HEY Parkinson fam!
It's going to be a short one this week! We have been really busy trying to catch up on stuff that we procrastinated till after the Johnson Conference and the office was moved. Things are starting to get settled here, though, and we are learning quickly when and where the traffic is in Oslo.
We had an awesome splits over in Stavanger this week. We did a lot of finding and some cool experiences. In order to break up our day a little bit we decided to go out on the streets at 9 in the morning for an hour and finish up our studies afterwards. It was raining and cold and we were not having much success. As we were getting close to the end of the hour we saw a man off in the distance that I felt an urge to talk to...only problem was that he was going the wrong way. After a couple second hesitation we both just started chasing him down and yelled "Unnskyld" ("Pardon") super loud about 4 times. He finally turned around and it turns out he investigated the church a while back and lost contact with the missionaries. He invited us into the library and we taught him right then and there and he became a new investigator! That experience was a big energy boost for both of us. Being bold and doing crazy things to follow the promptings of the spirit is a key to getting excited about missionary work and avoiding complacency. I still remember those kind of experiences from the beginning of my mission and they still provide those needed sparks today!
This week I read the talk entitled
"Feed my Sheep" by Ulisses Soares. It's an awesome talk that is very applicable to missionary work. I have been thinking a lot about the power of love as well as the effort required to receive God's love. It's been one of the main focuses of the mission since President Hill came and something I have been focusing on as I read through the Book of Mormon. I loved this quote from the talk:
"People are most receptive to our influence when they feel that we truly love them, and not only because we have a calling to fulfill. As we express true love for people, they will be able to feel the influence of the Spirit and may feel motivated to follow our teachings."
We are heading into week 6 and are getting 14 new elders the week after! Hoping that there arrival goes a little smoother than last time.
Love you all!
Eldste Parkinson
