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!