Jan 19, 2015
Kjære alle sammen,
I named the subject of the email the largest mission in the
world because geographically, our mission is the largest. This translates into
a LOT of time spent travelling! This week the north and west zones got together
for a conference where a member of the 70 would address us. We arrived on Wednesday morning and
left Friday morning. It was really fun to see some of my friends from
the MTC. :)
The biggest thing that I learned and would like to apply from the
conference is my view of missionary work. My view has been a little, um okay
yeah I'll just say it. I was completely wrong. I thought I had to find people
and work with them, preparing them to receive the gospel. but good news!
That is not even my responsibility at all! Over and over again in the
scriptures we get God's view of missionary work. "behold, the field is
white, already to harvest". this applies to Norway in 2 senses. 1) it is
actually literally white here because of the snow. :) and 2) the Lord has
prepared people to receive his gospel. I am not responsible for miracles nor am
I to blame when people do not keep commitments. The only thing I am responsible
for is faith. And true faith is going to lead me to action. Faith really is the
very first principle of the gospel, and the first thing we need to develop and
grasp in any aspect.
The 70 talked about how faith is a principle of action and
power. Using Alma 32:27-29, he created a faith cycle. First,he showed how we as
humans are responsible for the action part. To have faith in anything, We need
to 1)have a desire to believe 2) give place in our hearts-try it out, entertain
the thought and feelings that it could be true, and 3) do not cast the feelings
out. Second half of the cycle shows is God's power. That our hearts will begin
to swell, 2) that we will become enlightened and 3) our knowledge and faith
will increase. How cool is that? It was exactly what I needed to hear. I am
learning a lot about faith and what I can do to increase it and have more. This
truly was answer to prayer. God answers prayer when we ASK and work to find
answers. He is loving and wants us to learn when we are ready to learn his
truths.
Couple of fun facts about the week: I played my violin at the
conference, I slipped again on the ice (It is a talent!), our flight back to Trondheim got delayed and so they gave us free breakfast on the plane, I gave
my very first talk på norsk yesterday in church, we found a guy that has 4
copies of the book of mormon in his house (only problem is language barrier...
he has a hard time expressing himself in Norwegian, his first language is
french), I was in a trio with 2 greenies the other day, We helped someone rip
I wish for all to have a fantastic week, and encourage you to
think about something you want to have more faith in, and try the faith cycle
out. I love you and thank you for your prayers and support. ha en skikkelig god
uke mine venner! (have a really good week my friends!)
Med Kjærlighet,
Søster Stephanie Joy Williams
