Hejhej!
So excited to be here in Sweden! This will be a little long sorry so much has happened and I missed my last P-day last week. If I haven't already mentioned I had a Christmas party in the Virgina ward I was in before I left where I had the privilege to play the piano for everyone and I did magic under the name 'magic Mason' which the bishop there so affectionately gave me. Anyways, we said (Äldste Fawcett and I) said goodbye to our trainers and President Huntsman gave us our flight tickets and paid for our bags and sent us off to Sweden from the DC airport. We actually flew first to Chicago to meet up with ALL the other Swedish Missionaries, 9 of whom visa waited and were in the mtc with me and 16 of which just now came out of the mtc. So yeah there were quite a few of us but it was more than good to see them all! I forgot how much fun we all had in the mtc together.
So we flew from there to Frankfort Germany which was about an 8 hour flight, not too bad. But here's the thing, we go through the international area where they look at our passports and such before we get on the plane from there to Stockholm. I'm one of the first in line of our small missionary army and I go through just fine with only my passport. Well I stand there and wait and start to realize that no one else is coming through after me, the officials are demanding that the other missionaries pull out their paperwork and visas to prove that we're actually supposed to be in Sweden. Well they take Elder Lloyd (he served in Vancouver waiting for his visa and was my super good friend in the mtc) and asked him to come upstairs to answer some questions for the group, and everyone is super frantic at this point because our plane to Stockholm leaves in like 20 minutes. Well, Elder Lloyd takes me with him (cause he needs a companion of course) and we went up and answered a few questions about our fight, and he looked at Elder Lloyd's visa paperwork (we really hardly did anything at all) and I start to realize that I DO NOT have the visa paperwork he has. Our mission president in Virginia never gave it to us (I'm sure the church has it online) so I'm starting to freak out a little bit, but he says that we can go through if we all have those papers and we get back in line right before we are supposed to board and I actually just showed the guy that my passport had already been stamped and he let me through. So that's how I got into Sweden without my visa. Haha worked out, of course we didn't tell the other missionaries that we hardly did anything. We told all the newbies who just got out about all the intense negotiating and ninja-fighting we did to make him let us in here. Really funny thinking back on that. (The group we left had said some mighty prayers because they were so worried while they waited. They said a lady came the last 5 min. before they were supposed to board and she took everyone left through without even having to get through security or the xray thing. So we got through basically on nothing but prayer, and landed in BEAUTIFUL Stockholm.
Unfortunately there wasn't really a photo opportunity, but flying into Stockholm and looking out on all the lakes and the beauty of the landscape having waited so long to get here and prepared so much and after having almost not gotten in, it was the most beautiful thing I've probably ever seen. Getting a new trainer and a new area and going in with a ton of other missionaries was all deja vu for me. But being there with all my mtc buddies I haven't seen in forever and getting to tour around Sweden was so FUN. We were pretty crazy after not having slept in forever and having been on planes for like the last 12 hours. I'm sure the President and his wife thought we needed some discipline. Or something haha.
I've been assigned to the Helsingborg (pronounced helsingboory) area I which means our apartment is actually in a city called Landskrona which is about 20 minutes south by train. But our chapel is in Helsingborg and we go there like everyday almost. Basically I'm learning how fun it is to not speak the language hardly at ALL. I mean, I get complimented all the time from other missionaries and members on how good my Swedish is for being here not so long. But everyone walks around all Hungendyflörgendyäeråperöpå and I just tell them I can't Swedish that well. Jag kan inte svenska så mycket means I can't Swedish very well. Kinda frustrating after having been teaching in English for so long. Ah! So easy compared to this.
It really depends on the person's accent as to whether I can understand them or not. I can understand the Americanized Swedish all the Missionaries and some members speak super well because that's what I was hearing in the Mtc and it's what I hear from my companion all the time! That I can understand and speak pretty well, but a lot of people here speak skånska, which is a mix of Swedish and Danish. I literally can't understand it hardly at all. And some people are just old and sound like the Swedish chef. There's also a huge difference between how Swedish women speak and how the men speak. Swedish women make this high pitched noise everytime they pronounce i's or y's and sometimes e's which kinda sounds like Stitch from the movie Lilo and Stitch, that is the best description I can give.
My companion is from New Mexico and has been out for about 15 months. He speaks the language pretty well and is super nice! I really like him. He's very interesting though. To give you a sense of what he's like, he enjoys doing the dishes (which is awesome) but he only eats cheese and meat on his tacos (which is a little weird). In fact, there were no fruits or vegetables at all in the apartment when I got there. I he claimed there were some oranges in the fridge but I never saw him eat any. Don't worry mom I bought plenty of fruits and veggies for this week. Be proud. The other two elders in our area consist of Elder Scott who is Australian and is brand new, he's in the group that just now came from the mtc and his trainer Elder Hainsworth who I really like. He's a cool dude. 
But how goes the work you say? Great! So there's literally so many people here, it's just like in DC South where about half the people are actually natives and the other half are immigrants, most are from Syria or Arab land or Cassava or wherever the heck else. AND, just like in DC South, the immigrants are way more likely to listen to us, and usually speak easier Swedish to understand. SO many white people here though still. Like the whitest people you've ever imagined. Most of the native Swedish girls here have like platinum blonde hair. The sun comes up at about 9 btw and goes down by about 4. Not terrible since we're so far south, but It's definitely weird when It's been dark for a few hours and you still have 3 more hours before we come home.
Yeah, people definitely aren't as interested in religion here like they were in DC. It's definitely a lot harder to get new investigators, and on average we talk to like 30 a day on the street just going from place to place and we rarely have much success. But we actually have 2 people on date right now! Please pray for Victoria and for Michelle. Victoria actually is SO solid. Mostly because she's dating a member haha. It's super ideal. Basically her boyfriend Casper brings her to church and to all her lessons. We've taught her twice so far and her baptism is a week from today. Michelle is less solid, she's interested in the church and committed to a date but she still has very far to go. We're really praying she'll be ready for her date on the 2nd. Other than that we have quite a few other lessons this week and we've picked up two pretty solid potentials this week who could easily become investigators. We met Joe this week in no less than a miracle. Some other members in the ward who are his neighbors literally asked him to come to church Sunday morning and he did. He's a strait philosopher, super smart guy and had a ton of great questions which even my trainer had a hard time responding to because they were so complicated. But we gave him a Book of Mormon and should be meeting with him again sometime soon. He's vietnamese.
It's crazy how many languages people speak here! Everyone speaks a least some English and most immigrants speak their native language, (usually Arabic), English, and Swedish. And most Swedes speak some German as well. I don't think I've met a single person who speaks only one language. Although some people's English is a little hard to understand, not that we speak English that much.
So here are some pictures, the one of the sunset over the water is off the coast of Helsingborg, it was like 3:30 when we took that picture. Also, you can see the Danish coastline if you look really hard. We see Denmark all the time. Other than that, the rest are just building in Helsingborg which are super duper really very old. like 12th century some of them. This is the most beautiful place I've ever been. Super blessed to be living here. Sorry if some of the pictures aren't super high quality, most of them are iphone.
That's a super famous church in Helsingborg. Don't know a lot about it yet.
Well, I'll let you go with just that. Hopefully that satisfies your need for Elder Mason for a while.I love you all!
JESUS KRISTI
KYRKA
AV
SISTA DAGARS HELIGE
SVERIGEMISSIONEN STOCKHOLM
December 11, 2015
Dear Brother and Sister Mason,
We met your son, Elder Mason, this past week as he
arrived in Stockholm, Sweden. It has been a delight to become acquainted with
him.
Upon arrival, the large group was taken by bus into
the city of Stockholm for immigration paperwork. We then went on a bus tour and
had a glimpse of Stockholm and visited some interesting places near the city of
Stockholm. The Taby Chapel was the next stop with an orientation to the Sweden
Stockholm Mission policies and procedures. After orientation, we served dinner
at the Church to a very tired group of excited missionaries. I had the wonderful opportunity to spend some
time in an interview with your missionary. We concluded the day’s activities
with the Elder Missionaries spending the night in a Hotel and the Sister Missionaries
were taken to the Mission Home for the night.
The next morning we began the day promptly at 6:30
a.m. with breakfast at the Hotel and the Mission Home. We departed on the bus
for the Vesterhaninge Chapel, which is near the Sweden Temple. There the Assistants, Sister Beckstrand and I
provided training. In the second meeting
of the morning, he met his new companion and trainer, Elder Nielsen. They will
serve together in the Helsingborg I Area of the Sweden Stockholm Mission. I would
like you to know I have experienced some of my most tangible moments of
revelation in the assigning of companionships.
I know your son and Elder Nielsen will learn much from each other, and
together they will be edified as they labour valiantly, with full purpose of heart
and obedience, in the service of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Sent previously was information on the mailing address
for letters and packages. This information will help your packages arrive in a
timely manner. Please share the mailing
address information with relatives and friends that may be writing or sending
packages. Traditionally, Preparation Day is held on Monday in the Sweden
Stockholm Mission. This is the day you can expect to receive an email from your
son. We encourage you to also communicate weekly with your son as
correspondence from home can be a great source of faith and support for this
sacred work in which he is engaged.
I bear my witness that this is the work of our Savior Jesus
Christ, and it is a sacred responsibility to wear his name above my heart. I am
grateful for all you have done to prepare your son and for the sacrifices you
have made and are making to support him as he continues in his labors. May our
Heavenly Father’s most generous blessings be with you and yours.
With respect and kind regards,
James
E. Beckstrand
James E. Beckstrand, President
SWEDEN STOCKHOLM MISSION
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