The Blessings of Heaven

So I thought that nothing exciting happened this week, or at least nothing that anyone would actually want to read about, but I was dead wrong! My problem is that this week has seemed so long that I forgot which things actually happened in the recent past.

But. To start off the week, I spent the whole night on Tuesday in the Emergency Room here! That was interesting because I have never actually been to the doctor's office here in Norway, let alone the hospital, so I had to learn the words for those things, ask someone how to get there, and then actually find the place, all before my companion died. Okay so maybe that is a little dramatic, but only a little. We were eating dinner with a member here in Oslo, and we were all talking and laughing and having a really great time. We ate a delicious dinner and talked for a while, and finally I delivered a spiritual thought before we left. I thought it was a little bit weird that my companion wasn't coming in with his part of the lesson, but since someone had to finish it, I just went ahead with our plan. Everything went well, and we thanked them for dinner and left. As soon as we got outside, I looked over at my companion to ask him what he thought about the visit, only to discover that his face was bright red, twice its normal size, and breaking out in a rash. I am not even being a little bit dramatic this time. I don't have any idea how we didn't notice it in the dinner, but there wasn't really time to ask questions about that. So, we rushed him, by bus (which is actually not in a rush at all) to the ER and got everything taken care of.

It turns out that the members used buckwheat in the meal, which my companion, as we found out, was obviously allergic to, and his body didn't handle it very well. But, everything went well in the end, and it made for a great story. I am just glad that everything is alright.

My companion has had a rough week I guess, because one day we were on the bus, on fold up seats, and he stood up a little bit to hit the button that signaled that we needed to get off. His seat folded back up, but he didn't know it, so when he sat back down, he just fell on the ground. It was really funny and we both laughed about it :)

I am doing well here, but it has been raining pretty often. My umbrella is holding up well, except that my companion stole it and took it clear up to Mo i Rana. On accident. So he is sending it back, so who knows when I will get it? But that is okay, I have a different one that I am using for the time being.

I am the senior companion right now, but that doesn't mean a whole lot right now. It is probably just because I know the area and Elder Tate doesn't yet. We are doing really well, and I enjoy being around him. We just knock on doors all day long, and it gets really really long. But sånn er livet. I just have to keep pushing through, right? There isn't really anything going on in our area right now, but we have a lot of appointments with potential investigators this week, so we will have to see what the future holds. Lisa didn't show up to church, and we haven't been able to get ahold of Rhoda for a while.  Last night we ended up walking down a road which took us on a hike through the forest to the middle of a field, and a ski resort, in front of these really weird apartment complexes, which were bad for knocking on, so we hiked up the hill right there and ended up in the exact same spot where we started. Then we went home. So it was a rough night :)

Other than that, it has pretty much just been another week on the mission. They come and they go, but it feels, to me at least, like we are just doing the mission things every day, and that is about it. We get up in the morning and move our feet and the Lord blesses us for it. Sometimes we don't want to talk, and the Lord blesses us for it. There are a lot of times that I would rather just sleep in or something, but I get up and smile, and the Lord blesses us for it.

We didn't come to this life for it to be easy. We came here to learn and to grow and to the things that we need to do. And, if we are faithful and put in the effort to do them, the Lord blesses us for it.

I am so grateful for the opportunities that I have to learn and to grow out here; I wouldn't rather do anything else right now. I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

PS: Gratitude for This Week:

an extra umbrella at the center

floor heaters at the apartment (they are the BEST!)

scripture study in the morning

pday!

people who open the door and are nice

laughter-a tender mercy of the Lord