Re: TV Star

Hi, Momma!
Filming for the TV thing was fun. The special's basically a 'day-in-the-life-of...' kind of thing that'll be aired in September. This camera crew followed a member of the Seventy around for three days, recording everything he did. Addressing the Zone Leaders at the mission home was one of those things on his agenda. We (the sisters) got pulled in so the whole thing wouldn't look like a huge stag party. ;-) They did a few interview questions with us and the elders. I doubt they'll include anything Sister Dabb or I had to say, which wasn't much anyway. Mainly they just wanted Sister Dabb and I to sit there and look pretty and let the elders do the talking, since they've been here a lot longer and can speak much better Swedish. Works for me. ;-)
Since the purpose of the meeting was Zone Leader training and we were there all day in need of something to do, President Anderson put Sister Dabb and I to work coming up with a theme and program for a special sisters' training conference that's coming up in a few weeks. We're super excited about it. The conference is going to be all about helping the sisters build confidence in themselves and teaching them how to be confident about receiving help from the Lord (this has been our companionship's personal theme ever since we've been together).
No, the Muslim family in Sundsvall hasn't made any progress. I don't think they're taking lessons anymore. But the elders that are there now told me the eternal investigator couple (Stellan and Eva) is talking about getting baptized soon!
And on that note: Pontus's baptism was absolutely wonderful in every way! There were lots of people present (from the ward, investigators, and other missionaries), the talks and the musical numbers were beautiful (I'd been keeping the fact that I can sing a secret, but now the cat's out of the bag, and I've got the ward choir director chasing after me... whoops), and most of all Pontus was so happy! (And we didn't boil him to death like we did Tobias! Yes, I do think I told Nate about Tobias.) It was completely perfect. The confirmation got a little weird... But it went, and it's all done; he's a legit member now, and he LOVES it! So what made the confirmation so weird? A 90-year-old, 5'2" bottle of crazy sauce named Karl-Erik Eriksson. (Turns out the Franklin Ward doesn't have a monopoly on crazies afterall.) For the most part the members of the ward figure, he's 90 years old and he's earned the right to be insane, so they just let him do what he wants. He stood up after the baptism Saturday, banged on his glass, and started one of his speeches (this happens every time the ward has a get-together of any kind). He told us that Pontus had given him the courage to sing in public again for the first time since the 1930's, and then he proceeded to sing some old jazz tune and dance around a little bit. Yesterday in sacrament meeting, the bishop called Pontus up for his confirmation, then called up the other men. Tee bishop intended to confirm Ponuts himself, but then Karl-Erik stood up and announced to everyone that he should give the blessing because he wants to be Pontus's home teacher. The bishop told him 'no', and the Elders Quorum President got up and tried to explain to Karl-Erik that he is, in fact, NOT Pontus's home teacher. So Pontus just sat up there and stared back at the rest of the ward while all these men stood around him having this huge argument in the middle of sacrament meeting. In the end, Karl-Erik got to give the confirmation, then Pontus came back to his seat next to me and we laughed ourselves silly. (Pontus was cool about the whole thing. The rest of the ward was livid, but he thought it was funny.)
Bahman also loved the baptism, and is giving us all kinds of hints now on things we need to help him with so he can prepare to join the church too. On that note, we're going to be working on coffee and smoking addiction recovery soon. Does Rich have anything to say that might be helpful in getting over the coffee addiction? I think we'll tackle that one first. (We also found out that Karl-Erik introduced himself to Bahman Saturday and told him that he should be the one to baptize and confirm him... We're getting this guy a leash when we do our shopping this afternoon.)
Wish Dad-Dad a happy birthday for me, please.
And if you do send a package, the only real request I have would be pictures.
I hope you and the rest of the family have a wonderful week. I'm always praying for you. I love you the most. ;-)

Love,
Syster Hillary Kiser