God dag!
Well! This past week was crazy for a few reasons.
Due to the new training program initiated by our new mission
president this month, we had two different training meetings to attend
this week. One in Stavanger, and another in Bergen (my ol' greenie
romping grounds!)! The training theme for this month is "Our Purpose as
Missionaries" from Preach My Gospel chapter one. The training put on by
the Zone Leaders consisted of the "Power and Authority of Our Call"
which went into great detail regarding how through hope (a vision) and
faith (belief and action), we can teach with power and authority. Jacob
4:6-7, Helaman 10:4-5 and Alma 17:2-3 were shared, along with some
spiritual application. The best part, however, was the three new
converts (in each area respectively) who shared their testimonies of
missionary work and how their missionaries taught with power and
authority. It was a powerful meeting! A practical where the missionaries
taught the new converts soon followed, which turned out wonderfully.
The missionary couple in Bergen provided some snacks for us all. Oh how I
forget how spoiled us missionaries were in Bergen :D. I also forgot how
mountainous and beautiful that city is.
Funny story: after the little training meeting, we took some time
out on the streets. We took the city tram (Bybane) into the city, and my
new missionary thoughts and feelings rushed back to me seeing the
familiar streets, sounds and smells go by. My adrenaline was pumping by
the end of the track, because I knew we'd start getting on the streets
to talk with people! Except this time, I can understand them! Haha. What
a trip down memory lane!
On Friday we took a new convert with us on contacting splits,
getting tips and pointers as to stop people and really help them feel
comfortable (because for some reason a white shirt, tie, tag and blue
book scares the hay out of people!). It was way helpful. After which, we
went bonking, and Elder Williams and I bonked on three doors in a row
and got three teaches in a row! What a miracle! The Lord does prepare
people to hear the message :D.
Speaking of Elder Williams, he left on Saturday night for Sandvika.
So for lunch that day a new convert made us real burmese food. Oh my
goodness, I haven't had spicy food for a long long time (Norwegians
can't take any amount of spicy). The sisters warned us to take a
heart-burn pill before hand. But it was SOO good! And cleaned out my
sinuses and everything!
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| Spicy Burmese food and my bulging belly ;) |
Elder Williams sure got close with the members
here in Stavanger, so him leaving is a blow to the ward :(. We'll miss
him, that's for sure.
Since then, we've started rebalancing how to work in a twosome
instead of a threesome. You can never fully appreciate somebody, but an
absence of somebody sure makes you appreciate them more! We planned,
reevaluated and rebalanced how we want to perform the Lord's will while
here in Stavanger. There are so many good things that we can do, but the
prioritization of these good things is rather tricky. I want to be able
to perform the work here perfectly, but I'm not sure if that's possible
with all of the things we could be doing! *sigh*. Our weaknesses and
difficulties are great, but we know that the Lord is on our side. We'll
work our smartest and hardest, and He'll make up the difference!
One thing that we've been working on as a mission is turning street
contacts and investigators into progressing investigators. That's
something I've been thinking about a lot, and Preach My Gospel explains
how we, as missionaries, must know take into account what an
investigator must know, feel and do because of our teaching. That is a
difficult job, but by the power of the Holy Ghost we can know the
truthfulness of all things (Moroni 10:5). The Holy Ghost IS the source
to lead us to all truth. And it is by baptism that we can receive the
extraordinary gift of the Holy Ghost.
This gospel changes lives - and mine every day!
These first three pictures are of an RM from England who cut his hair in the popular Scandinavian style.
Look how hot it is!
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| I love bein' a goof-ball once in a while, what can I say |
-Eldste Bryce Thomas Johnson
