So Sister Gates and I
have been working way hard these past 3 weeks and it has been kind of
frustrating because we haven't had a lot of success, but that is part of
missionary work!! You work hard and keep going! AND THIS WEEK OUR SUCCESS
CAME!!!!
Monday:
We taught Nina and she is
so good!! She totally believes in everything we teach her!! We are working with
her on beginning to stop drinking coffee and trying to get her to come to
church. She lives like 2 hours away, so it is hard for her to come, but oh she
needs to come!!! We set a goal with her to come once in February and she was
going to come on Sunday, but the roads were too icy to drive on... dang it
Enoch fed us his yummy
pasta dinner again... He is too nice!
Tuesday:
For district meeting we
talked about the Atonement and wow that was a powerful meeting. I am so
grateful for my Savior and all He has done for me personally. I feel honored to
be able to wear his name on my badge for everyone to see and to be able to
represent him everyday.
Went to Elin's house and
we met her little girl for the first time
So on the way home from
Elin's we not only missed one bus, but two!!! How pathetic is that..... I just
laughed.... If you don’t wave the buses down, they don’t stop and I was texting
someone we were supposed to be meeting with and the bus drove by...... well
such is life! However we were supposed to be meeting a Pilipino woman named
Mayla and because we missed the bus, we missed her.... so that wasn't so
funny.....
Met with Hem and Shanti!
We gave them the picture Book of Mormon book to help them be able to read the
scriptures and understand it better in Norwegian since they both are just
learning Norwegian and don't speak English
So bus contacting for me
is a scary thing..... My comp is way good at it, so she has been helping me to
be way better and I did it!! As long as I start talking to the person as soon
as I sit down, I am okay, but if I wait -
I talk myself out of it.... but I did it!! It is just kinda awkward here
because you don't talk to people on the buses and the buses are so silent and
people don't like to talk on buses haha
A convert that Elder
Phipps and Sister Gates knew came to visit and she is solid, let me tell you!
She is awesome! Her name is Beautrice! We got to hang with her for our dinner
hour and she is so cute and has such a strong testimony.
Wednesday:
Felt like today was one
of those nursing home days all day long! We started out with singing like
always and then visited bestamor and far and then another member who lives in
the same place named Helena. We were able to provide service for Helena and
clean her house for her a little bit and that was way awesome to be able to help!
We don't have a lot of opportunities to provide manual service labor here or
really a lot of service in general, so it is always way nice when we can help
out in any way we can!
Ready for a story......
so we went to bestafar with Elder Dalton and Elder Rolfson (an AP who was
visiting) and that went good! And then we went to visit bestamor.... This is
where it gets interesting..... So we walk in and I don't see Inger anywhere
then I walk into her room to see where she is and poor thing is in her wheelchair
half-dressed and needs help to go to the bathroom. Luckily I was in front so I
immediately was like elders go wait outside! So then we go back to her and
Sister Gates gets kinda nervous and I think a little freaked out around the old
people because the other day I had to help Magnus with something and she stayed
back haha, but anyways Inger needed help going to the bathroom and the nurses
weren't coming so I was like well, we are here so let's help her! I helped
Inger to the toilet and took her diaper off and then cleaned her wheelchair and
I go out of the bathroom to let her go and Sister Gates goes "I'm pretty
sure it says we can't change diapers in the white handbook..." I started
dying laughing!! I still am not sure if she was serious or not...... If any of
you know me, you know that that was not an easy thing for me to do!! My how a
mission has changed me!! I have found it
is so easy to serve those you truly love! No matter what it is!
Met with Adam again with
Stian and we talked and focused on faith and how faith is the first step and in
order to develop faith we need to read the scriptures, pray, and go to church.
Thursday:
Today was a SUNNY
Day! We were so happy that we took
pictures next to the window of the sun shining in!
Julietta had us over for
dinner and I am always way excited to go to her house because she makes the
best Filipino food! Jecon and his girlfriend were there too so that was nice
because we got to talk with them after and give Jecon the picture book to help
motivate him to read!! Funny story..... so everyone knows my fear of meat on
bones so usually I just like use a fork to get the meat off the bone and she
had made some chicken wing things and after we had all eaten at least two each
she comes in and goes, don't eat the chicken, it isn't cooked all the way! We
all just look at each and are like great!!!
We had weekly planning and
were going to do a power hour of contacting before and ladies and gentleman
this is where the miracles begin!!! Within the first 10 minutes of walking, we
stopped a girl and she motioned with her hands that she didn’t understand us…
she was deaf !!! I was able to talk to her
and get her number. I asked her if she
would like to learn more and she said yes!!
Then we stopped a girl who spoke German and Sister Gates speaks German –
so awesome!!! She was visiting for the
weekend and she wants to meet with the missionaries in Switzerland where she
lives right now!! She was so nice and sweet!!
Friday:
There was a funeral at
the church of an older member who passed away. Sister Gates and I were asked to
help and wow that was such a humbling experience. I am so grateful we were able
to help and do things so that they didn't have to worry about it. It makes me
so grateful for the Plan of Salvation and to know that death isn't the end and
that we can be with our families forever and we WILL see our loved ones again!
Cute Søster Inger Jørgensen
who loves helping the missionaries and is the best member missionary and always
talking to her friends invited Sister Gates and I over for dinner and we talked
to her about family history and invited her to have a friend come to the church
and we can meet with them about family history!
On the way home we
stopped another deaf girl!!! This is seriously so crazy how many deaf people we
have met!
Saturday:
Volleyball was fun as
usual! We got a new net and volleyball so that was way nice!
At the street stand
Sister Gates yells my name and tells me to come to the people she was with and
it turns out they were deaf too!!! They were so surprised that I knew sign
language!! It is so awesome to be able to use it again!! It's funny because
everyone I sign with I ask if they know Casper and they do! They said it is a
small world in Norway so they basically know every deaf person here.
On the bus ride to
Ella's, Sister Gates got stopped on the bus by a narco women and I heard
someone say "where's the other one?" I knew they were asking about
me, because many know we as missionaries travel in two and so as I was turning
around to see what was going on, the women grabbed my arm and like starting
yelling and talking to me and it was kinda scary!! Then after she got off
Sister Gates and I just looked at each other and this other lady on the bus was
just dying laughing and we talked to her. haha
THE GREATEST MIRACLE OF
ALL!!! Sister Gates before she left her last area Moss got a referral and a
girl told us to go visit her childhood best friend. So we looked up the address
and headed out to find her!! I honestly was scared that her parents would
answer the door and shut it and not let us talk to her.... We were way nervous
and had no idea what to expect! We found the house, prayed, then knocked on the
door.... the mom answered and gave the classic unsure face of who are you? We
told her we were missionaries and when she was about to say they weren't
interested Sister Gates brings up how she was in Moss and Amanda told us to
come say hello! As soon as she said Amanda's name the mom's face lit up!! She
went to grab Ella (Amanda's friend) and they invited us in to talk!! We talked
about Amanda, how they knew each other, then they showed us videos from when
they were little and we got introduced to the whole family!! They talked to us
about missionary work for a bit, then Ella showed us her room (she is 16), we
went back downstairs to leave and Sister Gates goes "we as missionaries
share a really special message and I know it means alot to Amanda and to us,
would we be able to come back and share it with you?" Ella right away said
yes and then the mom, Kjersti (Chersti) invited us for dinner and said we can
all talk after dinner!!! They don't really have a specific belief, so we are so
excited!!! Their house was so warm and koselig and they were so welcoming and
nice and oh my goodness it was seriously so amazing!! The mom even walked us to
the bus stop!! We are so excited to go back and visit!! Please pray for Familien Indstøy! We can’t wait to meet with them!
Sunday:
Church was just starting
and Adam walks in and sits by me!!! I ABOUT DIED!! I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT!!!
So Valentine’s Day isn't
really a big deal around here, on the 14th it is Mother's Day here. So I made
muffins for Sister Gates and I and then I made Salmon for dinner for us. I
totally felt like wifey material haha
The ward had all the
primary children give the women roses for Mother's Day and Sister Gates and I
got one as well!
We had 10 minutes before
we were going to go inside for the night and literally no one was out so just
as we were about to head home we see one guy on the street so we are like okay
let's talk to him! en til!!! HE WAS SO COOL!!! His name is Eric and totally willing
to meet again!! Always go the extra mile!
Sister Gates and I tried
to visit a less active and they were home, but didn't answer the door.... but
it's okay because if they had answered we wouldn't have met this way nice lady
from Africa named Christina who wants a Book of Mormon!!
There were so many
members and people at church! As I sat and looked around I felt so much love
and man I just love these people!! I felt like I was home, I don't know how I
am going to leave in 2 weeks....
Jordan's Tidbits:
- My last time writing to
you as a 20 year old!! I will be 21 tomorrow (Feb 16th).... wow I'm
like a grown up now, but I totally feel like I am 16
- The snow here is
endless..... However the sunshine has been coming out!!! FINALLY!!!
- Seriously the blessings
and miracles from Saturday and Sunday especially are unreal!! Faith and hard
work does pay off and bring forth good things!!
- For the first time in 3
weeks I did not fall on the ice!!
- For the first time in a
long time, our week this coming week is literally all booked!!! This is truly a
miracle and we are getting fed almost every day next week!! ! Miracles I tell
you! Miracles!!!! I am so blessed to be here and these people and members are
so amazing!! I truly feel Christ's love
Scripture of the week:
Matthew 11:28-30
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am gentle and
humble in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light.”
Spiritual Thought:
Instead of being thankful
for things, we should focus on being thankful in our circumstances- whatever
they may be..... The choice is ours. We can choose to limit our gratitude,
based on the blessings we feel we lack. Or we can choose to be like Nephi (a
prophet in the Book of Mormon) , whose grateful heart never faltered.... We can
choose to be grateful, no matter what! When we are grateful to God in our
circumstances, we can experience gentle peace in the midst of tribulation. In
grief, we can still lift up our hearts in praise. In pain, we can glory in
Christ's atonement. In the cold of bitter sorrow, we can experience the
closeness and warmth of heaven's embrace... We sometimes think that being
grateful is what we do after our problems are solved, but how terribly
shortsighted that is.... How much of life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow
before thanking God that there is rain? Being grateful in times of distress
does not mean that we are pleased with our circumstances. It does mean that
through the eyes of faith we look beyond our present day challenges....This is
not a gratitude of the lips, but of the soul. It is a gratitude that heals the
heart and expands the mind... True gratitude is an expression of hope and
testimony. It comes from acknowledging that we do not always understand the
trials of life, but trusting that one day we will! - Dieter F Uchtdorf
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/grateful-in-any-circumstances?lang=eng
***For those that sent
early birthday wishes because my birthday is tomorrow the (16th) thank you so
so much!!! I may or may not have gotten emotional reading them hahaha I am a
baby.... It seriously means so much to me!!!***
glad i dere!!!!
xoxoxo
sister jordan peterson
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