That Our Eyes May Be Opened

Another week has come and gone, and it is going FAST! Life is great here in Trondheim, and I really don't have any complaints. We have successfully made it through the drought of summer vacation, and we have all been looking forward to the fact that people are coming back to the city this week. We are on a fast-paced missionary schedule right now, and between all the traveling we are doing, trying to keep track of the zone, and also doing everything we need to in order to keep our area going, I have hardly had time to breathe, let alone think about anything else. I love it. I love being a missionary and being able to focus full-time on the Lord. It is an amazing thing.

We traveled back to Narvik this week to help them get back on their feet after the transfers, and I am really stressed about them there. They are having a rough time. But it was really good to be back and I saw Kikka and a lot of the investigators there and Narvik is beautiful, so that's always good. We also taught a few other people, visited a less-active man named Audie who we are helping to get the priesthood, and I translated in church for a guy from Layton, Utah. So it has been exciting. I am just one big ball of stress all the time because of the zone, but that is alright, I think it is a part of the job.

We have 26 missionaries in our zone, and it is going pretty well with them. The end of the summer was kind of tough for the mission, but we have been able to survive it pretty well. It has been a little bit difficult to find new investigators, but we are hopefully going to make progress with that this week. We have a meeting with the district leaders tonight and we are going to commit the zone to do something this week to show their faith that we can find, and then really hold the district leaders accountable for the results. Fun stuff!

The atonement of Jesus Christ is a real thing. We have an investigator named Trond, who really was not in a good place in his life when we found him. He had no relationship with God in his life, and he was bitter because of a lot of the things he was going through, both because of his own choices and because of circumstance. When we began to teach him, I wondered whether there was a way that this man was going to accept our message. Yet despite everything, every time we go back over there, I notice a little more light. One more smile, or more peace in his life. He reads the Book of Mormon and he doesn't necessarily understand all the things he reads, but I can see the atonement working in his life and it is such a beautiful thing. Trond is going to be baptized, and that is the wonder of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

As a spiritual thought this week, I have been pondering a lot about a scripture that is found in 2 Kings chapter 6:

14 Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.

 15 And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?

16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.

 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses andchariots of fire round about Elisha.

There are so many times in our lives that we feel exactly the same way as Elisha's servant. We wake up in the morning, and for some reason, the only things we manage to see are the horses and chariots which surround us. We see the bad influences in the world and the things that are going against us, and despite all our better knowledge, we sometimes wonder if all hope is lost. But hope is never lost. I have seen this so many times on my mission with so many missionaries who, despite the miracles they have seen so often during the course of their mission, become discouraged and lose some degree of faith and hope. It doesn't have to be that way for them and it doesn't have to be that way for us. God has given us our leaders and so many other resources in life so that our eyes may be opened and we might be able to see the heavenly hosts which fill the mountains around us. There is no reason to lose hope, and there is no need to fear. When the dark days to come- and they will- it is our decision to open our eyes and choose to see the help that our Heavenly Father sends to us. Remember the words of Elisha: Fear not- for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. The Lord will never leave us, I know that's true.

Love you all!