sea2swe: August 15th - The Dang Dop

Howdy doo y'all!

What a superb last week to finish off the transfer. Let me just say I'm glad Elder Barnes is transferring and I'm not. The work is too good right now! Elder Barnes is heading to Alingås to be a big new district leader. I'll be getting Elder Kilton just a hop, skip, and a jump away in Eskilstuna. I've met him a couple times but we've still got a lot of getting to know you done. I'm way excited!

I can't say Mireya's baptism was perfect because the programs wouldn't print out right, Elder Barnes almost couldn't lift her out of the water, and most of the members we invited didn't show up but it was fantastic nonetheless. The Spirit was strong and her 27 and 22 year old kids even came to support her at the service. Mireya was ecstatic after her baptism, she went up to the pulpit to bear her testimony with a smile on her face, "I am sooo happy. I feel the Holy Ghost. I feel a lightness and a joy that I can't really describe. I'm so thankful for this church." She was confirmed and received the gift of the Holy Ghost the next day and is now officially a Mormon! Something Mireya has really reminded me of is how we never know the ripple effects our meager efforts can have. For example, Mireya's dad never became Mormon but he investigated the church when Mireya was a child in Chile and she still remembers going to church and seeing the missionaries. Now, several decades later with grown up kids of her own, her curiosity in the church was sparked due to her childhood experiences and she now has accepted the gospel herself.

This is getting really long so let me just hit you with some quick updates of everything else:

-Alex is on track for baptism this saturday and it should be a great service

-Mathias is still working on his girlfriend situation but continues coming to church and meeting with us

-This is a big one, Christian and Simon, two Syrian English speaking men have agreed to baptism on the 3rd of September. Simon is the son of Christian and they're very humble and kind and want to follow Christ.

Exciting stuff happening!

Something that really hit me is something Elder Kilton said in zone training. He said that what we love most is what God wants on the altar of sacrifice. I've been thinking about that a lot and its stuck with me. That's the only way we can become 100% consecrated to the Lord. C.S. Lewis put it this way "Give me all. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work. I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self but to kill it. No half- measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desire you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked – the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you myself; my own will shall become yours."

Have a good one!

Äldste Hainsworth

The Woods, YSA couple in Stockholm!