October 20

Hello Everyone,

Monday: It was two of the sisters' last pday in Norway, all hung out by the cathedral, played a few games, and just chilled so that they could have a good one. It was a lot of fun, and I was just thinking about how great Norway really is. In the evening, we went to dinner with a couple named Rebekka and Adrian, and they are awesome. We had good food and great conversation, and best of all, they agreed to have us over every week and to find people who will come as well. Can you say referrals? I love member missionary work, it is so much fun. So all of my Mondays in the next while are looking really awesome.

Wednesday: The sisters we had left, and that means we got two new missionaries on Wednesday. Fresh from the MTC. In the afternoon we went to go pick them up from the train station to help them take their bags back to the apartment and everything, and it was a really strange experience. It threw me back to when I came to Norway, and that seems like it was an eternity ago. On the way back to their apartment, we met a member named Birgit, and she is legendary. It was a great first member to meet in Norway. She sang a song to them and danced and it was just really funny. Missions are crazy, but there are so many good times.

Well, we did a ton of things this week, and it was really great, but it is all kind of getting mixed around in my head, so I think I will just throw out a few highlights. We went on home teaching splits with a couple of the men from the ward, and it was really great. We talked to some less actives who have been really hard to contact, and it was really productive. The northern lights also came out while we were walking, so that's always a plus :) A girl named Michelle was baptized yesterday in the church as well. There were tons of members who came and it was something that we have been working on for a long time, so it was good to sit back and relax, knowing that she had finally gotten there. Missionary work is the best.

This week we committed the zone to pick a time that they could go out on the streets and not come back inside until they found a new investigator- not for meals, not to rest, not anything- we needed some faith up in here. And they did it and there were tons of miracles! It was such a good experience to see everyone show their faith and then accomplish something big.   I am grateful for the blessings the Lord has poured down on us this week. I have been struggling to find out how we can get the work going up here, and I was really glad to see a lot of good things happen this week. 

It was actually a big surprise how quickly the finding came this week. We had the Alta missionaries who found 4 new investigators the first night, the Trondheim elders didn't even leave the apartment building before they had found a new investigator, and we were out on the streets for exactly 6 minutes before we found ours. I knew the Lord would help us out, but I didn't know it would be in such dramatic fashion. 

I have been studying a lot this week about obedience and what that really means for us. Not just the how, but the why and how it is beneficial to us. I love the quote in "Preach My Gospel" by L. Tom Perry on the subject, which says, “The discipline contained in daily obedience and clean living and wholesome lives builds an armor around you of protection and safety from the temptations that beset you as you proceed through mortality.” I have such a strong testimony that this is true. There is a definition of a commandment in the Doctrine and Covenants which goes something like this: A commandment is instructions given to us from God on how we can act before Him in such a way that it will turn to us for our salvation. So the blessings of obedience are double. We receive immediate protection in our everyday lives now, and we are given guidance on how we can walk in a way which will lead us back to our Heavenly Father. I am doing my best to embrace whole-hearted obedience as my pattern for living, because I know it works. The gospel is so simple if we live it right, and I can testify that obedience is the way to go. It brings so much joy and so many blessings.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

District Picture at the Cathedral

Train Station Selfie