Re: Just Mom

Hi, Momma!
First, thank you and Rich for taking care of those credit card payments. I'm so grateful. If you want to try to email next Monday, I think we'll probably be checking emails from 12-2 in the afternoon, which is 6-8 am for you.
I'm glad you're still in touch with Nate. He sends me so many letters. He makes my whole day better every time one comes. I feel awful that I can't get more letters to him. He should be getting two from me soon, thought. I put them in the mail last week. I'm working on a letter to Dusty now. It's so hard to find things to say - I haven't had a real conversation with the boy since I had baby teeth.
No, I haven't seen the Northern Lights. I don't think I will, sine I've already been as far north as I'll ever go, and moved on. Was there some kind of big light showing last week or something?
Even without the Northern Lights, thought, it's pretty amazing just to see the sun again. Daylight's back to it's normal hours, which is amazing and wonderful! I will never doubt again - human NEED light in order to be healthy, both in the body and in the spirit. Without changing anything else, just the gradual return of the sun has made it easier to be happy and out-going and faithful, about work and life in general. Now we get to watch as the the daylight moves to the extreme in the other direction - light all day and night, with just a few hours where the sun sits below the horizon. Did you know that at the north pole, there's only one sunrise and one sunset for the entire year? The sun rises in the spring and just circles around the sky all summer until it sets in the fall, and then it doesn't come back until the next spring. Just something cool I learned this week. ;-)
Anyway, I'm thrilled to announce that Sister Dabb and I get to satay in Uppsala together until May! We got our transfer assignments yesterday morning, and we were completely shocked because it just doesn't make sense for us to stay together. There are 4 sisters who have been in the mission longer than we have, and four that just finished their greenie transfer. Add two new greenies to that, which each need a trainer, and the only thing that made sense was for the two remaining older sisters, Sister Dabb, and I to each take a younger girl as a junior companion. But President Anderson apparently got a really strong impression that Sister Dabb and I needed to stay together in Uppsala, so the two older girls have to take on two junior companions each. That's a whole lost of craziness just to keep Sister Dabb and me in Uppsala, which means there are some REALLY good reasons for us specifically to be here.
The work we're doing here is going really well too. We have a baptism next Saturday (Pontus is his name - he's a 21-year-old Swede). Super excited about that! He's shown me that there really are people who are prepared for this gospel and want it, and those are the people we're here to find. We don't have to beat our heads (or anyone else's) against the wall, trying to convince them that this is right. We didn't have to convince Pontus to do any of these things we ask - he just wants to. He loves this gospel! Then there's Bahman - an older man from Iran. He's had a hard life, but as we've met with him, we've seen more and more light come into him. He absolutely loves us, and loves how much happier he feels now that he's reading the Book of Mormon and learned how to pray. He makes our day every time we see him. He came to church all on his own (totally surprised us!) last Sunday, and loved that too. He's got a long way to go, but he's got a lot of faith, and it's getting stronger every day. I really believe he will be baptized this year - maybe by May, if everything keeps going so well. And then there's Matthew and Asa. Matthew's from Missouri, and ended up married to a beautiful Swedish girl (Asa). They just decided to start believing in Christ about a year ago, and they're looking for the right church for them. We walked up to Matthew on the street less than 24 hours after he'd prayed and asked if maybe the Mormon church could be right for them (he'd heard a little bit, and liked what he'd heard). He took that as a sign, and so do we. They're great, and I think they could definitely be baptized within a month or two.
I love seeing the things Heavenly Father does (and the little things we manage to do sometimes) change people's lives. It's amazing, and it's beautiful. I'm so happy that I get to take part. Thank you for helping me do this. I pray for Heavenly Father to pour out blessings on you for that every day. I love you.

Love, Syster Hillary Kiser