SISTER POWELL: MOUNTAINS
Hello family and friends,
This week’s Swedish surprise has nothing to do with Sweden at all. On Monday night as we were going to bed Sister C. was really quiet. I thought that was strange because most nights as I am falling asleep she will:
a) Make me check under her bed to make sure there isn’t anyone there
b) Check the front door to make sure its locked, no matter how many times I tell her I know FOR SURE it is locked
c) Turn on the light so she can look in the closet to make sure there isn’t anyone there or
d) Tell her a story.
That is my life, folks. But Monday night she didn’t say anything. It was so strange! I was almost asleep when I hear this weird sound and I thought whattttt is going on and then I am being attacked by silly string. Sister C. is dying and I am so confused and then I figure out what is going on and I just start yelling/laughing hysterically as I try to hide under my blankets. Wake up the next morning and the apartment is COVERED in pink silly string. I love her. She goes, “Did you wonder why I was so quiet?!” hahaha
Monday: Get a text and picture from an elder that was in my MTC group. Elder Featherstone is wearing this huge poufy vest and he says, “What’s with the life preserver, kid?!” hahahaha I love people who love Back to the Future and who share their funny BTTF moments with me.
Tuesday: Doing språk study in a park and Sister C. says, “I’m just gonna listen to these people’s conversation for my study, k?” hahaha okay. Laying in bed and Sister C. is so serious and says, “Can I ask you a question?” I’m ready for a soul searching, deep conversation and she asks, “Have you ever had a hot chocolate snow cone?” LITERALLY all we talk about is food! hahahaha
Wednesday: Had zone training in Södertälje. EVERYONE keeps telling me, “I can tell you are Sister C’s daughter.” I take that as a compliment. ZLs want to eat lunches on top of this mountain. They go, “It’s just a little walk, nothing strenuous.” Like 40 minutes later we are all out of breath and are thinking we are never following the elders again
Thursday: 3 different people said, “Sister Powell, I just feel like you are so much happier than when you first came to Sweden.” I would have to agree. Isn’t it great what a little time and more repentance and change does??
Friday: Sat inside all day. Rouuuuuuuuuuugh. Nothing teaches you how much you like missionary work more than not being able to do it. hahaha. Ate a pan of kladkaka. Watched 17 miracles (that is like my 12th time since entering the MTC, haha). Studied studied studied. Called people. Studied. Ate noodles. Goodness, we were ready to leave that apartment.
Saturday: Had dinner with the Paulamino family in our ward. The husband is from Peru and the mom from Chile. They have 5 kids and it was just hilarious. They kept saying things like “que pasa???” and “vamos!” and I just missed my mom. Ahh, it pulled at my heart strings, that’s for sure. We ate empanadas and they were AMAAAAAAAAZINGGGGGGG. Oh man. The kids were hilarious. They have an older daughter who is 16 and a son who is 15. They reminded me so much of me and Zach that it was just, ahhhh. Missing my fam, missing my fam. It was good though.
Sunday: Returned missionary who lives in Handen spoke to our ward. He served in the Scotland/Ireland mission and it was just so great. He talked so much about things he learned on his mission and it made me so excited. I love this thing I am doing. That night, ate fufu with some members. It’s an African dish eaten a lot in the Congo and you eat it with your hands. Felt a little strange. Tasted a little strange. This place is a little strange. hahah
This week has been great. At zone training the new mission scripture was announced. We have all been invited to memorize it. Mark 11:22-23, “And Jesus answering said unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith.”
We were invited to think about some mountains in our lives and in our missions and then to ask ourselves if we have enough faith to move them.
We were also counseled to look at what we consider “mountains” with different lenses. What things in our lives and in our missions have we been referring to as “mountains”, that really are just hills? Or really are nothing at all?
I think before I came out on my mission I thought the biggest mountain I would face would be Swedish. I remember saying that to one of my MTC teachers and he just laughed and said, “If that’s the only thing you are worried about, you will be fine”. Now I see that Swedish was, and is in fact, not a mountain. It was the first 6 weeks here that is for sure. I let it be the biggest mountain I have ever seen. I let myself be so discouraged by it and so sure that I was a bad missionary because of it. But my vision of the so called mountain I was facing has changed. Swedish is not a mountain and I choose now to not see it as one. I have seen how having enough faith, being worthy of the spirit, and just being patient with myself has moved the mountain I thought would destroy me.
When I entered the MTC I thought a mountain I would always have would be with other missionaries. I was so convinced that I wouldn’t get along with my companions or I wouldn’t have fun or I wouldn’t really love the people I was surrounded with. Oh how wrong I was. With enough faith, enough humility to laugh at my mistakes and laugh at how funny this thing is, and with enough vulnerability, I have truly come to love the people I am surrounded with. I love my companion. I love the people in my district and I love being a missionary. I felt the same coming to Sweden, afraid I wouldn’t love the people I meet here or Katrineholm. I’ve learned a lot about looking at mountains differently.
I am thankful for this time I have to learn what mountains are and learn how to climb them. I know that with faith, hard work, and lots of prayer any mountain can and WILL be moved. To quote from my favorite Mormon Message, “Some blessings come soon, others come late, and some don’t come until heaven. But for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ: they come.” I know that to be true. I am waiting for some blessings to come but I know that they will. I know that as long as I embrace this gospel with my whole heart, serve my God with all I am, that the blessings needed will come. And I am ready to wait. I am thankful for the strength that God gives me every day to be a missionary and to learn these lessons. Because I need the strength to learn them, that is for sure.
So sorry to cut this email short, but I love Sweden and I love being here. I love the people I get to spend time with here in Katrineholm and the lives I get to learn more about. I am so thankful for the missionaries I get to interact with and the testimonies they so freely share with me. I am thankful for the person this mission is crafting me into and I am thankful every day for the strengthening power of the atonement that allows me to be here. I love you all and I am so thankful for you!
Syster Powell
