Be happy

Dear Family,
I have had a wonderful week, and yes, I am continuing to enjoy being a little bit on the taller side!
I'll start with last Monday. Almost right after I finished emailing you we went off to help a woman named Sirpa, she had called us the night before asking for help, and we weren't able to help her since we had no possible way to get to her house and she lived to far away to walk too.
But we got to her house, she needed help unpacking, and we knocked on the doorbell... and she opens the door and says 'I have friends over right now. Can you walk my dog while we drink Coffee?' Syster Pieksma and I just sort of stared before saying yes. So we took her dog outside and started walking it... It was SO funny. I can't even tell you how funny, it was just so unexpected and so funny, and the Dog kept barking at people we tried to contact and it was hilarious! By the way... This woman is also a Finnish Gypsy.
But it was the FUNNIEST thing. I can't even tell you. So after we went up and helped her start unpacking. I have never seen so much black clothing in my life! I think one of her skirts weighed about 50 pounds. (Alright, so it wasn't 50 pounds but it was SUPER heavy...) And it was just so so bizarre, but it was a good experience, and we've been over a few more times to help her (she has something wrong with her back and she can't stand straight) and we've talked a little about Christ... We'll see how it all works out.
But yeah... That was definitely very interesting. But the rest of Monday was pretty good.
I've also discovered that I say the words 'Ja' and 'Nej' funny... Of course these words mean 'Yes' and 'No' so they should be super easy to say... But I pronounce them funny... I need to work on that. (Ironically according to Oscar, I pronounce Ja like a German... :( Need to work on that...)
Something pretty interesting, in the branch here in Övik we have maybe two Swedes and the rest are Asian... Well, most of church is in Swedish, but whenever someone says the prayer the say it in their own language, which is way fun, it's just... I don't know, super exciting, but a little strange at the same time. Well, most people prayer in their own language... Missionaries don't get that opportunity! Swedish all the way!
But anyways... This week has been super interesting. Tuesday we were blåsted by 3 of our 5 lessons, and then we had a normal Wednesday... (pretty much the only normal day this week... not that the being blåsted is abnormal... I just like to tell myself that it doesn't happen as often as it does...)
And then Thursday we went up to Umeå for Zone Conference and it was SUPER good. I quite enjoyed it. And something they mentioned reminded me of the 90-10 principle. Life is 10 percent what happens to us, and 90 percent how we view it and react to it. Our happiness isn't determined by what happens to us, it is definitely affected by it. But we are the ones who make the important decisions... And of course that doesn't mean it's easy... but it is something we can work on.
But then Thursday I returned to Övik with... Syster Ludwig! That's right! Exchanges! It was super fun, and we went to Sirpa's again and then we went to Oscar's school. The next morning though we were cancelled on and then those that we went to Swing by weren't available... It was interesting... And then we pretty much had to get on a train again... So it was a little sad but most of our exchanges were spent traveling to and fro. The SIsters in Norrland are pretty spread apart. Well... the places in Norrland are pretty spread apart. Eh, it was fun though. Thursday and Friday put together I spent 9 hours in Umeå and several more hours traveling to and fro... So I wasn't actually in my area for very long. But I got to know Sister Ludwig, Sister Stewart, and Sister Klingler a little bit better. They are all such sweet people and they are all really good missionaries. It's one thing about Exchanges you come back with loads of things that you want to do better. It's different than just being with a companion, because then you see things and you can start working on them, but you do that more together, where as with exchanges you just see all of these wonderful qualities for one day only (well, in that particular person) and you just want to 'bang, bang, bang, be better, all at once...' it doesn't work that way of course. I'm sure that's something you already know.
But it was also nice being back with Sister Pieksma. Sister Pieksma is super super super fun. She has such a wonderful personality and she loves to laugh. She has a huge desire to be an excellent on-fire missionary and she just loves the people that she works with. I've really enjoyed being her companion these past two weeks, and look forward to more weeks.
On Saturday we had a party for the Relief Society. Or we had one planned... Well, 3 woman showed up, plus Sister Pieksma and I, and then we had the institute students there... and so we all just joined together, had a small lesson, and then ate Fika, Valentine's Day style (Alla Hjärtas Dag) that was super fun... And I got to know some of the Sisters better.
Oh, one of the Sisters is teaching me a little bit of Cambodian. That's interesting. I can say 'Hi' and 'How are you' and 'I'm doing good.' (Rough translations...) It's pretty fun.
Actually though 3 woman showing up isn't all that bad of a turn out when one reflects and realized that there are only about 7 Relief Society sisters in the branch... Have I mentioned we have a small branch... Yeah... It's a small branch.
Which was sort of good for me because I had to give a talk in Church on Sunday. I hate talking in front of people. And... President Ottosson asked me to talk for... 20 minutes. That's a LONG time! I don't like standing in front of people for that long! But... I did it. I spoke for the full 20 minutes... but it wasn't that good of a talk I felt and I was a little disappointed with myself, I worked hard on it, but it just wasn't my best quality talk ever... But... It's over now... Oh... and they all think my name is Sister Sawsett, even though I've tried to correct them and show them my name tag and all that. So, I think I might be going by Sister Sawsett for the next little while... It's... well, it's kind of funny. I never realized that Fawcett was such a difficult name... Several people in Kristianstad struggled with it too... (But then, Dallin is being called Elder Faseki, so I'm still doing pretty good!)
Something else interesting this week, while we were tracting we had some interesting encounters... 2 people we tracted into weren't wearing pants... That was just strange and I hope that doesn't happen again in the near future... or ever... Then when we asked people how they were doing they were just So confused! Like... They couldn't comprehend what we were asking, and I realize that it's a little weird that two random girls show up at your door... but... I didn't realize it was THAT confusing. Oh... And then this cute old woman gave us hugs, she wasn't interested in our message, but she thought it was sweet that we were doing it. She was so cute. And I love getting hugs...
And then... we tracted into a Satanist... and my mind was just blown. I DON'T Understand. Not at all. In the slightest. It doesn't make sense to me. He wants us to be miserable, for all eternity... Why would you want to be a Satanist... And if you believe in Satan... wouldn't you also believe in God? I don't know, and I didn't ask, I was actually in a little bit of shock. But yeah, the strangest things happen when you Contact/Tract... Such strange and bizarre things.
Oh speaking of crazy... I talked on the radio... about the church. To people in Thailand, U.S.A. and Europe... One of the families in our ward, the husband has a radio station and we were sharing a message with his wife and kids and we were about to leave and then he pulled us into to talk about the church... live. For ten minutes each. We talked about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon... and it was just weird and crazy and I don't like being thrown on the spot like that. AHHH!
It's been such a crazy week! And Dad's sharing of the poem reminded me of something. One of the quotes that I believe has made it home recently went something like 'When everything feels like an uphill struggle, just think of the view from the top.' And I was thinking about that, and about the little train... And sometimes, alright, often, we are in that position, we want to get to the top, we're doing our best, motivating ourselves, working for it with all our heart... but we don't have the 'engine capacity' or the strength to do it... At least not by ourselves... And I think about this so often, and I always come to the same conclusion. We need our Savior. We don't have the strength ourselves sometimes, but we know someone who does, and whether we need to ask him for a push or a pull, he's capable of getting that... and maybe... maybe sometimes he let's us fall down the hill, maybe it's not a hill we're meant to be climbing. But he's there at the bottom to help us fix ourselves up and get going again.
Eventually though, we will get to the top of the mountain that we are supposed to climb... but it will never be because of only our capacity, our efforts. The mountains are a little too steep and a little too rough... But... We're lucky enough to have someone who can help us up.
I don't know... sometimes my thoughts are all over the place... I've had alot on my mind this week. And part of me is going crazy because it can't get out... But we have a few hours in which we don't have anything planned today and I plan on just sitting and getting it all out onto paper. Oh, how I love P-Days, they are so necessary! And how I love the beautiful creation of paper and pencil... and colorful pens.
But you know, It's been a super good week! (Crazy, but good) But, I've been having an urge to chop my hair off... or dye it... or do SOMETHING. Eh! I need a change! (I know, as a missionary everything is all about change, but I rarely have control over that...) Eh, but at the same time I do like my hair the way it is! (I don't even like dying hair or cutting it! It's the weirdest feeling I'm telling you...) I don't know if I'm actually going to do anything about it though.
I love you all So much! I think I've rambled for long enough... I do try and stay on topic, it doesn't always happen though.
Questions!
1. How is Keana feeling, have you figured anything out with her stomach problems?
2. Any hair ideas? (Something I can change without going drastic on it... I know, silly thing, but... hey...)
3. How was your Valentine's Day!?
Be happy!!!
Love,
Kjanela