Monday, December 30, 2013

MOVING TO OSLO

Hello again!

Well I feel like I blinked and 4 days went by.  It literally feels like yesterday that I talked to you haha.  I am glad to hear that you had a good Christmas, a nice relaxing one at least.  

The week was pretty magical though.  I loved Christmas here in Trondheim.  Unfortunately the week ended not so magically.  We had Moves call, and I will leaving Trondheim this next week to go to Oslo.  I will be serving as Zone leader there with Elder B. So that was a huge surprise.  I didn't know anything about it till the moves call Sunday Morning.  So the plan for this week now is to work till Friday and then fly to Oslo.  We have a pretty big Christmas conference on thursday, so I should be going out with a bang!  Elder J will be staying here and he is getting Elder W as a companion.  Elder Sk is also staying here in Trondheim.  Elder Sh will be coming with me down to the East land.  So we will be sticking together!

Really though, it was a huge bummer when i found out I was leaving the North, but I am excited for the new adventures in the east.  It will be a completely different experience than I have had here in the Trondheim.  So things are looking like they will change a lot!

I guess I don't really have a whole ton to tell you about the rest of the week.  It was basically spent with members doing Chirstmas-like things.  I ate way too much food and just sat around the whole week.  My favorite part was being a Christmas troll for my MMK.  That was awesome.  the little kids just loved it, it might have been the sweetest thing ever.  I have to admit that I am super sad that that was my only Christmas here in Norway.  I feel like it just came too quick and left even quicker.

We spent a fair amount of time out on the streets too.  So I think next week will be good to finish off on here in Trondheim.  I think we will have a lot of success this last week!

Anyways, I can't really think of a whole lot else.  

Du må vite at jeg elsker deg så mye! 

Eldste Jones

Monday, December 23, 2013

GOD JUL

Heia igjen!

Well thanks so much for all of the pictures!  It was so great to get to see everyones faces!  Luckily for me I get to speak to everyone soon!

The past week has been pretty good.  Definitely not nearly as hectic as the previous week.  Still pretty good though.  It definitely feels like Christmas here that is for sure. Things are really begining to slow down because of the holiday season.

I don't feel like I have a whole lot to tell you, we didn't really get to meet with anyone because they are all so busy with Christmas stuff.  So it was a week of focusing on the members and getting stuff done with them.  We delivered a lot of flowers and tried to visit as many people as possible.  So that was pretty much the story of the whole week. 

On church on sunday we had a ton of people there!  It was probably double the amount of people that are normally there.  So that was weird.  We had a lot of families that were visiting their parents for christmas or just families that came because it was the Christmas Sunday.  So that was typical Norwegian Chirstmas sunday, a lot of people in Church. 

Other than that we have been eating a ton of food here.  It feels like the holiday season brings a ton of food, which has been a change.  We haven't had to cook really at all in the last week.  Just a lot fo meals with members and other things.  So that has been good I guess. 

On Saturday we had a baptism in the district.  The sisters baptized one of their investigators.  So that was a great baptism, it went really well.  I got to be a part of the circle in giving the gift of the holy ghost.  Elder B (a senior missionary) was able to baptize her and to give her the gift of the holy ghost.  So that was a huge thing for him! 

I really feel like I don't have a lot to talk about though from the previous week.  It really does slow down here in the Christmas time.  Norway will shut down for the next couple of days.  We are just going to try and visit members for the next week.  Especially tomorrow and on Christmas.  We will pretty much be at members houses all day.  So I will be sure to tell you all about that on Skype.

Other than that I hope that you have a great Christmas and I look forward to talking to you soon!

Jeg elsker deg!

Dallin


Monday, December 16, 2013

I AM STUDYING THE FOUR GOSPELS AND 3RD NEPHI, REALLY THE RECORDS OF CHRIST'S MINISTRY. IT HAS BEEN AWESOME GROWING CLOSER TO HIM BY DOING THAT!

Hello again!

Well this has been one of the craziest weeks we have had here in Trondheim and one of the craziest I have had on the mission!

First off, it was ZLT this week.  Fortunately for us we had president and sister evans who were here for it so that meant that I didn't have to give the meeting, I just conducted!  So that was a huge relief for me.  Unfortunately that same day we had a hurricane come through Trondheim that night! So the airport was closed and we had 20 missionaries that were stuck here in Trondheim.  So after a lot of phone calls we found out that president had a hotel room but all of the Elders and sisters did not.  The missionaries that belonged in Trondheim were confined to the church because the police put out a warning to stay indoors and all of the buses stopped running.  So luckily the Elders and sisters at the airport got some transportation to the church and joined the rest of us here.  I set up the projector in the Chapel and we all settled in to watch our favorite and only disney movie, Monsters Inc.  Luckily the storm blew through pretty quickly and we were able to move to our apartment before the night was over.  We slept all 18 elders there!

So that was an adventure to say the least.  Some of the unfortunate elders in the North didn't get home for a couple days haha!  But that describes the weather up in the North perfectly!

The chaos continued as we prepared for a baptism on Saturday.  The Elders baptized a man named T. The other three converts that have been baptized this year all took part in the Ordinance, as either the one baptizing or one of the witnesses!  I will forward a picture of it later.  It was definitely a spiritual moment for us missionaries!

The craziness continued on Sunday for our christmas concert that we had.  you have already seen the video so that speaks for itself.  I also sang with the choir for two other songs. So that was a pretty interesting night.  Lots of fun!

The rest of the week was spent running around trying to prep for all of these things.  That was a welcome change because Norway is beginning to shut down.  Christmas is a 4 day event here.  They have little christmas eve (23rd), Christmas eve (24th), Christmas Day (25th), and the second day of Chrismas (26th).  So yeah.  People shut and lock their doors, shops close down, and nothing happens for at least those days.  most people will leave the cities to and go out to their cabins, which means that our city will literally be a ghost town.

Our investigators are becoming really hard to meet with to because of Christmas, so not much has changed with them. Unfortunately we only met with A.  He made some huge improvements though in the last week. He is looking great for baptism in January!  We have found out that M and I are not married yet, but we haven't taught chastity yet either.  So that is probably coming this next week.  So there should be a lot of growth for everyone this next week!

Finally to try and answer some of the questions.  Transfers are on the 3rd of January.  I just had my interview at ZLT and president didn't give any indication of me leaving but gave me a long list of others that will be. So I think that I will stay.  We have a mini moves this week to as we have an assistant that will be traveling home, so one missionary should be moving as a result of that.  Not sure who it is that will be moving though.

i did get the package.  I am waiting to open all of the presents as they are currently sitting under the christmas tree!  I am plenty warm here.  I got a new coat and it has been surprisingly warm.

I think I just like learning in general now.  It is fun to have new information and things to use in life.  So I like the process of learning now I would say!  I am currently studying the four gospels and 3rd nephi.  really the records of christ's ministry.  It has been awesome growing closer to him by doing that!

Other than that I don't think that I have anything else.

Jeg elsker deg!
Eldste Jones


Monday, December 9, 2013

IT WAS A NICE COLD, DARK NORWEGIAN MORNING. . . .

Hello again!
Well it has been another crazy week.  Things here in Trondheim have changed a lot in the past week.  We have got like 2 feet of snow and it has dropped to like negative 15 here.  So that has been a pleasant change.  I think that Norway is so much more beautiful here in the Winter.  I like it so much more.  However it made for some hectic stories as far as my week of travel has been.
On Wednesday we had to go to Oslo for our Mission Leadership Conference.  So that meant that we woke up at about 4:30 to get ready for our train to the Airport.  As we walked to the train station the ground was dry and things were looking great.  It was a nice cold, dark norwegian morning.  The meeting went really well in Oslo, nothing to controversial came up.  It was nice to be back in the mission home for a while with President and sister evans.  Sister Evans made us a really good breakfast and lunch while we were there, that is always one of the highlights of being there.
The real story comes when we had to come back.  We got on our plane alright and the whole flight was good until we started our approach.   It was apparent that there was bad weather outside as we were shaking all over the place with turbulence.  The pilot then comes on and in some pretty thick dialect tells us that we would begin to enter a holding pattern above the airport.  After about 30 minutes of being in the Holding pattern we began a trip back to Oslo.  The runway in Trondheim was so iced over that we could not safely land.  So we return back to Oslo.  We then got back there and the people told us that we would be taking a redeye back to Trondheim at like 1:00 in the Morning.  We were hoping they would give a hotel that we could stay in for the night and just go back the next day, unfortunately our prayers where not answered.  So we waited there until the next flight.  So we ended up getting to sleep at like 3ish that night.  It was definitely a good experience though.  One to remember.
The real problem was that elder J and I had Weekly planning the next day. So I was just wiped for that.  I was struggling to stay awake so it was a long 3 hour planning session haha.
Finally the final traveling story.  I was supposed to go to Bodø on Friday.  As I got to the airport that morning I realized that might flight was delayed for 2 hours, so I found a bench to sleep on.  Unfortunately two hours later my flight was cancelled.  So that was a waste of my entire morning.  It turned out that almost all the flights in Norway where cancelled that day.  There was a huge storm that made it impossible to land and in some places so all of the aircraft crews couldn't make it to their scheduled flights, including mine.  So I started to walk back to the bus and I saw one of the members in the ward.  So he bought me some lunch in the airport and then I went back into to Trondheim.
I know that all of that happened for a reason though because Elder J and I taught our appointment we had a got another baptismal date with a guy.  that brings us up to a total of 5 dates in our companionship with 12 in our district and 16 in our zone!  I am not sure why the Lord is blessing us so much! It is just crazy to see him work with us everyday. 
M and her family where able to come to Church on Sunday!  Even the kids came.  The daughter, however has Asbergers and so it was really difficult for her to be there through all of church.  So they just came for Primary.  But is was the coolest thing to be able to walk into Church with a family with us.  A also came to church to!
Unfortunately we couldn't get S to meet with us because he is doing exams and a bunch of other stuff.  So we are going to try and meet with him this week and set more concrete stuff up.
Other than that I thought I would just explain so stuff I forgot to talk about last time.  You asked a little bit more about dialects.  All of the dialects are mutually-intelligible.  So basically it is more of an accent.   However, dialect do have different words and stuff that they can use that other dialects do not use. Each dialect is tied with a geographical area.  So I speak trøndursk which is the Trondhiem dialect.  It is pretty cool though I can totally speak and communicate with people from sweden and denmark as well! 
I got a call for a person trying to deliver a package to me, so it looks like I should be getting that soon as well.  We just put up a ton of christmas decorations in our apartment so we will have to send some pictures next week.
I look forward to hear about all of the things that are happening!
Elder Jones

Monday, December 2, 2013

I KNOW THAT THE LORD HAS REACHED DOWN AND WORKED WITH EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US THIS WEEK. SO WE HAD A LOT OF REASONS TO BE THANKFUL.

Heia!

Well I am glad to hear that things have been good for you guys this last week!  It certainly was a great week for us!

I have a lot to say so I am just going to jump into it.  We got 3 new baptismal dates!  Two of them come from a family! The zone had its best week since president had been in the land!   And the district here is just shredding it!

First thing is first, we got a baptismal date with a man named A.  He is Norwegian and is from around here in the Trondheim area.  We learned that he also is a 2 time norwegian boxing champion!  We tried meeting with him several times last week and he ditched us every time we had an appointment.  That was super frustrating because I was super excited to teach him.  So on thursday we woke up and about 3 minutes into the day we got a text from him saying that he would like to meet up!  So that was a little miracle that came out of no where, but the miracles continues as we actually got a teach with him that day.  It was a great teach that came to end with an accepted baptismal commitment!

During that teach I had missed a phone call, it was from a number I didn't recognize.  I called it back and spoke with an inactive member that gave me a referral, for her daughter and son-in-law.  There names are M and I.  They to are norwegian.  Monica was active as a child in primary but was unfortunately never baptized.  She had seen missionaries on the bus and decided that now was the time to come back.  She told her mother and the mother took contact with us!  She and her husband had recently been struggling with depression and bagan reading the bible together and it helped!  So they have a burning testimony of the savior, and want to learn more. 

We taught them the next day, that teach also ending with a baptismal commitment.  They both accepted.  We are going to help them learn more and be sure of their testimony of the book of mormon. 

The miracles continue, we didn't have any appointments with S yet, but during our teach with M and I we had another telephone.  it was the elders, saying that S was in the church waiting for us!  So we got to teach him and help him out that day to! He is still doing good, he wants to be very sure about the things that he is doing and therefore wants to take it very slow.  His date is pretty far out there though, so that is just fine!

Finally at the end of all of these miracles in our area we learned of other miracles in the district.  Every single area in the district had one this week. I don't know if there has ever been a week like this one!

So needless to say, I am more than happy!  I know that the Lord has reached down and worked with every single one of us this week.  So we had a lot of reasons to be thankful. So when we had the thanksgiving here in church on Saturday it was just amazing.  We had 75 people at our thanksgiving dinner.  Everyone bring a little bit of something to contribute.  I think we had something like 8 turkeys to, so it was a pretty big feast!

I really can't begin to describe all of the blessing that we got this past week.  I know that the Savior is real and that he is here with us on a daily basis.  

This next week should be equally special, I have the opportunity to be Oslo for a mission leadership conference and then I get to go to Bodø on splits!  So I will have a lot more plan rides by the end of the week haha. That will make it really busy trying to get teaches for everyone during the off days!  

Anyways, I think I have to go.
Jeg elsker deg!

Eldste Jones

Monday, November 25, 2013

LIFE IS SO GREAT, I AM LEARNING TO LOVE LIFE MORE AND MORE EVERY DAY. NOT TO MENTION I AM LEARNING TO LOVE LEARNING. I DON'T THINK THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED BEFORE.

heia!

Well hello again from trondheim!  This week has gone so fast but it was so nice to hear from you!

I am way bummed that I am missing thanksgiving, but it is not all lost. The senior mission couple here in the ward from Utah are putting on an activity for the ward which will involve thanksgiving dinner.  So at least I get some turkey!

The Holidays are really crazy here.  They have starting bringing out the Chirstmas soda (Jule Brus) and the ginger cookies (pepperkaker) which only come out in the stores during the Christmas season.  they do all of the unpacking of gifts and stuff on christmas eve here and all of there main traditions on christmas eve.  I have never experienced it though, so we will just have to wait and see.

Things are changing like crazy here, we had a ton of snow, like a foot and a half.  It is only light from like 9 to 3 right now.  We aren't even in the middle of it yet either. 

This past week has been crazy!  The work has exploded here in the North!  We have 11 baptismal dates in our zone and we have 8 of them in our district!  So we have just been so blessed here.  The elders have 3 dates, we have one, the sisters in trondheim have one, and then the sisters in Ålesund have 3 as well!  

Our new guy that we are working with is from the Bergen area and just has the most legit bergensk dialect out there.  I feel like I am back in bergen ever time I am with him.  We met him last week on the street and we have now taught him twice.  He really likes the message of the restoration.   So we are working toward a baptismal date of January 25th!  So hopefully we can move forward and help him come forward with his faith.

Other than that we had a crazy beach party activity with the youth in which we had 16 non members there!  We only had like 7 members there to, so it was just a missionaries heaven.  The work has such potential here and everywhere in the world.  I think it is just the coolest thing to get to be a part of it.  M and S are both getting a lot of attention and love here.  But of course that is never enough.  S now has a calling with the young men as a teacher and M is working on the sacrament.

Life is so great, I am learning to love life more and more every day.  Not to mention I am learning to love learning.  I don't think that has ever happened before haha.  But life is great.  Got to love it.

Jeg elsker deg!

Eldste Jones

Monday, November 18, 2013

IT WAS JUST A TON OF SMALL MIRACLES ON A DAILY BASIS FOR US. THE LORD HAS BEEN SO ACTIVE IN OUR WORK, AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN. WE JUST HAVE TO CHOOSE TO WORK WITH HIM.

Heia!  Så fint å høre fra dere!

So good to hear about things back there!  I am so happy to hear that things are going well and that people are growing!

Det har vært en kjempe uke har!  Ya its been a crazy good week here in Trondheim.  M got baptized and confirmed!  It is so great!  We have been so blessed here!

So yep, it is hard to really write all about the baptism, we had a good number of people there, maybe about 30 or so. It was about the same number as S's (Dallin's first baptism a couple months ago) baptism actually.  It was pretty cool though because I had S as a witness to the baptism of M!  That was just crazy to see him taking part in the salvation of others already!  So that was amazing.  Everyone was so awesome and it really was just a nice, smooth service.  No real problems or events.  So I was very happy!  

It did however take a lot to plan out and stuff.  We worked on the program forever trying to get people to do stuff and to involve the ward in the best way possible.  So there were many stressful telephone calls made trying to get people involved, but it worked out in the end.  

Other than that we had Elder J that came into the land!  He is from Utah.  He is 18 and is looking like he is going to be a great elder.  He has been really blessed with the language and will progress very quickly I believe.  So I am way excited to be working with him.  It will be very easy to work with him! 

It was weird to see the other Elders go, definitely weird to get the responsibility of the zone on my shoulders too.  But that only lasted a couple hours until elder S got here.  I am way excited to work him as well.  He is a great missionary and I am privileged to get to work with him in this calling.  He is going to really change the look of the zone!  

I think that we have some exciting times ahead of us.  We are going to have 6 weeks that we are going to be pushing for a lot of baptisms in the the zone.  So I am really excited to see the lord work in our lives.

Other than that we had some good moments out on the streets with people.  I think I had the best contact ever the other night when I had a man thinking I was actually from norway!  I asked him how long he had been in trondheim and then he asked me where I came from.  He thought I was Norwegian!  I asked him to guess after I told him I wasn't from here and he couldn't guess at all where I was from.  So that was a pretty good high point for my language!  It has happened a couple times before but I have never really convinced someone that I was norwegian.  So that was way sick!  I feel a little bad though because I am confusing Elder J
a little bit with the dialect. He is doing good with it though.

Other than that it was just a ton of small miracles on a daily basis for us.  The Lord has been so active in our work, and always has been.  We just have to choose to work with him.  It was a great week, probably the best on the mission thus far.  So hopefully the trend continues!  Some might say that is downhill because I am over the year mark but I guess I would say that I am only looking upward!  

I really love everything about the mission and life.  We are blessed to be a part of this wonderful plan, no matter what is happening here and now!

Jeg elsker deg!

Din sønn,
Eldste Jones


Monday, November 11, 2013

I AM SO THANKFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE HERE IN NORWAY AS A SERVANT OF THE LORD.

Heia!
Thanks so much for the video!  That was way cute! She is getting so old, it is so weird!  It sounds like things are still moving along there, it is funny how time never stops!
This week has been super surprising.  Transfers came and it looks like I will be staying here in Trondheim!  I will also be training again!  Elder N will be traveling to Romerike, Elder L will travel to Stavanger, and Elder S will stay here.  My new companion will be Elder J.  I have no idea who he is, but I will be meeting him on Wednesday.  I will be working with Elder S as zone leader.  He will be taking over the position of district leader here in Trondheim though, I will be serving a the senior zone leader now.  So that has been a pretty interesting change!  I thought for sure I was heading into the east and would be working with one of the zone leaders there in the east, luckily I have the opportunity to stay here in Trondheim!  This means that I will be able to gain a perfect Trøndersk dialect!
The topics of dialects here in the mission is kind of weird.  I think I am one of two Americans that are currently speaking dialect.  There are several Norwegians here in the mission that speak dialect but it is really rare to have an American do it.  I don't have it perfect yet, it is still a mixture of the Narvik dialect and the dialect here in Trondheim.  But I am way happy now that I can learn it perfectly!  So that was way good to hear!
The other stuff is going well.  Masoud is doing great!  The baptism is definitely on for Saturday!  We are really bumped that Elder N won't be with us!  But it will be good for Elder J to come into the first week with a baptism.  We went to B's house for dinner with M and went to a couple church activities with him to.
Elder L and I had our Zone Leader training for all of our missionaries this last week as well.  So we had the whole north zone at our apartment on Thursday night after our meeting that day.  It is really weird to have these kind of meetings be under my direction now. It is good though to learn and grow in that capacity!  I feel like I learn so much every single time about being a leader and about how the Lord helps qualify you to be a leader.  He has helped me so much, it really is the most amazing experience to just see him take over your lesson or meeting and teach the things that the people need.  I really am so blessed to be his servant here in Trondheim.
It is really weird to be hitting my year mark this week, I am not really sure what to think.  I can't believe that I will be on the down slope of the experience here.  It is even weirder because Elder D is leaving for home the same day!  So yep, things once again are changing here in the mission.
As far as the recorder goes I would love to have one.  That would help a lot with learning the dialect here to.  Unfortunately the next moves will be December 20, so if you want to send a package and get it to me before Christmas it would probably be best before that day!  Other than that I would love some socks!  Just normal dress ones would be great!  Other than that I am doing great.  I got a new winter coat, but I am wondering if you want me to send the old ones back home? Let me know!
I am so thankful for the opportunity to be here in Norway as the a servant of the Lord.  I have been given a great opportunity to succeed, learn and grow!  I have loved Jacob 5 recently.  It really teaches us about faith and our potential on a personal level.  I have realized that it teaches us that we can be bearing good fruit no matter where we are planted; whether it is good ground, poor ground, or the worst ground.  The lord gives us all the equal nourishment.  That means that we are the ones that decide if we are going to take what we are given and succeed or not. 
Also maybe a little more of a general note, the last thing the lord does before he says the harvest is done is he calls for servants in the field!  I think we are seeing that come into fulfillment here as we speak! 
The church is true!
Jeg elsker deg!
Eldste Jones



Monday, November 4, 2013

Heia!
 
Things are always the same it seems like!  Always something going off plan haha
 
This past week can probably fit under that same description.  We didn't really have a lot of things go to plan.  We didn't meet with anyone really.  Both of the guys we met last week couldn't met this week and have pretty much kebabed us. (Being kebabed means that someone doesn't show up to an appointment.  In the old days of the mission if someone didn't show up for an appointment missionaries would go and buy a kebab)  So that was kind of disappointing.  It is okay though, because we still had things to do and people to meet with!
 
Mission Leadership Council was great.  It was a good day for travel, went quickly to Oslo and then back up here!  It was a good experience to learn from president as always and a good opportunity to see other missionaries. I had a pretty scary moment though during the council.  I was called on to demonstrate how to get a referral from a member.  I had to do that in front of all the Zone leaders and assistants and President.  Luckily I had Elder Weaver as my comp. who did a great job.  So I don't think I embarrassed myself to badly haha. 
 
We met with M once last week.  It was right after Church.  We basically went through the Baptismal questions with him, and talked about how he has grown.  It is really amazing to see the growth that comes to people as they come closer to the Lord.  The Lord can really change people and help them in their lives.  It is a power that I have seen over and over on my mission.  A good number of times in myself.  I have come to love obedience and our father in heaven.  As we better understand our relationship to our father in heaven it becomes easier to follow his commandments and be the person you are meant to be.
 
So ya, we locked down M's baptismal date for the 16th.  That means that most likely I will leave 3 days before it.  We still haven't heard what is going on for transfers, but I still have a feeling like I will be leaving.  We find out Sunday.  There are two ways it could go, either it will be really dramatic or absolutely anti-climatic.  So we shall see haha. 
 
You asked how it feels to have success... well I think it might just be easier to describe how it feels to be a missionary/servant of the Lord.  Well none of these are really easy to describe.  I think I could steal some words from Elder Kearon, 'Glorious!'  That is the best way to describe the feelings in general. 
 
I know I am the Lords servant and that all things given to me are given for my good.  All experiences are to bring people closer to their savior and redeemer.  I know that he lives and loves us.  He plays a real, active role in everyday life. He has power in all things, even when we don't.  He is mighty to save, every single person. 
 
I think the best way to describe how it feels really is just to read Alma 26.  That does my feelings justice I think.
 
Anyways I have to run,
 
Jeg elsker deg!
Eldste Jones

Monday, October 28, 2013

IT IS AMAZING HOW QUICKLY YOU CAN COME TO LOVE A PERSON WHEN YOU ARE SERVING THEM.

heia!
Thank you so much for those pictures!  It was good to see everyone and everyone looks great!

I guess to just start with the stuff you already know about, we are still teaching M.  He is doing great.  He came to several activities and church and we got to meet with him several times other than activities and stuff, so it was just a lot of great stuff there.  However, we had to set back his baptismal date til the end of November, he just needs more time to learn and gain a real testimony.  We are pretty sure that he has had a pretty hard life and has a lot of trust issues and experiences to work through.  But I really just love the man so much and just want to see him progress.  It is amazing how quickly you can come to love a person when you are serving them. It really is the Lord's work here.

Other than that we had some pretty fun experiences.  We visited a church here called Salem.  They are a pentacostal church, a long lost relative of elder N's goes there.  So we went to their Saturday worship service which was pretty interesting.  That service was for all of the students here in trondheim, and the service consisted of a rock band that played for like and hour and then a student talking about the good samaritan.  The best part of the meeting however was when the student that was speaking began her speach by using our Bible video!  I was dying in my seat I was laughing so hard, I tried to visit a different faith and my own ran after me and caught me!  I went up to the girl that talked and spoke with her afterward and it kind of got awkward, she was not happy that we revealed to everyone that it was indeed our video.  (She was in a circle of like 6 people when we were talking and so they all heard me say that it was ours. So needless to say, I don't think she was planning on two mormon missionaries attending that service haha)

Other than that we had some good teaches with some other people and made some progress with new investigators.  Hopefully we will have another person with a baptismal date next week!  The funny part is that all of our new investigators are spanish speaking.  I have one from Cuba and one from Mexico!  They both have friends to, so we might just start bringing in more!

This week that is coming is Mission Leadership council, so I will be flying back to Oslo again on Wednesday.  That will make 35 flights since I began my mission!  I am not even at my year mark and I might be able to break 40!  So that is pretty exciting.  The transfer here ends on November 13 which is coming very quickly.  So it is in the middle of November, but that is only two and a half weeks away, so really it is right around the corner.  Elder D, will be on a plane home that day!  It feels so weird how much things are changing here.  Everyone is going home!  The wierdest part is that I will hit my year mark the day after my trainer leaves the land.  So yep, I think I am finally getting old here in the mission.  I still have yet to serve in the same zone as Elder E, so that is pretty sad. 
T still hasn't emailed me, but you better tell him to get off the computer and onto the treadmill!  Or he can stay on the computer and email, his choice.
Anyways that is pretty much it.  Jeg elsker deg!

Din sønn,
Eldste jones

Monday, October 21, 2013

Well,

It sounds like it has been somewhat of a heavy week. I am really glad to hear that R will be able to get back in just a short six week transfer!  That is the best thing that could have happened!  I will be keeping him in my prayers for the surgery this week!

But ya, this week here in the field.  We had our first taste of snow! The north of the zone got 3 feet or more.  Here we just got like an inch, and now it is all gone.  So that was a little fun.  It was also negative 9 degrees (I hope he means celsius!) here the other day, so it is starting to get cold too! This meant that I tried to put on my winter coat again and it is way too big!  I didn't realize how much weight until I put that thing on!  I am still sitting around the same weight as I have been, 205.  We eat a lot more here than we did in Narvik, but that is just because we have 4 elders in the apartment so it is a little easier to make larger portions for everyone.  We don't eat with members so much here.  

As far as p-days.  We just play volleyball every p-day here in the gym. So that is pretty much it.  

Other than that things are going well here.  We met with M a couple more times this week and things are still going well with him.  We are trying to help him get a testimony of Christ still since he doesn't have a christian backround, so things really are just moving slowly.  But he is so sincere so we are just really blessed to be able to work with him.  We actually had the chance to go to a church activity this week with him.  We watch Saints and Soldiers, it was way intense!  I have turned into a complete missionary though, because there was one scene where a soldier is sitting there in a basement and he is really troubled and I thought about how much he looked like Joseph Smith when he was in Liberty Jail. The whole movies was just about the gospel... so ja, I am a missionary officially.

But we are already coming up on Transfers soon... so I think that I will be moving soon. But ya when I said I was one of the ten oldest I meant as far as how long I have been in the field, I think there are still a lot of people that are older than me though haha.

That is about it though, Jeg må gå!

Jeg elsker deg!

Eldste Jones

Monday, October 14, 2013

HAPPY TO BE ENJOYING THE BLESSINGS OF THE LORD

Hei Hei

Well I guess I am not so sure how to start this email... I can't believe that Riley is going home for surgery!  I really don't even know what to say.  We had an Elder leave our mission the day that Elder N arrived arrived in the land.  He had pretty much the same deal, he had a surgery and then recovery and would be returning. I called him and spoke to him briefly before he left for the mission home, but I really can't imagine having that conversation with Riley.  I really don't even know what to say...

There really wasn't a lot to talk about here.  We had a zone conference with president and sister evans.  So that meant that we had all the missionaries here in town for a little bit. We had the missionaries from alta in for all day Thursday, so that meant that we took splits with them.  I went with a new elder from Elder N's group, Elder H. It kind of brought on the realization that I am one of the oldest missionaries.  Then I had my interview with President and he told me that I was one of the older missionaries.  I am one of the 10 oldest missionaries now of a mission of 100.  It will be that way until I leave!  So it is really weird.  

We got a new baptismal date!  So that was pretty cool.  His name is M.  He is from Iran, he has been in Norway for awhile.  We have only taught him a couple times but he is a super sincere guy.  It has been a real blessing to get to teach him these couple of times.  I feel like I learn so much from each person that I come in contact. 

Just about things here in Norway quickly, things are starting to get cold here again.  We are supposed to have the first snow here this week.  It get dark around 6 and light around 6, so we are still moving into the dark times. It is reminding me of when I got here... I hit my 11 month mark today!  So that is a little weird.  It is weird when I say that at the end of this transfer I will be out for an entire year!  I really don't want my mission to end...

It has been a good week.  Happy to be enjoying the blessings of the Lord.  

Jeg elsker deg!

Eldste Jones

Monday, October 7, 2013

IT IS MY POWERFUL TESTIMONY THAT THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST IS MEANT TO CHANGE US.


Heia igjen!
Well I am now 20.  So that is definitely a little different! But I am glad to hear that things are going well at home at that you guys enjoyed conference so much!  I am way jealous to hear that you actually got to go to conference!  Cool to hear that you and Tay got to go together as well, still haven't heard from him...
But ya as far as the week goes here, it was a pretty good one!  We had a lot of different things going on this week.  We got to help a guy move his house, and I almost forgot.  I GOT TO SEE THE NORTHERN LIGHTS!
It was way sweet.  One of the members here told us that they would be out and so we went onto our balcony and looked up and there they were!  Unfortunately there was a ton of fog so we couldn't see the definition of them but we could see waves of green flowing through the sky!  It was one of the most surreal experiences!  It is actually a peak year for the Northern lights so we should be seeing them again here sometime soon.  Hopefully next time without the hindrance of fog.
Other than that though conference was amazing as usual.  We got the opportunity to watch it here in the church with the exception of one session where we watched it at the senior couples home.  That was way nice, they made us mexican food of some variety that was really good.  It was wierd though because it felt like I was back at home sitting on the couch watching conference.  So it was nice to come back to church and watch it in the chapel. Here in Norway most people like watching it in English so that was what was played here in the chapel.  They had the Norwegian feed going in another room. 
I have to say that my favorite session was again priesthood session.  I really can't believe how inspired the messages are that come to us through the prophets. It is hard for me to pick a favorite talk though this year.  I felt like they all had profound spiritual truth. I felt like one of the themes of the conference this time was repentance and the atonement.  I really enjoyed the theme as it allows us all to regain perspective on life and ourselves.  That is the definition of repentance after all.  It can be easy to get caught up in the things around us whether they be work, school, politics,calamity, publicity, or any number of things; but at the end of the day we are here to learn to become like God.  It is expected that we make mistakes, go through hard times, suffer hardship because of others, and/or become discouraged.  This conference reminded us of the God given gift of the atonement.
It is my powerful testimony that the gospel of Jesus Christ is meant to change us.  That we have the opportunity to learn godliness here in this life.  I know that I make mistakes everyday, whether they be language mistakes, leadership mistakes, plain old missionary mistakes, and/or average mistakes.  But I have the opportunity every week to partake of the sacrament and renew my covenants to get better.  I have the ability to literally become a new person every week free of sin, regret, sorrow, or pain.  We have the gift of living water that springs up into everlasting life.  A perfect everlasting life.
Jeg vet at min frelser lever.  Han har død for meg, og for hele menneskeheten.  Det har motivert meg å gå fremover med tro og håp.  Jeg vet at frelseren min har gitt meg muligheten å tjene sine andre barn.  Jeg har en mulighet å gi denne gleden til alle som er rundt meg! Hvor strålende kallet mitt er!

Translation: I know that my redeemer lives. He died for me and for all humanity. It has motivated me to move forward with faith and hope. I know that my Saviour has given me the opportunity to live again. I have an opportunity to give this joy to everyone around me! How glorious is my calling!
Jeg elsker deg så mye!
Din sønn
Eldste Jones 

I guess I forgot to mention my birthday... it was pretty great.  The district made me dinner and sister H made me texas sheet cake.  So I really don't think that I could have asked for anything more haha.
As far as things are going with the leadership and stuff though, I think things are going pretty good still.  I really do enjoy leading, especially as a district leader.  It is amazing to be able to help others and see them learn and grow.  But to answer your underlying question, yes mom, I am happy!  There are always things that need to be done, things to learn, others to help, but that just makes it easier to be happy cause I am busy.
I think that I have just been struggling to learn how to learn I think.  I feel like I can do it better, more efficiently, quicker even.  I am still lacking the motivation to do it for some reason though, same old problem haha.  So I have just been trying to figure out how to get motivation to push myself to new heights that I know are there, that I have just never hit.  So it has been an interesting learning opportunity.  One that is still eluding me at this point. One day I will figure it out!
anyways I am done rambling.
Love you again
dallin 

Monday, September 30, 2013

IT IS SO COOL TO SEE THE LORD HELP YOU WHEN YOU ARE TRYING TO HELP OTHERS.


Heia ,
It sounds like things at home were really exciting! I can't believe that colton is now 14! That is such a foreign thought for me right now haha, let alone the fact that he is in high school!  It is also a foreign thought to be thinking that I will no longer be a teenager next time I will be writing!  Things just never stop...
But yes, I did get that package!  Thank you so much!  The shirts fit and the zone really appreciated the reeses!  (When I say the zone I mean the elders in the apartment that devoured them haha) It was great thank you so much!

This past week has been pretty good, things have really begun to change in the mission.  I had the opportunity to go to Oslo again for a mission leadership council.  So that meant that I got to see all of the zone leaders and president and the a.p.s again.  So that was just a crazy experience in and of itself.
I guess the wierd part was that it might have been the last time that I would see elder davidson before he leaves for home!  It was the last time that I saw a couple of the other guys that will be leaving the mission here this week.  So I felt like it was the meeting were everyone was leaving and I somehow became a old guy here in the mission.  I also realized that after this next transfer I will be one year out on my mission.  So that is just absolutely ridiculous. 
We also had transfer calls on Sunday here.  All of the elders will be staying here in Trondheim and we will only be losing Sister H.  We have sister Bradley coming to trondheim instead.  So there wasn't any super exciting news from that moves call. 
As part of sister H leaving Elder L, Sisters H, H and I all sang in Church. We sang Lead Lindly Light.  It actually turned out really good and it was a good experience. They were going to have me play the viola for it but we decided that it would just be easier to sing with them instead.  I got the chance to play the viola the other day though when a girl in the ward was playing hers here in the church.  So that was pretty fun.
Things are still going great with the district and our goals and what not. We are having a really going well with that stuff.  I still love being able to help the other missionaries and the things they are going through.  It is so cool to see the Lord help you when you are trying to help others, I don't know if I have ever received so much inspiration as I do when I am helping others.  It is definitely a really cool experience.
Anyways, there is not a whole lot else.
Jeg elsker deg!
Eldste Jones






Monday, September 23, 2013

It was way cool to be a leader and watch the way that everyone responded to a slightly tough period.


Heia!
Well another week has come and gone here in Trondheim!  I am glad to hear that things are still going well at home though!
The past week has been a pretty good one.  It has really started to feel like winter time has been rolling in.  It is getting dark earlier and earlier, which means it is starting to get cold here.  I can't believe that the sommer has already passed.  It just feels so wierd!
As far as the work goes though things have been pretty slow.  We have a couple people that we are working with but all of last week it was a struggle to get in contact with them.  So it really was just a lot of walking around and trying to find people to teach.  So that was kind of hard because I want to set a good example for Elder N and give him lots of experience teaching and what not.  I think that things will begin to pick up here in the next week; we have lots of good potentials now and we hope to have a lot of teaches! 
I think that the highlight of the week was when we had a meeting as a district on Saturday to trying and set some goals that could bring us together as a district.  It was way cool to be a leader and watch the way that everyone responded to a slightly tough period.  Everyone banded together and really set some high goals.  People became engaged and started asking for ways to show the Lord their commitment, it really came to be a self motivated thing!  I think the Lord really blessed us with his spirit as we tried to respond to the trials that we have had!  So that was a real high point of the week personally as well as an area.
Elder N is doing great, he is learning a lot and is really doing a great job.  I could not have asked for a better person to train.  He is eager to try things and willing to go the extra mile.  He is super easy going but at the same time very driven.  We get a long really well.  He played basketball and football in school, so that kind of makes things super easy haha!  I really could not be more happy with him.  He is going to be a great elder and already is one!
Other than that there is not a whole lot of things to talk about.  We went out to a mans cabin last week so I will be sending home some pictures of that!  We have all the members of the Trondhiem district there so they are pretty sweet. We also got to go see a castle last week, so I will have to show a picture of that as well.
Anyways, thank you so much for the support!  Keep being so awesome!
Jeg elsker deg!
Eldste Jones




Monday, September 16, 2013

IT IS AMAZING TO BE WORKING FOR THE LORD!


Heia!
Well thanks a ton for those stories Mom!  That was great to hear that you were able to that temple work and that they were able to accept it!  It truely is a blessing to get to serve those around us, especially when that service is being acceptted!
In reference to your question about datter and dotter, it is a question of which language it is.  Dotter is Danish, and datter is Norwegian.  However when Norway was under danish rule it would have been spelled dotter here in Norway as well since the language was heavily influenced by danish.  Fun fact for you!
It has been a good week.  I felt like I said this last week, but ya Elder N is here in Norway... he has been here for like 10 days now.  So Elder A went up to Tromsø.  So this last week was my first full week of training.  That was absolutely great though, Elder N and I get along great and it will be a great time to learn!  So I am really excited for the next couple of weeks.  Unfortunately we have another group of 12 elders coming in in about 3 weeks, transfers are on October 2.  So it is possible that I will only have the next three weeks with him and then I will get a new companion to train!  But I am not totally sure about that, I really hope that I can train elder N for the full 12 weeks. 
In relation to the last week we had a couple more cool experiences.  One was with a girl named V, she is now an investigator that we are meeting with.  We had a really intense teach that revolved around some very controversial subjects, but during the teach we came to find out that she had been thinking about baptism a lot!  She had even talked with her family and friends about it and what not.  Unfortunately there is alot of opposition facing her, but we are really excited to continue teaching her.  She also shared some really cool experiences with us about why she was investigating the church, so all in all, it was a crazy teach.  I will not come to forget it!
S is doing great. He is integrating with the ward well.  He came to church on Sunday and passed the sacrament for the first time! It is so cool to see him already exercizing his priesthood! 
We did have a lot of difficulty getting in touch with our other investigator though and setting up appointments.  So that made for a slightly rough week.  But we are excited to start a fresh this week and helping those around us!
I think that is pretty much it for the past week though. It is starting to get dark here.  I saw the Moon for the first time in like 4 months last night!  So that was pretty cool!  It is getting dark around 7.30 now. But we lose 6 minutes of light a day... so it will be sooner than that next week!
Anyways, thanks for everything you do!  I really do appreciate the things you do for me!  It is amazing to be working for the Lord and having a family behind me that loves me as much as you do!
Jeg elsker deg så mye!  Jeg vet at Jesus Kristus er vår frelser og forløser, han har kraft over alt, og det betyr at han har kraft til å hjelp oss i hvilken som helst situasjoner vi befinnes i!
Igjen elsker jeg deg!

Din sønn,
Eldste Jones



Monday, September 9, 2013

It was amazing though to feel the spirit at the baptism, it was just a testimony to me that the things that I am doing everyday really do bring happiness into our lives.


Heia!
Things are going so great here! S WAS BAPTIZED!
So ya i just thought I would start with that!  There is a lot of god news though, so it might be a long email!
First things first, We had zone leader training on Tuesday, which was my first meeting as a zone leader. It went really well, unfortunately we had some mishaps with the planes as people tried to fly in that day, one of the planes hit a bird and was grounded for a while so the Narvik companionship only came for like the last hour of the meeting.  But all in all it was pretty sweet!
Next I went on splits to Alta!  So I was officially the most northern missionary in the world for a day!  I left on Wednesday afternoon and then came back Friday morning.  that meand that I have now taken 30 flights on my mission!  That was a really fun experience, I was there with Elder H.  He is a stud and I really learned a lot from him.  The Elders there actually stay with some members on there Farm, so that was a pretty cool experience as well.  One of the members is named Geir, he has sort of a mental handicap so he on has the mental capacity of an 8 year old, but he loves the missionaries.  So on thursday night before I left we had a little disco with him.  That is like his favorite thing to do.  By disco I mean we had a sing and dance a long with him.  He made some songs up and recorded them, so all the missionaries that go there have to learn the songs and do them with him.  It might sound really wierd, which it was, but it was a blast haha!
Next piece of good news!  I got Elder N!  He arrived here in Norway on Wednesday and then came to Trondheim on Friday!  So I was way pumped for that!  The best part was that Elder A got to stay here for the baptism and preform the baptism! So both of the Elders got to see the baptism on Saturday!
Now to the baptism!  I have pictures, but sister H has them, so I have to have her send them to me then I can forward them!  But ya, it went great. I gave a talk, then Elder Ashton got to baptize him and then we had a really good party afterwards.  So things went great.  Then a bunch of the members invited him to play Soccer with him like right afterwards so he was well intregrated with the ward!  On Sunday we had the Ward Mission Leader give him the gift of the Holy ghost.  He also got the aaronic priesthood that sunday, so it was just lots of spiritual moments for him!
We also had E come to Church as well, so that was pretty great for us to still have someone that is looking pretty positive to be working with even after having a baptism.

It was amazing though to feel the spirit at the baptism, it was just a testimony to me that the things that I am doing everyday really do bring happiness into our lives.  I had some real polarizing experiences this week that just showed me how beatiful it is to have the gospel and the truth in our lives.  So I am very thankful for that!
Thanks for everything that you do for me!  It really makes a difference to have you there! 
Jeg elsker deg så mye, utrolig mye!
Din sønn,
Eldste Jones










Monday, September 2, 2013

WELL IT HAS BEEN AN ABSOLUTELY AMAZING WEEK!


Heisann!
Well it has been absolutley amazing week!  I can't believe it went by so fast!
So questions first, there are 20 missionaries in the North (including the ZLs).  My wieght is about the same, I do get fed a little bit more here, I am still about 205.  There is 4 zones in the mission.  I still have no idea about when elder N will get his visa so ya... still waiting on that.  Things are going great though with Elder A so I am happy I get some more time with him.  I am just as confused about the visa thing now as you are... so I don't know what to tell you haha.

Other than that there is lots of stuff to talk about.  I guess I can start with the good stuff that has been happening with S.  The baptism is on for this week!  He knows that everything is true and he is prepared to move forward and make the covenant with our heavenly father!  He came to lots of activities last week to, so he is becoming well integrated with the ward.  He actually came and played soccer with all of the missionaries on Monday as part of the conference that we had as well, so he is just an awesome guy! The best part is that we really didn't do anything, he is just being taught by the spirit as things move along!  So amazing how the Lord blesses those who act in faith and do as he asks!
Now about the conference that we had!  It was amazing!  I really don't even know how to describe it.  It began on monday when all the missionaries came into town and we had sports all day monday and then we had 3 hours to work with everyone that night, that was all amazing.  Then we had our meeting for the west and north zones on Tuesday here in Trondheim.   About 5 minutes before the program started we had a meeting with all of the zone leaders and assistents and Elder Kearon.  It was very short but the spirit was just unbelieveable.  I knew that he was a servant sent to us from the lord.  The meeting then began he shared his insights and led us through a discussion.  My biggest observation was that he taught us repentance, without using the word repentance.  He goal was to help us change, to become better missionaries, to be the people the Lord wants us to be.  He focused on the things that we could do personally to help make this change happen.  I don't know if I have ever seen a more effective teacher since I have been on my mission.  He knew how to focus on an individual, draw out further commentary, to be engaging to a group at the same time.  It really was incredible to see the influence of the spirit on those around us as he taught.  It really is kind of hard to capture the full image in words, you had to be there to comprehend it fully.
So then after that we had splits with the travelling assistents on Wednesday.  That was amazing as well, I learned a lot of cool new ways to be a better missionary out on the street and just how to be a more effective leader through watching there example.  They also helped to get a new baptismal date!  Elder B one of the travelling AP's also had served in Trondheim, so he led us to find one of his former investigators.  Her name is E and we met with her twice last week and got a baptismal date!  So that was amazing!  Small mircales just happened everywhere to make that happen.
On Thursday I went to Oslo to have a mission leadership council with Elder Kearon to wrap up his mission tour.  I might have learned more about teaching in that meeting than I did in the previous meeting with Elder Kearon.  It was so much more personal, so much more in depth.  So I think my last description times two would suffice to describe this experience.  The meeting helped to draw a focus for where the mission needs to go in the closing of the year.  I was really happy to be able to take part in that powerful experience, I know once again that Elder Kearon was a servant of the Lord.
The rest of the week went great as well. Elder L and I began to work on our Zone leader training for next week and Elder A and I just kept working and meeting more people (Elder L ends his mission in 8.5 months).  We had a a couple people in Church as well so it really was just a great week!
Æ elska dæ så mye!
Din sønn,

Eldste Jones

Monday, August 26, 2013

HE IS FOR SURE READY TO BE BAPTIZED ON THE 7TH!


Heia!

 Well things here are going well!  It has been a pretty hectic week.  I have been learning a lot and having great experiences!  Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to write today so I will be trying to get the high lights!

We met with S a couple more times this week and he is doing great.  He also came to church on Sunday.  He is for sure ready to be baptized on the 7th!  So that is pretty exciting.  Other than that we had a super amazing week.  Unfortunately I don't have my new companion, he didn't get his visa so he is still in the states.  So right now I am continuing to serve with Elder A.  It will continue to be like this until Elder N gets his visa.  So ya.  Zone leader has been pretty good, we have been prepping for the conference tomorrow.  Elder Kearon will be here tomorrow and we have the conference all day.  Anyways I have a ton of missionaries that are waiting so I will try and catch up next week!

Jeg elsker deg!

Din sønn,
Eldste Jones

Monday, August 19, 2013

HE HAS A BAPTISMAL DATE FOR SEPTEMBER 7


Dang!  I am super jealous about the trip, it sounds super nice!  I am excited for the next trip I can come on with everyone!

As far as the new assignment, it starts on Wednesday!  I will be Zone leader with elder L but serving in a Companionship with my new companion Elder N who will be coming into the land on Tuesday.  So I will also be training him as well as serving as district leader.  So yeah lots of different stuff going on with this next little bit.  

This week has been way busy!  I went to Oslo and Mo i Rana!  So lots of travel.  I think that I spent like 2000 Kroner this week in travel, excluding my actual plane tickets... so ya it has been a crazy week.

Oslo was amazing, we had two meetings for training.  We had a training for trainers and then Mission leadership training.  Both were amazing, I really loved it and getting to hear more from president.

The things here in Trondheim have really picked up.  We actually got a baptismal date!  We taught him once last week and then once this week. .\  Both of our teaches with him were simple, but between them he read and prayed and found out that the Book of Mormon is true!  He has a baptismal date for September 7th.

Other than we went to Mo i Rana for a baptism.  That was way fun, we baptized the man in a Fjord, it was pretty cool.  Then Elder L and I took a 7 hour train ride back to Trondheim, that was absolutely a blast.  Except for the part where we were accused of planning to hijack the train!

This girl was sitting there and heard us talking in English and couldn't understand what we were talking about.  So she thought we were planning to hijack the train, so to make a long story short we were escorted to the front to face our accuser and had to sort everything out.  it was really awkward and embarrassing.  After that elder L and I decided to start speaking Norwegian just to be safe.

It was a good week filled with good experiences, lots of stuff that is now starting to happening in the work.  I think that Trondheim and the North zone is about to explode!

But that is about it for the last week.

Jeg elsker deg!

Eldste Jones

Monday, August 12, 2013

I just love those moments when we know that we are doing what the Lord wants us to!


Heia!
Yes mom, I got the hint!  Unfortunately I haven't really had a chance to take any pictures quite yet.  It has been a very busy little bit of time.  I will try and take a couple today with Elder A and send them to you a little later.  We all just went and got haircuts so we should be looking pretty good!  I also managed to hit 205 today!  So things are still going well in that department!
Other than that I guess I can answer your questions.  Our apartment here is by far the nicest apartment in Norway that I have been to.  We actually live with the Zone Leaders who work here in Trondheim as well.  We have two floors, a bedroom downstairs and then a giant loft area/bedroom upstairs (that is where elder A and I sleep) and then a huge kitchen and then 2 rooms for studies.  So needless to say our place is huge!  It is way nice though because we have these nice curtains that block out all the light (Not that that is really needed anymore since it is getting to be dark again. We are losing 6 minutes of light a day here). So that is all great!
We are two of the 8 missionaries here in Trondheim.  So there is a huge missionary force here in Trondheim.  Unfortunately when Elder A and myself arrived we had absolutely nothing going on.  So these past two weeks have been rough.  We have been trying to find everyone we can with not much avail.  So we will continue to work and try and find those that are ready for us.  Luckily for us the sisters are really killing it here.  They are all having great success and are really making stuff happen.  So that makes my job pretty easy as district leader when everyone else is already amazing! 
We had a pretty cool experience though over the past week.  Last sunday on the way to Church we met this woman named M on the way to church.  She was from mexico and was actually on the way to church herself!  We talked to her and found out that she had spoken to missionaries before and wanted to speak again so we got her number and said we would call here later in the week.  So on Wednesday we did that.  We got an appointment but we didn't have a member to be with us which was something we needed because we cannot teach a single woman.  So we invited the sisters along, who actually were struggling after their hard week the week before.  They were able to be there and take part.  About 5 minutes into the teach elder A felt the impression to go check a man who was sitting out in the hall.  We went out and he was standing there waiting for us, he wanted us to give him a blessing.  We asked to sisters to continue teaching and we went to give this man a blessing.  As we finished we were sitting there and we felt the impression to just let the sisters have the investigator.  That was a little hard because we didn't really have anyone but we went ahead and let them have her and we just left and started working again. 
About an hour later we saw M on the Street.  She said that she had to say thank you to us for introducing us to those girls.  She told us that 'They explained everything so clearly, like no one has ever done before!'  So it was an amazing testimony to us that we had been really guided by the spirit to choose the sisters as our companions for the teach and then have the courage to do what was necessary for those we serve!
I just love those moments when we know that we are doing what the Lord wants us to! 
I know this work is true and that we are being guided by the Lord every second of the day if we just listen to the small things!
Jeg elsker deg så mye moren min!
Din sønn,
Eldste Jones