Happy Easter from Aldste Moe

Swedish Candy store

The missionaries I'm currently working with.

 Hej alla.

 This last week has been a great week.  It was Elder Tomlinson's last week here in Täby. It was sad to se him go but we saw really good things come out of this week.  Today I will be getting Elder Tyson Haddon as a companion.  He's a great guy, from Utah, he was actually state mvp in Utah for Baseball.  The last few weeks we have really gotten a lot going here in the Täby area so I am excited to see what Äldste Haddon and myself can accomplish.

   This week and last, we went over to three different members houses and all of them had invited friends over to meet us.  It was perfect.  One of these was yesterday and we now have an appointment to return to their house next week and teach about the restoration of the gospel.  Members can have a bigger impact on the work then they can imagine.  Being Christlike and extending friendship to all is one of the greatest things we can do, and we should always strive to do so.  But if we truly love people we will want them to have access to the same truths we have, we would invite them to learn more if they would like.  Being pushy is never fun or appropriate, but everyone would appreciate the gesture of a simple invitation.  Just love your friends enough to let them know how you feel about the gospel.

   So this week is Påsk, or Easter.  Like all Swedish holidays the celebrations are held the day before on Påskafton.  Actually, everyday this week is a holiday, and each day has a different name.  It's Black Monday, White Tuesday, Damper Wednesday, Cleansing Thursday, and Long Friday.  The average Swedish person would not declare themselves very religious but the culture is soaked through with Christianity.  Instead of hiding eggs here everyone just gets one extremely large egg, like bigger then a basketball, which is filled with candy.

   Something that is really exciting is how interested the young people are with religion.  Its now the time in Sweden where a lot have grown up without any sort of faith and are curious about religion.  There is a 15 year old boy here in Täby that referred himself to the church and will be baptized soon.  After the first meeting he read 17 chapters in the Book of Mormon.  Three is another girl who is 19 and studying here in Stockholm who we are meeting with who will likely be baptized soon.  Almost a year ago now Elder Ballard came to the North for a Nordic regional conference.  He then prophesied that the key to the church is the young people.  They are the strength and they will be the catalyse for growth.  Last year the average age of someone baptized was 35.  So it is exciting seeing that already unfold.

  I'm thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I feel his spirit everyday in my life and I'm thankful for this time of year when we can celebrate and ponder the blessings of the atonement.  I hope everyone has an amazing Easter! Lots of Love!

Har en glad Påsk,

    Äldste Moe

Seeing new parts of my mission!

 It's been two weeks since I have really written something for the blog and a lot has happened. I will try and keep it short.  First off, I love my new area, and being companions again with Elder Tomlinson is cool.  I'm also living in the office now so we live with Elders Nightingale and Ogaard who are both funny and good missionaries.  Elder and Sister Lowry from UT also live here.  I worked quite a bit with the Lowrys when I was in Södertälje so its great being able to be near them again.

   My proselyting area is in the city of Täby and the surrounding cities.  Right now we have quite a bit of picking up from the previous missionaries.  Täby has an amazing ward with a lot of diversity, there are members here from all over the world.  Even a few families from the U.S.  It has been quite a while since the Täby ward has had new members join but the missionaries before me have all been working really hard and there's a lot of potential, so we can definitely see some miracles soon.  This is my first area in the city of Stockholm and I love it.  It reminds me of home at times.  This also means that I have served in all four stakes of Sweden while I have been on my mission, so I have been able to get to know people from all around the country.    

   My first week in this transfer I drove up to Umeå which is an eight hour drive there and eight hours back.  A long trip but it was so beautiful.  Then this last week we drove to Göteborg on the west coast of Sweden.  That was really nice as well.  On the way we stopped to work with missionaries in Göteborg and Jönköping.  Jönköping is a city I had never been to before but is a sick city.  It's right on the southern coast of Vättern, one of Sweden's great lakes.  So there's a ton of very old ruins and beautiful views.   

   On my mission, I have taught quite a few people who have never heard too much about God or Christ.  This last week, we had the opportunity to teach someone who had never thought too much about God before.  We have been meeting with him for a while now and when we began he wanted us to explain what God was.  Last lesson he stopped us and explained that he was feeling power in his life, and he couldn't explain it but he knew it was from God.  He knows God is supporting him and encouraging him.  It was amazing to hear this person talk about the wonderful feelings and new purpose he had in his life.  He has agreed to be baptized but just needs to continue building his faith.  It's great to see people have hope and faith for the first time in their lives.

  I'm excited for everything coming, especially General Conference and Easter.  I would love to hear from everyone back home.  I hope you're all doing well! Love you all!

puss och kram,

    Äldste Jonathan

Moe