Monday, February 3, 2014

February 3, 2014

Kära familj,

Happy (late) groundhog's day! Did the groundhog see his shadow? Is spring coming? It's been a lot warmer here than it was, which means the snow is melting, which means it's super slushy and there are giant puddles again. It's pretty great. Yesterday it was snowing but the snow was so wet that the snowflakes made giant clumps. It was snowing snowballs instead of snowflakes. We tried to take pictures of it but it didn't really work. Is the house going to be completely different when I get home? Tell Cody good job on scoring points and lettering! I can't believe how many missionaries there are from our stake! Wow!

Syster Sjöblom asked me what happened last week and it went like this: "Well, we had dinner with the Lundborgs, lunch with the Höglunds, dinner with Linda, dinner with the Krylborns, dinner with the Rodriguezes, lunch with the Sandbergs, and Siv wasn't home." It's been a great week. One of the important things that happened was that we got our transfer calls! I was right about the Madrid of Sweden-I'm going to Borås! My new companion there will be Syster Haynes. Right now she's a sister training leader. She only has about 3 months left, I believe. Right now there are four elders in Borås, but we'll be taking over for one of the companionships so it will be two elders and two sisters. We're taking over for Elder Pavon and Elder Sheldon who both speak Spanish. When President said that we'll be taking over the Spanish speakers I asked if Syster Haynes speaks Spanish. There was an awkward pause and President said "I understand YOU speak Spanish..." I've been completely honest about how miraculous it is that I've been able to speak Spanish at all, so we'll see what really happens in Borås. I talked to Syster Haynes this morning and she's about in the same boat as me. She studied Spanish for a few years in high school then took German and learned Swedish, so Spanish went out the window. Maybe between the two of us we'll be able to do it though. I know that we'll have lots and lots of divine help! The gift of tongues doesn't have to just apply to Swedish! I'm really excited to go to Borås. Elder Markus, Elder Papenfuss (our other ZL), and Elder Floyd (in my district) have all served there and they all loved it. I've heard the ward is great and they have more young women than any other ward in Sweden. Which is probably one of the reasons they've been asking for sisters so much.

That part of the transfer call was pretty much what I expected, but the surprising part was that Syster Sjöblom is also getting transferred. She's going to Lund to be a Sister Training Leader there! She's taking Syster Haynes' place there, so we're just swapping companions with them, which I think is pretty fun. So our area is in a funny situation. Västerhaninge is getting two more elders, so they'll have four elders. But some of our investigators and members NEED sisters. (Marie, Siv, and Louise, to name a few.) So the Handen sisters will also be working in Västerhaninge with the people who need them. Syster Clouse will still be in Handen, and her companion will be Syster Dawson! I'm really excited for her to come here because I know she's going to love it!

Yahaira couldn't come to church yesterday after all. She hurt her back at work during the week and hasn't been able to get out of bed. So I won't get to say goodbye to her. We'll be passing her over to the Elders because Elder Ahlström speaks really good Spanish. He lived in Mexico for three years. Luckily she has a really good member friend who will definitely take care of her. Transfers are really stressful, and it's even more stressful since we're both leaving so we won't be able to smooth out the transition as well. We were inspired during the week to take a few hours and update every single page of our area book so a completely new person would be able to come in and know exactly what the situation was with every person. We weren't sure why because we expected that Syster Sjöblom would stay and train a new person to the area, but when we found out we were doubling out we were so thankful that we had that all taken care of! We're going to fill out a giant transfer report and give copies to the elders and the sisters and the other elders to try and make sure everything goes smoothly. Marie is still doing great as well. I did get to say goodbye to her, and she gave me a reindeer bracelet that she made for me! She's amazing and I'm so excited for Syster Dawson and Syster Clouse to be able to work with her and help her keep learning about the gospel. I love her!
 
I'm sorry I haven't had so much time to write. The internet is being sketchy and we've had transfer details to take care of too. But know that we've had plentiful miracles as always and that the Spirit is really guiding everything we do here. We're going to stockholm one last time this afternoon before we both go down south. We're going to the palace I think. Should be fun. I hope you all have a great week! Jag älskar alla er!

Love, Delaney
 
 
                                    
                                                                Delaney and Marie
 

 
Delaney and Syster Sjoblom in front of the temple

 
Eating ice cream in January

 
Frozen Harbor

 
Snowman Delaney and Syster Sjoblom made
for the other sisters in their apartment.