A week of tragedy

 Hello all, 

Sorry for the short post last week.  This week there's been a lot of good, and a lot of tragedy.  

Towards the beginning of the week my companion and I had to travel to Stockholm for a leadership training.  To save money we drove the car all the way there.  I got to see some of the beautiful scenery of Sweden and drive through some of my old areas.  At the training we spoke a lot about progression and how missionaries are only really helpful when we invite others to act and make progression towards Christ.  

   A couple days after the training we lost the car.  We didn't misplace the car but rather they needed a car up near Stockholm so we gave ours away.  This means that we have to get real familiar with the Helsingborg bus system, fast.  We won't be able to get around as fast, but hopefully we'll able to keep our effective schedules.    

  Also, this last week we had two very cool spiritual experiences I would like to share.  The first was with an investigator who has not been Christian before.  We read in Alma chapter seven about the atonement of Jesus Christ.  There was a long silence after she finished pronouncing the last words of verse 13 in Arabic.  I then asked her what it meant to her that Christ had done that for us.  She immediately began crying but spoke of her thankfulness for Jesus Christ as her savior.  

  The second experience was with someone who has investigated the church for a while and right now is going through a really hard time.  We were offering our help in anyway we could be of service but then I felt the spirit tell me that I had to testify of the peace the gospel brings.  I shared again that we were willing to help the best that we knew how but the best way we could help was in sharing the gospel knowledge we had and helping her act on it.  She agreed and said that is what she needed the most, Peace, the peace the gospel could bring.

   This morning we received a text from the mission office, just last night a missionary here in the mission passed away.  He was hit by a car as he was returning home from his last appointment. It's not something easy to hear or to talk about.  I didn't know him very well personally, but it hurts knowing he was here fighting the good fight and now he's gone.  I would like to ask anyone who reads of this to pray for the family of Elder Bailey.  Elder Bailey was a wonderful missionary.   It is moments like this that the faith and knowledge we have are to be put into practice.  Like all of those that pass he is now in a state of peace.  A place where he can rest from sorrows and worries.  But not rest from doing good.  The restored gospel stands alone in the glory given to the righteous dead.  The unembodied are not dead, they may be more living then we are.  There is work to be done on both sides of the veil.  It brings me peace and happiness to know that we can be a force of good no matter where we are.  And the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring us happiness in every point of our existence. 

much love,

   Äldste Jonathan Moe