THE POWER IN A NAME

That's the Turning Torso in the background. It's an apartment building.  It's also, the tallest building in the Nordic countries. The security systems built into this piece of art make tracting virtually impossible. But, it's still something nice to look at anyways. :)

THE POWER IN A NAME
During the week, I had the opportunity to go to Lund on companion exchanges. Basically, I spent the day with a different companion other than the one I usually have.  I had a good time there. On account of it being a college town, Lund is a much smaller and quieter city than Malmö. While we were there, we visited a family in the ward called the Onyanwus.  Brother Onyanwu said something that I found very interesting. He talked about the importance and the power in a name. We have our first names that many people know us by, and these names have a meaning. We have our last name, a family name. People often get a kick out of the name Sweat, but it is a name filled with history. Then we have the name which we strive to wear by our examples, Jesus Christ. And as missionaries, that name is also on our name tag. These are only a few of the names we are known by, but each has a different meaning and all are associated with me. It is a responsibility to make sure that we honor those names. My thoughts are rather underdeveloped here, but it has been something that I have been considering the past few days.

Elder Bailey is somewhat of a basketball star.  Last Saturday night we were playing a game with two of our friends from Korea. When the ball got stuck on the back of the rim, even Elder Bailey was amazed. Apparently it's a fairly rare occurrence for that to happen from a shot. When I realized what an incredible phenomenon it was, I decided that other people needed to hear about it as well.  

Midsommar Party.
It was raining, so we had to take it indoors.  It is quite the celebration. We dance around this pole and sing songs about frogs and such. I had this same experience last year in Göteborg, but a year doesn't change the peculiarity of this holiday. It's also the only holiday besides Christmas and New Years that missionaries take off. That is because for most Swedes, it is just a day to drink. It helps explain why this holiday took off, because as a sober human being, I kept wondering if I was just in a bad dream. 

Another thing about Sweden, and I think Europe in general, is the cars are much smaller.  I find myself constantly amazed at the colors that people have chosen for their cars and the styles, as well. Some new companies I had never even seen in the U.S. (and for good reason, too) are Opel, Peugot, and Skoda. This little gem above is of the Skoda family. And I just have to chuckle as I think back to the jacked up trucks in Idaho, with their black smoke billowing out of their tailpipes. Is it overkill? Maybe. But this truck is like trying to kill a chicken with a butter knife.

The Malmö Chapel. Located on Vikingagatan 90, Malmö. We start our services at 11:00 a.m.  Visitors are always welcome.

Not only are the cars smaller, but the forks are too.