Faith to Find

Kjære famile og venner!

Knask eller knep! That means: trick or treat! We did in fact, knock on some doors on Wednesday night. We ran into a member of the church on the bus last week (she and her husband haven't been in a long time) and asked if we could practice a lesson with them. Our appointment was on Halloween night and it was so fun to see kids going trick-or-treating on our way! We arrived at C. & E.'s home. We invited E. to join us while we practiced with his wife, C. He seemed skeptical, but came anyway. We had a great visit! We got to know them, taught them about the Book of Mormon, and how to know if it's true. It was a lesson straight from "The District" (that's a series of training videos for missionaries), it was so good! Even if we've found out for a first time the Book of Mormon is true, the more frequently we receive a confirmation of it's truthfulness, the stronger our testimony becomes! We have another appointment with them this week! Ni Chum! He became a new person we're teaching this week. We met him on the street on Thursday on our way back to downtown Asker from community service. We both felt like we should talk to him. He had met with elders a few years ago and still has his Book of Mormon! We set up a DAT for the next day and he came! He told us during our first appointment that he felt like he had "lost God" and needed a boost in the very moment we talked to him! Heavenly Father's timing was perfect! He has a strong faith in Jesus Christ and wants to learn how to prioritize God in his life. He is from Burma originally but has lived in Norway a long time. We teach him in Norwegian. We invited him to be baptized during the second lesson, and it opened up a great discussion. Now we know what his concerns are. He doesn't understand yet the need to be baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We reviewed and taught him more about the priesthood authority of Jesus Christ. We invited him to also study and pray on his own to know if it's true. Things I am grateful for:

A fantastic ward mission leader. He helps to coordinate members present on our lessons and has gotten ministering sisters set up for a girl we're teaching thinking about being baptized.
Public transportation. It is my favorite place to talk to people and share the Gospel. We "contact along the way" to our other appointments. Heavenly Father keeps placing people in our path on buses and trains that are receptive to the Gospel.
People who hold appointments. Though it's frustrating when people either cancel or don't show up to appointments, it makes me grateful for people who do.
Dugnads! A dugnad is a community service project. Our apartment complex building has the fall dugnad, where all the neighbors help to rake leaves, cut the grass, and do general clean up before winter comes. One of our neighbors said she's seen the Book of Mormon musical in Oslo and has the Book of Mormon on her night stand! She is going to start reading. Service is a great way to show other people who we are: disciples of Jesus Christ.
Asker library. It's been closed for a while, but now that it's open it's much easier to email on P-days! It's newly renovated and also has available places to teach lessons.
Members! Our ward mission leader suggested that we ask a family to host a lesson for one of the people we're teaching. We sent her a message and she responded "Yes!" She told us at church that she had just said a prayer asking for ways to share the Gospel when we asked her! She got a little emotional as she shared her experience. As a matter of fact, she is also an answer to my prayers, as I've prayed to know who could fellowship the people we're teaching. It feels so good to be an answer to someone else's prayers!
Our mission focus. We are focusing on developing "the faith to find, teach, and baptize". Our mission is known to be a low-baptizing mission, but doesn't mean we have any less miracles. I reread Elder Uchtdorf's talk "Fourth Floor, Last Door" and was really touched by this quote.

"Faith means that we trust not only in God’s wisdom but that we trust also in His love. It means trusting that God loves us perfectly, that everything He does—every blessing He gives and every blessing He, for a time, withholds—is for our eternal happiness. With this kind of faith, though we may not understand why certain things happen or why certain prayers go unanswered, we can know that in the end everything will make sense. “All things [will] work together for good to them that love God.” All will be made right. All will be well. We can be certain that answers will come, and we may be confident that we will not only be content with the answers but we will also be overwhelmed by the grace, mercy, generosity, and love of our Heavenly Father for us, His children." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Fourth Floor, Last Door" October 2016

Whether we're "developing the faith to find" people to teach, "find" a job, that a loved one will "find their faith", or "finding faith" to overcome our other challenges, the principles are the same. Faith without works is dead, but it is by [the] grace [of Jesus Christ] we are saved after all we can do (James 2:17-18; 2 Nephi 25:23).

I have been learning to trust in Heavenly Father more deeply. Trusting in Him, His timing, and His love. Trusting when I don't understand why "success" isn't coming in the way I thought or when things seem stuck. Trusting that He's shaping me into a better person through all of it, into a converted disciple of Jesus Christ.

Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

Isaiah 55:8-9: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

I know that everything in this life is meant for our growth and happiness, even the challenges of everyday mortal life. His great work is to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life. After all, Heavenly Father called it His "plan of happiness". He loves you!

Love,

Søster Jessica Brimhall

Pictures via link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/efty6tDyCY3N87LV9

Søster Madsen and I at a moose statue in Borgen!
The district planning innebandy on P-day (street hockey).
Weekly planning at a cafe.
Got to see a previous companion who had finished her misison, Søster Horgmo, at the Oslo Institute Center! She helped us hand out copies of the Book of Mormon after the musical.
The rest of the pictures are our P-day hike around Semsvannet, which is a lake in Asker. We thought the picture behind the gate was funny because we had just read 2 Nephi 31:17 which says "For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost".

Pictures via attachment:

MTC trio October 2017.
MTC trio October 2018. What commonalities do the pictures have? :)