Pairing Time for the New Arrivals

Wednesday morning, December 9, 2015, at the Västerhaninge Chapel,  our new missionaries met for orientation and to find out who their trainers will be and where they will be serving.
 

 Elder Fawcett will be trained by Elder Frankman.

 Elder Fawcett will be serving with Elder Frankman in Västerås.

 Elder Burton will be trained by Elder Bailey.

 Elder Burton will be serving with Elder Bailey in Utby.

Sister Campbell will be trained by Sister Bateman.

 Sister Campbell will be serving with Sister Bateman in Täby.

Elder Hyatt will be trained by Elder Richards.

 Elder Hyatt will be serving with Elder Richards in Linköping.

Elder Johnson will be trained by Elder Jensen.

 Elder Johnson will be serving with Elder Jensen in Kungsbacka.

Sister Davis will be trained by Sister Brink.

 Sister Davis will be serving with Sister Brink in Sundsvall.

Elder Gentry will be trained by Elder Halterman.

 Elder Gentry will be serving with Elder Halterman in Jakobsberg.

Elder Jamsa will be trained by Elder Pärkka.

 Elder Jamsa will be serving with Elder Pärkka in Visby.

Sister Haikkola will be trained by Sister Hoke.

 Sister Haikkola will be serving with Sister Hoke in Örebro.

Elder Kilton will be trained by Elder Jones.

 Elder Kilton will be serving with Elder Jones in Stockholm.

Sister Hall will be trained by Sister Harkness.

 Sister Hall will be serving with Sister Harkness in Trollhättan.

Elder Hatch will be trained by Elder Bachman.

 Elder Hatch will be serving with Elder Bachman in Norrköping.

Elder Lloyd will be trained by Elder Richardson.

 Elder Lloyd will be serving with Elder Richardson in Västra Frölunda.

Sister May will be trained by Sister Crawford.

 Sister May will be serving with Sister Crawford in Jakobsberg.

Elder Mason will be trained by Elder Nielsen.

 Elder Mason will be serving with Elder Nielsen in Helsingborg.

Elder Moulton will be trained by Elder Higgins.

 Elder Moulton will be serving with Elder Higgins in Stockholm.

Elder Scott will be trained by Elder Hainsworth.

 Elder Scott will be serving with Elder Hainsworth in Helsingborg.

Elder Nielsen will be trained by Elder Christley.

 Elder Nielsen will be serving with Elder Christley in Karlskrona.

Elder Roylance will be trained by Elder White.

 Elder Roylance will be serving with Elder White in Lund.

Sister Svensson will be trained by Sister Jacobs.

Sister Svensson will be serving with Sister Jacobs in Stockholm while she waits for her visa to come.  She has been called to serve in the Nebraska Omaha Mission, Winter Quarters Visitor Center.

Elder Wilson will be trained by Elder Purkey.

 Elder Wilson will be serving with Elder Purkey in Västerås.

Elder Schultz will be trained by Elder Burke.

 Elder Schultz will be serving with Elder Burke in Lund.

Elder Loertscher will be trained by Elder Reed.

 Elder Loertscher will be serving with Elder Reed in Umeå.

Elder Adcox will be trained by Elder Johanson.

 Elder Adcox will be serving with Elder Johanson in Borås.

Elder Banks will be trained by Elder Cox.

 Elder Banks will be serving with Elder Cox in Västerhaninge.

Elder Dean will be trained by Elder Smith.

Elder Dean will be serving with Elder Smith in Alingsås.

Elder Barnes will be trained by Elder Duwors.

 Elder Barnes will be serving with Elder Duwors in Borlänge.

Elder Bentson will be trained by Elder Blackburn.

 Elder Bentson will be serving with Elder Blackburn in Uppsala.

 With all of the assignments made, President Beckstrand provides some last words of counsel and encouragement as our new missionaries prepare to take off for their assigned areas of labor.

 But before we depart.......yes, nourishment is needed to carry us to our destinations.  Let lunch be served, Swedish Meatballs!!!!!!!

They Have Landed!

The Wait is Over!!!!!  They have landed!!!!
Tuesday, December 8, 2015, was a very busy day for us.  Our large group of 11 Elders who have been waiting state side for their visas finally arrived in Stockholm.  We are so glad to finally have them here.  Pictured below, left to right, front row:  Elder Sahlin, Elder Archibald, Elder Burton, Elder Loertscher, Elder Kilton, Elder Gentry, Elder Barnes, and Sister Beckstrand.   Back row, left to right:  Elder Adcox, Elder Mason, Elder Lloyd, Elder Hyatt, Elder Fawcett, Elder Hatch, and President Beckstrand.

 

And with them, the new group from the Provo MTC also arrived.  So many great missionaries to help us in our quest to spread the gospel here in Sweden.  Pictured below are, front row, left to right:  Elder Sahlin, Elder Archibald, Sister Hall, Sister Davis, Sister May, Sister Campbell, Sister Svenssson, Sister Haikkola, Sister Beckstrand and President Beckstrand.  Back row, left to right:  Elder Jamsa, Elder Moulton, Elder Scott, Elder Dean, Elder Roylance, Elder Johnson, Elder Bentson, Elder Schultz, Elder Wilson, Elder Banks, and Elder Nielsen.

Our visa waiters in Sigtuna, by the lake.  Pictured are:  Elder Barnes, Elder Loertscher, Elder Burton, Elder Hatch, Elder Fawcett, Elder Gentry, Elder Adcox, Elder Hyatt, Elder Kilton, Elder Lloyd, and Elder Mason.

The Provo MTC group in Sigtuna, down by the lake.  Pictured are left to right:  Sister Campbell, Elder Wilson, Sister Hall, Elder Roylance, Elder Dean, Sister Svensson, Elder Bentson, Elder Banks, Sister Haikkola, Elder Schultz, Sister Davis, Elder Nielsen, Elder Scott, Sister May, Elder Jamsa, Elder Moulton, and Elder Johnson.

 Elders Hyatt, Hatch, Burton, Fawcett, Mason, Lloyd, Kilton, Gentry, Barnes, Adcox, and Loertscher standing in front of an old church ruin in Sigtuna.

Elders Johnson, Banks, Roylance, Scott, Jamsa, Moulton, Dean, Wilson, Schultz, Bentson and Nielsen, along with Sisters Davis, May, Svensson, Haikkola, Campbell, and Hall.  Standing in front of an old church ruin in Sigtuna.

Sister Beckstrand providing the guiden tour of Sigtuna, one of Sweden's oldest towns.

 Elder Burke, one of our Office Elders, standing in front of his favorite foods.....tomater.

Solo Arrivals

New Arrival from the Provo MTC.
On Tuesday, November 10, 2015, we received a new Sister Missionary from Provo.  Sister Haikkola, from Finland, arrived early as she is fluent in the Swedish language.  We are grateful to have Sister Haikkola join our team here in Sweden.  Pictured are Sister Koyle, Sister Hoke, Sister Haikkola, and Elder Koyle.  We are grateful to the Koyles for picking Sister Haikkola up at the airport, as we were driving down to Göteborg for Specialized Zone Trainings.

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

Another solo arrival to our mission.
On Wednesday, November 25, 2015, we traveled to Arlanda Airport to pick up Sister Eriksson, from the Malmö Stake, who will be serving with us for a short time here in the Sweden Stockholm Mission while she waits for her visa to arrive.  She has been called to serve in the Minnesota Minneapolis Mission.  We are glad to have the opportunity for her to spend some time here with us before she travels to America.  Pictured below are Sister Beckstrand, Sister Eriksson, and President Beckstrand.

Sister Eriksson will be trained by Sister Bolton and they will be serving in Södertälje.

Train the Trainers

Friday, December 4, 2015, we met with our newly called Trainers in the Mission Home for a special "Train the Trainers" meeting, to help those called understand their sacred responsibility of training a new Missionary here in the Sweden Stockholm Mission.  We started off with a great lunch, provided by Sister Beckstrand.  As always, the missionaries love Sloppy Joes and Pasta Salad, along with homemade Oreo cookies.  This group of trainers consist of 12 Elders and 4 Sisters.

Our Assistants, Elder Archibald and Elder Sahlin, with Sister Beckstrand, and Elder Pärkka, who will be training a new Missionary on Visby, Gotland.

Elder Sahlin and President Beckstrand, grabbing a little "selfie" time at lunch.

As always, our Assistants do a marvelous job in helping us train our new trainers in their assignment.  This is a great group of young missionaries and they will do a fantastic job of training these new missionaries.  We are in good hands here in Sweden.

Senior Couples Time

On December 3-5, 2015, our Senior Couples here in the mission got together in Stockholm for a few days of relaxing fun, seeing the sights of Stockholm, and enjoying some Christmas shopping.  Our couples work so hard and do such a fantastic job of supporting our younger missionaries.  We also said good-bye to Elder and Sister Niebuhr, who have completed their mission and are returning home.  Elder Niebuhr is on the right with Sister Niebuhr right behind him.  We got together to have dinner on December 3, 2015, at TGIF here in Stockholm.

President Beckstrand's meal, which was very good

The couples surprised Sister Beckstrand with an early Birthday desert, ice cream and brownie.

Sister Beckstrand enjoyed the Birthday dessert.

The next evening, December 4, 2015, the couples arranged to have dinner at Ardberg Embassy Stockholm, in Gamla Stan.

 

The couples enjoyed dinner after a full day of being in Gamla Stan and battling the wind and rain.

 

It is always nice to be together with our Senior Couples.  We love and appreciate their great service and could not do this without them.  Three cheers for our Senior Couples.