Week 19

What's up everyone,

Godt nytt år. Hope everyone had a good new years and is doing well. 

Last week was the start of a new transfer for us. I will be in Stavanger for another 6 weeks, which I am really happy about. But I did get new companion here with me. His name is Elder Stoltz. He is from Minnesota/Arizona, which continues my streak of no Utah companions 😁. He has only been in Norway for 6 weeks, and I only have for 3 months so we are both definitely going to be pushed for the next little bit, especially with the language. He is pretty different from me and we have basically opposite personalities so this week has been pretty interesting to say the least.

Wednesday was my last full day with Elder Lyons, so we tried to cram in as many lessons with the people we are teaching as possible. 

-Our first was with Rafael (who is on baptismal date for the 14th) and it went pretty well. We finished up the last few small things that we needed to make sure we covered so that we could leave the next two weeks of lessons to get everything in order for the baptism. There are a few little things that worry me, but overall I think he is more than ready and am hopeful that it won't get pushed back. I need to remind myself that he is getting baptized, he should not be expected to be perfect or to perfectly grasp everything. 

-Our next was with Idar. It was definitely a bit of a sad lesson. Me and Elder Lyons have put in so much effort and have tried to help Idar progress so much more than I think any missionaries have. The lesson itself was good though. We talked about the uniqueness of being able to trace the priesthood all the way back to Joseph Smith (and consequently Jesus Christ) in our Church. My companion drew up an example with random names on a whiteboard and Idar was very interested, he kept getting up and stepping closer and farther away to examine it, even though I don't know how that would change a list of names written down haha. At the end of the lesson we were joking with him a lot and asking him who his favorite missionaries he's had teach him. My companion joked said, "Du vet svaret Idar" (you know the answer Idar), to which he was very confused by haha, but then he said, "Ok, ja... det er dere" (it is you guys). After that he typed a phrase into google translate (he doesn't know much English and sometimes thinks we won't be able to understand certain stuff I think??) in his phone that said: "Challenging in a good way", which he was using to describe how we have been for him. Which made me really happy to see that the effort that me and Elder Lyons put in with him made a difference. Definitely sad that Elder Lyons won't be with me on those lessons anymore to challenge and laugh with Idar. 

-The last was with Ove (who has the alcohol problem) who lives like an hour away. He is a bit of an older guy, so we thought it would be good to have our senior couple come with us this time. They did, and it was really positive for them to get to know him and fellowship him a bit. I'm hoping that we can visit him every week this transfer, help with his alcohol problem as much as possible, and hopefully get him back on baptismal date because he has such a strong 

testimony. 

On Thursday I dropped off Elder Lyons at the airport which was pretty sad, and then waited about 10 minutes and my new companion came off the plane. In Norway after you grab your bags you walk through a gate that locks when you go out. My companion walked through the gate without grabbing his bag so that was a good start to our time lol. 

On New Years Eve one of the members in the ward invited us and the sisters over, and our mission president allowed us to stay there until midnight. His name is Martin, and he has 2 young daughters. We ate dinner together, and then his wife had to go to work (she works night shifts as a nurse), so we were basically just talking with him the whole night. We talked about some controversial church topics, and he had the same views as me so he instantly moves up in my favorites 😂. In all seriousness though he is awesome and it was really good to talk to him. We played some games as well so it was fun. 

On Monday nights we have been having an innebandy (floor hockey) activity. This week only 1 guy showed up, but it ended up being really positive. He is Muslim, but we had a really deep conversation with him about our seperate and similar beliefs, and we were actually able to give him a Book of Mormon as well. He is super cool. 

For P-day we tried to go on a hike, but it was so windy and so icy when we got out of the car at the bottom that the wind was literally sliding us on the ice. So we just went to a couple of lookout points and took some pictures and did a little bit of shopping. I also had to spend an hour cleaning our garbage plastic piece of junk shower because the Sister who does our apartment checks is very strict lol 😃.

The companion switch for me this week was pretty difficult. At home if I'm not feeling someone, I normally just choose to respectfully not associate with that person in as nice of a way as possible. My inner circle at home isn't very big, but that is because I am very particular about who I choose to spend my time with and associate myself with. But obviously if someone is assigned to live with me, and even more serve Jesus Christ with me, for 6 weeks (at least), it's not an option to just go the other way. I've quickly realized that it is going to be a learning experience for me to be able to get along with someone I may have not before my mission. I found myself irritated and frustrated throughout a lot of the days this week even when my companion wasn't even doing anything, or anything specific. Last week, before I had gotten my new companion, I was in the senior couple's apartment washing my hands in the bathroom, and read a sticky note that they have up on their mirror that just simply says, "I am third". I thought about it for a second but didn't think anything of it because I didn't interperet what it meant. On Sunday, we were in an area meeting and Sister Purcell (who's not that is), explained what it meant, without me asking. It is pretty self explanatory but it essentially just means that God and Jesus Christ are our first priorty, others are the second priority, and we ourselves are the third priority. This is something that resonated with me a lot. I thought about all the times I was annoyed, bothered, or angry earlier in the week, and they were all times when I was thinking about myself and what was important to me, rather than thinking about what was important to God in the moment or what was important to my companion. If you really think about it, a large majority of the negative emotions that we feel in life, with exceptions of course, are because we are worried about what we care about rather than what God or those around us want and need. I really like these verses in Helaman chapter 3 referring to humility : "33 And in the fifty and first year of the reign of the judges there was peace also, save it were the pride which began to enter into the church—not into the church of God, but into the hearts of the people who professed to belong to the church of God— 34 And they were lifted up in pride, even to the persecution of many of their brethren. Now this was a great evil, which did cause the more humble part of the people to suffer great persecutions, and to wade through much affliction. 35 Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, ." When looking at the causes and effects from humility and pride in these verses, the consequences, both positive and negative, are simply stated. Pride takes away peace, and makes those around us suffer. Humility brings us "joy and consolation". So what choice do we have but to think outward in humility? I'm going to try hard to focus on remembering that "I am third", especially in the next 6 weeks, and I challenge each of you to think about how you can do the same. 

Lyric:

"Someone told me when I was small 

That the pride cometh right before the fall

God Son died for us all

So for mine, I'm running through a wall"

-JID

Much love,

Eldste Winegar