MTC Brev #5‏

Hei alle!

A very good week this week! Many things learned and many things felt. Some exciting news is that I am leaving for Norway a week early in preparation for a member of the Seventy to come and speak to us! We shall leave on August 29th rather than September 5th. The district here is counting blessings :]. We are all so excited to leave and just be immersed in the language already. Nevertheless, much can and is learned here while in the MTC!

When it comes to Norsk, how you are understood comes primarily through your "tone of fall" - I am sure a few of you are familiar with it. The tone of fall is basically the primary reason I am incredibly stoked to learn Norsk. I don't know very many languages that use it. By the way you inflect your vowels and the length of your vowels you can make your statements and questions more clear or meaningful. It's really interesting! and the dialects are extremely different all across Norway. I am going to love it! I'm super excited to bear my testimony that first Sunday. Hopefully no children will cry.

More thoughts on the baptism by fire - I've discussed this with my teachers and my district and it is such a neat concept! Directly related to the baptism by fire is the change of heart to "no more desire to do evil." Thereby turning off the evil and filling the heart with desire to do that which is good. In a small example, you can't just go up to someone and make them desire something because you say so. Yet through the gift of the Holy Ghost you can find within yourself the desire to love others more sincerely than you ever have before, to read scriptures consistently, to follow God's commandments, for we can feel the goodness of following God through the Spirit. Another thing we have discussed recently is obtaining revelation through Church attendance. After going through the Temple, I really found a new appreciation for Church and what we do there. We are there in church to learn from each other, build each other up and discuss needs, solutions and our gratitude for our God. By attending Church we open up our hearts to God, and particularly through the sacrament we cleanse ourselves in order to learn more. An amazing opportunity every week!

Our teaching has been coming along well! Eldste Knudson and I are teaching quite well, and I am certainly learning many many things from him. The biggest thing I have learned from him so far is how to ask questions. Questions questions questions - the key to open our hearts and an investigator's heart to the Spirit of revelation and edification. Questions are precisely the way Jesus Christ taught - for through questions the investigator teaches themselves, supplemented with scriptures and simple statements of truth. Eldste Knudson rocks at questions, and that is what I need to use unceasingly on my mission. The next thing to do is listen to the answers of those questions, and seek through the Spirit for understanding. It is a miracle what you can do through questions and listening. I encourage everyone to go and read "The Spirit of Revelation" by Elder Bednar. I have come to realize that revelation comes extremely frequently, though we may not recognize it. Everyone, please read from the Book of Mormon every day and pray for understanding. I promise you that you will feel peace and comfort - especially through consistent effort.

Thank you Mom for those pictures, and thank you Christiaan and Anna Rose for the vitamins, picture (it captures your family perfectly :P) and cookies! Thank you everyone who sent me letters - I will respond to all who send me letters! Thank you all who have influenced my life and prepared me and every little way to experience my mission the way I am. I love it, and yes, it is one of the hardest things I've done - only to get harder in Norway. To all whose lives are throwing them curve balls, please read from the sciptures and pray for comfort (2 Nephi 4, Romans 8). God has promised us many blessings, and if we are faithful we may receive all (D&C 82:10). I love you all!

Inntill neste uke!

-Eldste Bryce Thomas Johnson

MTC Distrikt 37F (4)‏

Heisann all!

Our "take out" breakfast . . . mmm.

A month?? Already!? and yet. . . It's only been one month?? My goodness, I cannot believe it. I wish I could know how all of you are doing so I could adapt my emails a little more to you, but instead you'll just have to suffer. Haha.

The MTC is still amazing. The Spirit is so strong, and the things we learn, and the pace we learn them, are astounding. The Lord truly prepares His servants before He sends them out to the world. Boy am I grateful for a full 9 weeks here. Last Sunday, our Distrikt sung "Næmere min Gud til deg". Church here is, surprisingly, a refreshing release from the every day activities here! Sundays are heavensent. My Mom asked how Sundays go, so I'll explain that here. We wake up, prepare and go to training meetings and have personal study. Then we have sacrament meeting and priesthood. We have choir altogether and then go to a devotional in the evening. After the devotional we watch films such as The Testaments, Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration, Legacy or some choice talks given by general authorities. The movies are a great break from the rest of the week, yet we still feel spiritually enlightened through them! Last night at our devotional we had Elder Gerald N. Lund speak to us on faith. It's astonishing how people can teach faith again and again, and it can still be a good experience. Elder Lund blew us out of the water - and we loved it! Once I get back home I want to read some of his books.

Elder Putnam

Last night I said goodbye to Elder Putnam. He's in Peru right now, down in the MTC until September. It was truly an honor to be in the MTC with him at the same time. We had some wonderful moments singing in the choir together. I am sure he will "Shake Hell!" like nobody's business down in Ecuador! I'm going to miss that Elder.

One thing that has been on my mind, and I may have already stated in a previous email, is the topic of sanctification. I have thought a lot about this topic since coming on my mission, for that is what a mission does to you: it sanctifies you. I only recently learned that this process of sanctification is part of the Gift of the Holy Ghost - the "baptism of fire." It is true we are baptized by water, but then does the real progress take effect. When we have the gift of the Holy Ghost, we are given more direction and guidance as to choices of good and evil. It is up to us to be sensitive and discern between, and then choose the best, according to our abilities. The baptism of fire, in my opinion, is much like wading through a sea of decision, finding and making the better choices, and disregarding lesser ones. That sanctifying effect of the Holy Ghost comes when we make correct choices and lead our desires to righteousness. This process takes time, and eventually you find yourself more sensitive to the Spirit, to those around you and even yourself. It is an amazing feeling to have a richer, more meaningful relationship with the Spirit, those around you and yourself. We eventually become more whole, like our Savior, when we take advantage of the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Polishing some shoes

Another item I think may be of benefit to you all, are some things I think are extremely important to pray for. We ask for charity in order to love and see like the Savior does. We ask for patience in order to soften our hearts, despite the trials that beset us, such as waiting for an answer or expecting more direction. We ask for the desire to bless the whole human race, for that is precisely what our Heavenly Father desires. We ask for God to speak through us in order to speak to the hearts of our investigators. We want them to know the truthfulness and meaning of our message, in order for them to find true joy and happiness. We ask for a stronger testimony of Jesus Christ and His Atonement, of Joseph Smith and his call to restore this true Gospel, and of the Book of Mormon, so that we may teach with power and with authority, to help others come unto Christ. And we also ask for the gift of tongues - which I personally feel does not only apply to other languages - it can apply to English as well. We all need help to communicate the Gospel message in a clearer, more powerful way.

Thank you all so much - I can still feel your prayers, please continue to do so, they support me more than you think. I love you all so much, and I pray for you when I have time! I promise! May the Lord bless you for your diligence in this Gospel.

Mye kjærlighet og velsignelser!

Eldste Bryce Thomas Johnson