July 26th letter

Elder Arko is having a blast in Sweden. He got to play innebandy (aka floorball) for the 2nd time ever! He said ,"It's a crazy sport with a lot of randomness, but still pretty fun." Well, that wasn't enough for me so I looked to Wikipedia for further guidance. This is what I found 'Floorball, a type of floor hockey, is an indoor team sport which was developed in the 1970s. It is a fast paced sport, with limited physical contact allowed. Floorball is most popular in areas where the sport has developed the longest, such as the Czech Republis, Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland. The game is played indoors on a gym floor, making it a year-round sport at the amateur and professional levels. There are professional leagues, such as Finland's Salibandyliiga and Sweden's Svenska Superligan.' Sounds pretty exciting, eh? Hopefully we'll get some pictures next letter!

Elder Arko also described the weather in Sweden right now. It has been mostly rainy and the temperature is around 20-25 degrees Celsius so it's not bad at all. They did however have a week where the temperatures reached 40 to 45 Celsius which is extremely hot for Sweden, not to mention the humidity. How would you like to ride a bike in that? There's an area that has quite a few little hills and the Elders have street bikes which means no gears so that's not the most fun for them especially in the hot humid weather.

Elder Arko and his companion have been trying to get the ward jump started on helping them with refferals, but it has been kind of hard for them. They haven't had a baptism for a while in Alingsås so it's kind of hard to do that, but they're working on it. They have actually found a lot of new investigators recently that are a little younger so that has been an exciting change for them. On Tuesday they are going to a bible study class/skate session that a bunch of youth have so they are excited for that. Not only do they get a chance to meet a lot of the young people, but they also might get to try skate boarding at a skate park...that would be interesting.

The last thing Elder Arko said is "Have fun, I miss you all and I'm not worried about you one bit because I know that God is watching over all of you! LOVE YOU"

Elder Arko

And now for some pictures. Elder Arko and Elder Seegmiller saw these HUGE apartment complexes up on the hill and Elder Seegmiller wanted to go check them out so they did. It turns out they were locked, but before they found that out and were trying to find a way in, they went around to the back door. They realized that it was right on the edge of this nature preserve so they took some pictures of the discovery they made. Elder Arko said it was very fun to see a forest in Sweden.

July 20th letter

This past week has been very hectic for Elder Arko with transfers and getting to know his new companion. Elder Seegmiller is very nice and Elder Arko thinks they will get along just fine. This is his first transfer going senior so it should be interesting. Elder Arko is staying in Alingsås for now and that is just fine for him right now. He didn't have to pack or move and he knows the area pretty well.

Elder Arko and Elder Seegmiller have already had a few fun experiences together. They taught two people outside a pub in a small town near Alingsås and it was really funny! One of them was basically drunk, but the other was sober and had some really good questions about why our church is different. They wanted to know why bad stuff happens to little children and stuff like that so they had a good long discussion. Elder Arko doesn't know if anything will come of it because she seemed pretty set in her ways about life, but it makes for a way good story.

Elder Arko is also having fun trying to communicate with ward members more since he knows them better than Elder Seegmiller. He likes feeling a little bit of responsibility in that area.

Elder Arko's Swedish is coming along and he wants to learn more discriptive words now so he can explain things in more detail. When people begin speaking to him in Swedish he can understand what they're saying and he doesn't have to translate it in his head. He's thinking in Swedish everyone!!!

Elder Arko with the Ivestedt family Elder Stocks with the Ivestedt family

Elder Baker, the District leader, and Elder Arko

The District: Elder Scoville, Elder Humphries, Elder Arko, Elder Argyle, Elder Baker, Elder Lords, Elder Depew, and Elder Stocks

Love from Sweden...or from Sweden with Love...-Elder arko

July 15th letter

Elder Arko received transfer information this past week. He will be staying in Alingsås for another transfer, but Elder Stocks is leaving to the Stockholm. There, Elder Stocks will be a District Leader and his new companion is Elder Ahola who arrived in Sweden in Elder Arko's group. That means Elder Arko is getting a new companion and his name is Elder Seegmiller. He is one of the three Elders in Sweden right now that is from West Jordan! Elder Seegmiller went to Copper Hills High School, so not too far away from where Elder Arko comes from!

And now for some funny stories. Elder Arko tried to use a hard boiled egg and a raw egg as a spiritual thought and show how you can spin them to find out which one is boiled...just like he learned from his parents...so the member just shook the eggs and Elder Arko's plan fell through.

Another time, Elder Arko was with the Ivstedt family (Lennart and his 2 siblings). Their names are Rune and Evor. As Elder Arko he was giving the closing prayer he said, "We thank thee for this opportunity to visit with Lennart, Rune, and ....." Yep...he had forgotten the sister's name... Elder Stocks started chuckling very hard and Rune was nice enough to cough "EVOR". Evor then put her hand on Elder Stocks' shoulder and said very nicely, "Skrata inte" or don't laugh.

Next week the Elders will be back to their regular schedule which makes Elder Arko very happy. Transfer week has been a little stressful. Elder Arko says, "It's like getting your call all over again because you don't know where you are going. Granted you are still in Sweden but it's just exciting!"

They found a great new potential investigator, but he went back to Paris, France. He went to church last Sunday and seemed to enjoy himself, but he doesn't speak Swedish or English. Elder Arko gave him the addresses to the churches in Paris and the mission phone number so hopefully it works out.

And now for some pictures

This is one of Elder Arko's favorite pictures from when He and Elder Stocks first met! Elder Arko, Lennart Ivestedt (a member), and Rune Ivestedt (Lennart's brother)this is Elder Arko trying to communicate with some Bermese kids that are learning Swedish as well.

July 7th leter

Yay for pictures! First, the green shirt that Elder Arko purchased

Okay, about Elder Arko's week...although he is in a strange and far away land, he still remembered our little old country on the 4th of JULY! He said that his present for the 4th of July was getting to spend a lot of time explaining our holiday to Swedes. Most of them know it's an American holiday, but they don't know much about it. He also had the opportunity to SEE AND FOLD a real American flag!!! Elder Arko and Elder Stocks know this guy who lives down the street from them and he likes the missionaries and America so one of the previous American missionaries had his family send this man a full-sized American flag. He flew it on the 4th, so the Elders stopped by and asked them when they were planning to take it down and if they could show them how we Americans fold it. So they got to take it down, fold it, and teach them about the symbolism that is in our flag. Elder Arko said it was such a special experience for him! He didn't realize how much he missed it until he saw it on the flag pole and it felt a lot like home. Elder Arko has realized how much going without things makes him appreciate the little everyday things.

Elder Arko and Elder Stocks spent the rest of our holiday taking some "love cake" (a missionary invention) to an American investigator, and of course their amazing member Lennart! They had a good teach about the Holy Ghost and America's past with both Lennart and his brother so that was very fun for them.

This past week Elder Arko attended sharpening which is where the district of missionaries meet and receive a message from their zone leaders and Sister Anderson (their mission President's wife). Elder Arko also had and interview with President Anderson about how things have been going. The interview went very well and he will know on Tuesday if he's going to be staying in Alingsås or leaving and who his companion will be. Elder Arko has a feeling he's going to be staying in Alingsås and his companion, Elder Stocks, will be moving, but we'll see if he's correct!

Elder Arko has been Elder Arko for 4 months!! He states that 1/6 of his mission is already gone! He likes to think of it as Elder Holland when he said, "Everything good in my life came from that small 24 month gesture to the Lord." Now that he has a different perspective on it and realizes what a short time it is for him to be out there and he can do so much good during his time if his heart is in the right place.

Elder Arko would also like to give us all some advice after seeing things from a little different perspective...referrals are AMAZING! The Gospel is received much easier from friends or family than a stranger in a suit. With that, he also extends a challenge to everyone who reads this to talk about the Gospel to someone you know. He knows it's hard and strange, but in the end you won't regret it. Pray to know who the Lord has prepared that you know and just follow him.

Speaking of people who are prepared, they have a new investigator. They met on Thursday while Elder Baker was in Alingsås for splits and Elder Stocks went to Borås. They were slowly going to an appointment because they were a little early and they met three guys outside an apartment. They started talking to them and one of them recognized us as Christians, but none of them really knew about the Church. So they started talking to them and two of them had to go, but the other one was very interested in learning about what they are all about, so they set up a time to go and talk to him and on Monday they taught him the first lesson and gave him a Book of Mormon. He was very excited to begin reading and seeing what our religion is about and he really liked that they ended with a prayer.

Elder Arko says he has received a few letters, but would like some more (or I just added that last part). He said that he knows that life gets in the way so he understands, but allowing him to make excuses for you should make you feel really badly...so WRITE HIM!!! He expresses his gratitude for all the support and prayers that you all give him. He says he knows that God is watching over us all and he LOVES YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!