January 13, 2014

Every week I start out saying that it was another fast week. haha Sorry about being repetitive but its totally amazing how time cruises by. We had a lot of cool experiences this week and this coming week will be packed as well. I guess its weird to think that we had such a fun and rewarding week but we did. Elder Stookey is awesome. He came and gave me a huge spark. We're working super hard out in the streets and being real with the people we meet. We have a lot of fun out in the streets together despite the -15 temperature. We 're constantly smiling because we're always laughing. We've noticed this attitude has played a huge part in why we're getting so many people to stop and talk to us. They get sucked in by the positive energy. We're against going the standard boring and ineffective street approaches. We're also excited about working with less actives. Elder Stookey iand I are also good at connecting with the less actives because in a way we were both once there. We're both really grateful for the atonement and the opportunity we have to be out here on this crazy adventure serving the lord. Neither one of us want to go home with regrets. We had a awesome experience finding someone prepared. We actually have experiences like this about everyday but this one was pretty nifty.

We have basically been focusing alot lately on praying throughout the day... really stepping up the frequency and sincerity of our prayers. We were out in this neighborhood trying to meet some less actives. We used some time for some spirit lead door knocking. I haven't knocked on doors hardly at all lately (I usually stick to stopping people on the streets). So we just started praying for crazy miracles that we could find a family or something. Both of us were having good feelings but kept getting let down by uninterested people. It was a little frustrating. We kept stopping and saying specific prayers when no one was around letting heavenly father know how we were feeling and what the situation was. Eventually we end up at this house and a dude with an american flag beanie answered with some pretty good norwegian. He told us we came to the wrong house and that he wasn't interested at all. I knew he was american though so before he closed the door I asked him where he was from. He said that he was from San Francisco and I immediately told him that I was from SD. We switched to english and just had a nice conversation. He was your typical husky, funny, american 27 year old dude that lives with his mom and plays on computers making youtube videos all day. Him and Stookey got talking and he was bringing up all sorts of stuff about what he's read about mormons and all that weird stuff. He was seriously doubting/half mocking the church but we were just trying to be real with him and at least make him feel that the we were "normal people". We kept bearing simple testimonies to him about the church and why we chose to come to norway. He began to be intrigued but still doubtful. He told us that he wanted us to come back to talk about the church but probably wont convert. We will see. Afterwards I felt really great that we were lead to this guy. We felt so impressed afterwards that we were the right companionship to meet him.. maybe others would have scared him off or given up because he was seriously not willing to hear anything at first.

Our new convert Tore who was baptised about a month ago got the aaronic preisthood yesterday. That was special to be a part of. We had a crazy adventure getting our rapper investigator to church. We were sick and tired of him not coming to church so we took the initiative to pick him up and ride the bus with him to sacrament meeting. We ended missing a good part of church for it but he came and liked it. It was funny because it was about -20 as we sat wating at the busstop with him. Once he figured the bus wasn't coming for another 15 minutes he just called a taxi like a true playah. I love this dude, he cracks me up. So we taxied to the church, next time it might be a limo.

This coming week is going to be crazy. We've got some training meetings that we decided to split up so we'll do 2 instead of just one big one. We did it like this so that we can have more personal time with our missionaries. So on wednesday and thursday I'll be up in the so called paris of the north, Tromsø. It'll be a busy week but i'm grateful for the opportunity to serve as a zoneleader because it gives me an opportunity to grow and uplift others. Right now, we're focusing on getting the missionaries pumped for reaching our goals this year and we'll be talking about miracles and expectations. I'm excited for it.

Thanks for all those awesome and funny pictures. Sorry we cant go to Knotts berry farm again on the 19th. I cant believe that was a year ago. I still remember the clothes I wore and the food I ate. Thanks for all the love and birthday wishes.. its freaky to turn 21 but whatever haha. Love you! have a fun warm week.

Eldste Skinner