email sent June 22, 2010

Hi Everyone!!

I’m now in Lebanon Indiana!!!!! Everyone calls it Lebanin because they don’t want to be confused with the "terrorist country" it’s kind of funny. Last night sucked!!!!!!!!! We got home and planned, and then we saw some sort of light flashing outside. So we went outside and off in the distance it looked kind of like a whole lot of fireworks were going off!!! UNTIL WE FOUND OUT IT WAS LIGHTNING!!!!!!!!!!! Lightning was spider webbing across the sky like mad! It wasn’t dark for more than 2 seconds at a time!!!!! And it was loud!!! So just in case we packed some emergency gear, watched it for a bit then around 11:30 we crashed. Around 2:30 in the morning I woke up randomly, I lay in bed trying to get back to sleep, when the tornado sirens went off!!!!!!! It was so freaky!! So we got dressed and grabbed our stuff and headed to the basement of the apartment, which required RUNNING OUTSIDE INTO A PSYCHOTIC LIGHTNING STORM!!!!!!! We stayed there for a bit. Nothing particularly exciting happened after that but this lighting storm lasted from about 10:15 at night until 5:00 in the morning!!! It was freaky!!!

So anyway, my new comps name is Elder Empey (just remember military police, MP) he is awesome!! He is from Idaho Falls Idaho!!!! This transfer is going to be so awesome!!!!! We get along even better than Elder Ricks and I did. A cool thing that’s happening is we have a wedding date coming up soon for Will and Tammi!!! The area’s sweet black couple that loves the gospel, has three crazy kids, and wants to be baptized!!!!!! So their wedding is on July 24th!!!! I get to go to my first wedding of the mission!!!! Cool eh?? The branch is awesome!!! We get fed almost every night. But the girls here are crazy!!!!!! They don’t even try to hide the flirting!!! It’s like they want us to falter!!! I guess wanting a missionary is good but a missionary that would do something like that isn’t worth anything!!!! It’s insane!!!

Anywho me address is:

318 N Jameson St
Lebanon, IN, 46052

So hope you guys have an awesome week!!!!! LOVE YA!!!!

Elder Swanson

Email sent 6-15-10

Hey hey hey!!!! I'M GETTING TRANSFERED SO STOP ALL THE snail MAIL!!!!!! I'LL SEND my mom AN ENVELOPE WITH MY NEW ADDRESS ON WEDNESDAY!!!! Anywho, the work goes great!!!

So nothing big this week except yesterday we were riding our bikes out in Gas City AND ELDER RICKS GOT HIT BY A CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was AWESOME!!!!!!!! He's okay just bruised, but we we're laughing the whole time!! We went to the ER to check out his leg last night, but he only had a minor concussion (big boy word for bruise) but I'M GETTING TRANSFERED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Transfer meeting is tommorow so I'll tell ya where I am next Tuesday!!!!! I dont really have anything else for ya except I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!

Elder Swanson

Email 6-8-10

I’m happy for pictures!!!!!! It’s pretty wacky out here in Indy. The other day Elder Ricks and I were tracting and a lady opened the door and was very friendly until we said we were Mormon. Then she flipped out and started screaming at us. That we were all going to hell for teaching about the devil...... we told her we worship Jesus Christ, to which she said NO YOU DONT!!!!!!! THAT’S JUST WHAT YOU TELL PEOPLE SO YOU CAN CONVERT THEM AND ONCE THEY ARE IN YOUR CHURCH, YOU TEACH THEM YOUR "REAL" DOCTRINE!!!! SO DONT PLAY GAMES WITH ME!!!! We laughed and said why do you think that?? She said BECAUSE YOU ADDED YOUR IDEAS AND STUFF TO THE BIBLE!!!!! She proceed to tell us that we were devil spawn so me being...... well me.................. I cut her off and said " I'LL SEE YOU AT THE JUDGEMENT BAR OF GOD YOU DRUNK HICK AND WE'LL SEE WHO IS REALLY GOING TO HELL!!!!! I KNOW I’M GOING TO HEAVEN BECAUSE I DONT FOLLOW SOME APOSTATE PREACHER WHO CLAIMS TO HAVE AUTHORITY!!!! BECAUSE WE HAVE THE AUTHORITY AND YOU DONT!!!! ........................ We left after that (disclaimer I don’t believe she is going to hell, but she made me upset and my emotions got the better of me). So this week I told a lady to go to hell..... Don’t worry I repented, but the funny thing is, as we were walking back to our car she came out of her house and asked, "WHAT DID YOU MEAN YOU'LL SEE ME AT THE JUDGEMENT SEAT OF GOD?? I said "the judgment seat that God will sit on and judge the just and the unjust in their works." to which she said "NO THERE ARE 2 JUDGEMENT SEATS........ THERE IS THE BEAMA SEAT..... AND THE WICKED SEAT...... THE BEAMA SEAT IS WHERE THE RIGHTEOUS GET REWARDED AND THE WICKED SEAT IS WHERE THE WICKED ARE PUNISHED!!!!!" to which Elder Ricks said, "Where do you get that doctrine from?? It’s not in the Bible.” To which she replied.. ."WELL NEITHER IS THE CONCEPT OF RAPTURE, BUT THAT DOESNT MEAN ITS FALSE!!!!' ...Thus we see she condemned herself. She said we were going to burn for adding things..... and she and her church have also added things.... so i guess we are all going to hell!! What a joke. It was funny. But THE MISSION IS SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!! I love being here!!!!! We meet so many awesome people!!!!! Also not so awesome people too, but it’s fun!!!!!!

Oh oh oh!!!! Another funny story. I GOT TASED!!!!!!!!!!!! I and Elder Ricks were at a former investigators house and their 17 year old daughter asks..... Have you ever been tased before??? We both said no. and she asked if we would like to tase each other. WE ACCEPTED!!!!! So she went to her room and grabbed her taser and I tased Elder Ricks and he tased me!!!!!! It was shweet!!! The whole Riley family was laughing so hard!! No more fun stories or awesome spiritual things. Lots of our investigators are not calling us back and 2 of them are getting a divorce. Pray for us please. LOVE YOU GUYS LOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hugs,
Elder Swanson!!!

Email 6-1-10

I WANT PICTURES!!!!!! I"VE SENT A BAJILLION HOME SO TAKE SOME FOR ME!!!!!! OF EVERYTHING!!!! STEPHEN, EMMA, YOU, DAD, THE JEEP, THE PUPPIES, THE WARD, THE NEIGHBORS, THE MOUNTAINS AND EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!

Anyway... so the whole ward situation........ you're going to love this. They asked me and Elder Ricks to speak on missionary work this past Sunday........ so we spoke...... on forgiveness and the ATONEMENT!!!!!!! We both spoke and REBUKED THE WARD!!!!!!! WE CALLED THEM TO REPENTANCE!!!!!! IT WAS SHWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG AND I THINK WE AFFECTED EVERYONE!!!!!!! So hopefully the ward will be doing much better now. I've decided I'm going to get into baseball on p-days. I'm buying a bat and some baseballs today at Mal-Wart. Not much going on here, but all is well in Zion...... for now. LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!! AND SEND ME AND ACTUAL LETTER WITH LOTS OF TRIP PICTURES AND PCITURES OF EVERYTHING ELSE!!!!!!!!! I'm sending home like 50 pictures today so expect them when you get home!!!!!! Say hi to the ward for me and tell Parker and Preston and Braiden and Keaton to write me!!!!!!!!

Elder Swanson

Email 5-25-10

The baptism went awesome!! Clinton will be getting the Aaronic priesthood on Sunday and he is going to baptise an investigator named Shannon. It's pretty sweet. He has a Preach My Gospel already and is using it to try and show his family that the gospel is the best thing ever!!!! Anyways, I'm not doing too well today. I lost my camera and don't know where it is. I murmured a bit and now i feel like crap, so I can't send any pictures home this week because we can only develop film on Tuesdays. What is something you do when you get angry?? Nothing seems to help. Our ward officially is going to hell. All they do is argue and fight and complain about no one liking church. They have about 400 members in our ward and only 75-100 of them are active. The Relief Society is an exclusive club and everyone bad mouths non-LDS people or our investigators. If I lived here I wouldn't go to church. We have a couple families that are awesome! but the rest are like dogs fighting over table scraps. Transfers are on June 16th and I hope I move somewhere else. I thought some of the Mormons in Utah were bad, but these ones take the cake. Anyway, inspite of all this crap I still love the mission. I know I'll be blessed for being here so it makes up for the crap.

We elders are getting along well. we have our differences but we try not to dwell on them. Glad you guys are doing awesome!!! Hey by the by, on our vacation after the mission. You know when we come out here, you'll get to meet Clinton he says he's excited to meet you guys in 2 years!!!! hehehe Anyways, I gotta go, but love you all so much.

Elder Swanson

Email 5-18-10

The mission is awesome!!! Clinton "the Abyss" Freeman is being baptised by water and fire on Saturday. Did I tell you he is a former Pro wrestler "THE ABYSS" and also former bodygaurd of Violent J from the Insane Clown Posse..... that music is so HORRIBLE!!!! Very psycho, but he says the guys are nice enough! He had a messed up past life but he's such an awesome guy now!!!! One cool thing about the Clinton story is, you know how we were over Marion/Elwood. Well his street was the only street we tracted in Elwood and he was the only person to answer!!!!!!!!!!!! THE SPIRIT REALLY DOES GUIDE OUR PLANNING!!!!! He already has a Preach my Gospel and read a little from it every day!!!!!! Wish me luck on trying to dunk this 6 foot 7, 350 something pound guy on Saturday!!!! I'll probably get pulled in with him ^______^ anyway I want you guys to write me a letter sometime!! Emails are nice but you get letter during the week!!! I've got to go but have a good week!!!!!!!!

ELDER SWANSON

Email 5-11-10 and Mom's Day Call

Me and Philius have been writing emails back and forth quite a bit!! and I'm going to get a bike at Walmart today when we go shopping in an hour or so. I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!!!! It was awesome to hear from you!!!! I'm planning on sending more pictures home today with a letter so expect one soon. I love you lots!!!!!!!

Mark

Mom’s Day Call – we talked to Mark for a while then brought in Phillip w/ conference calling. It was hard to hear w/ the long pauses from overseas, but it was nice for everyone to hear each others’ voices. Not really any new info.
Mark says there are 3 kinds of people he meets when he and Elder Ricks are out tracting. NICE, INDIFFERENT, AND HATEFUL. The 1st is great, the second is frustrating, the 3rd is sometimes funny, but hard too.
Mark lives by Indiana Wesleyan College. The town of Marion is struggling w/ unemployment. He sees a lot of people w/ missing teeth and lots of run down homes. He loves his neighbors and the work. He’s most excited about Clinton Freeman who will be baptized on the 25th. Clinton is a former WWF wrestler – The Abis. Mark thinks that’s cool. Of course.