A Crazy Week, Conference in Oslo

Heia alle sammen!

  This week has just ben super crazy! we have had alot todo and just not so much time to do it! we had splitts this week and we had teaches dropped new people picked up, walking and biking everywhere, trip to oslo for mission conference, the new stake in norway was created! well as you can see this week has been jammed packed with exciting things! 

  well we have had a lot of fun this week and yet we didnt really meet with any of our investigators but we found new ones instead with hard effort and working though cold weather(ps cameron the weather is way colder here):) we had splitts on tuesday with the Bodø elders and actually ended up getting the majority of our weekly teaches on tuesday since we left to oslo on thursday night til sunday night! we taught some very interesting people....can anyone explain to me the difference between a potatoe and down syndrom? or why people think that we dont believe indians came from god? haha just a couple random questions we got out on the street this week so you all can think about them:) those types of experiances are just incredible and you will always remember them forever:)

 we actually got to meet with one of our members this week and had a lot of fun with her! she has been wanting to do stuff with us so we planned activities for wednesday and thursday and she even came on some teaches with us! we went to the polar circle and to the swedish boarder to see some sites and drove around to great sites and she showed us some great things about norway! I AM SO THANKFUL FOR MEMBERS!! they are such a blessing especially in such a small  place they will NEVER BE FORGOTTEN!

  well being in oslo for 3 full days was very exciting and to go contacting where the streets are full and you can pick who you want to contact is great! i have been contacting the same people for 4 months here and 4 months in moss haha!:) but yet still manage to find new people!:) although serving in small places really makes you greatful for people way more than a big place would! its so fun to go to big cities and be around so many people! well mission conferance was friday from 9-9 and elder teixeira was there! and also elder kopeishka (how ever you spell it) and it was great we got alot of advice with working with members and planning more effectively! the spirit was so strong as we were there and it so great to be around truly inspired people who are called of a prophet who was called of god and see the light that shines within! we got to be missionaries in oslo for a day and we also had a great sunday meeting to call all people to positions and everything and it was incredible to understand what they said since the dialect is so different from where i am serving! to many dialects! it really showed me how much my norwegian has increased! we finally got home at 2200 on sunday and we were just so tired from waiting at airports all day and finally sleeping ina bed again!

 this week was great and very inspiring to missionaries as long as we will apply what we have learned into our study!!:) i have been reading a talk over and over again from David A. Bednar from this newest liahona! if you havent read it.....i can strongly suggest to sit down and REALLY READ IT! it has helped me understand the Atonement more in my life so please read it even again if you have read it! its modern day scripture to us all if we will actually apply it in our life! i love you all and i hope you all are doing great!!

Another Great Week

HALLO to all!

 

 its true to say that the weeks go by faster than you can truly imagine sometimes! all though sometimes days go by so slow that you think that they never end and then you look back the next day and wish that this day will go by as fast as the other one! this week has been a finding week even though its hard to believe that although we have 5 dates set for baptisms that we were not able to meet with a single one of them because of what ever reasons they were(sick, family problems, work, ect). so we were out this whole week finding and we had a great week for finding! we have found many return appointments as we were out banking on doors and also as we were contacting! although it seems easier to find people banking then on the street since they actually have to say something to you....although that is not always the case....haha! as far as setting a goal for 20 teaches a week we have made it everyweek! Its unbelievable how the lord does bless you when you dont give up! there was a couple days this week when i had been out and it had been hours since we had talked to ANYONE! we said another prayer and went out and with in 20 steps we found a new investigator! did a couple rounds again and went back to our prayer spot said another one and actually it was funny because we pasted aguy and Johnson didnt contact him and i simply said....you know that was our guy right? he look at me witha blank face just mad and said...ya i guess...so i said my our prayer and asked our father to place him in our way again and I would contact him! we were on our way back to our prayer place and sure enough he is walking our way on our side! i contact him and he listens and is actually looking for the truth! after teaching him i looked back at johnson and with a huge smile on my face i just looked at him and he laughed! YUP YOU WERE RIGHT! its funny how the lord works like that! we have strived all this week as usual to do the best we can but of coarse we can not change people and their agency which is hard when you really want to meet with your people and want to see them progress but just cant get ahold of them!! we had a great week and some discouraging things happened but we pressed forward this week with our hearts to christ even when it was hard!

 

  well this past week i also got to go to trondheim for splitts! had a great time and it made me see what its like to actually have people to contact! you can go out on the streets all day and find people there! it was warm there! it was almost 13c the day i was there and it felt like summer compared to MO I Rana! 2-5c everyday and yet the sun is out! its been pretty good weather this past week and the snow again is melted on the streets besides the massive snow banks everywhere! it was such a good chance for me to see how other people work and other ideas for my on area! it was an over all great experiance!

 

 This week i have focused a lot on a study journal with real focuses on what i have wanted to study! as i have studied with a REAL purpose to learn have i seen the change in my own learning go up increasingly! one of my favorite talks along with many missionaries is D. Todd Christophersons talk on repentace! my challenge for you all is to sit donw and read that talk and get something out of it so that! that talk can be so worthfull to us all as we are trying to get closer to our lord and savior! for any of you struggling please read this talk and i think it could really help alot you! may you all have a great week and remember to stay close the our savior! i love you all and i hope you all have a great week!

 

 Eldste Farnsworth!

A Very Great Week!

Hallo Familie og venner!

  Its been a great week and as usual with unexpected events to happen as usual! well as i stated in my last letter that the Easter Holiday is a very time of year for norwegian people! with 10 days off of school and all buiseness closed from wednesday to monday! all shopping has to be done before then and then Norway just shuts down for a week! its incredible to see how barren the streets of Mo I Rana become in that short amount of time....but dont let that get you down...we have had some great miracles come in to place this week although it took all our efforts not to give up in a dead city! oh yea and by the way ill start off by telling you some of the best news says that my companion and i got to see almost all of conference during this week( one way we stayed busy..:) and i can only say wow...our apostles and our prophet are so inspired in the messeges they have shared! truly a great spiritual increase and puts us as missionaries in such a great mood to go out and take on the world!

  well our fist awesome miracle begins actually acouple weeks ago when we met to kids around 17 and 21 and we got one of their numbers and the other was a little quiet but we told them that we had the book of mormon in both of their languages! the 21 year old didnt go anywhere and randomly we got a call last a week and a couple days ago from the other asking why we hadnt called him and being confused as seeing that we had no idea who it was whom we were speaking to and then realizing it was the 17yr old kid and so we gave him a book and said we could try something and we called him and no answer and then on wednesday we got call from him saying he had a ride for us to come to his house and teach him! we get there and he has his girl friend and his mom who were ready to listen! we taught them and the spirit was so strong and commited them to be baptized on the 12 of may and they all said yes! to let you know about the mom she has met with the missionaries in brazil before but the time wasnt right and she was to busy but we are pretty sure she has read the whole book! when we gave them 3rd nephi to read she actually started explaining it to her son....we asked her if she already knew if the book was true....she said i have it all marked up but i have need to do as you said and pray...i was blown away and said yes of course and she also has been standing up for the church since that time! how people are prepared!

  we have been meeting with an iranian lady and she is such a golden lady and so willing to learn! she loves languages and can actually speak norwegain english and 3 forms of arabic! she became a christian 8 months ago and wants to know everything she can to be closer to god! when meeting with her on tuesday we asked if she had read much....she then replied "yea just a little of half of it not to much"....i almost fainted! when we asked if she thought it was true she said well its about god right? why wouldnt it be true! she accepted to be baptized as well for the 28th! the people that the lord prepares when we do everything we can! it is such a blessing to be obedient!

  well i dont know if anyone else realized that conference has been based on priesthood and families but so far that what i have gotten our of it and i have had my own prayers answered with out even realizing that i had prayed for things weeks ago and stopped worrying about it! the message that comes from conference can be a strength to us if we want it to just as we can choose to have a good or bad day! if we Want to watch then we will get something out of it! when i finally got to watch it i almost couldnt breath! i had wanted to watch it all week and when i heard the motab choir i was like a dog waiting for food and eating everything as it came to me! so a little challenge for you this week is to watch one! dont just randomly pick one but pray over what you need and then choose one as the spirit guides! i love this work and we are seeing the smallest and biggest of miracles! This church during rain and snow is still true and the gospel still needs to be shared therefore we are still out in all weather! the lord is preparing people everywhere and that means for YOU that are not even on missions to share the gospel when you have that chance! i know this church is true and that our savior lives and that in his loving mercy he has reached out his hand again in love and called a new prophet so he can lead his church as he has always done is the past! i love you all and have a GGGREEEEAAAAT Week!!

 eldste farnsworth

Rain Rain and 2ft of Snow

HALLO as usuall to EVERYONE!

 

  This week has been a great week and as any other missionaries can be in agreeance that sometimes you just dont realize where time has gone? then you read through your journal and you can then say....That is where my time has went! we Truly have had a great week and have been quite busy! we have had some interesting mirakles take place and its so great to look back on and see how the Lord had truly blessed us in MO! Well i just want to add some sad news in that we were not able to find a place to watch Conference seeing that we are 8 hrs ahead and most places close around 4 and conference is at 6 here which i will never be used to! We also woke up yesterday to 2ft of snow and crazy wind going in every which direction! the snow was almost finally gone and its been raining like no ones business here in MO! annd then we had some nice days and it was 10c one day and now its 0 again:) haha well thats norway for you! its weather is like utah to a degree!

 

  well this week as well with other weeks has been the normal finding of course:) but with mirakles mixed in with that!! we have been getting alot of try backs with people and people that will willingly accept a book of mormon! all though one thing i may make clear is that easter is a HUGE HOLIDAY in Norway with 11 days off of school and also most businesses are closed! so no one wants to stay here for Påske(easter) so they all leave and so its been interesting and still will be! well while knocking this week we met a lady and she said that she has read a book about mormons for the past 11 years...first thought to a missionary.....oh great anti material! actually no...she had been reading over and over a book called "who are mormons" by president Gordon B. Hinkley! absolutely incredible and we had a great teach and we have another appointment this week since she left for vacation! she was so interested and was so excited to get the book of Mormon! we are finally getting those investigators that we have been praying about!:):)

 

 well to add to that we had contacted a lady in the city from Iran who was a new convert to Christianity and wanted to know more! we hadn't been able to get a hold of here but to find out our phone hadn't been receiving her text saying she wanted to meet up! well we ended up knocking in to her after missing a tiny street with two houses that we hadn't knocked and actually prayed and had been led there! the man opened the door not knowing Norwegian or English and invited us in! walked in and saw the wife who does speak great Norwegian! culture fact for everyone make sure if and eastern European invites you in that you don't refuse to eat food and just eat everything they give you! THEY ARE SO NICE! they will give you what ever you want with out even asking for it! we had a little discussion since it was late and we came back the next day and they served us a MASSIVE meal which was so good! They love having us over and want to keep learning and she is so prepared although the husband is traditional but we will see how that goes! we reached our goal of 20 other teaches this week and ended with 3 new investigators and many potentials! so this week has been so good!

 

  well i wish i could have seen conference but we are trying our best to watch it and hopefully we can spend a day at a members home and see it! for all of you that got to watch it....what have you learned? did you take notes? did you listen to the precious advice that our beloved profet had to offer us? think back on what you learned and how to apply it for the next 6 months! i have learned to love conference and the message it contains! its truly modern day spricture just like the book of mormon which is meant for our time! read and reflect these words is my challenge to you and they will help you in current circumstances! i love you all and i know this church is true! i love serving even though its the hardest challenge at times but i know the lord is here to bless us! have a great week everyone!!

Great Week

HALLO Family and Friends!:)

 

  I cant even explain how much better this week has been compared to the past two very hard weeks for us up here in MO I Rana! Well about two weeks ago we got a challenge that we have tried to put in effect more than ever especially lately! the challenge was to get 20 teaches of anytype and your baptisms would double! im not saying that we have tons of baptismal dates since we dont! but what i am saying is that we reached 24 teaches this past week and 19 of them were other teaches! we gave out 10 mormons boks and we have given out others when we were on planes and in other places but those are all in Mo I Rana! we have been doing something we do which is called power finding! which is what everyone should do actually! using the lord more than ever! using nightly planning more effectivly and planning where we will be everyday and telling the lord where we WILL get our teaches! he is now bound and will have to give us our teaches and we do everything to get them! listening carefully to the spirit of the lord in where to turn and who to contact(which in Mo is everyone)! we have seen the lord bless us and with giving out all the books have we recieved many numbers and trying to meet with them again! it is so incredible how the lord can bless you when you pray even more than ever! the average missionary will pray about 20 times aloud with his companion...we have bumped ours up to about 35 and making specific goals for every hour! Binding the lord(dc82-10) and expecting miracles! in our first transfer i think we gave out a total of 4 books of mormon and this week alone we have given out about 10! POWERFINDING WORKS! Unless you are in south america...then you just Get the teaches....just kidding calm down!:)

 

  Well this week has been crazy awesome and filled with finding and doing a buch of other things! we finally had a decent turn out for our game night on wednesday and had 4 people come! and not a family four individuals! its was great and held a little lesson and then played uno and ate our fresh made Boller ( which is like a chocolate filled roll:)) so we laughed and had a great time and got to know the members better!

 

  We had a very long Friday this past week! woke up at 4A.M and got ready to catch our flight at 615 so we have to take a taxi there and be there a little early but not to early this air port is for only small planes! 32 passenger planes. we got to Trondheim at 8. and then take a flybuss to the church which is about 1hr! had zone konferanse which was Crazy filled with the spirit! had to leave and get on a flight at 7 so left at 515 and sat next to two people kissing the whole time so couldnt talk to them...haha! ended up waiting 2 hrs and by this time its already 1045 and we havent eaten since about 12 so we havent eaten forever! our flight is cancelled and they told us that they provided a buss to Mo which left at 1115! so we got on this Freazing COLD buss and tried to sleep well my comp did i couldnt! 15 minutes in we stopped at a pizza place and they bought everyone pizza and Johnson already asleep wakes up to my beaming face and a huge smile screaming FREE PIZZA you need to eat some! very funny! got home at 330am and just exhausted! so a mission is no place to sleep! haha whats new:) your blessed for the lack of sleep:)

 

  well in the act of power finding you have me and johnson wandering the streets of Mo and we see this man with a green umbrella and we walked past him and i looked back and then johnson looked back and i said to him....what are you thinking about....he says that guy....i say to him me too! we pray and a apologize and then run around the block to try to meet up with him again and he is no where in sight and we pray walk down the street and then i Shout...HES IN THE LIBRARY! we go in and there he is! we wait for a second and then johnson just goes up to him and says...WE need to give you this book! he was very gracious and took it but said he would read it and then if  he liked it we could teach him so...hopefully he will read it!:) the lord truly will lead the people to you that need some sort of guidaance in life! i know that is true!

 

 well church was great and for the first time someone else gave a talk besides me and Elder Johnson! it was so nice to just set back...oh wait i still gave a talk but still i got to listen to other people in church besides us! it was so great! we had 6 people in church so the attendance just right there has gone up by 3x! we are expecting to keep getting more:) well i know the lord is on our side and i have seen him work in so many mysterious ways! he loves us and expects us to apply him in our lifes! well i try to always have a challenge for everyone and this week since in preparation for The best news we will here for the next six months is to prepare yourselfs for this conferance! Come with questions what ever it may be! expect answers! remember that it takes part on your side too so you need to prepare and not be out all night on friday and saturday night but you need to be ready to have your writting stick of revelation out and write down what our living day profet and apostels have to say to us! a good way to prepare is to read the last conferance talks and compare with what you here this week! i love conference and i hope i get to watch it! we are still in search of a place to watch it! we will find a place! i know this church is true and i know we have a living profet today that has all the restored priesthood keys that were givin to joeseph smith! i love you all and i hope you all have a great week!!

 

 ELDSTE FARNSWORTH