Week 74 - Service

Hello once again!
This is crazy, I swear I just wrote a group email.. Haha the weeks go by so dang fast! This week went super well! We did a lot of things this week! It feels good to be busy. :) we taught a few lessons which I absolutely love. :) I love helping people come closer to our Savior! We had a few member meals, also a good bonus. The ward here is awesome! Wouldn't want to spend 6 months anywhere else. We went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders! Love those guys. I was with Elder Craun. Awesome missionary! We had district meeting, we had an elders quorum activity, I ripped another pair of pants. Don't worry they are repairable but definitely in critical condition. We did some service at the bishops and we played soccer with the ward! So yeah! Fun week this week. :)

Cool story! Don't remember what day this was on Tuesday maybe. Elder Sirrine and I were out contacting and we were just going along doing the normal then Elder Sirrine cuts me off and nearly tripped me and starts b-lining it for this man on a bench. So obviously I have to follow. We get there and he is a way nice guy! I think his name was Santiago or something. We talk for a solid 20 minutes about work and life and all that kind of stuff. He asked us if we were the Mormons and we said yes, he proceeded to tell us that he met a member in the states and he told Santiago to request a Book of Mormon! So he did and the missionaries got in contact and gave him a Book. Then he got busy with work and couldn't meet them again. But now he was less busy and he said that he knew us meeting him was a sign from God for him to get in contact with those missionaries. :) we took the initiative and called the other elders and told them to give him a call and they will be meeting him this week!! So so cool. :)

Recently I have been focusing my studies in the New Testament. I was reading the other day on Matthew chapter 11 and I came across a few verses that I really loved. Verses 28-30 "28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" it is a simple reminder that Christ is inviting us to come to him. We have hard times and we have struggles but he wants to relieve us of those but be can't unless we come to him. I love my Savior and all that he has done for me! Strive everyday to come closer to Him and he can make your burden light. :)

Well that's all I have for this week! So I hope you all have a wonderful week and enjoy your summer vacation those of you that get that luxury. :) and you will probably hear from me next week! No promises though. I love you all so so much! And as always, keep that faith. :)

Love,
Elder Baggett

Cessa, Lisa and I

Cessa, me, Lisa, ELder Sirrine and bishop in the pool

One of the projects at the bishops house.

The painting project

I tell ya man, everyone is an artist here. "Prison Break".  haha

Stockholm

Week 73- Hej allihopa!!

Hej allihopa!!

Another awesome week in the books! I love being here serving the Lord. It truly does make me so so happy! A lot of things happened this week. But not too much crazy out of the norm. We had a few really good lessons, we had some member meals, once of which was with the bishop and his family. Super fun. :) we had district meeting and institute! I was able to go on exchanges with Elder Liljenquist who is in my MTC group. So that was pretty much sick. We were out contacting and met 9, yes, 9 members from the states in one day. Advantage of being Stockholm I guess? :) we played soccer with the ward, moved a piano, had interviews with President Youngberg and had a lot of time to find! And last but not even close to least. We got a baptismal date with Carmen!!!! :) she is so amazing! I will expound on this is just sec. So yes pretty dang good week this week. "Just keep 'em coming" is what Elder Baggett says. :)

So! Friday night we had a lesson with Carmen. We planned to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to focus on baptism. We got a member to come with. His name is Oscar, recently came home from his mission. Baller. So we got there and the whole lesson was just super spiritual. We were asking inspired question and she was answering just how every missionary wants they investigator to reply. When it felt right, elder Sirrine asked her is she wanted to be baptized, she was a little hesitant and voiced a few concerns. We were able to address them and I shared a personal experience and now, the spirit was there for sure. Most amazing feeling. So we asked her again but with a specific date and she accepted! June 16 is the day. So awesome we are really excited for her. :) but honestly the most PMG like lesson I have had on my mission. It was a super cool experience. :)

Last night, we were at a member meal, which was super fun by the way. :) and we got talking about member missionary work. And one of them was wondering why we talk about it so much. Literally every meeting in the church it is talked about in one way or another. Are we really that worried about the membership of the church growing? So we though about it, and I've thought about happiness. Everything we do in life, we do because it makes us happy. I play rugby because it makes me happy, someone else plays basketball. Why? Happiness. I though about the times I have been most happy in my life, and probably 9 out of 10 of those times have been on my mission while SHARING THE GOSPEL. Open your eyes people! They ask us to do these things to make us happy. The best way to serve someone is to tell them what brings you so much happiness. So get out there and "be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." 2 Tim. 4:12.

Well, I hope you all have a great week! I love and miss y'all! Aaaand as always keep the Faith!

Love, 

Elder Baggett 

Splits selfie! ELder Liljenquist and I.

Organ in the royal chapel.

Cool shoe store by the YSA center!

Week 72 - Happy Mother's Day

Hey everyone! 

Hope y'all have had a fantastic week! I sure have! :) The sun is out longer, it's warmer and people are a little bit more willing to talk, and that makes me happy. :) Lots of stuff happened this week! So lets get straight to the point here. Last Monday, we went and visited the Palace which was super cool. We were hoping to meet the King, didn't happen.. Cool story actually, the King actually said, not sure where or to who, but he said, if I wasn't the King ( to be the King of Sweden you have to be Lutheran and part of the Swedish Church) I would be a Mormon. So, kinda cool. :) We had FHE with some Americans in the ward, We got a way cool new investigator! Story to follow. Had a couple other lessons, member meals all the good stuff. I got a new companion! His name is Elder Sirrine and he is from Riverton! Pretty crazy! Cool guy, excited to get to know him and serve with him. :) We played Soccer with the ward which was a blast! Last but not least, I GOT TO TALK TO THE FAM!! It was a riot. :) Pretty weird to think that was the last call! Next time I see their faces I will be hugging them! *cue mother crying* haha So needless to say wonderful week!

So, about 2 weeks ago, Elder Steele and I were out contacting, and we met this really cool guy from Zambia named Edward. We talked about the Book of Mormon and stuff and he was interested! So we got a return appointment and went on our way. Well, our lesson was approaching, so we decided to give him a call and confirm, number doesn't work.. We were like crapppp not again man. But we had his address so we decided to swing by anyways. We get to his apartment building and the first door was unlocked. Sick. But not the second. crap part 2 We had to call him on the port code, not sure if that is what its called in English. But his name wasn't on there. Crap part 3 SO we were like well, maybe another day, as soon as a worker guy walks in the door, we explained the situation and he said, go ahead and see if he lives here and let us in! We found his name, floor 6. sick So we ran up and knocked. No answer. crap part 4 knock again and low and behold, there he is! He let us in and we taught the first lesson. :) The Lord loves to bless us man. and also come to find out, he plays for the national soccer team in Zambia and he is here playing for a professional team called Djurgården. I love being a missionary!

Yesterday, while my companion was Skyping his family, I was browsing pictures on LDS.org and I came across this one, which I will attach, of one of my favorite temples the Oakland temple. It made me think back to the priesthood council we had just last week. We were setting goals and making plans about less actives we wanted to help and someone said something about how if you don't have a goal that you want to accomplish you're just swinging in the dark and you're not going to get anywhere. Our goal should be the temple. To always live worthy to enter the Lord's house. Like President Nelson has said, Keep on the convent path! Always stay worthy of a temple recommend. If you aren't right now, get there! You will receive so many blessings by doing so. :)

I hope you all have a splendid week. Fun of sun, joy and laughter. :) I love you all so so much and you will hear from me next week! As always, Keep the Faith. :)

Love,

Elder Baggett

Love this picture of the Oakland Temple

Hej då Äldste Steele!

The Palace or Stockholm Palace!

 Elders Lee,  Liljenquist, Steele and Me.

Elder Sirrine and I with our buddy Jake. :)

Elder Steele, me, Liljenquist, and Lee

The Palace or Stockholm Palace!

Mother's Day

Our Mother's Day call was a bit unconventional.  We were driving back from California after Lindsey and Tyler's wedding.  We stopped in Las Vegas to find some WiFi.  We sat in the parking lot of Duncan Donuts and talked with Charlie for an hour.  He is healthy and happy and well...the same Charlie!!

Week 71 - Valborg

Hello everyone! 
Hope you all have had a great week! Now that we are a new and improved technology mission, I am emailing you right now from my phone. Hahaha how weird is that? This week has been one of the most spiritual weeks of my mission so far! And it has been amazing. :) Highlights: we got much needed hair cuts, we did some service for a member, we went on exchanges I was with elder Jarman here in Stockholm. Taught some good lessons then had a lot of time for finding! And that was only till Thursday! Now here comes the big hitter. Thursday night we got our phones so that was pretty cool. We had zone conference Friday which, as always, was super good and uplifting.  Saturday we had 3 member meals in a row.. I felt like complete trash after that. Lol then Sunday we had 1 hour church and then had a fireside with Elder and Sister Renlund! Monday we  had a special missionary meeting with them again. :) and yesterday was a holiday called Valborg. It's where everyone lights huge fires to burn away winter and welcome in spring. That was tons of fun! So yes, fantastic week to say the least! :)

Cool story from this week, so Sunday we had the fireside with Elder and Sister Renlund and it was so amazing! It was so cool to see all of the members that came. We were in a chapel that fits about 600 and about 800 members came! And not to mention we were able to hear an apostle of the Lord. :) he talked a lot about the church and how sometimes it can seem like we're on a little bit of a boat of misfits but no matter who is on the boat or even who is steering we are all making out way back home. Together. We need to support each other and love each other. We're all in this Together! It doesn't do any good to tear each other down. Moral of the story, "37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" Matthew 22

I was thinking back to what I could share with y'all as a spiritual thought for the week. And I thought back to what we talked about at zone conference. We did a lot of technology training, but then we talked a lot about Christ. President Youngberg asked us the question, "who is Christ to you?" And as we shared our thoughts and answers the spirit filled the room! It was an amazing experience. So I would invite you all this week to think about who Christ is to you. And try and think of him continually throughout the week and see how it can affect you for the better. :)

I love you all so so so much! And I hope you have a great week. And you will hear from me soon! Don't forget to keep the faith. :)

Love, 
Elder Baggett

Us, the Zone Leaders and Hampus.

Valborg!

Valborg- Burning away winter and welcoming the spring!

Our district- Valborg

Äldste Steele and I

A Valborg bonfire!

The two Stockholm Zones with Elder and Sister Renlund

This is Lisbeth Sanström. My Aunt Linnea's Mom's cousin.  (That's a mouth full)  Basically we're related! haha

From The Momma: I teach 2nd grade with Mary and she went on a trip to Finland to study their school system and opted for an extra two days in Sweden. How amazing that the Swedish ward she attended was Elder Baggett's  ward!!
She said he is doing great! He looks so good!