What's up everyone
Hope everyone is doing alright.
Pretty decent week for me; I'll just go over some of the main things that happened this week.
In my mission one of the ways we try and find people is through weekly activites that we advertise on facebook and in the ward. In my area, we have språkaffe (language cafe) on Wednesday nights, game nights on fridays, and sports (soccer or volleyball) on saturday mornings. So that has been super fun. We are lucky to normally get a good turnout to all of these things which makes it really fun. One little thing that happened this week that was cool was this random guy that I texted pulled up to the game night with one of his friends and they are super cool. Their names are Antonyo and Landric, and they're from madagascar and haven't been in Norway for too long. Seemed like they enjoyed the game night and are interested in coming to more activities so hopefully we can continue to grow a relationship with them.
Before spåkaffe this Wednesday, we met with this fairly new contact named Frederick who is super cool. He is technically Norwegian, but he has lived in Brazil, Africa, and went to high school in the US so he just sounds American when he talks. He was apparently found playing chess. He is 23. But yeah basically before the språkaffe we just met with him and had a really cool conversation just about life, it was really refreshing. And he has interest in the gospel so we are going to start actually teaching him soon which is awesome.
On Thursday we had the opportunity to go to the gym with our good friend Seva. A little bit about him: He is Ukrainian, and had to move to Norway for obvious reasons. He is 18. He is always smiling, laughing, and just super positive; he's super awesome to be around. My companion and his previous companion taught him for a while, and made some awesome progress with him. He reads the Book of Mormon all the time and has a super strong testimony already which is awesome. He was actually on date to be baptized at the end of this month, but the super disappointing thing is he told us this week that he can't be baptized by us anymore, at least for the time being. He told his parents he has been meeting with us and they said that if he is baptized they won't talk to him anymore which really sucks. He said he would still read the BOM and come to church but did not end up being at church on Sunday which was disappointing. Obviously a super tough situation. Please pray for Seva!
One of the main highlights from my week was a dinner we had with a couple on Saturday night. Their names are David and Sophie, probably in their 50s. Sophie is from Sweden and David is from Scotland. Not sure exactly how they ended up in Norway but they are super cool. They had over my companion and I, the sister missionaries, and the senior couple, so that alone shows you they are pretty awesome. But they are some of the most genuine and down to earth people that I've met. They have been going through some really difficult things and despite that have such strong faith. We had a super awesome discussion and the spirit was really strong. And also they had an awesome dog so that was great to pet a dog lol.
I briefly mentioned last week, but we flew to Oslo on Sunday and all of Monday we had first transfer training, which essentially is just a bunch of information that new missionaries need. It was pretty boring but I already really like Oslo in the time I've spent there so it was cool to be there. Then Monday night we flew from Oslo to Bergen, and we're here for P day and splits with the ZLs so that's kinda fun I guess. Today for Pday we just walked around the city a bit and went to the trampoline park because it was too rainy for hiking.
One of the main things that has been on my mind recently is being grateful and enjoying life as it is. I was reminded of a story from my Great Grandma Herrscher this week. I never had the chance to meet her, but if she is anything like her daughter (my grandma whipple) or her granddaughter (my mom), then I know she must've been an incredible lady. But I was reminded of some advice she shared about raising kids: As I've been told, she said that as she raised her kids, she was always wanting them to be at the next age. When they were babies, she just wanted them to be toddlers, when they were in elementary school, she just wanted them to be teenagers, etc. So she said if she were to go back she would have enjoyed each age of her kids to appreciate those times for what they were. Right now, it's really really easy for me to look ahead to when I am eventually fluent and wish I was there now. I have been making an effort to try and enjoy the process of growth. I think in our society it is way too common to always be looking forward to a goal or something in the future. I encourage all of you guys to enjoy the process, the journey, the trials; even when you are at a point where your life isn't exactly where or how you want it. Some lyrics that I really like in relation to this topic (there are so many lol but chose 2):
-"It's the journey, it's the getting there to where you're going to.." -H.E.R.
-"You gotta appreciate the moments, bad times don't last" -Nas
(I'm gonna try and start sending a lyric every email, in relation to the topic if possible. Warning a lot will probably be Nas haha.)
But it's only right I share a scripture that relates too. D&C 122:7 says, "...if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy;...., know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." and also, Phillipians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice." I think if we remember that our trials are going to make us better, while also remembering to always thank the Lord for all of the blessings we do have, we can be a lot happier in our lives.
Sorry if this was too long; much appreciated if you made it to here. ❤️
Mye kjærlighet,
Eldste Winegar
Pics:
First 5:Oslo
Last 4 and Video- Bergen
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