night we were feeling really patriotic for some reason so we took Äldste Elinkowski's American flag and hung it up on the wall and said the Pledge of Allegiance to it, it felt pretty great. 

On saturday we taught Bengt again with another member present and it went really well. We taught the Restoration and he opened up more about his past. He told us he has nothing to pray about so we talked a lot about prayer and testified about it to him so hopefully he tries praying this week. We taught our kind of investigator Lars after and it went well, we gave him a Book of Mormon cause he lost his old one and hopefully he'll sincerely read it. 

Sunday was amazing! Our normal investigator Norbert didn't make it but an Arabic lady we contacted on the street like a month ago showed up for sacrament with her daughter and other relative. It was awesome! The members were really friendly and introduced themselves and it could not have been a better sacrament meeting since it was Swedish mother's day. Great day, God's plan is always better than our plan! 

"Your continuing exercise of faith will forge strength of character available to you in times of critical need. Such character is not developed in moments of great challenge or temptation. That is when it is used". -Elder Richard G. Scott. I love that quote, I've really come to realize that you and I are constantly moving along the pathway of life, and every single choice we make moves us forward or backward along the path towards or away from God, there's no standing still! Choose to always press forward! 

Love y'all!

Äldste Hainsworth

No pictures this week because:

Hey super busy p-day, were going to lisaberg right now so i can't send pics or respond to anyone else right now but I love you all, have a great week and thanks for the birthday wishes! I'll respond to everything next week! Everything's great, love you! 

Äldste Hainsworth

From Tenny's dad:

Hi T, you putting up the flag and saying the pledge of allegiance reminded me when I was in Toluca in Mexico on my mission and had native companions and hadn't spoken English for months. I remember going going to a newsstand and buying a People magazine in English and then reading it out loud to myself to hear English. 

Apartment Bonding & Non-Alcoholic Beer

From May 25th, 2015

Hej everyone! So this past week kept us busy and things are picking up more and more every week and it feels so good! It's so fun living in a four man too, we have a lot of good times with the zone leaders and we've gotten pretty close. We eat lunch together pretty often and then also ended up all brushing our teeth together crowded in the bathroom one night, what better bonding can you ask for?

We've been teaching our awesome investigator Norbert and had a really great member present lesson with him about tithing and fast offerings. He's also coming to FHE tonight at the Goteborg YSA Center so hopefully he makes some cool YSA friends from that and sees how fun church activities are! 

We met up with Bent who is now a progressing investigator!! There's not much to teach him since he knows everything about the church but we talked with him about the character of Christ and just tried to bring the Spirit to the lesson.

We went clear out to Varberg this week with a member to visit a less active, his testimony is so strong but he needs help finding a job. He's an immigrant so it's annoying cause he needs a job contract to become a citizen but to become a citizen he needs a job contract sooo it's tough but we're getting some home teachers to start visiting him regularly so hopefully that helps! 

Tons of people came to futbol this week and even an inactive member, it was super fun! Everyone here is in pretty good shape and no one really sucks at futbol so it makes the games really fun and intense. We did some yard work for a member that has cancer so needs help taking care of everything and we had a bbq with him afterwards, got to try non alcoholic beer (tasted gross). 

We had zone training on wednesday and it was great, we learned about how to be more effective with extending commitments and it's something we could definitely use with our investigators! We all went to pizza hut after, all you can eat pizza buffet, sooo good. Weekly planning was great this week and we were able to make a list of about two dozen people to swing by so we've been busy with all of them! Found some potential investigators! 

This week I've been studying a lot on the plan of salvation and how having an eternal perspective makes all the difference as a missionary and with helping others come unto Christ. We can receive so much comfort and peace through hard times as well as happy times if we remember our purpose here on earth. I know that each one of us has divine potential and infinite worth.

Have a great week y'all!

Med kärlek,

Äldste Hainsworth

 P day at the Botanical Gardens.

 Doing a "swing-by" out in the country.

 When I saw this picture of all these logs, it looked just like something we'd drive by living in the Pacific Northwest.  Except this is in Sweden.

 The white bike is Äldste Christensens, the bike to his left was burned somehow! God protects His mssionaries!

 Sherri:  All these yellow flowers that look so gorgeous have the unfortunate name of Rapeseed.  An oil is extracted from them.  They were all over Denmark, too.

 Super good dessert at a member's home.