9/15/14

Hey guys!

Happy Anniversary Mom and DAd!!!!!I Love you guys!
 

The weekend with elder Bednar was amazing. HE really will be my favorite probably. ITs not often that you get such a personal experience with an apostle. Where they are having a discussion with you instead of just talking.  Its pretty dang cool. I loved it.  Definitely wont forget that one so easy.  Ive been trying so hard the last week to be an agent when i pray as well as in other things and trying to help other people be agents instead of making them objects. Its a hard thing to do sometimes.  You just want people to make the right choices and to do what is going to help them progress. But when we make them objects, we take away their agency. We take away their open choice. I think thats a lot of what pmg is really about. Especially with the teaching people not lessons. WE are teaching specific people with specific needs and we should treat them as such and teach what we think they need but what they really need. It takes more patience sometimes, because you have to discern what they really need.  But it really is how we are supposed to do this work.  Its pretty amazing though! Im so excited to see conference too. Its almost here! Just a couple more weeks.  Thatll definitely be a good one.

This week was pretty good. We didnt have anything too exciting happen. But we are really trying to get the relationship with the ward.  We are really trying with the youths here. THere will be lots of good that will come if we get the relationship going.  The stake (and elder bednar) are really pushing missionary work hard. I hope the ward catches onto it and actually does something about it.  That would help norway and moss especially a ton.  There are so many members who think theyve already done what they can and they cant do anything else. But things will pick up i hope.  

Thanks for your love and support! I love you guys! HAve a great week!

Love Elder NEwey

9/7/14 Conference with Elder Bednar

HEy everybody! 

This last week was way good.  MOstly because of bednar. IT was awesome. Ill talk about that later though.  But this week was good otherwise.  We had quite a bit of good stuff going.  WE got 

one of the young men to drive us around on thursday and try people back. It went really well... We had one lady who we've knoked into a few times but she was always busy and she said she would come to church next week. That was good. Plus her boyfriend gave the youth a playstation that he didn't think worked. E tried it and it worked.  HA he was happy. Hes claiming blessings for going out with the missionaries.  None of the other people really wanted to talk then.. But it was good anyway.  Then on friday E came with us to teach A. WE finally got in to teah her! IT was awesome to. When she was at church she got an invitation to the wards temple trip in oktober.  She was telling us she really wanted to go. We had to explain that she couldnt go inside unless she was baptized. SHe was like oh ok. What does one have to do to be baptized? We told her she has to believe and take all the lessons.  SHe was interested. BUt she just said oh i need to finish the book before i make a choice.  But that was huge for us! Then we invited her to the bednar conference and she decided to come. J wasnt able to make it. but A went.  also on saturday we decided to show the joseph smith video at the church and we invited tons of people. A came and B and K. B's american and he is dating K who is norwegian and we are teaching him norwegian. We got them to the movie night and they all loved it.  IT was awesome.  They sent a  text the next day saying how cool it was.  .  But then sunday came and it was awesome.  We traveled up to the senter where they had the conference and waited for a while. Then bednar came in. IT was awesome. Right when he walked in everyone stood up really fast and it just went silent. It was amazing.  I wish J could have been there .  He talked directly to all the non members at the beginning. He basically did a restoration lesson and almost basically said you have to be stupid not to believe in this church.  (He did use stupid a few times)  hes awesome.  He then talked about how easy it is to do missionary work.  His quote. " just live the gospel and be weird." He talked about how it is different to be a member of this church and that when people see how different we are they will ask questions because we are weird.  compared to the world.  It was really cool.  The spirit was super strong. I like the slogan for missionary wok to be as bednar said it " just live it" Just live it and people will ask questions and all you have to do is answer them.  And he promised that people would ask questions. We just have to answer them right.  THen he told them to learn from africa... to humble themselves. It was cool.  Then we had to run out of the conference senter and grab a sandwich at the door and then get out to the church building for the missionary meeting. I was kinda bummed. I didnt get to say hi to a lot of the members from bergen or porsgrunn. I saw a couple of them but not too many.  But then the missionary meeting was epic.  When he came into the chapel it was even more powerful and quiet when we all stood up. It was really cool because he just acted like a real person.  Of course he is one but it was just cool to see.  He held a discussion with us. He didnt want to just talk to us but he kept telling us to stop being nervous at the beginning. He introduced himself as brother ballard too. It was funny. But he asked a few questoins and let us ask him questions. A lot of what i got out of it was that we need to be agents and not objects.  We need to stop praying for things to happen to other people and to start praying to be the one to help people. Instead of saying in your prayer " please bless those that weren't here to be here next week" say please bless us now to go out and find those that werent here and to bring them next week.  Thats the secret. We cant expect God to just do things we cant just ask for things to happen. We have to actually ask for help so that we can make these things happen. Im struggling a little to explain my thinking haha. But basically we just need to take more responsibility and to actually be willing to do stuff. To be ready to actully act. To ask for things to do instead of for him to do things for us.  It was a really powerfull meeting.  So be an agent that acts not an object that is acted upon! Oh and he talked about christs love. How really, God loves us so much, he will make things happen in a way just ot help one person. Elder Bednar said hes been sent to areas to bless just one persons life.  He called it the one by one principle.  That God really loves every single person individualy and that he helps people individually. ITs really amazing.  But yeah.  It was a pretty good weekend.  I loved it.  Thanks for you guys prayers and support. Tell rylee to stop poking me every night.  and i love you guys!

Love elder NEwey

9/1/14

Hey Guys!

Thats sad summer is dying.  That is never a good time. I hate how school kills that. You guys might be cooling off faster than we are here.  We have been fairly warm still except for a few days of rain. Its no good because my shoes that i bought a while ago, no matter how much the lady at the store said they'd be fine for walking around in, were not made for missionary work.  The big holes in the bottoms let in a lot of water... haha But I am on the lookout for cheap shoes. I am pretty disappointed in those shoes.  Plus Im told we will be getting ipads soon, and we have to pay 400 dollars for them. THats a lot of money!  Things are going well though. I get really excited about potentials we get lately because those have been hard to find, but they usually tell us they changed their mind and they really dont want to hear a message anymore.  Lame.  But things are going well though.  REally excited for the bednar conference this weekend.  We had moves call yesterday morning. Im staying here in moss, but elder g is leaving. SO im getting a new companion, elder G.  I think hes from utah from what ive heard.  I dont know too much about him.  Im pretty excited for all thats going to happen here with the bednar conference.  We're hoping that j can come. I might even get to see l from bergen if she comes. Shes been meeting with the misisonaries for a long time now.  I heard she was really close to baptism last time i talked to the missionaries there.  Itll be way cool though. There will be members from all over norway. Im excited.  This last week though we did some more banking and kontakting and stuff. It was fun.  There hasnt been too much exciting happening here.  THanks so much for the package though.  American candy is good. ANd jacob, thanks for the little boulder. It sure makes me feel bolder… haha Im jealous of how to train your dragon two! Ill have to watch it in norwegian when it comes out on dvd haha.  The first one is really good.  Today we are having pday in halden with some of the district. Itll be cool. We're going to se an old fort and the sweden norway border line. Itll be fun.  SOunds like you are all doing well though.  :)  I might need some recipes for healthy snack. THat are cheap. And the ingredients actually exist in norway.  Youd be surprised how hard that is sometimes.  Hope you guys have fun hiking today! 

This last week ive been reading a few talks by elder bednar that he requested all the missionaries to read to prepare us for our meeting. They were really good. HE talked about how important it is to be converted and how we really need to not just have a testimony but also be converted. HE talked about what it really means to be converted.  Then in sacrament meeting ysterday we had testimony meeting and i was thinking about what it means to have a testimony. in norwegian testimony is vitnesbyrd which literally means wittnesses burden.  I liked thinking about it that way.  I thought about how if you have a testimony and you act on it it is like having the burden of one who witnessed or found for themselves that something was true. Its added responsibility.  That is true conversion. When it is a burden. not in a bad way. But when you realize you believe in something so you have to act on it and live up to the responsibility you have been given by knowing.  ANyway thats just ben something on my mind. I hope you guys have a great week! Love you all! 

Love Elder Newey