The Time is Over

HEY EVERYONE!!

 well ma and pa are now in norway!!:) what more to say than i know that the gospel is true!! its a surreal feeling to have the family with you....i dont even know what to say...i could be holding back tears but they just wont come out just quite yet! haha i have had an incredible last two years and i thank God for these experiances:) i know that this is his work! thanks for all of you who followed me and for the emails:) i love you guys!:) see you in a week!

1 WEEK LEFT!

HEY GUYS!!!!!

  what to say when one only has 1 week left? i dont know i have thought about it this week and as fast as these 6 weeks have gone since my last comp went home its just hard to believe time has gone by so fast!! i hope it starts to slow down so i can enjoy it even more but i guess i wont get my hopes up haha!;) this week has been as usual a good one! one thing that was really cool is that we got to hear from the prophet yesterday and M. Russel Ballard! we had the "meeting in the north" conference for all of scandinavia! M. Russel Ballard said a lot of good and meaningful things as he talked about their heritage of pioneers and how strong their ancestory is! he was very straight forward and even that he restated what he said saying: and i repeat myself so no one can misunderstand. it was so good and the spirit was super strong!! president monson only spoke for about 45 seconds but he was supposed to come to sweden but with his wife passing it just wouldnt work! so that was like the highlight of this week! plus there were other area 70s and what not so it was super cool! the excitement has just been killing me lately. not in a bad way but its just like...wow is this real? 2 years...met and taught 100's of people...made lasting friendships and now its just like...haha what now? of course i know whats next but its just incredible to think about it sometimes! i have loved being here and being about some of the nicest people in the world and i thank my father in heaven for this once and a lifetime opportunity( alone atleast) to serve him and to just give him what i could give! thanks for all of those that have supported me these past 2 years and for the blessings i know i have received because of your prayers! i love you guys so much! ill be writing one last short email next week so dont tune out yet haha!! love you guys and i hope you all have a super week!!

2 WEEKS LEFT!

HEY EVERYONE!!!

 

 its been a fantastic week! time is flying by faster than ever and to even think that elder lilywhite has been home for over a month now is just almost unbearable to say haha! things are starting to pick up a little in my area and that has made a huge difference for the past couple weeks! its been super hard with efforts put in and not getting anything out of it but we have now a family from Vietnam which is super cool and they are just so nice and friendly! a lot has to be done with them but we are making our way!!

 its been great lately and I don't think its been like the others that I have seen go that are just freaking out but its been more just taking it one step at a time and seeing how great the past two years have been! there is not to much to say other than it has been a great journey that is not even over yet! there is so much more to live and to take in in these two weeks!! I thank god for all the experiences I have had so far! there is so much packed in two years its just something you have to experience!! well I thank you guys for all the support I have received:)  I love you guys!!

GREAT WEEK IN THEIM

HEY FAM AND FRIENDS!!

 what more can i say other than its been a good week! not to much to report on other than the fact that we have had some good spiritual experiances this week! one of being something that kinda dates back but has now connected again! meaning that so i got a referral for like 8 months ago that got referred and i never thought anything about it until pres called and said he got the same referral and wanted me to go again.... i was a little hesitant since she had said it wasnt really for her but i said of course! during districts meeting i got this feeling that i needed to go right after the meeting or tomorrow at around 430..pretty random time but we had a packed day so i said we had to do it the next morning! well things started to pile up and time was going fast as it usually does so i just stopped what we were doing and said okay lets pray and go! we went the 35 minute bus ride there and walked to her house! it was like i had been there before! knocked and no answer.... started walking away even though we heard footsteps in the house and then we heard the door open and it was the girl that we were looking for....haha well to say the least it was kinda awkward and she was super cute so the first minute was kinda crazy but we ended up talking for like 45 minutes and it was super nice! she has a friend that will be coming from utah during the summer so she will end up going to church soon:) its just the fact of willing to follow the promptings one has received and so will the lord bless you! i love seeing and feeling those affects and how they make a lasting change on a person! i know that God is aware of our standings and is willing to help us! i love the gospel and what it has taught me on my mission and i would never take it back even though it has been incredibly hard! i have seen the lords hand in the work in norway! i love you guys!!

Hey From Norway!

well its weird to think that i really dont have many more of these things to write....haha thats weird! like i said i just dont know what to say anymore other than a mission is the greatest time of your life(thusfar:)) and also the hardest but as i have thought lately about the trials i have had on my mission and how they worked out it has made me think of enduring to the end! or with other words stated my nephi " its is my grace that we are saved after all we can do." one ting i can say is that i have learned to love the scriptures and how to handle my problems accordingly and do it with love and to "try" to understand even when you just dont quite understand.....but i think we all get that haha! this week has been a slow week for missionary work seeing that everyone was gone or too busy to meet but we enjoyed our time anyway and did what we could:) we celebrated by watching the parades out our appartment window seeing as it is right on the maine street:) everyone gets in their "Bunads" which they have for men and women which is an old fashioned dress or suit(not so common to see for men) which are absolutly stunning and you would faint if you saw the price tag as well knowing that basically every norwegian has one(20,000kr) so more or less over 3000usd....so its expensive! although we went around getting pictures with girls in their bunads;) but thats missionary tradition!;) we had hot dogs galore....ate way to many and i think i am done for awhile! haha! we were at an american familys house and played a bunch of games to finish off the night and we all had so much fun! on saturday and sunday we had the youth from oslo stake...59 youth here in trondheim and that was awesome since Fredrikstad and Moss were there so it was a great reunion and they all jump on me and we talked through sunday and they wouldnt leave me haha! it was super awesome since most of them had no idea i was there except for me;) This week have a super goal for the north of getting 15 new investigators:) may not be alot for other missions but of a total we had 5 last week for 7 areas and 3 coming from one area and 2 from another...so its a heafty goal but i think we can make it:) i hope you all have a super week! i love you guys!!

Hey Guys!

HEY EVERYONE!!

 I will say its been a good week! still struggling to find people but we have met alot of people we just cant get a single one to commit to meeting or have interest! it can be frustrating but we are going forward anyway! its good when you have a good companion! WELL  pday is not today and that why i am just sending alittle letter! pday is on friday seeing that it is norways independance day! 17 mai! it will be fun so i will talk to you guys in a couple of days!!

CINCO DE MAYO

HEYA!!!!

 what a week its been here in norway! its been a weird week and that is usually how it is when transfers begin again! since we have a 4 week transfers and then another little one when i leave! on the 28th is when we will be getting 17 sister missionaries and 4 elders! that will be exciting to see where the lord will place them and what areas will open for the first time in over 20 years most likly! it was weird watching elder lilllywhite go....we have had a pretty quiet past couple of days and i dont really know what to say. i have been reflecting alot lately on what i have been reading( pluss alot of other stuff) in the book of mormon. i am reading in the beginning of 3rd nephi and as i have compared some of the scriptures with other ones the ones that have stuck out lately are the lamanites actually. the fact that when they were converted it was basically life long for them and as it states many times that they would not depart from it for they were firm and steadfast and immovable willing with all diligence to keep the commandments of god! (3n 6.14) plus all of the reverances! it really touched me as well looking back on my notes in my book from helamen 15.16 that the lord in his own time "that they shall return again unto him saith the lord." and as well with anothe scripture connection in 2n 28. 32 which applies more to everyone. The lord is on our side and wants us to truly be successful in this life but even for those that rejecteth him that he will still have his arm reached out all the day long! i know that this is true! the lord loves us and wants for us to be happy! i love you guys and i hope you all have a super good week!  

eldste farnsworth

Good Times in Trondhiem

HEIA!!!

 Well this week has been good! we have met alot of cool people on the street and now is the time to talk to all the drunk teenagers in NORWAY!! its the time of RUSS!! there is so many rediculous tings that happen during this time! last year i dint really witness anyting but i have already had 10x more fun messing with the drunkards at 3 in the afternoon! although during this time peole are so much more friendly and willing to talk and i think it will help if they will remember atleast that we were fun to talk to right? haha well we also have witnesses RUSSEDÅP which is where people baptized each other(yes it shows how much they love religion in this country right) which is pretty funny and then watch them as they run around doing their Russeknuter which is the challanges which are usually very sexual or practical jokes in anycase so we get a kick out of it!:)

  we have had some super spiritual lessons too! on sunday we had the investigator class and it was one of the best classes that i have attended with one of our new investigators and it really helped him understand the role of the holy ghost! it really made him think! you could see it on his face haha and i love that!:) and just the people we have visited has just made this week go by fast and all the good things that members do for us! it just makes me so greatful for everything that i have seen and done here in norway! we have been helping out some of the girls that were baptized for 2 years ago and helped them understand more about the gospel! its so cool seein people that were complete atheist and seeing that they now have seen the love of god and cant deny it and bear testimony! they just havent been taught for like 2 years even though they come to church and we ended up ansnwering TONS of questions about random things! it really helped them and it just made me even more greatful to see that the lord has plans for others and is helping so many of his people here!! i love you guys and i hope you have a great week!!

A New Week!

HEY EVERYONE!!

 ITS been a good week here in Trondheim! its been warm weather and people seem to be a little more willing to stop since its somewhat nicer weather! we have quite a few potentials but most of them have fallen threw unfortunatly but we are still lookin!!:) its been interesting to serve around people that are leaving because they talk about marriage way to much just so you know!! well we had the stake presidency here and we went to the fireside and it was super inspiring the messages that were shared and it made me reflect a little bit of my own faith and why i love living it! also to always strengthen my own testimony for it is something that can leave if we are not Converted unto the lord! its actually been a long time since i have given you all an assignment and it will be to read that talk from last conference by elder david A. Bednar and that was one of the themes i thought anyway for last conference and this one as well! We are focusing alot on being obedient and encouraging each other this week! its elder lillywhites last full week in the land and he is freaking out! its way funny to tease him but the jokes come right back at me....since we have 4 generations of missionaries living in one apartment! meaning 4 groups of missionaries in a row! thanks so much for all the support and i dont have to much time today because we all want to go and do things! haha but i love you all so much and i miss and love you all so much! i hope you all have a super week!!!:)

 LOVE ELDSTE FARNSWORTH

Each Week goes by faster and faster

HEY EVERYONE!!

 well this week as the rest has gone by SUPER fast! i forget what we do sometimes and i have been forgetting what day it is! Not to much has happened but we have found and talked to some really cool people but they always seem to have some kind of sickness or mental problems....haha we have found many of those people! i attended 3 hours of church yesterday along with 3 hours of singing at a church called ZION..... its funny because i had been invited in fredrikstad but we were way to busy every week and couldnt go and now i know that it was such a waste of time haha! it was just a testimony buidler to me to see how great our church is but yet what little people understand and yet they are held back (in this case) because they are blinded or just could careless to search! so all in all it was a good experiance and some pretty alright accordian music i would have to say but we dropped that guy afterwards. i really just want to tell you all that I have loved being a missionary and it has been SOO fun and yet super challenging at times or everyday but yoou recieve so much energy and strength from the spirit to help you keep going in the hardest of times! i know that this Gosple is true! it is so incredible and strengthens me so much! the weather has been so nice this past week! sun and this morning it was 10c and that was a nice change. we even went running this morning and it felt super good! i dont have a lot of time today since we are finally doing something as a district! i love you guys super much and i hope you all have a super week!!

Proud to be a Missionary

HEY GUYS!!!!!
  What a week! being in a 3som is just loads of fun! we are always having a good time even though it makes teaching and contacting harder since one person is out or the 3rd wheel but we have made it work! I hope you all got to see conference because i didnt miss it this year so i was super happy to be in a ward where it was there and translation was available! in this emial i would really just like to give my appreciation and greatest love for the chance i have had to serve a mission and to be able to learn and to really come to know and love our saviour! as i have had studies i have focused in on reading a conference talk and just seeing how they all witness of christ and his life and ressurection!! What a great thing to say is my calling is a special witness of christ and i witness for people everyday! i talked to an evolutionist this week who was actually the most in depth person i have talked to and yet no matter what i said you could see the nervousness in his eyes as we could calmly just answer what we know! he wouldnt let us leave so we talked to him for awhile and i simply bore a simple testimony and walked away! there is not a lot of people that stop but i love having that opportunity to share the gosple and i am not the best missionary but i do my best!:) i know that the gosple is true and that it has been restored! i joy in the fact of living together forever as families is something i love and look forward to! i know that christ died for me and that he is my saviour and that i have the incredible gift of repentence(because i am a sinner and need it:)) and that i have so many opportunities to serve! i love you all and i hope you have a great week!

Easter Sunday

GOD PÅSKE!!

 This week has been a good week and yet to follow the rutine it has gone by SUPER fast and faster than i can even comprehend sometimes! Of course one of the hardest times as a missionary atleast in norway is the easter holiday! everyone leaves and goes to other places but the place they live! in all honesty we did pretty good with trying to keep ourselfs busy but in all honesty it went so fast i dont even remember what happened the whole time! We even managed to have an investigator in church and same with the other elders and sisters! we had 5 investigators all together which for a week like this one was pretty impressive so i was happy with the out turn! we have had good days even though its now april and we have had snow today and is int he forcast for this whole week but we look forward to the blessing that will be coming this week! i hope you all have a good week! i dont have alot of time this week since we helped people move this morning for 4 hours but it was so good and now we all just are drained of energy! Thanks for all the encouragement and i am so thankful for you all! i hope you all have a great week! i love you all

The Trondheim Gang

HEY GUYS!!

  Well this week has been a good one and as usual just flew by faster than ever! the last weeks are just flying by and now its the end of march! wow! elder lillywhite and i have been together for almost a 3 weeks now...haha he only has 5 weeks left! well its funny to look and see how long i have been with alot of my companions and to count and compare with others how many comps they have had! i will most likely have only 8 comps my whole mission! i say this because my 8th comp is most likely my last one who will be joining us on tuesday! we will be in a triple for the first time of my mission! i am way excited! he is from idaho and is super tall and funny! he is 4 months behind me so he is in elder morriss group! well as far as this week it has been good and we have a pretty solid new investigator and i hope he really pullls through! he is way humble but may be a little on the slow side but he is searching and he comes from the farthest connected island in the north called Vardø! We have had some great visits with members seeing as the mission pres wants us spending time with members( 5 member visits a week not including teaches) and sharing a message and its helping us alot seeing as it has not been like the other wards i have been in. they all are different but just in their own ways:) i love members and being around them and seeing how the gospel has blessed their lives! It makes me understand how the gospel has helped me in my life and how much i like sharing it! We had a really cool experiance in church right as the meeting was beggining we had a lady come in and i went and talked to her and she told me that she had been trying to come for the past couple of weeks but just couldnt get up the courage! i talked to here and told her our purpose and she said that she wanted to start meeting with us and talking! she was impressed at what she felt when she came in! it made it even easier for her since i was so loving and caring when i talked to her...she said that not me:) i could just feel her sincerity and love! we have an appointment with her tomorrow and i think it will go really well with her circumstances! Its been a good week i am just trying to keep up with everyting! it goes by way fast! thanks for all the suppport and i love you guys so much! thanks for the letters and what not! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!!

Not Much Going On This Week!

HEY ALL!!

 well its been a week!! its been super hard this week when it comes to finding and just trying to figure out what we are suppose to be doing here! we have done a lot of brainstorming this week to try to figure out what it is that the lord wants us to do here! the days are good but the work is going slow but we are still having lots of fun!:) We saw the northern lights last night and that was elder lillywhites first time seeing them even though from a city view they were not that strong! its still always cool to see them!!:) we helped move an older lady this week and found out that her husband is not a member! never would have guessed! we moved them for what we though was only going to take about 2 hours! well turned out to be old people that hadnt done ANY PACKING!! it took 9 hours! ahh we were just exhausted afterwards and since we didnt have appointments we stayed while everyone else left and we had to do all the hard lifting and after not lifting for almost two years wow it was so hard!! it was way good though and we are going to start teaching the husband who by the way loves to speak english and for a 85 year old man he speaks almost perfect english! no joke! norwegains are way to good at english! well nothing to crazy to report this week except that things get better everyday!:) thanks for all the support! i love you guys so much!! have super week!!

It's Good To Be Busy!

HEY GUYS!!

 Wow this week has been super AWESOME!! totally have just had a good week have have sound almost 20 potentials this week! It was weird not having a comp for almost 2 days....i was on splits alot and sitting at the church and then did some home teaching with a member! i love the feeling of recieving revelation and then being able to follow through on it and see that it was comfirmed! its such a cool thing! like for example i was with a member and we had called alot of people and no one answered so we prayed and i picked a random name when i went through it and called him with no answer so we decided to just go there and he wasnt home but we ended up visiting another lady who was less active that LITERALLY smokes like a chimney! she packed up 5 sigs in a row and smoked them in the 25 minutes we were there! on the way to the bus we found the guy we were trying to get a hold of! he missed us! it was super cool! Now that elder lillywhite and i are back together its just like old times except the fact that we are now experianced and can speak fluently and there is no problem there! so we are just starting our attack on norway! i am way stoked! we have had a great couple of day! met some people and have done some really smart work! we are still working on gettting investigators but we have a lot to work with now and so i think we could turn some really quick! this week has been extravegent! i needed a sweet comp like lillywhite again to just share ideas and get everyting going again! i love him!! well thanks for all the encouragement everyone! thanks for everyting! i hope you all have a great week!

LOVE ELDSTE FARNSWORTH

My Mother's Coming Back!??

HEY GUYS!!

 well you all are probably wondering why in the world its tittled what it is? yes? well i am getting there! in mission language you have your father right? he trains you and then you got a mother who is like a second trainer? well lets just say elder lillywhite is still a missionary since he is only one transfer ahead and he is coming back to serve with me!! I am super excited but i also get to kill my mother....i get to watch him go home...! so i get to kill off my own mother...im such a great daughter right? well thats really the biggest news! it will be great since we didnt really know how to work when we were together after all we were basically greenies together so now we can wreck house and tear it up all over this place! we are both super excited to work with each other again and share our ideas and do our very best here in TRONDHEIM!! we need some new ideas up in here since nothing we have been trying is working and it has been pretty hard latley! we havent had to much success when it comes to making people investigators although we have met tons of people we are just struggling getting return appointments! Another piece of awesome news is my companion is going to my home grounds in MO I RANA! so i have been giving him the low downs on the whole area! im super excited for him and i bet he will just do gret there! it helps alot to be in such a small place sometimes! Well i will say i am looking so much forward to this new transfer with elder lillywhite and its going to be lots of fun!:) i dont really know what else to say anymore haha! The mission is just flying by faster and faster and its hard to keep up sometimes! you have to make sure you are enjoying the moments as they fly past haha! ITS BEEN A GREAT MISSION SO FAR!! and many things are still in store!:) i love you guys and enjoy your week until next week!

A Good Week!

HEY GUYS!!

 i have really lost words to put on the subject part! i think i have put almost everything haha! well this week has been super good and we have seen a lot of success and have met some awesome people this week! it has helped alot to plan splitts and being able to do it more often wit the sisters and with the elders in trondheim since i can schedule them when ever! we even had the APs here and we went out withthem for a while! found a lot of potentials that told us to call this week and a bunch of referrals from members! we have some incredible people here in Trondheim! it hasnt been super cold! it was even 5c the other day and the ice is melting slowly but its still everywhere and have to walk slowly or else you will fall while talking to people! well i dont have a lot of time because we went to ikea for pday and did customer reviews and got free food and gift cards which was totally worth it!:) my companion and i got to have the great priviledge of holding church in a small area in a place called Kristiansund! we called up the members that live there which is about 3 1/2 to 4 hours away depending if you leave and catch the ferry at the right time! it was super awesome to see the crowd of non norwegian members ahaha! but there was one norwegian member! we even got to drive the atlantic highway which you will all see the pictures of! it was so beautiful! it was like being in Mo I Rana agian and teaching all 5 of them!;) it was a rehumbling experiance! so we spent almost 8 hours on sunday traveling but it was worth it! we might be driving out again to help a member that lives in a place called Molde! we will find out though! well this week has gone by so fast and i am loving it! we talk with so many awesome people and you just love them right away even when they say no at the end! well sorry its so short i just dont know what to write anymore haha! i love you all so much!! have a great week!

From the Land Up North

WHATS UP EVERYONE!!??

  well yet again another week gone by! its to crazy to understand how time flies! this week has been a good week and we have taught some super elect people....even though they still said no! We have had some great experiances and my companion is becoming a better teacher by each and everyday! Even though our mission has a new standard of getting 3-2-1 which is 3 new investigators a week, 2 in church and 1 with a baptismal date and we havent been making it i know know personaly that the lord is preparing us to find awesome norwegians! we dropped the people we were working with and decided to rely on the lord and give up our little proggression to find the elect! We are on our way to more success i can just feel that there is something here waiting! Trondheim is such a great place....horrible dialect but its ok! The mission is getting more intense as the days grow fewer and i see the end coming i start freaking out and i start saying.....Ok its time to dig or its time to get dirty! there is no time to play around when it comes to finding WE NEED PEOPLE!! of course we still need to enjoy and have fun but keep our focus is what im meaning! those that have been on a mission most likely know the feeling! the end kinda creeps up on you! i love being here and i know the lord is giving me strength day by day and following his own promise....line upon line and precept upon precept here alittle and there a little! i love knowing that someone is watching out for me and that i have people praying for me! I have fallen in love with norway and this culture even though i feel that i know so little about it! i love the people even when they reject us! i could never ask for a better place to serve a mission! thanks for everything you all do for me! i hope you all have an incedible week!

 ELDSTE FARNSWORTH!!

It Has Been Cold in Trondheim -12c

HEY!!!!

  Well what more to say than we need to enjoy the time we live in! Trondheim is a great place! i am loving it here even though we have seen little success! the fact that its so big just makes me love it more everyday! the other fact that there is so many people to talk to makes me happy! after serving in small almost some of the smallest cities in norway its just a change to "city life" and taking busses and walking everywhere which i really do enjoy! this week has been a constant -12c and it has had this killer breeze all week which doesnt make working any easier but we have talked to some awesome people in the past couple of days...not meaing they are interested but i just love talking to people! i could probably do a better job with talking to more but i am trying my best!:) after a hard week we finaly got a couple potentials after being fed up we seriously challenged the lord yesterday in our last 30 minutes out on the street and talked to some really awesome people! we have had investigators that we have found from the area book and some that have never been contacted after the first meeting on the street so it was kinda akward calling 2 years later and asking if they remember but most people were very respectfull and we actually got some appointments from people from 2 years ago!! so that was a testimony builder of not leaving anyone behind! I will say that the baptizm went super well for the guy i interveiwed and he is going to be a solid member for the rest of his life! and so saturday and sunday were some of the strongest days of the spirit i have had in awhile! its was such a great experiance! i thank the lord for the blessings i have received! now looking back at being here for over 18 months i just smile and say "WOW i have had an incredible time" and not to much else to say.....:):) i love you guys so much and i want you to know that i am so happy right now because i am on a mission! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!

Eldste Farnsworth

My First Week in Trondheim

 HEY GUYS!!

  this week has been epic! we have met alot of cool people yet havent got so many new investigators! we had a great expirence with having our ward mission leader out with us and he just wrecked house! he is like i said before a fireball! we have weekly appointments for him to go out with us! he is such a help and has great love for missionary work! Trondheim is an incredible area and i have loved every second of it! i love having elder gilreath and teaching him and guiding him! trying to be an example and showing how to approuch people and start talking and helping him just makes me happy! I still cant believe how fast everyday goes by! its like no time at all and my comp is seeing how fast it goes by already! he still has a year and a half! we had a great meeting yesterday in church and had one of our new converts stand up and bear his testimony and it was so powerful! i got to give my first interview this week to a guy getting baptized on saturday who is a serious stud! we talked for 30 minutes and just had a great time! he told me how he loved learning all these things and how right it felt when learning and i love asking whats the difference after being in the normal state church in norway and hearing his testimony of the restored gospel! he even loved the part of paying tithing! he said he has wanted to pay to a more organized system and he is super excited to start paying tithing! it is just a small testimony of what i have expirenced on my mission so far which is that people are being prepared! i am a personal witness to that! well all i can really say is that i am loving it here in norway and it has been so fun! i hope you all have a great week! love you!!