Largest Mission in the World

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

5 layers of wallpaper off of some very old walls, and it rained and hailed the whole time in Bergen (but that wasn't a surprise). Oh also, 

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