June 29th letter

Okay, sorry no pictures this week, but still a really good letter. This past week went by very quickly for Elder Arko. They have been trying something a little bit differently and set a goal to get 15 teaches in one week. It could be through members, investigators, or less active members. So, they have been teaching A LOT more than usual when they would normally get only 10 teaches. They did a great job and met their goal! To achieve this goal, they met with a lot of members who really appreciated it. Everyone in their area really likes having the missionaries over. Elder Arko really noticed how much people respect the missionaries and how much of a spirit they carry with them and not even notice it themselves. For example, they had a short teach with a member one day and after talking about sharing the gospel they said a prayer. Elder Arko didn't think the spirit was really strong there, but after the prayer he noticed that one of the members had to wipe tears away. That really showed him how much he and other missionaries can touch people's lives.

Elder Arko made his first clothing purchase in Sweden! It's a green shirt and it cost about 50 krowns or so with equals about 8 US dollars. We should get a picture of it next week.

Elder Arko had his first dream where someone was speaking Swedish. The man in it looked a lot like Larry Walters, a family friend, and he looked at Elder Arko with a smile and said 'jag vet inte' which means 'I don't know' and that's all he remembers, funny huh?

Church is still way tough for Elder Arko because it's like having to concentrate for 3 hours on really advanced Swedish words with people speaking very quickly when they give talks. He is starting to follow conversations better so that is good. He still struggles with people who speak with pronunciation that is different from what he's used to.

He thinks he's been keeping his weight down since cycling is a good workout program, so we should all be able to recognize him in 2 years if he keeps it up!

Well, that's all for now. Oh, yeah and write him! He's been reading the comments on this blog, so if you want to drop him a little line, use this! Love from Elder Arko to everyone!

June 22nd letter

This past week was pretty eventful in Alingsås. First of all, Elder Arko spoke in church! It was a 7-9 minute talk and it was on the Holy Ghost. He used 4 scriptures so he could read them instead of trying to formulate his thoughts in Swedish the whole time. He also told an experience that he had in Lacrosse, although he didn't say it was lacrosse because they aren't familiar it over there. Anyway, Elder Arko expressed that when he listened to one of his teammates during practice and actually did the things he was told to do, it was a lot easier to hear that same teammate's voice during a game. He related that to the Holy Ghost and how we should get our spiritual ears in tune with him. Elder Arko was pretty scared, but thinks he did okay. A lot of people complimented him on his Swedish! He is very proud of this accomplishment and I'm sure this is the first of many to come.

Then, in Sunday school, he was following the conversation and he almost made a comment in class. He then decided that might not be the best time to make that particular comment so he didn't. However, the fact that he almost made one shows his improvement with the language.

Onto the food in Sweden. Usually when you go to a pizzeria in Sweden, you're given a pizza, salad, and a drink althought the salad isn't really a salad, but cabbage that has been either soaked or just drenched with vinegar and seasoning. Elder Arko was initially not a fan of the cabbage, but has started to be okay with it and is told by other missionaries there that he'll start to crave it every so often.

Elder Arko also tried herring this week. They got invited to a members house for lunch on Sunday and were under the impression that they were going to try seal since they had never had it before. Apparently seal and herring sound very similar in Swedish to him so that's where the mix up happened. Needless to say it was herring and he didn't think it was that bad although he wasn't too fond of the aftertaste. It was however from a can, so he thinks he might enjoy fresh herring more.

Transfers are coming up in about a month and Elder Arko is getting really excited to see if he's staying where he is or leaving Alingsås.

Now, here are some pictures of Midsummer!

Yes, this is a maypole and yes, Elder Arko danced around it, ha!

Unfortunately it was very rainy so they all ended up under tents

June 15th letter

This past week was 'Stavs' (or Stake Conference) for Elder Arko and he got to listen to Marlin K Jensen, Todd Christofferson, President Monson, and President Monsen's daughter! The best part was they got to listen to it in English! He learned that President Monson and his wife both have Swedish heritage...represent Elder Arko! He really enjoyed President Monson's talk about the Battalion of Soliders in WWI who got stuck behind enemy lines.

Teaching isn't going perfectly for them yet. This past week was a huge week for Sweden and Alingsås. For Sweden, it was Swedish National Day, a huge soccer game between Sweden and Denmark (which Sweden lost by the way), and Semester (the end of school so everyone goes out of town and takes a break from work). Alingsås had the Potatis Festival so it wouldn't have done any good to go out tracting or contacting because everyone was at parties or 'full' (which means drunk) so they just tried to schedule things that wouldn't take them into the public so much. They did get to go look around at the Potatis Festival and there was some cool stuff there.

Elder Arko said Sweden is much like America because it doesn't really have a culture of it's own, but rather has adopted several from other places. He says he's having trouble finding something "Swedish" that he can send home.

He metioned how much more green and lush it is in Sweden than back home, but that's because rain falls so much, even now during the middle of summer. Speaking of summer, Midsummer is the 19th and 20th of June. Apparently this is the Swedish celebration to see! Swedes love it and Elder Arko says, "I'm a little confused because I'm not really sure what they are celebrating, but we shall see." He's very excited to see what it's all about.

And now for pictures. There are only a few and of course they are random, so here we go...

a jack rabbit they saw in Trollhatton and chased for a little while to get an amazing picture Elder Arko's tidy bed

and finally the lovely kitchen...let's play name that appliance!

June 8th letter

Well, back here in "The States" there has been a lot going on with Elder Arko's family. His niece, Britlee, just had her 2nd birthday and although Elder Arko wasn't there to celebrate, his tape that he sent her and post card were much appreciated. He expressed his desire to be with the whole family like that and looks forward to the next time he is able to be a part of it!

From Britlee: Hey Uncle Jeff! I had the bestest birthday ever! First, I got to go to the Zoo with Mom, Dad, Paizee, Den, and C. It was so much fun!

Then we get to the good stuff...

I got a back-a-pack (that's what I call it) from Ben, Den, Dave, and C (that even holds my wa-wa)A camping chair from Mom & Dad (that also holds my wa-wa)
And a tricycle from Papa and Nana! Now, can you promise to keep a secret? Don't tell anyone else, but my favorite birthday present was hearing your voice on the tape you sent me and the post card from you that Mom read to me. I love you!

Okay on to Elder Arko's Letter! He expressed how weird it is that his cousin, Pat, is graduated from highschool and still thinks that he will be called to serve in Sweden as well. Hmmm, I don't know if any one country can handle 2 Arko missionaries at once, but we'll see.

So Elder Arko has recently tried to step up his boldness and strikes up conversations with people on buses or trains, which people don't usually do in Sweden. Teaching would be better if they could keep appointments though. This past week, they had 4 appointments fall through so that wasn't fun for them at all.

He says the language is getting better for him. They had a fireside on June 7th in Göteberg and after the singing of the missionary choir and the talks they had some food to break ther fast and people just sat around chatting. He even got a few compliments on how good his Swedish is for only being there a month. It's weird and crazy for him to think that he's already been there a month!

He's learning a lot of patience and love for the people that he's serving since most of the time they won't even break their stride when he tries to stop and talk to them. Elder Arko says it's when he just feels like giving up that the Lord throws him a bone and says, 'Hey look, it's really all worth it.'

Lennert, a ward member, is a great blessing to Elder Arko and the other missionaries. He is always ready and willing to help the missionaries in any way he can. If they don't have dinner scheduled with a member one night, he tells them to go to his house and he'll feed them. Thank you Lennert for keeping our son/grandson/brother/cousin/nephew/uncle fed! It's people like you who make it so the Mother's of these missionaries can sleep at night! Elder Arko and Elder Stocks might start teaching Lennert's brother soon, so he's useful for referrals and food. What more could a missionary want?

Now, here are some pictures of Elder Arko in Borås where he went on splits last Thursday with Elder Argyle who arrived in Sweden when Elder Arko did. Two greenies on the loose in Sweden...yikes!

Here are a few horses in the fields as they were heading up to Tröllhatton for a District Meeting

And now some crazy pieces of art

Brilliant!

A bunny that reminds Elder Arko of Pikachu from Pokemon. Yep, he's still a kid at heart!

And finally, a picture of his desk...hasn't changed much in the "tidy" department as you can see

It looks like the companion wins the "whose side is cleaner" game this time!
And finally, Elder Arko enjoys Swedish ice cream as well as Kebabs. He said he's not sure what exactly a kabab is, but knows it's some kind of meat! That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by and SEND ELDER ARKO A LETTER!!

June 1st letter

Okay, I may or may not have started this post a few weeks ago and just finished it...sorry, I've been in Utah! Okay here we go! One of the first things Elder Arko mentioned was our lack of letter writing! This is taken directly out of his letter "Lets see, I've only gotten one letter since I've been in sweden so people start writing! I wanna hear from all of you, think of how much you miss me.... or how much you miss someone important and then multiply it by however many of you I left behind :) yeah that's a lot."

He needs letters! I once heard a missionary say that letters (that come snail mail...or in this case air mail) are like pay checks! I know it's hard to get to the post office and pay 98 cents to have it delivered, but the blessings that you received will far outweigh the effort that you put in! Okay, I'll get off my soap box.

Moving right along. Elder Arko says although he misses everyone, he has found himself easily getting lost in all the work. His district has set a high goal for this transfer so hopefully with the focus on finding work they will soon see the rewards. He's been working a lot with the members recently trying to get the ward jumpstarted into missionary work and thinks it will definitely happen. Next week (which has already past since it took me so long to finish this post) will be a big week for Elder Stocks and Elder Arko. They had a lot of appointments set up or people that they have to call back who would be fantastic investigators. They also have two familys they are trying to visit.

In regards to Elder Arko's digestive system, he thinks his stomach is getting used to the food there and he's able to sleep more now because of a blanket that they put up to keep the sun light out since it seems to rise at 4 am. And it's BRIGHT! However, summer is almost halfway through so that won't last long. Everyone there says He will be missing the sun during the winter because it's only up for a little while.

Here is a funny story told by Elder Arko..."Oh, so language mistake time. We were going to the church for ward council meeting and while at the church I was talking to a guy named Björn (I think that is how you spell it.) Anyway, it means bear in Swedish, pretty cool. He said he went to the MTC so I asked him where he went on his mission (all in Swedish of course). He said 'Ryssland'. Now they say the R very fast and quiet...so I interpreted it as Iceland. Ryssland is actually Russia. So, we talked a little more and he said he was in St. Petersberg (nope I still didn't catch on) and in fact I said, "I didn't know they had a St. Petersberg there". He then said, "right, there is one in Florida" and I said, "well I know they have one in Russia too because my friend served there on his mission". Luckily right about then is when our conversation was interupted by another person and what is even better is I didn't learn about it till we were riding home and Elder Stocks told me that he went to Russia on his mission..... ha ha we had a good laugh about how stupid he must think I am."

In my opinion, the best part of his letter was the end. He informed up that he has started doing streches before he goes to bed that help him sleep better, and sends a shout out to Hillary (who must have been the supplier of a book or something). He gets 30 minutes a day to exercise and is thinking that Yoga is the way to go. If any of you blog readers have any tips or tricks in the art of stretching or Yoga, that information would be greatly appreciated by Elder Arko!

On a side note, everyone in Sweden thinks Arko is Finnish?! What the heck?!

(Another direct quote from Elder Arko)

And now for some pictures!

These are 20 and 100 Swedish Krona which together equal about 17 U.S. dollars

and here is the back side of both of them
Elder Arko got to visit a very old castle
View from a look out point near the castle