How are you all doing? Everything is going really well here in Trondheim. Things died a little this week because of Easter-Norwegians are given a week to travel, so everyone leaves. It was
interesting. But luckily, we still had some success. :)
We found this guy named Joao. He is a student from Portugal and he is super cool. He came to general conference last week and have taught him a few times. He is very interested in learning more about the
gospel. :) He came and played volleyball with some of the YSA on Saturday and he fit right in! We have a feeling that he is going to be baptized soon! :) Pray for him!
We had a little miracle yesterday in church! Our magazine journalists came to church with us to see what it was like- research for the article. It was so good to see them! I love those girls! :) Anyways,
as I was talking to them for a little while, when I was summoned out by a member because a woman was there to see me. I didn't recognize her, but then I realized that she was a woman we talked to on the street a few days ago. We gave her a card with a map to the church and invited her to come on Sunday... but we of little faith didn't think that she would actually come. Too late! She did! :) After church, she asked to talk to me. She told me that she thought it was a miracle that we talked to her that day! She had met the missionaries before, but this time it was special. :) She is supposed to be coming next week as well!
I love your idea to read from Preach my Gospel as a family. That book is wonderful! It makes the gospel so simple and helps us understand how we can be better members and better missionaries! Let me know how it goes! If you want, you guys can tell me where you are reading and I will make sure to read the same part every week and make comments about it in my emails to you all. :)
So here is part 2 to Marianne's story:
I had studied so hard for this girl and we were so prepared going into our meeting- we felt like everything we were doing was guided by the Spirit. So I told you a little bit about the situation last week- she was wondering about how to be more comfortable with herself and others. Right before our appointment, we felt like we should bring up a passage of scripture that Sister Butterfield had studied that morning in Mosiah 18:8-10. There, it talks about Alma (the elder who heard the preachings of Abinadi and fled from King Noah) and the people he was teaching. He talks to them about how when they are willing to help others and stand as a witness of God, then they are ready to enter into the covenant of baptism. We felt like it would help her see that once she has used the Atonement in her own life, she would be able to love people more freely and then be prepared to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. When she came, we started with a prayer and then we asked her to express a little bit about what she has been feeling and what led her to the point of wanting to meet with missionaries again. She talked about how she was holding onto things that had happened in her past that were insignificant, but painful. From there, we barely followed our plan. Ha ha! I shared with her my
experience and the Spirit was so strong. We read the passage in Alma 7:11-15 and talked about what Christ suffered for, why He did it, and then how we can access it. I told her that this was probably my
favorite passage in the Book of Mormon. That was interesting that I said that- right after I did, she told us that she had wanted to ask us for our favorite passages before she came. (We answered her
question before she could ask it! whoa...) Sister Butterfield shared verses from 2 Nephi 4 about how God carries us. It all fit so nicely! Then we asked her if she had been reading in the Book of Mormon. She had and she said that she had stopped at Alma 5 a long time ago, so when she started back up, she back-tracked a little to understand the context of what she was reading. This morning, she was reading in Mosiah 18... WHOA!!! She said it was a nice chapter and she really liked the things that it said. It was perfect! We talked about those verses that I mentioned before and how when she comes to know who she is, she will be able to love others and be who He wants her to be. This girl is amazing! She is so prepared. I am so grateful for the guidance of the Spirit! It was amazing to see how God's hand was over all three of us in bringing Marianne closer to Him. I love this work! :) So we will actually be meeting with her again this week. Poor thing- she has had a hard life. You can just tell! She puts up this "tough girl" thing when you first meet her, but when we were talking, you could just see how broken she is! I love her to pieces and all I want is for her to be happy!
Well family, I love you so very much!! I miss you and can't wait to skype in a few weeks! :)
Have a great week!
♥- Søster Taylor
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