One Step at a Time

My week has been going well, and it is getting warmer here, so I can't complain. It has been raining all week, so I am enjoying life pretty well. Today we didn't even take jackets when we left, so basically it feels like I am at the beach. Life is good!

My new companion is here, and things are great with us. We are working hard, and so I have faith, like always, that we are going to find people who are going to be baptized. I can't leave Oslo without conquering this area :) I am enjoying working hard, and it makes for good sleep every night. . . . there are definitely worse things.

We haven't met with Malika this week because she has been really busy getting Norwegian passports for her kids so that they can go to the barnehage here. That is like.... well it means kindergarten, but it is like daycare for all of the parents here, because most of the men and the women work during the day so the kids have to have somewhere to go. She told us that we could meet this coming week, though, so I think that we can look forward to a good lesson with her coming up. I just hope that we are able to find a way to help her to realize that we have the only true church on the earth today. As far as other investigators go, we finally have another appointment with Rhoda tonight. I don't know if you remember her, but I found her way back in October, and I thought she was pretty positive from our first lesson with her, but then we haven't been able to nail down an appointment with her until now. But we are going to commit her to be baptized, so I hope that that goes well. I will be praying, so you can join if you would like :) Other than that, we are just finding and finding, but it is okay, because I am actually starting to actually enjoying going around and talking to people on the street. I actually want to do it, which feels weird. But nice. So let's all pray for new investigators!

With the weather turning a little warmer and the sun shining a little more often in my beautiful city, I have been thinking a lot lately about change. On a mission, we experience a lot of change. We change companions, we change areas, we help other people to change their lives, and, if we are doing things correctly, we should be changing ourselves. I have been thinking about what it really takes to become a truly great person. For example, when did Captain Moroni become the Captain Moroni we know and love in the scriptures? Was he born that way, or did he have something figured out that a lot of us don't? I wasn't really sure and I couldn't really see myself turning into a Captain Moroni anytime soon, but then I read a talk by Elder Scott from the October 2010 general conference of the church, entitled, "The Transforming Power of Faith and Character."

One of my favorite quotes in that talk is this: "We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day. Righteous character is a precious manifestation of what you are becoming."

I read that one line in his talk and everything seemed to just become so simple. We can become the people that we want to be by taking life one week, one day, one decision at a time, and be the people that we want to be. Through the enabling power of the atonement of Christ, we literally have the power to become a new creation and actually make a difference. Richard G. Scott is basically my hero, and I am so grateful for the gift of change. I am not stuck the way I am now and it really is possible to become a saint through the atonement of Christ. I love that.

The works is going slowly but surely, and life is good for me now. I am taking life one day at a time, focusing on the next investigator, the next decision, or the next person on the street, and I know that is all that I can do. Left alone out here, I would accomplish nothing, but I know that I can do all things through Christ who strenghtens really. And let me tell you, His strengthening power is really.

I love you all, and Happy Valentine's Day! Go share Christ's love with someone else :)