I found out yesterday that I will be moving to Porsgrunn, which is a part of the Skien ward. I am really excited but also sad to leave Alta. I have really enjoyed my time here and feel like I have grown a lot. There is no other place like it in the world, and the members are so kind, faithful and wonderful. Porsgrunn is a really wonderful place from what I hear. I do not know too much about it. They have delicious mustard in Norway called Bergyby’s that is from there. The Bergyby’s company has a restaurant there that I have to go too. I met a man originally from Porsgrunn who lives in Alta now and he said that they also have a canal system that sounded pretty cool. There is also a really strong ward there that I hear is incredibly enthusiastic about and engaged in missionary work, so I am really excited. My companion’s name is Eldste Newey. I have not met him before, so I do not know anything about him. There is never anymore darkness when we are awake here, which is crazy since there was no sun when I came. It is so cool how quickly the transition happens. I will be technically missing the midnight sun by a couple weeks, but since I am not that big a fan of the sun anyway and we cannot be up at midnight that is all right with me. The essence of the gospel truly is about turning out and helping others. We cannot even begin to thank God enough for all that He has given us, but we should still do the best we can to try. I feel so blessed.
I have been especially grateful for the opportunity to be more involved in family history work, and I intend to keep making it a part of our missionary work, and I think the Skien ward will have a lot of interest and resources to help. I am excited to be able to talk with the ward leaders about it. One idea we had for the family history course while we were out contacting trying to find people to come is that it would be wonderful to invite other churches to participate as well. We have talked with a couple churches about it already, so I hope there will be people from their congregations who would be interested in participating. Family is so important to us all. Eldste Reber and I also gave talks in church yesterday, which was the first time I have given a formal talk in church in Norway. I talked about our divine potential as children of God and how we can only reach it through the merits, mercies and grace of Christ, which is why it is so crucial for us to be engaged in missionary work. The gospel is what everyone needs. It is the food for our souls. Christ makes us whole. He enables us to become all that we can be, and He invites us to come unto Him and do so because of His never ending love for each and every one of us.
Love,
Elder Ankenman
Monday, May 12, 2014
Monday, April 21st, 2014
It is so important for us to remember how precious each and every one of us is to Heavenly Father and Christ. Christ truly is the good Shepard, and He has asked us to feed His sheep, so it is our joy and privilege to be able to help and serve each other. The life that is given to us all because of Christ and the redemption of all those who will come to Him are really what Easter is all about. He bled and died so that we might live. I know that He loves us more than we can begin to comprehend. I also know that the Atonement is real. It redeems us, enables us, heals us and sanctifies us. There truly is no greater gift.
I do not think Easter in Norway is too different from Easter in the U.S. Linnea put together a little Easter egg hunt for Geir and us on Saturday after we came back from visiting some other members. We each got different clues that lead us around the house to others and eventually to our eggs, which were full of candy. Norwegians do not make chocolate bunnies as far as I know, but they do make these delicious chocolate eggs that are full with cream stuff inside that you eat with a spoon. They are really good. We will be going to Tromsø on Thursday for a training meeting, which will be a lot of fun. The Tromsø Elders also came on splits to Alta this week. They are both really wonderful and dedicated guys, and we learned a lot. One of the families in our branch is going to teach us how to make Nepali food on Saturday, which I am looking forward to. A lot of wonderful things are happening, and I feel so very blessed to be able to serve a mission.
President Evans asked us to be out knocking on doors as much as we could this weekend, and we were able to meet a lot of really wonderful people. It felt good to be out sharing the truly appropriate Easter message of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Most Norwegians go up into the mountains on vacation for Easter, so we were uncertain about how many people would be home, but they were actually about as many as normal, which was great. Nothing is more important than our families. Heavenly Father wants His children to come back to Him and to be as happy as He is. To enjoy the blessings of eternal life, to be together forever as families, we must have the gospel in our lives. The Norwegian word of the week is Å Store Gud, which means How Great Thou Art. We sang this song in sacrament meeting this week.
I do not think Easter in Norway is too different from Easter in the U.S. Linnea put together a little Easter egg hunt for Geir and us on Saturday after we came back from visiting some other members. We each got different clues that lead us around the house to others and eventually to our eggs, which were full of candy. Norwegians do not make chocolate bunnies as far as I know, but they do make these delicious chocolate eggs that are full with cream stuff inside that you eat with a spoon. They are really good. We will be going to Tromsø on Thursday for a training meeting, which will be a lot of fun. The Tromsø Elders also came on splits to Alta this week. They are both really wonderful and dedicated guys, and we learned a lot. One of the families in our branch is going to teach us how to make Nepali food on Saturday, which I am looking forward to. A lot of wonderful things are happening, and I feel so very blessed to be able to serve a mission.
President Evans asked us to be out knocking on doors as much as we could this weekend, and we were able to meet a lot of really wonderful people. It felt good to be out sharing the truly appropriate Easter message of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Most Norwegians go up into the mountains on vacation for Easter, so we were uncertain about how many people would be home, but they were actually about as many as normal, which was great. Nothing is more important than our families. Heavenly Father wants His children to come back to Him and to be as happy as He is. To enjoy the blessings of eternal life, to be together forever as families, we must have the gospel in our lives. The Norwegian word of the week is Å Store Gud, which means How Great Thou Art. We sang this song in sacrament meeting this week.
Love,
Elder Ankenman
Elder Ankenman
Monday, April 14th, 2014
I am so grateful to be able to serve in this branch with such wonderful people. They have such wonderful, kind and loving spirits. We drove to Hammerfest this week and visited some members and taught the member’s sister and her husband as well, which was really cool. It was our branch president’s birthday this past week, and he got some dogs and is trying to put together a dog sledding team. We were over at our branch president’s house to celebrate his birthday and he and Geir were jamming. He is a quite good guitar player. He asked me if I wanted to play his strat, and I could not say no. It was great to play an electric guitar again. The sun is up from before we wake up until 9:30 at night or so, which is crazy considering that it never came up when I came here.
I had a really cool experience this week. We were praying to begin planning when I got an impression that I should call a less active member who is from Alta but may or may not have been in Oslo. I had heard about the member since I was in Oslo and missionaries had been trying to get in contact for months. No one had ever gotten an answer though. But when I called, we finally got an answer, which was an incredible miracle. It goes to show that this is not our work. We are the instruments, imperfect as we may be, through which Heavenly Father works to save His children. When we serve with all of our hearts, we are able to receive such profound guidance and power. I really loved Elder Bednard’s talk about the Atonement. All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Christ as Preach My Gospel says. We can be happy knowing that Christ has overcome the world. He has asked us to be of good cheer and to press forward in patience until we are perfected. I know he understands each of us perfectly and that He loves each of us and wants to and can bring us all safely and gloriously home.
I have been trying to work on being more grateful, which has been a very big blessing even though I still have a long ways to go. We truly can never be grateful enough. As King Benjamin says, even if we cried all of our days in gratitude and served all of our days, we would never even begin to repay God for what He has done for us. It is humbling and empowering to know this to be true. Heavenly Father and Christ do not ask us to repay them for what they have done for us, but to appreciate and use the gifts they have given us. Their glory and their happiness are our immortality and eternal life. They are always willing to help and bless us the question truly is if we will accept those blessings. When we live the gospel and keep our covenants, we are able to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost to guide us. We will be blessed in incredible ways. Obedience brings blessings and happiness. I know that Christ has given the gift of life to all of us. He died and rose again and so shall we all. He has taken upon himself our sins, griefs, weaknesses, infirmities and heartaches, and all can be made right through His atonement. May we remember this gift, use and accept it is my prayer. The Norwegian word of the week is God Påske, which means Happy Easter. Have a wonderful Easter and keep on keeping on!
Love,
Elder Ankenman
Monday, April 14, 2014
Monday, April 7th, 2014
I am doing very well and the work is moving along. We have had a ton of snow in the past couple of days, which was good since we needed to wash the car. One thing that missions, adversity and General Conference all have in common is that they help us to truly understand and remember what matters most. I believe the sentiment President Monson expressed applies that if something is taking us away from those things, it does not matter what those things are. They are not what are most important. May we all develop the character that Christ has. May we turn out and love each other. May we be grateful and of good cheer. May we strive after goodness and bring others its light.
Conference was wonderful and inspiring. I really loved so many of the talks. Elder Scott gave a wonderful talk about teaching through loving example. There was such a wonderful theme of focusing on what really matters, which is so key. That will largely determine our happiness. What truly matters does not fade and will not be corrupted. Love and kindness should always be our course. The love of Christ and the fact that He is always reaching out to us all was a wonderful and repeated theme. I know God is always there for us as is His son who has taken upon Himself all of our pains, weaknesses and infirmities.
There is a whole chapter of Preach My Gospel dedicated to helping us as missionaries, representatives of Jesus Christ, develop the attributes that He has. It teaches us that we cannot develop them alone. These attributes are gifts from God that will be given us as we use our agency righteously, seek them and pray for help and strength. This is of course one of the most important roles of the enabling power of Christ’s atonement. I have felt a particular need and urgency to work to develop these attributes. I have a long ways to go, but my study, prayer and action in order to develop them has helped me make a lot of progress. I am so grateful for the many wonderful examples of people in my life I have had to follow in my pursuit of these attributes. One thing that has given me such faith and hope is the knowledge that Heavenly Father and Christ truly do possess these attributes. They are perfectly patient, charitable, merciful hopeful and faithful in all things, the least of which not being our individual happiness and development. God is with us, so none can prevail against us. The Norwegian word of the week is kostelig, which means precious.
Love,
Elder Ankenman
Conference was wonderful and inspiring. I really loved so many of the talks. Elder Scott gave a wonderful talk about teaching through loving example. There was such a wonderful theme of focusing on what really matters, which is so key. That will largely determine our happiness. What truly matters does not fade and will not be corrupted. Love and kindness should always be our course. The love of Christ and the fact that He is always reaching out to us all was a wonderful and repeated theme. I know God is always there for us as is His son who has taken upon Himself all of our pains, weaknesses and infirmities.
There is a whole chapter of Preach My Gospel dedicated to helping us as missionaries, representatives of Jesus Christ, develop the attributes that He has. It teaches us that we cannot develop them alone. These attributes are gifts from God that will be given us as we use our agency righteously, seek them and pray for help and strength. This is of course one of the most important roles of the enabling power of Christ’s atonement. I have felt a particular need and urgency to work to develop these attributes. I have a long ways to go, but my study, prayer and action in order to develop them has helped me make a lot of progress. I am so grateful for the many wonderful examples of people in my life I have had to follow in my pursuit of these attributes. One thing that has given me such faith and hope is the knowledge that Heavenly Father and Christ truly do possess these attributes. They are perfectly patient, charitable, merciful hopeful and faithful in all things, the least of which not being our individual happiness and development. God is with us, so none can prevail against us. The Norwegian word of the week is kostelig, which means precious.
Love,
Elder Ankenman
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Monday, March 31st, 2014
It was a lot of fun traveling to Trondheim this week, and I learned a lot. Trondheim is a really beautiful place. It is a lot warmer there. We have gotten a ton of snow the past couple of days, a lot more than we have had the whole time I have been here. We also had a visit from President Pedersen, who is the first counselor in the Norway Mission. He is a wonderful and loving man. I am so grateful to be able to serve in Alta. We have a wonderful and devoted branch and so much potential. One thing that President Evans said we really need to do is to be fully centered on Christ. I think it is often easy in our day-to-day lives, and surprisingly also in missions, to lose sight of the big picture and to move our eyes away from our goal, our light and our life, which is Christ. I know that I have been so much happier, more diligent, more effective, more organized and more loving as I have truly done all I can to be devoted to and focused upon the Savior. I know that is true for each of us.
I really loved President Uchtdorf¨s talk from last conference You Can Do It Now! One thing he said that really struck me is that although we will still stumble and fall from time to time when our lives are focused on the highest and best goals, we will always have the hope and faith to get up and keep walking towards the light. We will know that Christ is indeed mighty to save and is filled with love and mercy. He will be our strength. It is because of Him that we have the opportunity to repent, to learn, to grow, and to return home. I know that He stands at the door and knocks, and wants always to open that door, to feel His love and His redemptive power. We all need it so desperately every day of our lives. I hope that you can feel of the Savior’s love. It truly is given freely to all inhabitants of the earth. I know that He lives!
I am really excited for General Conference. I remember last conference that it was one of the most stressful moments of my life watching conference with an investigator. It made it something really precious for me. I know that we need prophets to guide and lead us. That is God’s pattern and way. I know that we have modern prophets and apostles, and I am so thankful for the strength I have received from their teachings. I know that the Spirit will teach each of us also the things we need to hear as we listen and pray to understand.
We got fed reindeer by some investigators, which was the first time I have had it. That of course was not the highlight of the week. I have felt very much a sense of peace and strength. It is frustrating at times to know that the natural man inside me tends to resist it at times, but the fact that it still comes and is so gently pressed upon me is such a sign to me of the perfect love that Heavenly Father and Christ have for us.
I know that God loves all unconditionally and equally. Christ came to lift us all up. We are all children of God. We can all become like Him. Heavenly Father truly does want a united, humble and loving people. Eldste Reber and I sang Be Still My Soul in church yesterday while Grier played the piano. I love that song, and it was a lot of fun and very spiritual. We are going to resume the Family History course after General Conference, and I think it will be really wonderful. I really do feel as though it will be a tremendous benefit for members and investigators. The Norwegian word of the weeks is å besøke, which means to visit.
Love,
Elder Ankenman
I really loved President Uchtdorf¨s talk from last conference You Can Do It Now! One thing he said that really struck me is that although we will still stumble and fall from time to time when our lives are focused on the highest and best goals, we will always have the hope and faith to get up and keep walking towards the light. We will know that Christ is indeed mighty to save and is filled with love and mercy. He will be our strength. It is because of Him that we have the opportunity to repent, to learn, to grow, and to return home. I know that He stands at the door and knocks, and wants always to open that door, to feel His love and His redemptive power. We all need it so desperately every day of our lives. I hope that you can feel of the Savior’s love. It truly is given freely to all inhabitants of the earth. I know that He lives!
I am really excited for General Conference. I remember last conference that it was one of the most stressful moments of my life watching conference with an investigator. It made it something really precious for me. I know that we need prophets to guide and lead us. That is God’s pattern and way. I know that we have modern prophets and apostles, and I am so thankful for the strength I have received from their teachings. I know that the Spirit will teach each of us also the things we need to hear as we listen and pray to understand.
We got fed reindeer by some investigators, which was the first time I have had it. That of course was not the highlight of the week. I have felt very much a sense of peace and strength. It is frustrating at times to know that the natural man inside me tends to resist it at times, but the fact that it still comes and is so gently pressed upon me is such a sign to me of the perfect love that Heavenly Father and Christ have for us.
I know that God loves all unconditionally and equally. Christ came to lift us all up. We are all children of God. We can all become like Him. Heavenly Father truly does want a united, humble and loving people. Eldste Reber and I sang Be Still My Soul in church yesterday while Grier played the piano. I love that song, and it was a lot of fun and very spiritual. We are going to resume the Family History course after General Conference, and I think it will be really wonderful. I really do feel as though it will be a tremendous benefit for members and investigators. The Norwegian word of the weeks is å besøke, which means to visit.
Love,
Elder Ankenman
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Monday, March 24th, 2014
We began our family history course yesterday with the members and talked about the doctrine behind family history work and gave out the Norwegian family history packets. I think we are going to wait until after General Conference to continue it because our schedule will be a little altered between now and then, but I know it will be wonderful. We will be having a conference with all of the missionaries in Northern Norway this week in Trondheim, which I am really excited about. The assistants will be there, so it will be the last time I see Eldste Linge before he goes home. I feel like I am learning an incredible amount about the Savior and his unconditional and infinite love for us all. I want to implement that love better in my service as a missionary and all aspects of my life. I know that we are all able to be successful and to be sanctified through the Atonement.
We have been listening to last General Conference a lot in the car, and it is awesome! I really love in President Uchtdorf¨s talk in the priesthood session called You Can Do It Now! I know that through the Atonement we can all receive the strength we need to overcome our mistakes, weaknesses, heartaches, sins and all else that keeps us down. We all fall, so the Savior reaches out His hand so that we can get up and keep walking towards Him. We must always get up and be assured of Heavenly Father and Christ’s love. As the apostle Paul says if God before us who can prevail against us? The answer is of course no one.
We have been trying to focus a lot on improving our finding skills. Preach My Gospel is such an incredible blessing, and it has been an incredible help and strength to me in knowing what kind of missionary I must be. One thing that it emphasizes is the need to teach when you find and find when you teach. One thing we have really been focusing on is beginning immediately to teach people about the gospel and how it will bless them instead of waiting for them to tell us that they are interested. The overwhelming majority of people truly do not understand what it is they are saying no to when they decline the offer to receive the missionary lessons. One important way we can fix that is by testifying of and teaching our message so that the Spirit can confirm to them that it is something that will be a blessing to them. It is so important that we do that. We have been out knocking on doors a lot still and been able to teach a bit.
One thing I have also been assured of by the Spirit is the importance music has for me and that I must continue to use it to bless and help others and myself. While I cannot do that in the same ways right now as I did before, I know I will continue to have music as an incredibly important part of my life. I have been remembering a lot of the spirituals and other gospel choir songs as I have been on my mission to. A lot of them teach really cool doctrine in an awesome way. I am grateful I was able to have that experience. Oh how wonderful it is that Jesus promised he will take care of us. I know he keeps his promise. I know that He lives and loves us. The Norwegian word of the week is å trives, which means to enjoy or to thrive.
Love,
Elder Ankenman
We have been listening to last General Conference a lot in the car, and it is awesome! I really love in President Uchtdorf¨s talk in the priesthood session called You Can Do It Now! I know that through the Atonement we can all receive the strength we need to overcome our mistakes, weaknesses, heartaches, sins and all else that keeps us down. We all fall, so the Savior reaches out His hand so that we can get up and keep walking towards Him. We must always get up and be assured of Heavenly Father and Christ’s love. As the apostle Paul says if God before us who can prevail against us? The answer is of course no one.
We have been trying to focus a lot on improving our finding skills. Preach My Gospel is such an incredible blessing, and it has been an incredible help and strength to me in knowing what kind of missionary I must be. One thing that it emphasizes is the need to teach when you find and find when you teach. One thing we have really been focusing on is beginning immediately to teach people about the gospel and how it will bless them instead of waiting for them to tell us that they are interested. The overwhelming majority of people truly do not understand what it is they are saying no to when they decline the offer to receive the missionary lessons. One important way we can fix that is by testifying of and teaching our message so that the Spirit can confirm to them that it is something that will be a blessing to them. It is so important that we do that. We have been out knocking on doors a lot still and been able to teach a bit.
One thing I have also been assured of by the Spirit is the importance music has for me and that I must continue to use it to bless and help others and myself. While I cannot do that in the same ways right now as I did before, I know I will continue to have music as an incredibly important part of my life. I have been remembering a lot of the spirituals and other gospel choir songs as I have been on my mission to. A lot of them teach really cool doctrine in an awesome way. I am grateful I was able to have that experience. Oh how wonderful it is that Jesus promised he will take care of us. I know he keeps his promise. I know that He lives and loves us. The Norwegian word of the week is å trives, which means to enjoy or to thrive.
Love,
Elder Ankenman
Monday, March 17th, 2014
We had a really awesome experience with an investigator on Saturday. We had a chapter that we had planned to read with him from the Book of Mormon, but Elder Reber got the feeling that we should ask him if he had any questions or anything he would like to read about. He did not have anything in mind, but he just started sticking a contacting card we gave him into his Book of Mormon and found some different chapters and said that does not feel right. He eventually got to Ether 3 and said this feels right. The chapter felt really personal for him and it was the first time he felt that the scriptures were really for him in particular. It was so wonderful to see the Spirit guide him to what it was he needed to read. I know that Heavenly Father loves and is mindful of each of us, and I hope and pray that each of you can feel how much He loves you and wants to help each of us. We need to remember that that love never changes. It is always there. We need to find the pavilion that conceals His hiding place and find Him. I know that doing so will bring each of us such joy and strength, especially as we rely on the power of Christ’s atonement to help us to grow and improve.
We went to have a training conference and splits in Tromsø, so we were there all day Wednesday and Thursday of last week. Tromsø is a really awesome place. It is a lot different than Alta. There is much more of a downtown, so it is a lot easier and more effective to go and contact people. It was nice to be able to do that more again. I have done it some here, but I would usually do it for a couple hours at least every day in Oslo. I have been let in to teach lessons to people two times this week while being out knocking on doors. I think I had been let in while knocking on doors two times before that my whole mission, so it has been a really wonderful week.
I found out that I will be staying in Alta with Elder Reber, which will be great. I know a lot of good things are happening and will continue to happen. It is crazy how fast the sun has come back. It is now out most of the day every day, but when I came it never came up at all. It has also gone back to being a little bit colder this week, but it still is not too cold. We also got some new snow, which is nice. I know that Heavenly Father is guiding us and that there are people who are prepared to receive the gospel. We were going to begin our family history course yesterday, but only one member had come and we have not invited to many people yet because we want to be sure that it will be a secure thing that people can come to. We are still trying to figure out all the details, but it will definitely happen and begin soon, possibly this Sunday. Our ward mission leader is really excited about it and has been a wonderful help. The Norwegian word of the week is snø, which means snow.
Love,
Elder Ankenman
We went to have a training conference and splits in Tromsø, so we were there all day Wednesday and Thursday of last week. Tromsø is a really awesome place. It is a lot different than Alta. There is much more of a downtown, so it is a lot easier and more effective to go and contact people. It was nice to be able to do that more again. I have done it some here, but I would usually do it for a couple hours at least every day in Oslo. I have been let in to teach lessons to people two times this week while being out knocking on doors. I think I had been let in while knocking on doors two times before that my whole mission, so it has been a really wonderful week.
I found out that I will be staying in Alta with Elder Reber, which will be great. I know a lot of good things are happening and will continue to happen. It is crazy how fast the sun has come back. It is now out most of the day every day, but when I came it never came up at all. It has also gone back to being a little bit colder this week, but it still is not too cold. We also got some new snow, which is nice. I know that Heavenly Father is guiding us and that there are people who are prepared to receive the gospel. We were going to begin our family history course yesterday, but only one member had come and we have not invited to many people yet because we want to be sure that it will be a secure thing that people can come to. We are still trying to figure out all the details, but it will definitely happen and begin soon, possibly this Sunday. Our ward mission leader is really excited about it and has been a wonderful help. The Norwegian word of the week is snø, which means snow.
Love,
Elder Ankenman
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