We had a white Easter here in Alingsås but it couldn't
dampen our spirits. We have been having miracles overflowing. Where to
even begin. Tuesday morning we went over to the Relief Society
president's house to talk about how we could help with visiting
teaching. We walk in and she is on the phone with another member and
says "Oh good! the missionaries are here.. you can just talk to them"
She hands us the phone and says.. "She has an investigator for you!".
This member was out at a restaurant and one of the servers ended up
asking them lots of questions about the church. In the end the dad just
said.. we have some Syster missionaries who would love to meet with you
and tell you more about the church. We could just give them your
number.... YAY! Way to go members!! And when one member gets started on
member missionary work.. the fire spreads. There is nothing more
contagious than the desire to be a part of sharing the great news. When
we got back to our meeting about visiting teaching.. The Relief Society
ended up giving us a referral. YAY! We haven't been able to teach either
of them yet.. but! hopefully this week.
We have continued to try and contact 10 people a day. We
haven't been perfect.. But we have received 8 possible investigators
this week. That is the most I have ever received in a whole area.. let
alone in one week! Every time someone says "yah, you can have my
number.." I just kinda think.. what in the world.. how is this
happening! My favorite contact was when we were on a train ride to a
members house for Easter. We were sitting on one side of the train with
three chairs facing another three chairs... on the other side of the
train were two chairs facing another two chairs.. (I wish i could just
draw a picture).. But no one sat next to us the whole way.. but on the
other side of us sat a black guy reading some books. I leaned over to Sys
Sp and said.. should we talk to him? she looked over at him and he
said .. that's awkward! He is all the way across the train! This is
true.. I said.. but what if he is SEARCHING for something! ..but i didn't
know what to say.. So we did some Swedish study. Finally as the train
was coming into the station I had a Swedish question.. so I walked over
and asked him for help. When I asked him what he was studying.. he said
Religion.. hahah Syster Sp thought.. !OF course! I asked him more about
his background and if he believed in God.. His response was perfect! I
asked if we could switch numbers and talk some more about what he
believes.. this is usually where the go all awkward and say.. nooo
thanks. BUT! he said yes :)
Did I tell you about how beautiful Sweden is..? beacuse it is
beautiful! Our lake in our backyard is awesome.. especially when we go
running as the sun rises. God's creations are amazing.
We
spent part of Easter with an American/Swedish family. We played with
their little kids and colored eggs. It always feels good to be with a
family and be a part of it. They have been having a rough time too so it
was felt good to be there just to help uplift their spirits. Then our Swedish Easter was with the whole ward! Easter here is very
interesting. They of course do the usual coloring of eggs.. but their Easter coincides with some ancient Swedish traditions with witches. They
light up a big bonfire in the evening. It is because they try to keep
the witches away.. or something. It is called Påskbrasa. :) Also the
kids dress up as Påskgubbar. They can go around and knock on doors and
get candy.. kinda like Halloween. So this word "gubbe" is very
interesting. They often call little cute kids.. gubbe.. so I thought it
was just like this word to say "cutie" or something. Turns out.. it
means "old man". SO! on påsk the kids dress up as old ladies and old
men. It is super funny. On Thursday we went out with the youth and
knocked on doors to invite people to the påskbrasa. It was really fun to
go out with the youth and get them to knock on doors. We had our elders
from our district come up to help us. They took the boys and Syster Sp
and I split up with the girls. too much fun.
Lastly Manal! Our favorite investigator and friend here in
Alingsås. She is from Lebanon and lives in our basement. She is very,
very prepared. I love it. She had asked us questions about the temple.
So that day we planned to teach about the temple and families. When we
told her about what we had planned to teach she stopped us and said..
how did you know! It was a special moment as we were able to testify to
her that we are Representatives of Christ and the Spirit guides us to
know what each person needs.
I love being a missionary!
Hope you all are doing wonderful!
Love Syster Schneiber!
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