November 30, 2015

Dear the people who pay attention to the things I write,
   This week was AWESOME! I'm just going to give away the best part. Meisam and Zoheir got BAPTIZED! I'm really excited for them. The branch is really excited for them too. They will make great members.
   But backing up to Monday, pday. I love pday. There really isn't too much to do here on pday, so we just bummed around. It was pretty great. In the evening, we did NOT go to FHE because Pia was in Skåne. Bummer, right? I mean really. Skåne? We went trakting instead.
   The next day, we had lunch with this Somalian guy named Omar. He doesn't speak anything close to a language that we speak. He really likes to feed us though. It gets really awkward. We try to help him, we just have no communication with him. We then had a TU blåst us, then we had a couple lessons at the church, that was pretty fun. And THEN we went to FHE at Pia's. That was super fun. FHE is always good.
   Wednesday was pretty much just knocking on doors until we went to the church for Gospel Principals, which went super well. A bunch of people came, and it was pertty fun. Afterwards, we made pumpkin pie. That's not really a thing here, so it was pretty new.
   Thursday was THANKSGIVING! We also had district meeting. I made a turkey and a ton of potatoes and then gravy and some vegetables. And pumpkin pies. It was super good! We then had about five lessons right in a row at the church. We were in the church a lot this week. We were getting a bit of cabin fever.
   On Friday, the Eskilstuna elders showed up for some work overs. We went up to Vingåker. We came home and had a final getting ready for the baptism lesson with Meisam and Zoheir. Then we had a really good lesson with Ferdi. That dude is freaking awesome.
   On Saturday, we went down to Norrköping for the baptism! It was super good! They both went under and everyone had some really good things to say.
   Sunday confirmations and that was probably the highlight. It was first advent, so we saw some pretty cool markets for that. We also had a pretty positive lesson with a couple TUs! And that pretty much closed out the week!

I hope you all are doing well! Have a wonderful week!

The Baptism.

I made a turkey.  It was super fun.

Elder Heiner.

There were these creepy dolls in a castle that we went to.

There was this lady doing this thing with
ice.  It was cool.

This bread has been on our wall for over 2 years.

November 23, 2015

I am very short on time, so let me tell you the best part of the week! M and Z will be getting baptized on Saturday the 28th! K might also be getting baptized, but we'll see.
We had a zone training on diligence this week that was pretty fun. President showed us some clips from American Pharaoh's races and then talked about missionaries being diligent. The diligence section in chapter six of PMG is super good.
Have a great week everyone!
Äldste Heiner

I made cookies.

Cool ice crystals.

This is our favorite scene from Legacy,
one of the only  movies we can watch.

A cool church shot from the bus.

Kholm is decorating!

November 16, 2015

Dear all the people that read this,
Like most weeks, this has been a week of missionary work.
I have worked really hard.
We have gotten a lot of people to talk to us.
It's been super nice.
I'm going to tell you a few highlights to the week.
First and foremost, we have been teaching a couple of men that will be baptized next week.
We are really happy for them!
It's super fun to teach them because they already live everything they need to live to be baptized.
We also taught many other people.
Four other people are making steps towards salvation.
It's super nice.
I love it when people do that.
We even had five investigators in church.
That's the most I've ever seen at one time.
There were even two less active members there.
It was great.
Hard work pays off.
There was this one family we met with that all knelt and prayed with us.
I love it when they do that!
Now they just have to read the book.
That would be nice.
I made a mistake this week.
I took off David's hat at family home evening.
He was not happy with me at all.
Sorry David.
Pia tell David I'm sorry.
We had like five lessons going on at one time on Wednesday.
Thursday was one of those days that everything fell through.
It's fine.
It was a good day anyway.
We had district meeting in Södertälje this week.
Travel to and from that place is really annoying.
I think that's all I'm going to write today!
I hope you all have a great day!
And week!
Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers!
Äldste Heiner

Gospel Principles class.

A coat Hadi gave me.

A cool water tower thing in Kohlm.

A creepy clown I am trying to convince
Elder Nilsson to take down.

Ferdi.

Candles!

November 9, 2015

Hello everyone! I hope you're all having a great week! I'm doing pretty dang well. I'm healthy, I'm working, I'm happy! We've seen a good amount of success recently, so it's been a happy time here in Kholm!

   On Monday we were going to meet with a TU, but he totally didn't show up, so we were a little let than down with that. We had a great pday anyway. We went to Pia's for the evening and it was awesome! I always have a great time at hemafton.
   Tuesday was kind of a funny day. We were up in the morning talking to Pia because she had questions she wanted answers to, and she wanted them THEN! So we answered what we could and it went well. I think. Ask her. After that we were with an investigator in the hospital and then after that we had lunch with him. During the day, we were in the library for a little study time and we taught this random guy that had a Mormons Book in his bag. It was super funny, and I'm not sure what happened, but he could really use a shower. Later in the day, we met with a super cool Christian guy named D and he really wants to learn more. He's been feeling like he needs to get baptized, not necessarily in our church, but just baptized. He's been reading the Book, so it should go really well for him.
   On Wednesday we contacted a couple of Muslims that were very hard to work with. I lost my nerve a little bit, only a little bit, because they told me I wasn't allowed to pray if Jesus' name was in the prayer and I was all like, "No." and they were all like mad because I wouldn't accept the Koran as the word of Allah and it was kinda funny because they hands down REFUSED to even touch Mormons Book. It was super ridiculous. Took too much time and energy and focus, but we had an amazing day after that, so it's just a funny story now. After that we had Gospel Principles class, and true to form, it ended up splitting into three different lessons. One of the lessons turned into a baptismal date! One of the other ones agreed to baptism, but not a date, so we'll see how that goes soon. It was super good day.
   The next day we taught a guy named T. He doesn't want to talk anymore, but his name is T. We only talked for like five minutes on the street, but it was kinda a funny lesson. We had some other less exciting lessons during the day, and then we had institute in the evening. The Karlstad elders stayed the night because we had a zone training the next day and they live in the middle of nowhere. So...
   The next day we got up and showered and ready and on the tåg to Eskilstuna! We had a pretty good zone training about chapter six in Preach My Gospel and President and his wife randomly showed up. I made cookies for it. After we got back from the training we, had a lesson with a less active member who has pretty crappy reasons for being less active. We're working on it. The hour after that started, we had an awesome lesson with M and Z! Who both now have solid baptismal dates for the 28th! We're super excited for them. It was a good day.
   Saturday we went to Gubbängen for stake conference, but before we left, we were able to talk to a couple really cool people and have a lesson with them. And then we went to the meeting, saw some really good friends, and stayed the night for another meeting the next day, and then ordained Hadi to be an Elder, and then came home and had another AWESOME lesson with M and Z. It was a pretty crazy week. It was super productive, but it was really crazy.
Have a wonderful week everyone! Thank you for everything,
Elder Heiner

There's this wooden chair in stan
 that's just carved out of a tree stump.

There was a fire.

At McDonald's

Shelf of pigs in a shop...

Elder Backman!

Stavskonferens selfie

Inside the church building.

November 2, 2015

This week has been a week of transition for the mission. In other words, we had transfers this week. I stayed in the same place here in Kholm, but Elder Johanson went to Borås. I'm a little sad to see him go, we had such a great time together, but now I have Elder Nilsson! He's a funny guy, super new in the mission, I'm greenie breaking him. This should be a very nice!

   I'll tell you a little about the week, but I don't have too much time, so don't hold your breath. Mom.

   Most of the beginning of the week was Elder Johanson saying goodbye to people. He did a lot of really good work here, so there were a lot of people we had to go by. Looking at it, we probably went by about fifteen homes, and we weren't even able to go by all of them. It was kinda a bummer, but it's fine. Elder Johanson was actually shipped out on Tuesday instead of the normal Wednesday, so that's the reason. Elder Nilsson came in Tuesday, a few hours after Elder Johanson left, so I hung out with Hadi, and we had a great time. It's a good thing Hadi is a priest. I was actually able to have a companion during the entire thing!

   Wednesday was full of meeting people and teaching people and then tracting and then some elders that accidentally got on the wrong train came and hung out with us, so that was pretty fun. They were also from my group, so that makes it even cooler! In the evening we had three lessons going at one time and it was super cool. I was jumping in between them, trying to help as many people as I could under the time that we had. I have a picture during a little break I had.

   Thursday was a little weird. We were trying to talk to people and had a guy listen (we're meeting for real today, so I guess I'll let you know about it next week.)!

   Friday was district meeting and everyone was mad I didn't make cookies. I didn't have flour. Sowwy... But yeah, had a good lesson with an investigator right after that, and then we went out to Flen and had a great dinner with a member.

   On Saturday we started off by teaching a Temple Prep class (When do you want to do that Pia? I always forget to ask...) And it went really well! But then it was Halloween and no one else wanted to talk to us because of it. We were invited to spend the evening with Pia and David! It was super fun! We were gonna go and see the candles, but we ran out of time, so we did it while we were in kholm instead. Super cool stuff these natives do.

   We had a couple investigators come to church yesterday, so we were pretty excited about that! Then we went by some super cool members for a quick visit, then we had dinner and planning. That was the week! Have a great life all you all! Thank you for the thoughts and prayers!

Äldste Heiner

Some pictures of the living place.

Teaching English.

Hadi and Johanson.

Last picture with Johanson.

Elder Nilsson!

Elders Peterson and Hemmingsen got stuck on a train...

Not... too... sure... this is right...

Gadianton the spider! 

Some cool candles that our camera can't do justice.

October 26, 2015

This week. I'm just going to run through some points of interest.
We played billiards with Pia! It was super fun!
We had Hemafton like we usually do. We made flygande jakob! My fav!
Bunch of street lessons on Tuesday.
We had a kneeling prayer with about twenty or thirty people at one time. It was super cool and the spirit was super strong.
We had a super weird day Wednesday. We had a great gospel principles class and had a great time, but one of our investigators who was going to be baptized this week moved to next week, so pray for that one.
We have started help teach a girl English with one of the people we meet with. It's pretty fun.
Here is a conversation that happened this week on the street:
   We stop a lady and tell her who we are and ask if she would like to talk.
   "Jag tycker inte om kyrkan." She says.
   "Okej, men ha det så bra!" Says we.
   She points to the Book of Mormon as we walk away, "Lekstuga!"
   We just kinda crack up as we walk off.
   "Sanningen!" She shouts after us, trying to get her point across that we have life all wrong.
   "Okej!" We say as we keep going.
People like to tell we're wrong and they do it in some super funny ways. Just stay positive and remember God loves everyone and some of the things people say are really funny. It can be really sad too, but I choose to see it as funny. Life would be way too hard if it were all sad.
Friday was super weird because Elder Johanson was in Stockholm for a meeting and I was with ELDER JONES for the day. It's probably the last time I see him until the US. We went to Södertälje for district meeting and then Norrköping for the rest of the day. It was super fun and we even got things done!
Saturday, we found a super positive guy that I'm super excited to work with.
We also got transfer calls. Elder Johanson is going to Borås. Elder Nilsson is coming to Kholm. Crazy stuff. Should be super fun.
We had four investigators in church yesterday!
A member family had us over for dinner and it was super good. "Gratis är gott!"
And that's pretty much the week! If you ever have questions, let me know!
Äldste Heiner

A meal we made and set up.

Last shot with Elder Jones.

Random selfie of me and Elder Johanson.

Carving pumpkins with Pia.

Riding bikes through the leaves.

October 19, 2015

Hello everybody! This was a really tiring week! We worked really hard and had a lot of success, but we are beat and ready for a good pday. Here’s a little of what we did...
   On Monday, the Norrköping elders came through town on their way to a weird part of their area to visit a less active, so we went to the Vinåker outlet with them! It was super fun, and may just be the last time I see Elder Jones on my mission. Hopefully not. I think we're going to Norrköping for a baptism this week, so that should be super good! In the evening, we had hemafton with Pia and David, who will be reading this, and I made orange chicken for that. I thickened the sauce too much. I'm sorry :(
   On Tuesday, we visited a friend in the hospital because he had to get checked up for a leg problem. We hung out with him for that. And then the Eskilstuna elders showed up! Why you may ask? Well, we did a thing called splits. That's when I was with Elder Mott in Katrineholm and Elder Johanson was with Elder Thacker in Eskilstuna. Elder Mott and I did a ton of work. We started in Kholm working the streets, and then had a baptismal interview for one of our investigators, had another lesson in town with a young woman learning about the church, then we had another lesson on the street, then I taught a super drunk guy the importance of drinking water, and then committed him to drink eight glasses of water a day. THEN we took a train to Vinåker and had a couple lessons there. Came home, super tired, went to bed after dinner.
   On Wednesday, Elder Mott and I took a train out to Eskilstuna, where we switched back to our normal companionships. When we got home, we cleaned up a bit and had lunch and then my mother’s prayers were answered. We got our hairs cut by an investigator while we taught him. It's been almost three transfers... That dude took so much hair off the top of my head... Everyone in town has noticed. It's a small town, everyone CAN notice. Anyway, we had a couple lessons with some new converts (AKA Pia and Hadi) before we then taught Evangeliets Principer. We had some guests come to that and I taught a little lesson for one of them off on the side, and then afterwards, we split off with members to teach people more individually. It was super good and super long...
   Thursday was kinda weird. It was about the only day that we didn't have anything planned. Then the morning of, we got like four things set up, so we were super busy. We started by taking our bikes to the repair shop because they are missionary bikes and they need it. They said it would be cheaper to buy new bikes. So... yeah. Then we met with a less active man who is going to help us help other less active guys become active. Should be a great plan!  We met with a Chinese lady who was teaching a student to learn English, so we helped out with that. Then afterwards we were invited to the teacher’s home on söndag to grill! We'll get to that... In the evening, we had dinner in Flen with a super cool lady that we have dinner with every week. She likes to scare people. She loves Halloween. She's pretty excited for the coming weeks.
   On Friday, we were in Eskilstuna early for an early district meeting because everyone was too busy to put it at a normal time. We went straight from Eskilstuna to Flen where we had a lesson planned... in a high school! There was a religion class that asked us to come. It was super fun and it could have lasted for forever, but we only had an hour and a half with the kids. We had a great time. We came back to kholm after that and had a couple lessons in the library with Pia and Ferdi! We have some pretty awesome people around here. After that, we had dinner with the Palomino family. I love them too. Super awesome people!
   On Saturday, we taught some temple prep and then had some lessons out of town. We went to Biltema with Ferdi too. He really wanted to show us the joint.
   Sunday was all like... Kyrkan... and then more temple prep... then like we went out to Bie because if you'll remember, we had to have a grill! So we did and it was super fun. We hung out with this super sick family and talked about pretty much everything. I had a ton of fun.

Anyway. That's pretty much all my time! Have a great week all you!
Äldste Heiner

Shopping at the factory outlet.

Elder Mott and I.

Getting a haircut.

The after cut photo.

A doorknob!  WHAT?

We got Reeces.

Some fog pics.

With the class in Flen.

This sign is showing you the way out of the tunnel.
The way out is at the end of the tunnel.

Jul is coming...

Biggest tools I ever did see.

Grace is a super big Star Wars fan.
This is her sick light saber.

And she taught us a little about how to use Chinese characters.
This board is made of fabric that turns black when wet.
It's genius for learning how to write.