September 20, 2014

hello!!

I'm so happy to hear about all the good things going on at home. Sounds like you guys are working really hard but still giving yourselves some time to have fun. Its so hard to find the balance but for mental and physical health reasons its crucial to make the decision to take it easy when needed. This week has been nuts. Never before have I been so busy with teaching. Heavenly Father blessed us so much this week and I'm grateful that I'm only a little bit sick after all the work this week. I need to get better at sleeping and eating so that will be on the to do list for the week. 

Our meeting in Tønsberg was pretty sweet. We reviewed a lot of all these golden nuggets we got from the conferences with Elder Dyches and Elder Bednar. I realized how crucial it is for us to be converted unto the lord. Heavenly Father looks on the heart and know's when we're really doing our best to be dedicated to sharing his gospel. It's frustrating to make mistakes and still have an imperfect performance even after you desire with all your heart to do good and have no desire to do evil. I would love to see what we as a church could do if we were all truly converted and anxiously engaged in this work. The lord is hastening it.. we just need to do our part to keep up with it. Its exciting to be a part of the "new generation".. big things will happen as we put our faith into action with some energy. At the meeting we also really tried to focus on teaching by the spirit. We worked on simplifying, verifying, asking inspired questions and testifying as part of this and later went on to have one of the most insane weeks of teaching in our zone. So there's some good energy right now in Telemark. The only complaint about the meeting was that I had a sore throat and body aches the whole time. This is partly due to the fact that we had the AP's visit us the day before on tuesday. So Holden and I were reunited and all four of us absolutely tore it up in the city. We had a lot of fun. It was good to come back at the end of the day to see all that we had accomplished. This work is fun but sometimes it takes a toll on my body. My week was better than planned though. 

We're also having some incredible experiences with one of our 18 year old investigators. He's been getting invited over to dinner from this topnotch family in the ward who happens to come from the same country as him. We had some solid teaches and he want's to find the truth so badly its hurts. When we met him he was catholic turned atheist and now he's telling us about how badly he want's to repent and be "holy". It almost seems like he's messing with us because he's that positive. He's been super prepared by Heavenly Father and is just begging for commandments to start living. He's already accepted living the law of chastity. all he wants is some direction. Amazing to see how mature and thoughtful he is. Its also cool to see how quick he is to realize that what the world views as happiness isn't happiness at all. He says he want's to be like us and have that true joy that comes from living the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm super grateful for the restored gospel and that I've been blessed enough to have accepted it. It kills me to see people totally understand what we have to offer but then just see them shut it down or turn it away. I think sometimes its too obvious that this church is Christ's church and maybe it causes people to think that its too good to be true. Like dad would say "[others]can't find truth even if it was stapled to their forehead". This work sure is a fun and frustrating adventure. I'm loving it. Hope you all have an awesome week:) 

Love you,

Eldste Skinner

September 15, 2014

I know my mission is fun because P-day is never my favorite day of the week. I am super grateful for all the wonderful emails I get every week! I love my friends and family and am happy to hear that you're all doing so well. Righteous living brings blessings and happiness every time.

This week was really special. We had our friend Eladi (Safari) get baptized on Saturday. Elder Holden got to come back and  baptize him. We were the ones that found him through a New convert in the ward way back in June I think. Its amazing to see how prideful and not positive he was in the beginning haha. He came up to me after the baptism and told me that "I won". I told him it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with the Spirit. Then he said, "true.. but it was the spirit through you." That was really touching to hear. Eladi is a man of faith a great example to me of someone who trusts in the Lord and waits for his "arm to be revealed". Without getting too personal he's been waiting on some government support for over three months now. Its been something he's brought up at just about every lesson we had with him. We felt bad for the homie but there wasn't much we could do other than invite him to fast and pray and keep the commandments. We promised him over and over again that if he put the kingdom of god first that everything would work out. Uncoincidentally, the second he comes home from his baptism, he checks his mailbox and gets exactly what he's been waiting for. I know that the promises found in Matthew 6 and 3 Nephi 13 really are true, every time. If we "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all things shall be added unto [us]"

We also had a super great week of finding and have found two more new people who want to get baptized in October. Its amazing to see no shortage of blessings or miracles as I continue to be passionate with the work here. I'm constantly trying my best and not trying to beat myself up too much when I'm not as perfect as I wish. I'm having a lot of fun trying to improve my abilities to teach with the spirit so that I can help others find this strait and narrow path. 

Hope you all have a nice week this week! We'll be doing some training this week in Tønsberg based on what we've be blessed to learn this past couple weeks from Elder Bednar and Elder Dyches. We'll hopefully be prompted by the spirit during our discussions to come up with some concrete principles we can start applying in the zone! It'll be another  fun week:) Love you!

Eldste Skinner

September 8, 2014

HELLO!

Another incredible week over here in Norway. Elder Bednar was passionate and pulling at my heart strings all day yesterday. Never in my life have I been so spiritually edified in my life. It was a life changing sort of day. We drove up to Oslo early sunday morning and had a 2 hour double stake (whole country) conference. It was awesome to see all the members I've served around before and obviously hear Bednar speak. The spirit was so thick I could taste it.. even tried to take pictures but everything was blurry. But for real there was nothing else that could get the members here in norway more pumped up to do missionary work. It was cool because he made missionary work seem so simple and easy (like it is) and I'm personally pretty stoked to see the growth that was promised here in Norway. He talked about the churches in Africa and how there's been complaints that theirs not enough time for any sort of talks during sacrament meeting because of all the confirmations and priesthood ordinations. Elder Bednar thinks that's awesome and he said that he'll come back to norway in no later than 5 years and see the same things happening here in this country. It's insane to be able to be a part of this.. really wish I could do this forever. Elder Bednar also met with us a missionaries in the Oslo stake center. The whole entire mission was gathered from all over the country and we got to get 3 special hours with an Apostle of the Lord. I will never forget how amazing that was, I woke up this morning thinking it was a dream. I'm so happy I have my notes of impressions as well as the whole thing recorded. Elder Bednar is my favorite and I really learned a lot from the way he taught and asked inspired questions (letting the spirit teach). Wish I could start the mission over again and have this sort of skill. 

Anyways, this week was also incredible with finding some more positive people. I'm really stoked about this baptism we'll be having this weekend. So we got quite a bit to do and effective planning is going to be crucial as always. I'm grateful for the true joy that comes from really living the gospel and being "engaged in a good cause". Have an awesome week with the non norwegain fall weather. We have to go buy a new washer today and take care of some other not so fun stuff. Talk to you later.. Love you!

Eldste Skinner

September 1, 2014

Yo Yo Yo.

Elder Bednar is coming to Oslo on Sunday so we're getting stoked out of our minds here in Norway. The work is seriously hastening here in Norway. This past week went pretty well here in our area. We had an awesome member teach with this family. We brought a youth on the teach and he seemed like he liked it. We taught the Pan of Salvation and invited them to be baptized. They haven't yet gotten a for sure answer if Joseph Smith is a prophet yet but they are willing to be baptized on the 20th of September if they get an answer before then. I know they will because they have openly stated that they are "truth seekers". Nuts! I don't know how we're getting so blessed here. I've really liked the quote that Melissa sent last week... "Pray like everything depends on The Lord, work like everything depends on you." This is super true and its something I can say that I've lived by without even hearing this quote before. There is power in prayer. If we need to receive guidance or answers, all we need to do is "ask, seek, and knock". I know Heavenly Father answers sincere prayers and that he can immediately help us through any sort of trials or worries we have.

Right now i'm pretty worried about the zone and the mission. We are having pretty decent weeks and cool things are happening. The only problem though is that we all can't seem to find people who are legit. People who really have a desire to make appointment and progress towards baptism. Its a never ending problem here in Norway and its drives me crazy sometimes. Us as missionaries though know what it is that we need to do (work with the members) we just need to do it. We can't just keep doing the same things and start expecting different results. We're way short of our yearly baptismal goal and time is running out. Sometimes I feel like one of a select few who are actually concerned about this. Anyways, Heavenly Father knows my concerns and I'm sure everything is going to work out. I have know doubt that miracles can happen when I really dedicate myself to this work. I've already been seeing it and have been doing my best to help others "catch the vision" as well.  

I'm super grateful for you guys. I love all the things I hear about the happs at home. I'm hoping you are all enjoying life at school or at work. Thank you mom (and dad) for being such good examples of hard workers. I know working doesn't sound too fun when you're chillin at home or just waking up but as soon as you pray and get up and going it really can be a lot of fun if you let it. Once you get started it can be hard to stop though so try your best to schedule time that can give you a good balance. I'm grateful for all the planning and organizing skills I learn as a missionary. I'm grateful for the gospel and the opportunity I have to lose myself. It gives me an opportunity to see what the Lord will do with me each day. Everyday is a different crazy adventure. 

Eldste Skinner

August 25, 2014

Another Crazy week here in D-city. I love being here in Drammen and I feel at home here. I'm grateful that I was needed to come here. This ward never gets old and the cities big enough for me to keep exploring and finding people. This definitely is the place to be on the mission. Yesterday there were a lot of changes made and our bishopric got even younger. Our homie Daniel got called to be the second counselor and he's like 24 years old. Heavenly Father is hastening his work and I'm grateful to be in a ward that's completely on board to help us out here. 

My mission leader asked me this week if I could do some service this week. He needed me to be a starting pitcher on Tuesday. That was pretty fun and a lot of good missionary opportunities came out of that. It was funny because I ended up just wearing some ghetto nikes, some sweat pants and a snap back. Brought some heat. It was fun. But not as much fun as teaching and being led by the spirit.  

One of the highlights form this week was meeting with James, who was baptized earlier this month. I was blown away with how solid this guy is! He's loving life and really wants to share the gospel with others. We read a little bit from Preach My Gospel chapter 1 about how hard Satan is trying to destroy the family. Its something that is so easy to see in this world today. I'm grateful that the gospel has helped us stay happy and together. 

We had our workshop in Tønsberg this week and I think it went pretty well. I really got a lot out of it and I've improved a lot in my abilities to set goals and make plans to make more things happen. The day after the meeting, Elder Halvorsen and I had one of our most productive planning sessions ever. Consequently, we'll be way busy this week and we're getting excited to see our friends progress closer and closer to baptism. We got another baptismal date with one of our investigators and he came to church. The portuguese speaking mom is still looking good for her baptismal date. We also had a really awesome teach with this family of four as well. So we ended up having a bunch in church this week. Its so awesome to see hard work pay off. We've been going like crazy to stay organized and on top of things. 

Elder Halvorsen and I went crazy this weekend. There was a huge river festival so we pretty much were contacting people in a carnival/swapmeet type of environment. Lot of distractions but we were led to all sorts of people we needed to find. Our ward also had its own stand, so we got to have some people come up to us with some questions although most of the people came for the free waffles we were making. 

It's sad to see summer go but I'm sure fall will be a lot of fun as well. Hope you guys have an awesome week with work and school and what not. Love you!

Eldste Skinner

August 18, 2014

Had some pretty gnarly experineces this week! We had that incredible teach on monday and the week continued getting better. We only had like 3 real days in our area so it was a little wierd and took me our of my groove but it was still way good and we were able to have some solid teaches this week. We also had a beastly planning session that helped is keep track of all our peeps. Its tough though because the only definite thing with planning as a missionary is that it wont go according to plans. Its all good though because the spirit has helps us out and keeps us doing the lord's will. I love be a missionary still. This week was incredible because we took a Pday in Oslo. It was unfortunately a little rainy but we still had a good time playing all sorts of different sports form ultimate frisbee to capture the flag. There was a ton of missionaries so it was a little tough for us to get every one on the same page but I hope they all had a good time. My favorite part of the day though was getting to cruise around oslo. I didn't end up buying anything but I saw alot of cool suits and clothes. I was looking for some amazing deals but I didn't find anything. I'm pretty good at resisting unlike Elder Halvorsen. So the Pday in Oslo was pretty sweet.

 I ended up staying the night in Sandvika in Elder Holdens apartment. We were also working in the evening time so we got to go on splits. I worked with Elder Crook from oregon and we had some good experiences finding and teaching 2 people that night. We were in a competition of who could teach most in an hour and so we won some american Lucky Charms.. (why did I ever think that stuff was good??) Its super fun to go all over Norway and work with different missionaries and be constantly guided to people to share the gospel with no matter what city your in.

 I was super pumped for the conference with Elder Dyches the next day. He had two different meetings and they were super spiritual. The first was focused on responsibility and leadership. I'd say the second one was more broad and all over the place but there were all sorts of important principles of planning and teaching that were really helpful. He was a mission president in oregon and so he had all sorts of insights as to how we could improve as a mission. I got all sorts of good stuff lot out of those meetings and i'm excited to start applying what I learned so that I can keep getting better and better as a missionary.

On saturday we drove down to Porsgrunn for some splits there and to do a baptismal interview for one of their investigators. It was a lot of fun being down there. Elder Cheney is from las Vegas and is incredible at beatboxing, he's also played a computer game called Runescape for a total elapsed time of a year and a half. Thats a lot of hours. Kids these days... I'm super happy he's on a mission, hopefully he and elder Ankenman had some fun with us and learned alot. 

Cool story of the week. We were knocking on doors and almost done with the day. As we were walking back to the car I felt prompted to knock on one more door as we passed it. So we turned around and ended up talking to this skeptical norwegian guy at his doorstep. I was really bold and persistant with him (what we were focusing on) and he eventually begin to be curious and really didn't have a reason to not learn... so he let us in. I thought it was going to be one of those miracle stories you read about in the ensign but the dude's wife kicked us out in about 15 seconds. Not cool. Funny story though.

This week we're going to be doing a training meeting again in Tønsberg. So I'll be leading a lot of discussion on how we can change the game here in Norway and keep going forward.  We're constantly refining and adjusting. The training meeting will be like 6 hours long with a split focus on planning and working with members. We'll try to make it fun and spiritually uplifting. Sorry you guys aren't missionaries here in Norway getting to be a part of this. Anyways, I'm sure my life sounds super boring to you guys right now but.. its not. Always good things happening, make sure to ask me about them when I get back. haha. Love you guys. Keep working hard, have fun at work and school.

Here's a picture of me and Elder Matti Jouttenus.. he knows the Friströms:)

Eldste Skinner