It's been quite the week! I've been thinking this week about when I entered the MTC and how long the first few days were and how fast the learning curve was. In a way, my first few days here in Sandvika have felt a lot like that. Long days filled with so many new things to learn. My new Comp is Elder Duncan from Utah! Another tall guy that is way passionate about the work and way fun to serve with!
One thing we decided right at the beginning of the transfer is that we are going to do everything in our power to spend as much time as possible NOT in the office. Because we have so much office work to do (buying plane tickets, planning meetings, discussing transfers) it can be easy to get trapped in the office and not really have time to focus on our own area. But, It's been cool to see the Lord bless us this week as we have used as much time as possible to proselyte.
We get to drive this huge 9 passenger van (we call it "the Wan"). This is mainly so that we can drive lots of missionaries at a time as well as their luggage. One thing that is hard when you have a car area is that you can't really find on the way...at least that's what I thought. Eder Duncan and I have started this new contacting method that has actually been pretty successful. We'll be driving somewhere and we'll drive by someone walking along the road that looks cool (hungry for the gospel). We quickly pull a U-turn and park the car somewhere pretty sketch and as Elder Duncan mans the car I run out and contact the person! It really gets you motivated to make it the best possible contact when you consider the circumstances leading up to it. We saw some cool miracles from this "Wan finding."
Sunday was the big 17. Mai celebration! We, along with half of the missionaries in the mission, got to go up to Oslo for it! The weather wasn't great, but it was an awesome experience! We had tickets at the Kings Palace for the big parade and I got some good pics that I'll try and send! Norwegians are really passionate about their national holiday and it was great to have a reminder about the blessings and importance of freedom.
I have been thinking a lot lately about our purpose as missionaries. Over the last 15 months I have invested so much time in becoming more skilled with the language, developing teachings skills, being more familiar with the scriptures, etc. I am grateful for all that I have learned and for all that I have left to learn. But, looking back, as important as skills are, I think the best way to gage our success is by our personal conversion to Jesus Christ and our love for the people we are serving. And I think it is those two things that are going to make the biggest difference as we strive to help others develop their own conversion.
Everybody needs to check out the new Mormon message LIFT. I think it is by far my favorite Mormon message yet. "Looking outward heals the souls." Elder Duncan and I have been using it as our pump up video right before we leave the office!
have a great week!
Love,
Eldste Parkinson
Eldste Parkinson
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| 17 Mai Celebration |
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| Elder Duncan and some Norwegians in their "Bunad" dresses |
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| More Bunads |
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| RUSS. Students in their last year of high school do this thing called "Russ" the few weeks before 17. Mai in which they wear these same overalls every single day! I don't quite understand why, but it's a big thing here. |
