January 26

Hey everyone! I woke up this morning and it was pouring rain after having snowed for the entire week before, so that's how my day has been going. It's going to be a good day for the orthopedic surgeons and the crutch-makers here in Norway because the roads and sidewalks out there are SLIPPERY! Today I am grateful that I'm not old. 

We have been doing some travelling this week, and I have loved it. We went to Oslo on Thursday and then Stavanger on Friday, and my sleep levels are getting dangerously low after this weekend. But it has been fun. Such a good opportunity to have a personal ministry among the missionaries and really see an immediate impact being made on them. I had some really good experiences during our trainings role-playing with some missionaries. We would talk about the things that they could do better and then try it again, and at some point during the lesson I could just see the light go on in their heads and I knew they had just connected the dots. It is sucha good feeling to teach and help others to grow. So we will be travelling to Bergen, Tromsø, Drammen, and Trondheim next week, and that is basically where our time will go, I think. If you look at those places on a map, you will know that we will be all over the country this week. But that is just fun :) 

Despite all the craziness, we also have had some good things going on in our area this week as well. Sometimes it is frustrating to deal with people's agency, but it is also exhilarating to see people use their agency to make choice which lead them closer to God. We haven't been able to meet with Barzi because he has been busy, and I don't know if it is going to improve. He seems to want to take things at his own pace, so we will see what happens. But the best thing that happened this week was that we got to meet with a member's husband, Henrik, and talk to him about the gospel. Even though we live in their basement, we have had opposite travelling schedules lately which has made it difficult to meet. But we finally made it work and it was awesome! Karene is a less-active member and Henrik isn't a member, but their daughter has started coming to primary lately, and a direct quote from Henrik last night was, "Yeah, I am expecting to get baptized, I just don't know when." He is so positive and prepared! So we are going to go up there every week and help him figure out when he is going to be baptized :) It will be so good to see their family back in church. Already I can picture him as a bishop in the ward at some point down the road. They are a really great family.

As missionaries, we always see the tender mercies and miracles of the Lord, but one that sticks out in my mind this week happened on Thursday. We came back from the workshop in Oslo and were exhausted/starving. We were headed to the office to get some food, when half-way through a round-a-bout I got a strong impression that we needed to go to a specific apartment complex in Sandvika. So I talked myself into listening to that voice instead of the natural man and turned around to go there. We knocked on 3 doors, and at the 3rd door a guy named Asad answered and let us come in. He is from a Muslim background, but isn't very Muslim at all, and was willing to listen to our message about the Book of Mormon and to let us come back. It was a miracle that the Lord led us to someone who was prepared to accept our message. So we are going back tonight and we will see how that goes. Cool, huh?

Life is really good. Sometimes it's busy and it is never easy, but it's good. It is filled with moments of laughter and moments of tears, but I think it is the ups and downs in our lives that make the ride fun. And life should always be fun. I love you all, and hope that you have a great week. Go invite a friend to do something to come closer to God! It will be worth it, I promise. And I would love to hear any success stories :) Talk to you next week!