Dear family!
Every day on the mission is a different one. But each morning I always wake up excited to go out and see what miracles the Lord has in store. This week was a hard one and a great one. Syster Erickson got sick... which was not so much fun. It was hard to decide what to do with our time... trying to keep Syster Erickson warm and rested... while still trying to be affective. I think that is the bane of my existence... trying to feel like I am using our time wisely and being efficient. But! That’s life. Well we had some great fellowshipping going on by Uppsala ward this week. I was so impressed with our members! I think my favorite thing to do is have a lesson with a member and investigator. Let me just fast forward to Sunday. The day of Håkans baptism. Now let me clarify... the week before some one gets baptized is crazy. Syster Erickson and I spent some long hours on the phone... and poor Håkan felt like he was on the rollercoaster of his life. But we made it to Sunday! So the plan was to have church (we do it backwards... relief society first, Sunday school, and then sacrament meeting). Then have some soup in between... hoping that all the members would stay and then have Håkan's baptism... 5-6 hours of church! Wahoo! We woke up Sunday morning feeling peaceful and excited. And then one by one stresses started coming. We got asked to teach the primary lesson during Sunday school (What were we going to do with our investigators!). We show up to church... turns out they are having the primary program but the piano player is sick... and Syster Erickson is roped into the job. Ingrid, Håkan, and Maj came to church! Wahoo... and yet! O boy! I felt like I was running around like a chicken with my head chopped off--trying to make sure each of them were taken care of and having a good time and having someone to talk to... It is not easy to throw a party. There were so many funny strange parts to the day. I wish I could have taken a video camera and taped it so you could all be there with me. I have a new appreciation for primary teachers. (I taught my first primary lesson in Swedish! thank you! Last week I taught the relief society lesson... in Swedish... hah o boy... personally I think primary was harder.) Once we got to sacrament--I was just so nervous about everyone having a good time... ended up that I was probably the only one who didn’t enjoy the primary program.
OK... so in the long run I have decided everything would have gone the same with or without me stressing... So I am officially going to try and not stress about it.
So the members did a great job taking care of all three of our investigators. Maj came out of sacrament meeting and told Syster e that she wanted to talk to both of us. Syster E had a heart attack. Turns out... she said, "after listening to those kids. I feel ready! Its like a light is inside me... it touched me! I feel ready!" That about made all of my stress worth it. Then came the soup! The ward did a great job having everything set up and it was such a warm and friendly atmosphere. It made me so happy to see everyone sitting together socializing and talking. Especially seeing our investigators feeling at home. Håkan acted like he was already a member. A glass broke and he was the first one sweeping it up. :) Then came the big moment... THE BAPTISM! Of course our baptizer (Äldste Marchant) wasn't quite there yet... but we started in hopes that he would show up soon. I gave a talk about baptism... in Swedish! I felt like it was terrible but Håkan said it was the most beautiful talk he had heard. Äldste Marchent showed up! And Håkan got baptized! Yay!! My favorite part though had to be when the bishop welcomed him into the ward... he had a home teacher and all the men who helped in giving him the holy ghost-- he knew them all. Syster Erickson and I had spent so much time in trying to get Håkan acquainted with all of the members. Håkan was so happy. And then the grand finale. Håkan got up to bear his testimony. He got up there... paused for a few seconds... and then said powerfully "jag vet att Jesus kristi kyrka av sista dagars heliga är den endast sanna kyrkan på jorden" (I know that the church of jesus Christ of latter-day saints is the only true church upon the earth).
It was a day filled with lots of emotions. It was a lot of work--but the joy on Håkans face was worth it all. I think the thing I am happiest about is that I have full confidence that Håkan can make it to the temple. He is going to be a strength for the ward. He has a daughter who is 14 years old and we know this will be really good for her too.
To wrap up the evening... as we were sitting together having a little Fikka (refreshments) Maj turned to me and said... I think I’m going to go home and read (scriptures). I'm in Mosiah now!"
Life is good. I know I am far from perfect. I feel like I didn’t do anything for Håkan. He came prepackaged and ready to go. He just needed any missionary to help him get on the path to follow Christ. Håkan getting baptized was a miracle that I was able to participate in. We are only instruments in the Lord's hands... and that’s the way I like it.
Love Syster Schneiber
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