SURPRISE!

HEY EVERYONE!!:)

  This week has been quite the week...and thats really all i can say! as usual we have been so busy! we have really been focusing in on our member teaches and also our less actives. like i have said before...less aktives just put a smile on my face:) especially when you can just connect with them and help them in their dailly lifes! well i really only have one big story which was the MIRACLE of this transfer! if people ever say that suprises dont happen in Norway...well they have got it so so so wrong!

  Well this story begins on thursday since we had our district trainning meeting in Oslo. Well our parking was running out so we went out to go pay for it and as i was putting my shoes on i turned around and there is our investigator studying in the center in Oslo! i was so suprized and i talked to her real quick and said i would talk to her afterwards. well we started talking and she was like guess what?? I quit drinking tea and i would like my interview please:) I was completly shocked out of my mind! it was like she had a complete change over a couple of days! we arranged everything and she got the okay! we then spent that night and friday planning for the baptism! it was so hard to plan because so many people had left to go to the ward temple week so that made it really hard to find people to talk and what not! well after callling a million people we just said ok we are just putting this into the lords hands and wrote the people down on the baptismal program and surely enough those people called us back the day of and said they would LOVE to talk! I had the great oppurtunity of baptizing Roya!  The ward helped us so much and made this spectacular event happen! well a little joke for everyone is that people say that it was a splashing experiance!..... lets just say that i was not going to have to baptize her twice....so i threw her under the water with AUTHORITY!! hahaha the two witnesses got splashed so it was funny!:) She had such a great time and even my convert from moss came along and was with for the baptizm and it was just another great witness to her of how strong the spirit can infuence her in her life! Sunday was great and was confirmed by a member who she really likes. we all ate dinner afterwards and had an incredible time! all i can say is that baptisms are so stressful but they are SO WORTH IT!! we go out and try to find people! but it is best through members! her and her mom are in it together now and its so great to have them in Fredrikstad:) i know that this church is true and that god continues to work among men today and continues in miraculous ways everyday and that is my own witness and i have been out for over a year know! i love being here and it has been great!

  well the last bit of news is that i will be staying in F-Stad for another 2 months with Eldste Morris! i think we will do good! i have really enjoyed F-Stad and i am excited to see what is ahead here. i wasnt done with my own plans here so i am glad i can continue working on the things i want to accomplish here:) i hope you all have a super fantastic week!

 LOVE eldste Farnsworth

Wow It Has Been a Week!

HEY YOU GUYS!!

 

 well what more can i say that it has been another very busy week in norway! there has  been a lot of things happen and its been super stressful! i mission is not just fun and games...especially when you have people to be baptized! baptisms are so rewarding but you truly have to work for them and there is so much to do! no matter how prepared you think you are we always have to expect that there is one thing missing...haha:) well this week has been full of rewarding and frustrating experiances but its been A Great Experiance:) i will also say some awesome news for any one that would in the future like to visit norway! i dont know if you have heard but Norwegian Air has got a hold of the newest aeroplane! you can get from new york to norway and back for under 500usd! so i think it will be important for me as well in the future making it so much easier to get to norway:) well aside from the side note here is the goods:)\\\

 

  well i will have to start out with the best news! we as a mission set a goal to get 100 new investigators! we almost made our goal or i say that we did! we got 98 new investigators in a week thanks to our mission fast which included all the wards in norway! we have a new goal of having 100 new progressing investigators by the 25! so lots to think about plus getting 80 new investigators a week:) what great news to see how norway is growing! as for us we got a couple of those new investigators one of which is a man we got as a referral from a member in moss! he is super positive and he is an honest truth seeker! we had a great first lesson and he was so thankful for us to take the time to drive there and to have a meeting with him! He will be a member! its so incredible to see how the lord is starting to fullfill his promises to the people in europe! we have one of the smallest places of missionaries in europe with a total of 54 missionaries covering only the coasts of norway and not really the inland! we have got 23 people coming in the next 4 months! so we are so excited as a mission! i love being here for one of the most increasing times in norway!

 

  as far as our baptism....its ended up not going through!:( it was a huge heart breaker! she was told that she should wait a week before she got baptized and that was hard for her to take:( as well as us missionaries. sometimes we just have to trust the lord even when we dont understand why she didnt pass completly. the lord puts challenges in our way and will test us to see how we go over these problems! we have had a lot of long teaches these past couple of days to try to help her understand so its been the stressfull part of the week! i think it helped her alot but we dont have another date set just yet!

 

 i would like to tell all of you how awesome you are! how much i love you all! tthanks for all the support you have given me through these past 1y and 4 month or so and i am so grateful for all of you! i know this is the lords church and that he loves us so much! i know prayer works! i love the book of mormon and i love tearing it apart everytime i study it!:) i hope you all have a GREAT WEEK!

 

Eldste Farnsworth!

It's Getting Dark!

HÆLLÆ!!!

  What a great week it has been and how fast they go by! i never feel that i have enough time to get everything done in time before the day is over! we have had a lot of meetings with people this week and have finally got to perform service for people! i loved that! for some reason its so hard to perform service in norway....! well anyway its been a joy filled week and i am pleased to to everyone about it!

 well it starts off with us broke with no money haha since we had driven to oslo atleast 11 times this past month and and covering such a massive area its hard to not use alot of gas ha! we are given 2000km to drive each month and we drive about.....5000 or more...so i will admit its great that we have people feeding us:) so we had to skip out on district meeting but instead of going there we planned a teach with the mother to the iranian family! it went so good and we learned so much about her! she doesnt quite have the belief in christ....or mohammed for that matter either. she said that she has a strong belief in god and that what ever way he tells her to go she will go that way and she took a baptismal commitment! she has already read over 40pgs in the book of mormon and reads more and more from it everyday! she is a star! she couldnt make it to church but she was super sad that she couldnt come!

 I will tell you one things which is that i love visiting less active members! they bring a joy into my life! i really love working with them and especially when they have a love for the church and for random reasons are inactive! i had the great oppurtunity or have been having a great oppurtunity to teach a less active and her daughter who is not a member since i moved her and have established weekly contact and lessons with them! i got to give her daughter a blessing and afterwards she felt incredible and new that the blessing was from god even though i didnt say that much at all! we talked about it and i got the chance to bare my testimony about the priesthood and how powerful it is! she loved it!

 well we are working with quite a few people and its been so great! we had three investigators in church and two of the were just people that we had called and they said they would and we got them rides and turned out they knew the people who picked them up! we had a great lesson withthem in church since some how we are the "new sunday school teachers"? but i have been doing it almost every week and i did it for 6 months in Mo I Rana so its no deal:) its getting darker everyday! it was pitch black before 5 oclock the other day and winter is her or i should say its been here all year but just in a lighter way. its been so great to be here and i love being out here to teach the gosple to the people in norway! i love being a missionary. it goes by way to fast but that why we take advantage of this time:) i hope you all have a FANTASTIC WEEK! love you all!

 eldste farnsworth 

Very Filled and Busy Week

HEY EVERYONE!!

 where to even begin! sometimes i feel as if a write the exact same thing everyweek....well if i do just bare with me:) well this week really has been filled with events and other awesomethings i would have to say! well from last sunday we had stake conferance which i forgot in my last email which was super good! we had a man from finland come from the presidnecy of europe...i dont remember what its called in english haha! he was such a humble guy! and then to follow that we had elder texiere who is the president of europe? not sure but it was so uplifting and he gave us a lot of ideas for new ways to approach the people her in norway haha! his wife as well is such a sweetheart and really put emphasize on contacting people as well! so we have been in Oslo a ton lately! 

 well thats just a little up date but as far as we know everything is still inplace for Amels daughter to be baptized on the 10! she finishing up her exams this week and will be back! its been over a month since we have seen her so it will be great! we have held good contact with her and she loves to talk so we have had some good phone calls:) The people that we are working with are so awesome! and since norway is filled with every person from all over the world we have such a mix of incredible people! we actually have three progressing investigators that come from either iraq or iran and they are so educated in the bible knowledge it is incredible! we had a teach yesterday from a guy that actually stopped us who we have been trying to meet with but he works so much its so hard! he called us up yesterday randomly and said ok come over! we were in moss so we finished our bussiness and left! he brought his mother(who we had met on the street the other day actually:)) and she was very intersted in learning and she had some great input! They are such incredible people!

 well thats basically the update! time is going by faster and faster! this transfer is flying by with no regrets and lots of planning! i have learned quite a lot from my comp! i cant believe we have been together already over 5 weeks! i love being out here! i have learned so much and continue to learn as every day passes! i love Norway and its people! i want you all to know that i love this gospel and i know its true! i love the book of mormon with all my heart and i know of its truthfullness! read it and love it! i would love for you all to take 5 minutes and to find out your own reasons of why you love the gospel and why you are a part of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints!!:) have a great week everyone and i love you all:)

 eldste farnsworth!!

Another Good Week of Rain

hey family and friends!!

 Well i would love to announce that it has yet to rain today....but every other day it has rained like never before!! haha but those are just the random things of norwegian weather:) this past week has been really good! we have seen some great progress this week and our week has been absolutly filled with stuff to do! but what i would like to do is really focus in on the promtings of the spirit! those tiny things that can be hard to decifer if its us or not! well i cant tell you really how to make up your mind other than what it invites you to do:) as it states in moroni 7 if it invites you to do good its of god! so the real question is if we are taking the chance and following that we feel! i can tell you all that i am not the best at listening but i know that if we will that only good things will come out of it! i know that its the spirit of the lord telling us to do that thing and to take a leap of faith and trust in the lord with all our hearts and he will do the rest as we are faithful!!:)

 I LOVE BEING HERE! there is so much to tell and words just dont explain it! days are hard days are the same but yet you have a smile on your face and you have fun during the hard times and laugh when times are just ridiculous! i can not even begin to tell you about making sure you have a good time everyday i mean we have to remember we are serving the lord and we chose to come here so minds well have a great time sharing the things we love:) so advice to everyone....we only have two years todo this....make it worth it!!:)

 I am so greatful for the oppurtunities i have received to be here and to share what i know to be true! i dont really know what else to say? lifes a rollercoaster and its a series of up and downs and loop to loops! the lord throws things that we never see coming and we make it through them because of our love for him! he has made it possible for us and has made the ULTIMATE sacrifice of love to everyone! let us happy and go forth in such a cause! i love you all and sorry for the short letter....haha but sometimes i just dont know what to say.....have a great week!!:)

 eldste farnsworth

Rain All Week!

hey everyone!!

 i love so much to get emails from you and to read through and to see how the family is and everyone else! thanks for them and i truly and deeply appreciate them! This past week has been a good one! sometimes you have to make self evalutions to see where we are in our best efforts....and sometimes we just have to make better changes and thats the best part about this gospel is that it shapes us into better people and puts life into a bigger and better perspective than we didnt even know was possible for us! the mission throws curves, knuckles, and some crazy change ups in ways, like is said, we never thought we could handle or take but then the lord lifts us higher than before! i still feel i have insufficient knowledge and probably will feel that way my whole life but i know i am learning something new everyday! I thank our loving heavenly father for that change!

  This week we had the great oppurtunity to have zone conference! i am used to having it way more often but new rules have come into have it every 3 months...instead of every other month but we also would have specialized training every other month as well so we had something everyweek! its good that i have 16 people in my district right know which is already more than the whole north had when we would meet in trondheim! maybe norway could be expecting more and more missionaries with the new age changes? that would be cool! we only have 55 missionaries in all of norway! i learn so much from these zone conferences and like i said in the other paragrath that they shape me in my mission and show me where i am at and my needs and improvements! we all have areas of improvement and change that needs to be made! so make those changes that are needed to keep yourself on gods straigth and narrow! i can not even start to say all the thingsi have learned on my mission and patience i have gained! god had blessed me more than i know!!

  I will say that our new convert is doing so well! she is a star and the members continue to love her and take her places! she is a true fighter and is already sharing the gospel like a missionary!:) it fills my heart and she fills everone elses heart with joy as well! she taught us how to make arabic pizza the other day! its supergood! i forgot to take my camera but we are going to make REAL kebabs with her tomorrow! i can not thank the ward enough for taking her in as their own! I know that this church is true and i am incedibly thankful for my upbringing in the gospel and for a great family! i know that god is there and truly answers our prayers! i have experianced that so much! i know that joseph smith is a prophet and that we STILL have a prophet on the earth today! i hope you all have a great and fantastic week! dont forget to continue to read in the book of mormon!:) I LOVE YOU!!!

 ELDSTE FARNSWORTH

WOW! What a Week

HEY:):)

 

 what a week it has been! its always the week of the baptism that is always so so stressfull! we had some pretty interesting things happen! well this week has been super busy and has been filled with rain! it has rain almost all day everyday! but on the other hand i guess thats how norway stays so freakin green!! its getting colder every day as we approach winter and we can already feel it sweeping in everyday! but rain or snow we are out and the lord blesses uus day by day!

 

 well i kan say that IT HAPPENED! THE BAPTISM WENT THROUGH AND IT WAS INTENSE!! well a couple weeks ago when we were eating with a family with our newly baptized member(then not baptized) i received a little feeling saying who should baptize her! i asked her if a convert of a year who has had a strong desire to baptize someone could baptize her....she said of course! well he was over extatic when he had received the news and he has been coming on the teaches willlingly ever since! he was with for 4 of the teaches tis past week! he was such a strength especially when i had received a call in wednesday morning from her saying sorry i can not be a member i just cant and hung up the phone! i was heart broken and hit my knees and asking for inspiration on what we were to do! i started to fast and pray all day and gave myself more than ever to the lord that day and just said it will all be fine just do everything today you can for others and when you meet tonight everything will work out fine! well as we went to the teach with two members and sat us down....she said to jon martin(the new convert) are you the one going to baptize me? jon martin said i would love to but when you are ready.....i am ready she said i am just so scared! we gave her comfort and love and she was about in tears of joy. her and jon have become so close and yet the story is not over... on saturday we got everything ready and she was dressed and looked so beautiful in her new white dress! her daughter even showed up and came to church the next day:) i dont know what we would have done with out her.....because as they got in the water amel was so happy and she had tears in her eyes! little did we know how afraid and uncomfortable she was in the water! jon said the prayer and instead up throwing her under he took her slowly down and she forgot to breathe and as he was putting her under she tried to fight and jon just kept going not knowing what to do haha and she was gasping for air and he put her under and she came up out of the water with no air and almost dying and coughing and she started panicing like crazy and she actually didnt go all the way under and still had to go under again and she was not having that!! it took 10 minutes to calm her down and we managed to get her to go one more time(as we prayed we wouldnt have to do it a third time) she went under barely enought that the water covered her!....well probably not the most gracefull baptism but we got it;) haha it was an experiance never to forget! she was SO HAPPY afterwards! she said she couldnt remember what happened or anything we said...looks like those sins were washer from her mind...hahahah and she was happier than ever even though everyone else was in a panic afterwards! she was confirmed a member and she knows the church is true! she thanks us everyday and wont stop baking food for us now....:)

  well that was the good news and ill throw the pictures in with it! i am so thankful for this church. the church of jesus christ of latter day saint! everything that it stands for and the way we are taught to love and become closer to our Lord and Savior! my love for this church goes everly increasing each and everyday! i have a little reading for everyoneand its where i am in the book of mormon now...mosiah ch3! wow its such a great chapter. even though i have read it so many times i have truly felt the reality of it this time! i hope you all have a great week! LOVE YOU!!

 

Eldste Farnsworth