Hey family!
Thank you for your emails and all your love and support. It's so good to hear from you. I always look forward to see how all of you are doing. This last week was a great one and I learned so much!
On Tuesday, we went to Skien for district meeting. Skien is about an hour drive southwest from Tønsberg. It is a gorgeous drive. It goes through the fall-colored mountains and through large tunnels. After our district meeting we had lunch with the district. The sisters made homemade pizza to celebrate Elder Bjornn's birthday. That was really fun. That evening we drove to Sandefjord to visit the --- Family. they are a less active family and we were able to share with them the scripture, 2nd Nephi 32: 3. "...wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ, for behold the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." It is so importance that we feast upon the words of Christ daily. The scriptures are a gift to us and can truly bring peace, guidance, and joy into our life and that is because they invite the spirit to more fully be with us. The Holy Ghost gives us peace, guidance and joy. After the visit with the --- we went to the ---'s house for dinner. The ---'s are the best. They love the missionaries.
On Wednesday, Elder Orr went to the Mission Home for a Zone leader meeting so it was just Elder Mckell and I in Tønsberg. Unfortunately, we had two lessons fall through. We would try confirming our appointments and were never able to contact them. We had a lot of trouble this week contacting those we were going to teach. It was sad, but it happens. Instead we went contacting in the city sentrum and banking on doors. It was a good experience. since Elder Mckell and I are both so young it can be challenging with the Norwegian but it helps us grow and learn more. We were able to meet two former investigators in the city which was awesome so hopefully we will obtain contact with them in the future. That went to the church to help set up for a Kulturaften or a culture night or talent night for the next day.
On Thursday, we visited a less active, ---. She has two daughters. We helped clean out and organize her garage. After that we went to this Older couple's house for lunch/dinner. Her name is --- and His name is ---. They are so nice! Neither of them are a member of the church. ---'s cousin is a member. We got her number as a referal and she was so happy to hear from us. She loves cooking so she invited us over for a big meal. They gave us a tour of their house and we were able to help them organize their basement and move some heavy things. --- showed us his collection of Whale Teeth. They were so cool! One had engravings on it. They were so nice and they are going to have us over again soon and this time they told us that they wanted us to teach them about our church. So that worked out really well and I can't wait to go back. After that we visited, --- again to help her with Norwegian and share a spiritual thought. She is making good progress.
On Friday, we visited an Elderly couple in the ward, --- and ---. We did some service for them and trimmed their bushes, and as a result we brought home two small branches for christmas trees. I'll send pictures :) They are the sweetest. They both have some health challenges but they are so faithful. After that we visited ---. She is from Chile where she was baptized but after she moved here to Norway she has been inactive. We met with her and were able to see where she is at and teach her about the Book of Mormon. She just barely moved to the Tønsberg area so we found her as a referall. She is super nice and we are planning to meet with her again soon. That night we had the talent evening at the church. It was way fun. ---, ---, and --- came. and a bunch of members. Elder Orr, Mckell and I did a musical number. I playyed the piano, Elder Orr played the harmonica, and Elder Mckell sang. We did a spoof on Let it Be by the Beatles and changed the lyrics. It was a big hit.
On Saturday, I finished the book, "Our search for Happiness" by the Elder Ballard. It was a great book. As I read his powerful testimony on the truthfulness of the Restoration, and how the Christ's church has been restored I was filled with Joy. It was amazing. I had such a strong desire to share it with people. How could our message not be true? Our message of Jesus Christ is full of goodness and hope. I'm grateful for the knowledge I have the of the Restoration and to be a member of Christ's Church on the earth today. Today, we visited ---. She is a single lady in the branch who has some health challenges so she can't make it to church but she is super nice. We are going back this week to do service for her. After her we visited ---, (a different ---). He is single man who is so good. He is a convert and has a book of mormon, full of missionarys' signatures. I saw Elder Jacob Knudson's signature from two years ago. That was neat. --- is so kind. He gives us soup everytime we visit him to take home. He shakes everyone's hand at church and is always helping. One of the ladies in the branch gave us a big slab of bacon so for dinner we made bacon wrapped pork chops. Yum yum yum!
On Sunday, After church, we visited ---, --- and ---. We helped --- with Norwegian. We had pizza with them. She even made some Brazilian pizza for us. It had peas, green olives, eggs, and other stuff on it. It wouldn't be my first choice of pizza but it wasn't bad. We were able to watch the restoration video with them and invited them to read the book of mormon together. We were able to find out more about --- and his belief. He loves family history which is cool. We are hoping to continue to involve --- more and get to know him better. After the visit with them we drove to Sandefjord to give Brother --- a blessing. He fainted Saturday Night really late and he invited us over to give him a blessing. It was nice to be with them.
Anyway, it was a great week. It was sad that we had several teaching appointments fall through but it was good to visit so many members and less actives. This upcoming week looks really good as well.
The weekend started off hard for me. I found myself focusing on me and trying everything to be the best I could be and during all this I found myself still making mistakes. The problem was I was focused on myself. The Savior says, "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosover will lose his life for my sake shall find it." When we are focused on following the Savior and serving others we find ourselves. But our motive to serving others can't be just to find ourselves because then we our focused on ourselves again. It can be really challenging to do this and It is something I work at every day. Our motive needs to be charity. We must pray with all the energy of our heart for charity and to love those around us. This is a lesson I keep relearning on my mission. Humility and Charity are so important. Thankfully, we have our Savior Jesus Christ who is always there to pick us back up and help us. Use the Atonement and it can enable you to be better each day.
I know the church is true! Thanks for your love and support. I hope you have a great week. I'm praying for you.
Love,
Elder Witt
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