Monday, January 26th, 2015

We have been able to work quite a lot with members in teaching our investigators, which has been really great. We are very grateful for the people we have to teach and really hope to be able to find more this week. We will be having a family history open house on Valentines day, so that will be very exciting and a great opportunity for people to learn about the church. We will be heading to Tromsø on Wednesday for a training meeting about finding. We are celebrating MLK day today since we were not able to last week. We went to a World War II Museum they have in town and are making Red Velvet Cake. Narvik was actually the first place in Norway to be invaded by the Nazis. It was interesting to learn about it.

One exciting thing is a change we have been asked to make by Eldste Kopischke in how we approach people. We almost always have historically begun by introducing ourselves and saying we are missionaries, but that is something most everyone already knows and that does not interest them at all. We have started to say other things that allow us to go straight into our message. It is wonderful to have at least been able to teach something to the people we talk to even if they are not interested it gives them more of an idea of what it is they are turning down. I am so grateful for the enabling power of the Atonement. Christ truly does give us strength to face the challenges we meet in life. I know that He truly does live and love us. The Norwegian word of the week is å skinde seg, which means to hurry.


Love,
Elder Ankenman

Monday, January 19th, 2015

It was really wonderful to be able to learn from Elder and Sister Kopischke. Two things I learned from him were the importance of seeking after and heeding revelation as well as the importance of knowing the scriptures. The conference was just us asking questions. He said that he hoped each of us would have a revelatory experience. He invited each of us to write down a couple questions we wanted answered and promised us that something said in the meeting or something the Spirit said to us would answer the question. That was true. My questions were answered and everyone else said that theirs were as well. It was a great testimony to me of the desire Heavenly Father has to communicate to us. It was not really the specific things that Elder Kopischke said or did but the revelation they invited. I know that revelation is real and necessary for our salvation and happiness. It truly is the Spirit and the miracle He works in changing hearts that converts people. We have been set apart to teach with that power and authority that will bring the Spirit unto them. It is up to each individual to let the Spirit come in. I know that miracles are happening all around us.

It is such a blessing and a relief to know that this truly is the work of God. As we have taught people I have really tried to remember that my role is to help them to let God work a miracle in them. I am so grateful for the power of God I have felt in my life. I know that I could not do the things I do without Him. He is always there. He is always watching over us. As you may know the missionary purpose for both full time and member missionaries is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them 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. One thing I think is really true, which Elder Kopischke said is that we often forget about the helping part. We need to do these things together with people be there encouraging them along the way. We must always invite so that we can be there to help people when they are ready. The Norwegian word of the week is opplysning, which means enlightenment.

Love,
Elder Ankenman

Monday, January 12th, 2015

On Wednesday we will be in Bergen for the conference with Elder Kopischke. I am really looking forward to the conference. I am sure I will learn a lot. We were able to teach a family again as well as a couple other people we have been teaching on and off. It is such a tremendous blessing to have the restored gospel. Something I have thought a lot about lately is the importance to be bold and loving. We must declare the truth with meekness, humility and love, but we must declare it. I feel such joy and gratitude when I am able to express the gospel even when people disagree or do not understand the impact or gravity of the truths. I can always feel the assurance of the things I have learned and from whom I have learned them to paraphrase Paul. I hope you all can feel love and joy as you do this as well. I now that Heavenly Father is watching over us.

I have also been pondering about the significance of families lately. We will be doing a family history night sometime in February. The family truly is ordained of God. It is such a blessing to be able to understand that the family organization is not random or coincidental. It is indeed the organization God has ordained for our learning, growth and service. I am so grateful to have an eternal family and to be able to invite others to receive that same blessing. I know that there are divine reasons for the sacred feelings virtually everyone has about families. We must reach out to and help all of our brothers and sisters. The Norwegian word of the week is evig, which means eternal.

Love,
Elder Ankenman

Monday, January 5th, 2015

Godt nytt år! Happy New Year! We were advised not to knock on doors on New Year's Eve, so we attended mass at the Catholic Church to see if we could talk with some people in a good environment. We gave some gifts to the Priest who we have become fairly close with. He is a very kind man. We left before too much of the party they were having afterwards began. I will be staying in Narvik at least until February 18th. I am excited. I think we will be able to get a lot of good things done. We will be visited by Elder Kopschke of the Seventy in about ten days. We will be traveling to Bergen, which I am very excited about because I have never been to the west before. I am sure I will learn a lot. We have had a family move into the branch recently who is bringing a great strength. They live in the Harstad area, which is quite a ways away, but they are at church every Sunday. I know that our combined faith truly does make a difference. Narvik is warmer than Alta, which makes it a lot more slippery. It has snowed more often in the time I have been in Narvik, but it has also melted much more often, so we had more snow on the streets in Alta. I have seen Northern Lights in both places. The people in both places are very kind.

I am very grateful for my testimony of the restoration and that God truly does live. He desires to be as close to us as we will let Him be. It is always wonderful to be able to fast and bear testimony. It is particularly inspiring to me to hear the testimonies of people who live in areas of the world where the church is small. It is to me a great testimony of the divinity of the work. We have been building up some momentum here and have been finding more and more people to teach, which has been a great blessing. I fasted specifically yesterday that we would be able to find and teach a family who would accept the gospel. That prayer was answered as we were able to teach a family of two parents and a mother-in-law who have a young son about the restoration of the church and the gospel. Many of the principles we taught, particularly that of a loving, personal God who is our Heavenly Father, really seemed to touch them. I know that the Spirit will bear witness of these truths to the honest and pure in heart. I am so grateful to have these truths in my life. I know that the gospel truly is the good news. I hope you were all able to scoop some joy. I know this is going to be a wonderful year. Two of my New Year's resolutions are to truly and actively consecrate myself and to exercise. I know that God is aware of us and will always be there to help us. The Norwegian word of the week is en forsett, which means a resolution.

Love,
Elder Ankenman

Monday, December 29th, 2014

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and were able to contemplate the gift of the Savior. I have felt so blessed for the love and blessings He has given me personally and even more so for how He has blessed our family. The gospel provides us with such a sure and strong foundation. We were blessed to be able to teach a lot this past week. We are teaching a man named Alloush who we found contacting on the street. He is from Syria and was a lawyer there. He is a very kind and good man. We were also able to find some other people who were open for a Christmas message. I know that this is the Lord's work and that He will always guide and help us. We are in Bodø Today for a district P-day of sorts. It is good to be together and to serve together. Thank you for your goodness and all that you all do. I know that Heavenly Father is watching over us. The Norwegian word of the week is mirakel, which means miracle.

Love,
Elder Ankenman

Monday, December 15th, 2014

I am very grateful for the Christmas season. I feel that it makes everyone kinder and more like the Savior even if they do not know the reason for the season. I am grateful for the light of Christ that makes that possible. We have been able to find some kind and positive people and work a lot with the members, which has been a great blessing. Christmas is a huge deal in Norway, so many people say they are too busy to meet or to talk until after Christmas, but we truly are blessed as we show faith and work regardless. I know that God lives and is aware of us.

I have thought a lot recently about the pattern of the Lord in going after the one. I know that He is aware of each of us individually. His ministering is one by one. Thus that which is small leads to that which is great. I really wish to develop this attribute and this love more fully. I know that as we seek to serve and help others that the Lord will enable us to do far more than we ever could alone. For example we went out and caroled a little bit with our branch president and sang for an older woman who we had spoken with a couple times at her door. I think it really touched her to know that we truly cared about her. That was why we wanted to share a message not just because we are fulfilling an obligation or because we like hearing ourselves talk. We must serve out of love one person at a time. I feel it is the greatest gift we can give for Christmas is service. Charity never faileth and is the greatest of all. We will be having a Christmas conference on the 29th in Tromsø. I hope you can continue to feel of the Savior love and remember the gift He is for us all. The Norwegian word of the week is den ene, which means the one.

Love,
Elder Ankenman

Monday, December 8th, 2014

We have been really trying to spread the true Christmas spirit by sharing the video He Is The Gift. If you have not seen it you should and you should share it. It truly shows how the real Christmas gift, the first and the greatest is our Savior. I am so grateful for that gift our Heavenly Father gave us. This truly is the greatest message we can share. It is wonderful to talk about, but I am so much more grateful for the opportunities we have to bear our testimonies through our actions. As I reflect upon my own life, I know that that which has been most significant for the development and strength of my testimony and my ability to help and minister to others is truly the small and simple things in my life. Consistent meaningful prayer, scripture study and church attendance along with always seeking to do our Father’s will have been a wonderful foundation for me. Thank you all so much for what you have done to make it possible for me to have that foundation in my life.

We had one interesting experience I can tell you guys about though. There is a really nice Catholic Priest in Narvik who is from Germany. He invited us to come eat dinner with him, which was Eritrean food made by an Eritrean member of their church living there. There were three living there who were named Jacob, Emmanuel and Little Jesus. He is a very nice guy. It is wonderful to see how people dedicate themselves to love and service. I know that the Savior desires us to love and serve each other. Love is indeed the essence of the gospel and the nature of the message of the Restoration. I know that as we bear testimony to people of the gospel that the Spirit will bear witness.

I know that the gospel is the way. Christ is the way and the life. He is the light of the world. A light that can never be hid in the darkness. There is much I do not know and much I do not fully understand, but I do know that my Redeemer lives and that He offers us all life. I know that His church has been restored to the earth and that the authority of God to seal in heaven and in earth has brought us together as a family. I know that we have a wonderful season ahead of us to love and uplift those around us. The Norwegian word of the week is Guds Lam, which means the Lamb of God.

Love,
Elder Ankenman