Monday, May 12, 2014

May 12, 2014

Kära Familj,

Mother's Day went by too fast! Skyping was my favorite part of the day yesterday as well, even though church was really good too. I feel bad that you guys had to skip your sacrament meeting to talk to me though! Were all the missionary moms in our ward happy that they got to talk to their missionaries as well? We were having a fun time imagining all the moms talking to each other about their phone calls and how great they went. I forgot to ask what mom got for Mother's Day! Besides getting to talk to me of course. :) Syster Byrd and I made waffles yesterday morning to celebrate. They were yummy. I put peanut butter and raspberries on mine. And whipped cream, but it was sour so I scraped it off.

It's always weird to email right after Skyping, but I didn't really tell you anything that happened to me during the week. What did we even talk about? It's just awesome and a little weird to be able to actually have a conversation with you in real life! But this week has been amazing and full of miracles! Like always. Our shopping spree on Monday was really fun. Geckås was like cosco sized with a little bit of everything. We all had some great finds. Then we ate dinner with the Tolleys at their hotel-we had smoked salmon and potatoes. I'm still not exactly sure how I feel about smoked salmon. It's not my favorite but I like it. I know I wouldn't have liked it before my mission though!

On Tuesday we taught these students who were doing a school project on Mormons. They actually had some really good questions and it was fun to sit down and answer all their questions. At the end one of them even took a Book of Mormon! But we weren't able to get his phone number, so we were a little disappointed, but it was still really cool. We could see that the Spirit touched him while we were answering their questions, even though his friends were a little more hard-hearted and seemed more skeptical. That night was when we did yoga and we were late but we got our favorite bus driver who got us to our bus in time. We were in such a hurry because we were planning on teaching Rida before yoga but then she didn't even show up until yoga started so we didn't need to worry the bus driver so much. It was a cool little miracle anyway though. We taught Rida after yoga instead. She has a sincere desire to know the truth but I don't know if it's sincere enough to read the Book of Mormon. A couple days ago she actually told us she doesn't think she needs any more lessons right now...but then she set up a time to meet us tomorrow at the church, so we'll see what the real situation is.

Wednesday was all miracles, all day. First, it was Syster Byrd's birthday, so there was just an excited energy all day. We went to Jönköping (pronounced yun-shupping) for district meeting and it was really good, and we had really yummy lunch and cookies there as well. We took the bus back and we all got off at the hospital. As the bus was driving away I checked my pocket and realized that I didn't have the phone. So the elders called it and there was no ring and no answer. It was on the bus! Luckily we have the "Finding Friends" app on the iPhones and we're friends with the elders, so we were all able to track our phone to the bus garage together. We walked up to the bus right as the bus driver came out with our iPhone in hand. It was a miracle. Luckily but unluckily none of us had anything to do for that hour so we were able to fetch our phone without too much worry. The bus garage is right next to this exotic bird sanctuary so we took a quick look at the birds for Syster Byrd's birthday. Then we got bloasted for the rest of our appointments for the next three hours as well as our backup plans. So we said a prayer. After we prayed, the name Daniel came into my mind. So we called our investigator named Daniel (Daniel 18), who set up an appointment with us for an hour and a half later. We made our way to Södra Torget to try contacting in a different area of town than usual, Kristineberg, which led us to one of the bus stops that we don't usually take. At that bus stop, a guy who we contacted a few months ago waved us down to talk. We ended up sitting down with him and teaching him the Restoration, and he became a new investigator. His name is also Daniel (Daniel Ski). We were guided by the Spirit in order to be able to teach both Daniels, and we had very powerful, spiritual lessons with both of them. Then we went and taught Masoume. Well, Mojgan taught Masoume and we listened and prayed. I think it went well. After that we got Thai food for Syster Byrd's birthday. Yummy!

We taught Ulrika on Thursday. She's doing really well. We made a goal with her to come to church on June first. Instead of a baptismal date, a come-to-Sacrament-Meeting date. Later on Thursday we got to teach Lamech! I haven't seen him since the end of April because he was on his trip in Africa. He had a good time. It was so great to be able to teach him again. I've missed his faith. It's so cool how new converts do more to strengthen us than we can do to strengthen them.

Friday we went out to the Baqueros and helped them start making their family tree on FamilySearch. My Spanish skills continue to be tested all the time. Now I can explain family history in Spanish. Syster Byrd said the closing prayer in Spanish! The gift of tongues is real! Then we taught Masoume again. It was an amazing lesson! She said she has no doubts about anything that we've taught her, and she knows it's all true and that the Book of Mormon is true! We asked her if there's anything we can do to help her quit smoking and drinking coffee and she said she knows she's addicted but she has to do it by herself or else it won't really work. I just wish there was some way we could help her. We're praying  A LOT for her!

Saturday was kind of like Wednesday. Everything fell through for a few hours including our backup plans. So we did the same thing and said a prayer, and prayed that we would find someone who needed our message right then. We were walking down the street when a woman who I've contacted before waved at us. We asked how she was doing and she said, "Bad. My friend died today." So we taught her about the Plan of Salvation. After we prayed with her she was very thankful and you could tell that the Spirit had touched her heart. Our prayer was answered-she needed us right then.

And yesterday was really good. Of course, it was Sunday and it was Mother's Day! I translated Sacrament Meeting into English for Lamech, which was much easier than Spanish. There were still a few times when I just had no idea though. Especially when they were reading out of the Bible. I did not expect to need scripture mastery for that purpose! We waited after church in agony for the bishop and his wife to come pick us and their daughter (Rebecka, the one you met) up and bring us home. They went to Trollhättan's ward conference instead of our ward. Then they wouldn't let us skype on an empty stomach so we had to eat a taco before we could skype. It was a good taco but I ate it really fast so I could talk to you! It went well last night with Mohammed and Hlimah but they need to read the book of Mormon!

Anyway, I'm out of time. I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Jag älskar er!

Love Delaney

Delaney and Syster Byrd with flowers in the background.
They decided Borås is basically Disneyland
because of all the beautiful flowers everywhere.