Pics

Me in front of the Stockholm Temple


All of us in the same group...love these girls!

Sister Coleman and me at the Temple during Sisters Training!

All the Sisters in the Mission....such wonderful ladies!

The Stockholm District this Transfer...we have the biggest district in the mission!

Me in front of Dom Kyrka...the largest in Sweden.

Summer...love the summer!

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been great in Uppsala. It has been really warm all week...which is unusual in Sweden. It's been about 80 degrees all week. I'm grateful for the warmth...but the busses really do need to get some A/C going on. Every time we step onto the bus, it's like walking into a sauna...oh...what a blessing A/C is. :) There really isn't such a thing here. For the most part, there is not A/C in the houses, or buildings, so when it's warm...it's warm no matter where you are. :)

The work has gone well this week. I'm happy, healthy, and continuing to do everything I can to invite others to learn about the gospel and repent. I love the gospel! I'll just share a couple of things that happened this week:

Ok...so I am going to start this by saying that when I got to Uppsala...I checked out the phone, and realized that the previous missionaries had a totally different organization of the phone than the rest of the mission...i.e. NO organization. :) We have had lots of fun throughout the transfer ringing to random phone numbers with no explanation...and asking them if they want to learn about the gospel. I've gotten every response...from already members who live in other parts of Sweden, to people who are totally NOT interested...to a few that said we could call back after summer. Well, with that introduction...one thing that happened last week was topping on the cake. :)

We found a number for a Christopher...who was marked as a TU...or tänk-bara...what is that in english...oh yeah...a potential investigator. We called him up, he was really positive and we set up a time to meet. When we went there, I asked him what his religious background was. In response he said, "I am a member of the true Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!" I think my response was something like, "What?!?!" Well, to make a long story short, Christopher is what I like to call a mystery member...he was baptized several years ago in Norrköping...my first area, and has moved several times...and his records are somewhere in cyberspace. We were able to teach him the Restoration and then invite him to church. He came! It was a funny thing that happened, but I'm grateful that we are able to have contact with a member and help him to be more active in the church. There's a reason for everything!

We had some really good teaches this week, and we have also had some challenges. One of our investigators who we have now taught the 3rd lesson to (Gospel of Jesus Christ) thought that we were the same as the Swedish Church...there's a lot to review about the Restoration with her...but she has a desire to learn and know....and it helped me to keep the perspective that people are truly "kept from the truth because they know not where to find it". I pray that we will be about to help her see the differences in our church, including the authority from God we have in the Priesthood, and the continued revelation received through the prophet and apostles...not to mention another witness we have of Jesus Christ through the Book of Mormon. As many of you know...I love to teach...and I continue to learn new ways of approaching teaching situations to best help those we teach.

We have our hard times as missionaries. However, no matter if it's a hard day, or whatever the challenge proves to be, I am continually amazed at the support we receive from the Lord to do His work. I am amazed that we have transfers in another 2 weeks and that I will be starting my last transfer on the mission. I still have much to do and much to learn. I hope you all have a great week. I pray often that all of you will be in good health, and continue to live worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Know that I love and care about you. I know this Church is the Lord's church.

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Is it really "warm" here?? (Monday, July 5)

Kära Familj och Vänner,

It's been a great, and very warm week here in Sweden. We have had several days of about 80 degree weather...which has been quite a surprise. It's actually a little too warm for me...I'm going to die when I get back into that hot, dry, southern Utah weather! Oh well, I don't need to worry about that yet. :)

The work in Uppsala is going well. We are continuing to meet with our investigators and help them move forward in the gospel. Sister Virkamäki and I headed into Stockholm for a Sisters Training at the Mission Home on Monday and Tuesday. It was wonderful. I want to share a little of what I learned there that I really liked:

President Anderson shared a message with us during our training, and one of the things he shared was a story Pres. Packer tells of a trip where they were on a boat going from one island to another...and to enter into the harbor of the island they were approaching, there was only a very small whole in the reef where they could enter with the boat. In order for the boat to know where the little entrance was, there was the lighthouse light at the top...but besides that, there needed to be a lower light that would shine and the captain of the boat needed to line up both of the lights in order to know that he was going in at the right place. Well, in the story, the lower light didn't get turned on because the person in charge of it fell asleep during their watch. As a result, the boat could not enter in at that place, and the boat had to go another 20 miles to another harbor in another part of the island.

With this story, Pres. Anderson compared us as missionaries...or we can say as members of the church...to the lower light. Christ is the upper light that we are all trying to come closer to...or follow, and we as the Lord's servants are the lower light. We are the way in which people come unto Christ. We help people line up their lives so that they can come to Christ through repentance and become perfected in Him. I really liked the analogy he used. We then sang, "Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy"...and the lyrics of that hymn are directly connected with the story Pres. Packer tells.

I was really uplifted and motivated by our training last week. We also got to do a session at the temple...it was amazing!!! I realize continually that I still have much to learn about how to be an unwavering, orubblig (unshakable) servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. I continue to stay on watch...and I'm continuing to help others come to Christ.

I'm doing really well here. I hope all of you had a wonderful 4th of July. We were invited to an American woman's house for a little celebration on Saturday, and it was wonderful to get to celebrate...even in another land. We need to all continue to be grateful for the freedoms we enjoy in the USA. It is a choice land.

I hope you all have a wonderful week. To end, I'll share a miracle we were able to see from last week. We had been contacting in the city for quite a while...and it was a pretty rough response...and we were going to take the bus home and went to see how long it would be before the bus would leave. Realizing that we had a 5 min. wait before the bus would come, we decided we would contact on the way to the next bus stop and catch the buss from there. As we started to walk, Sis. V saw two girls headed our way. She stopped them, and as we got talking, we realized that one of them was a girl from Pheonix, AZ visiting her friend Sandra...who is from Uppsala, but had been in Pheonix as an exchange student for 1 year. Not very far into the conversation, Sandra asked us if we were from "Mormonska Kyrka"...we replied yes, and they then preceded to show us their CTR rings. I was like...WHAT?!?! You have CTR rings?? Are you members of the church...and they replied no. Well it turns out that Sandra had been living with an LDS Family in Pheonix, and she got back to Sweden the day before we met her on the street in her home town of Uppsala. We got her phone number and told her that we have a church here. She was very glad to hear that. It was so amazing to have that opportunity to meet them. I pray that we will be able to meet and teach Sandra, and I am very sure that we were an answer to many prayers...that she would be able to find the church when she came back to Sweden. This work is a work of miracles, because it is the work of the Lord.

Have a great week! Take care of yourselves. I can't believe it's July. We have Sharpening tomorrow...with interviews, and I'm sure this week will be full of adventure, and more importantly...with miracles.

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood

Midsommar Pics

Sister Virkamäki and me with Pres. and Sister Anderson at Midsommar


The majstång (May Pole) everybody danced around during the Midsommar celebration.


Me with the majstång...


Sister Virkamäki with the majstång.


Sis. Virkamäki and me before the festivities...we played frisbee :) and soccer!!


Sis. Virkamäki and me in front of one of the university's buildings.

Almost July! (Monday, June 28)

Kära Familj och Vänner,

Hej på er! Hoppas allt är bra överallt och med allting. Arbetet här i Uppsala går jätte bra! Jag älskar den här staden och har haft en underbar vecka!

We've had a great week here in Uppsala! We have had a busy week with Zone Conference last Tuesday, and Midsommar festivities on Friday. We have been busy, and I'm loving the warm summer weather. We have bikes that work...I am discovering that I LOVE to ride bikes. There are awesome trails and bike lanes everywhere here. It's great!

As for our week in the work...everything is going well. We were able to meet with a couple of our investigators during the week, and we are helping everybody to make and keep commitments. The work has been slower here in Uppsala during the last couple weeks, but we are continuing to find people to teach. The Lord truly blesses us with miracles as we do His work.

One miracle this week, was that on Saturday afternoon we were on our way to eat dinner at Sister Rivera's house. She lives a train ride away, so we left and had about 15 minutes to contact people before we needed to head to the station. We met a girl named Cecilia. We asked her if she had thought about why she was here on the earth...she said she didn't really know. Sis. V asked her then, "Do you believe in anything?" The girl replied that she didn't really believe, but that she wanted to. She said that life is meaningless without something to believe in. We gave her a Book of Mormon and were able to get her phone number to make an appointment to meet sometime this week. There are not many Swedish people I have met who say that they WANT to have something to believe in. It was a miracle! The Lord knows where we are as His servants...and He is also aware of His children who are searching for the truth.

Yesterday, Marcus came to church. Every week he has been there, I've noticed that he is wearing nicer and nicer clothing everytime he comes to church. He has been coming to Sunday School and Sacrament meeting. We want to meet him this week and invite him to be baptized. We hold Sunday School in the classroom that is right next to the baptismal font. Yesterday he asked what it was...I got the opportunity to explain a little about our beliefs of baptism. I'm looking forward to teaching him about the way he can prepare to be baptized and receive all the blessings that come from following the Savior. We also had another investigator come to church yesterday...Christer! It was a great day at church.

Everything else is going well with me. I'm in good health...and continue to be happy to do the work of the Lord. I won't say that the work isn't hard...it has it's challenges, but as I continue to serve with all my heart, the Lord makes up for my shortcomings and helps people to change through their acceptance of the gospel.

I've started reading The Book of Mormon again...this time making a commentary in my own words of what is happening. It has really helped me to see the teachings in a different way. It is so very true that every time we read in the Book of Mormon, there is something new we can learn. I am so grateful for revelation that we can receive through the Spirit. It's what makes the difference when we study the scriptures, when we study for school, when we are looking for answers to our questions...the Holy Ghost can witness of the truth about EVERYTHING. What a great promise. I look forward to my studies everyday!

I hope all of you have a great week. We are headed to Stockholm tonight for a Sisters' Training Conference. It will be great I'm sure. We will be staying in the Mission Home tonight and tomorrow night and have training all day tomorrow and a temple session for all of us Sisters in the evening. I'm looking very much forward to that. We also will meet with Hans and Anette this week. We pray that they have read and prayed. The gospel really blesses everybody! Everybody needs it. It's the key to eternal salvation. I'm so glad I have the opportunity to share it with the people of Sweden. Time is going by all too quickly. I'm trying my best to make it count!

Love you all! Take care!

Sister Suzanne Wood

Suz's Birthday Pics

St. Marias Kyrka....built in the 14th century.

Sister Swenson, Sister Maxwell, Sister Virkamäki and I at the old ruins in Sigtuna.

The kyrkogård outside of the St. Marias Kyrka.

The Princess tårta that Jakobsberg Sisters made me for my birthday!

Wonderful work! (Monday, June 21)

Kära Familj och Vänner,

It's been a great week here in Uppsala. We've had wonderful teaches, flat tires on bikes, a surprise investigator in church, and many other ups and downs. So basically, it has been another adventure filled week in my life as a missionary in Sweden.

I don't have a ton to write about today. I feel that as time continues to go on, I continue to have many uplifting experiences...but I feel like I have probably written about something similar in another letter...several months ago. I thought I would do something a little bit different today. I will highlight the week...with just a few points of excitement, and then share with all of you a little bit of what I've learned over the last couple of weeks...t

Highlights of the week:

1. We were able to teach Hans and Anette again. This time, the boys came in before we left...and we told them they were invited to be with us next time we come over. We explained that we will be playing a game...and then we laughed and joked...and talked about how we all love pizza. :) It was awesome. We are sincerely praying that Anette will read in the Book of Mormon...we talked about how it answers the questions of our souls, and she and Hans accepted our challenge to pick a question they have, and then read in the B of M to find some answers. We are going to visit on Wednesday...with a not yet created....fantastic game to include the whole family. I am SO grateful that I have the opportunity to help this family be stronger together. The gospel really does bless families!

2. I had a fantastic birthday!!! We went with the Jakobsberg sisters to an old village that is between our two areas and we went and checked out the old ruins, and had a great time together. Later on that evening, we had FHE with the YSA's and one of our investigators was able to come. It was awesome. They sang to me...in English...how thoughtful.

3. We were out contacting on Saturday...and often there are other young people that are out selling things on the streets in the cities around here during the summer. Well, one of them contacted me and said, "Can I ask you a question?" I then replied, "Yeah, if you let me ask you a question also." Well, she asked her question...and I explained that we don't have control over our bills...we wouldn't be able to use the service she was offering...then I asked my question, "What do you think is the meaning of life?" She was kind of taken back, but started really to think about it. We visited for a minute, told her about the Book of Mormon and she gave us her number so that we can meet and give her a Book of Mormon and tell her more about how she can find answers to life's questions. It was awesome!!!

The work continues to be rewarding for me. I love the people I have the opportunity to work with. I love my companion and have already learned a lot from her. I'm continually learning patience...with myself, with others, with bikes, with everything. I am especially learning to have patience with the Lord's timing. I got the opportunity to read Pres. Uchtdorf's talk on patience from the Priesthood Meeting last conference...and boy has it opened my eyes to the important nature of patience. I'll never forget the talk I gave in Sacrament Meeting before I was supposed to go into the MTC October of 2008...of course the topic being "Patience". I know we continue to learn patience throughout life, in order to be truly refined and willing to accept the Lord's timing.

I continue to learn a lot in my study. I love to study the gospel. I understand many things better than I did before my mission. What a blessing it is for all of us to be able to read in the scriptures, and read the words of the latter-day prophets, and learn and grow continually in our knowledge of the mysteries of God. I hope you have all taken advantage of the fact that there is so much for us to study and learn...to become the sons and daughters our Heavenly Father wants us to be...His Sons...and His daughters. We can all do that by continuing to get to know Him better...and of course getting to know The Savior better. They are truly one.

Love you all! Hope you all have a great week and that everything is going well during the summer!

Love,

Sister Suzanne Wood