January 30, 2012

Hei Hei,

Åssen går det Familie? This week has gone by so fast and we saw the Lords hand in his work this week. Tone got BAPTIZED!!! She asked Elder Abrams to baptize her and I confirmed her a member of Jesu Kristi Kirke av Siste Dagers Hellige. This was my second confirmation but it was my first confirmation in Norwegien. I wasn't as nervous as I was last time and it was a great experience. The spirit is always so strong when someone is being confirmed a member and receiving the Holy Ghost. I'm so grateful for the opportunity i had to do that. I feel that the Lord has really blessed me on my mission to have five baptisms already in Norway.

The Lord is truly preparing people but we just need to follow the promptings of the spirit and find them. The first week i got to Skien, Elder Abrams and I went out contacting and met a kid. He is a Norwegian in his 20s. He thought the Book of Mormon was interesting and was willing to meet again and receive a copy and talk about it. We tried several times to get an appointment with him and was always busy. He was supposed to come to the baptism but bailed out at the last minute. So...after two weeks of trying to get an appointment with him he agreed to meet on Saturday. He showed up at the church and we began talking about the restoration. He told us up front that he didn't believe in God and that he wanted to know what was different between our church and other christian churches. We had a powerful first lesson with him (restoration) and the spirit was raging in the room. The story of Joseph Smith and the First vision always brings in an amazing spirit. He committed to be baptized on Feb. 16, 2012. We then asked him to say the prayer. He is a really shy kid but said he would do it. We waited for a while and then he started doubting himself. I wasn't leaving until he said the prayer ha ha. I told him i would say a prayer and then he could say one after. I said the prayer and after we sat there in silence until he finally said one. It was short but very sincere and it was amazing to see him start exercising that faith. We gave him a tour around the church afterwards and committed him to come to church. He wasn't sure if he would be able to make it but he said he would try. He ended up not showing on Sunday but we will be meeting with him this week and helping him progress towards baptism.

Skien is a great place with great members. I miss Kristiansand a lot but i know that I'm going to get attached to every place i serve. Elder Abrams got his first baptism so it was a really good experience for him. This transfer has consisted of a lot of talks about our fremtiden kone (future wife). That is all Elder Abrams thinks and talks about ha ha. This last week I've printed off some talks about dating when i get back home and finding the right person to marry ha ha. I'm not going to lie... I'm pretty excited for the dating life when i get home. The question is, where does the Lord want me to be to find the girl he wants me to marry. I don't think its at Weber State ha ha. I feel like its at BYU but we will see. I guess will see if i can get accepted. By the way... this mission is either 23 or 25 months and i was thinking about what i want to do. I decided if i took the 23 i would just go to Weber State summer semester and then go to BYU that fall if i get accepted or maybe BYU Hawaii. If i stay 25 i would miss school so i would probably go sell security systems and then go to Weber that fall and then BYU Provo or BYU Hawaii that spring. What do you think?

The house looks great! How does the outside look and the basement as well as the view from the deck? We have people asking about Mitt Romney all the time now. I hope he does well in Florida. Elder Bolt who i served with in K-sand got interviewed with his companion for the biggest news station in Norway about the church and Mitt Romney. People are starting to get curious and its just going to get bigger and bigger. Its pretty exciting! The church is definitely growing and that is pretty cool about Garit Seymor and Turkey. You guys all looked really happy at the Jazz Game and it was good to see everyone. I miss all of you a lot. What is Jakes plans for college?

I love you all and i look forward to hearing from you all next week.

Eldste Godfrey