November 17th letter

Transfers were this week and Elder Arko will be staying where he is and getting a new companion! His name is Elder Dees and he's from Texas. From what Elder Arko has heard so far, Elder Dees is quite the character! Elder Arko is excited to have some fun with him!

Elder Arko's family is planning a birthday party for him. His parents have all kinds of Swedish drinks that will be tasted. One is called glogg and Elder Arko hasn't been able to try that yet. The Swedes also have another drink that they love around the holidays called Julmust and from what Elder Arko has tried it isn't too good. However, the Swedes don't like Root Beer and they can't understand why American's drink that so the differences humor Elder Arko.

Elder Arko thinks we have more snow in Utah than they do right now! A lot of theirs has melted because it has been raining! The weather isn't too bad right now and they've been on the positive side of 0 for the last two days.

Elder Arko knows he's repeating himself again, but it is starting to get way dark there. The last few days have been overcast and He hasn't seen the sun for a while. Elder Arko's body went tired one day and didn't want to work because of it. He thinks he's starting to get used to it though. We'll see how long it takes until He's not tired and hopefully it's not a whole mission thing.

It's really strange for Elder Arko that He's almost 20! He can't believe it! He did already get a birthday present from a member there who loves the missionaries. He gave Elder Arko a little bit of candy, an old Swedish comic book, and a pocket watch. Elder Arko said the pocket watch is actually pretty sweet looking! It might sound a little weird to us, but hey they're in Europe, right?

Here is a goodbye picture of Elder Loomis in all his glory.

Elder Arko having some fun with stuff He has received from his parents