Week 38

Hi Family!!!

How are you all doing? It was so good hearing from all of you this week- it makes me so happy! :) 

Everything is going well here in Trondheim! The weather is very mild... Nothing too exciting. It is cold, but not too bad. The scariest part is that the streets are covered in ice and so we have to walk like 90+ year olds where ever we go. It is really funny because that is how everyone walks around! I call it the Trondheim shuffle. I will show you what it is like when I get home. :) I can't believe that I am almost on the downhill climb... SCARY!!! It is going by so fast...

Training is an interesting experience. I feel so inadequate, but I am trying my best to keep everything under wraps. I am never quite sure what I am doing and I kind of just fly by the seat of my pants. Too Late! Hopefully Sister Campbell turns out ok... Sister Grass is leaving me today for Oslo. That is a little scary. I love that girl! She is so amazing! I am going to miss her tons and tons...

We received a lot of recognition from our newspaper article. It really made a stand here in Trondheim and I guess Elder Davis and the other AP were on the Norwegian news. So everyone is talking about "The Mormons" right now. I just can't help but feel so blessed to have the knowledge of the gospel and to be able to be a representative of Jesus Christ! It is quite the privilege!

So this week we had Specialized training with President and Sister Johansen. They flew up to Trondheim for the day and shared some wisdom with us. It was really good to hear from them- I love their advice! It always pumps me up! :) They are really trying to step up the way we do missionary work. Because our goal is 100 baptisms before the end of June, we really have to become the most effective, diligent, and obedient missionaries so that we can be worthy of the blessings we need to reach it.

This week, we got 2 baptismal dates. One is for a nine year old, named Mariell. Her mom is a member from the Phillipines and her father is Norwegian and is against the church. He told her that she had to wait until she was 9 to be baptized (which is perfect because now she is a convert baptism!). She has been taught all of the lessons, received her interview, and will be baptized next Sunday morning. Yahoo! :) The other is for a man named Wanda. He is from Africa and we met him on the street last week. He was really open the first time we talked and told us that he felt like he needed to listen to us right when he met us. He is really cool- he works for non-profit organizations that try to prevent sexual abuse of children in Africa. The last time we taught him, he basically asked us when he could be baptized! We set his goal for the 18th of February and we are going to do everything to help him reach it! We are still teaching Marita- she has a baptismal date for the 7th of April. We are hoping that we will be able to move that up a few months... We will see what happens. She really wants to finish the Book of Mormon before she is baptized, which is admirable. :) We are teaching some other random people here and there and doing lots of finding- we need to find the elect! :)

Ok- so last night we experienced a miracle. It was after 9, so we were inside planning for today when we received a phone call from our zone leaders; 2 words- NORTHERN LIGHTS!!! We ran outside and saw them dancing across the sky- it was the most spectacular thing I have ever seen in my entire life! I don't even have to words to tell you how wonderful it was to see them!!!

I am just feeling so blessed! I love this gospel so much and I know it is true! I am so grateful to be able to share it with these people! Happy, happy, HAPPY!!! :)

Well, I love you all so very much! ...and I miss you all too. I hope you all have a great week! Vi snakkes! :)


♥-Søster Jessica Taylor