Hello everyone!!
This week was extremely eventful. We did not end up having the baptism - our investigator did not feel she was entirely ready to make the commitment. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to teach her though. She really cares about these decisions and the commitments of them. It's very satisfying to see someone who really cares about all of this. It is hard to show someone that living by faith is exactly what our Heavenly Father wants us to do. I read a scripture this past week in Hebrews 10:31-32 which summed it up perfect for me. It is difficult to live in the hands of the living God - but remember when your mind began to be enlightened by the truths that were taught, how much you could withstand the things of the adversary. If we are all able to remember the moments that we have been enlightened by the truths of the gospel that are taught; that really is what feeling the Holy Ghost is. It's an enlightenment to our understanding and it illuminates us. Everything that has to do with this gospel is light. As we learn, grow, and progress we obtain more light and we try to invite others to receive that light to walk through life with. The light that the Gospel has blessed me with has meant absolutely everything for me.
A lot of our focus was on getting our investigator prepared for baptism, but as the week unfolded . . .we were still able to meet new people and to share the gospel. I have found that I can now full conversations in Norwegian, confidently. It's definitely a miracle, but I can do it! The Lord has really blessed me and I feel confident in doing His will here on the Earth. In the past week we were able to meet with a 24-year old single mother. She grew up in a family of 13 siblings and in a very religious family (there is a Lutheran-associated sect who are very conservative and have many children up here). We met her while knocking a few weeks ago and finally were able to meet with her. She was a very nice woman - works as a chef here in Alta. As we began to talk about the gospel, she became more engaged. She was a little surprised that people like us would talk about things the way we would. How families are a blessing that God has given us. How we believe our prayers can be answered today. I found a scripture that I wanted to share with her - it was in Alma 56:47-48 from the Book of Mormon. It was when the 2000 Strippling Warriors told their leader that they would fight, trusting in God, because they saw the example their mothers made. I asked her if she recognized the importance of her responsibility as a mother. How it was with the help of my own mother that I have been able to trust in God in faith that serving a mission was something I needed to do. The example of a mother is so important. She has the opportunity to really help her son. So we asked her to pray with her son. It was an experience for myself that allowed me to learn and grow by teaching it.
There is another mother whose door we knocked on a few weeks back. As we knocked on her door the first time, she became a little emotional and told us that she had lost her husband within the past year. She has since also shared with us other experiences she has had. We have gone back to her home, asking her if there is any service that we could do for her. She declines - she has 2 boys and family that lives nearby. We gave her a pamphlet on the Plan of Salvation - something her boys had read to each other and they had looked some things up online about our church. She still did not invite us in this past time, but we were able to give her another pamphlet. I can tell her her heart has been softened to hear what we have to say and to hopefully listen sometime down the road. She believes that God does have a plan - she didn't see it before but since her life-changing moment, she has now opened a little to it. As a missionary we hope to find these people and to invite them to learn more and recognize that God really does love us individually. We are sent here to this Earth for a purpose. It is to learn and to grow so that someday we can come back to Him. It is only through our Savior that we can come back to Him. I am so grateful to be a representative of the Savior for people - a true blessing I never comprehended before, but now it is so real. The love that our Heavenly Father has for each of His children is amazing. I am grateful for every day that I get to study the gospel and share the gospel with people. The work continues to go forward and we continue to invite people. It is the most satisfying work I have and ever will be associated with.
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