Week 65 - Spring is on the horizon!

Hello dearest friends and family!

Hope you have had a wonderful week! Spring is on the horizon! Still pretty far away though to be honest. hahah but really good week this week! We can start off with some highlights as usual. :) Last Monday, we went and played some basketball with some other missionaries and president Youngberg so that was super fun! We met a really cool couple from Brazil and we are going to go back this Wednesday! :) Got blessed by a crazy old lady, went on exchanges with Elder Winkel, got a free coffee and gave it to a begger, got a referal from a member in the states, #clutch had a few member meals and had church! So, overall good week I would say! 

So this week, we were out and about on Tuesday, so we decided to pack a lunch with us. When it came to lunch time, we found a best next to a conveince store and broke out our sandwiches and started muchin' before you know it, this guy comes up to us and starts talking to us. Totally thought he was a member because nobody  just comes up and talks to us. He then asked if we had any pain anywhere is our bodies. I was like uhhh no. He was okay and explained to us that he goes to this healing church as wanted to help us feel better. haha as we were talking to this guys, someone else comes us and asked for a new Book of Mormon because he lost his. haha what do you mean you lost yours?!? Then he just left. Pretty weird 10 minutes of my life. Maybe we should eat out more often. :)

Yesterday, the theme in Sacrament meeting was Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. and we had a few really good talks that I really enjoyed. One of the members, Brother Karlsson, Talked about how not only is it a day for us to go to church and receive the spiritual strength for the week (which is a very important part of Sundays) but it is good for our physical bodies as well! To take a rest day every week is one that that scientists have proven as a benefit to us! It was cool to me to think about that The Lord really does know us inside and out! I mean he did create us ya know. haha He knows what is best for us and as we follow the commandments that he has given us. They are to help us progress not to restrict us. So this week, when you feel like complaining about something the Lord has asked us to do and think about why. Because I know as I do that it makes these commandments a lot easier to follow! 

I love you all so so much! Hope you have a great week! As always, Keep the Faith!!

Love,

Elder Baggett

Syster Haroldsen and Cole.  Me and Äldste Steele on the Tunnelbana.

Ingenting (meaning nothing) 0.7 km away

Horse cop

Week 64 - Hej!

Hey everyone! 

Super good week this week! Feeling super good. Mentally, Physically Spiritually and all of the other -ally's. :) haha we had a ton of things that happened and I don't have a ton of time, so we will try to make this quick and not miss anything. SO, highlights, we had zone conference on Tuesday. Went super well! We talked a lot about the new phones that we will be getting next transfer! So that was cool. Wednesday we had institute, and I have a crazy story from that. So stay tuned! Thursday, we Elder Steele and I went back to high school! Details to come on that as well. Friday, nothing too crazy happened, Saturday, we had a day full of members! Lunch AND dinner so that was nice. :) Then Sunday we had ward conference and a member meal! So good, really good week I would say! 

Since I am lazy and Elder Steele already typed it up you get to hear this story from his point of view. :)

"On Wednesday nights we have dinner at the YSA center and then usually stay for institute right afterwards if an investigator or a less active we are working with comes. Well, as we started eating dinner, I was eating pretty fast. I was hungry and the food was way good so I wasn't just going to take little bites. We'll, I'm pretty sure you all know where this is going...I started choking and I start panicking. I pick up my glass of water and start chugging down water but all of it is getting stuck in my throat because there's food in it. I quickly stand up, pushing my chair back and dropping my fork on my plate. I look at Elder Baggett and he's just like "umm...what?" And then I point to my throat and he still isn't understanding and then I remember back to elementary school where we learned the international sign of choking and so I put both hands around my neck and then Elder Baggett springs into action. My life has already flashed before my eyes and this point. But, just as I thought I was done for, my comp comes behind me, doing the Heimlich Maneuver, saving my life in front of about 20 other people. Thank goodness for Elder Baggett!"

Crazy stuff! S/O to Kathy and Tawnee for teaching me how to save lives.

Then on Thursday, Elder Steele and I got invited to go and teach and one of the private high schools here! Here in Sweden they have religion class all through high school. And right now, they are studying Christianity and specifically Mormonism. So we made up a little presentation and not going to lie, I was pretty freaking nervous. This is a class of 25 or so 18 year olds that speak a lot better Swedish than I do. But we got in there and just got to work! We were able to talk about everything we wanted to and they asked a lot of really good questions that we were able to answer. So that was really fun. Glad we got the opportunity to do that. :)

The other day I was studying spiritual gifts and that was really cool something that was really cool that stuck out to me more that usual, was that there are sooo many gifts that we receive from our Heavenly father and not two gifts are the same, but there isn't one that is better than all the rest. He loves us all so much and that is why he gives us these things so we can be blessed as well as those around us. One cool thing that I did, was I read my Patriarchal blessing and I found those things that Heavenly Father has blessed me this week, wrote them all down and I picked two to work on this week! He has blessed us with so much and we need to be prepared to use those traits and talents when the time comes. :)

Hope you all have a wonderful week! Love you all tonssss! Don't forget to keep the faith. :)

Cheers,

Elder Baggett

Us and our High School class :)

Elder Lee and I @Zone Conference

Week 63 - It's cold here!!!

Heyyyy!
Super good week this week as always! Still working hard finding people to bring to Christ. :) we did a ton of stuff this week it feels like. Haha highlights from this week!! We got a good amount of snow it got down to about -20 two days this week. So that was fun. :') we had a few member dinners, we talked to a ton of cool people on the subway! Had district meeting, and met with Nils!! So it was a really good week I would say. We had a ton of time for finding so we switched it up as much as we could. Talked to people on the streets, called people, knocked doors, on the subway, ya know all the good stuff :) but really good week I would say!

But we did have a cool experience from this week! So, Saturday we had a completely white day, nothing planned so we planned lots of finding obviously and it started out pretty bad... We got out at 10:00 and contacted for about 2 hours and talked to literally nobody. We tried, but it ended up in a lot of awkward situations and people not wanting to listen. But Elder Steele and I wouldn't let each other get down. So we got reenergized with some lunch and studies and got back out. Some more of the same but we stayed out trying to get through it. Then, (little background, there has been this old investigator we have been trying to get a hold of but have never been able to. We talked about it in weekly planning to get a hold of him this week) and we contacted into him! He still wasn't super interested in meeting but he still reads the BoM every now and again so maybe one day! it was honestly such a miracle! Then, that evening we planned to go out tracting. And it went pretty well! We found an area with some younger more open people. Still nothing super crazy though. Then we said okay, last port then we have to go catch the train. And literally the last door we knocked on was an amazing family that invited us back!! It was so cool to see the miracles come after the trial of our faith. :) 

I was studying prayer this morning, and I came across this in the Bible dictionary and I really loved it. :) "Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others, blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings." And I love that! Remember as you pray that it shouldn't be a rote thing. I would invite you this week to look at your own prayers and ask yourself how can I make my prayers more meaningful and better align my will with Gods. :) I know that as you do the lord will bless you so so much! 

I love y'all and hope you have a good week! Thanks for the the love and support it doesn't go unappreciated! :) as always, Keep the Faith! 

Love,
Elder Baggett-- 

Week 62 - Tjeeeeena!

Tjeeeeena!
Hoppas ni har haft en bra vecka! :)
(Hope you have a good week!)
This week has been a good one! Lots of good stuff starting to get going. Well, kind of. Haha but we are keeping are spirits high as working as hard as we can! Highlights from this week, it has been bloody cold all week. Like -5 as the high. :) So that has just been great. Haha We contacted people at the university which was super fun! Met some cool people our age! We had interviews with president which went well as always. I got a package. Thanks mom. :)) we had a leadership training over Skype which I though was pretty cool! We had district meeting and institute. And also passed out Book of Mormons at the musical! We went on splits with the Gubbängen elders and we played badminton with an investigator! Pretty eventful week I would say! :)

So, this week has been a little tough finding/ investigator wise. Being here in Stockholm is difficult because most all of the people you find don't live in your area. So a lot of finding and referring... I was kind of getting frustrated with the whole thing, but then I thought to myself ya know, does it really matter what missionary teaches these people? I know it would be cool to be a part of that and to see them grow, but that isn't always the plan. So this week I have been appreciative of the part I get to play in the life of the people I meet. Whether it be as small as getting their number and sending it to another missionary or as big as being able to teach and baptize someone. I don't know, just a little thought I had. Be thankful for what you get to do not be sad about the things you don't get to do. :) 

Yesterday, in gospel principals we talked about repentance and the parable of the prodigal son. One of my absolute favorite stories. :) but we talked a lot about how we, as the prodigal son, have in some way or another taken what our heavenly father has given us and put it to waste. And I myself know that it is not easy to say, wow I really screwed up and I need help. As we do so and we come back to our father he will quite literally, through grace run as far as he can to receive us and bring us home. :) so, don't hesitate to turn around and return to to path that the Lord has established for us. He is waiting, calling for you! 

Well my friends my time is short, but I hope you all have a wonderful week full of laughs and cool adventures. :) don't forget to keep the faith! Much love! 

Love, 
Elder Baggett

Playing Badmitton

The weather this week has been extremely cold!

Stockholm

Ward friends from Brazil

Me, Will and Elder Steele

Week 61 - Hejsan mina vänner! :)

Hejsan mina vänner! :) 
How is going back home! This week has been an awesome/ crazy/ super long/ super short week. Ya know, one of those. :) haha first and foremost, as I said last week we had transfers! Elder Steele is my new comp. He is from Dallas Texas and has been out about 7 months! He is a stud, works really hard and I'm excited to continue to get to know him and work with him! Other highlights from this week! This past week was fettisdag!! It's a holiday when everyone goes and gets these things called semlor. They're these pastries that are a roll with almond  and whipped cream inside, I'll send a pic. Sooooo good. So we got those with the sisters! A member from LA called us up and wanted to go out with us so we were able to do that as well so that was cool. :) I lead my first district meeting which was a little sketchy but it went really well! It snowed yesterday!! We found some super cool potential investigators, we gave a blessing and took the sacrament to a member and all of the other regular stuff we do every week. :) hahah

Cool story from this week, so we were out talking to people Saturday morning, and little background there usually aren't very many people out at all on Saturday mornings. But we were out and I felt prompted to talk to this guy and he was super cool! Studying here and from China! I was able to tell him nice to meet you and introduce myself in Chinese and he got really excited! Then not 5 minutes later it happened again! It is so cool to see how the lord put me in that situation to take Chinese class 4 years ago so that I could talk to those people now. :)

Sooooo spiritual thought from this week, this may be little weird, but stick with me. So I have been learning chess for the past couple of weeks and I have gotten to become pretty decent. I really enjoy it! But I have a weakness, I get so focused on one piece and when you do that it is very easy for your opponent to get you off your course. Elder Rasband talked a little about this in our last general conference. But our life is like a giant chess board. God is the player and we are the pieces. He is setting us up to get us in the best position possible to accomplish the work that needs to be done. And we need to trust him that what he is doing is right. Even though we may be focused on another piece at the time he can see all the pieces and knows what we need right at the moment we need it. :) "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy path"

Thanks again for all of your love and support. You guys are seriously the best. :) I hope you have a wonderful week! And you will hear from me again soon! Aaand don't forget to Keep the Faith. :) 

Love, 
Elder Baggett

A church by our house.

New Companion Äldste Steele!

Week 60 - Transfers

Hey everyone! 
Really good week this week! Pretty crazy one honestly. But good nonetheless. :) but big news from this week! Transfers are this week!! We got transfer calls last night, and Elder Nelson will be moving out to Borlänge this week. Pretty sad to see him go, but he will do great there. :) and me on the other hand will be staying here in Stockholm and will be getting Elder Steele as a companion! Don't know much about him, so it will be fun to get to know him. And on top of that, I will be the district leader! Pretty weird, but should be fun. Looking forward to it. :) anyways! Other highlights from this week! We cleaned the church, we ate out like 5 times. Oops. Haha Elder Nelson had a doctors appointment, we got cancelled on quite a few times.. so we had some good finding time. :) we went on splits with the district leader which went super well! Good week overall. :) 

Funny story, so we were at the doctor for elder Nelson and the cardiologist was super nice! She spoke English with us so he would understand better and long story short she was filling out a prescription for him, and in Swedish, the words for prescription and recipe are the same word so she told us, "Okay! You can go and pick up your recipe at the pharmacy and this recipe will last you one year" hahah it was super funny. :) 

So this week as a spiritual thought, I came across this is my personal study, probably the most known scripture in the New Testament. John 3.16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." And it is just so simple! As we do our best to follow Christ and to live his gospel, he promises us eternal life! How cool is that? :) 

Sorry for the short email, but that's really all I have from this week! Hope you all have a good one and you will hear from me soon! As always, Keep the Faith! :)

Love,
Elder Baggett

Week 59 - Tjena grabbar!

Tjena grabbar! :)
Hope you have all had a good week! As usual, this week has gone really well! :) this week we have had some cool stuff going on. As for highlights, first, we had mission tour this week! It was so awesome President Johnson the Europe area president and his wife came and presented a training and it was awesome! I went on splits with the stake president, I bought a new suit (on sale don't worry), had institute, we had an absurd amount of people cancel on us this week, so we have found some good finding time! also had a few successful swing by's which was super cool! 

MISSION TOUR!! My favorite time of the year. :) President Johnson and his wife are two of the nicest people I have ever met. Honestly. It was really cool! We talked about being happy a lot. Because sometimes it's not so easy when it's dark and cold and people won't listen to you. Haha :) we also talked about setting goals and why that is important. The assistants and President and Sister Youngberg as well as Sister Johnson all had some time of training. But when President Johnson got up he just said, okay elders and sisters, what questions do you have? And he opened it up to us to ask him things that have been our minds. :) it was so awesome! He truly is an inspired man! 

I don't know what it is about the white shirt, tie and name tag. But is seems to always attract the crazy people. Just this week we have been approached on the street, in a restaurant, in the subway station like 10 times. Haha it's fun though is puts a little spice in our day. And on that same thought, it is really easy to look at those kind of people and judge them. They did this or that, or it's their fault that they are in that situation. Whether they did or not, they are still a child of God! Our spirit brothers and sisters. :) we really should do our best to love them just as we would anyone else! 

As a spiritual thought this week, I found a cool scripture that I thought to share with y'all! It is in D&C 88:63 it says, Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. I love the promise that when we strive to come closer to him, he will come closer to us. :) 

I hope you all have a good week! Stay warm and stay out of trouble! Love you all so much! Don't forget to keep the Faith! Catch you next week. :)¨

Love,

Elder Baggett

5/6 MTC squad! Elders Petersen, McCarl, Lilenquist, Buchanan.

The Bingham Bros... Elders Beckman and Waters