Visas, Visas, Visas

Wednesday, November 25, 2015, we traveled to Arlanda Airport to pick up our second Visa Waiter, Sister Sofia Therese Eriksson, who will be serving her mission in Minnesota Minneapolis.  She will be here in Sweden while she waits for her visa to come from the United States.  Sister Eriksson is from Kristianstad, in Southern Sweden.  Pictured below, from left to right are:  Elder Featherstone, Sister and Elder Koyle, Sister Jackson, Sister Austin, Sister Eriksson, Sister Bolton, Elder Archibald, and Sister and President Beckstrand.

Sister Eriksson, while she waits for her visa to come, will be trained by Sister Bolton and they will be serving in Södertälje.

Specialized Zone Training

Wednesday, November 4, 2015, we received our first Visa Waiter to the Sweden Stockholm Mission.  We traveled to Arlanda Airport to welcome Elder Chingshun-Johan Abel Chiu Falck, who is waiting for his visa to Taiwan Taipei Mission.  Elder Falck is from the Utby Ward, Göteborg Stake, here in Sweden.  Pictured left to right below are:  President and Sister Beckstrand, Elder Sahlin, Elder Burke, Elder Olsen, Elder Falck, Elder Archibald, and Sister and Elder Koyle.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015, we started our first of six, Specialized Zone Trainings.  We started with the Göteborg Zone in the Utby Chapel.  Our training consisted of teaching the importance of Diligence, and finnishing strong.  We also taught about "Come What May and Love It" along with giving our missionaries a rally cry when they feel tired and down, "Remember Him!"  Our assistants taught about our personal testimony and always sharing it with everyone we meet.  They then taught about Joseph Smith, and his remarkable story and testimony as he restored the gospel of Jesus Christ back to the earth in our time.  It was a wonderful training and helped our missionaries remember why we are here and who we made commitments to.  A real burst of energy for all was had.

Elder and Sister Hawley prepared a wonderful lunch for our hungry missionaries.
 

Pick out your favorite missionary........
 

Thursday, November 12, 2015, we were in Malmö for the Malmö Zone Training.  Same format, great instruction by the spirit, and a great lunch from Subway.  Pick out your missionary....

Tuesday, November 17, 2015, after flying into Umeå the night before, we met with the members of the Norrland Zone for their training.  It is always a treat to travel to Norrland, and we were even greeted with falling snow on Monday evening.  Here we are enjoying lunch, and we thank Elder and Sister Delgado for helping to prepare lunch for us.  Pick out your missionary.....

Thursday, November 19, 2015, we traveled to the Västerhaninge Chapel to meet with the members of the Stockholm South Zone for their specialized training.  Another great day and here are the missionaries feasting on Sister Beckstrand's famous Sloppy Joes and Pasta Salad.  go ahead and pick out your missionary.......

 

Friday, November 20, 2015, we traveled by car to Södertälje Chapel to meet with the members of the Södertälje Zone for their training.  The request from the Zone Leaders was to have Sloppy Joes and Pasta Salad for lunch, so here they are feasting away.  Pick out your missionary....
  

Tuesday, November 24, 2015, we traveled to the Gubbängen Chapel in Stockholm to meet with the members of the Stockholm Zone for their training, the last of the six zone trainings for us.  Lunch was Taco Soup and Subway sandwiches.  Pick out your missionary......

Field is Growing

Elder Falck, while he waits for his visa for Taiwan, will be trained by Elder Richardson and will be serving in Handen.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015, we received a brand new sister missionary from the Provo MTC.  Sister Haikkola, from Finland, arrived 4 weeks early to the mission field due to the fact that she speaks perfect Swedish, as this is her native language in addition to Finnish.  President and Sister Beckstrand, along with the Assistants, were traveling this day to Göteborg and Malmö and could not be there to welcome Sister Haikkola to the mission.  Elder and Sister Koyle took over for us and did a great job of welcoming this new sister to the Sweden Stockholm Mission. 

 Sister Koyle, Sister Hoke, Sister Haikkola, and Elder Koyle.

  Sister Haikkola will be trained by Sister Hoke and will be serving in Örebro.

Sister Haikkola and Sister Hoke are ready to start out for their new adventure together.