Wow! I can't believe I've already been on my mission and at the MTC for 4 weeks. It's amazing! I love being a missionary.
This last week was great! I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of things. Norwegian is coming along well. Our "investigator" Eva is progressing so well! Even though it's roleplay, when you really focus and pray, it feels like they are an actually an investigator. It is fun! She has "come to church" the last two weeks and reads the Book of Mormon and prays everyday. We committed her to baptism and set a date for september 12. The saturday before we leave to Norway :) We've been teaching about baptism and how it is the gate to the path of eternal life. We asked her how her preparation is coming for baptism and she said something awesome. She said, I feel like I should be nervous but I'm not nervous, I feel peaceful about it. Heavenly Father truly does answer our prayers and supports us in our righteous desires and decisions. We also got two new 'investigators". Each of the Elders created our own character and role and we are teaching each other. It is good practice and very helpful.
So every Thursday we do this thing called TRC, Teaching Resource Classroom. We go to this building and share a message with other returned missionaries who aren't our teachers. It is almost like home teaching. We do all our teaching in Norwegian. It is fun because we can talk to them about their experiences in Norway. I can't wait until Norway!! Tomorrow, we have TRC again and this time we are skyping a family in Norway. It's pretty intimidating but it will be fun.
So because BYU started this week, our teachers are busy. They combined both districts of Norwegians so now we are in one classroom. That way we still get the same amount of Teacher instruction every day. It can be crazy at times but it is really fun. All the Elders are good people and I'm looking forward to getting to know them all.
The devotionals this week were fabulous! The Sunday Night speaker was Brother Charles W. Dahlquist. He was a former general young men's president. You could tell he has so much love for the missionaries and missionary work. He organized his remarks into 3 sections. 1) Reassurance 2) Suggestion 3) Invitation. For his reassurance, he reminded us that we are all Children of God. Heavenly Father loves us very much and we are not alone in this work. For his suggestions, he said, 1) use your time to search diligently the scriptures every day. 2) Pray sincerely with all your heart. 3) Obey: He shared a quote from Gandalf that I really liked. Gandalf said to Bilbo Baggins, "take care of yourself and don't leave the path." Commandments are for our protection. God gave us commandments because he loves us and knows what will help us. 4) Be aware of what your put into your minds. Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly. In a world of increasing darkness we need to become brighter ourselves to cast out the darkness. Light always trumps darkness. For his invitation to us he invited us to be become solidly anchored and converted unto Christ. And then when you are converted strengthen others. He said service is a way of life, not a project. I really liked his thoughts and testimony and I know his words are true and helpful to everyone not just missionaries.
The Tuesday night speaker was Elder Oaks!!! Oh yeah! He talked about teaching with the spirit. He based much of his remarks off Preach My Gospel which I thought was cool. Preach my Gospel is a great tool and resource. He began his remarks explaining "How do we obtain the spirit?" and what can we do to always have the spirit to be with us? My initial thought to his question was, pray and read the scriptures every day, but then He said, Worthily partaking of the sacrament every Sunday. That really stood out to me. The Sacrament is a sacred ordinances and truly a spiritual experience. The power of God is manifest in the Ordinances. He reminded us that "every member a missionary, but every missionary a member" The sacrament is so essential to having the spirit with us. In the covenant God promises to bless us with his spirit always. It is important to prepare for each sunday by repenting and having a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Sabbath Day worship has been a topic focused on by the leaders of the Church and I like how ELder Oaks applied its importance to missionary work also.
Anyways, I'm doing really well and I love being a missionary. One last thought and invitation to you all, is to be grateful in your circumstances. I read President Uchtdorf's talk, "Grateful in any circumstances". It is amazing and I encourage you to read it. He said, "We are grateful to God in our circumstances, we can experience gentle peace in the midst of tribulation. In grief, we can still lift up our hearts in praise. In pain, we can glory in Christ's Atonement. In the cold of bitter sorrow, we can experience the closeness and warmth of Heaven's embrace." Sister Dahlquist, On Sunday Night said, "Everyday look for something that Heavenly Father has done or given just for you." I know Heavenly father loves us and blesses us more than we can comprehend.
I love you all. Have a great week.
Eldste Witt
No comments:
Post a Comment