Elder Dallin Childs: November 3

Hey everybody!! One thing Norwegians say to greet each other (or say goodbye) is "hei hei." It means "hi hi" and is pronounced in exactly the same way. Probably the most versatile greeting known to man- just think about it. It doesn't even matter if people are walking toward you or away from you, it just always works. This is especially useful when we are contacting on the street and people don't even give us a chance to say anything at all. Then we only have to say it once and we have both greeted and bid farewell, all with two simple words. So hei hei everyone! Now you don't know if I am finished with the blog post or only beginning :)

It has been a pretty good week for me here in Trondheim. We haven't been doing a whole lot of traveling lately, though, which is weird for me. I have gotten so used to traveling at least once a week on my mission that when we don't do it, it just feels rather strange. Like something is missing. But October came and went before I could even blink. I haven't quite accepted the fact that we are living in 2014 yet and it is almost over, so I guess I had better get on that. We had a lot of exciting things happen this week, though, including splits with the assistants, a Halloween party, and a zone conference, so there was plenty of stuff going on to keep us busy.

During the zone conference, we talked mostly about member missionary work and the specific thing that we can do as missionaries to help it go forward. You might say that the work here in Norway isn't exactly hastened as much as some other parts of the world yet, so we have a big role to play in helping things to happen in that area of life. But I was also reminded of just how important the members are in the eternal scheme of things. Sure, we as missionaries could probably baptize people without the members (and past results show that we can), but if we want to bring people into the church to stay and contribute to real growth, it has to be with the help of the members. Always and at all costs. So that's me going off on my soapbox about member missionary work. I love the members here in Trondheim; they do a wonderful job. I know that I am going to be so sad when I have to leave them.

Here's a quick update on the work in our area: Uy came to church again and we were able to teach him afterward and give him the Book of Mormon to read. He is really sincere and this is the first time he has really given religion a chance, so I am confident that he is going to get his answer that it's true. We are hoping to get a baptismal date with him next week, so please keep him in your prayers for us. We are also going to go back to Juan's place next week and hopefully commit him to baptize his daughter as well, so the work is going forward for us here. We are expecting miracles and they are coming. I am so grateful for the help.

From the emails I have received today, it sounds like you all are doing wonderfully well. I pray that life continues to go smoothly, but most of all that you all will find joy in the journey. Because that's what is most important, right? Talk to you later! Love you all!