January

August 2010

D&C 101:63-4 . . . I say unto you, I will show unto you wisdom in me concerning all the churches, in as much as
they are willing to be guided in a right and proper way for their salvation--- that the work of the gathering
together of my saints may continue . . . for the time of harvest is come, and my word must needs be fulfilled.

Message from the President

Dear Elders and Sisters,
The new year has brought incredible blessings for our mission. With 40 investigators in the
‘baptismal zone’ the Lord is blessing the efforts of the mission collectively in an
unprecedented way. I know as we seek to do His will and do all in our power He will continue
to bless us that we may now baptize these investigators.
This message is an appeal that all missionaries may be a part of the great blessings that the
Lord is pouring out upon our mission.
The end of one year and the beginning of another is traditionally a time of introspection of
one’s efforts and an evaluation of how we can be more effective. Many people establish New
Year’s resolutions as a way of accomplishing more than we have, or attaining a goal
previously unreached.
Your missionary call letter states: “You will also be expected to devote all your time and
attention to serving the Lord, leaving behind all other personal affairs. As you do these things
the Lord will bless you and you will become an effective advocate and messenger of the truth.
We place in you our confidence and pray that the Lord will help you meet your responsibilities
in fulfilling this sacred assignment.” May we evaluate our use of time with the phrase
“devoting all of our time and attention to serving the Lord”. For some, being on a mission
away from all other pursuits meets the standard set in the call letter. For some there is no
urgency as long as we are ‘leaving behind all other personal affairs’. If one goes from one
appointment at one end of town, and then visits someone at the other end of town in a gross
inefficient use of time it is of no consequence as long as we are ‘leaving behind all other
personal affairs’. With this logic a missionary can view himself as obedient because in his own
estimation he is meeting the letter of the law. An employee using this logic could be rightly
accused of stealing time from his employer and fired from his employment.
To those of you who see a mission in this way I say to you, you are stealing from the Lord.
You are stealing His time and the means being expended to keep you on a mission. As long as
you occupy the position you have, no one else can occupy it. You are the one to contact and
teach those whom the Lord places in your path. If through the misuse of time you are not in
the path then you will not find the person the Lord placed in the path. Misuse of time, lack of
urgency and lack of focus are tools of the devil to divert a missionary from accomplishing his
purpose.
Mission President’s Message continued on page 3
 January 2010

Message from the Assistants

Elders and Sisters!

We’ve reached a very exciting time in our mission!!! More and more miracles keep happening all
around us every day. We both feel that it was definitely inspired for us to start a 40 day fast as a mission. I
hope you were all able to feel of the Spirit as President shared with us the successes we are having, and the
blessings the Lord is bestowing upon us. So what is it that will help us to maintain, as well as increase these
miracles? How do we keep something like this up???

We’re not going to be able to teach you all a new principle, nor share a secret on how to do this. In
fact, after much prayerful thought and consideration, we have felt that what we all need to focus on, hone
and strengthen is something we all have in us. It is something we choose to have, and something that no one
on earth can take away. It’s not complicated – it is the first principle of the Gospel. It is faith.

Faith is an interesting thing. We all have it to some degree, or none of us would be here. We often
don’t let ourselves believe we have enough faith to accomplish great things, but Alma 32 tells us that all we
need is “a particle of faith” and that’s enough. What gets in our way however, is what we DO with that
particle of faith. There’s a very good quote from the Restoration DVD said by one of the Priests who helped
Joseph on his search for truth. He asks the congregation, “Brothers and Sisters, do you have faith? And are
you willing to show the Lord the evidence of your faith?”

In order for our faith to contribute to what happens in this work, we must learn exactly what it
means to “exercise faith”. It is not enough to say a prayer, hoping that something might happen, and “give it
a try” that day. It’s not enough to just skip two meals to make up for what the adversary will try to convince
us is a lack of faith. Faith isn’t just going out and doing the work, just so we know we’re doing it, nor is it
sitting at home and praying all day.

Every single missionary in this mission has ENOUGH faith to witness miracles. What we need to do is
“show the Lord the evidence of our faith.” One way we can do this is through prayer. Most blessings we
receive through prayer are conditional. Our diligence, along with our faith, can fulfill many of these
conditions. Saying a powerful prayer, and focusing on living up to it will ensure that we are doing all we can,
and that the rest is up to the Lord.

As we go forth with increased efforts, along with 40 days of fasting, and much prayer, we will be
doing all we can as a mission, and the Lord will fulfill His promises to us, and make up for the rest. We invite
you all to join us in this effort. Elders Gilbert and Miller
 January 2010

Message from the President Continued from page 1

Some may view their purpose as getting through each day until the mission is finished. We
have only one purpose and that is to, “Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them
receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance,
baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end” PMG p.1.
As we evaluate last year and look to the new year, let us remember that daily planning is an
act of love and faith. The more efficient our day is as a result of our planning the more we
show our love for the people and show our faith that the Lord will magnify us to lead us to
those whom He has prepared.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence or mediocrity, then, are not acts but habits (Will
Durant). As missionaries we are establishing habits that will be with be with us throughout
our lives. Perhaps the greatest thief the world has ever seen is the attitude of ‘just getting
by’. It has stolen more ideas and accomplishments than all the others combined.
In D&C 9:7 the Lord said to Oliver Cowdery, “Behold, you have not understood; you have
supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.”
We all ask the Lord for His blessings in this work and while this is the work of the Lord and
He will prepare a way that we may accomplish this His work, it is incumbent upon us to do
all in our power to use all of our strength and knowledge and efficient use of time. May we
say as Nephi of old, “As the Lord liveth, and as we live, we will not go down unto our father
in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded
us.” As the Lord lived we will not let up or quit or take the easy road until we have
accomplished our purpose, which is to invite the Norwegian people to come unto Christ.
May we evaluate our lives and see where we can be more efficient, that excellence will be a
way of life, that we may accomplish what the Lord has sent us here to do.

Love, President and Sister Johansen

Baptism Goal 2010 120

Look for January’s baptisms in February’s Issue
 January 2010
Notes from the Office

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a

house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a
house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;
D&C 88:110

Elder Daven Brush and Parker Pratt enjoying the fruits of their labors!

Congratulations to 2nd place winners!

The Lord asks us to be

clean and organized, physically and spiritually!

First Place Winners

Elder Matthew Wright & Elder Jason Bartholomew

Third Place Winners

Sister Elizabeth West and Sister Stephanie Johnson
 January 2010

Celestial Next Time!

Missionaries in Norway Strife to be Celestial
Deep Cleaning Reports are past due. Mail completed forms ASAP
to the office. The following reports are needed:
Severson and Jones Hunsaker and Harris Burns and Buckley
Maxwell and Crandall Henshaw and Richardson Alexander and Christensen
Engebretsen and Molhølt Liddle and Gardner Carlson and Hill
Lewis and Farrer Eagar and Smith Wallace and Emery
Hess, Carr and Johnson Jaffa and Whitehead

Elder and Sister Arnesen Oslo Norway Mission Office

NOTICE
Beginning 1 Feb 2010 monthly
MSF transportation and gasoline
expenses will be up-front area
additives – not reimbursements!!
 January 2010
Our Miracle Column
A few weeks ago my companion and I were sitting on a bus on the way to teach one of our
investigators. The day really hadn’t gone that great. We were really trying our best to just put
our shoulder to the wheel and keep working hard. I noticed a couple of people getting on the
bus. They came and sat down next to us. My companion and I looked at each other and then
looked at these people, we gave each other the nod and began speaking with them. The man
I had been speaking with was 20 years old and had been in Norway for only two months. He
and his Mom had been separated eight years ago and they just recently regained contact
with each other. Later I found out both had thought the other was dead. I invited him to
come to church the next day and he came! In fact he came to the church seven of the next
eight days. He told us later that he went to the Baptist church with his Mom but didn’t feel
like it was right. So he prayed to know what church to go to in Norway. The very next day he
sat next to me on the bus. The Lord prepared him and sent him into our path. Just two days
ago we showed him “Finding Faith in Jesus Christ” DVD and it was a very emotional
experience for him and us too. He felt the Spirit so strongly. He has such great faith and
humility! He has made a commitment to the Lord to be baptized in February.
∞∞∞
Things had been moving really slow in our area. We had been working hard and heard of all
the success that other areas were having but we weren't seeing any real results. We only had
1 investigator and not many opportunities were presenting themselves.
We had a great opportunity to have two sets of missionaries for one day. We had a lot of
time set aside to try and find people that we could teach. We started by contacting normally
trying to speak to everyone we crossed paths with. We got a few positive people that we got
appointments with and it seemed like the flood gates opened. Everyone we talked to was
accepting our invitation to meet. We all became very excited and before we knew it we were
running after people crossing roads to get to people within sight. I can't say that we did
anything differently than what we normally do, but that day we received 23 potential
investigators with 10 first appointments. These have turned into 12 new investigators one
week, with many more of those potential investigators willing to meet in the next week.
The Lord truly blessed our area that day by placing many of his elect children in our path. We
don't know why we were able to get so many positive people that day or why all the success
came in such a rush like it did, but we can say that the Lord is watching over Norway. We just
have to have the patience to keep trying to do what the Lord wants us to do and be the
instruments in his hands. He will do the rest.
WILLINGLY AND DILIGENTLY SEEK AFTER WHAT HE WANTS!
“You are the one to contact and teach those whom the Lord places in your path.”
President Armand D Johansen