July 17 - Sandvika - Last Email of Jake's Mission

Hey everyone!

Thanks for your love and support. This will be my last letter as I will be flying home on Thursday. Thank you for your prayers, for your examples and for your love! 

This last week was great! We didn't get in contact with any investigators, they are either  on vacation and don't come back before August or September or they blocked us on their phone, or they haven't been answering haha but it didn't stop us and we had some great opportunities to find new people. One happened on Thursday. We were on our way to the church for an appointment with a potential, but we never heard anything back from the potential. We were on the bus, and I was talking with a guy who was reading a music score so I asked him about it and he just loved to talk and talk so we miss the bus stop at the church. We stayed on the bus and got off at the next stop. It was right next to a pizza restaurant that we had given the worker a book of mormon. We had tried back at this pizza place several times before but she was never working. But this time she was! So we went and talked to her and she had several good questions. She said it was hard for her to read english so we ended up going back at getting her one in Lithuanian the same day. She is way awesome! It was another testimony to me of God's hand in our life. We hadn't even thought about trying the pizza place that day but things worked out that we ended up there and talked with her. And she even made us a free pizza haha so that was a bonus!

Our mission has also had a big focus this last transfer on the Book of Mormon and we have been trained and practiced in our finding using it and I have loved sharing the book of mormon with people. It is amazing all the different opportunities we have had to give them away and meet new people. 

Anyway we are short on time. But I would like to share just a few thoughts. I am so grateful for my mission and the experiences I have had. It has not been easy, in fact probably the most challenging thing of my life but I would not change it for anything. The Lord blesses us in so many ways. Often in ways that we don't recognize. I don't know where I would be if the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ never happened. I know with certainty that God lives, That Jesus is our Savior, Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. The Book of Mormon is evidence of all 3 of those truths. How grateful I am for the prophets in the Book of Mormon who pictured us as they wrote down their testimonies and experiences. I love Norway, Norwegian and the saints here. Gud vær med dem til vi sees igjen.

See you soon. :)

Elder Witt

July 10 - Sandvika

Hey everyone!

It was a great week! We were busy busy busy and a lot of good things happened. This week is the stake temple week so the majority of the members will be gone in Sweden so before they left they had us over for dinner every night this last week. I love seeing how the Gospel is the same everywhere and how it blesses families and individuals.

Don't have a ton of time, but I did want to share one experience we had this week. We were coming home from an appointment when we took the train and ran to the bus but we miss the bus. so we went into the city center to talk to people and we met a man from China. He was leading a tour group in Norway. He said he had done tour groups in the States and knew some members of the church. We talked to him and he was interested in our message. He talked about how China's current situation is not religious but he explained how there are several people in China including himself that see the benefit religion brings to society. We gave him a book of mormon in english but told him that we could get him one in Chinese before he leaves. He gave us his email and we tentatively made an appointment for Sunday night before they would leave Oslo area. Long story short, we got him one in Chinese and he was excited to start reading. They were leaving Oslo the next day. Another reminder to me that God has a much bigger plan and his plan is always what is best for us and our growth.

one quote I wanted to share is.

"Men and Women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life."

President Ezra T. Benson

Love you all. Have a good week!

Elder Witt

July 3 - Sandvika

Hey everyone!

Happy 4th of July tomorrow! Thanks for your love and support. The weather has been hot and sunny! 

It was a good week to be a missionary. Not too many new things happened in our area but we were finally able to get in contact with the woman who we knocked on her door, (the wallet experience) We had written down the wrong telephone number but we finally fixed that. We will be meeting with her this coming week and we are excited about that! 

-- got really busy with work this week and had to cancel several different appointments and -- and -- were on vacation. 

We also were able to visit some members and do some hometeaching. One older member who lives farther away invited us and the sisters over for dinner. She is a great example and wants to find a T-shirt, that says "I'm a Mormon"  

On Saturday, we had a fun time playing sport with some members from the ward. Afterwards we helped a famliy from Romerike ward move in to the Sandvika ward. It was fun to see them again. When I was in Romerike, I remember them telling us they were moving and it is funny to be on the other side now to welcome them in. 

This coming week is going to be busy busy. The members are about to head out to sweden for a temple trip as a ward and so they all wanted to invite us over for dinner this week haha. :) We also got some new potential this week so we are optimistic.

As I'm nearing the end of my mission, I've been thinking about the lessons and blessings I have learned and experienced for the past 2 years. I know there are certain blessings, opportunities, and challenges that were meant for me to experience. 

The opportunity I have had to serve a mission is one of the greatest blessings I have experienced. I know with certainty that God lives, that he is good, that he loves us. 

My thought for this week is around the story of the Savior feeding the 5000. 

https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/the-feeding-of-the-5000?lang=eng 

I invite you to watch it and pay attention to the Savior's attitude, behavior and every thing he does. He is calm, patient, compassionate, and with perfect faith. A faith that casts out doubt and fear. As we give our 100%. Give our whole 5 loves and 2 fishes. God's miracles can happen today in your life and the lives around you.

I love ya all!

PS. My mission president shared with us a link to a recent story that Elder Holland gave to  new mission presidents at MTC. It is amazing. You should read it

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865683974/The-divine-companionship-includes-the-Holy-Ghost-in-missionary-work-Elder-Holland-says.html