I'M IN SWEDEN!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!So... it's a good thing we bought those boots and that nice down coat because I'm spending my winter in Sundsvall. This city is the furthest north they'll send sisters. I know. You're all laughing yourself silly right now. Go ahead. The temperatures are actually pretty nice for now. Winter should probably hit in about a month, so at least I'm not going through shock with a major climate change right away. The really ironic part is that all the elders wanted to come north, and they're all way down south, most of them as far south as they can go. Saying goodbye to the Elders was really hard. Yes, I sobbed like the big baby that I am. I was really upset that they all got to stay together while I was sent so far away all alone. But doing the work doesn't really leave time to think about that much, so I'm doing just fine.
As for the Sundsvall area - it's pretty fun so far. It's HUGE. It's about the size of the Charlottesville Stake, and there's only one tiny branch for all of it. One of the big challenges here is that the members go inactive because the chapel is hours away, and they really CAN'T get to church. Syster Kester and I are also the only missionaries in the whole area. Yes, we are Team Kajser and Kester! (I'm ordering new name-tags and changing my name's spelling to 'Kajser' because all the Swedes are really confused by the 'i' in 'Kiser'. They're not sure how to pronounce it. My name looks like 'Sheeser' to them.) The next closest missionaries are two elders in Ornskoldsvik, which is a couple hours away, and their area is about the same size as ours. So, ya. The North is a little sparse. There are a total of four companionship's covering the whole northern half of Sweden.
My trainer and I are getting along great. She's a real sweetheart - I guess one of us would have to be. We've agreed that whenever we need a good cop/bad cop approach, I'm the bad cop. We really might need one. A lot of our investigators seem to be really flaky. We invited over 12 to come watch General Conference with us at the church, and none showed up. But that's okay because they'll all be at church next Sunday (you know, since they got all their important stuff out of the way this weekend).
In the 3 days I've been here, we've taught about 5 lessons, which is better than I expected (especially since one of those days was all conference). My favorite appointment so far was with a Muslim family (Arab husband, Swedish wife, with two GORGEOUS little girls). They fed us dinner, and then we discussed the importance of prayer. They also gave us a Qu'ran, which I think is both funny and cool. They're very devoted to their traditions, so it was really interesting that the husband stated he would happily change his religion if he found a better one. I think people must be able to sense that there's more out there to religion than what they've been given so far, even if they don't realize they feel that way.
Life's little ironies continue to thump me on the back on the head when I'm not looking. I told you that I spent my first month in the MTC with one of Nate's cousins, right? Well, on Tuesday, we went to the Stockholm Temple, and I met ANOTHER of his relatives. (This one related through marriage, but still, it's enough to remind me after I've tried so hard to keep such things off my mind.) I think Fate's picking on me.
In other news: one interesting thing I've discovered since being here is that we Americans put way too much sugar in everything. I know, I know. I add sugar to my hot chocolate all on my own, but what I mean is: I never noticed that EVERYTHING at home does have sugar in it - the juice, the bread, the sauces, the jams and jellies, the snacks especially. I'm discovering all sorts of new flavors here because they're not overpowered by sugar. And weird as it sounds, I might actually LIKE it. One thing Chynna would love is that they put ketchup on EVERYTHING. Apparently they don't use tomato sauce here, so anything we would put tomato sauce in at home, they cover with ketchup instead.
Anyway, I need to take off. P-day only comes once a week, and it doesn't last very long. There are still a lot of things to do, like shopping and laundry, and writing up a report for my Mission President.
I love you very much, and I can't wait to hear from you. Take care.
Love,
Syster Hillary Kiser
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