Elder Heiner's Mission to Sweden: September 29, 2014

So, Äldste Heiner had a good week. He thinks that it was a little fast, and he commented on one occasion that it seemed that it had only been a two day week. Heiner now thinks it would be a good idea to tell you what happened, and he says, "Although it has seemed really short, this week has been packed." Also, Heiner thought it would be nice to thank all those who complemented his pictures this week. He didn't think they were too amazing, but apparently they were.

On Monday of this week, Äldste Heiner and the rest of the missionaries in Jönköping hung out most of the day. They met up at the church early as they all wanted to email their families. As they did this, Syster Anderson asked all who were present if they wanted anything from the US, as she was concluding her mission the next day and her parents would soon be picking her up. Many had things they wanted. Among the requested items was peanut butter, beef jerky, and almond extract. Äldste Heiner had not been away from America so long that he knew what he wanted, so he asked for a surprise. Later that day, the ward mission leader joined our heroes with some cake to commemorate the departing Syster. According to those present, it was tasty. After the cake, two Äldster, four Systerer, and two YSA's went to Ikea to hang out, because "where else would one want to hang out in Sweden?" they asked. After a little while of wandering around all of the furniture, the idea came up to play a game titled, "Sardines." The idea was quickly adopted into cannon, and they were off. Heiner says that is was very fun, and that he would probably do it again given the chance. At the end of their pday, Äldster Heiner and Anderson went to a lesson, and finished the day.

Syster Anderson died. She left the mission honorably. The Elders assumed, however, that they would be getting a new syster in Jönköping, as they were losing one. They were wrong. As Syster Anderson left, Syster Beckstrom was transferred, leaving a mere two systerer in Jönköping. Elder Heiner and Elder Anderson found it annoying, as they then had to figure out where new areas were.

On the next day, Äldste Heiner woke up to begin working, and prepared for a long day. He and his companion had quite the day planned. First they went to a less active member's apartment. They decided it would be best to teach him a lesson. They did so and invited him to return to church. He did so that weekend, much to the joy of these two! Another meeting they had was with another two less actives. These two were the same age as both Heiner and Anderson, so some hilarious conversation followed. They thought is turned out well, as they were able to get able to get a spiritual thought in. As two of the manliest men there ever were walked to the church to meet with a potential investigator, they picked up lunch, as to maintain energy throughout the rest of the day. At the church, Äldste Heiner ended up practicing piano while waiting for his appointment to show up. He never did, so he just kept trying to teach himself better skills. After their time at the church was up, Elder Heiner and Elder Anderson went to teach a man named P. They think that P is really cool, and so enjoyed the visit. After that, they visited with a member family. They are practicing teaching as a companionship with them, so they received some quality feedback after that. This concluded that day.

As they were getting ready for the day on Wednesday, Elders Anderson and Heiner received a call from a member family, in dire need. They got to their home in record time in order to help them pack up a kitchen that was to be remodeled by order of their landlord. They were informed of it that morning, as the Elders found out, and that was why they needed the help. Later, they decided to go to Huskvarna, which is a town about an hour out of the one our Elders are assigned to, but still in their area. They talked to quite a few people, some of them interested, others not so much. After a time, they returned to Jönköping. Two appointments in the middle of the day fell through, so the elders decided to do the studying that they had not been able to do that morning because of helping with the move. They studied for the entire four hour block they would usually split up throughout the day. When they finished, they discovered that they were invited to have dinner with two YSAs who live together. Robin (who is a man) and Tim (who is also a man) decided to call the elders and invite them to have a pizza with them. Äldste Heiner was quite excited, as he really likes Swedish Pizza. (Elder Heiner would also like to point out that this is usually how dinner appointments happen. We plan on eating dinner, and then a member will ask us to come.) They ended that day with a man that they enjoy teaching, but needs to work on stopping smoking.

Elders Heiner and Anderson left Jönköping on Thursday for Borås. Anderson, who is the district leader, had scheduled a district meeting there, and four companionship in the area would be attending this meeting. According the Elder Heiner, it was a normal meeting, just a check in with all the areas and a quick training on how to ask people for their numbers. After an hour and a half of this discussion, the companionship split back up, and left to their assigned fields of service. Upon arriving in Jönköping, the Äldster we asked to help close an old mission apartment. There would no longer be two syster companionship in that town, so Äldste Tolley and Syster Tolley, the apartment couple, asked everyone in the area to come and help move everything out of this apartment. The Elders gladly did so, and went to work moving tables, chairs, couches, and even a piano. After this work, Heiner and Anderson went back to their home, exhausted.

On Friday, the two hardworking elders rushed to the chapel, as they had six appointments right in a row there. The first one went relatively well, but it went a little bit over time, so the Äldster quietly left to try to catch their next appointment. She never showed up, as the two found out, and neither did the next one. While they waited, disappointed at the lack of showing from their investigators, Syster Anderson and her parents showed up, coming back to Jönköping. They had brought all the requested items in bulk. Elder Heiner found that his surprise was perfect: a giant box of sugar cereal. He quite enjoyed it. As they were chatting with the family, the Elders received a call from the Röndalls, one of the best families there ever was. "Come eat food and look at our newly made family mission plan," the call essentially said. Heiner was even more surprised, but not at all unhappy. The dinner was steak, so Elder Heiner really liked it. Returning to the church after having shared a spiritual message, the Elders attended the baptism that was happening. They had no part in the program, but enjoyed the spirit that was had there, and also they were very happy to find that one of their most promising investigators decided to attend. This concluded their day.

On Saturday, the Tolleys once again called the two elders. They needed help cleaning the now empty apartment for nigh on the entire day. Äldste Heiner thought this was interesting, but assumed it was church policy to leave all the apartments really clean once they were through with them. He soon found, however, that Swedish law dictated that apartments need to ridiculously clean after leaving them. So he set to work cleaning all day. As they were finishing up, Elder Heiner found that Syster Tolley cut elders hair, and asked her to give his a quick trim, as he felt the MTC haircut he was sporting was not quite as beautiful as he wanted. She happily obliged, and soon Heiner was walking around feeling much more confident about his hair style, not so wild and busy. The elders went back to the church, to get blåsted again. While they waited, hoping for someone to teach, the Schillen family showed up, and asked Elder Anderson to play piano for them in church the next day, and Elder Heiner to sing the tenor part, as they needed that covered. The elders graciously accepted, and practiced for half an hour with them. After that time, the elders felt that they need to do more proseliting, so they did so for the rest of the day.

Elder Heiner went to many meetings yesterday, on Sunday. All through church, he felt that his grasp on Swedish was not quite where he wanted, but was getting better with every day he was in Sweden. As he walked with his comp after church, they were once again invited to dinner. So they went to that, obviously. After that dinner was completed, the Elders decided to do swing-bys. As they walked, they stopped almost everyone to talk to them. They found it fun. They then ended their week.

Äldste Heiner found this week to be good. He would like to invite all to have a good week, if they find it pleasing.