Tønsberg, Norway - 23rd Week in Norway

Hey family,

Thanks for all the love and support! I'm grateful for all of you and love all of you! It was a good week and we are starting to see some progress in the work! 

On Tuesday, we had zone conference in Oslo. It was wonderful! President Hill focused on our purpose as missionaries refering to the recent Worldwide missionary broadcast which is to Teach Repentance and Baptize converts. He used the scriptures to teach us about the Doctrine of Christ. We read together 2nd Nephi 31 and discussed the Lord's command for us to go forth teaching and baptizing all nations. He also talked about setting goals and making plans. Overall, it was inspiring and taught me that with the Lord all things are possible. Sister Hill talked about being friendly cheerful missionaries by loving the members, your investigators and go out each day with a smile. I know that a smile can go a long way! We can choose to be happy and have a positive attitude.

On Wednesday, I was on splits in Skien with Elder Bjornn. It was a great day! We were out on the street and contacted this man. He grew up christian but eventually lost his faith. He believes that religions are just a cultural thing or a family tradition and that we can use our reasoning skills to go through life. We testified to him about Agency and how it is important and central to Gods plan. We explained how we were both born in the church but our faith and testimony that we have today is something that we had to seek on our own and obtain. By the end of the conversation, the man took a book of Mormon and said he would read! He wouldn't agree to meet but I could feel the spirit there and I know it touched the heart of that man. It was a sweet tender mercy from the Lord. 

On Thursday, I'm back in Tønsberg again. We spent the day finding and went street contacting and knocking on doors! We met a man named øystein who we are planning on meeting with tonight. After that we went to our Norwegian class and a new person showed up! She is from Poland and works here in Norway. She was grateful that we were doing this and said next time she would bring a friend! Hopefully more and more will start coming so we can get a class going. Our goal is that our service will become opportunities to share the gospel! after that we went to the ---s and had dinner with them. It was good to be with them!

On Friday, we did weekly planning and spent the day finding. We went street contacting and knocking on doors! 

On Saturday, we met with --- again. Unfortunately, we had planned to meet in the library but it was closed so we didn't have a place to sit. We ended up in the shopping mall that is close by, bad planning on our part haha. We are meeting again next saturday and it will be at the church which will be great! He opened up to us more this time and actually shared a sweet miracle with us. He talked about how he beleives that God led him to us. The day we met him on the street was a day where he took a different way home he usually doesn't go. I'm grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord. I know God is a God of miracles. He wasn't able to come to church this week but is planning on it for next week. After that we went to Sandefjord and taught --- Norwegian and then went over to ---. There is a new mormon.org website that is really cool. It has videos of our basic beliefs that our simple but powerful. beta.mormon.org

On Sunday, we taught sunday school. It was on 2nd Nephi 6-10. I love these chapters and especially chapter 9 where Jacob teaches about the Atonemnent. He glories in the goodness of God's plan and emphasizes how essential and necessary Jesus Christ is. After church we picked 3 Inactive members off the member list and went out to try and visit them. These our members that we don't know anything about but are on the list. The addresses turned out to be wrong so we knocked on doors in the area. The area is called Tjøme. It is on a island south of Tønsberg that is absolutely gorgeous!

My thought this week comes from something I've been thinking about a lot. In just about all missionary apartments you will find dozens of liahonas. Recently I've enjoyed reading the different January additions. In these additions there is a highlight on a former president of the Church that we will be studying the upcoming year. I have absolutley loved learning more about these great men and their wives. As I've studied about them I've noticed a pattern of living they all share and that is 1) They put God first in their life. 2) They are devoted to their marriages/family and are unified in putting God first. It is a testimony to me of the importance of putting God and his Son Jesus Christ first in our lives. When we willingly follow them, and put knowing them as our highest priority then everything else in life will fall into place. We will find greater joy and peace in our lives. I know the Church is true and I know the Gospel is real. Heavenly Father is an actual real being. Jesus Christ lives and is our Savior.

Have a great week! Love you!!!

Elder Witt

Tønsberg, Norway - 22nd Week in Norway

Hey Family! 

Thanks for all the birthday wishes and for all the love and support. It was a great week. I'm so grateful to be a missionary. My testimony and conviction of the truthfulness of the gospel has deepened immensely. Everyday I have a reason to rejoice and be happy because I know I have a Loving Heavenly Father who is watching over me. The church is true!

This week was good and I learned a lot. On Tuesday, because both our car and the Elder's car in Porsgrunn were out of order, we had district meeting over skype. The work here in Tønsberg is great and I love being here but we've been having trouble seeing progression. We're out talking to people every day and just can't seem to get things going. We talked about it as a district and our district leader suggested that we all begin focusing more on commitments. It really clicked for me on just how important it is that we are inviting and commiting everyone we talk to. We are called to teach repentance and baptise converts. Teaching repentance means inviting people to do things, to make changes in their life that bring them to Christ. So as a district we are going to focus on commitments, getting the return appointment, getting people to church, getting people to act so we can help people progress and improve our areas. It was really instructive and I'm pumped to start using it more in the work. We had our Norwegian class in the evening and one lady from Romania showed! 

On Wednesday, we went street contacting and met a man named --- who is interested! We set up an appointment with him on Saturday to give him a Book of Mormon in Italian. It was pretty exciting. We also delivered some brownies we baked to --- who was so helpful during our car problems

On Thursday, we got our car back! It was a good birthday present haha. We also went to this amazing Burger place, called Kverneriet. We street contact by it every day so we thought we would try it out. The burgers were quality. Fresh meat, fresh bread, fresh fries, very good! We did some more street contacting and visited ---. We had a nice visit with him and talked about Moroni's promise in The Book of Mormon. The best source to find truth is by asking the person who know's all truth. and that is asking our Heavenly Father in prayer. One of the most repeated promises in the scriptures is "Ask and you shall receive". And we receive by the Power of the Holy Ghost, the truth of all things. That night we had our Norwegian class and unfortunately no one showed up. After that we went over to ---'s, who is a member here in Tønsberg. She is nice and always gives us lots of food. She made Apple cake that was delish!

On Friday, we spent our day street contacting, trying back pontentials and inactive members on the member list. We also took some time to organize and clean our library which was really nice. We are going to Oslo tomorrow for a zone conference so we needed to see what supplies we could pick up from the mission office. 

On Saturday, we met with ---, the man we met on the street earlier this week. He only had 20 minutes so we introduced him to the Book of Mormon and he said he would read it. He knows a lot about religion but didn't know much about the Book of Mormon. He told us he is always free on the Saturday and Sunday so we will meet with him again this week.We went down to Sandefjord and had dinner with --- and after visited the ---.

On Sunday, which happened to be valentines day and Norway's Mother's day, we had a good meeting at church. after church we went street contacting, and planned for the week! I'm really excited for this upcoming week. We've got the car back and I'm optomistic that as we focus on commitments we will start to see some progression and find some people to teach. 

I know the church is true. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet. Recently, I have been reading the book, OUr Heritage. The early members of the saints faced lots of opposition. Joseph was a valiently leader who trusted in the Lord. He acknowledged his imperfections and humbly trusted the Lord in all he did. I'm sure Grateful for Joseph Smith and the book of Mormon. 

I love you all so much. Thanks for your prayers and support. Sure grateful for all of you. Have a fabulous week!

Love, Elder witt

Tønsberg, Norway - 21st Week in Norway

Hey Family! 

Thanks for all the love and support and thank you for all the birthday wishes. It's crazy that I've been out for already 6 months and that I'm turning 19. Exciting times. I'm glad that everything went well with the funeral services. Grandma was an amazing woman. I also loved the pictures with the extended family together. Looks like it was a neat experience to all be together.

It was a good week! On Tuesday, we had district meeting. We talked about life on earth and our purpose here. Many things are essential in God's plan for us and one of them is life on earth. While here on earth we will be tested. We will experience joy and we will experience sorrow. We will have trials that are meant for us to learn and grow. God knew that we couldn't do it alone so he provided us with a Savior. His only begotten son, Jesus Christ, who could show us the way, who could lift us up, and lead us by the Hand back to our Father in Heaven. Our goal on earth is to apply the Gospel of Jesus Christ to our lives so that we can make the most of everything in our life. The Gospel enhances and magnifies our lives when we live it, ultimately bringing greater joy and peace than anything the world can offer. I love the Plan of Salvation and believe in God's love for all his children. 

We also visited the ---. They have great faith and are a strong part of the Branch here in Tønsberg. That night we went street contacting and had our first day of the Language class we started. 1 man came! Haha, he is from Spain and we were able to help him with Norwegian and give him the Book of mormon in spanish and Norwegian. 

On Wednesday, we spent the day in Sandefjord. We had a couple trybacks but unfortunately, neither were interested. We went street contacting, and knocked on some doors. We also visited --- and taught her more Norwegian and visited --- and we ended the day getting some delicious kebobs at this restuarant called Balkans. 

Thursday was a day of the unexpected. An older man who lives in Larvik, who is a member, gave us a call and asked us if we could visit him. We droved down to Larvik and as were driving we felt that the tire just popped. We stop by a gas station and sure enough it is flat. We get out the spare tire and pull out the jack and start taking off the wheel but we can't get it to come off. It's time for our appointment so we put it back and give the wheel some more air. Luckily the man we were going to visit lived close by. This man has some health challenges and problems with the word of wisdom. He told us that just recently he started reading in the Book of Mormon again and he wants to make changes in his life. He finds comfort in the scriptures and the book of mormon. We gave him a blessing and we helped him buy some Mormon Tabernacle choir CDs and re subscribe him to getting the Liahona magazines. He is a sincere man. After that we went to a gas station and asked where the nearest Car shop is and they said there was one down the street. We fill up the wheel again and drive to the shop. We got there about 4:27 and we see the sign that it closes at 4:30. We tell the workers and one of them goes out and tries to get off the wheel but they can't. They were really kind and took our car in their garage and were able to get off the wheel with special tools and put the spare on for us. After that we drove back to Tønsberg. We needed to drop off something to a member and as we pulled into her drive way, the engine light goes on, the service light goes on and just about every light you don't want to go on in a car went on. We have a language class at 6 that we need to go to, so the member kindly drives us back to the church. We get there and we have one more new student. She is from Taiwan. After the class we arranged a tow to pick up our car and take it to the dealership the next day.Unfortanetely, the dealership coudn't begin working on it until today. so Currently, our car is in the shop and we will see what is the problem. So the last several days we have been trying to figure out the bus system.

On Friday, I had a drivng practice in the morning. We spent the rest of the day based at the church going out contacting and working in our area book.

On Saturday, our friend --- came over and we watched Finding Faith in Christ with him. After that we got a call from --- and they needed us to come over and help them. it was good to be with --- and --- because it had been a while since we could get in contact with them. We finished the day with some weekly planning.

On Sunday, it was testimony meeting. I always love testimony meeting and hearing the testimony of the Members here in Norway. A lot of the members in Tøsnberg are converts. A member gave us a ride down to sandefjord because we were invited to dinner with --- for her birthday. We also visited Lisbeth and gave her the Sacrament. We had our own mini testimony meeting and it was good to be there. We were able to take the bus back to tønsberg. 

It was an exciting week. My message this week is from President Uchtdorf's message in the Liahona. It is "Landing Safely in Turbulence." He says, Just as an experienced pilot keeps his focus not on the storm but on the center of the runway and the correct touchdown point, so too should we keep our focus on the center of our faith—our Savior, His gospel, and the plan of our Heavenly Father—and on our ultimate goal—to return safely to our heavenly destination. We should trust God and make staying on the track of discipleship the focus of our efforts. We should keep our eyes, heart, and mind focused on living the way we know we should.The more we obsess about our difficulties, our struggles, our doubts, and our fears, the more difficult things can become. But the more we focus on our final heavenly destination and on the joys of following the disciple’s path—loving God, serving our neighbor—the more likely we are to successfully navigate through times of trouble and turbulence.

His message really stood out to me. Let us keep our focus on the good and turn outward in love. As we do that during the hard times, we will be able to successfully navigate through times of trouble and turbulence.

Love you all so much!!! 

Elder Witt

Tønsberg, Norway - 20th Week in Norway

Hope all of you had a great week. I sure love you all and am grateful for the prayers and support. I'm grateful for the knowledge I have of the Plan of Salvation. Families are important to God and to His plan for us. I'm grateful that families can be together forever. Sure love all of you!!

It was a good week here in Tønsberg. 

On Wednesday, we went to a tryback we had in this little town outside the city. He told us that he is home wednesday mornings and that we were welcome to come over. We went over and he invited us in!! Wooh! We went in and were able to answer a lot of questions he ahd and he said we could come over another time so that was exciting. The Branch president invited us to go with him and --- (another member) to a short organist concert in the Dome Kirke. It was beautiful organist music. We went street contacting and went to the ---s to practice a musical number we are going to perform at church. 

On Thursday, we went to --- and ---'s house. They are an older couple who are members. They don't make it to church because of health problems. We went to their house and did some service for them. We also visited ---. He is one of the nicest people I know. Every Sunday he makes sure he shakes every hand at church. We finished the night knocking on doors.

On Friday, we went to the Government building to check Elder Johnson into the city. We went contacting, and then went down to Sandefjord. We went to visit ---, the member we found out about from Elder Adams, but it was his brother's birthday. He then said he will be moving to Denmark in a couple days so we won't be able to visit him again. It was nice to say goodbye to him though. He is a really nice guy. We knocked on doors down in Sandefjord and had dinner with the ---.

On Saturday, we got an appoinment with a former investigator. We taught him about the plan of salvation and as we were finishing up he asked us if we could show him the restoration video also. He remembered the missionaries showed it to him a long time ago. So we showed him that also and it was awesome! Unfortunately he said he was busy during february and that we should contact him in march. After that we went street contacting and went to the town of Arnadal. We tried back a man named --- and he let us in! So we taught him about the plan of Salvation and had a nice conversation with him. 

On Sunday, we had church! I love church! The old bishop from the skien ward was called to be on the Stake Highcouncil. He is assigned over the Tønsberg branch so he came to our church. He taught a combined priesthood relief society lesson. It was on President Monson's talk about being an example of the believers. It was a fabulous lesson about a fabulous talk. President Monson explains that as we be an example in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, and in purity we will be a light that shines for others. The Savior is the ultimate examle of a light. He said, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

I recently read President Eyring's talk, "The Holy Ghost as your Companion". I found it to be very tender and inspiring. He shares many stories of His father. He tenderly compliments his father for his example. The Holy Ghost is one of God's great gifts to his children. It has the potential to be a constant companion for al who are worthy. He quotes George Q. Cannon, who urges us to make a constant quest for the spirit to be with us. He promised that, if we pursue that course, we will never lack for knowledge of truth, never be in doubt or darkness, and our faith will be strong, our joy full. 

I know the church is true. I know God is our loving Heavenly Father. I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. He is our savior and redeemer. He loves you and knows you! I hope all of you have a great week!

Love, Elder Witt