Daniel and Elder Jones - riding in luggage compartment!

Daniel with Elder Bybee

Swedish sunrise!

Letter dated 17Feb2014

Dear Family and Friends: This morning we got up to a clear sky and a really bright sun! It's really warm, 50 degrees, and all the snow is melted. I wasn't expecting it, but this is the warmest winter I've ever been in! The weekly English class that we teach to Somalians is a lot of fun. Most of their names are Mohamed, and so usually the conversation practices go something like this: "Hi, where are you from?" "Somalia. Where are you from?" "Somalia. What is your name?" "Mohamed. What is your name?" "Mohamed...." It's super funny :D The work is going really well. For example, tonight we have 3 lessons planned, which is more lessons than I've ever had following a preparation day. We have a lot of potential investigators at the moment, included Jenny whom I mentioned knocking on her door two weeks ago. And on Wednesday, Elders Johnson and Smith, also in Eskilstuna, contacted Toma, who's from Syia, and invited him to the church. He came in and we watched The Restoration film with him in Arabic! We couldn't really say anything else, but he said he'd read from the Book of Mormon every day when we first showed it to him, and our mission leader speaks Arabic! We started meeting with a less-active member named Christian who hasn't been to church for several years. But he said that right before we came to meet him the first time, he knew that we were about to come. He seems really ready to come back to church! It is sweet to see the ways that the Lord prepares people to receive the gospel's blessings! Pictures: Sunrise. Äldste Bybee and I. Äldste Jones, who was in Eskilstuna for the day, and I riding a train in the luggage compartment. Well, I love you all! Have a great week, I hope it warms up a bit in the US and Ireland :) Love, -- Äldste Daniel Schindler

Letter from President Newell - dated - 8Feb2014

Dear Brother & Sister Schindler, We are delighted to have your son, Äldste Daniel Schindler, in the Sweden Stockholm Mission. He has recently been assigned to serve as a Trainer in Eskilstuna II area. He is an exemplary missionary, demonstrating the work and faith which have earned the respect and trust of the Mission. A Trainer is a position of sacred stewardship in the Sweden Stockholm Mission as it can have a tremendous impact on the culture of the mission and the missionaries themselves. We are grateful for the prayers and sacrifice of your family which make the service of your son possible. With respect and kind regards, Gregory J. Newell Gregory J. Newell SWEDEN STOCKHOLM MISSION

Letter dated 10Feb2014

[Dear friends, here is the letter we received from Daniel today. It is short -- but positive and happy! Daniel's new companion is straight from Missionary Training Center in Provo! Daniel would love to hear from you. Simply reply to this note and I'll forward your note along to Daniel! Thank you for your prayers and support! Stay warm and safe! Love, Daniel's editor - BWS] Dear Family and Friends: It was a really good week in Eskilstuna! All of the tuna here are really glad that we've gotten so much rain this week. Budum-chhh. On Wednesday morning, I Äldste Hewitt and I said good-bye to each other. He left to a southern city. Later, I met Äldste Bybee, who's from Mapleton, Utah. He is a football player and it's really fun to be his companion! He also does martial arts, so I've been learning a bit from him in the mornings. I usually put on my black belt when we train, and it helps me feel much more capable. He's a lot of fun! As well as a good cook, which is very handy. Everything's going really well, and I love you all! The work has been good this week, and I'll tell you lots about it next week. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and it is so fantastic to be in Sweden to teach it! Love, -- Äldste Daniel Schindler

Letter dated 3Feb2014

[Dear friends, here is the letter we received from Daniel today. If you want to respond, simply hit reply and I'll forward your note to Daniel. I hope you are all staying warm, well and cool! Thank you for your prayers on Daniel's behalf! Daniel's editor - BWS] Dear Family and Friends: This was a very good week here! And it is so good to hear that Grandpa is feeling much better now. That's really a miracle. As we were knocking on some sweet doors and were invited in by a family of a Swede and two Thais. This led to an incredible lesson! The dad, Kjell, felt the Holy Spirit strongly as we prayed, read from the Book of Mormon, and asked him to begin reading the Book of Mormon. The less-talkative mom, Maline, is Buddhist and seemed also to feel the Holy Ghost. She said to Kjell: "You have to read this book." And they then agreed to read it together. The only snag was that Kjell didn't want it at first because he's hesitant toward business transactions. But after explaining a few times that the book is free, no more snag. We're really excited to see them again on Wednesday! I am also getting a new companion on Wednesday, but am staying in Eskilstuna. He will be new to Sweden and Swedish, so I'm really excited to introduce him to this great country! I am sad that Äldste Hewitt is leaving. He is a lot of fun to be around and is a wonderful missionary. We made muffins that we took to the Pavon family yesterday, and used them to illustrate principles of the gospel that Christ's church is made of, and then made a cool-looking church by stacking them together. We don't have a muffin pan, so we had just packed them tight together and baked them. So most of them looked more like Brazil than a circle. So as soon as we took them out, Alonzo, the 5-year-old son, said "What weird muffins!" They were super good to the taste, though. Earlier yesterday, a lesson at the library fell through. So we talked to someone who was right there and told him we're missionaries. He was interested in talking more and we walked back to the church. We gave him (his name is Fuad) a tour of the church, then watched a Bible Video about Jesus talking about people's talents, and then gave him a piano lesson. He's really excited to learn more about Christ and the piano, which makes me really happy that even though our appointment fell through we found a new investigator! I love you all and hope each of you has a wonderful week! Love, -- Äldste Daniel Schindler