August 24th letter

This week's letter was pretty long because of everything Elder Arko had to say. He had a very busy week, so let's get started. After telling me to brace myself, he announced that he cut his own hair a little while ago! He says it's short and simple and it looks pretty good. The best part about it is that he saved 130 krowns (almost $20)

Elder Arko and the comp had fun this past week trying to make it easier to work in Trollhättan. First of all, Elder Arko spent some time trying to fix a flat bike tire, which unfortunately didn't work out. He ended up riding a half-flat bike tire to the train station. It was still better then last week since they actually got back into Alingsås on Saturday instead of Sunday morning.

Anyway, a lot of their time has been dedicated to Elder Seegmiller practicing the piano. He is going to play the piano in sacrament meeting next week so that should help some investigators and less actives make it to church. They've also been having pretty good numbers in their little town with teaches and new investigators. They have an investigator who is reading regularly in the Book of Mormon and they are now working on prayer with him so they love seeing the progression.

The recent family reunion made Elder Arko think that he'll only miss one more of those and then he'll be home! It's amazing how short a mission can seem when you look at it like that. Elder Arko prefers counting in weeks since it makes it not too long and not too short. In just a little while he'll be approaching his quarter mark! Crazy!

This last transfer has brought a change in the temple attandance policy. The Elders used to request to go once every transfer, but now it's once every six months. Elder Arko will get to go in about two months. Speaking of transfers, they're just a few week away. We'll see what happens for him.

So you're probably thinking what is that can of stuff? Well ladies and gentleman that is what Swedes call surströming. Surströming: sur means sour or fermented and ströming is herring, so fermented fish. Yum! They take herring and lay it in a can, seal it, and let it sit for almost a year.

Yes, Elder Arko has tried it.
This was right after Elder Arko had taken a bite of it in a tortilla with mashed potatoes...he said it was BAD. They took video of it as well so we'll get to see that eventually. Most swedes don't even like this stuff. All he can say is that he understands why you are supposed to open the can under water. Right after they opened the can it started to smell like his Dad's farts. Honestly, it was the worst and he can't describe it any other way.