Oh How Swede It Is!: I Love Being a Missionary!

Hi everybody! This week was an adventure, to say the least. Sister Hill lost her bus card last Tuesday, so we have been riding bikes EVERYWHERE!! Gävle is pretty small, but when you are on a bike climbing freaking Mount Everest, it really isn't small enough. Haha! But on the bright side, I am going to be super fit and healthy by the time August ends and we get new bus cards. And right now I can eat as many Swedish treats as I want to:) (not like I had any self control before we started biking...but now I feel like I have an excuse:))

This week was seriously sooooooo good! I love the weeks that pretty much plan themselves:) On Tuesday, we got to go to a hockey scrimmage with some members. I LOVE HOCKEY. Oh my gosh. It was probably the coolest thing ever. After playing innebandy, which is basically hockey minus the ice, I feel like I could totally dominate at that sport. Hahah just kidding I have no balance ever but I really did love hockey. Swedes are apparently very un-aggressive when it comes to that sport, but they were still pushing each other everywhere. I can only imagine American hockey. #pain

At a Brynäs hockey game.

On Wednesday, we got interviewed for a newspaper article on missionaries! It was really fun. The interviewee was an old investigator whose mom and sister are members. She was really nice and I am excited to see how it turns out. I will keep you all posted on when my big print debut comes out;) But for real, I think it is going to be a super cool contacting opportunity!

We met with Patrick again this week and taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And then we pulled out the big guns. And he said that he wants to be baptized when he knows the Book of Mormon is true:) I did a little happy dance in the rain after we left and I think he saw but it's whatever. I am so excited for him!! I hope he gets his answer really soon! But all in God's timing:) He and his wife came to the church yesterday and we gave them a tour, so maybe they will come next Sunday instead of their Catholic church! We really hope so!

Our investigator, Olle, has come to church for two weeks in a row! Yesterday he stayed for the entire three hours and it was really cool. We had to teach Young Women's for the last hour and he didn't want to stay in Priesthood by himself, so he and Elder Farnworth came and sat in on our lesson. Our five young women thought it was funny. I also thought it was funny. But hey whatever makes an investigator comfortable in church works with me! He is doing really well and says that learning how to pray has really helped him in his life. So everyone go pray and pay attention to how cool that is that you know how to. Because some people don't even know they can!

I just really love my life right now. I can't even explain the feelings that I have here! Being a missionary is like going on this really intense scary roller coaster. Sometimes you are freaking out and it's really hard. And then it totally rocks and life is better again:) I am just having so much fun and I love it! And I also love the fact that I am not going to start school this next week. Have fun all of you who are;)

Fun Sweden things:

This week I had a tortilla bread thing filled with mashed potatoes and korv (hot dogs). Apparently that is normal...and it was actually really good. Weird.

Everything here is brown because it has been 90 degrees outside pretty consistently. It reminds me of home in the good old desert:)

Everyone in the branch is concerned about Sister Hill and I because all we eat is cereal...Hello normal college diet people!;) Haha I am learning that not very many sisters in the mission like to cook. But lots of elders do:)

We visited a graveyard yesterday, and they had little watering cans where you can water all of the flowers on the graves! I did that for like...30 minutes. And had way too much fun doing it. It felt like service:)