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

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 

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

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

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

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

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