What's up,
Our week was a little bit slower, probably partially because of the holidays, but we still had some good things happen.
On Thursday night and Friday during the day we had zone conference. On Thursday night we had a few smaller activities and then the actual zone conference stuff was on Friday. We had a white elephant style gift exchange, but the gifts were supposed to actually be good. So I have no idea why they were calling it a white elephant but whatever. I got last pick which meant I had my choose over any of the gifts and I literally didn't want any of them lol. Anyways, the main reason I wanted to mention Thursday night was because we got our friend Rafael (the one on baptismal date) to come and do a language workshop with all the missionaries, and he also joined for the gift exchange and testimony meeting we had which was super awesome; we're really happy how involved he is. Zone conference was alright, a bit boring but that is expected. One of my good friends from my MTC district is now in my zone so it was good to see him and talk to him.
On Saturday we had our weekly sports activity. Despite it being really cold outside, we played soccer this week. I'm really horrible at soccer and have always hated playing it (and still mostly do), but for some reason this was the most fun I've ever had playing soccer haha. Afterwards we were able to have a really good conversation with some of the people that came. The picture I included is of a guy named Ridvan, who is from Turkey. He comes to our sports and game night every week and is really cool. Not sure if it will happen but hopefully missionaries can teach him in the future.
On Saturday night we had our ward Christmas concert, which made me really embarrassed for the wards in Utah haha. It was really good. It is partly because we have multiple guys in the ward that are in a band, but it was also just really well put together. We were able to get probably around 15 people that we are teaching or in contact with to come which was super cool. Even cooler, Rafael was asked by a ward member to do a skit with him, and he did. So just him and one ward member did a skit together. So he performed in our ward concert and he's not even a member yet :). Our ward has been really good in fellowshipping him, and it is also great how involved he has been in everything.
For P-day we went to a beach here in Stavanger and ate lunch and just relaxed. It was a really pretty view and a chill activity to do compared to some of the hiking we have done the last few P-days, but it we still stayed a little bit too long for my liking lol. It still is the middle of the winter even if there isn't snow on the ground right now, so it was pretty cold.
On Tuesday night we had our weekly Bible study that I talked about last week, and we studied Jesus's baptism this week. That was good because we had Idar (someone we're teaching that I talked about a lot last week) and Grzegorz (Book of mormon cake guy) both there, so that was a good thing to talk about so they can understand baptism better and why it is important. Another cool thing that I wanted to share from this: we had someone there from 5 different countries (Venezuela, Norway, US, Cameroon, Poland), and we like those to come to feel comfortable reading so we tell them to read in their native language. So at one point we went around the table reading from person to person, and everyone read in their native language. It was just a cool moment to me, probably one of my favorite parts of my week. It is just a reminder that the gospel and being a follower of Christ is for all people from all backgrounds and walks of life.
Being that it is Christmas time, we have been talking about Light the World almost every time that we meet with a member. In my studies I also recently read the famous scripture that the campaign comes from, Matthew 5:16- "16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." After reading this verse and talking so much about Light the World, I have been pondering on what it really means to let your light shine. I think another scripture that answers this question is Acts 10:38 (one of my favorite books in scripture)- "38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him." I think the way that this verse simplifies/summarizes Jesus Christ's work is powerful; if we can simply strive to go "about doing good", we will quickly become better versions of ourselves, and surely let our light shine. President Monson said the same better than I can: "Our opportunities to shine are limitless. They surround us each day. As we follow the example of the Savior, we will be a light in the lives of those around us—whether they be our own family members, our friends, or total strangers." I believe shining our light really is as simple as doing the unsimple task of trying to be Christlike, trying to do good. I think sometimes we get caught up in the cookie cutter way we may have been taught to 'be Christlike', but the thing that encourages me, is that it doesn't have to be like that. God created us all uniquely, the way we shine our lights should definitely not be uniform; we can all shine our lights in our own personal way.
Lyric- "Any darkness that tries to penetrate, my light is ample" -Cordae
Ha det godt,
Eldste Winegar
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