October 30, 2011

Kjære familie og venner,

Elder Spencer didn't go fishing with us. I went on splits with the other elders last week for P-Day. And actually, we did it again this week, and went fishing with one of their investigators. His name is Jan Åge, and he's fished his entire life. No exaggeration, he caught a fish nearly every time he cast out the line. By the end of the day, the three of us had caught 2 fish, and he was working on number 8. 

We had a Halloween party the other night for the YSA's. Our district performed a couple of line dances to the surprise of every one else there haha. We managed to find some extra time during the week to practice them and it turned out pretty well. I had someone record the first dance, but the file size limit on this email system won't let me send it. I did, however, win the prize for the best costume. I can send a picture of that. It's my dead missionary costume haha, and the man standing there with me is George, who had been baptized earlier that day.

Jan and Kent, the two brothers who we have been teaching, decided to postpone their baptism until this Saturday, because their mom was out of town last weekend. The bright side is, it gives us an extra week to get them ready, and to advertise the baptism. I told Elder Passey, our district leader that I wanted to knock out the back wall of the baptismal room and into the nursery, in order to make room for the people who will be attending the baptism. That's my goal anyway. I think it's pretty realistic....at least, having that number of people there. I don't know if President Johansen would be too happy with me if I knocked out a wall in a chapel.

I got a call from President Johansen last night. He told me, officially, that I'll be training next transfer. I've got a training meeting in Oslo on Friday. They're gonna train us how to be trainers. I'm pretty excited, on top of the fact that I can get a decent kebab while I'm there in Oslo. We don't have any good kebab shops here in Bergen. After that though, transfers is a week from tomorrow. It's crazy how fast the last 9 weeks has gone. 

President Johansen also did tell me that Elder Spencer and I have gotta work like crazy to find some people to teach this week. We've been having a lot of trouble recently, getting anyone new to stick. It will be much better for the new missionary coming here, if he doesn't have to spend the entire day contacting. I remember how much I disliked it when I was a new missionary, so I'd like to avoid it as much as I can, in favor of teaching lessons at appointments. That requires new investigators, however, something we have been in short supply of here recently.

I spoke with a man the other day, who told me that I didn't know the Bible as well as he did, and that I needed to read it more to be saved. I took that as a bit of advice, and did a study on the subject which we were discussing. He asked me whether or not I thought God allows bad things to happen to us here on Earth. I told him I did. He didn't like that much. He felt that God loves us, and that he would never allow bad things to happen, that it comes purely from the adversary. It raised a huge question in my mind, until I read this scripture, the next day:

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

That was 1 Corinthians 10:13. It says that God doesn't suffer us to be tempted above that we are able, which means that he has at least some sort of control on the amount of temptations we suffer. That doesn't mean that God is the source of our temptations. As we know from the story of Jesus Christ being tempted in the wilderness, Satan is the source of temptation. But God allows us to face that opposition, in a way that would be most beneficial to our learning and experience. He prepares a way for us to escape, so that we can bear the temptation or trial, and not only bear it, but learn from it.  

A great scripture from the Book of Mormon talks more about it.  "11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.12 Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God. 13 And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away." (2 Nephi 2:11-13)

That is why we have trials, and temptations, and hard times in life, and accidents, and death, and all manner of horrible nasty things that this "unfair life" subjects us to. It's not because God doesn't love us, or because Satan is more powerful than God. It's because God does love us, and he knows what we can and cannot tolerate, even better than we know ourselves. He is more powerful than the adversary, but allows us to face opposition in order for us to appreciate our blessings, and even our hardships for the things we learn from them. 

It's something I have experienced, that in the hardest times in my life or on my mission, that is when I learn the most. We don't learn much of anything when everything is going great. What have we to learn from lollipops, fairies, and grassy meadows? It's the mountains we climb, which give us the great view, but only after we've sweated over the steep incline. I'm grateful that my Heavenly Father loves us enough to test us, so that we can grow.

Til next week!

Elder Sessions.