Summer Days (Monday, May 17)

Dear Family and Friends,

I've had a great week here in Jakobsberg. The sun has decided to grace us with it's presence these last few days, and it's been absolutely beautiful around our area. The trees are finally looking green, the tulips are in bloom and it's a little bit warm outside! We are always happy when the suns out and it's warm! I hope that all of you are enjoying warm weather as well. We have had a great week doing the work here.

One of the things that we were able to do last week which was wonderful is work with a lot of less-active members of the church. Those who haven't been to church for a long time...for whatever reason. We taught a man named Carlos and his wife Empertice. When we stopped by to visit them, they let us in and as we visited, the Spirit became very strong. Carlos served a mission in Chile many years ago, but has been inactive here in Sweden for several years. He still has a testimony of the gospel, he read the conference talks online from last conference, but he and his wife have been to church only 1 time since I have been here....and that was the only time in many years. As we taught them, I continued to think about the simple commandment it is for us to attend church every sunday. I thought about how easy it has been for Carlos to get out of the habit...and now it's proving to be very challenging for him to come back. We as human beings can come up with thousands of reasons why we can't be in church, or why we can't read our scriptures every day, or why it's easy to forget to pray...or whatever it is for us personally. But, I'm really learning that excuses don't change our consequences when it comes to what our Heavenly Father has asked us to do. Carlos is missing the blessings because he is choosing to excuse himself from God's commandments. I don't mean this to be harsh...but I just understand better how important it is to be obedient to the commandments. We receive our blessings based on our obedience.

We also met with several other people last week with the same scenario. Our ward here would be quadruple in size if all that had a testimony of the truth came to church. We will continue to work with these wonderful people and hopefully help them to make it back. I have such a strong testimony of continuing in faith...it makes all the difference.

We also taught swedish class last week, and continue to help people here learn the language better. Everything with Yvonne is going well. She has many difficulties she is trying to overcome and we are doing what we can to help her to be prepared for baptism again.

A man we met with for the first time last week named Matts was a member of the church in the 80's. He is no longer a member by his own choice, but has continued to have a testimony of the gospel. As we visited him, we asked if he had read and prayed about the Book of Mormon...like Moroni exhorts us to do. He said that he had never done that...even when he was a member the first time. Our commitment to him was to read, and pray about that specifically to receive an answer for himself. He is very positive and we hope to help him gain a true, personal testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel...not just a liking of us, or the people at church. We all need our own witnesses of the truth.

I feel a little preachy in this letter. I don't mean to be, but I hope that all of you continue to remember how important it is to hold on to your testimonies. Continue to live the gospel. Our Heavenly Father loves us each so much...He wants us to come back to Him. He wants us to be obedient so he can bless us. I know that to be true and continue to see the love Heavenly Father, and His Son Jesus Christ have for each of us...and also clearly for the people of Sweden...and all mankind. Please take care of yourselves! Have a great week. I'm in good health, and I'm happy doing the work of the Lord.

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood