Hello Everybody!
This past week we had a bit rougher week numbers-wise (only 14 in church and fewer people taught about the Gospel than we would wish) but there were also miracles!
Do you remember a guy named Mariglen that was mentioned last week? Well this week he came to church in a white shirt and tie, and he was looking good! Being Fast Sunday he took part in fasting and actually bore his testimony during Sacrament Meeting (not totally positive if that is kosher or not...but we aren't Jewish anyway so I am cool with it). In his testimony he mentioned that 2 months ago he didn't really have any kind of relation with his Heavenly Father. This was partially due to the fact that the closest church to his hometown was an hour away by car. However he said that as he has learned from the scriptures over these past months he has discovered and strengthened that relationship. How awesome is that? People are changed by the Gospel. Truly.
This upcoming week we will be able to go to stake conference! It is actually going to be the first stake conference since the conference where the stake was actually formed (that was along time ago, before I was in Fier) and it is going to be awesome! We have talked to our investigators and members about wearing the uniform of the Priesthood, so we are hoping to take a lot of well and properly dressed men down to that meeting! It is pretty amazing how many steps there are in the Gospel/Church, different ways that the Lord asks us to act that bring us a little bit closer in line to His way. Here at the beginning stages a whole lot of those steps are very apparent. In fact, just about every time we meet with these people they are invited to do something that will very noticeably change their life and how they worship God. That is a whole lot of change. The cool thing is that when people have the Spirit with them, they are willing to make those changes. The Lord is so so patient with us though, and thank goodness because we forget so often the importance of different elements of the Gospel or even the elements themselves and He totally lets us take another stab at it. Beautiful huh?
Last night we were able to go tracting a little bit. We knocked on the door of this family and the wife opened the door. The husband was there too and consented to let us come in. We tried our best to have a spiritual lesson with three young kids running around and hitting each other in the nose with tv remotes. The husband turned out to be the most interested and we had his eye contact just about the entire time. At the end of our testifying about the Restoration and how prophets were given once again to the earth by a loving God along with His Priesthood power, the husband was willing to accept a return appointment...but the wife fought and said they weren't interested to hear anymore. It was so sad to see this man who had apparently seen something in the message allow another's agency to overcome his. We left a Joseph Smith pamphlet (my favorite one), an English course flier (which has a map to the church on it) and our telephone number. So, if he acts on promptings of the Spirit he will have a way to get in contact with the missionaries. Someday down the line something will happen to continue working on that seed that has been planted in his heart.
This week we will be re-opening our English course, so we are hoping and praying those that are chosen by the Lord will be led to it!
Love you so much everybody! Missions are great! I highly recommend them. 4 stars! Two enthusiastic thumbs up! If you could I would ask that you keep a prayer out for Mariglen, Adriatik, Franc, and Leo. They are working to be baptized on the 14th of March. Thanks so much!
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
These were taken by Elder Wilcox while one of the little kids that sells roasted almonds on the street came up and became converted by the word of God.
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