Another Swedish Week

The Hive! A few weeks ago Elder Whitworth and I found this huge apartment building and the entire thing is unlocked (most apartment buildings in Sweden have codes on the outside so that you can't get in) So we dubed it the hive and started going there and knocking doors every time we had an extra few minutes or an appointment would cancel on us and this week we finished it. We conquered the hive! ha ha

 Hallå min älskade familj!


So good to hear for you all this week! Thank you so much for the emails you each send, they really do mean so very much to me! Reading them is definitely one of the highlights of my week each week :)

So this week was a really good one here in good old Helsingborg. spring is definitely in full swing here. This week has been a little colder than last but it has still been nice and sunny for the most part. It's actually decided to be a little murky today and there are some rain drops starting to fall. But hey, that's just the first signs of a Swedish summer. Rain, rain and more rain. ha ha. It really is beautiful though! Everything is starting to be green and the flowers are starting to bloom. Down here in the south of Sweden everything is just huge rolling fields and in the summer the fields turn bright green and yellow so the whole landscape basically changes. I'm so excited to be down here for summer! That is why I think it would be better for us come back around May or June instead of you guys picking me up in March. Everything is still dead and dark in March, but come May/June, it is light all the time, and everything is green and blooming. It is amazing. nothing beets a Swedish summer. I seriously can't believe that this is my second summer in Sweden already! So crazy! It really is scary to think that I have less than 11 months left now. But at the same time nice. ha ha... but no worries, I'm not trunky! Not in the slightest. I absolutely love it here, especially in Helsingborg. Ah I just love Sweden!

So mom, it's funny that you talked about change and embracing it in your email today because we got a call from president this week and there is about to be some change here in Helsingborg... ha ha. Elder Whitworth, will be transferring tomorrow to Täby as an assistant and I will be getting Elder Brown down here in Helsingborg. I'm not gonna lie, I am really bummed to be losing Elder Whitworth. We are super good friends and had a lot of fun together. He is definitely my favorite companion on the mission so far, and he actually said the same thing about me. So it kinds sucks to be getting split up after just a couple months together but hey... that's life as a missionary for you. I'm actually really excited for Elder Brown to come down. He is from California also and is one of my really good friends in the mission. Me and him have pretty similar personalities and will get along great I think. He is a super good missionary so hopefully we will baptize like crazy!

As far as investigators go, this week was great! Things are going forward with Danii and Rebeka. We continue to meet them twice a week and they are making progress towards their goal of the 18th of May for baptism. They both have a very long way to come seeing that they basically have problems with every single commandment, but they are both very willing to learn and very humble. They came to church for the first time yesterday and had a great experience. The talks in sacrament meeting were not on topics that you would consider the best for first time investigators so we were a little worried but Elder Whitworth and I silently prayed all of sacrament meeting that they would be able to feel the spirit and sure enough, after the meeting ended they both began to tell us how amazing the talks were and how much they loved it and what an amazing feeling of peace and comfort they had as they sat and listened. gotta love the spirit! It was a really great first experience with church for the both of them and they both expressed their desires to begin to come to church on a regular basis. So that is awesome! Molood and Azar, our two investigators from Iran are still looking positive. We weren't able to teach them this week but we did swing by their work mid way through the week and made contact with them. They are both so nice and want to learn and come to church but they both are just so busy so that makes it really tough.

Dad asked how my clothes and things are doing or if there is anything that I want like in a package or anything.... hmm... well clothes wise I'm doing pretty good. Like I said, one of my suits gave out a couple weeks ago but that is okay. We don't have to wear suits that often in the summer anyways. But I might need to replace it once winter comes around again. But we can take that one as it comes. As for a package... you are never going to believe this but man I am craving peanut butter lately! I never liked peanut butter back home but now I love it. The only problem is... peanut butter here is awful, and really expensive. So that would definitely be much appreciated. One thing that Elder Whitworth's mom did is she took a big thing of Skippy smooth peanut butter from Costco and put it in of of those vacuum bags that you put like meat and stuff in and then suck all the air out. You know what I'm talking about? I can't remember what they're called. But yeah... that's just an idea. Other than that, the only thing I can thing of that I've been missing lately is cheese its. ha ha I had the most random craving for pepper jack cheese its the other day.... ha ha So yeah. there's just a couple of ideas. Of course, as always, American deodorant is always greatly appreciated. I still have a stick and a half but you can never have enough good, American deodorant! ha ha.

So Elder Whitworth and I started something crazy last Tuesday. ha ha So last Monday night we both were talking and we were like man, we are fat! We need to lose weight! So we decided to go on a diet. so... the next morning we made a quick trip to the store and bought a blender and about 300 crowns of fruits and vegetables. Now, for the past week we have been on an all natural fruit and vegetable smoothie diet. So for two meals a day (breakfast and lunch) we drink a smoothie made of just straight fruits and vegetables and then a little bit of milk and yogurt. Then for dinner we eat a light, high protein meal. Am i hungry all the time? Yes. But have I lost 2.5 kilos (5.5 lbs) already? You better believe it! And I feel a ton better! So hopefully Elder brown is down with this diet because I'm definitely not stopping. ha ha You should see our fridge, it just looks like a wild garden on the inside. It's chuck full of fruit and vegetables. So yeah, that was our random impulse decision last week. ha ha.

Man I really can't believe that Tyson is getting married on Friday! So crazy! Baby brother is all grown up! ha ha I'm sure it's really stressful but I'm sure everything will go great and that they will be so happy. Make sure to send lots of pictures!

That antique boutique you went to sounds like a blast mom! I'm glad you found a cool typewriter too! You will definitely have to send me a picture of it one you get it all cleaned and fixed up. I love old stuff like that.

That is so sad about the bombings in Boston! I'm glad they have caught the suspects though. I hear that a factory exploded in Texas too? Was that just an accident of something more? And what's the deal with North Korea? I hear they have been freaking out and threatening everybody with nuclear war? Man... the last day's seriously are here, the world is going to crap.

Well family... that is probably it for this week. I hope you all have an amazing week and know that I love you all so very much! Good luck with the wedding and everything else this week and know that even though I can't be there, I'll be thinking of everybody on Friday. Especially you Ty! Love you buddy, good luck being a married man. ha ha

I love you all so very much! This gospel is true and I love it! I'll end with my favorite quote from the man himself, Brigham young, "I wanted to thunder and roar out the Gospel to the nations. It burned in my bones like fire pent-up, nothing would satisfy me but to cry abroad in the world, what the Lord was doing in the latter days"
Get the dop!

love-

Äldste McKay Vance. 

 This week we went on splits with the elders in the area of Växjö and we saw this awesome viking rune stone! It dates back to around year 1000.





An awesome Rapunzle tower in the city of Landskrona in our area!



Hej men tjäna familjen!


How is everyone this week? This week was really good here in Helsingborg! It wasn't as action packed as last week but it was still really good! Elder Whitworth and I still continue to strive forward in the work and we are seeing success. Hermina's baptism went really well! It was a very simple, small baptismal service but the spirit was amazingly strong. There were only about 15 of us there total but everyone was so excited for Hermina and she was so excited to finally be baptized! She came to church for the first time back in 2011 with her member friend Lucy. So ever since 2011 she has been coming now and again to church and has always felt the spirit here. She had received a book of Mormon from missionaries before but had never been formally taught. So when Elder Whitworth and I started teaching her it went so smoothly! She was so prepared and ready. She was just waiting for us to get our act together and teach her what she needed to know! ha ha For the opening hymn we sang "I am a child of God" and as soon as we started singing both her and Lucy started to cry. She was just so happy and so grateful to have the gospel in her life. I have never seen someone with such innocent and pure faith. She accepted all we taught her without hesitation because she felt the spirit, and recognized his voice testifying to her of the truthfulness of this message. Just before the baptismal service started she began to cry and hug me and just kept saying thank you, and then, as I baptized her and she came up out of the water she just looked me and in eyes and kept saying "Thank you, thank you!" It was a really amazing experience! That is why I love this gospel! Nothing else in this world can give one such simple but perfect and pure joy. This gospel is happiness. The plan our Father has for us is one of love. I am so amazingly grateful for the great blessing I have to walk among these people in Sweden and spread the good message that we have!

Other than the baptism, The week was a fairly normal week. We went on exchanges with the elders in Lund on Thursday so Elder Whitworth went to Lund with Elder Roberts and I took Elder Roberts' greenie, Elder Mangum, back to Helsingborg with me. Elder Mangum is one of Sammy Draper's friends and he is a total stud! He has only been here for three weeks and he is fearless! He didn't hesitate to bear testimony and participate in contacting people and teaching lessons. It was a super fun exchanges. We got to know each other better and had quite a bit in common to talk about. He also was a lacrosse player so he played with Scotty on the high school team a little bit. But yeah, I can see why Nate Lords loved Lund so much. It is one of the coolest little towns! That is where we always have our zone trainings because they have a YSA center there. It is one of those classic towns that you would imagine when you think of old timey Europe. Cobble stone streets and all.
Well family, I know that this email is pretty short but the Internet is being really picky today and giving me a headache so I'm gonna call it a week. But I hope you all have a great week and know that I love you all so very much and that I

love this gospel and my mission so much!

with love-

Äldste Keetch.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles!

Hey family! How are you all?! So this week was definitely another week packed with memorable experiences and stories! Me and Elder Whitworth were talking the other day and it seriously feels like we go, non-stop, 24/7 as zone leaders. Probably because we do. It's good though. I really like it and it makes it so we sleep really really well at night. ha ha. So this week was zone leader council on Wednesday. Zone leader council is a meeting for just zone leaders and the assistants and president once a month up at the mission home in Stockholm. So Wednesday morning our alarm went off and 4:30 and we got up and headed into central station here in Helsingborg and caught a bus to the airport just outside of town. Yep! We got to fly! It was really cool! I did not think that I would sit on a plane again until next March! ha ha But here in Sweden flights are actually super cheap sometimes so it was cheaper to fly up to Stockholm than to take a train. It was only like a 55 minute flight on a pretty small plane with tiny seats but man it was a heck of a lot nicer than sitting on a train for five hours! We got to Stockholm around 10.30 and had zone leader council until about 5.30pm. It went really well and was a great meeting. Well after zone leader council we found out that the office had not booked us a flight back but instead, were going to take us to central station in Stockholm and have us book our own train back. Well, by the time we got to the station it was 6.45 and guess when the last regular train to Helsingborg left Stockholm? Yep, 6:30. ha ha So we were like okay... what do we do? So we went to the booking window and the lady said there was a night train leaving at 9.30 that we could take. Well, actually, when she said this she didn't mention that it was a night train, so we were just like oh sweet! Give us two tickets! So she gets it all booked and hands us our tickets and we are all like okay awesome! When do we get home? Expecting it to be like 1 or 2 in the morning. We look down at our tickets and see departure time: 9:21, arrival time 6:03am!!!! ha ha Oh man both our hearts just stopped! The thing with night trains is that since they just go all through the night they go slower and make lots and lots of stops. So it takes twice as long to get somewhere. But usually it's not that bad because you book a room with a bed and just sleep the whole time. Well, seeing that we had no idea that it was a night train we hadn't gotten bed rooms. We had just booked regular seats! ha ha and the tickets that we bought were non refundable so we couldn't do anything about it! So Elder Whitworth and I went to a near by grocery store, bought some dinner, sat in central station for three hours, and then got on the night train..... lots of crappy sleep, two kinked necks, and eight and a half hours later we rolled into Helsingborg, the sun already starting to come up. Then we had to walk to the church where the car was parked which is fifteen minutes away and then drive home. We staggered into our apartment at about 6:30am Thursday morning. we both quickly got undressed and climbed into bed. But i forgot the best part! We had to be in Lund by 9:30 so that we could teach a zone meeting to the whole zone about what we talked about the previous day in zone leader council. Lund is forty minutes away by car! ha ha So we were able to get an hour and a half nap in before getting up, showering, and then heading to Lund. ha ha It was definitely an adventure! It really wasn't that bad. It was just a very loooong night!


The one up side to the eight and a half hours on the train is that is gave us plenty of time to plan a really good zone training message. We trained on the doctrine and why of baptism. Why our soul purpose as missionaries is to baptize. It went really well and the spirit was so strong as Elder Whitworth and I read from the scriptures and expounded on them and then bore solemn testimony of the truths. Towards the end of the meeting we gave everyone ten minutes to go out on their own to pray and contemplate their own individual purpose here in Sweden. To find their own vision and to feel of their own worth here in Sweden at this time. It was a very spiritual experience and as everyone quietly came back in after those ten or so minutes and sat down there was such a quiet calmness in the room and the spirit was there so abundantly! Elder Whitworth and I were talking after the meeting about how strong the spirit was there. We both noticed how it was a very unique feeling in that room. Almost comparable to the feeling of the celestial room of the temple. Obviously nothing close to that but that is the closest we could come to describing it. It was really a neat meeting and I think everyone really enjoyed it and got something our of it personally.

The other exciting news this week is in our investigators! First and foremost is Hermina, who had made the goal to be baptized this coming Saturday. She came to general conference yesterday and was able to watch a session in her native tongue (tagalog) so that was awesome! She really loved it. Afterwards we sat down and taught her and also planned out the baptism and everything. She is still looking super solid for this Saturday and is really excited to be baptized. She has actually chosen me to baptize her and Elder Whitworth to confirm her. I'm pretty excited because although this isn't my first baptism, it will be my first time performing the actual ordinance. So we are all looking forward to this Saturday and two o'clock when Hermina will be baptized! Other news on the investigator front is that we got to pick up two old investigators again this week. Their names are Danii and Rebeka. I met them once when I very first came to Helsingborg but then they had a baby and moved apartments and a bunch of other stuff so for about a month there we had to take a break from teaching them but now they are ready to start back up again. We went on Thursday afternoon and helped them move and then had a small lesson and it went really well. They have a long way to go, but are great people and are open to our message and want to change their lives.

So conference was absolutely amazing! This was my third conference while on the mission and each time I still just get so giddy and excited! It's the absolute best! So here in Sweden how they do conference is on Saturday night at 6.00 everyone comes to the chapel and watched the Saturday morning session live (because of the time difference) then on Sunday morning we watch the priesthood session, then the Saturday afternoon session and then we watch the Sunday morning session live again at 6.00 that night. All at the church. And the best part is since basically everyone can speak or at least understand English here they always play conference in both English and Swedish. Most the Swedes prefer English so that they can hear the prophet's and apostle's real voices instead of the translators. So we always just watch it in English. So that is nice! There were so many wonderful, bold, and simple talks this conference. I loved it! President Monson is always a favorite of course! He was really on one yesterday with the facial expressions! ha ha Russell M. Nelson's was a favorite also with his whole "catch the wave" talk. I really hope the members here were listening! ha ha. I also really enjoyed L. Whitney Clayton's talk! Even if it was a little trunky.... ha ha. :) It is always just so spiritually uplifting and refreshing to listen to conference! I love it! We were not able to see the Sunday afternoon session so we will have to watch that sometime this week.
Man I can't believe the wedding is coming so soon! What date is it going to be on again? And when would you like me to send a picture for my cardboard cut out? Or do you already have one? ha ha Just kidding, if it doesn't happen it doesn't happen. I have no idea how much those things cost anyways.

Oh and before I forget again! Do you remember Nadia from Täby? She was one of our investigators that was really solid but just couldn't quit drinking coffee. Well she got baptized last week! The Elders in Täby sent me some pics so I'll have to forward them on. It's so good to finally see her get in the water!

Well I think that is about it for this week. Keep me updated on who wins the NCAA championship dad! And keep me updated on anything else in the sports or home front! I love you all so very much and hope you all have amazing weeks! I'll talk to you next week! Love you all!

Love-

McKay.

Nadjia´s Baptism‏

Here's the pictures from Nadija's baptism! It really stinks that I couldn't be there.
I taught her for three and a half months. But it definitely feels good just to see her baptized finally.

It's FINALLY Spring!



My destroyed suit pants. May they rest in peace.

Happy late Easter!!!

Well here we are again! I feel like when I first got transferred down here to Helsingborg that time slowed down for a little while. zthose first two weeks went by really slowly. But now time has sped back up to its regular, break neck pace.

So this week was a pretty normal week. We had a good p-day of just relaxing on Monday. I took a nice, hour and a half nap while Elder Whitworth lay on the floor in the little box of sunlight that came through the window. It has finally decided to be spring somewhat here. It is supposed to be about 7 degrees (45 F) all week here. Which will feel super good! Hopefully it will just go up from there! On Tuesday we went to Halmstad to have district meeting with them. It was a really good meeting by Elder Simpson and then, afterwards Elder Simpson took us outside and said we would be doing a "fun activity"... well... that fun activity was... the dreaded surströmming... ha ha yep. He had bought a can of it and it was time for round two. And it didn't go any better than round one! ha ha I don't know if you all remember when I ate surströmming for the first time last summer but yeah... I threw up. ha ha It was a repeat this time. ha ha It was awful. And it was even worse this time because this time, instead of having a tiny bit on a piece of bread with cheese and stuff, we just opened the can and did whole fish! ha ha So we just picked them up by their tails and ate them whole. ha ha It was the worst! I could only bear to chew mine for about ten seconds before it came back out. It is seriously the worst smell and taste you could ever imagine. Like seriously that stuff should be on fear factor. So nasty! I don't know if I explained this before but surströmming literally translates to "sour herring". ha ha So anyways, after district meeting we went back to Helsingborg and had a pretty normal day and then that night we went to a members house, the Malmstens, to have dinner and celebrate their son Daniel's birthday. It was really fun. The Malmsten's are... well... a little crazy... but they are awesome and they love the missionaries so much! haha They will definitely be a family I take you guys to meet if/when we come back. They are so amazing and they have the missionaries over for dinner like every week. The ward really is amazing here in Helsingborg. They take good care of us. We get fed probably 3-4 times a week on average. Which is the most I've had on my mission. Then, on Tuesday night, something tragic happened.... as we were walking from the car to the apartment Elder Whitworth and I started running up the stairs and stuff and in the process my pants ripped... big time. ha ha So I am now down one suit. It was my blue suit with white buttons that I bought last summer from H&M. I was so mad! ha ha I love that suit! It is my first Swedish suit. ha ha When I looked at the pants that night I just kinda laughed because all I could think about was a picture that Tyson sent home while he was on his mission of him holding a pair of his shoes that he had walked in to the point that they had fallen apart and gotten holes. I just thought it was a funny contrast between our two missions. He walks his shoes right off of his feet and I tear the crotch in my tight Swedish pants. ha ha But yeah, so no more blue suit :( May he rest in peace.

Wednesday was a normal day and then on Thursday we went down to Malmö, went to their district meeting and then went on splits with them. I was with Elder Hitch who is still a pretty young elder, he just finished his training, and then Elder Whitworth was with his comp, Elder Martinsson, who is also kinda young on the mission and is kinda having some issues right now with laziness and disobedience. That's why we went down there on exchanges. So we worked the rest of Thursday there with them and then stayed the night and then went back on Friday morning. It was really good and helped them a lot I think. Other than that the week was pretty mellow.
As far as investigators go, things are going great! We had six investigators come to church yesterday, three of which were Hermina, who has a baptismal date for the 13th of April, and Molood and Azar, who are referrals from a less active member in the ward. We sat down in the first hour and taught Molood and Azar the restoration and it went really well! They are both very interested in the church and accepted the invitation to be baptized when they receive an answer that it is true. They are from Iran and are the sisters of a less active member's wife. They live in Helsingborg but it is hard to meet with them regularly because of how busy they are with both work and school. They are very positive though. I'm really looking forward to meeting them more. They are awesome! In the second hour we sat down with Hermina and taught her both the plan of salvation and the gospel of Jesus Christ along with a couple commandments. It was a lot at one time but it went so well! She accepted all of it very readily and looks very positive to be baptized on the thirteenth so that is awesome. We are also teaching a kid by the name of Gregor who is the boyfriend of a girl in our ward. We met with him on Wednesday I believe and then again today and things are going really well. It is kind of hard to read him during lessons but he really likes it and wants to continue to meet with us. He is leaving on vacation to turkey this week though so it will probably be a week and a half or so until we can meet with him again.

It sounds like Easter went super good back home! I can't believe that this is my second Easter away already! It feels so weird! ha ha. But I'm glad the picnic went well any that the girls had a blast. ha ha I can't believe how goofy their conversation was on the blanket mom! ha ha oh man... that is priceless.

So holy congratulations to Aubry and Cody! Hayze is so stinking cute! I'm glad everything went well with the delivery and that he is healthy and everything even though he's a little early. Man, my first nephew! He's gonna be a football player for sure! I'll make sure of it... ha ha. Man it's weird to think that I won't be able to meet him until he is one! That is so nuts! So, speaking of birth, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA! I hope VP gets you something nice and you eat some yummy food :) Know that I will be thinking of you on Wednesday and that I love you so much!

Easter here was really good. We had a special Easter program in church that was... a little dull... but good. ha ha It was very Christ centered though so I can't complain. Then we got invited to dinner by the Höglunds in the ward. It was super fun! They live in an old theater that they have converted into a house so it is pretty big and then it just had this huge, open room with massive white wall they they project movies onto so that was pretty cool. We shared a little movie for our message so we got to watch it on the big screen so that was fun. In Sweden they actually celebrate Easter just like they do Christmas. They celebrate for three days not just one. So Saturday was Påsk Afton (Easter eve) Sunday was Påsk (Easter) and today is Annandag Påsk (second day Easter.) ha ha So that is a little different. As far as food goes, they eat kind the same stuff they do for midsummer and Christmas. But then they also eat this stuff called sill which is pickled herring. It is not nearly as bad as surströmming, which is fermented herring, but it is still definitely not my favorite! ha ha But that is more just for traditions sake. They don't eat too much of it.
Well fam I'm gonna head for now but I want you all to know how very grateful I am for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I know that he died for us, and that he lives today. He truly is, as it says in 2nd Nephi 22: 2, my strength, song, and salvation. I love this gospel so very much and I know that it is true!

With all my love-

Äldste McKay Vance. 

Me, Whitworth, and the Malmsten family. They are so awesome!




This is called the turning torso. It is apartently like the tallest building in Europe. Me and Elder Hitch tried to get in it to tract when we were on splits in Malmö. It is so tall that you can see it from Helsingborg!