Week 46

What's up,

Hope everyone had a good 4th and everyone is doing good. Pretty decent week here with some pretty cool moments. Some of the highlights:

We had another lesson with the guy that I mentioned last week named Øivind. He is the one who is a professor at the university up here, is a super smart guy, and has known missionaries for quite some time. He is honestly the type of person that I think a lot of other missions in the world just wouldn't be teaching because of time management, but it's one thing that makes me grateful to be in the mission I'm in. I have no doubt he'll be a member of the church one day, but that day is probabaly quite a ways a way. The lesson this week was pretty long but was a good discussion. We started in a cafe, then walked 30 minutes to his house, and then drove with him in his car to run an errand because he wanted to just keep talking haha. We were discussing our stance on what happens/ed before and after this life, and he found it really interesting. After our discussion he sent this text to my previous companion that is now in another area: 

"Had a great talk with Zach and another missionary today. Feeling closer to a positive force in the world, maybe I will find it to be Jesus one day."

Though it's small, little moments and things like that are the moments that make missionary work worth it. Even if he doesn't recognize it to be God or Christ yet, if we are able to help him feel more positive about life, and make his life at all better, that's what it's all about. 

Our Ukranian friends that I also discussed last week (who first came to our game night but also came to church) were able to meet with us for a lesson this week. Because we are technically teaching one of them and the sister missionaries are teaching 2 of them, we had a combined lesson with the sister missionaries. Which if I am being honest, I was not super happy about. Not that I am against teaching with sister missionaries in general, but I don't get along particuraly well with the current sisters I serve with. Before the lesson we discussed what to teach, and I disagreed with the sisters as well as my companion on what to teach, so I kind of just let them take the lead. Well, when we get into the lesson, after we had our friends introduce themselves with someone we had online to translate, one of the sisters just turned to me and told me to take it away😃. Which I was a bit bothered by, but the lesson ended up going great. It's really hard, and honestly frustrating, to not fully know how much they are grasping or their thoughts on what they are grasping because of the language barrier. But they all came to church on Sunday so I assume it went pretty well. 

We had a lesson with our friend named Vedaste that ended up being very unconventional but probably one of the coolest lessons of my mission. We were supposed to meet with him an hour before our language cafe, but because he was buying crypto, as well as literally getting scammed, he didn't end up coming until like 10ish minutes before the language cafe. He literally told us that he knows that if he would've came on time to meet us that he wouldn't have got scammed😭. But in that 10 minutes we read through the introduction of the Book of Mormon, but did not have time to discuss it literally at all. We were able to convince him to stay after for around 10-15 more minutes though. I basically just went through some of the things that are said in the introduction that I think are really powerful. Right after that, he all of the sudden just started going off about how the Book of Mormon is so powerful, how he knows that is can guide him in his life, and how important of a book it is. I then asked him if he believed everything he just said or if that was his assumption of what the Book of Mormon is, and he replied that's what he believes. Because of how much belief, or at least hope, he expressed in the Book of Mormon, we explained more of how we believe our church to be a Restoration of Christ's own church, and he said that it made perfect sense. We explained authority and the importance of authority in ordiances such as baptism, and he said after he actually reads the Book of Mormon he wants to work towards baptism 😁.

Just as I talked about last week, the Book of Mormon and it's power has been on my mind a lot lately. Not only does it provide "safety for the soul", but it is also our number one tool to grow closer to Jesus Christ and to God the Father. Our conversation with Vedaste this week was another strong witness of that to me. He has barely read a few pages in the Book of Mormon, but after hearing a description of it, he took the message at face value and instantly recognized it as a tool to grow closer to God. I think that as members of the church we commonly overcomplicate the Book of Mormon, it's origins, and even just the book as a concept, instead of taking it for what it is like Vedaste did in our conversation with him. I really love Joseph Smith's simple yet powerful description of the Book of Mormon that is in the introduction to the Book of Mormon-

"I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."

I think most people, even some members of the church, would read that quote and doubt its truthfulness. But really, what's so outlandish about that quote? I really love the example that Vedaste set by, when reading that quote, deciding to test it out for himself rather than doubt it like many of us would be inclined to do. Of course we have lessons with people who are less inclined to act on their witness of the Book of Mormon, or even to accept it in the first place. In a lesson that was more like that this week, the guy we were with said something that stood out to me and I thought was so powerful, despite it's simplicity: "It's a special book..there are no other books like Mormons Bok". 

Lyric- 

"Do not let this thing you got go to waste...

Do not let your spirit wane"

-Gang of Youths

Week 46

Friday, July 12, 2024

Week 45

Yo,

Pretty average week last week for me, but not bad. A lot of the stuff we did this week was not very interesting or exciting, so here is a quick summary of the main things we did this week:

-We had a lesson with our friend Øivind. He is a Norwegian guy that is from a different city in Norway, but also lived in the USA (Ohio and California) for many years some years ago. And he definitely seems a lot more like an American than a Norwegian haha. He is a professor at the University up here in Tromsø, so he is super intellectual guy. So our discussions are normally pretty drawn out, and often cover a wide variety of topics. He really loves the church though, and even resonates with a lot of the theology. This time he brought his daughter along as she was too sick to go to kindergarten I guess? Idk but it made it difficult to teach anything because she was crying and randomly walking around the whole time lol. He is definitely a very interesting guy and probably someone I would never choose to interact with if I wasn't on a mission, but he's a really nice guy and I'm already slowly gaining love for him.

-We've got a really goofy/funny member in our branch up here that lives like 2-3 hours from the city. He randomly called us the Sunday before and just asked us if we could call for a chat sometime during the week. He has a crazy memory, and remembers the exact date and time of day that he met the missionaries, was baptized, etc. So basically he just wanted to call (I'm guessing just to talk to someone) and tell my new companion his conversion story. He also talks really slow so it takes a long time lol. But I had already heard this story, so it was basically for companion. Of course my companion then is sleeping through the entire thing. I then yawn one time and the member says, "Elder Winegar, are you tired? Did you sleep okay last night?", After my companion was literally head down sleeping 😭😭. He's a funny guy though and it was definitely a bright spot in the week. 

-Our friend Daniel that got baptized last month has been back in the US for a few weeks (he'll be back to norway next month sometime). Since he left, he's been pretty difficult to get in contact and communicate with, which is definitely a little bit worrisome. Well I was finally able to have a conversation with him on the phone this week, so that was good. I started to try and ask him how it's been back home and stuff, and after about 2 questions he stopped me and said something like, "Alright, let's get to business"😂😂.

-Helped out at the member's farm again last week. This time we were literally just moving stuff from one garage that was very beat up and had a bunch of holes in it to another smaller shed that had even more holes in it and was even more beat up. Not really ever sure why we are doing what we are when we are there, but once again, I'm grateful for the help we're able to give her. 

The main highlight of the week was without a doubt some interactions we had with some new friends who are from Ukraine. Basically, around 2 and half weeks ago, we had 1 Ukranian lady come to our board game night. She was the only one who came that night, and to be honest it was super awkward the whole time and I really doubted that she would come back. Well, fast forward a week later, she came again, and this time with 2 friends as well. Those three, as well as some of their other friends mixed in, ended up then coming to our langauge cafe, volleyball activity, as well as church on Sunday! And then this week they came as a group of 8 people to our game night. They are all super high energy and just super fun to be around. None of them can speak much english or norwegian, so it makes it a bit tough, but they are all always smiling and laughing. And them coming to church basically doubled our numbers so that was awesome. The ones that came to church are also interested in meeting and learning more so I'm really looking forward to that. 

This week in church I gave my first talk (that's over a few minutes) on my mission so far. Not sure how I made it 10 months without giving an actual talk but I'm not complaining😂. I was kind of mad because every talk that Cole has given on his mission so far he has got free reign to talk about whatever he wanted, and I was given a topic. But once again it was my first talk so I can't complain. But I was asked to talk about why I decided to come on a mission, and why I decide to stay on a mission. I'm far from being done, but it was cool to reflect on my main takeaways from my mission thus far. When I was reflecting on it, the thing that by far stood out more than anything else is the knowledge, love, and testimony I've gained of the Book of Mormon. That ended up being what I focused much of my talk on. Because it's hard to fully express my feelings about the Book of Mormon, I shared this scripture that I think sums it up pretty well, 2 Nephi 4:15-16: 

...For my soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them, and writeth them for the learning and the profit of my children. 16 Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard

It honestly sounds so corny as I try to put it into words, but the spirit and feeling that come from reading the Book of Mormon is something that doesn't come from anything else. I think Elder Holland's description of it is also fitting when he said, "Brothers and Sisters, God always provides safety for the soul, and with the Book of Mormon, He has again done that in our time." On my mission I have definitely found the Book of Mormon to be a place of solice from the numerous distractions in the word. If not anything else, the testimony I have of the Book of Mormon is what keeps me on a mission and is the thing that I genuinely want to share with other people. 

Lyric:

"Here's some truth for your soul

Don't deny

...

And did it ever really happen you decide"

-JTM

Week 45

Saturday, July 6, 2024