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
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