Hey there,

Once again, I have a super busy Monday.  We have already done all the monday chores and gone out and done service for a woman.  We now have a ton of stuff to do here in the office.

This next week will be crazy.  We have MLC tomorrow and then we are starting our workshops with President in the mission. The first one this week will be in Tønsberg.  That will be the Telemark zone.  It should be pretty fun.  

Other than that we have just a couple of days to work in our area.  Because of all the traveling we have been doing we have been getting swamped in our area.  We don't have any time to work with our own investigators.  That has been one of the most frustrating things about being in the office.  You just don't get enough time to be a missionary!  That is okay though, we have tons of cool experiences anyway!

First we got to go to Trondheim!  It was sweet, we were with the Mckenzies all night Monday. That was the longest day of the year and we had permission to stay up and see the midnight sun.  So we did that.  During the day we worked with the zone leaders.  I had some of the most spiritual contacts of my mission on that splits. We talked to this woman named C.  She just had all of the right questions.  I got to watch Elder C bear some super powerful testimony.  I have never wanted to teach someone so bad!  Anyways, it was by far the most spiritual contact I have had.  It is hard to explain over the phone though. 

I got to eat dinner with Sondre.  He seems to be doing good, but he is lacking direction.  So I have to start working with him so that we don't lose him when the Bradfords leave Trondheim.  They are leaving here next week. CRAZY!  It was good getting to speak with him though.  I loved it.

The few things that did happen in our area this week though were pretty cool though. There is a newly moved family here in Sandvika named the Edlunds. They were living in Sweden for a while but they moved here for the summer.  They met a guy Name Leif  and took him to church with them.  He is from Trondheim!  Needless to say, we got along pretty well.  We got to teach him one time as well.  It went really well, the Edlunds invited him to dinner and then we taught afterward.  It was so awesome to see members just doing the work without anyone telling them to do anything!  I really hope that this goes through!  We need to show the members that they can do the work themselves!  

We also have been able to work with our other investigator Jon-axel a lot.  He is doing a lot of progression right now.  His son was baptized a couple months ago and we are really trying to get him to follow with him.  He has been investigating for more than 5 years now though, so things are moving really slow.  I have to say though that I have never had more spiritual lessons than I do when I am with Jon-axel.  I hope to see something go through with it all.

We have had a ton of people come through the door with a lot of potential and for one or another reason they fall through!  Elder Wh and I really want a baptism together, and we are working really hard to make it happen.  

I am loving life though!  I don't think I have ever grown so much in my entire life.  It is freaking me out though because it is getting to be down to the amount of time that Elder Wh had when I got here.  When that is the case I am really going to freak out because then there will be like no time left at all!  Time never stops.  It is really unfortunate.  

I have already probably used to much time on this email as is... so I should get going!

Jeg elsker deg så mye!

Eldste Jones

Sancthansaften

I just got to trondheim!  We traveled this morning early. So now we have a crazy day in front of us.  We are going to work for a couple hours and then we are going to have the sancthansaften, the norwegian longest day of the year.  We are all going to stay up late with the members and celebrate here.  So we are going there at 7.  So it should be a good day.  

This past week we were busy too.  We had zone conference and splits in Stavanger.  So that was a busy weekend.  I loved it though. Being back in the west was awesome.  I have missed being in Bergen so much!  I didn't go back there but Stavanger reminded me so much of it.  So maybe I am going to plot a return trip for one reason or another haha.  Probably not though, the traveling AP's were just there. So I think that ship has sailed.

Anyways I am going to eat dinner with Sondre!  So that is my plan for tonight.  I also get to have the party.  There is a lot to do in this next week.  We have 2 more zone conferences and then we are going to start traveling with pres for interviews and workshops that elder wh and I are going to run.

I can't forget!!!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  I hope that you have an awesome day!  I wish I could be there. I hope you know that I love you and am so thankful for everything that you have done for me! 

Jeg elsker deg!

Dallin

IT WAS A GREAT TESTIMONY TO ME THAT MEMBERS NEED NOT BE AFRAID TO INVITE PEOPLE TO HEAR THE GOSPEL...JUST NEED TO SHOW SOME LOVE AND GIVE A SIMPLE INVITATION.

Heia!

I had another interesting food experience that rivals the previous one.  This one is called asida.  It is a dish that comes from Sudan.  All it is is a ton of flour that is mixed with tasteless natural yogurt. It turns out to be an awful paste that you have to eat.  The taste isn't horrible, but the consistency is.  I think I gagged the entire meal.  The worst part was that we had to eat the whole thing!  So there was no stopping early.  The investigators just made us keep eating... Somehow we made it.

I got to go on splits with Elder E (MTC companion)!  It took like 1.5 years but we finally did it!  It was super sweet actually. We had such a good splits experience.  We worked super hard and we got to finally catch up. It is funny though, you can see the growth in each other so well!  I was truly blessed to have such a good companion to start.  While I was there on splits I got to go back to the T family's house.  They fed all the missionaries their delicacy again.  I got to say no thank you this time!  So that was a blessing too.  But I literally felt like I was back serving in Oslo.

We didn't really get to work with our investigators this week.  R missed our last couple appointments and then went on vacation for a while.  So we won't work with him for a while.  We never did get to meet with the family from Brazil.  They were busy all week and we were to.  So it was a super slow week with the investigators actually.

We did 2 really cool teaches though.  The first was with a woman that is named K.  She was a referral from a member through Mormon.org.  J, a member from the united states, sat next to K on a plane here in Europe.  So they talked and J got K's info and sent it to us through mormon.org. She said that K would love a visit.  We went to K's house and knocked on the door.  A girl answered and we told her that we were looking for a woman named K.  We heard a voice from the the house that said, let them in!  So we walked in and found K at the kitchen table.  We were introduced to the family and we started to teach them!  It was a great teach and we were invited to come back for dinner! 

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It was a great testimony to me that members need not be afraid to invite people to hear the gospel.  They don't need a super deep relationship with someone, they just need to show some love and then give a simple invitation.  I am being super blessed because of that.  

Another good experience was one we had by our own efforts.  We met a dude from Mylasia.  His name is B.  We taught him on a park bench and were able to answer his questions about the atonement.  It was a spiritual experience for me to see someones testimony strengthened.  We get to meet with him again to.

I got to get going though.  I have to go get some stuff ready for this week.  We are traveling out to Stavanger for Zone conferences now.  This week we are in Stavanger, next week we are in Trondheim and Oslo.  So there will be some traveling.  I will be traveling early on Monday morning next week, so my email will probably be a little shorter.  Just an FYI.  

Jeg elsker deg så mye!

Eldste Jones

I THINK IT IS CLEAR THAT THE LORD IS THE ONE DOING THE WORK NOT ME. I LIKE IT THAT WAY, I GET TO KNOW HOW HE DOES THINGS1

heia!

Well somehow another week has flown past. It seems like it goes by without evening blinking an eye.  I hope it starts slowing down though...  

Anyways, this last week has been pretty busy.  We had a million and a half things to do.  Somehow it all got done.  

I guess I can start with your questions first though.  This week was a lot slower with investigators.  R is going to India for vacation and then S was with his family.  So we really didn't get to meet with them all week.  That was a huge bummer... but we had a huge success with the Brazilian family! We didn't meet with them but we did get V (the son) to come to church with us.  The parents were on vacation but V stayed at home.  So we texted him and he said he didn't have any plans so he could come with us.  He came for all three hours of Church.  We really hope he enjoyed it and we hope that we he gives a good report to his parents.  We shall see when we meet with them this week.

Other than that we had some miracles happen to us. We were contacting in the town center and we were trying to find people talk to, but to no avail.  After an hour of getting worked we prayed and about 2 minutes later we walked down this path we had never walked down before. We taught two different people within minutes of each other.  The Lord definitely answered our prayers there.  It is crazy but I feel like these types of experiences are becoming the norm in my work as a missionary.  I think it is clear that the Lord is the one doing the work not me.  I like it that way, I get to know how he does things!

As far as Elder B and Elder W they are Traveling AP's.  That means that they basically live on the road.  They will work with every elder in the mission and go to every area in the course of a transfer.  So that basically means 8 weeks of straight travel.  When they are not on the road and they need to recuperate they come to our apartment.  They are usually with us one night a week. It is pretty cool to have them around though!  It is weird that I am seeing my last 3 companions all leave the mission at the same time. I am just happy that I have a little bit more time than they do.

The mission does not always have traveling assistants.  It happens about 2 times a year actually.  I think that they are mostly there so that we can get a better idea of how the mission is going.  I think it would be the the coolest job in the World!  They literally get to see the entire country.  It is not just any country either, its Norway, the prettiest country in the world!  That being said, I have been way blessed to see most of it already, so I can't really complain haha.

I am way glad to hear that you had such an awesome stake conference! It sounds like exciting things are happening at home!  That being said,  I hope that you enjoy yet another concert!  

We have a lot of different stuff we are doing here this week.  We are doing splits with Oslo on Thursday.  Elder E and I are finally going to be reunited!  I am way pumped for that.  Other than that we have a lot of different things to do this week.  Our area needs some serious work and we have a lot of office work that is keeping us back from it.  So we shall see what happens.  It should be a beautiful week though!

Anyways,

Jeg elsker deg!

Din sønn,

Eldste Jones

I AM SO THANKFUL FOR OUR HEAVENLY FATHER THAT LISTENS AND RESPONDS TO PRAYERS. I AM THANKFUL THAT I AM WORTHY ENOUGH TO BE USED BY HIM TO ANSWER THE PRAYERS OF OTHERS. A AM THANKFUL THAT HE SEES FIT TO INCLUDE ME IN THAT WAY.

Heia!

Well I think the sprint with moves is finally over!  It has been a crazy two weeks!  I don't know if I could really describe to you everything that has gone on, nor do I do think that I remember it all.  There has been so much thought that has been just awesome!

First our area has just exploded!  When moves happened we absorbed the Elders area into our own, so that meant that we cover twice as much stuff. We already had a super busy area with just the stuff we had going on too!  So that being said we are having a ton of great experiences.

We got to teach our Brazilian family again! They are doing great.  They unfortunately have a ton of travel plans as we are coming through the summer but they are just so sincere.  We were able to share with them the plan of salvation last time.  They just loved everything about it.  They had never thought to give it so much though before but you could tell that really enjoyed the opportunity to learn.  We had an amazing prayer with them afterwards as well, just an amazing spirit.

We had some harder experiences throughout the week as well.  One of our Golden investigators ran into Anti material and we lost her... That was so sad!  She told us that she believed that we were sent to her from God!  I had a hard time with that one.  It was a good experience though to pray about it later and receive a answer from the Lord that I had done everything I could to help her.  That will be a memory I will always remember.

Other than that we have been working with a guy named S.  I can't remember if I have told you much about him or not.  Elder W and I found him on splits.  He has been a former substance abuser and is now recovering.  The last things that stand in his way are Smoking and drinking.  He has gone down from smoking a pack a day to only about 3 cigarettes a day.  You can tell his life is changing to. He is becoming more and more with it.  You can tell there has been a change in him.  Unfortunately he has not come to church yet, but he is making some slow and steady progress.

Last week I wished Elder L goodbye.  He left for England on Tuesday.  I now have Elder W and Elder B living with me too.  They leave in a short 7 weeks.  Then I will be the one of the last Elders Standing.  It is way trippy to think about actually.

Other than that we have had a ton of other stuff to do.  We had to re-evaluate apartments and living situations.  I am working on scheduling international travel for our senior couples for a YSA conference they are going to.  We have a crazy move that will happen when Elders Wh, W, and B leave.  We have zone conferences that are happening this month, which means plane flights for the entire mission. The list goes on actually...

I cannot say how happy I am though!  I am growing more and more, again! Maybe one day I will have an adequate skill level to really describe what the mission is like, but not yet at least!

One thing I have been thinking a lot about recently is prayer.  I am so thankful for our Heavenly Father that listens and responds to Prayers.  I am thankful that I am worthy enough to be used by him to answer the prayers of others.  I am thankful that he sees fit to include me in that way.  I know that he answers prayers because he loves each and every one of us!

Anyways, I can't really get everything in here... so I think that does it!

Jeg elsker deg så mye!

Din sønn!

Eldste Jones