Monday, November 11th, 2013

We have had a good week. It is the most wonderful feeling in the world when after doing all you can to accomplish something to no avail and all of a sudden heavenly help comes in and makes weak things become strong to the point that the weakness no longer matters. For weeks we have been working very hard and been out on the streets a lot to find new investigators but have had very little success. Then all of a sudden on Friday the Elder of the senior couple at the institute center gave us the names of a couple people who had come by for a language course that we are no longer offering. We called them the next day and set up an appointment for some Norwegian and some gospel discussion. They came and brought a friend with them who did not speak English but was trying to learn Norwegian as well. All three of them were very positive about the gospel aspect and expressed that they would like to come to church. Two of them came yesterday to church and spoke with a member for an hour after church. It is so incredible how quickly things can turn around. It is also so humbling to know how out of our control it is in so many ways.

We must rely on Heavenly Father and on His spirit to be our guide. That same day we were asked to come to an inactive member’s house with another member to teach two of their inactive member's friends about the gospel. The lesson was in Spanish, but the inactive member translated to and from Norwegian so everyone would be involved. It was incredible. It was an absolute ideal situation and undoubtedly a miracle. As a result of these two miracles, we have gained a tremendous amount of momentum, and are looking forward very much to the future. I will be remaining in Oslo with Elder Linge at least until December 20th. I am really excited to continue to be serving in Oslo.

Time has really gone by very quickly so far. I know that there is a lot of my mission left, but I am nothing but excited about it. Heavenly Father has really strengthened me a lot more in that regard than I had anticipated. We are going to have family home evening with Goncalo and his mother tonight and plan to talk about family history and temple work with them. The Norwegian word of the weeks is klar, which means clear/ready.

Love,
Elder Ankenman