Oh my goodness! SO much has happened this week!!!! I am not even sure where the heck to begin! FIRST OFF it has been way stromy and cold in Ålesund! It snowed a ton for about 3 days but then it rained a lot and now there is just a lot of ice… joy!...hahaha but I still love it!
So we met this man on the street a couple weeks ago. He is from the middle east somewhere and is a Muslim. We had a meeting with him and it went pretty well! He brought his friend, who is also Muslim, to translate because he cannot speak English and only speaks a little bit of Norwegian. We made another appointment to meet with them this past Tuesday at the library. Søster Buhler and I walked into the library and walked over to the table where they would be sitting. There were 3 other men there that we did not know plus the two we had been teaching... Im not going to lie, I was a little nervous but I felt way comforted knowing that I am a missionary called by God and I knew that everything would be okay. We sat down and on both sides of the book cases were other Muslim men listening. So we were surrounded by these Muslim men which added up to 12 of them standing and 5 of them sitting. We asked if they could save their questions until the end of the sotry about Joseph Smith. They did for a bit and during that time, the spirit was felt so strongly! Søster Buhler and I testified with everything we had in our souls of the truthfullness of this message! But sadly, in the middle of our lesson, they all interrupted and started asking probing not prompting questions. There was so much contention and we could not even try to asnwer their questions because they would interrupt in the middle and ask another probing question. It was so difficult and I found myself sitting there and them telling me about all that they believe and not letting us have a chance. All I wanted to do was stand up on the table and scream "GOD LOVES YOU OKAY?!?!?!" Haha...it was way hard for me. We went back to our appartment right after and I kicked me shoes off, grabbed my Book of Mormon and sat on the floor balling and reading. My poor companion started to cry with me. We just sat there and cried and read a loud from the Book or Mormon. I was mostly so upset because these men, although they don't like me very much, are my brothers! I feel so much love for them even though they would not let me speak. I was so sad because I knew I had the answers to their questions! I did! But they wouldn't listen. Their hearts were not open and the ears were shut. They kept saying "prove me wrong" THAT IS THE LAST THING I WANT TO DO! I do not want to destroy what is special and sacred to them! But that was what they wanted to do to me! I was so sad and heart broken and I wanted to just hug each one of them so that they could maybe feel the joy and happiness I have felt from this BEAUTIFUL gospel! I am so grateful for the joy I do have and the joy I am sharing with others! I know that even though these men were not the nicest people in the world, God loves them a lot and he loves me too. We are all brothers and sisters on this journey through life so why not love each other and be nice?!
We met with our miracle from last week...Stig! When we asked him why he texted us he said "Because I felt something with you guys and I wanted to know why?" WHAT?! So cool! Stig is a stud and he is so ready for this gospel! I am way pumped!
I don't have a lot of time but I love you guys so much and miss you all everyday! Sorry for my rants...hehe ;)
Gud vær med deg til vi sees igjen,
-Søster Neilson
Always JOYFUL! <3
"Trying to give a Book of Mormon to the grumoy model! ;)"
Their investigators made a cake for them! :)
YUM!
Gangsta P-day! :)
"We visited some members who had spoons from all their travels.
They had one from CALIFORNIA!" :)
Happy Heart! <3
Translation…"If not you, who? If not now, when?"
Just say'in she is UNIK
ReplyDeleteThanks Liv! <3
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