PICTURES ARE WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

The morning of Zone Conference, I awoke, before my alarm, at 4:45 a.m.  As I lay in bed, I realized that I felt good. Could it be that I have become a morning person? The sunlight coming through our window seemed to smile and say, "Hello Elder Sweat, you will have a wonderful day!" So I took a picture of this incredible phenomenon so you could all experience that same joy I had on that peculiar morning.

As the day progressed, I found myself continuing to feel the same energy I had when I woke up. And even more curious, I enjoyed it. As we walked out to the bus stop that morning, at 5:30 a.m., the garbage scattered across the sidewalk seemed to be exhausted and resting from the previous night's activities. 

As we reached Malmö Central Station, we found that we had a few minutes to kill, so we decided to take a walk along the canal. And again, I found that the water even reflected this wonderful peaceful morning that I was experiencing. I could not believe it, and I kept waiting for the crash to come. But as I hopped on the train and got ready for the trip to Göteborg, I found myself alert and completely coherent. Perhaps it was all a dream, because the day seems so far away. 

We were reteaching one of the lessons to Reza, he was recently baptized. As soon as we began, he asked if he could teach us. I couldn't stop smiling as I saw him run through the whole lesson, almost flawlessly. It was cool to see that he had absorbed what had been taught to him. But even more exciting, was Reza's enthusiasm in teaching. He has found this joy, and wants to learn it well enough that he can spread it to his friends.

I'm curious about what this tour entails.

As you can see, by the end of Zone Conference, I was still smiling. And for good reason, too. We received some excellent training on raising the bar in our missionary work. The work of a missionary is very trying, and often I feel like what I seem to be: a punk kid wearing a shirt and a tie. But I find strength and comfort in the fact that I can become a strong tool, if I strive to understand how God wants me to be. It was also great to see some of my other friends, and I got to return to my first home in Utby. It was a good day, but, by 10:30 p.m., I was ready to crash. And I have decided that I am, in fact, not a morning person, still.

Unfortunately, after the Zone Conference, President has increased the severity of punishments. I woke up a few minutes late this morning, and it landed me in the stockade.  LOL

This is a replica Viking village that we checked out today. We were standing guard in the watchtower, and are happy to report that all is clear. We found out that, that was not the case over 800 years ago. In fact, this is the site that has defined religion in Sweden today. It was at this site that the world also lost 5 of its archbishops (a world record) in one battle. But at the end of it, Scandinavia was definitively a Christian nation.

Elder Bailey and I realize that we need to speak a language that the vikings will understand. As you can see, we mean business.   :)