Everyday is Better than Christmas

Everyday is better than Christmas. I'm not sure if I wrote this thought yet...but it is true. I really look forward to every single day as if it was Christmas. There is just always something that we have planned that is too good to be true. For example, yesterday * came to church and we got to visit and teach the * Family. Today I found out my sister is having a baby girl which right now makes her look like she ate a whole watermelon for lunch. Tomorrow we have been invited by *'s mother to dinner. Her mom is a work of art and I simply can't wait. But it isn't just these big things that make me so excited. I love contacting. I love it when we get to go out and just talk to people. Before you know it you are sitting down and having a conversation, and not a ''small talk'' conversation but a real conversation. Last July I made a mid-New Year Resolution to meet someone new once a week, if only for a minute. I just went back and read it again this week with *. We laughed because I'm really doing that now. The people have always been my favorite part of anything I have done. I have not been disappointed. And we talk to so many people that some of them start coming up and saying hi to us. It makes it hard to contact new people, but I feel like I have a base here...and that feels nice. Oh, and just to make it about as picturesque as possible, as we are contacting on the old cobble stone street there is almost always someone playing the accordion, and they plays my favorite songs including but not limited to: La vie en rose and Rondo Alle Turke.

A couple funny language mistakes I have been making that are funny: I tell people about the ''ladders of truth'' that people took and used to build up churches during the apostasy. Also, I often asked people if they have any friends who are visiting God and would maybe like to hear about our message. You see, seeking and visiting are pretty close. I asked Søster J why people always looked at me funny when I asked for referrals. I told her what I had been saying and she just started laughing. Ha ha. Also...this past week I found 2 people who speak Spanish. I'm reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish when I get home at night if there is time.

Speaking of The Book- Sister J and I finished reading. It only took us 13 days and we didn't let it get in the way of missionary work. We just woke up early and read like the wind. Every time I read it I feel my testimony grow. I'm glad I served a mission because when I was younger it felt like...read the whole Book of Mormon...maybe in a year. But now that I have done it so quickly I really feel like I see exactly how it all fits together, and how it fits with the Old and New Testament. It is a different kind of amazing that came as I read it quickly. Needless to say I love the Book of Mormon and I know that it is true. How lucky we are that that is the only thing we have to find out, because as the book says itself about the meaning of witness that it is true: ''Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah.''

* also got baptised this past Saturday. I didn't know he wasn't a member when I first got here since he did just about everything for the church, but soon after I got here he was able to quit smoking and get baptised. He is an example of faith and also an example of working hard for the things you believe in. One day after Family Home Evening he just forgot to smoke, and he never did it again. It is really cool to see how the atonement can help with all the different challenges we face. He asked me to speak about the Holy Ghost at his baptism. I had given a talk the week before on the Holy Ghost and didn't know what I had left to say, but I'm glad I got asked again because it made me really think hard about what the Holy Ghost means to me and how it really helps me. I remember the time I got lost when I was 7ish walking home from the Andersons. I walked maybe an hour or so on Davis Blvd. in the wrong direction. I remembered that mom taught me to pray, so I did. Not long after I calmed down and the thought came to me to turn around and walk back the way I had come. Soon I found two people who could help me get home. That is exactly how the Holy Ghost still works. First, it calms you down...or comforts you. Then it gives you a small hint as to what you should do. Turn around. Before you know it you really find yourself on the way home. The proof is in the blessings that come from following the Holy Ghost. I remember telling my mom about how happy I was because I knew it was the Holy Ghost. I knew that prayer worked and that God loved and was aware of me. * also asked me not to cry. Ha ha. Even though my heart doesn't really speak Norwegian I only got half way through before I started to cry. Love it.

Last but not least, I saw the midnight sun this past week. It was summer solstice so we had permission to be out late. We had a bon fire right by the fjord, played sand volley ball, and watched the sun not go down. Pretty exciting. The best part had to have been the 7 investigators we had at the activity, (Sister J is quite the trainer). That is more investigators than members. The people are really the reason I'm in Norway. It is really good when we get to have fun with those getting to know the church. Our different personalities really matter as we help others feel comfortable among strangers. It is also really great to see how the church quickly brings so many people together.


I love being a missionary.