Well, Elder Årsnes and I are back together for round two! It's been fun reflecting on our time in Tromsø and it makes me realize how much I miss that place! Elder Årsnes grew up in the ward just north of Oslo, so he already knows the Oslo ward better than me!
We have set a district goal this transfer to conquer the ward list. One of the problems with the Oslo ward is that it is so big. 750 members! And only 180 that come every Sunday. It can be intimidating for new missionaries to come here and face the impossible task of getting to know the ward, and the even harder task of doing reactivation work. During this six weeks we have committed to identify all 750 members and then record a little about them so future missionaries don't need to waste time trying back members that have moved or are 'ikke interessert.' Oslo is a ward with so much missionary potential! I know once it gets that strong foundation things are going to take off!
We rarely do banking here in Oslo because we spend so much time in the city, but yesterday Elder Årsnes and I had some fun banking on some apartments. It made me think of Erik because there are no houses, just block apartments like Erik describes in his letters. It was interesting because we were on our way to try back this family from Rwanda and I happened to sit by one of their sons on the T-Bane ride over there! It was cool to share a Book of Mormon with their family and to see how God watches out for the people that we teach. We found a couple other families that night that we were able share a message with as well. Nothing better than finding those that are willing to listen with open ears/hearts!
I had a a bit of a sore throat that I am recovering from this week. It was a little frustrating with street contacting not being able to speak very loud and having my voice crack a lot. I actually scared a few people haha.
I'm doing great and loving it out here! Got a bunch of snow this week! Someone in the ward said it was -45 in Minnesota? Dang! We have a zone conference with Elder Kopischke on Friday! Group Pday on Thursday, but we got a little time to write today!
Love,
Eldste Parkinson
