Daniel with companion, new member and Bishop

Letter dated 23Sept2013

[Dear family and friends, here is the letter we received this morning from Daniel. We hope you enjoy these letters as much as we do! If you have a reply, simply reply and I will forward the reply to Daniel! I hope that our new season (Autumn) is treating you well! Sincerely, Daniel's editor - BWS] Dear Family and Friends: This week has felt very busy, it's great to have that feeling when thinking about a week! Each day is pretty varied from the other ones, but they still all manage to blend together. On Thursday, we made goals as a district (which is made of two companionships) for how we can become more involved with the ward and be missionaries together with the members. It was a really good meeting. So this week, we've met with families of the ward often, gotten to know them, and tried to help them. After the meeting, I went on splits with Elder Sheldon to an newly opened area that doesn't have quite as much activity as the west side of Jacobsberg. It was a change of pace, to go from more teaching people to more finding people to teach. I go to this area about once a week, and it's good to have the change of gears so often. I really love being a missionary and helping people by teaching about the restored gospel. As I'm getting to know Swedish better and better, it is neat to be able to talk to people more and become better friends with them than I was able to the previous time we met. I really love getting to know everyone, and am so glad that's part of missionary work. Also pretty sweet is that when we go through a train station, there's often a street musician playing either the accordion or violin. These people are always either really good musicians or very peppy, so it's always entertaining. I read in Jacob 5 and really liked verse 72, where it says that the Lord of the vineyard is laboring with his servants, and that his servants are completely obedient to his commandments. In the allegory, the Lord of the vineyard represents Jesus, and missionaries are included in what's represented by the servants. It is really encouraging to learn from this that Jesus is helping people come unto Him, and that through obedience, I can be helpful in this as well. Here is a link to Jacob 5: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/jacob/5?lang=eng I love you and hope you all have a great week! Love, -- Äldste Daniel Schindler

Letter dated 16Sept2013

[Dear family and friends, here is Daniel's letter that we received this morning! I think you will find it as "un-boring" as I did! If you have a response for Daniel, you can simply reply to this note - and I will forward the note to Daniel! I hope you are having a wonderful September! Wishing you all the best! Daniel's editor - BWS] Dear Family and Friends: This might be a little boring, but I'll start off by talking about the weather. It's super comfy and nice! It seems like this week it's rained most every day, but we never got rained on (except for this morning, when it came in force) but just get off at train stops in other cities where it's just rained. So we've mostly just experienced the good smell and cool feel that follows rain. There are also lots of snails (or in Icelandic, snigill-s, as I've recently learned) that come out on the side walks. I've never seen so many before. This week was also very good in that it was busy with good things! We got to teach several people for the first time, which is neat because it shows how many people the Lord is preparing for us. Each one was a really great experience. One especially good experience was with a man from Iran named Hade. He is a very kind and sincere person, and I felt the Spirit so strongly in that lesson. We had a member whose name is Mats with us. He comes with us to many of our lessons and is just a very kind and giving person. This day was especially cool for him because he actually got married right after the lesson! It was sort of a secret wedding, as he hadn't planned to marry his fiance for about a year. so it was a surprise to us! When we called to see if he could come, he said 'Well, I'll be at the church at 3, so I guess I could come a couple hours early.' He came in a suit, and he said 'I'm getting married today.' (he's also a very stoic person, so there wasn't really an exclamation to this); I thought I just misunderstood him, but it was correct and he got married right after we said good-bye to Hade! There were just 8 people in the wedding and it was very nice. His wife is also a very nice person and it is so fun when they have dinner for us at their house. We have been fed so much by members and investigators, it's just crazy! There is a lot of variety to the food, as many people come from different cultures. It has all been pretty similar to American food, with an emphasis on sandwiches and potatoes. This coming week, we have a dinner appointment most every day and two in one day! You can always look forward to these because everyone is so great to get to know and build a relationship with. I read some scriptures that I've been thinking of lately. John 14:13-14 says that if we pray in the name of Christ, or pray as Christ would pray, we shall be given the things for which we ask. Moroni 7:48 says that if we pray with all the energy of heart, we will be filled with love and become like Jesus. I've not really thought of prayer being so important before, but I know that it is because that's what the scriptures say, and I have found that Heavenly Father always answers my prayers. I know that prayer is a great way to build one's foundation on Christ, about which Helaman 5:12 says causes one to be sturdy and protected from the adversary. I hope you all have a great week! I know that the gospel is true and love being in Sweden! Love you! Äldste Daniel Schindler

Daniel with pig!

Swedish scriptures

Island

Swedish door!

View of city

Daniel's city

It's all in the name!

Cooking dinner!

Random picture

Amazing building

Swedish sea!

Swedish word

Sweden!

Cool collection

Relaxing moment at MTC

Group in front of map

MTC group

Provo temple

Daniel with MTC friend

Daniel at MTC

Letter dated 9Sept2013

Letter dated 2Sept2013

Dear family and friends, here is the wonderful letter we received from Daniel this afternoon! We are so happy to hear his enthusiasm for the work he is doing! If you want to send a message to Daniel, simply reply to this note and I will forward your message to him. Wishing everyone a happy September! Daniel's editor - BWS Dear Family: This week was wonderful! It rained several times, which was really pretty and felt nice. I went on splits for two days this week, which is where we change companions and sometimes areas in which we serve. On Wednesday, I became companions with Äldste Sheldon, who has been in Sweden just 6 weeks longer than I. I was a little nervous at the beginning that we would not be able to communicate very well, as neither of us if fluent, but it turned out to be really great. We taught several lessons and we were able to say everything in each of them that we had planned to teach. It was a fantastic experience that we were able to do as well as we did! Then on Thursday, I became companions with Äldste Sagers, who is a really experienced missionary. I went to the middle of Stockholm this day, and was really amazed by how beautiful it was. We talked to a lot of people on the trains and had three good lessons. It was really fun to be his companion. He is a really nice person and reminds me a lot of Tom Calvo. Yesterday, Jonathan, who is from Pakistan, was baptized! He is a fantastic person and really amazes me by how much he wants to be a disciple of Christ. He studied to be a film director, and when we mentioned that he could perhaps help with the Church's Mormon Messages work, he said 'yes, and there would be no charge of course.'! He is a very stoic individual and a super solidly good person. After Jonathan's baptism, to which Äldste Sagers came, Äldste Sagers saw Isatta, someone who had wanted to be baptized but after a hectic period of her life a bit ago stopped meeting with the missionaries. He knew her and so we got to meet her and it was a real miracle to have that contact. It is very evident that the Lord is working very acutely and helping us help other people come toward Him. Jakobsberg is the greatest. We take buses and trains and subways often. One announcer at the train station sounds like the narrator for the Orc team on Warcraft II. [I have no clue what this voice sounds like!] We also walk and ride bicycles. It is not a very large suburb of Stockholm and even in areas where there is a lot of development and living happening it is really pretty with parks and nice lawn areas. One thing I really like is that often in an open field there are rock shelves that jut out of the ground a little bit. It gives really nice variety and in days before the dressy attire I would have jumped all around these. I will send pictures next week. There are many great ones. Usually I will e-mail in the morning, the same time I did last week. I sent a letter on Wednesday. Let me know when you get it :) Mom knows Sister Tolley. They had my district over for a great dinner one week ago! It was great! They are really awesome. I love you all! I know that Christ's atonement is real and the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and I'm so grateful for the chance to be a missionary! Love, -- Äldste Daniel Schindler

Daniel with trainer

Daniel arriving in Sweden!

Letter dated 28Aug2013

August 28, 2013 Dear Family, Here's just a letter to give some better descriptions of what Sweden is like. The Swedish people remind me kind of like hobbits. They are actually really tall, and they wear shoes but their basic demeanor is the same as that of the Hobbits. You can tell that they really love peace and they find joy in the small things -- like nature, food and each other. Whenever I have a conversation with someone, he or she is really into it and seems really focused on what I am saying. They also have a a really active sense of humor. They laugh a lot as the result of legit wit that I am beginning to find more funny as time goes on. Whenever we go to someone's house to teach a lesson or just visit, we get fed! I haven't had a great big dinner yet -- except for one with the service missionary couple - the Tolleys -- but we always just get a yummy, large snack. It seems that this is sort of their style. The landscape is also very beautiful. It has many small hills and rivers that are near us but not so near that we see them every day. There are lots of protruding rocks than are really pretty as well. My companion, Aldste Hobben, is a hard working missionary and I am thankful that his Swedish is very good. So, the Swedish word for snail is smegal, and Swedish is close to Iceland, a language that J.R.R. Tolkien knew so I am wondering if the character Smegal was named after the Icelandic snail. Could a brother look up the Icelandic word for snail and let me know? That would be great! I love you all and love to hear from you! Love, Aldste Daniel Schindler P.S. I know that the church is true!