April 22, 2013

Hey how is everyone doing?  This week has been really busy!  We flew to Trondheim on Tuesday and got back on Wednesday.  We had a good splits with the elders there.  On Friday we drove around the entire east zone delivering bikes.  Our first stop was Skien where we had a little time to contact with them.  It brought back so many memories that I will never forget.  After Skien we stopped in Sandefjord, Moss, and Fredrikstad.  It took the whole day and was a fun adventure.  We took a ferry from Horten to Moss which was kind of fun too. 

On our way home I set up an appointment with C (convert from my oslo days) who lives in Moss now.  It was amazing to see him again and he is now married to a women from Brazil that he met on LDS singles.  It was incredible to see how much he has grown and how happy he is with his life.  He is happily married and they have set a goal to get sealed in the Manaus Brazil Temple in one year. They also want to come visit Utah and I told them that they could stay with us.  It was such a cool experience to visit with them before I return home.

A is still doing very well and we are working with this other guy named M that we are close to getting a baptismal date with.  They were both in church yesterday and loved it.  We have a lot of people that are just on the edge of getting a baptismal date.  It's a very exciting time in the mission right now.  I'm excited for the future of this mission with all the new missionaries coming.  What a great work to be a part of.  The gospel is what gives my life a purpose, take away the gospel and I have no purpose.  I know that our Heavenly Father know and loves each and everyone of us.  I love you all and I hope you all have a great week!

Eldste Godfrey

April 15, 2013

Adventure to Northern Norway

From the plane

From the plane

Hey everybody! 

I had incredible week as you can see from the pictures that I sent ha ha.  Northern Norway is amazing!  Elder Van Wagoner and I had a wonderful time in Alta, Tromsø, Bodø, and Narvik!  We were able to meet with a lot of amazing people.  They almost have a completely different culture up north.  The Norwegian people are very open and friendly but still closed to religion.  We had really good weather in the North which is a blessing because we were able to see a lot when we were flying from city to city.  On one of the plane rides I was just snapping away with my camera and the flight attendant came and sat next to me.  She said, "Isn't that beautiful?"  She later told me that it was Lofoten!  I feel so blessed that I was able to go on this amazing adventure up north. They had so much snow in Alta and Tromsø that they were taking dump trucks of snow to the ocean to clear out the city ha ha. 

Well... being able to experience all that was really neat but the experiences I had with missionary work was even better.  We have a standards of excellence in our mission that we implemented at the beginning of the year.  We are to get 3 new investigators per week, 2 people in church, and 1 baptismal date.  We knew it was going to be a hard this week because we were going to be gone for 3 out of the 7 days.  We also knew that if we exercised faith and did everything we could then the Lord would bless us. 

On Sunday we had 3 investigators in church and 2 new investigators.  We did everything we could to get one more new investigator.  We had time to visit one more person Sunday night so we decided to try this Indian family back.  They invited us in and we were able to teach them about families.  Before we left we got a return appointment and the couple became new investigators.  We ended the week with 4 new investigators which exceeded our goal.  I know that the Lord answers our prayers and that He provided a way for us to reach the standards of excellence.  I know that the Lord is on our right hand and on our left hand.  His spirit is in our hearts and his angels round about us to bear us up.  (D&C 84:88).  This is the Lords work and this work brings joy to my soul!  Thanks for all of your support!  Love you all and I look forward to hearing from you all next week!

Investigator update: A is still progressing towards baptism and we have a few others that we are close to getting baptismal dates with.  F (D's referral in Kenya) is progressing as well.  He has been reading in the Book of Mormon and coming to church.  I'm pretty sure he has a baptismal date now and is going to introduce the church to his brother. 

Eldste Godfrey

April 8, 2013

Climbing in church clothes and shoes in Asker

It has been a week of miracles in the Norway Oslo Mission!  To start off the week, we went hiking in Asker.  We walked around this lake and climbed one of the mountains near by.  It was super sick and when we got to the top we had this amazing view over the city and fjord.  It was intense climbing the face of this mountain with church shoes.  Luckily we found a simple path down the mountain because I don't think we would have made it back down ha ha.  Anyways Monday night things didn't go so well. I got really sick to the point where I could barely function.  Well this sickness would go on to plague me for the rest of the week.  I was really disappointed because I'm in my last few weeks.  Well the sickness didn't stop us from doing everything we could to reach our goals. 

We had a mission goal for everyone to get two new investigators and my sickness wasn't going to stop us.  At the end of the week we had three new investigators, three investigators at church watching general conference and a new baptismal date.  It was truly a week of miracles!  The baptismal date is with A for June 2nd.  I will miss the meeting unfortunately but maybe I can watch it on skype ha ha.  It will be cool to give him encouragement on facebook when I get home.  Elder Van Wagoner and I feel so blessed from the Lord.  We were able to call upon the powers of heaven and because of faith we were able to see many great and marvelous miracles wrought in the land. 

I know that the Lord is watching over his missionaries and all the members of the church.  Even though I will be going to BYU, I know that there will be ways to share the gospel.  I want to continue to reach out to people and invite them to come unto Christ.  Even though I won't have a badge on my shirt it doesn't mean I can't share the gospel!  We, as human beings are weak and we need the Savior in our lives to build, lift, and support us.  It is important to remember that every blessing and miracle is from God. 

I'm still sick but I'm starting to get better now which is nice.  We have a big trip coming up this week where we will flying to Alta, Tromsø, Bodø, and Narvik for some training.  It should be a lot of fun but I'm just hoping and praying that I will be healthy again.  These next few weeks are going to fly by with all the stuff that is going on.  We are already completely booked this week!  I know that my time is coming to an end but that is not going to stop me from giving it my all.  I loved general conference and one of the things that stuck out to me was the word LOVE.  I can't slack off now because of my LOVE towards my Heavenly Father.  I can't slack off now because of my LOVE towards the Norwegian people and I can't slack off now because I LOVE this country!

I know that the words spoken at General Conference are true.  These men and women are inspired of God and they have a message for the world.  If we heed to their council we will grow in wisdom and knowledge.  Thanks for all of your support and I look forward to hearing from you all next week.  Love you all!


Eldste Godfrey

April 1, 2013

GOD PÅSKE ALLE SAMMEN!!!  (Happy Easter everyone)

How are all y'all doin in K-town?  We have finally received some spring weather here in Norway and it has been really nice.  We had day light savings on Saturday night so we now get up and it's light and we get home at nine and it's still pretty light.  I love the light ha ha! 

It has been a good week for Elder V and I to build our area back up.  We have a big pool of potential investigators right now.  We witnessed a miracle this week with a kid named A.  He is a 28 year old Norwegian that was taught by the missionaries over nine months ago.  He sent us a text message wishing us a happy Easter.  I told V that this is a sign and we need to visit him and start teaching him.  Well we did just that and he was happy that we came to visit him.  He told the missionaries nine months ago that he wasn't interested in changing and didn't want to learn any more.  Well...during these last nine months the Lord has been softening his heart to accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. 

It was crazy cool how interested he was in learning more and meeting with us.  He has been studying the Book of Mormon and one of the commandments he wasn't willing to live before, now he wants to live.  It was a huge miracle!  He was basically just asking us to baptize him!  Well, we invited him to church and he came.  On top of all that, President Evans invited him over to his house for an Easter dinner.  It was perfect!  Even though half the ward was gone for Easter we still had a lot of good fellowshippers.  A told me after church how great all the people are and how he felt good in church.  At the Easter dinner we had all the missionaries from Oslo including the senior couple, us, President, Sister E, five members from the Sandvika ward and A. 

Four out of the five members are recent converts in the last couple of years.  We had a great time and ate lots of food!  We will be meeting with A on Tuesday and hopefully get a baptismal date with him for the end of April!  The Lord has blessed us with a lot of success this last week despite the Easter holiday.  Where we found the most success is just finding people on the way to appointments or try backs.  I have a very strong testimony that the Lord prepares people along the path. 

I'm super excited for General Conference this weekend and it's going to be a spiritual feast.  I will be looking for a lot of inspiration and revelation for my life when I get home and for the month that I have left on my mission.  By the way... President and Sister E said that we could stay with them if we want to come back to Norway before they are released.  We could do it this summer or the next. 

D is doing great after her baptism and her friends in Kenya have been contacted by the missionaries there.  Last I heard the missionaries had actually taught them and had given the books of Mormon to read.  They were also planning on going to church in Kenya.  It's really cool to see the domino affect of bringing one soul unto Christ.  The Lord is merciful!


Easter is great time of year to celebrate the atonement of Jesus Christ.  We as humans have two obstacles to overcome in this life because of the fall of Adam.  Many times we call it physical death and spiritual death or you can see death and sin prevents us from coming back to God.  Because of these two obstacles we needed a Savior to come to the Earth and help us out.  In fact without Him we are hopeless!  Because of Christ's suffering in the garden of Gethsemane we can overcome sin if we do our part which is believing in, "the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel...first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost." 

Christ's death on the cross and his resurrection, qualifies us to overcome death.  What an amazing gift that he has given to all mankind on the Earth!  I know that Christ lives today and that he leads this church through "apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth."  I hope you all have a great week and I look forward to hearing from you all again! Love you all!


Eldste Godfrey

March 25, 2013

Hey family,

D got baptized!!!  We had a wonderful meeting Sunday morning and it was a great experience for her.  We had a really good turn out to the baptism especially with Easter weekend.  The entire country shuts down Easter week and everyone goes to their cabins or to their second homes in Spain and France.  D was so happy and it was a huge blessing to be part of her baptism.  It will be cool when her two daughters get baptized in the next few years. 

One of the nights this week that we were teaching her, she got her cell phone out and started calling someone.  Come to find out, she was giving us a referral of 19 year old boy from Kenya named F.  She gave me the phone and I talked to this kid in Kenya.  It was way legit!  I told him we would contact the missionaries in Kenya so he could be taught.  He kept telling me thanks and expressed how grateful he was that he can learn more about the gospel.  I didn't feel like I did anything to be thanked for but I hope that the missionaries get in contact with him.  D also has a son who is 19 who is friends with F.  It would be so cool if they became members over there.  I would probably have to make a trip down to Kenya.  Who wants to go on that adventure with me? haha. 

We had a really busy week this week with two zone conferences.  In our mission and maybe in all the missions around the world we have whats called a burnomy.  When a missionary has their last zone conference they go up and bear their testimony and basically share what they have learned some advice for the other missionaries.  Well I held my burnomy this last week.  It was a sad day...

I have been studying about the gathering of Israel lately which is a topic that I don't know a lot about.  I have been able to learn a lot about the history of the old testament as well as the importance of the gathering of Israel.  We as members of the church play a big role in this great work of gathering the lost tribes of Israel.  We live in an exciting time with the restored church on the Earth and the technology that we have to help spread this message to all the ends of the Earth.  I'm way excited for Jake to devote two years of his life to this great work.  I hope I can give him a few tips or pointers before he goes on his mission if he will listen to me ha ha. 

Well we have been doing a lot of traveling and it's just going to pick up in the coming weeks.  We were in Trondheim this week for zone conference and definitely have this flying thing down now ha ha.  Elder Van Wagoner and have just planned a trip to the north where we will fly to four cites in 48 hours and spend time with each companionship.  We will first fly to Alta and spend about a half a day there.  We will then fly to Tromsø, Bodø, and Narvik before we fly home.  It will be a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to that adventure.  This trip will be on the 10th through the 12th of April and then in the coming weeks we will be flying to Trondheim and Stavanger. 

I love the gospel and love studying from the scriptures.  My biggest advice to Jake right now is just study the scriptures and Preach my Gospel.  Preach my Gospel wasn't just written to help you know what to teach your investigators or to help you become a better missionary, it was written to convert YOU!!!  You have to be converted to the gospel first before you can help others become converted!  I love you all and I hope you all have a great week.

Eldste Godfrey

March 18, 2013

A frozen dock in the middle of a fjord

Hey y'all!

First and foremost, GRATULERE MED DAGEN MOREN MIN!!! (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!) or should I say, Joyeux anniversaire maman in french!

I hope you had a great birthday watching Jakob open up his call to Paris France!  That will be way cool!  President Evans said his mission president is french and his wife doesn't speak English.  He will be very wise and will know how to touch the french people's hearts.  Jakob is about to embark on a great journey!  I'm excited for this next phase of his life and he is going to be a wonderful missionary! 

I was gone over the weekend in Stavanger for the west zone conference.  It went very well and everyone left uplifted and with the spirit.  We stayed Friday night at the Stavanger apartment along with 12 other missionaries. We had a great time together and what amazed me the most was their obedience.  Everyone was in bed by 10:30pm and everyone was up by 6:30am.  We have great missionaries serving in the west zone and they are great examples to me. 

This week we will have zone conference in Oslo and then we will be flying to Trondheim on Thursday for zone conference in the north.  It will be a really busy week because D will be getting baptized on Sunday too. She passed her interview and they announced it in church on Sunday.  I'm excited for her baptism and the decision that she has made to be baptized.  We have a lot of potentials in our area right now and our entire pool of investigators are referrals from the members.

It has taken me almost two years to figure out the best way to do missionary work is through the members ha ha.  They have been awesome and with our limited time to contact it has been a huge blessing.  We had an open house last night at the church about the plan of salvation.  We had three stations where members and non-members would discuss questions about where we came from, why we are here, and where are we going after this life.  It was a great set up and we had three members that brought a friend with them.

It was an absolute tender mercy of the Lord.  Two of them are very interested in meeting with us and learning more about the church.  One will be coming to church on Sunday and then we will meet with her afterwards.  It was a huge miracle and the Lord is blessing us so much.  Earlier in the week we got in with a part member family that the ward referred us to and the non-member has agreed to take all the missionary lessons.  It's an exciting time to be serving a mission right now not just in Norway but around the world. 

I know that the Lord works miracles according to our faith and our willingness to act!  We as members can call upon the powers of heaven for guidance and receive strength from on high.  What a wonderful blessing it us to be part of Christ's church on the Earth.  I love you all very much and I look forward to hearing from you all next week.


Eldste Godfrey

March 11, 2013

Hi y'all!

I'm way excited to find out where Jake will be serving a mission!  He is going to be a great missionary!  I think you better wait to let me know until Monday so I can stay focused during this next week.  We had a really busy week with the twelve new missionaries we received.  Three got delayed and were sent to the Montana mission until they get their visa's.  We basically lived at the mission home for three days. 

We went and picked up everyone at the airport on Tuesday afternoon.  Everyone was so excited to be there and they are an amazing group of missionaries.  We ate dinner with all of them that night and helped them adapt to their new surroundings.  We started early the next day on orientation and preparing the new missionaries to hit the field.  We left during one of the presentations and went and bought some new phones for the mission. 

Elder Van Wagoner and I had a fun adventure finding the phone store in Oslo and then dropping several thousand dollars on phones.  President and Sister Evans wanted the new i Phones so we got those too.  They look pretty cool!  We were setting the phones up for them and boy am i out of the technology world.  I didn't know how to do anything.  Smart phones were expensive and a new thing for me before my mission and now everyone has a smart phone besides missionaries of course. 

We did some practical training with the new missionaries after lunch up unto dinner.  After dinner we had an amazing testimony meeting and I was a little envious of these new missionaries that are about to start on a amazing adventure in Norway.  On Thursday we had the big moves day where we were busy the entire day.  That night we ate dinner with the missionaries that are departing.  Elder Bekker and Elder Sessions served great missions and I looked up to them a lot.  Elder Bekker's parents and two brothers came to pick him up.

It was weird seeing them and this whole going home thing hit my like a ton of bricks.  I began to realize that this adventure is not going to last forever.  I don't want to go home... I'm excited about seeing you guys and everything I'm going to do when I get home but I don't want this adventure to come to an end.  The testimony meeting we had after dinner was incredible but man is it going to be hard to leave behind all these people I care about.  I'm grateful for the two months I have left!

I haven't received the birthday cards yet but thanks for caring about me.  All I wanted to do was teach people on my birthday so we had appointments lined up the entire day and we had finished the office work the day before.  Sister Evans made me a birthday dinner and cake as you saw in the picture. 

D is doing well. We are still planning on baptizing her on the 24th.  We met this way cool kid named B

Happy 21st Birthday

that we taught last night.  He wants a Book of Mormon so we are going to be teaching him tonight again.  He is also from Kenya but grew up in Norway.  He is a big time soccer player and used to have dreads.  He is way cool and his mom is interested in hearing more about the gospel too.

In the mission we send out a newsletter each month that all the missionaries get.  President and the assistants always write an article and I thought I would share with you all the article I wrote for March.  I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

Eldste Godfrey