Vitnesbyrd. (Testimony.)

Elder Schulz and I :)

Heisann!

Whew - there isn't much to say this week other than we are filling our planners with appointments with all of our members to establish deep roots in the area, and when their schedules don't match with ours, we go knock on doors! The snow and wind have been strong, but we love every minute of it :)

This week we had zone conference in Stavanger on Saturday. It was such a blast to spend the night at the Stavanger apartment with 14 of us missionaries - talk about a packed apartment!! Gratefully, the Stavanger church had 4 showers for us all to pack in and out of.

A special walk around Stavanger - oh I love that place!!

As for spiritual experiences this week:

Zone conference was very good and inspiring, with a good balance between working on skills and also personal testimony and faith. Though I didn't feel all that much refreshed near the closing of the meeting. I thirsted and hungered for more spiritual nourishment. By inspiration, instead of holding a closing hymn as was common, two companionships performed a quartet. That song touched my heart immensely, and I was able to write down a few last lines of revelation in my notebook in order to have a stronger faith and better plan for the coming months. It brought a healing to my troubled spirit that words and discussion could not reach. Music is an extremely powerful tool for spiritual nourishment and enrichment. Just being there for that experience made the whole zone conference worth it for me. I know that my Heavenly Father switched that song just for me. "For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads." - Doctrine and Covenants 25:12
 

Another experience that touched me this week was the importance of bearing testimony. We may not all recognize how important the bearing of a testimony is. I know that for me, I lost sight of how important testimony bearing is to investigators, members and most especially my own testimony. As our living prophet, President Thomas S. Monson put it "Regarding one's testimony, remember, that which one willingly shares he keeps, while that which he selfishly keeps he loses . . . . Teach and testify. There is no better combination." (Preach My Gospel pg. 198). I realized that I did not bear my testimony often enough in many aspects. So I decided to study the missionary lessons anew, and gain a refreshed testimony of every point. I know that God is my loving Heavenly Father. I know that through spiritual confirmation by the Holy Ghost, as well as through personal experiences in my past. God will not leave us helpless in this life, nor in the life to come. He is always willing to pick us up, brush us off, and/or send a person your way to help build you up. Due to this testimony, I also know that God loves every person upon this entire planet. That is a love that I cannot now understand, but my faith allows me to believe in it. And that belief is delicious to me.

-Eldste Bryce Thomas Johnson

Some pics found in an underpass on the way to a member's home :)

"Follow the dream, not the stream!" :)

Alice in Wonderland! Mario Kart!

For you spanish-speakers out there, this is a banana-cream spread for bread. Ewww. :P