Vägledning‏

This week was a pretty average week with a lot of ups and downs but I am really thankful that we were able to go to the conference in Malmö and feel the spirit and receive answers to my questions!

But we will talk about our investigators first!

One of our investigators whose name is Sebastian is a really interesting man. He comes from Ireland but was raised in Japan and then moved to sweden half way through his life. He was most comfortable with English so we were able to teach him that way! We had met him twice before and he had been really curious to know which religion is true and he had told us that he had gone around to every single one and tried what they said and had never been able to get an answer if they were true. So many of his questions involved If God exists then why does this happen? and had his mind really set on that he has tried so many ways so there is no way the Mormons could have the way. After we went through the 1st and 2nd lessons what really hit him was the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We read through Alma 32 with him and his friend that he brought with him... and by the end of this lesson we were blessed with the spirit to be able to answer all of their questions. He was finally able to see that Faith is a lot more than belief... that Faith is a principle of Action. Which is something that we talked about when Elder Snow spoke. In life we go through this process of having a desire, acting upon our desires, and then receiving some type of confirmation/assurance to know if it is a "good seed". He was then able to realize that it was nothing that we could show him that would get him to believe in what we say... but its in the doing that we recieve our answers. HE (just like many teen-agers) was not able to commit to reading and praying and making the necessary changes to receive the True happiness the gospel brings. So we sent them on their way with Books of Mormon in their hands and with a commitment to when they have time and desire happiness, to read pray and call our number when they were ready. It was AMAZING! We felt really good that we had tried all we could to INVITE them to COME unto Christ. He's a good man.
Somayeh from Iran we have visited a couple of times during the week and has gone from listening.. to reading.. to reading and praying... and accepted the commitment to be baptized. But she did not want to put a date on it because she doesnt know where she is going to be during the summer.... so we asked her if she would get baptized before the summer and she said she would but she is finishing up school right now and is really busy and wants to get done with school before she commits with a date. I guess it's just a matter of time but she has a desire to be baptized.
Tony from Iraq had us over for a lesson and we showed him Ezekiel 37 and then a scripture from the Book of Mormon and connected the two. He was really impressed by the message but it turns out that he has now been having us over for the benefit it has been to his financial life to have us over. And just wants us over for that and does not desire to change his beliefs, it's too bad but we have to move on to progressing investigators.
Princess came to church last week and then came to a soccer activity on Saturday and said she would come to church... but she got a last minute call from work and she had to work. So we will probably be teaching her this week and see how her praying is going and explain the Faith process to her. She is looking positive too!
Claudette is a referral machine. We have been going by her house to teach her but she is never home. But 2 different people have answered the door and they both have said that she wasn't there so we asked them if they would be interested and they gave us their numbers and said they were! AMAZING! We went by her another time and she was there with her romanian friend who she has been reading the Book of Mormon with and we just so happened to have a Romanian Book of Mormon with us and we gave it to her and said we could meet sometime.
We were able to go on exchanges with Halmstad and me and Elder Olsen really enjoyed our time together, and were really able to contact and teach by the spirit. It seems to be a lot easier to do things by the spirit with someone you get along with really well. I think that is relevant to every companionship that you are in. It really is important to be in Unity first, be obedient, worthy, work hard and then we are enabled to teach by the spirit to commit people to come unto Christ through BAPTISM. And Elder Takahashi (my previous companion) and elder barlow were in Växjö and he got to see both Pan and Marvin when he was here so that was nice for him!
Soumitro is doing really well but he isn't keeping his commitments and really busy with school so we have to hold off from him for a while.
Other than that I was really able to enjoy Elders Snow and Causse (and wives)'s visit. One of my favorite things from that was how central our purpose to Baptize really is and how we need to do everything within our power to HELP the people "take up their bed and Walk" and to make sure that we do everything to receive referrals, and take every opportunity to commit someone to Baptism so that the answer will "be upon their heads", and sharpening our sickle by being obedient to reap the rewards of our Faith.

^^^^^^^

Well it was amazing to receive such great emails from you guys and little Truman sounds like he's doing amazing! I received my Easter package yesterday and those little SLara chocolates are so FESTIVE! haha I will make sure to chomp their heads off. Hopefully I will be able to get my other package next week when Elder Teixeira visits!!!! Because it not only has to be under 4lbs but has to fit through this little slot in our door so I hope to be getting that soon! Thank you so much for that! That is so CRAZY that Riley Dean is out on the mission now! man how time flies! And it's pretty sweet to hear that david escorted him! I remember a russian elder escorted me so that is neat. Thanks for sending those AMAZING pictures of the homies at the reception and Ri's farewell! As far as Mother's day goes... its a tough situation.... because I really want to talk to you on THE day... but ya know Dad is seeking first the kingom of God so I can't complain. I guess I can just ask President this week about that but I would say since dad gets out of church on the 16th at 10... I would say 18.00 my time on the 16th? We'll just call that the plan for now... but if not I'll let you know next week. I can't remember when President Teixeira is going to come on monday or tuesday or wednesday of next week... But just don't worry... the latest I'll write you is on tuesday next week. So we'll figure it out then! And YES I was able to see Elder Winegar yesterday and he is looking GOOD as ever! I was able to see Elder Chester and Jorgensen my MTC homies so it was really a good time! They came down to Malmö for Elder Snow and this time Malmö Zone is going up to Göteborg for Elder Teixeira! So we'll be seeing each other AGAIN! its AWESOME! So hopefully I will be sending pictures home this week. Sorry I have been slacking you just never really find time to MAKE a package on the mission. Maybe today... hmmm we'll see! HAIGH! Well... as fun as it is to keep babbling on... I have nothing else to say! but I love my Family and really thankful for the opportunity that I have to be on a mission right now and I have been learning WAY too much! haha it's just been amazing!

Keep populating the earth, family! Be smart... Be yourselves... Be the BOMB like you always are!

Love you all!

Äldste WAD

Whose work is this ANYWAY?!‏

Hello dearest family!

This week I have truly been blessed by the Lord and once again STAND ALL AMAZED in whose work this really is... read the following to understand what I mean:

Äldste Barlow is an amazing companion, he has taught me how to become a better teacher and really rely on the spirit and trust in God that he will put the words in my mouth if I treasure up the word during my studies. Although he likes to take naps and not work as much as I would like... he is doing so much better and really becoming more and more Obedient. I have really learned to love my companions and been striving to see them as God does. (The SAME as He sees me). The more we get to know each other the more we grow in respect for each other, and that our vision of doing the lords work really fixes any problems we have!

Marvin is doing great and just had his interview for the priesthood yesterday and taking one step at a time! This reminds me of an amazing story that occured this week... We were on our way to Marvin's house to review with him the 2nd lesson, we were a little saddened because we weren't able to get a member with us but that didn't stop us. So we went to his house and rang the door-bell, no answer... called him and he forgot! We were able to reschedule for a few hours later and so we decided to visit a less-active that hadn't accepted the missionaries for a while. Although we had our doubts... we had our cookies in our backpacks and were determined to share! So we walked to her house, rang the door bell and she opened the door and said "I only have 10 minutes and I have to pick up my son... but you can come in!" So we were able to talk to her and her son and leave a spiritual thought and be on our way. After that we took a bus to the church where we had said to meet marvin... we found Robert (a member in the branch) and he was going to the corrolation meeting and was on his way to the church and offered to join in the teach! Amazing! We got to the church and Marvin was there with his non-member brother who just met in the city and agreed to come to the teach! We were truly blessed by the Lord to see that we must Trust in the Lord even when things seem like they will fall-through!

Pan our other recent convert has been having it rough this past week... we called her all week and she never answered. The day before the stake temple trip I really needed to contact her to see if she could come... she finally answered and said she had a meeting... but after I bore my testimony to her over the phone she was set on going to the temple. One thing that she didn't realize though is that the temple was in Copenhagen... She called us back asked where it is.. and since she has trouble with the government now she can't leave the country... and if she did she would have to go to Thailand. Terribly sad but we will be working with her more and getting her back to church!

Somayeh from Iraq is doing great and we were able to have a member with her and they really do enjoy each other's company so it really is amazing to see how much teaches change when they have someone there besides the missionaries! Most of our investigators have been busy with school because it is finals time but these times are good to show us who is interested and who isn't!

Claudette with the 4 kids.... showed the Book of Mormon to her friend and they have been enjoyed reading the Word of God together and at their homes! She has been sick but we have been able to stop by and say hello a couple of times... still looking positive!

Princess who is an 18 year old from Africa we were able to ay hi to after a long time of her studying. We were able to pass by and invite her to church and she said she would... Although it didn't sound likely that she would... she DID and we were really blessed because the relief society took her in well and left with a new friend, one of our new(ish) members Bosco! We asked if we could teach her sometime during the week and said she would be busy. But we said... well how about tonight. She said I am FREE! And then she said... is it alright if Bosco comes too? Man it's amazing what happens when members strech out a loving arm to the investigators that come to church!

Tony... our Assyrian Christian man from Iraq... he has been doing great! And the Lord is blessing him! We came by yesterday and asked him how he was doing.... he asked us if we pray for the people we visit every day and we said OF COURSE! He then looked at us and said.... every time I invite you guys over... EVERYTIME I have a better day the next day and I have success in my work. After we had talked for a little while longer a man called him on his phone... after a long talk of excitement and he hang up the phone. He stared at his phone... stared at me for about 10 seconds... me feeling uncomfortabe said " do you have to go and fix another computer?" He said no... even better... I have been trying to sell my car for a while now... and this guy just called me and said he was INTERESTED IN THE CAR! What do you guys do?! After a long time of mesmerizing he said oh my goodness... I'm going to be a MORMON! I can't believe it! haha

He had to leave right then to show the guy his car... so he called us today and said he sold it and said "I need to talk to you guys!" so we will be speaking to him tonight!

Something that has really been changing my mission is doing what Sister Anderson asked a while ago... WRITE DOWN 1 MIRACLE A DAY! It is amazing when you do that you begin to see how much God's hand is in this work and that NOTHING can stop it from moving forward! It leaves you with a positive outlook on the Work I am here to do and who what and why I am REALLY serving! This work is inspired and I love this Gospel!

The mission really has taught me something. Something that comes from Elder Bednar's talk.... Alma 32... and D&C 6 (the last verses which I talked about last week at Zone Conference). Elder Bednar : God created things to ACT and to be ACTED UPON... which one will we choose to be?! Alma 32:16... it is better to CHOOSE to believe rather than Humbling circumstances enabling you to finally believe (same thing can be applied to Obedience or any other Christ-like attribute) Are we going to WAIT to be forced to Choose the Right and do the things we feel and Know are right or are we going to (D&C 6) perform with soberness the work which the Lord has commanded us... doubting not and fearing not and Apply the Atoning blood of Christ in the things we do EVERYDAY!

Wow... is it weird that I learn something everytime I write or bear my testimony to you people?! Sheesh... stop that!

Anyways... this week has just been AMAZING! Look to the Lord in EVERY thought... doubt not... fear not.. (my addition) WHY not?!

This is way too long... and I have to go and preach but Thank you for those who took in my call to repentance and WROTE me and for those of you who didn't well... I'll forgive.

I love this Work... I love this Gospel... I love my family... I love my PERFECT Example Jesus Christ.

SEEK to do GOD'S will and anything you do CANNOT FAIL! maybe tested... but NEVER Fail... (1 Nephi 15:11)

Love,

Äldste Webster

P.S. President Snow is visiting us a week from tomorrow and I will be seeing Elder Jamon Winegar! SICK!

I'll send you pictures once I get some with him... DEAL? deal... too P-day is next tuesday so I will write then!

Until then...

Wad

Requests!

Oi mommy! well I can't remember if you said if you send me an Easter package but if you did I wasn't able to get it by Zone Conference. But if it was the one with connor, and T-hall's letters and the wedding pictures I got it and I loved it!

As far as the upcoming package goes... I would love it! Yeah just those socks... the watch and pictures of the NEW babies! That would be nice... but try and keep it under 4 lbs so I can get it quicker! Other than that just your love and prayers! I will try and send a package next week with the pictures! I just cant remember when the last pictures were until... But I'll get on it! HAIGH!

Letter to come....

Wad

One more thing...

Hey... so I love the CDS you sent me... But if I could get the 2006 efy CD and any other upbeat church music with lyrics... ya know.. for working out in the morning...

love you!

wad

Verkligen?! Kyrkan är sann‏

Well now the family is all married off, populating the world, and things back to normal! Now being the only single in the family I demand weekly... if not monthly letters! Ah... just trying to take advantage of this moment.. wont happen though. ANYWAYS.... Well last monday was amazing we got to watch the last session of general conference of the church computer with little tiny speakers coming out of the computer. Good times... for what I could hear... Grandfather did amazing! Who was the pictures that he showed... hard to tell they all look alike! Anyways... I'm glad to hear that Dad ordered an iPad.. I knew he would give in to apple someday... If you can all think back to the beginning of brazil... where we all had windows... And now were all converted to Macs! It's good to hear my family is officially converted! YES! The wedding pictures were amazing! By the way.. I wouldn'tie that sam wore... the same one I wore while getting my endowments... blue gray white stripes. Anywho....

This week has been quite the week!

Somayeh... one of our most progressing investigators came back from a vacation in Malmö and we have taught her much. After everything... she told us of her beliefs about Christ... but the miracle of it all was that when we said what we believe and what she needed to do to believe and find the same happiness that we have found... we could see the mighty change in heart that she had. The next teach we taught her about Baptism and how important of a step that is to be baptized... so we asked her if she would take that step once she got a confirmation that it was true and she said YES! Even though she is quite busy with school right now she said she would have a date by next time! It's AMAZING how much the message of the Atonement can really effect someones life! I have come to really appreciate the Hymn "I stand all Amazed" definitely one of my favorites!

Soumitro our man from bangladesh... he is doing awesome! He is starting to believe a lot more in God and using prayer to guide him in the Spiritual and temporal things of life and he and us have noticed a change in him and I am convinced it is because of the converting POWER of the Book of Mormon. He is really busy right now with school work but is making progress...

The phrase Attitute determines your Altitute really is very true! You can really notice the difference it makes when we contact, tract, and teach how when we seem happy, and when we bear our testimony... and link the two together... they are able to see how "whatever message they have... it brings them happiness" So even if you don't have good teaching or language skills... what matters most is the Love you show to the people you met every day that attracts them to the Gospel.

Birgit who is in her 70's and takes us in and listens to us have gotten eye surgery and is now able to READ! Even though she has grown up in the Swedish church... she accepted the challenge to read Alma 32 and pray to know if our message is true. It really is amazing to see that we really ARE here to find the prepared! This is our work... If we do OUR part to find the prepared.. the Lord will do his part and put him in our path!

Unfortunately bad news came this past week. Pan our New convert recieved a letter from the Swedish government and has been told to return to Thailand! This really made me sad how such an amazing woman full of Faith is now being sent home... so this week we will be meeting her to see what we can do to help spiritually and physically... I am hopefull that she will be able to continue in the Faith back in Thaiand!

Marvin our man from Peru is doing AWESOME! He came to general conference... came to church... and came up to me and asked me 2 questions... 1. "when can I get a temple recommend" 2. "Where do I get the tithing slip and who do I give it to?" Once again... I Stand All Amazed!

Toy who is from Thailand... we were able to meet and she is doing great as well... She said she reads out of the book of Mormon and then puts it under her buddha statue every night... (well... we are taking one step at a time....) But her husband has read in it. We have bad a tough time understanding Toy so we though to bring Pan along for one of the teaches! She said "that would be #1!" So we'll see how that goes!

We still hvae been visiting our less actives more and more and still standing all amazed when I saw Bosco and Peter (two less actives) come to church with white shirts and ties and suits on! The Lord really has been blessing us and we can really see the fruit of our labors!

Zone Conference was amazing! President talk was amazing on how we need to Match our will with Gods and a few things that we can do to not just be missionaries with authority.... but missionaries with POWER! Relating to elder Elder (Oaks?) talk in conference. AWESOME... Sister Anderson talked about using the FOURmat in teaching so that we can teach with more clarity and purpose And bearing testimony! the Assisstants talked about compaionship inventory and how to not make it awkward! haha it was kinda hillarious but well needed. And then the Zone leaders compared the Promise in Moroni 10:3-5 to weekly planning... although abstract... I really learned a lot from that. They took the Verbs out of that and said how relevant it was to weekly planning! AWESOME! President also told us all to prepare 5 minute talks on my reflections of the Atonement... and I was chosen! I was pretty nervous... but felt confident in my testimony... After that some elders came up to me and said "how do you feel about being senior next transfer" apparently who pres calls to talk is a sign... AND I AM NOT READY FOR THAT SIGN! haha well... if thats true I hope the lord will prepare me sufficiently!

Other than that my companion is taking naps... just during study... but now he took a step further and slept right after lunch through weekly planning... hmmm... wasn't that fun but I thank you all for your advice! We are getting along and stuff and Mom thank you so much for that scripture!

I love you all and thanks for all you do! Stay the same! Thanks for the pictures and stuff!

P.S. David, Br's, Dan & Laura, Sam.... thanks for writing... wait.. "You've changed"

Love,

Äldste Wad

Glad Påsk!‏

Glad Påsk(Glahd Pohsk) allihopa! What an interestingly fun week this has been! Thanks to all of those who wrote me and those pictures of you all are soooo CUTE! By the way I was thinking about Brazil today.... and Mom... remember when Nelly stole your shoes? hahaha! Anyways...

Well this week has just been filled with inspiration, guidance and love for ALL of God's children! This week we were able to teach Marvin about the priesthood and get him stoked for that and tell him about General Conference! He was so excited to hear that he would have the chance to listen to ALL of the sessions! We were able to promise him that he would recieve some type of answer to his prayers if he came in with a questions. A couple of days later he called us and asked us if he could contact people on the streets WITH us to see how we talk to people and communicate to people about something that hasn't played a big role in their life. he LOVED it! It was amazing to see HIM ask some REALLY deep questions to people on the street. After we contacted a person that really didn't want to hear what we have to say Marvin commented to us... "These people really need to be prespared to recieve this message dont they? I WAS!" haha he is AWESOME. His testimony really grew to see that he was EXACTLY LIKE those people before he took in the lessons and he was able to see how much he really had changed for the BETTER! That was AMAZING!

We have also been visiting one of our less-actives who is a priesthood holder named Peter. After our visit he called us and asked us if he could help us out with teaching our investigators! That made my heart SWELL when he said that. It really is amazing to see how much a person can change if he is humble and receptive to the spirit telling him what he needs to do!

Unfortunately one of our African investigators named Baba we had to drop because he kept falling through. We were able to teach a woman from Thailand and she brought her husband with to the library and they are both interested finding out more about Jesus Christ and his teachings! We had a Book of Mormon in Thai and in Swedish and they were really thankful! We told them to read it and ask to know if it's true and they said they would!

One of our investigators named Tony really likes the Book of Mormon when we reads it. But everytime we go to his house he never remembers to read and pray by himself. And he says he doesn't have the time. So we have decided to let him go a little bit more because we know that the Lord has prepared people for us and that these people won't need to be convinced to read or pray but they will know. Our other recent convert Pan is doing great and just has troubles with her husband and friends against the church and they tell her to leave it about every other day. But she tells us that she ignores them and says that they don't understand what the church is like and if they read the Book of Mormon, they will know why Pan looks, seems, and acts better now as a member of God's church! These people really have been prepared it's amazing!

We were able to visit a new investigator for about 15 min and we asked her if she was able to read the Book of Mormon. She said she read the book and she didn't have it with her. We were kind of bummed to hear that it wasn't at her house but right after that she told us that she had given it to a friend to read and that she wants to meet us as well the next time! AWESOME! Claudette has 4 children and so we are really looking forward to see where that goes!

Other than that we made fliers and advertised for General Conference to all of the less-actives and investigators we had! This General conference was really amazing and inspiring and answered so many of my prayers! I know that the power of prayer is SO REAL and we really have to keep a prayer in out heart at all times to recognize the answers to the questions we asked! With a focus on the Savior I really was touched to have my mind refreshed on WHY I am here as Jesus Christ's representative and what kind of feeling of Happiness, Peace, Comfort, and eternal HOPE this message WILL bring to all of those that are already PREPARED! It was amazing to see how much the general authorities talked about Families and how it all starts from there! That is so TRUE.

If I did not have a family that supported me and taught me what I know today... I would DEFINITELY be a different person!

I'm so grateful for all of your examples to me of Love! I wasn't able to watch grandfather but I will today for P-day! I am so excited to hear his message and am so glad that the family is ALL doing great! I love you all and Happy Birthday to Laurie and David in a few weeks... and.... yeah!

Thanks for the pictures! I love you all to death. But I'm going to go declare some souls unto repentance now...

PEACE!

Äldste Wad

HALOI!

Hello dearest family! well... here we go to start another great transfer in Växjö! My companion's name is Äldste William (Bill) Barlow! He is quite the man. He comes from Los Angeles California! He has written his own book called "Pugachev Kionaltski" so he doesn't mess around (in the mission field he does though... ANYWAYS..). He also was at Duke University for a year (i think) and is glad to hear that they are in the Final Four! HELLO! did anyone mention March Madness? I know Jake is at least watching 2 games a day. Could have filled me in.. how far did Utah or BYU get? ANYWHO... But he really is a good guy and always way positive... which is good... but I just can't find myself being happy and guilt free if I take a nap everyday... anywho....

Växjö the AREA is doing great... Thanks to the lame time change both of our new converts and the investigators we invited weren't able to make it to church... OUCH... that was a heart breaker. But it was good to see some stake representatives from LUND come and speak! Good to hear familiar voices! But we move on. As far as our investigators go...

Sandra who is from Latin America originally, has three kids one of which is over 8! Her sister is a member so we get to teach her with her sister present which is really amazing. She knows she needs to get baptized.... she wants to get baptized... But she has a problem with her Sambo (cohabitator) who doesn't believe in God and doesn't want her to join the church... So we just need to see how much Faith she is filling to excersize to Jump into those waters of baptism and either have her Sambo say yes and get married... or her say BYE to her Sambo! But she knows what she needs to do.. we'll just see what she DOES! Any advice?

Claudette who is a woman from africa who also has 3 kids... all over 8 WAS married to a muslim and believes that Jesus has always helped her in her Prayers and through her trials... So we gave her the Book of Mormon and a couple of days later said that she felt good when she read it! We asked her if we could have the kids in the next lesson and she said that they COULD! wow... super stoked for that!

Princess is a 18 year old girl from Africa and her family has been raised up catholic but has been so confused with all the religions she couldn't come to a conclusion... So she was able to know Joseph Smiths situation pretty well... and she left there with a DESIRE to Read and Pray! It was awesome! It makes it so easier when we don't have to convince them... but they can see the point themselves!

We get to FINALLY meet Baba from Africa on Tuesday and he has been wanting to know about Christs life and is looking really positive to apply the Gospel of Jesus Christ in his Life... REALLY exciting!

Somayeh is a girl from Iraq and isnt MUSLIM! she is out of town right now.. has been reading in the Book of Mormon and coming to church so she has been amazing too!

We were able to teach a swedish family with the 3 kids and they are awesome! They are both religion teachers so they can't get themselves to believe but they are curious and they both agreed that they couldn't recieve a witness from words but throgh our feelings... so we challenged them to read Alma 32 and and Pray together and they said they would do it! WOW awesome. (that's good for scandanavians...) Other than that things have been going great and look forward to a new start and a new Barlow energy into this area!

Not really any exciting stories this week. Just filled with transfers...

This is how they go... Monday is a regular day.. not p-day... tuesday morning we recieve calls to where we were going... wednesday is P-day and clean the apartment day.. thursday is transfer day... so I went down to Lund.. said bye to my companion... waited for my new one.. then left! Crazy stuff!

But I love you all and thanks for your prayers and Lovely Letters! Welcome to Lara Jean WEBSTER to the family.. MAN that sounds good! And happy birthday to Chewie a week ago! I miss his tail.

I don't think I have ever been so excited for conference as I am now on the mission! Man.. I just barely watched that in the MTC! CRAZY how time flies! The snow has melted and the sun is coming out and it's AMAZING to see the NEW side of sweden I have never seen! not dark... not cold... not depressing but HAPPY! Yay for JOY!

Anyways... I got nothing else to say! Good luck to the Brs with little Truman... definitely need pictures and both Russel and Truman! that would be nice! Or even videos... why not?!

I love you all!

See you next week!

P.S. Saddest news of the week... We don't get to watch the SUNDAY AFTERNOON SESSION! AH! Tell the church headquaters to change really quick... WHY NOT? just for me? oh well.. in the Liahona I guess

PEACE!

Äldste Wad

sooo mom... when does grandfather usually visit his grandchildren on the mission? Tell sam Elder Teixeira is visiting the mission this transfer! So exciting... will he know who I am? tell him to look out for me!

another question... Recognizing the Spirit... I have read chapter 4 many times... Any advice from my parental units? Love you much!

Wad

What a week! Baptism!

I would like to start off by saying thanks to my lovely mother for reminding me of my 6 month mark! (Not) Oh sheesh. Well Öland was quite the adventure last week and I was able to burn a tie RIGHT BY A CASTLE! It was sick... I'll send you my memory card at the beginning of every transfer I decided... so pictures on their way next week!

For me and my house... this has been a CRAZY WEEK and a half! Marvin our main man from Peru (By the way his parents come from there... he was born in russia... and then they moved to sweden... so pretty much a swede) is doing AWESOME! We had a family home evening with him and a couple his age in the branch and it was just an awesome experience to write out the baptismal program, show him how the baptism was going to be and then just fellowship him with members. The baptism... was AWESOME! It's so funny to see how nervous they are and then when we get in the water it all just goes away! He kept saying afterwards how good and clean he felt! Man this really is the life... To actually see people progress in the gospel from not even knowing that there is a God... to full on testimony of his Savior and how important he IS! He brought his mom, brother, and friend to the service and it was aweosme to see the one hispanic woman come to the service and chat with his family in SPANISH! So there is hope there as well. After that we have been teaching him lessons about the priesthood to get him ready for it! Our mission leader (the old branch president) confirmed him on sunday and had tears in his eyes... im sure because of the great blessing it is to have ONE MORE potential priesthood holder! Amazing things happening here! Of course with all these great blessing comes the opposition! This week we have been finding some amazing potential families to baptize... but I have also taught some of the hardest lessons of my life... whether it be at the door... on the street... or in a lesson... satan has had a great hold of some people. Me and my companion have been faced with the toughest questions we have EVER had to answer during our missions. They all pretty much start with "If God loved them/her/him... why did he Let that happen to them? or... if your church really is true... then why would they approve the war?" Of course these questions don't come with a simple doctrine answer... and certainly not the kind of questions that need to be answered for their salvation... but the only answer I could come up with was a testimony that even though all of these bad things happen in the world, God's plan is already set in motion... his purpose IS to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man... Faith isn't something that we can't always measure... just like eternity... but it comes when we have a Hope for something better.. and a desire to partake of a happiness that can't be found in money... drugs... cars... physical things. But God has given us our familes... and the gospel so that we can find that true happiness that DOES last.

Obviously I can't explain how much I have learned here on the mission... but even though I don't know these answers... I know that my family... and LIVING the Gospel gives me happiness. Thats why im here.

I have so much to say but I'll keep it short for you all... We also got our transfer calls and I am staying in Växjö and my new companions name is Elder Barlow! Apparently he has written a book and has gone to Harvard or something... so he's a brilliant guy I hear! and that is sooo needed for here in Växjö. We have been finding a lot of potentials for the beginning of a new transfer and I'll miss my companion... but oh well. my old companion is going to halmstad to be my district leader! haha

Congrats SAM AND LARA and their wedding.. I hope you liked my video! kinda lame but you can't expect much from the wad. I got my package at sharpening a while ago... but its almost gone now... itwas delicious! hahah that cereal was AMAZING! seriously...

You should definitely send me some official pic of the wedding! but the ones I have gotten are AMAZING! Äldste winegar is going to be with Äldste Jorgensen from my GROUP! AHH super jealous but they will be AWESOME!

I love you guys to BITS! I'll be writing on Monday!

Peace out...

Äldste Webster

Hello Fam-Bamily

Just for an opening statement... do not write to elderadamwebster@gmail.com or adam.michael.webster.SSM@myldsmail.net anymore! myldsmail has upgraded and so we aren't using gmail anymore!

Family is allowed to write to... adam.webster@myldsmail.net its powered by google so its better now... just email me.. its nice...

------

Well what a week it HAS been! With our feelings that we had last week me and my companion have really decided to focus on Less-actives in this branch. The reasons being is because it really is hard to bring investigators and baptize them into the church when it doesn't have a safe and TESTIMONY BUILT foundation. So this week we visited many less-actives and some of them happily welcomed us into their homes! It was really good to see which ones still had that desire to come to church and not so fun to see some of the members that HAD testimonies not feasting upon the words of Christ and ENDURING to the end. I think some people really forget the meaning of the word ENDURE. We were able to teach these members the message of God's UNCONDITIONAL LOVE for everyone of them. And that even though we arent always turned to him. Christ is there at the door with open arms waiting for them to Ask.. Seek... Knock! That has definitely become one of my favorite scriptures. One man called us one day and told us to come to his house. the next day we scheduled him in and took a 45 minute bus ride to his house. We asked him why he called us and if he was a member... he kept talking about how he was a member and that he never came because the Branch President didn't let him. He said the branch president sent some papers to him and said he was pretty mad. But we... not knowing much showed him the Restoration film to invite the spirit into his house and then invite him to church. Much to our surprise he was able to come to church! He came down and sat down and it happened to be fast and testimony meeting. During our branch president's testimony he raised his hand as to suggest that he WANTED to ADD something! After President was concluded he ran up there and started bearing testimony about his life story.. for 20 minutes. After a while... he was escorted off the stage when he talked about how he wants the Branch president to forgive him for what he did. It really was irrelevant. Come to find out after he was ex-communicated! But anyways Church was one of the highlights of the week! We found a girl on the street last monday... taught her twice during the week and then invited her to come to church! And she came! I asked her if she got a testimony of the book of mormon if she would get baptised.. and she replied with a positive "ah" meaning YES! haha we told her to read and pray to find out the truth. So theres a really positive investigator! Marvin.. our main man from PERU came to church so this Saturday is his baptism and its looking like that this will be my FIRST person I baptize! I am super excited! He has so many questions and he is just so accepting of the gospel and really looks forward to the piesthood most of all! He's doing great and looking positive! We were able to celebrate Pan's birthday with her and we are starting to teach her husband.. although he is traitional swedish... Pan really is pressuring him to get baptized! its kind of funny actually! We are finding more and more YOUNG MEN who are really open to religion and Växjö is really being blessed!

but family im running out of time! Congrats to Sam & Lara! I cant wait to hear so much about the wedding and everything that happened! congrats to momma and dad for their wedding anniversary!

Sorry no time today in the library but next week is transfers so I wont be emailing on monday.. probably wednesday!

I will keep you updated... from now on... only adam.webster@myldsmail.net

Im going to öland today so it will be way fun!

I LOVE YOU ALL! Keep me posted!

Wow to fall-throughs and responsibility! hello sunshine though!

Wow. this week has been CRAAAZY! The weird thing about this week is that we still feel good because we know we tried OUR BEST.
the thing about this week is the following:
Every day had at least 2 fall-throughs and the Branch (as we realized it during weekly planning) is a mess.
BUT the work IS progressing here in Växjö and we are finding, teaching, and baptizing all who are interested.
During this week we have had a really humbling experience to see how much work this branch needs done. So many things have happened its hard to write it in one email. But the Växjö Branch is a lovely branch. The President is a great man but can't think all for himself, thus nothing gets done, thus he gets no support from the mission leader, relief society president, and his counselor. People aren't progressing in the branch because they are not given callings, thus no home-teaching & visiting teaching, thus every member feels lonely and not important. With permission from the Stake we get to take on resposibilities of other people's callings! We pretty much are starting from SCRATCH here in Växjö and the responsibility is really HIGH. So with much prayer, my companion and I are really going to focus on Less-actives, and getting members that are men the priesthood, and finding people who can help this branch get back on its feet again. Seeing how it was only us, president, and our 1 new convert who came to Stake Conference on sunday. VERY nice.
Although this seems like a lot I really have been feeling like this is something that I can do to really show Heavenly Father how much I love these people in the branch and how much I need him every day to guide us to do the right things.
Our baptismal date Marvin has been doing great and has so many questions so its really fun to teach him because we tell him what he needs to know and he asks us his questions. He is doing great and well on the way through the gate and on the straight and narrow!
Tony, a christian who believes in about 99% of what we do but Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. We finally got the chance to teach him because his schedule is so crazy and we challenged him to read the Book of Mormon and to Pray to see if Joseph Smith was a prophet, because if he recieves an answer about that, that he should be on the right path to baptism too!
Many.. at least 50% of our teaches fell through this week but have been really blessed to see how much the Lord needs us here to preach REPENTANCE to these people. We have been finding Families and potential priesthood holders because of our diligence by working EVEN through the tough fall-through times. We had to drop some of these great investigators because of their constant fall-throughs and not keeping commitments. It really is too bad that we have to do this but we know that the Lord HAS PREPARED SOMEONE for us. In our contacting and tracting we have been getting straight to the point of BELIEVING IN GOD and the Resoration. We know that if we do all we can to INVITE EVERYONE (less-actives, actives, never-changing muslims, atheists, cats, dogs, mentally unstable people, you NAME it.) to come unto CHRIST... God will prepare someone, and put them in our Path so that they can receive the blessings of this ONLY TRUE GOSPEL on the earth. I say this because my compaion and I found someone on the street and we met him a couple of days later to come to his house. This place happened to be a Mental hospital converted into CHEAP housing for students. So we had the chance to sit in a Prayer session with muslims because they kindly invited us to do so. As we watch I stood AMAZED and Grateful that me, and my family and friends have the actual truth in their lives, and we don't have to spend 5x a day in SORROWFUL Prayers to be loved by god. We had the chance to bear testimony to them that God loves them no matter what they do... we do not have to win over his heart because he is waiting for us to do something wrong to chasten us... but that God GAVE his SON... ONLY BEGOTTEN... so that we could recieve forgivness in what we do. God ill ALWAYS love us... and that did nothing but gave me hope that their hearts will be softened and will be able to see the wicked traditions of their fathers and come unto CHRIST and LIVE HAPPY LIVES!
MAN!
That's all I got. THIS church is TRUE. I know for a fact because of the Holy Ghosts promptings in my HEART... of happiness, joy and not just for now on earth, but ETERNITY... this is the ONLY true church... no matter how much satan tempts us... When he bites us in the bum.. we turn around and say HEY... that hurt... and KICK HIM IN THE FACE.
We have been teaching our less-actives the message of Charity and Gods CONSTANT love for us. One of them closed with a prayer by saying "thanks for the priesthood". the shortest and most POWERFUL prayer I have heard.
The church is TRUE. Gods has loved us in the PASt... NOW and WILL forever!
GOOD LUCK to sam and Lara on your wedding! Way to be by taking that next step and on the pathway to achieve THE HIGHEST degree of glory. I love my Family. We are the bomb. Don't change. Just be normal... keep going to church... be grateful for what you have. Just look back.. seriously... we have the coolest family ever! And TRUMAN to ADD to this AMAZING bunch.
Wow... random tangent... but things are going good here. Not many teaches to talk about but my Testimony has grown so much... that is all.
LOVE YOU ALL! Thanks for being who you are. Once again.. the church really is true...
Äldste Webster
P.S. this week was the first days with the weather being over 0 degrees celsius though my whole mission. Sunshine is coming... snow is melting... and trees are becoming GREEN! A HAPPY SIDE to sweden I have yet to see is coming!
peace,
WAD

SALIMA!!!

Hello family! Sorry this letter isn't going to be so long. We had some technical dificulties in the library so were back at the church and P-day is almost over.

Well this week the Branch and us as missionaries have really been blessed.
Me and Äldste Takahashi have really been focusing on Finding potential priesthood holders to make this Växjö Branch really start functioning by themselves. We have found this man from Africa named Baba and has accepts anything that is GOOD and uplifting. So we definitely fit into that category so our first visit with him was the Restoration and he commited to read in the Book of Mormon. The second visit was even better. He wanted to know "what was the fastest way to get back to God." So we taught him the Plan of Salvation. We made sure that this teach was focused on the Gospel and Jesus Christ. Because once he accepts those and has a desire to follow both... he will be on "that path". Baptism seemed like something that wasn't too foreign but he really wanted to know more about Jesus Christ and what he did, then he would be able to accept his message. PERFECT LEAD IN to the 3rd lesson. It really is great when their needs match Preach My Gospel so theres not much we need to adapt to! We also found another man from Canada and he is Catholic but has a family and they are pretty believing so BELIEVING is always a positive thing here in Sweden! We are also blessed by having a young man from Utah who moved here to study and he already IS LDS! So we just have to show him where the church is and get him passing the sacrament! One of the miracle families we found is doing great. the dad is who we teach because he is the only one that speaks Swedish but they are moved here for good and not sure which Christian church seems right. Man i'm glad we followed the prompting to go to his house! Our main man Marvin from Peru decided to go with the experiment and be BAPTIZED on Mar. 20th! So exciting! So we are working with him a lot to get him converted to the Gospel and not US and OUR teaching. He's been keeping his commitments which has been a HUGE blessing! Our other investigator Eliza from Pakistan is still doing great and our prayers are still with her that her country might humble themselves and Open up to chirstianity... still doing great there. Two of our members... as we helped them with things around their house asked us for blessings so I gave my first one in SWEDISH! YIKES! It would be nice to have their home teachers do it but if they ask... what can you say? District Meeting was really amazing and uplifting where we talked about Planting Seeds and how that is one of the most important things we can do... because even though through all of the rejection... it's important to leave that GREAT last impression and to get them feeling the spirit even if they say NO. Speaking of which we taught the 3 guys from college again and they were really interested to HEAR about the Plan of Salvation. As we taught we could really feel the spirit bear witness THROUGH us to get them to understand and Believe. After their very sophisticated questions having NOt to deal with their salvation.. they were answered and they said, "if we could get ourselves to believe in God and christ then this would be the first thing they would believe in" We bore testimony to them but they could not get themselves to believe in this busy stage in their life. But one of the greatest things that happened was we both still felt confident that what we said really did PLANT SEEDS.
Sunday was great and the chairs were FILLED! Even though most of the chairs were members we were blessed to see the less-actives that we visited come to church and remember the covenants that they have made. Only Marvin came out of the many that we invited but still felt positive about it all. the high-councilman was there and gave us some really good advice on what to look for and who to teach to make the branch succeed. We also were able to teach a man who teaches religion and his wife and kids. There is MUCH potential here in Växjö and we just need to excercize the Faith to provide the MIRACLE!

Today we planned on going biking to a castle but after all the snow had melted... it was a BLIZZARD TODAY. So we stayed in and cleaned and wrote letters!

Congrats to the BRS in they're little BABY BOY! for some reason I wasn't so surprised that it would be one. WHATS ITS NAME! CMON! ANYways... good luck Sama and Lara with your wedding.
Sorry this letter was probably poorly written but I love you all anyways and I'll keep Pres. Farnes in my prayers!

I love you all!

Äldste Webster

PS theres Sharpening and Stake Conference this weekend! SO STOKED! LOVE YOU ALL! the baby looks like a PIMP! (in a cool way of course)

Love you momma!

Kära Nån

Wow what a crazy week it has been! I'm glad to hear that you got the USB and the little presents and stuff.. hope you like it!

This week started out pretty well! We found a swedish lady and she is in her 70's. It's pretty funny to hear they're swedish but now that she's old... she says that she has found an interest in what really will happen after this life and if she will see her husband again. Sad things but a wonderful opportunity to bear testimony that she CAN! We have another investigator who is a student and likes to find out about what we believe but doesn't want to change. Many students that we have taught here are like that... once they accept us they will listen to what we have to say and then they just respond with saying what they believe.. it et's kinda frustrating at times but we just need to tell them that the Gospel actually makes a difference if LIVE it... not HEAR it. We've also been trying to visit less-actives and one that we visited came to church and all 3 hours! It was amazing to see him there and im SURE that it made him feel better! Wednesday was AMAZING! We were on our way to teach Pan and we saw that we had 15 minutes before she expected us. So we decided to tract the building next to it. So we take the elevator all the way up and the first door bell we rung... Äldste Takahashi said hey we are missionaries and we go around a talk to everyone about the meaning of life. We noticed the mom at the door then she called her daughter to come and translate for us then the WHOLE FAMILY of 7 came to the door and listened to what he had to say! So they let us in and we only took 10 mintues and said we would come back another time. AWESOME. So we aw that we had 5 minutes left and so we decided to knock on one more door. The man was at the door and I said we are from the church of Jesus Christ and he said OK come in! We only had 5 minutes to talk to him but he told us about himself and how he used to be muslim but he converted to Christianity and he accepts anyone who believes in Christ! So we said something really brief about the restoration and said we could come back another time! Wow! Coolest 15 minutes of my LIFE! And two familes! haha Then we had dinner with pan and one of her friends decided to join us. We were teaching her abut temples and her friend started asking so many questions that we decided to just teach her friend the 2nd lesson! So Pan didn't mind and it actually was one of the neatest member teaches i've had! We told her friend that she could pray to God and ask him if its true! And she asked us.. " Wait.. does he answer?" And with my simple "YES" her jaw dropped and Pan agreed by saying "not always right after but he DOES answer". MAN I love new converts! So that was the highlight! District Meeting was amazing. We talked about how much our personal studies effect the way we teach, contact, and bear testimony! SO TRUE! When we actually FEAST upon the words of Christ the scriptures literally give VALIDITY to what you say. Our investigator Marvin from Peru is doing amazing... after the restoration DVD he has really begun to see the importance of prayer and it really has been changing our teaches with him! Majid is doin well... We talked to him about Chastity and he said it makes sense but he still can't differenciate between us and Muslim religion... So we talked to him about the Atonement and that really does distinguish us. We told him to PRAY before and after he reads and ask to know if what we say is true. So we are really hoping he does! Tesfaye from Africa is listening to us but not understanding us. We went through the 1st lesson with him and he said it was GOOD. Then we asked him to pray about Joseph Smith and he wasn't sure why. Man I wish I spoke his language. We also had a teach with our ex-communicated member at our branch presidents house and it went REALLY WELL! They were able to get an appointment with each other and we'll see how that goes! Sunday was tough because it snowed so much none of our investigators showed up! But that day was great because we were able to teach a contact from Yugoslavia and she is PREPARED! She said that she hopes for something after this life and really liked how we baptized at age 8. AGENCY\ACCOUNTABILITY... she loves it. We also taught that second man we tracted into and it went really well... he didnt have much time but wanted us to come back and teach his family! EXCITING THINGS happening here Växjö!

Things have been going incredibly well for us here and we are truly being blessed when we WORK OUR HARDEST!

Thanks so much family for your love and just being my family! Yay for audis... Yay for Babies... Yay for Families!

I love you all and GO SWEDEN! (or USA... HAIGH)

P.S. it was -25 Celsius today... about -17 F

OUCH!

Love,
Salima

PICTURES!!! From the last 6 weeks or so!!! YIPPEE!!!

Aldste Adam sent us a pen drive of pictures dated from just before Christmas up until his transfer out of Lund. It includes scenes from his apartment, a nerf gun fight, their baptism, the visit to the Denmark Temple and there were some blurry pictures of him playing that hockey like game but too blurry dog! There are some statues in there, but I don't know where they are from and Elder Lords/Webster with a couple. Also are Happy Birthday Aldste Webster pictures (Happy 19th Birthday January 30th!) and it looks like perhaps his new chapel in Vaxjo. He looks great! He is awesome! Atta boy Aldste Wad!












The Denmark Temple ... went with a new convert! Fun things!

Andra Dop!‏

Wow this week really has been a information, working hard, and spiritually uplifting week!
On Tuesday we taught this student from Chicago who we contacted last week. The teach went great and it was really weird to teach to a person that has no questions and really seemed interested. After the teach we found out that most of it went over her head and so we gave her a Restoration pamphlet to read and then she would call us back. It just goes to show that EVERY person you teach is different and you need to be sensitive to what they NEED to hear. Then we went to the church and taught a guy and it didn't go too well. No matter how hard we tried to concentrate on HIS needs and what HE needed to hear... it wasn't getting through. The rest of the day we had some teaches that fell through so we did a lot of finding work.
Wednesday we had an amazing teach with a person at the library and it went REALLY WELL! The spirit was felt and he really felt like that was something he needed to hear. But the only problem was that he would possibly be moving so we just need to continue teaching him and maybe someday he will accept to be baptized. After we headed to the church for our Baptismal candidates interview by president! She did great and we were able to teach her about how she was supposed to do tithing. She was really looking forward to the time where she can recieve those blessings. After that we had a branch meeting and took a train to Kirstianstad. We had to get a connecting train but we had some time to spare so we got out and looked for a place to eat and a lady came out of a parked car and said ELDERS! She asked us what we were doing... she said she was a member but she didn't come to church that much. We said we were looking for a place to eat and she gave us 100 crowns each and she went on her way. It's exciting to see the Lord working and providing in mysterious ways! haha
Thursday was really exciting because it was ZONE CONFERENCE! Man I have never looked forward to Zone Conferences until im on the other side BEING TAUGHT! This conference was amazing... we were shown the Standards of Excellence for 2010 which is 1 baptism/companionship/transfer; 2 Baptismal dates, 3 investigators in sacrament meeting, 10 member teaches a week and 20 total teaches a week. After president showed us that the assisstants presented the part about Obedience and excersizing Faith. After that I had this AMAZING feeling workin inside of me like the day I got into the MTC. A Renewed desire to receive the blessings and success we ask for if we are WILLING to show out Faith through Obedience and Talking with everyone. This conference was AMAZING. After that we each promised that we would all work together so that we can recieve the desired success that we all DESIRE! It was nice to be in the Lund chapel again and felt quite strange to be in my old area... felt like home though.
Friday was the COOLEST DAY EVER. After an intense weekly planning we got to prepare for Pan Supavadee's Baptism. We had an investigator there with us and it was awesome to see how they felt during and after the meetings. The Baptism was a very spiritual experience and everything ran smoothly. That night the Zone leaders came over for a DEDICATION DAY we were going to have the next day!
Saturday was dedication day. It was exciting to have the Zone Leader's enthusiasm in our Area and refresh our minds on what we could work on better. Dedication Days are days where you do NOTHING but Finding work. Contacted and Tracting ALL DAY. It really was an interesting experience on how many doors we got slammed in our face but with all of the Potential Investigators we found, it STILL feels good when you kneel down in Prayer and say that you tried your BEST that day. AMAZING!
Sunday was confirmation day. It's so funny to be in this branch when it is half run by you! Prepared the sacrament, blessed the sacrament, thought that I was going to to the confirmation but the Branch President did it last minute, and then gave a talk. But i'm glad that missionaries travel two by two because I couldn't have done it without the help of my companion. We then taught our investigators in sunday school and were off to a teach. We had an interesting experience on the way. We had to take a bus to the university to I sat down and waited for someone to sit by me, so me being tired accidentaly fell asleep. I woke up to the bus stopping and I saw my companion getting off! So I grabbed my bag and ran off the bus. I yelled Äldste and when the guy looked back it wasn't HIM! I look back at the bus and my companion tried to follow me... but didn't make it. That bus stop was only half way there but we found each other and got to our teach. Just the Lord's friendly reminder to stay AWAKE! haha

Things are going great here in Växjö and more and more exciting the more people we have to teach. the Lord is blessing us as we excercise our Faith!

Love you family! Thanks for the letters and I need an update on what cars are in the garage now because I though mom just got one? ..... the TT looks excellent though... of course its used...

Love you all!

Hej Kära Familj‏

Tjena!

Hej awesome family of mine! It's awesome to hear that my parents are enjoying themselves in paradise! It's a good thing im over here callin people to repentence and saving sould or else I would be jealous! After I emailed you guys last week I went to a family home evening and they had a birthday cake surprise for me so don't you worry... Birthday well celebrated!

This week has been quite the week! Just keeping busy and loving the work! Monday we had a Family Home Evening with a family and our Baptismal candidate Pan which was a really good way to fellowship into the ward and make some friends BEFORE she gets baptized so it wouldn't feel that uncomfortable! That went really well! One of our investigators Marvin is from Peru but has lived here all of his life. He is a really cool guy and asks a lot of questions and listens really well. One of the things that's hard to get past is that he says he reads and prays about the book of Mormon but hasn't received an answer. But maybe with more teaching, patience and long-suffering he will be able to feel an answer. We will be teaching him tonight and showing him the Restoration video and pray for the best! We also helped one of our members buy groceries because she can't walk in the snow. We then left a nice message and she was truly thankful! We then headed off on Splits with the Halmstad elders! Elder Olsen stayed with my companion and I headed off to Halmstad with my district leader Elder Peterson! An amazing town... we were able to contact a man on the bus and he lived in Växjö's area so I can't wait to visit him! We then had some very nice teaches that night... we commited this one family from colombia to Baptism and they accepted! They won't be added to the Växjö Branch... but the more members in Sweden the better! The next day we came back to Växjö for district meeting and was amazingly taght by Elder Peterson about Working! Work Hard, Work Smart, Work w/ the Spirit! It's always good to get a nice weekly sharpening and focus in areas that I can improve on! The next day was challenging.. but rewarding! We had many teaches going on. Our first one could not accept the Book of Mormon as the Word of God, the second was Muslim and couldn't believe in something else, we then had an amazing teach where we taught a girl named Jocelyn who is from Latin America and was really accepting and so we commited her to be baptized but her only problem is that she doesn't have the support of her parents... which really is a big challenge but maybe if we go to her and teach her with her parents nearby they will be able to feel the same thing she has felt with us and SOFTEN their hearts! Patience. The next day was great and we taught a man named Majid and it is really hard to get him commited to baptism. He says that he thinks everything we say is right... but he also believes that the Muslim religion is right as well... they both feel good. So I told him that if he really does desire an answer to know which church to join... turn to the Lord for the answer... Ask.. Seek... Knock! After our testimonies he seemed strongly determined to do so. So we will see how that goes! That night we were able to but Pan's Baptismal program together and teach her some things she needed to know before! Everything went great! She's becoming more and more ready! The next day at church was really good because more peop+ople came more than ever! Testimonies were born about how teaching with the missionaries strengthenedtheir testimonies on the basics of the gospel! Spiritual Uplifting by small and simple means! Amazing!
Then after many fall-through teaches we had to go to the other side of the city for a teach and so I was determined to find a new investigator!
So we were sitting on the bus. All the seats filled up except the one next to me... and the one next to Elder Takahashi... (thats usually how it is.. the mormons are known here)
Then there was one person left and he sat next to my companion... as the bus started to go a guy ran to the side of the bus and pounded on the side to let him in... the bus stopped.. let him in and sat by me! We had to get off in 3 stops... (3 minutes) so he sat next to me... and me not being that good at bus contacting said... man its really cold outside huh? And he said yes and I asked if he studies here and he asked what I did! Which led it smoothly into why I WAS THERE! So he was from Chile and I told him that Heavenly Father has a plan for us.... And that Jesus Christ is central to that plan... And he said thats AWESOME! I pray to Jesus every night! This guy was amazing! So we talked a little further.. he asked for our number.. I got his... and the bus stopped and we had to leave.
It's amazing to see that the Lord gives a time and a place for EVERYTHING if we are willing to open our mouths and preach the gospel! Little did he know that he wasn't running to the bus... he was running to Salvation! I thought that was an amazing day!

Things are going great here in Växjö! Staying busy.. loving the work! Me and my companion and getting along and really enjoying how inspired it is that we are together at this time... learning from each other and enjoying our time!

Well family I love you all so much and thanks for your love, prayers and support! I'm sending a package to ya'll tomorrow with some sweet pictures! Hope you like em!

Love,
Äldste Webster

Let it Snow!

Well this past week has been quite the week wih weather, teaching, and just livin the good ol' missionary life!
This past week the weather has been quite crazy! Just the other day it go down to -20C So I think thats in the negatives in Fahrenheit. But thanks to the mother's many hand-warmers I am surviving!

This week has been filled with finding and teaching! Many of the people that let us come in are the Muslims. It's good that they let us say what we think... but most of their teaches turn into them teaching us. So We are going to start focusing on getting our point off... testifying that Jesus IS the Son of God and that prophets... the scriptures and pretty much EVERYTHING points to Christ being the Son of God. It has really made me think and study in my personal studies that there are so many religions... beliefs and theories that are so corrupt it really does bring meaning to the phrase that Satan tempts EVERYONE with the philosophies of men MINGLED with scripture. A really good scripture that I found while I was reading in Jacob was in the last chapter where it talks about the Anti-Christ who was well learned and convinced many of the Nephites to not believe because of his good language skills. One more reason why this church is so true and that God's church doesn't need the top-educated, well-learned people on the Earth, but worthy, virtuous and people willing to testify to all people that Jesus is the Christ through Pure Testimony by the Spirit.
We actually contacted this one guy on he street and we talked to him about how there is a prophet today that guides us and shows us what we need to do to live happy lives. So we aught him and he brought 2 of his friends who are also interested in religion and they were SWEDISH! But one of the geatest things that I like to do with young students or people who have beliefs on what THEY think is right... is to Testify to them that Joseph Smith wanted to know the same thing... and that Gods Church... the same as in the times of Adam... Noah.. Moses... Jesus... has been restored. And with a prophet and a Second witness of Jesus Christ (Book of Mormon) we can know the FULL TRUTH has been restored.... not just by miracles or by physical evidence that it is true or by literature... But by the TRUE CONVICTION of the Holy Ghost. That guy said that what we said felt right.... and that he felt that everything just made sense... but his friend who was with us was really trying to get us to deny our testimony and what we know and feel to be true. But I am really glad to have Äldste Takahashi by me so that we can bare testimony and confirm the others testimony to be true.
The Lord really does provide a way.... he is PERFECT... he has thought through and I am so grateful that we have the Fullness of Christs Gospel restored to us again so that there is no confusion!
So we felt really good after that teach and we will see how it goes with him this week!
There was also a pretty funny story this week. Me and Ä. Takahashi were contacting and we found this guy who was from India and we talked to him about the church and it was really strange to see how ACCEPTING he was... once we were done he offered his number and we were on our way... days later we called the number and he wanted to meet that day. So we decided to meet at the library and talk about the Book. Turns out he gave us his friends number.... and so we looked at each other and said hey... WHY NOT?! So decided to teach him and this guy's friend he brought with him. Once we were done we were able to get a return appointment with the first guys friend's friend he brought with him and a number of another friend. It is SO interesting to see how the Lord works through people that AREN'T interested too! So we will see how those teaches go as well!
Other than that we have been helping an inactive move into town and preparing our Baptismal date for baptism so that everything will run smoothly!
We also have another investigator who we teach and she is willing to do EVERYTHING.... read the scriptures... pray... follow Word of Wisdom, and be Baptized! EVERYTHING.... BUT she is Muslim and she doesn't know if she will be moving back to her country. So if she gets baptised and moves back her life would be in Jeopardy! It is pretty frustrating but we know that the Lord will prepare a way for the WILLING! Any advice?

District Meeting was really interesting... now we have to take a 2 1/2 hr bus ride to Halmstad to have district meeting. Bu our district is Helsingborg, Halmstad and Us. the Zone Leaders... the district leader and his greenie and us.. Haha it feels awesome to call someone else a greenie. Makes me feel old.. not. In district meeting me talked about Joy and how important our calling is and how we can find Joy in the calling! It really was amazing... he said that he did the math and if we do what were supposed to... than we will contact about 10,000 people a year. He also told us that the suicidal rate is 30-10000! So when we preach he gospel... were not only saving souls.. but we could be saving lives! Pretty interesting... I went better than how im saying it went.
But the Zone Leaders gave me my Birthday package a day before my birthday! so just in time!

so my birthday was pretty much like a regular day... I showered quicker and ate breakfast quicker to open my presents and I LOVED everything I got! Book of Mormon games..
The "And when ye shall recieve these things" book is REALLY good. It's something really good to start the Personal studies off wih! So we went into the ciy and looked for cake but they were all out and every store was closed! So we went home and made some Cookies and they were delicious! It was also really fun to Wish President Anderson happy birthday so we sang to him as a district and that was really fun. But I think tha just being out here on my mission already by the time im 19 is already an AMAZING birthday present for me!

But this is getting really long! But this week was amazing and thanks for all of your emails and love and packages!

Love you all to pieces!

Äldste Webster

Hejsan! From Växjö!

Wow what a CRAZY week this has been! So this past week has been filled filled transfers and just getting SITUATED in the small down of Växjö. So before I left Lund I had to take care of all of the elders that were getting transfered out of the Malmö Zone which was basically half. So there were six elders in the apartment the night before I had to leave to a new area. It was pretty sad to see my Father (trainer) leave me but also exciting to get started as a NOT GREENIE missionary, making decisions for myself. So there were me, Äldste Jorgensen (from the MTC), my new companion Äldste Takahashi and his companion, and another compaionship in out house. So that night I spent trying to pack the rest of everything I had out into my bags, and get everyone food (out of an apartment where we spent the last week trying to EAT all the food we had) and getting them all to the train station by 7:30 am the next morning. Tough stuff! I was priviledged to get all of that responsibility placed on my shoulders but... we BARELY made the bus ito town and got everyone on the right train and the OFF to Växjö!

Växjö has been quite the experience these first few days. Me and my new companion Äldste Takahashi from Canada (alberta.. sorry dan). I have been really blessed to have such awesome companions! My companion is Awesome.... he has 3 younger sisters and pretty shy... but it doesn't stop us from talking with EVERYONE! seriously... IT'S funny how when im walking on the streets and I feel down... I always think to myself contact ANOTHER! And it always seems to give me that little extra boost I need. Something that me and him really are focusing on is tracting or contacting YOUNG people... especially potential preisthood holders so we can strengthen the Branch!
The first day was actually pretty awesome. He showed me around.. .contacted in the city and had our only teach of the day whose name was Pan Supavadee from Tailand! Me and him planned for her that morning and we talked about her and what she needed.. he said she had been taught the main 3 lessons... and so me and him were prompted to CHALLENGE HER to BAPTISM! I am convinced that it was because we were obedient and did everything we could... we got just that! A baptismal date for the 12 of February! AWESOME! We taught her about Faith and sometimes we need to take that extra step and plant the seed and if it is a Good one.. it will grow! And so she said that it was something that she has felt she wanted to do! I always LOVE calling president right after and he said.... not a bad way to start off a transfer is it?! haha man that day was awesome.
The next dfilled with transfer planning.. weekly planning and we taught this Abid gut and he brought his friend who had so many questions we never got to what We wanted to say... But when we teach them one at a time we will be able to focus to their individual needs! Then we taught Majid and we challenged him to baptism but he says that he feels the same feeling when he goes to his church than ours... So we asked him to read the Book of Mormon MORE and pray to see if our church is true.. really positive... looking forward to teaching him more.
The next day we helped a member move and taught an ex-communicated member who wants to join again. Any advice on how that works? But it went really well and positive.
The first Sunday was pretty crazy. Me, Ä. Takahashi and the 2nd councelor blessed and passed the sacrament. The piano lady is cross eyed and doesnt keep tempo... and this place is known for how tone-dear they are. So it was me and this other member who were the only ons that could keep the pitch! So That was pretty fun and entertaining. I then got up there and introduced myself and my compaion gave a talk and the Branch Pres. did aswell. Then we taught our investigators in a class and the 2nd counselour taught priesthood. IT was pretty crazy how small it was. There was probably about 10-15 people in the church so I look forward to bringing more YOUNG people to the gospel and make this branch GROW! I've got a lot of Work ahead of me.. but hearing from you all I'm just glad I only get to focus of ONE THING. We also had a teach with this guy whose parents are Peruvians. (Bytheway can you ask Peggy if B-man is getting my letters? because I havent gotten any back) He's really an awesome guy but didn't commit to baptism or reading... so we've got a ways to go with him. We will see. But today hasn't been that busy... We bought food and did the normal stuff and just taking a tour of the city and just sight-seeing! This area is surrounded by a lake... so it should be pretty beautiful in the spring.. If I stay. We seem to be getting less missionaries than were giving away so transfers have been pretty crazy recently. IT was also funny today how I was showing my comp my photo album and pointed at the picture with grandfather on it and he said that looks exactly like Elder Nelson... just the way he smiles and EVERYTHING! And I was like... it IS. His face turned red and just said.. Oh... haha I always love to see people's reactions to that. But i'm here at the Library and thats how we do email here... so you will most likely be getting pictures every time I send you my memory card to ya'll! Sorry! It really is a beautiful city. But I will be sending a package for up-coming birthdays and (mom knows what) with the pictures in it so get EXCITED!

But all is well in Waddam's World! It's exciting to actually LIVE inside your AREA! So fun things! We have bikes here but we usually just walk and take the bus because its freezing cold.
But I love you all and Happy birthday to me! And Ailin!
I love my family! Thanks for all of the birthday emails!

Love you all! Talk to ya next week!
Äldste Webster