"Splits Magic"

Hello everyone!

This past week was capped off by the report we receive every Monday morning.  We get to see the results from the prior week, and this past week our mission had some of the best results we've ever seen!  It's so satisfying to see that the missionaries are catching the fire and that they 'get it' earlier and earlier on their missions.  We have some of the greatest missionaries here in the Norway Oslo mission!  It's been so satisfying to serve here and work with all of them!

This past Tuesday, my companion Elder Jones and I, went on splits with the missionaries down in Drammen. Two of my favorites, Elders Skinner and Halverson are down there.  It was a beautiful day in Drammen - we planned for a packed day.  As we were done planning, we realized that we hadn't even planned for lunch or dinner!  Our focus was entirely on the work and what we could do that day as a team!  Instead of making time for it, I just wrote down 'dinner' in my daily things to accomplish.  I was able to grab some quick food, so it all worked out.

The results of that day were incredible!  As we came back together at the end of the night, we were all pumped to have served together!  We had found new families, new investigators, taught new converts, done service for members, taught investigators in members' homes.  It was a full day of straight missionary work at it's finest.  In total, we taught thirteen lessons between the two companionships, and found six new people to teach!  You can never expect anything less when you're in Drammen and with those two missionaries.

It was the highlight of my week - we like to call it "splits magic" when we go to an area and light it up together.  It really is what makes it all worth coming out here and giving it your all!  I know that this is the Lord's work and that He provides when we show our faith.

I'm so grateful for every opportunity to serve in any capacity!  This week, we'll be heading to Trondheim for some splits with those missionaries - onto another great week in the Norslo mission!

The Work is Moving Forward

Hello everyone!!

This week was absolutely crazy!  Elder Skinner and I were blessed with 3 new baptismal dates - we found tons of people to teach and continue to teach.  It's just been unreal here in Drammen.  Typically, the month of July is supposed to be 'difficult' because everyone is on vacation.  Elder Skinner and I have been working like crazy to find and teach people.  We contact on the street and try to teach them right away and then get return appointments.  It's pretty unreal!

Saturday night, especially, we were pretty hungry around 6 PM (another thing we do is struggle to eat dinner...) and we decided we would work and then eat at 8.  Around that time, we went knocking on some apartment complexes and were let into one.  As we were approaching a door, this big man opened the door wasn't too happy - he immediately started yelling and basically pushing us out of the apartment complex.  It was kind of funny, but we decided to keep going.  We found this family in the next apartment complex and taught them all about The Restoration.  They were comparing us to the Apostles that follow The Spirit and preach the word - we invited them to be baptized, but they didn't accept it!  It still felt really good to be fulfilling our purpose.

I'm recognizing that there is no better feeling than preaching repentance.  It's so hard - yet so rewarding!  I'm just always grateful for the person Heavenly Father has transformed me into - it's been absolutely insane!

As we were contacting in the park the other day, we said a prayer to see who we should talk to.  There was a homeless Romanian man laying in the park and I just felt like I needed to talk to him.  So we approached him and shared with him the Book of Mormon.  We told him that we would bring him a Romanian Book of Mormon.  So, on Sunday, we went to the park after church and started sharing with this man a little bit more.  A lot of his Romanian friends started gathering around us.  Elder Skinner and I felt like we were preaching like Christ on the Sermon on the Mount!  It was so legit!

We've been doing a lot of fun things together.  This work is really moving forward, and my time here in Drammen has been an absolutely incredible experience!  I've grown so much and I'm so grateful for every day that I get to serve as a servant of the Lord!

He Helps Carry Us All

Hello everyone!!

This has been quite an incredible week for Elder Skinner and myself!  We had some great miracles happen in our area which I'd like to share.  Yesterday, at church, we had 6 investigators come to church (4 of them were from the same Lithuanian family) it was an absolutely incredible Sunday!  We didn't stop there either - we had a delicious dinner at the home of the Stake President's family's home and went out with a great energy.  It's so fun to work with the members here in Norway!!

As we were driving to our next destination, we decided to call some people to see if we could visit with them.  As we called a woman from the Philippines, she told me she needed help moving some stuff.  I told her that we could help her transport some things with her - she just said, "I am so lucky!"  It turned into being a couple hours of service for her and as we were waiting during some downtime, we were busy calling people trying to set up more appointments.  We did transport her things to a new apartment and while we were waiting for her we decided to stop by another family's home.

Many years back, a woman from Africa who couldn't speak Norwegian met with the missionaries.  However, this time she can speak the language, so we were able to get a return appointment (her native tongue is Swahili, of course).

We then went back to the apartment to drop off the items and the woman asked us to come and talk with her.  She began opening up and crying about how blessed she was by God that she was able to stay in Norway and how the missionaries in Sandvika have helped her so much.  It was an incredible opportunity for us to testify that God knows us individually.  He knows our needs, desires, concerns - He has the solutions for all of them.  It was through her faith that she recognized how He has helped carry her.  We were just there to serve and testify of the truthfulness of it!  It was quite special.

We found many people to teach this week.  We had an amazing Zone Conference focused on the importance of the Book of Mormon in our work.  I love that book and am so grateful for the transformation it has helped me make.  It really is truth.

We wish and hope for everyone to have the same passion about this work!  The traveling assistants are in Drammen today (Elders Badger and Weaver) to train the missionaries throughout the mission.  We were getting pretty passionate as to how we can help all of the missionaries recognize how special this work is!  We really know it's only through the members and missionaries that we can take this work forward!  It's a very special work we have to be part of!

Hope everyone has an excellent week!

The Blessings of Service From Others

Hello everyone!

It's so incredible to feel the growth every single week out here!  Every day is a new adventure and every experience a new opportunity to grow.  It's been an absolute blessing!  This past week President told me it's now, "Pedal to the metal time" it's the back stretch of the mission and time to go as hard as we can!

In Drammen this past week, we were blessed with a baptism!  The Sisters' investigator who kept herself smoke-free for a whole week, was baptized.  There are always miracles when the Lord is involved!  Myself included, the baptism was an opportunity to learn and grow:

Just before the baptism, we had planned to have a couple investigators come to the baptism.  When we were struggling to find a ride - we went to our last result - one of the counselors in the bishopric.  He is a younger guy from Sweden who is already extremely busy.  When we asked him to do it, we already knew that he had enough on his plate.  The baptism was in 15 minutes and he wasn't even dressed in a suit.  He quickly decided that he would do it and picked up our investigators.  Needless to say, it was an extremely stressful situation.

The investigators came safely and I felt absolutely terrible that we had stressed this man out, but he taught me a very valuable lesson.  As we were walking towards the baptismal font to watch the baptismal ordinance, he put his arm around me and I apologized to him that we had added another thing to his plate.  He told me, "Don't even worry about it, I just had a very stressful morning."  He taught me such a valuable lesson.

I learned, that even when we are stressed - we can always find an opportunity to serve - to emulate the compassion of the Savior.  I don't despise anything more than not being on top of everything and having a plan to execute it, but this man still helped me to show my faith and was able to bless my life tremendously.

Of the men who came to the baptism, one of them said, "We are now at someone else's baptism, but someday we'll be at our own baptism!"  We now have 4 baptismal dates in our area and we're continuing to work to accomplish some great things!  Elder Skinner is an absolute beast and I can't even describe how much fun it is to be serving with him and to be so passionate about this work!  It is all so real!

I hope everyone has an excellent week!

Reunited With Elder Skinner!

I couldn't have asked for a better way to start this transfer!  Elder Skinner and I are back on the grind again.  We were companions in the MTC - always wishing we could get a shot together in the field and now here we are.  I have thought many times that this could possibly be the most exciting time of my life!  We have so much faith between the two of us and an extreme determination to get things exploding.

This past weekend we taught a couple from Liberia.  We met the man when we were contacting on the street.  My last companion told me that he felt that we needed to talk to that man.  He was off in the distance and so I started pursuing him- not even questioning whether it was Heaven sent.  Indeed, it was.  We followed him for quite a ways, until he finally glanced back and we stopped him.  We began to tell him about prophets and apostles in this church.  Jesus Christ's original church has been reestablished on the Earth today.

We set up an appointment during the weekend to teach this man.  As Elder Skinner and I went to teach, we were expecting a short 10-20 minute lesson.  The Spirit was present and many sincere questions were asked about the truth - it turned into an hour long lesson.  When we asked this man what it would mean if the Book of Mormon were true, he said that it would complete his search to find the truth.  He had always wondered if his church was really the true one.  We bore testimony that the Holy Ghost would bear witness to him that it was true.  This man accepted to be baptized if he were to receive that answer.

We have started on a strong foot.  We have absolute faith between the two of us.  I have never had a more exciting point of my life than I do right here and right now.  I know that God has prepared us both to be serving here together.  We have had very similar experiences and very similar missions and now we get to magnify that in serving in Drammen together.

Many big things are going to happen here.  We don't want to waste a minute while serving here.  We already have another family lined up to teach this Thursday - a family from the Congo.  I know that God places us in situations to bless the lives of His children.  He has prepared many for these opportunities to follow Him.

Faith in Action

Hello everyone!!

This last week we had a Leadership Meeting in Oslo.  All of the Zone Leaders and District Leaders came together to be taught by our Mission President about how we can be the most effective leaders.  I think back to an article I read before my mission - found in the Bloomberg Businessweek titled, "God's MBAs: Why Mormon Missions Produce Leaders".  I remember reading that and being impressed by how the world sees this experience.  All I can say, as someone who is currently going through it is that I am so grateful to my Mission President - a successful man that is inspired by God to progress the Lord's work here in this beautiful country.
He taught us about integrity and what a true leader is - one who uplifts and inspires in all things.  He taught us from the scriptures, and he taught us from experience.  I am grateful for that man.

Later in the week, we were able to appreciate another baptism in this area!  It's very incredible, but a baptismal service is so simple.  The Bishop here in Drammen goes up and explains that there is nothing more important in the country of Norway on that specific day than that Baptism.  He says that there aren't trumpets played or loud music - but the simplicity and the pureness of that ordinance is real.  It is something that I have really grown to appreciate since coming to Drammen - the importance of Baptism.

The Gospel of Christ - is the most important doctrine that every individual who lives on this Earth should be tied to.  It is something my mission president has insisted on us learning throughout our mission - to have Faith in Jesus Christ, Repent, Baptism (by one holding proper authority), The Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End.  I have come to learn how simple, yet how profound this doctrine is.  It changes the hearts of men, as it has changed mine throughout my time being here.  When the Gospel is fully put into practice, you see real results that transform you temporally and set your sights on the eternities.  That is what the gospel does for every individual - and that is what it has done for me.

A mission is the best opportunity of growth that an individual can go through.  Our Heavenly Father hand-picks our missions for us.  He sets us up in situations where we can learn and grow - where He can use us as instruments in His hands.

An example of this . . .There is a man in my home ward back in Rockford, from the Congo.  He was a preacher at another church back in the Congo.  After a series of much prayer and answers from God, this man became converted and joined the church.  I asked my parents to ask this man to write his testimony in Swahili, so I could share it with the people we have been teaching who speak Swahili.  He wrote it and since then, we have been finding more and more people to hand this testimony to.  I know some of these people have been changed just by reading this man's testimony.  It testifies of the sincerity of the one who asks in faith.  We must be willing to act on the answers that God gives us. This I know to be true. This is what I have done in coming on a mission.  I have seen the results of faith in action.  It is real.

I hope everyone has an excellent week!

3 Baptisms This Week!

Hello everyone!

We had a pretty eventful week here in Drammen.  Our district had 3 baptisms this past week - that's more in one week than I've seen my whole mission, but I know the Lord has been trying to see what I'm made of this whole time.  I'm grateful that he's been refining me and testing me.  It's incredible to be able to show faith - sometimes it's not very comfortable to be quite honest! I'm just grateful that I've had to grind my whole time I've been here - now we're seeing some fruits of the labor.  Many more will begin coming!

This past week we had Zone Conference, 3 baptisms, some great teaches and a great miracle Sunday!  We have been asking the members, "Who can we pray for?" and they give us friends, family, members of the church - anyone who we can pray and fast over.  We even sent some of the names to the temple with a member this past week.  We had a zone-wide fast on Sunday for people throughout the zone.  Just yesterday a member of the ward brought her friend to church and told my companion that she wants to learn about 'Frelsesplanen' - The Plan of Salvation.  She recognized that what she was learning about was good.

The miracles that we experience here in Norway are very specific.  It is quite obvious in everything that we do, that it is a product of our faith that God lives and answers our prayers.  When we do our work and show him that we are willing to receive anything He desires to send our way - He begins to entrust us with his children.  I used to think these testimonies by missionaries were cliche, but I've come to see, feel, witness that God really does answer our prayers.

He will help us to learn in every setting and every opportunity we go through.  Whether it be in a new job setting, a friendship, a trial in life - He always gives us the chance to learn for ourselves.  He gives us the right to choose.  He gave us a Savior as an example of how true happiness can come.  It's not the easiest path, but it's the one that certainly brings the most certainty and happiness.  I have full confidence that God lives and knows us as His individual children.  I know everyone can experience that if they work towards it.

I hope everyone has a great week!

My Transfer to Drammen and a Baptism!

Hello everyone!!

This past week I moved to Drammen.  I can't even believe how incredible this place is!  We live on the mountain overlooking the city and I'm amazed everyday, how I can look out over the city and just see the beautiful view and see where we get to work!  At this time, we have incredible missionaries here in this area.  My new companion is Elder Gilreath, from Virginia/Alabama.  We are having great conversations about how we can improve the work in our zone, area, and work with the members.  The ward here is one of the most incredible wards in the mission!  The ward's leadership is top-notch in every aspect.  I'm extremely excited to be here in this city!!

As for the work this week, I walked into an incredible story.  There is an investigator that the missionaries have been teaching, she has read the Book of Mormon in 5 days!!  After reading it, she felt that it was true and was willing to follow everything that it said.  It spoke of baptism - and we shared with her the commandments we are required to live by in order to be worthy for baptism.  We were a little worried how she would react, but as we shared with her the commandments, it was absolutely no problem!  She will be baptized this Wednesday - perfect way to start off the transfer!  Two other companionships here in Drammen, also have baptisms scheduled for Sunday - very exciting!

Today in my personal study, I came across a story in the Bible I really had a desire to write about.  It's found in Matthew 14:22-34.  When I read this passage at the beginning of my mission, I remember having overwhelming feelings of gratitude for my knoweldge of the Savior.  When he sends His disciples away in the ship and they are caught in the midst of the sea in a storm, they were lost.  Christ was aware of their needs.  He then began walking towards them on the sea.  When His disciples saw Him in the midst of the storm, they were afraid - thinking He was a spirit.  As I put myself in that position, the thoughts and feelings rushed into my mind of the many times I was lost at sea.  When I would see any sign of the love of Christ through His servants, I was a bit afraid to accept the fact the the Lord really cared about me to send me someone.  Then Christ calms them, with a confirmation that it is indeed Him.

Peter, seeing this right away, desires to follow Him by walking on the water.  As he begins to walk on the water, walking completely by faith, he begins to fear and to falter.  As he began to sink, he cries out to the Lord to save him.  The Lord reaches out to him and says, "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"

I have found myself relating to this story in so many ways.  Many of us can find ourselves, some of us fearing that we are the ones seeing a silhouette in the midst of a storm - some attempting to walk on the water to follow the Savior - only to fail.  Wherever anyone is in that story, I have come to know with certainty - that when we are encouraged to act on faith, we should always take the course.  The Lord will always reach out to us at the exact moment that we feel that we are failing.  We may not always have enough faith, but I know that the Lord will make up the difference in our attempts to fulfill any work we try to accomplish.

I've never been more certain that this is Jesus Christ's church.  This is God's work that I am currently performing.  I've never been so grateful for all the blessings that come from being dilligent in the efforts of helping others find the truth. 

I hope everyone has an excellent week!

Committing Others to Baptism and My Upcoming Transfer to Drammen

Hello everyone!

This past week we had a couple Zone Leader Training meetings, where we focused on language study and how we can improve on our language skills as a whole.  We had some pretty great learning experiences, but the one thing I'd like to focus on most is my splits that I had in Bergen.

I got to serve with Elder Badger in Bergen on Tuesday night and all through Wednesday.  Tuesday morning, our President called me and told me that we needed to double the baptismal dates in our zone.  At the end of the day, Elder Badger and I were discussing a lot of the mission and many different things regarding how we could improve.  It was quite the amazing talk we had, because throughout the week it was almost like it all unfolded for us.

The next day, in companionship study, we began focusing on inviting everyone we taught that day to be baptized.  I can say that throughout the day, we didn't invite everyone but we had the goal to fulfill the work.  However, at times we showed our faith by asking different individuals.  When we would ask people, it was like we were so confident that God answers prayers and that we knew that He could answer anyone's prayers by a certain date.

We ended the day by setting a date with one man.  However, on the days that followed, we met with a woman who was so set that she was not going to join our church.  As we sat and just listened to what she had to say, we realized that we agreed with many of the things that she expressed.  By the end of the teach, she was much more open and the Spirit was present.  We asked a member to pray and immediately after, there were tears in her eyes and she asked if he really meant what he said in his prayer.

It was incredible to see how the Spirit had touched that woman.  She was able to see that we are really just down to earth people.  We listen to what people have to say and we share with them the truths that God reveals to man.  We encourage people to ask questions and to really seek truth.  One must take it up with God to find out if what we are saying is true.  It requires action.

The act of my faith is that I am here serving a mission for my Heavenly Father's children.  By acting on what I believe, He has blessed me in the most countless opportunities I could not fill a weekly post with.  He is involved in every single detail of my life.

I will be moving to Drammen this week to experience a new opportunity, but the people I have met here in Stavanger are like my family - my Norwegian family.  I will miss them terribly after serving here for 45+ weeks, but I am looking forward to my future!  My sister's baby is absolutely amazing - and my whole family is beaming with happiness about it.  I know God takes care of those who obey His commandments.  They are there to protect us.

I hope everyone has an incredible week!