Tuesday, August 13th, 2013

I am leaving for Norway on Monday the 19th. I am excited but nervous to be heading out to Norway, but I think I am ready. I know that my weaknesses will not matter as I rely upon the strengthening power of the atonement. I have been reading the Book of Mormon in Norwegian some, but probably not as much as I should be. It is a really good way to learn new words that may come up quite a bit. I think Preach My Gospel in Norwegian is also a really good learning tool.

It is still scary and incredible to think how quickly everything has happened. I feel myself drawing closer to Christ and Heavenly Father each day. The wisdom and love behind this work is beyond comprehension. I will be attending the temple today for the first time in the MTC and probably for the last time for the next two years. It is truly a joy to be able to participate in temple ordinances, particularly when you are aiding in the salvation and eternal happiness of your family members.

I know that family history is a powerful missionary tool. People love their families, and I cannot imagine how one could not be at the very least interested in the prospect of living with one's family forever. The assurance that we can do so is one of the greatest blessings of the gospel. I am so grateful to be blessed by the restored gospel and to be able to have so much more of a knowledge of human nature and the purpose of life. Whether the Norwegian people know it yet or not, they need the gospel to be really and truly happy, just like everyone else. It is difficult not to feel that we are on the verge of something huge here. If the Lord wants us to be able to convert hundreds or even thousands at this time, there is no doubt that we could do so. If the time is not yet, that is also fine. I cannot wrap my head around being in Norway and doing missionary work there so soon. I know that there are so many ways in which I am weak, but through Christ, and truly by no other means, I can become strong.

I wanted to share my daily schedule in the MTC (Missionary Training Center). It is mostly scripture study, teaching exercises, language study, and eating. This is a very exciting time for missionary work, and I am so glad that there are so many in our ward that has answered the Prophet's call.

We heard a talk on Sunday about the purpose of our purpose as missionaries. Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ and receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. The reason we want people to do this is not because we want the church to have more members. It is because we want our brothers and sisters to feel their Heavenly Father's love for them. This is the source of the greatest happiness we can experience in this life and the next. The Norwegian word of the week is skjelden (pronounced like Sheldon), and it means rarely. As in skjelden does a physicist like Sheldon appear.

Love,
Elder Ankenman

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

This Sunday we had a two-hour mission conference where we were addressed by a district president, the first counselor in the Missionary Training Center (MTC) presidency, the MTC president and their wives. Later that day we heard from Jenny Oaks Baker, who is Elder Oaks' daughter. She is an incredible violinist who attended Juilliard. She spoke to us about spiritual gifts, and we were blessed to hear her play quite a bit for us.

The more I study the gospel and the more I feel the love that Heavenly Father and Christ have for us all, the clearer it becomes what is most important in life. We are here to love and help one another. As Christ said, by this shall we be known as his disciples: if we have love one to another. I am filled with love as I ponder Christ's ministry and his atoning sacrifice. Through Him all that is wrong in the world has been made right. With knowledge of the veracity of the gospel message come unspeakable comfort and happiness. I certainly do not know all things, but I do know that I am where I am supposed to be at this time in my life. To be able to say this is incredible, and I am so thankful that I honestly and truly can. I know the church is true. It brings such a light to our lives. As we abide by its principles we have inexpressible joy.

I watched a video about using family history as a missionary tool and one of the things they said was that we foolishly draw lines to separate missionary work, family history work and temple work when they are all the same work. They are all part of the work of salvation. I am excited to be heading to Norway in less than two weeks. I know that it is where I am meant to be.

I do not get my travel plans until Friday, but I am sure I will be in a group since that is how the other districts have done it and there are seventeen of us going to Norway at the same time. I think the day will be the nineteenth, but I am not sure. I do not think I will know where I will be in Norway until I get there. From hearing our teachers talk about it, it sounds like people move around quite a lot while they are there, which should be fun.

I just got Jesus the Christ and True to the Faith on my ipad from the gospel library app. I am excited to learn from them. The more I am at the MTC, the more I learn the need to be as in tune with the spirit as much as possible. I know that Heavenly Father helps us tremendously in our lives through the gift of the Holy Ghost as we live righteously and seek to do good. I really like a quote we heard from Elder Bednar yesterday in a video, and I paraphrase, "Concerning whether a prompting is from yourself or from the spirit I offer this advice: stop worrying about it!" We can rarely see the greater picture to truly know what the purposes and origins of most of our impressions are, but I know that we have the gift of the Holy Ghost as we live worthily. So if you receive a prompting and it does not hurt, it is almost certainly from Heavenly Father. The Norwegian word of the week is en anledning, which means an opportunity.

Love,

Elder Ankenman

While Elder Ankenman is in the MTC in Provo he can receive daily messages from Dear Elder.com. If anyone would like to contact him this way here is a link: http://www.dearelder.com/. He will still have access to email every Tuesday.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Well, I am half way done at the MTC. I am doing well. I think my district is getting closer together each day, which is nice. I miss you guys very much, but I know that I am where I should be. As I told you guys, our teachers are awesome. I guess the more I am here, the more I learn the necessity of the work, the firmness of the foundation and the spirit of love that is at the heart of all gospel principles. I could not be more grateful for where I come from. I have been blessed with challenges and experiences that strengthen me and enable me to look at the world in a very unique way. I love the gospel and the hope it brings for all people. I hope to be able to fulfill my call and continue to grow in my understanding.

I spoke at church this past Sunday about recognizing promptings from the Holy Ghost, and people seemed to enjoy it. I know that Heavenly Father is always mindful of us. All things will be for our good. People need to know about the gospel and that there is no need to fear. I particularly love the lyrics to "Come, Come Ye Saints." We will have difficulties, but we have an all-powerful God of miracles on our side. Through the atonement it is indeed true "All is well!" Christ has paid the price for not only our sins but also all of our weaknesses, imperfections, pains, sorrows and all that is wrong. In Christ, all is made right through our Heavenly Father’s perfect plan. I pray that we can all grow in our comprehension of this wonderful gospel and ever draw closer to our Heavenly Father, our Savior and the Holy Ghost who will guide us in all things. My branch president’s wife said that we should read the conversion stories of our family members to know where we come from.

I know that Heavenly Father and Christ love us more than we can comprehend and that living the gospel is the way to real happiness. I am re-reading the Book of Mormon. It is amazing the spirit you can feel just by reading. I know that the Book of Mormon provides more insight and wisdom on how one should live than any other book. I am thankful for the restoration of the gospel and with it the knowledge that there are miracles happening all around us every day. I believe that God does not cease His miracles. I have the standard works on my ipad in English, Norwegian, Spanish and Portuguese, excluding the bible in Norwegian and Portuguese because the church does not own the rights to translations in those languages. It is wonderful to see the gospel being distributed to so many tongues. It is indeed the fulfillment of the Lord's promise. There are a couple Elders in my zone who are going to Netherlands Spanish speaking. There are cool guys, and it felt awesome to speak Spanish again! The Norwegian word of the week is flink, which means awesome or talented.

Love,

Elder Ankenman




While Elder Ankenman is in the MTC in Provo he can receive daily messages from Dear Elder.com. If anyone would like to contact him this way here is a link: http://www.dearelder.com/. He will still have access to email every Tuesday.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

I am well and trying to learn and understand all I can. I think I am getting more and more comfortable with the language and people. I have awesome and inspiring teachers. We have two new teachers who are each investigators for us. Brother Smith, who was Orjan, and Brother Barthalamuel (that's probably not the right spelling) who is new. They are both such beasts! Sunday night we watched a talk by Elder Bednar called "Character of Christ" that I highly recommend. He said that the fundamental character of Christ is that when the natural man or woman (he said that the cookie monster is a perfect example of such a person) would turn inward he would ALWAYS turn outward in love. Knowing who we are and what we have the potential to become brings incredible meaning to life and I am so grateful for the unique and powerful ways that I have been taught this lesson. It is a lesson I hope to bring to the Norwegian people with love. I know Heavenly Father, Christ and the Holy Ghost are watching over us all, helping us, blessing us, and guiding us in perfect love and unity.

Yesterday was a very tragic day in Norway two years ago, tantamount to 9/11 for us. I will not go into why since it is a long story, but suffice it to say that the essence of what it means to be Norwegian was destroyed and the fabric of life and the peace that the people had were shredded. Our teachers told us that we are the only people in the world who can give the Norwegian people what they need: the peace, love and happiness that come from living and knowing the true gospel. I pray that we will be able to fulfill this tremendous task.

I know that all religions and philosophies of which I know have a tremendous amount in common. We must not forget this and must never lose respect and admiration for those of other beliefs. I also know that the fullness of the truth provides a light and happiness that is unlike anything else. This truth is only taught and found in the church to which we belong. Anyone who is a sincere seeker of truth who will study and pray to know this is true can also know that the church is true. I have started reading the Book of Mormon again since I got here. It is just wonderful. I would urge you guys to study the scriptures together and on your own. It just fills my heart with joy to read and hear the hope that we have in the truth and the hope that there is for all, The purpose of my mission is to invite others to come unto Christ so that they can know the greatest joy that is available in this life and the life to come. We heard a great talk from Elder Holland in the 2009 October Conference about the Book of Mormon that I think you will like.

I am reminded that none of what happens, particularly when one is on the Lord's errand, is by chance. There is a reason I am going to Norway at this time with this group. I miss you very much, but I know that there is nothing more important or impactful than helping others come unto Christ.

Love,
Elder Ankenman

While Elder Ankenman is in the MTC in Provo he can receive daily messages from Dear Elder.com. If anyone would like to contact him this way here is a link: http://www.dearelder.com/. He will still have access to email every Tuesday.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

As you can probably guess, my P-day in the Mission Training Center (MTC) is Tuesday. There are 17 of us leaving for Norway on the 20th of August. There are nine people in my district: 6 elders and 3 sisters (the other 8 going to Norway are all elders, but the last group that went to Norway had way more sisters than elders). I am staying at the main MTC (Missionary Training Center). I think that Norwegian is going as well as can be expected, but it certainly isn't easy. We have a pretend investigator named Orjan, who is actually going to be our teacher starting next week. We have taught him 3 lessons already. My companion is Elder Nielson. My branch president was companions with the guy who was the last Mission President in Norway while they were both in the language training center. My branch President was tall and athletic and his companion was a scrawny 5 ft. 7 musician. I thought it was so cool and certainly not a coincidence that Eldste, elder in Norwegian, Nielson and I fit that same description. He is tall and athletic, social and outgoing but we can still get along very well as those two companions did way back when.

I am getting along very well with my district, and I think the MTC is going well, but I would much rather be out there teaching. Still, I know that I am not ready for that yet, not in Norwegian anyway. We heard a wonderful talk rebroadcast by a former Relief Society Presidency member who became the President of Deseret Books about using our time in the best way and drawing close to the Lord. She quoted something Elder Holland once said; "Many of us live our lives like we're going to be here forever when we aren't, we can't and we won't”.

What strikes me most about the gospel is the unique and precious truth it proclaims that all people are children of God and because of this all people can themselves become like him. In difficult times, when our faith is tried we must remember this. We must remember that we are here to accomplish things. We are here to serve. We are here to love. We are here to grow. We all have our weaknesses, but we need not lose hope or faith. If we do our best, we all can be exalted and become like our Heavenly parents. I am supposed to give a word in Norwegian every week, so this week it is "fred" which means peace. I wish you peace, love and happiness.

Love,

Elder Ankenman


While Elder Ankenman is in the MTC in Provo he can receive daily messages from Dear Elder.com. If anyone would like to contact him this way here is a link: http://www.dearelder.com/. He will still have access to email every Tuesday.

Hello Everyone,
This blog will be a means by which I write home during my mission in Norway. I hope for there to be a weekly update written by me that will be posted by my sister Colette. I am excited to report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah tomorrow, and I am thankful for the support and interest you all have shown me. I know that my mission will be a profoundly spiritual and transformative experience, and I hope that this blog will be an effective way for me to share this experience with you in some small way. Please feel free to send me an email to the email address given in the contact information on the upper left corner of this page. If you would like to receive an email notification when this blog is updated, please enter your email address in the bar on the left hand side. I wish each and every one of you all the best!
Love,
Elder Dan Ankenman