The week started off pretty rough. We had some
appointments fall through that led us to our back up plans. Luckily on
Monday night we tried one of our investigators and shared the Book of
Mormon with him. He was muslim so I'm not too sure about how interested
he is in changing but he agreed to read a little. He was a nice dude
from pakistan and he also made is some legit food.. No idea what it was
called or even made of. classic. On tuesday we were super determined to
get 2 new investigators before the week started flying by on us. We
ended up resorting to do some finding in the park and we were really
praying to find someone that we could teach right then and there and
then get a return appointment so that we could get some of the members
(young men) involved. We ended up spotting this women sitting in the
shade on a bench. We felt prompted that we needed to go out of our way
to talk to her. As we started talking to her, her husband also came and
started talking with us. We shared the plan of salvation with them.
There was a great spirit there and she told us straight up that she's
been thinking about God and the meaning of life quite a bit lately. It
was a cool experience because we recognized that she had been prepared
and that we were guided to her by the spirit. I also learned how
important is it for us to teach on the spot, rather than just set up
appointments to teach later. We need to help others feel the spirit and
recognize the truth. Right after that we were led to a lady who already
had the book of mormon and has read it a handful of times. People are
out there. We just sometimes have to show a sincere desire to find them
by being guided by the spirit. Being guided by the spirit sometimes
means doing things out of the ordinary to avoid getting stuck in
routines.
I stepped up my grilling to another level this week.
The hotdogs and burgers were great but the pork was insanely good.
Elder Holden was crying about it though because he saw blood and burped
up a spice that made his throat burn. I also pitched this week to the
baseball team here in drammen. It was super fun, one of those things I
never expected to do as a missionary here. Our misison leader is on tthe
team and there open to having us and our investigators come and
practice with them on tuesday nights. Elder holden and I now have some
borrowed gloves so we usually run and play catch every morning for
exercise. Living the dream.
We've stepped up the "sense of urgency" here in our
zone and mission have gained a lot of momentum. things are starting to
happen. Its great to work with Elder Holden because we're the #1 haters
of wasting time. Finding on the streets is usually a waste of time. Far
too many missionaries are filling time with contacting in the streets
and knocking on doors... I feel bad for them because its torturous, a
huge waste of time and not necessarily the way the Lord wants us to do
His work. We have heard about this whole "Hastening the Work" thing for
about a year now and we've decided that its time for us to step it up
and actually start doing it.
We walked into our monthly Mission Leader Council on
wednesday prepared to share some ideas on what we could do with the
momentum in each of our zones. Elder Holden and I really pushed on how
crucial it is for all mssionaries to take this momentum we have and
carry it over to our members. Here in our zone, we're blessed with some
great wards (drammen is the best in Norway) but we're not yet taking
advantage of using them as our greatest tool for real growth here in
norway. As missionaries, we all know and have felt several promptings
that the secret to missionary work is working with the members. Not just
from eating dinner with them or bringing them on teaches, but by
helping them in their own missionary work and consistantly following up
with them and encouraging them along the process of inviting their
friends. All members have a desire to contribute to the work but are
hesitant to start for a variety of reasons. Its our job as missionaries
to build their faith. I want to see every member here in norway
(starting here in telemark zone) replace their fears and doubts, with
true faith when it come to sharing the gospel. We are the key to getting
things going here and seeing any sort of real progress here in Norway.
Elder Holden and I really pushed for this last wednesday and president
felt like it something for the whole mission to focus on. So we'll be
training the zone this wednesday to help them feel the passion and
devolop an idea on how to actually go about making it work. We're going
to be persistant and follow up on this so this isn't just another one of
those things we talk about but never actually do. Actions speak louder
than words, faith without works is dead. Elder Holden and I really feel
the potential of unreal growth here in Norway as a result of encouraging
all members and missionaries to put faith into action.
I know that this work is true. Never felt more
converte in my life and I know that I need to make the best of my time
here on the mission and my life on earth. I'm grateful for the joys that
come from sharing the gospel and progressing the lord's work forward. I
came on the mission to really make a difference. By no means do I just
want to go through the motions of being a missionary simply because I
have a tag on. Have an awesome week in Utah! Thanks for your example and
support! Love you guys!
Eldste Skinner
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