Tromsø, Norway - 28th Week in Norway

Hey Family! Happy Easter! Thank you for all your love and support. 

We had a good week. Easter is sort of like Christmas is Norway. It lasts for the whole weekend. The stores close Thursday and don't open until Tuesday. Except most grocery stores opened on Saturday for some last shopping. Because it is a big holiday, many people go on vacation, or just stay home and ski. One great thing about Easter is that for the weeks preceding it, all the grocery stores have price wars so food gets really cheap! We were able to load up on lots of food and build a pretty good food storage for the next food weeks which will save us money. Even with the holiday we were still able to see some success and see many miracles.

On Monday, we had the Alta Elders for splits. They came down on Monday and left Wednesday morning. After P-day, we had a lesson with our investigator ---. Last time we met with him we assigned him Moroni 7 to read. We asked him about his reading and he told us that he read Moroni 7 twice and then started from the beginning and he got to 1 Nephi chapter 15!!! He read 16 chapters in less than a week. He had a busy work schedule and is either in Oslo or going to Oslo soon so we haven't been able to meet since. He is really active in his current church but he likes the book of mormon so there is potential. He is a really good guy. 

On Tuesday, we had district meeting . It was on the role of the Holy ghost in conversion. We watched clips from the recent Worldwide missionary broadcast when Elder Bednar led a discussion. It was really really good. It was a huge reminder that the Holy Ghost is the teacher. After that I was with Elder Potter for the day. He is our district leader. We had some appointments planned that fell through so we went contacting on the street. AFter that we visited ---. --- is a legend among missionaries because of his crazy dialect and amazing stories form when he was in WW2. He also was a fisherman along the lofoten islands. Then after that we went banking.

On Wednesday, we said goodbye to the Alta elders so it was just me and Elder Osguthorpe. We had no appointments for the day so in planning we decided that we were just going to go as hard as we can contacting on the streets. Elder Osguthorpe contacted a man named bernt who lives in the Lofoten Islands. He loved the book of mormon and we got a skyping appointent for tomorrow. I contacted this girl named --- who had time to meet right then. So we all go to the library and have a lesson. She believes in Christ and had not heard much about our church. After the lesson she tells us that she meets with this group of christians and they were having a meeting this next week in the Arctic Church. She asked us if we could be the devotional speakers and share with this group just what we had shared with her. She said there would be like 20-30 people. That would be on Thursday so hopefully it works out. She also agreed to meet with us again so that was neat. 

Thursday was awesome! The --- invited the sisters and us over for an Easter gathering. The --- are really strong new converts. They give us a traditional norwegian easter goodie bag. It had 1 orange, 1 solo (type of soda), and a kvikk lunsj chocolate. That is what norwegians will take with them skiing over easter weekend. Later in the day we met with ---. Our lesson with --- was one of the most special lessons I've been able to be apart of. We focused the lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ focusing on the savior. From the beginning of the lesson there was a good feeling, just and overwhelming good feeling. --- had read 4 chapters in the book of mormon since the last time we met. He also prayed about it but felt like he didn't get an answer. As we finish the lesson, we watch the Hallelujah video and the spirit is there. It is strong. We asked him "How do you feel" He says, I have this still feeling like I had when I prayed. We invited him to be baptized. He accepted and we set a date for April 30th. It was a testimony to me, once again that it is all about the spirit. It wasn't what me or my companion said. The spirit inspired him to act, to say yes. Unfortunately, he said he is super busy this week and wouldn't be able to meet. 

Friday and Saturday is the start of the Påske season. The mission said that we could not go contacting or banking these days. We visited with some members, deep cleaned our apartment and did some organizing, enjoyed the beautiful weather we had, we watched some of the Mormon tabernacle's messiah concert, and did our grocery shopping. The ---, the senior couple here, got permission to have us over for dinner and to watch the Prince of Egypt. That was fun.

On Sunday, we had church which was great. None of our investigators came but the sisters had some there which was exciting. Elder Olsen started teaching a temple prep class for the branch which is good. After that we went to ---'s to give him the sacrament. The --- had us over again for dinner and to watch the mountain of the Lord. Overall, it was a good Easter. It is a special time to remember our Savior Jesus Christ.

My thought for the week is in preparation for General Conference. I am so excited for general conference. I know that we are led today by a living prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. The best decisions we can make are to follow the living prophet. He is the mouthpiece of the Lord, and knows what is best. I know that Christ is our Savior. He lives. I love this church and I love the gospel. It is true. Have a fabulous week!

love,

Elder Witt

Tromsø, Norway - 27th Week in Norway

God Påske! or happy Easter!

Hey Family, thanks for all your love and support! I'm sure grateful for all of you. We had a great week here in Tromsø.  We were able to see many more miracles. I'm grateful for the blessings of the Lord!

On Tuesday, we had District Meeting. This week it was on Faith in Christ. We focused on how we can help our investigators build faith in Christ. That is the foundation all of us must build on. Our faith grows as we act on it. After District Meeting, we went street contacting. We had an appointment at the Library, but unfortunately the person didn't show up. We were in the Library deciding whether we wanted to do Family history work or go back out and talk to People. As we sat there We felt like we should go out and continue contacting. Lo and behold, there is this man walking Down the street, and Elder Osguthorpe says, hurry let's talk to that man. We stop him and his name is ---. He is from the Phillipines who has a strong belief in Christ. He agreed to walk With us to Our Church and have a lesson. We had a very open discussion With him and taught him the restoration. He accepted the book of mormon and said he would read. To continue With the story, we sent him a text during the week and asked him if he read any in the book. He replied yes, and then continued to ask us questions about Things he was Reading. We have planned to me With him later today. It was a testimony to me of work, work and work.

On Wednesday, the storm came. It snowed from wednesday to Friday on and off and we received several feet of snow. We spent some time reorganizing our area book, putting in New tabs, fixing teaching records, and making it neat. We also went street contacting, and banking. We visited a member ---, and studied about the Book of Mormon With him. Serving as a missionary has helped me understand more fully the truthfulness and significance of the Book of Mormon. I know it is true and another witness of Jesus Christ.

On Thursday, we started Our day With a good old "kraftig time", which being interpretted is Power hour. We go out on the street and talk to as many People as possible for one hour before lunch. Because of the continual snow storm we took weekly planning. Here is another cool miracle that took Place this last week. So in my last week email, I talked about a group of teenagers we met on the street who were interested in the Book of Mormon. Just a few days after that experience, we met another teenager who happened to be a twin to one of the teenagers we met the week before and he was interested too! On Wednesday night, we called him and set up an appointment for the Next day. He told us he would text us because he had some Things going on. During weekly planning we receive a text from him that he will be in the libray in 10 minutes. We leave weekly planning, to meet him and he brought one of his other friends! So it was us With the two twins and now this other friend. The twins are named --- and --- and are the most potential of the teenagers. Before we even ask if we can meet again --- is telling us his Schedule and how he wants to meet again. That was exciting!

On Friday, the blizzard continues. My Companion woked up feeling sick so we stayed in form the Cold. I did some cleaning, laundry, organizing, and listened to several talks. In the afternoon he was feeling better so we went Our contacting for a little and then we had some appointments in the evening. We had an appointment With another of Our New investigators. His name is ---. He is from Denmark and super cool. He was so sincere in all his comments and answers. We got another apointment With him and will hope for the best. Then we skyped ---, a member from Lofoten, and met With a in active member, ---. We watched the New easter video With him.

On Saturday, we went to Church for Language study. Every saturday, a member in the branch comes and helps all of us missionaries With Our Norwegian. It is really helpful because she teaches us all of the phrases and expreissions that Norwwegians use that you wouldn't be able to figure out on Your own. My Companion started feeling worse so we decided to take it slow today. I did some practicing on the piano for Church, and we went contacting for several hours. Then we went in and he rested up. I watched a video on the prophet president Spencer W. Kimball. He experienced many Challenges in his life but always managed to have faith and keep magnifying his callings. It was inspiring.

On Sunday, my Companion is feeling better which is good. we experienced another cool miracle. 4 men off the street came to Church. The sisters had contacted one of the earlier in the week and he came and brought all his friends. The sisters gave us all of 4 these guys and we taught them about the book of mormon. We will try to meet With them again. I'm really excited for this upcoming week and all the potential we have. It is easter week, which is a really big holliday here so hopefully we can keep busy and push through it. I know the Church is true. I'm Grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know Heavenly Father loves all of us and is aware of all of us. Jesus Christ is Our Savior. He makes it possible for us to find light in an increasingly dark world.

Love, Elder Witt

Tromsø, Norway - 26th Week in Norway

March 14, 2015

Hey Family! 

Thank you for all Your love and support. I'm sure Grateful for all of you. We had a crazy week up here in Tromsø! I am loving Tromsø. Elder Osguthorpe is a good man. He is a lot of fun, obedient and works hard. We had the special opportunity to see the northern lights several times this last week. It was the coolest! We also went fishing last week and it was so fun. Every cast we would catch a Fish. We just casted off dock into the fjord. Usually we would Catch 12 inch mackerel and release them back, but Elder Osguthorpe caught a huge like 20 inch Cod that we kept and ate for dinner. I will send Pictures. :) It is a beautiful city and the work is happening. We experienced several tender mercies and miracles.

On Tuesday, we had District Meeting again. We talked about the first principle in the 3rd lesson, which is Through Jesus Christ we can be cleansed from sin. With Easter coming up we have a special opportunity to remember Christ's life and Atonement. The Church has started a New "easter Inititative" called Hallelujah. They made a New video which I am really excited to start sharing With People.  Jesus Christ is someone to rejoice in. We have great reason to sing hallelujah. After District Meeting we were street contacting and contacted this man from Romania, named ---. We told him that we have a Book of Mormon in Romania in Our Church that we could give to him. He agreed to come With us and walk to the Church, where we gave him the book of morman in Romanian and had powerful lesson on the Restoration. He ended the lesson by saying the prayer as we kneeled together. After that we skyped the member who lives in Lofoten to meet With him and then we went banking (knocking on doors).

Wednesday was amazing. We went out in the morning with three different hour blocks for Friday that we wanted to find appointments for. For example, we wanted to get appointments for 2, 4 and 6 pm With random People we would meet on the street. The day consisted of going contacting,  eating lunch, going contacting, teaching an investigator ( we dropped him because he is an atheist who doesn't want god to exist and doesn't want life after Death, and wasn't progressing.), then more contacting, took a break, then more contacting, and then helped out with a relief society dinner that Sister Olsen put on. It was an amazing day because People were so open on the street! We had so much fun talking to so many different People and at the end of the day were able to Schedule all 3 of those appointments on Friday. We got a lot of potential, and I know It was Heavenly Father that Placed People in Our paths that would listen to us.

On Thursday, the miracles continued. Heavenly Father continues to amaze me. We visited the --- Family again. They are a new convert Family that are preparing for the temple. They are amazing. Our goal is to find another Family they could be fellowshippers for and help With the teaching. After that we went contacting. While out contacting elder Osguthorpe contacted this man who was a tourist. Often times we will split off contacting so we can talk to more People on the street. This tourist was interested and my Companion gave him a book of mormon. The tourist told us to come to the Library and talk to some more of his friends off the cruise ship. We had an appointment in like 5 minutes so we told him we would come after. We walk to the Church and Our appointment fell through. The guy didn't show. For no particular reason, we grab 3 English book of mormons to take to the Library. We are about to walk into the Library when a Group of teenagers Calls after us and says, "Can you guys tell us what you do everyday"? They had seen us around and were just wondering. We stopped and talked to them and they asked us if we had  any of those books we give out for free. We said yes and they all wanted one in English. Perfect. We had 3 book of mormons in English and it was the Perfect amount. WE went in the Library With them and taught them and we got their phone numbers and plan to meet up again next week. We never saw the tourist again but I know if it wasn't for him we wouldn't have walked to the Library and met these teenagers. It was awesome!

On Friday and Saturday, this is where it got a little tough. We had 7 appointments planned and all of them fell through and didn't happen. We contacted all of them and some said it still worked, others said they were busy, and some just didn't answer. The good Thing though is that we got in contact With most of them and they are still willing to meet another day. That is Our big Challenge we ahve here in Tromsø at the moment. We are having a lot of success finding People who are willing to meet, but we are struggling getting the Return appointment . It is okay though because we will keep working and I'm confident the up coming week we will start seeing more success.

Sunday was a good day. I gave a talk in Church that went well and we visited --- and and also --- and gave them the Sacrament. We spend most of Our time on sundays visiting members. I'm Grateful for Sundays and for the opportunity it gives us to go to Church and partake of the Sacrament.

My spiritual thought this week is based off the talk Profile of a Prophet by Hugh b Brown and Lessons from Liberty Jail by Elder Holland. I had many interesting experiences this week on the street talking to atheists and People who won't accept the Book of Mormon as more scripture. As I listened to this talk, my testimony was reconfirmed that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. He saw God the father and His son Jesus Christ. Through him they translated the Book of Mormon and restored Christ's Church on the Earth today. It is true. I know that With all my heart. I love you all and I'm Grateful for all of you. Have a fabulous week!

Love Elder Witt

Tromsø, Norway - 25th Week in Norway

March 7, 2016

Hello everyone!!

I am loving Tromsø. It is a beautiful city. There is a ton of snow up here, and there are huge snow covered mountains nearby. It is cold but not too bad because we are on the coast. I love the scenery and the snowing mountains that go straight down into the sea. It is a wonderful place to be. 

Tromsø is a branch. There are about 15-20 people in church every week. I already love all the members. They are strong. In Tromsø there are 2 elders, 2 sisters, and a senior couple. The senior couple are the olsens. They have been in Tromsø for about 6 mounths and Elder Olsen serves as acting branch president. They are so nice and good. 

My companion is Elder Osguthorpe and he is a hard worker! Wow! He has already taught me so much. I am excited to work with him this transfer. I love the work here in Tromsø. Just before I got here the elders had a lot of investigators, some with baptismal dates and then right before I came here, all of there investigators dropped them. So basically we are starting fresh. We have already been seeing a lot of success. 

On Wednesday, I traveled to Tromsø. It was a crazy day. I got to the airport at 9:30 for my flight at 10:30. My flight from sandefjord to trondheim was delayed for about 3 hours and finally got canceled. Because of that I miss my connecting flight to Tromsø. I got the next flight from Sandefjord to Trondheim that left at 3 in the after noon and then from trondheim to tromsø at 5. It worked out and I was able to make it to Tromsø..... but my bags didn't make it. They got sent to Trondheim instead of all the way to Tromsø. I was able to get my bags on Thursday though so it is all good! The best part was, the airport gave all of us 250 NoK to spend on food at the airport because of delays. I loaded up on pizza, chocolate, and drinks. It was great.

On Thursday, we had district meeting. Our district consists of the two elders, two sisters, senior couple in tromsø and then two elders in Alta. We do district meeting over skype. Afterwards, the Olsens make us lunch which is great. After District meeting, we went street contacting. In  1 hour we were able to hand out 2 book of Mormons and get an appointment for the next day.That night we went banking across the fjord and got some potentials.

On Friday, we continued to have great success. We got a new investigator, ---, who we met on Thursday. We had a lesson with her in the church that went really well and we are meeting with her this week. We  had weekly planning and some Transfer planning. Our goal this transfer is to find a family to teach. It is going to be our focus and we are going to work for it. Good things to come!

On Saturday, we visited the ---. They are a recent convert family in the branch. They come every week and are awesome! We had some miracles while banking. We came across two back to back houses that both talked to us for  a while. We were able to teach both of them, got there numbers and said we could come back. One of them was a women is is really interested. She said her family doesn't believe but she is willing to meet with us. It is a potential family so We are excited about that. I'm grateful for the blessings that Heavenly Father gives us. 

On Sunday, we had church. It is from 11-1. We have Sunday school and then sacrament meeting. The Tromsø branch is unique because we have several members that skype in to church. There is a family that lives on Svalbard, yep the massive island close to the north pole, and then a man who lives on the Lofoten islands. On Sunday, in Tromsø, we spend our time visiting members. We visited ---, who is a old fisherman. He lives in a rest home. He is Awesome.! His dialect is crazy and I can't even understand what he is saying half the time but it was still fun. We also visited ---. He is the branch presidents assistant. Strong member. We finished the night banking on doors.

I'm so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it is true. I know that God is our loving Heavenly father. He loves us and wants the best for us. I know the Book of Mormon is true. As we read it daily, we will be blessed abundantly. Thank you for your prayers and for your support. 

Have a great week! love you all!

Elder Witt

Tønsberg, Norway Transfer to Tromsø! - 24th Week in Norway

Hey Family! 

Hope you are all doing well! thanks for your love and support. I've got some exciting news. I'm moving to Tromsø, land of the midnight sun! My new companion is Elder Osguthorpe. He is from my MTC group and I'm really looking forward to serving with him. I take an airplane Wednesday morning from Sandefjord to Tromsø. It is like 3 and a half hours long. It will be an exciting new adventure.

I will miss Tønsbergs though. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to serve in Tønsberg. The members here are great, the area is beautiful and there is a lot of potential for growth here. I know that Jesus Christ leads his church and it will continue to go forth, grow, and spread across the world.

We also don't have a ton of time to email today. The computer lab at the library is closed so there are a limited number of computers. I will just share some of the highlights of the week.

We had our Norwegian class again. 3 people came this time. The polish woman that came last time invited her friend! Now we have a man from england and two from poland. They are way cool and very appreciative. Also, the guy from poland keeps asking us questions about our church so there is potential there. Hopefully the class will continue to grow.

This week we visited --- and --- again. They both are struggling with some health challenges. I was impressed by --- calm, but firm faith that all would work out. That is what faith does. It gives us hope in the Atonement of Christ. Because of Christ, Death has no victory. Because of Christ we can overcome the challenges life throws at us. We can find the true peace and joy that only comes from living the gospel. We must look to Christ because he is the source of hope.  

We spent a lot of time this week finding.We knocked on hundreds of doors, and spent hours on the street, and met one guy named ---. We showed him the book of mormon and he was interested. We were able to get an appointment and give him one in Swahili. We've got planned to meet with him again this coming saturday so I hope something can happen there. I have come to find that even though many people reject us there is always joy to be found in doing the Lord's work. As long as we do our part, and do our best, the Lord will take care of the rest. 

I found out that I was leaving Tønsberg on Tuesday, so I was able to get some last visits in with members before I leave. It was nice. Lastly, on Sunday I spoke in Church. It was a neat experience to be able to speak on my last Sunday in the branch. I spoke about hope. What is hope? How do we obtain hope? and why is hope important? 

Here is my thought for the week. I read an article in the February 2016 Liahona that stood out to me. It is titled, "raise worthy sons". A single mom was worried if she could provide financially for her children to serve full-time missions. She prayed many days and struggled many days with this concern. Finally, an answer came to her. "Raise worthy sons. Money is easy to find. Worthy sons are not." This answer to her prayer had an affect on her. She changed her focus to what matters most and that is, doing her best to raise righteous sons. Having the money to pay and support her family is important but it started to detract from her responsibility of her families spiritual well being. As she put her trust in the Lord, the Lord provided for her. She had enough money to provide for all 4 of her children to serve missions. I know that as each of us turn to the Lord, he will lead us to what is truly best for us. I know that God lives. he is our father in Heaven. Jesus is the Christ. He lives and loves us. 

Have a fabulous week!!! Love ya!

Elder Witt


Here is a reference point of where Elder Witt is now!