Hello Everyone!
The Lofgran’s are alive and well here in Sweden. Here’s some of the news. To start with we are still faithfully going to SFI (Swedish for Immigrants) language training. For the first two months we were going twice a week, but in March we moved to the next level and due to demand and lack of teachers we are only able to attend one night a week. On the first night of the 2nd course the teacher asked us to introduce ourselves completely in Swedish and I froze! Luckily I wasn’t the first to get up so I was able to gather my thoughts. This is what I came up with.
Jag heter LeAnn. Jag har missionar Jesus Kristi Kyrka av sista dagars heliga! (Its written on my name tag so that was easy). Jag har fem barn and fyrton barnbarn. (I have 5 children and 14!grandchildren). Jag bor i Vasterhaninge. Jag kommer ifrån USA.
It’s very rudimentary but progress! I still enjoy class even though the teacher only speaks in Swedish.
The same group that we took the first class with will continue on with us until completion. Since we are part time, it will take us a couple of years. The second course is more demanding with homework and exams before advancing to the next level. I hope that at some point I’m able to at least understand conversations.
Baptisms
Three baptisms since my last post. When I say three, these are just the people I know. Mission wide, baptisms have been increasing since a year ago. It’s exciting to see people accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and are willing to make covenants with Him, baptism being the first step.
The young missionaries on Gotland looked for places where they could baptize Charles. The small church in Visby did not have a font. They checked out many of the lakes that were frozen over and decided that in order to get water deep enough, they would have to go out quite far and it was far to dangerous. So the Baltic Sea was the best choice. Elder Plettig, a greenie from Germany was up to the task and Charles was excited for the opportunity.
Justin performed the baptism in Swahili.
Matthew 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Justin is just one of those good neighbors that shares the good news of the gospel. Justin exudes light and is such a joy to be around. Sarah was introduced to the sister missionaries through Justin and now she has accepted baptism.
Eric and I remember well the first night we met Wama. It was cold and snowy, we were just walking home from the gym and we saw someone pacing in front of the church. We thought it was another friend of ours so we went over to talk with her and learned she was waiting for the missionaries. We told her, we are missionaries too! She trusted us enough to come over for hot chocolate until the sisters arrived. We have loved having Wama in our home the past few months. We’ve decorated cookies, played games and have had some opportunities to be in lessons with her. Our hearts are full as we think about all the goodness the gospel brings into lives.
Wama, her family, the Sisters, and Justin (far right).
Semla
Well I made up my own holiday here in Sweden without realizing it.
March 4th was Semla Day otherwise known as Shrove Tuesday. I got creative with my language interpretation on the Fika poster and made it Semla Bun Day. People teased me about making my own holiday!
The first semla bun dates back to 1250 in Denmark. It began as Lent bread without any spices, but became more flavorful over time. With the modifications over the years almond paste and whipped cream are some of the later additions. There’s a myth that King Adolf Fredrick died from eating too much semla on Fat Tuesday.
Double Birthday for the Vendelsö Elders!
We just had to celebrate Elder Dent and Bell’s conjoined birthdays.
Vandring – Hiking
Of course this Swedish word would be one of the first for me to learn.
We’ve been doing some hikes in the areas around where we live.
Temple Trip to Copenhagen
We haven’t had the opportunity to go to the temple since being on the mission until last week. We got train tickets to Copenhagen which is about 6 hours away and booked a place to stay in patron housing just steps away from the temple. It was a wonderful experience in so many ways. We met some amazing senior missionaries that keep the temple up and running on a daily basis. I just felt so much gratitude for the service they render every day and it blesses so many people here on earth and in heaven.
On my second day in the temple I had the opportunity to do initiatories for some of my ancestors. I had hurriedly printed them out before leaving on the trip, so as I was waiting I started to study the names and dates on the cards. I quickly realized that three of them were sisters and born close together. Eric’s birth mother was also a part of the group. I then realized that all the baptisms and confirmations were done by my oldest granddaughter, Preslee. She has been regularly attending the temple since January and turns 12 this week. My heart just filled with gratitude for Preslee and that she was providing opportunities for her ancestors to accept the covenant of baptism and confirmation. I preformed the initiatories and felt the presence of Eric’s mother. The temple ordinances are a gift from God that link our families eternally. I felt it a privilege to be in the temple that day and I’m already longing to go back.
Many of you may be familiar with the Christus in the visitors center on Temple Square or the Christus in the Rome temple. These are copies of Thorvaldsen’s sculpture and is the most copied sculpture ever, in the world today. He was commissioned to sculpt the twelve apostles as well. It became his greatest work and the originals are in Copenhagen’s Lady of our Church.
The Visitor Center is Open
Opening day was on April 2nd. We had a group from Utah and also people from Skanska’s leadership that were there. We were asked by Skanska to talk about the church and why we build temples.
All in all it was a wonderful day. We had over 40 visitors! We have some groups booked for May and June and hope to have some regular hours soon.
Sending love from Sweden🇸🇪
Elder and Sister Lofgran