Hey everybody!
I hope that this past week was a great one! Over here in Fier it was another one to keep us on our toes.
One big thing that I have learned here in the last little bit especially is how easily Albanians get offended. We have had two experiences in the recent past of guys just walking into our lessons to help us out when we meet with an investigator. We appreciate the thought of them wanting to help us out in our lesson, but we don't want too many people in there and we had already asked someone to help us out. They then proceeded to get mad at us and tell us that we might as well never ask them to help out again. I guess in both cases they had helped to teach that investigator several times and figured that they would be the only one we ever asked. Oh, silly people. Both of them have calmed down since then, so that's good. Here's a lesson for you. If you are thinking about being offended...don't. It's not worth it!
We are looking forward to the baptisms of two investigators this week: Ema and Jona. Ema is doing great and has a whole lot of faith. We are excited for her. Jona is also doing great. She and her sister Alda are both learning together and Alda is excited to be baptized too... she just needs to come to church another week and so we will be holding that next week.
I remember thinking a few months ago how I had not really seen the process of the Gospel changing someone's life. I saw the after-effects and knew that it could happen, I just never really had eyes open to see it I guess. That is a huge blessing that I have been able to receive here in Fier. An eye-opening. These people are taking the Gospel, embracing it, loving it, and progressing in it. What a blessing for them and for us watching it happen. These people hearing the Gospel that have open enough hearts to receive and act upon the message which it contains reap the blessings within. I want to be a better and better missionary so that more and more people can see what these few have seen. I am working on it.
One thing that I found the opportunity to study this week was a look into David and his fall. I have had two thoughts in particular about how such a stud and man among men could lose his footing on the path to exaltation. My first thought was that it happened when David was on his roof. He was the king, he had everything...but he was looking beyond the mark. While we must always be progressing, we cannot look beyond the sights and parameters the Lord sets. Wherever you have been chosen to be right now in life, be there and love it. That's what it is all about. However, I read a little bit earlier in the story. Here is an excerpt from I Samuel 11:1
1 And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle ...But David tarried still at Jerusalem.
Where was David supposed to be? At the battle. Where was he? It probably doesn't matter a whole lot beyond the fact that he was not at the battle. We are called to stand in holy places because upon that rock of our Redeemer who is Christ the Son of God, we cannot fall. Temptations come to all, however, we are told that if we are watching and praying always that we will not be tempted above that which we can bear (Alma 13:28, Dad sent that thought to me a while ago). When we are purposefully do what is not correct, that promise cannot apply to us. David was not standing where he should have been and was therefore weaker in spirit. There is safety in the commandments of God, even the ones that can seem ridiculous sometimes.
A cool thing that I have felt more than ever this past 2 months or so is an increase of love for everyone here. These are great people even with all their craziness and such! Albania is the place.
Hey, I love you family! Dad, my clothes are pretty good for the most part. The biggest problem is probably ink on my white shirts. And Mom, it is a bit early, but Happy Birthday!!! I didn't think that my own mother would ever turn 29, but that's okay, I won't tell anyone. Shume urime per ty! Edhe nje qind!
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
Monday, June 9, 2014
Monday, June 2, 2014
#47 Poppin' and lockin' it with my homies in Fier
Dear Family,
Happy Birthday Dad and Grant! I am a bit late on Grant's (I remembered on the 27th), but if it makes you feel any better Grant, I wasn't going to get you a present anyway. Dad, I am sure you are looking as dashing as ever.
Also a quick shout out to my familial line in the Dow High Marching Band. The fourth generation of Mormon Drum Majors was born this past week. I am so proud.
This last week was a great week! Pamela was baptized! Man, it seems like we were teaching her forever, but it was only a month. She is way awesome. She is continuing to read everything almost as fast as we can dish it out and has her sights set forward to the temple and potentially a mission after a while. She couldn't decided who she wanted to baptized her out of Elder Simons and I, so she flipped a coin and Elder Simons was able to do it! She will be moving to Tirana fairly soon here to start university, but she has promised us that she will be a strong active member over there. We are excited to see the impact that she can make as a member-missionary.
Ema decided that she also wanted to be baptized! She has had serious desire and faith for a while, but when Pamela set a date for Saturday Ema told us that she wanted to be baptized that day as well. She thought about it a bit more however, and asked if she could actually wait a week or two in order to be for sure ready for this. Both of them have next to 0 familial support. Ema's sister Eda told us straight up this week that she did not want her sister to be baptized and the rest of the family is against it as well, but Ema is a pretty determined child and will not be deterred. I told her and Pamela that they were going to have to be each other's support system and they will be. Elder Simons and I both think that Ema would be a great missionary some day.
As for Jona, Alda, and Xheni, they are doing well and progressing in the gospel. Jona is especially excited and tried to have us move her baptismal date up. We couldn't because she needs to come to church at least twice before she is baptized and yesterday was her first time being able to make it to church. She stayed for all three hours though and her dad even showed up for about 45 minutes at one point! It is so cool to be able to see so many progressing in the Gospel as much as they are. They are taking the messages we attempt to put before them and put them into their lives. What a great blessing that is.
This week has been full of it's young men problems once again which keeps us continually searching for ways from the Lord that these loud, rowdy boys of the present can become leaders and solid Gospel role models of the future. I guess something more that I needed to become is patient, because bit by bit it is coming. But it just drives me nuts how I am not getting patient fast enough (haha, you get it?).
I am thinking back to my studies this past week and nothing is coming to me as something that I need to share with you. But that is okay. You should read something though from the scriptures and apply it into your lives. At least, that's what the good book says to do.
I hope that you all have a fantastic day and week! School is wrapping up which is so crazy! Don't worry, everything will work out...however you should probably study a bit.
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
P.S. And my condolences for the Rodriguez family. I haven't seen Nathan in years (probably since being a deacon) and I will saying some prayers in their direction.
This is Elder Simons and I (I am the one on the left with the red hair and name tag) with Ema, Pamela, and Eda (in that order) after Pamela's baptism.
Here is Elder Simons and I (it is a bit tricky to find me in this one because I am actually the crazy, old Albanian guy) with Ylli Binaj, one of the oldest and most hilarious members in Fier. Ylli knows probably about 400 English words, and most all of them are slang taught to him by missionaries (city-slicker, "your mom", bite me...). He's a character.
Happy Birthday Dad and Grant! I am a bit late on Grant's (I remembered on the 27th), but if it makes you feel any better Grant, I wasn't going to get you a present anyway. Dad, I am sure you are looking as dashing as ever.
Also a quick shout out to my familial line in the Dow High Marching Band. The fourth generation of Mormon Drum Majors was born this past week. I am so proud.
This last week was a great week! Pamela was baptized! Man, it seems like we were teaching her forever, but it was only a month. She is way awesome. She is continuing to read everything almost as fast as we can dish it out and has her sights set forward to the temple and potentially a mission after a while. She couldn't decided who she wanted to baptized her out of Elder Simons and I, so she flipped a coin and Elder Simons was able to do it! She will be moving to Tirana fairly soon here to start university, but she has promised us that she will be a strong active member over there. We are excited to see the impact that she can make as a member-missionary.
Ema decided that she also wanted to be baptized! She has had serious desire and faith for a while, but when Pamela set a date for Saturday Ema told us that she wanted to be baptized that day as well. She thought about it a bit more however, and asked if she could actually wait a week or two in order to be for sure ready for this. Both of them have next to 0 familial support. Ema's sister Eda told us straight up this week that she did not want her sister to be baptized and the rest of the family is against it as well, but Ema is a pretty determined child and will not be deterred. I told her and Pamela that they were going to have to be each other's support system and they will be. Elder Simons and I both think that Ema would be a great missionary some day.
As for Jona, Alda, and Xheni, they are doing well and progressing in the gospel. Jona is especially excited and tried to have us move her baptismal date up. We couldn't because she needs to come to church at least twice before she is baptized and yesterday was her first time being able to make it to church. She stayed for all three hours though and her dad even showed up for about 45 minutes at one point! It is so cool to be able to see so many progressing in the Gospel as much as they are. They are taking the messages we attempt to put before them and put them into their lives. What a great blessing that is.
This week has been full of it's young men problems once again which keeps us continually searching for ways from the Lord that these loud, rowdy boys of the present can become leaders and solid Gospel role models of the future. I guess something more that I needed to become is patient, because bit by bit it is coming. But it just drives me nuts how I am not getting patient fast enough (haha, you get it?).
I am thinking back to my studies this past week and nothing is coming to me as something that I need to share with you. But that is okay. You should read something though from the scriptures and apply it into your lives. At least, that's what the good book says to do.
I hope that you all have a fantastic day and week! School is wrapping up which is so crazy! Don't worry, everything will work out...however you should probably study a bit.
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
P.S. And my condolences for the Rodriguez family. I haven't seen Nathan in years (probably since being a deacon) and I will saying some prayers in their direction.
This is Elder Simons and I (I am the one on the left with the red hair and name tag) with Ema, Pamela, and Eda (in that order) after Pamela's baptism.
Here is Elder Simons and I (it is a bit tricky to find me in this one because I am actually the crazy, old Albanian guy) with Ylli Binaj, one of the oldest and most hilarious members in Fier. Ylli knows probably about 400 English words, and most all of them are slang taught to him by missionaries (city-slicker, "your mom", bite me...). He's a character.
Monday, May 26, 2014
#46 Missionary Life is a highway, but like an Albanian highway with lots of potholes and sufflaqe stands
Alright, Shqiptar highways don't have sufllaqe stands, but it kind of completed the simile.
Dearest Family,
What is going down in the land of chocolate milk and honey? I hope it has been a fantastic week with enough downs to make the ups count. This week has certainly been a roller coaster with my stomach flying into my throat every now and then but then settling back down again (in the most spiritual of ways, I feel great, Mom).
Have you ever had a point in your life where you just look around you and think about how blessed you are, and then feel incredibly spoiled by all of the blessings that have come your way? That is something that I have felt this past week. It seems like all of our investigators are going through some really difficult times in their lives and it is tough for 'em. One had a member of their family killed, one is seriously worried about a stalker, etc... I remember one day my senior year sitting in my Calculus class in the fetal position because I just didn't know what to do. I was worried about not getting an A, and as much as grades are important (keep studying Brigham and Grant), I have definitely been blessed with a whole lot of things. Whether or not that was because I needed to be in a position to help others out, or they knew that I wasn't gonna make it any other way when they sent me to earth I am not sure.
However, one really cool thing that we have been able to see is growth. Pamela reads everything. She finished up the Book of Mormon, a General Conference Liahona, and a few different pamphlets. She was told this week (as was Ema) that the appropriate attire for church for women was a skirt or a dress, and they both wore them! On Sunday we told her that she needed to decide by the CES fireside that night if she was going to get baptized on the 31st of May. We talked to her later on and she accepted! We are excited for this Saturday, so keep praying for her throughout this week. She has a strong testimony, but well, she is a teenage girl. We just need to help her go through with it.
Ema has also been a cool, but difficult story. The girl has faith, a lot of it. She also has serious desires to be baptized. The problem is that her parents don't really see eye to eye on that subject. I guess the family has enough of a Christian tradition to create a push-back from the dad especially on the matter of baptism. She is into the book of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon and we are helping her to grow in faith as well as to pray for help so that she can follow through with this desire to follow Christ. We have offered to go over and talk with the family as well as to send the sisters over, but right now it looks like we might have to be treading water a bit.
Another wonderful thing that is developing is with 3 sisters: Jona(19), Alda(14), and Xheni(20). We met Jona on the road about a week and a half ago and invited her to hear about both the Gospel as well as to come to English course. She showed up that day with her little sister and after English course we shared the message of the Restoration with them. We have continued to teach them and invited them to be baptized about a week ago. They told us that they would talk to their families and let us know. They came back and said that their mom, dad, and sister were all okay with it. Jona came to the CES fireside with her older sister Xheni and we talked to them afterwards learning that Xheni had actually been to this church 2 years ago or so and had not been able to come back since. They are progressing really well and we are excited to see them continue in the faith.
We continue to have similar problems with reverence and the such in Fier. We actually had to ask one of the young men this morning not to come during the week at all except for to church for the next few weeks. A lot of prayers are going into how to help these kids out. I shared that talk "I Love Loud Boys" that Dad sent to me in District Meeting and it made me pretty emotional. Really, I do love these loud boys. They have so much potential and they truly can be the future of the Church here. We just need to help them see that.
We also met this really cool guy named T Funa (a Tongan from Alberta, Canada) who spends every other month here as a manager of an oil rig. His son is also on a mission right now in Halifax, Canada. He took us to dinner a few days ago which was a really good up to a pretty low day. The Lord knows how to help us out when it is necessary.
Hey people, love stuff. It makes a difference. I have been trying to develop my love for Albania, Albanians, the Lord, and His church since I have been out here on my mission. I feel a closer connection to all of it and the work in general right now than I ever have before. If you love then you can make a difference. True story.
I know that my Savior lives. He loves you, He loves those I am serving right now, and He even finds enough in Him to love me. He called a prophet named Joseph Smith to restore in perfect fullness the truths that He taught personally when he was on the earth. Thomas S. Monson is a modern prophet and truly testifies of Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon is a testament of Jesus Christ that allows us to develop a perfect faith in the Redeemer of Mankind. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
Dearest Family,
What is going down in the land of chocolate milk and honey? I hope it has been a fantastic week with enough downs to make the ups count. This week has certainly been a roller coaster with my stomach flying into my throat every now and then but then settling back down again (in the most spiritual of ways, I feel great, Mom).
Have you ever had a point in your life where you just look around you and think about how blessed you are, and then feel incredibly spoiled by all of the blessings that have come your way? That is something that I have felt this past week. It seems like all of our investigators are going through some really difficult times in their lives and it is tough for 'em. One had a member of their family killed, one is seriously worried about a stalker, etc... I remember one day my senior year sitting in my Calculus class in the fetal position because I just didn't know what to do. I was worried about not getting an A, and as much as grades are important (keep studying Brigham and Grant), I have definitely been blessed with a whole lot of things. Whether or not that was because I needed to be in a position to help others out, or they knew that I wasn't gonna make it any other way when they sent me to earth I am not sure.
However, one really cool thing that we have been able to see is growth. Pamela reads everything. She finished up the Book of Mormon, a General Conference Liahona, and a few different pamphlets. She was told this week (as was Ema) that the appropriate attire for church for women was a skirt or a dress, and they both wore them! On Sunday we told her that she needed to decide by the CES fireside that night if she was going to get baptized on the 31st of May. We talked to her later on and she accepted! We are excited for this Saturday, so keep praying for her throughout this week. She has a strong testimony, but well, she is a teenage girl. We just need to help her go through with it.
Ema has also been a cool, but difficult story. The girl has faith, a lot of it. She also has serious desires to be baptized. The problem is that her parents don't really see eye to eye on that subject. I guess the family has enough of a Christian tradition to create a push-back from the dad especially on the matter of baptism. She is into the book of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon and we are helping her to grow in faith as well as to pray for help so that she can follow through with this desire to follow Christ. We have offered to go over and talk with the family as well as to send the sisters over, but right now it looks like we might have to be treading water a bit.
Another wonderful thing that is developing is with 3 sisters: Jona(19), Alda(14), and Xheni(20). We met Jona on the road about a week and a half ago and invited her to hear about both the Gospel as well as to come to English course. She showed up that day with her little sister and after English course we shared the message of the Restoration with them. We have continued to teach them and invited them to be baptized about a week ago. They told us that they would talk to their families and let us know. They came back and said that their mom, dad, and sister were all okay with it. Jona came to the CES fireside with her older sister Xheni and we talked to them afterwards learning that Xheni had actually been to this church 2 years ago or so and had not been able to come back since. They are progressing really well and we are excited to see them continue in the faith.
We continue to have similar problems with reverence and the such in Fier. We actually had to ask one of the young men this morning not to come during the week at all except for to church for the next few weeks. A lot of prayers are going into how to help these kids out. I shared that talk "I Love Loud Boys" that Dad sent to me in District Meeting and it made me pretty emotional. Really, I do love these loud boys. They have so much potential and they truly can be the future of the Church here. We just need to help them see that.
We also met this really cool guy named T Funa (a Tongan from Alberta, Canada) who spends every other month here as a manager of an oil rig. His son is also on a mission right now in Halifax, Canada. He took us to dinner a few days ago which was a really good up to a pretty low day. The Lord knows how to help us out when it is necessary.
Hey people, love stuff. It makes a difference. I have been trying to develop my love for Albania, Albanians, the Lord, and His church since I have been out here on my mission. I feel a closer connection to all of it and the work in general right now than I ever have before. If you love then you can make a difference. True story.
I know that my Savior lives. He loves you, He loves those I am serving right now, and He even finds enough in Him to love me. He called a prophet named Joseph Smith to restore in perfect fullness the truths that He taught personally when he was on the earth. Thomas S. Monson is a modern prophet and truly testifies of Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon is a testament of Jesus Christ that allows us to develop a perfect faith in the Redeemer of Mankind. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
#45 Monday, May 19, 2014 (more pictures!)
Hey Family,
I hope that this week has been just stellar! We had an opportunity to go to a trainer-trainee meeting early this past week which was great. One of this biggest struggles that I have in being a trainer is letting go of the reigns enough. It is a really terrible habit that I have, to just kind of plow through and just do what is necessary. However, as a trainer that is really a terrible thing to do because, well Elder Simons needs to have experience in order to learn. Since the meeting I have been working harder to let go of the reigns and encourage him to do more. It is a slow process but hopefully bit by bit I will learn how to be a better missionary and in the process help Elder Simons to find everything that is necessary to become the best missionary he needs to become.
This week we have been continuing to work with Pamela. She has read up through Helaman 5 (let's remember that she has had this book for like 2 and a half weeks or so) and comes in usually with a bunch of questions underlined in her book that we help her to answer. She has so many questions though. We have taught her everything but she has a really difficult time still believing in life after death. She told us a week ago that she had received an answer on whether or not she would be baptized...she just would not tell us what the answer was yet...but if she says yes we should think about who would baptize her...but only if she says yes. So we have committed her to pray specifically about it and then to tell us if she should be baptized on the 24th of May. She sent us a text later that night saying that if she got a 10 (or the top score) on her English exam then she would be baptized. We decided to not pull out the chapters on those who tempt God. On Saturday she came to the baptism and said that she probably wouldn't come to church and wouldn't say why. She in fact did not come and we just met with her earlier today and all she would ask is if God even thinks before He acts, because sometimes it doesn't seem like it. We testified to her of God's sincere love for us and then prayed together. I think that there are some pretty big things that are going on in her life that could either potentially harden or soften her heart and I our job is to kinda stand by with our meat tenderizers and take whacks whenever we can to help her find that answer and courage to act on it.
We have also been meeting with Ema and Eda, the two twins who are also friends of Pamela to help them with English and teach them at the end of lessons. Eda doesn't have a whole lot of desire for the Gospel (she has come to church and stuff probably just because her sister comes and and said that she got nightmares when she read the Joseph Smith pamphlet...that might take some time. Ema however has read through all of 1Nefi without a whole lot of push from us. At the baptism she was talking with the sister missionaries and told them that she was a bit offended that we had not really asked them if they wanted to learn about the Gospel. We were pretty shocked by that as we discuss it blatantly every time we meet and invite them to act on it...but hey if she's open to hear more we are sure open to speak it!
This week there was also a branch talent show which was pretty fun. We didn't really prepare anything, but Sister Kokol, Sister Forte and I were able to throw together a last minute song (as in the performance was really the first practice) and it turned out alright! Thank goodness Albanians are not blessed with large amounts of musical talent or ears for it.
There are some other investigators that could also really use prayers. Florjan just needs to capture a bit more understanding and desire for what he is learning and the steps that he knows he needs to take. We haven't been able to meet with Desdemona all week and when she didn't come to church we went and knocked on her door. She told us that her ex-husband's brother was killed the day before. We were pretty floored and she could really use the help of prayer from outside as well as from inside. Also Ina has been having some health issues and could really use the help of prayer.
On an exciting note, we woke up last night at about 2 in the morning to our beds shaking. Earthquake! "Earthquakes, in divers places...and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in the heavens..." (Matthew 24:7,30) Just sayin'.
Well, have a great week! Go do something for someone else. I was thinking a couple days ago how easy it is to put others down in joking and how totally unnecessary it is. If everyone walked away from talking to me feeling better about them self how much better would the world be? Imagine if everyone did that? Let's try it.
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
These pictures are from the trip to Berat we took today.
I hope that this week has been just stellar! We had an opportunity to go to a trainer-trainee meeting early this past week which was great. One of this biggest struggles that I have in being a trainer is letting go of the reigns enough. It is a really terrible habit that I have, to just kind of plow through and just do what is necessary. However, as a trainer that is really a terrible thing to do because, well Elder Simons needs to have experience in order to learn. Since the meeting I have been working harder to let go of the reigns and encourage him to do more. It is a slow process but hopefully bit by bit I will learn how to be a better missionary and in the process help Elder Simons to find everything that is necessary to become the best missionary he needs to become.
This week we have been continuing to work with Pamela. She has read up through Helaman 5 (let's remember that she has had this book for like 2 and a half weeks or so) and comes in usually with a bunch of questions underlined in her book that we help her to answer. She has so many questions though. We have taught her everything but she has a really difficult time still believing in life after death. She told us a week ago that she had received an answer on whether or not she would be baptized...she just would not tell us what the answer was yet...but if she says yes we should think about who would baptize her...but only if she says yes. So we have committed her to pray specifically about it and then to tell us if she should be baptized on the 24th of May. She sent us a text later that night saying that if she got a 10 (or the top score) on her English exam then she would be baptized. We decided to not pull out the chapters on those who tempt God. On Saturday she came to the baptism and said that she probably wouldn't come to church and wouldn't say why. She in fact did not come and we just met with her earlier today and all she would ask is if God even thinks before He acts, because sometimes it doesn't seem like it. We testified to her of God's sincere love for us and then prayed together. I think that there are some pretty big things that are going on in her life that could either potentially harden or soften her heart and I our job is to kinda stand by with our meat tenderizers and take whacks whenever we can to help her find that answer and courage to act on it.
We have also been meeting with Ema and Eda, the two twins who are also friends of Pamela to help them with English and teach them at the end of lessons. Eda doesn't have a whole lot of desire for the Gospel (she has come to church and stuff probably just because her sister comes and and said that she got nightmares when she read the Joseph Smith pamphlet...that might take some time. Ema however has read through all of 1Nefi without a whole lot of push from us. At the baptism she was talking with the sister missionaries and told them that she was a bit offended that we had not really asked them if they wanted to learn about the Gospel. We were pretty shocked by that as we discuss it blatantly every time we meet and invite them to act on it...but hey if she's open to hear more we are sure open to speak it!
This week there was also a branch talent show which was pretty fun. We didn't really prepare anything, but Sister Kokol, Sister Forte and I were able to throw together a last minute song (as in the performance was really the first practice) and it turned out alright! Thank goodness Albanians are not blessed with large amounts of musical talent or ears for it.
There are some other investigators that could also really use prayers. Florjan just needs to capture a bit more understanding and desire for what he is learning and the steps that he knows he needs to take. We haven't been able to meet with Desdemona all week and when she didn't come to church we went and knocked on her door. She told us that her ex-husband's brother was killed the day before. We were pretty floored and she could really use the help of prayer from outside as well as from inside. Also Ina has been having some health issues and could really use the help of prayer.
On an exciting note, we woke up last night at about 2 in the morning to our beds shaking. Earthquake! "Earthquakes, in divers places...and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in the heavens..." (Matthew 24:7,30) Just sayin'.
Well, have a great week! Go do something for someone else. I was thinking a couple days ago how easy it is to put others down in joking and how totally unnecessary it is. If everyone walked away from talking to me feeling better about them self how much better would the world be? Imagine if everyone did that? Let's try it.
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
These pictures are from the trip to Berat we took today.
Monday, May 5, 2014
#43 Monday, May 5, 2014 (with pictures!)
What's going on everybody?!
This last week has been really good. The big cap-off was Saimir's baptism. He is awesome and we are really looking forward to him progressing. His life right now is kinda the pits and we know that he can find happiness and answers in the Gospel, he just needs to go and do now! He gave an awesome testimony after his baptism which was so great to hear.
So, some other new on the week. Florjan had a baptismal date set for the 3rd, however, he was not ready for that and we are still working with him to be ready to enter into the waters of baptism. He has been doing really good this last week and so we are hoping to see his testimony continue to develop and his desire for the Gospel increase.
We are working with some girls that are in our English Course. One of them, Pamela, was the one that initially showed interest in the Gospel. She has come to church the last 2 weeks as well as our branch activity in Apolonia this past Thursday. However, she has a hard time accepting all of God's will. She wants some answers to questions in her life that are really hard, and they are questions that can only be answered through personal revelation and prayer. Humility is an interesting concept. She has been humbled by some things in her life but there is still a portion of humility that she needs to develop. Ema and Eda are two twin sisters that are good friends with Pamela. We are still kind of getting a feel on their interest for the Gospel, but they have also come to church and seem really cool.
There is one other girl (I don't know if I will ever remember her name) as well. She is also a friend of these other three girls. She told us in English Course that her father is a priest in the Orthodox church. I was thinking that that would probably put a damper on things. However, she, during the spiritual thought at the end of English course will ask really good questions and seems super accepting of the answers that we give. On Wednesday we were sharing the scripture Moses 1:39 and she asked where we would be going after this life. We told her that we had an awesome answer to that, but it was a little bit long. We invited all that wanted to to stay after and learn about it. About 12 people stayed and we taught the Plan of Salvation. It was really cool, and she was totally accepting. She is also really good friends with a girl in the branch and so that is really cool. We will be giving her over to the sisters to teach, so hopefully that turns out well.
So the work here is going. New investigators are being found, progressing investigators are being baptized, and, though there can always be progression, we are definitely going in the right direction.
Qofte nje jave te mbare. I hope that you see the Lord's hand even more in your and others' lives this week.
Saimir's baptism:
A massive rip that I got in my pants while we were waiting for the bus to Apolonia:
(we ran home and were told by President Bott that we could wear jeans for the activity as it would be more active. It was pretty exciting wearing jeans with a white shirt and tie.)
Caves at Apolonia with Elder Baldwin in front of me. You can see his laser on the cave walls and a bat flying above.
Some of the ruins at Apolonia:
The plan was to go to Apolonia for a branch activity if it didn't rain on Thursday. The plan was to start at 9. At 7:30 it was raining so we decided to call it off, however there was rebuttal from the branch when it started to clear up at 8:15 or so, so we put it back on. We went out on a bus (there were 46 of us)
and when we got there for about 2 and a half hours we played some futboll, some monkey-in-the-middle-ish kinda game and explored some tunnels there, including having bats flying all around us which was crazy. Then it started to pour. We all got back on the bus and went back. It was really good though.
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
This last week has been really good. The big cap-off was Saimir's baptism. He is awesome and we are really looking forward to him progressing. His life right now is kinda the pits and we know that he can find happiness and answers in the Gospel, he just needs to go and do now! He gave an awesome testimony after his baptism which was so great to hear.
So, some other new on the week. Florjan had a baptismal date set for the 3rd, however, he was not ready for that and we are still working with him to be ready to enter into the waters of baptism. He has been doing really good this last week and so we are hoping to see his testimony continue to develop and his desire for the Gospel increase.
We are working with some girls that are in our English Course. One of them, Pamela, was the one that initially showed interest in the Gospel. She has come to church the last 2 weeks as well as our branch activity in Apolonia this past Thursday. However, she has a hard time accepting all of God's will. She wants some answers to questions in her life that are really hard, and they are questions that can only be answered through personal revelation and prayer. Humility is an interesting concept. She has been humbled by some things in her life but there is still a portion of humility that she needs to develop. Ema and Eda are two twin sisters that are good friends with Pamela. We are still kind of getting a feel on their interest for the Gospel, but they have also come to church and seem really cool.
There is one other girl (I don't know if I will ever remember her name) as well. She is also a friend of these other three girls. She told us in English Course that her father is a priest in the Orthodox church. I was thinking that that would probably put a damper on things. However, she, during the spiritual thought at the end of English course will ask really good questions and seems super accepting of the answers that we give. On Wednesday we were sharing the scripture Moses 1:39 and she asked where we would be going after this life. We told her that we had an awesome answer to that, but it was a little bit long. We invited all that wanted to to stay after and learn about it. About 12 people stayed and we taught the Plan of Salvation. It was really cool, and she was totally accepting. She is also really good friends with a girl in the branch and so that is really cool. We will be giving her over to the sisters to teach, so hopefully that turns out well.
So the work here is going. New investigators are being found, progressing investigators are being baptized, and, though there can always be progression, we are definitely going in the right direction.
Qofte nje jave te mbare. I hope that you see the Lord's hand even more in your and others' lives this week.
Saimir's baptism:
A massive rip that I got in my pants while we were waiting for the bus to Apolonia:
Caves at Apolonia with Elder Baldwin in front of me. You can see his laser on the cave walls and a bat flying above.
Some of the ruins at Apolonia:
The plan was to go to Apolonia for a branch activity if it didn't rain on Thursday. The plan was to start at 9. At 7:30 it was raining so we decided to call it off, however there was rebuttal from the branch when it started to clear up at 8:15 or so, so we put it back on. We went out on a bus (there were 46 of us)
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
#42 Monday, April 28, 2014
Happy Monday Everybody!
I hope that everyone is doing well on their post-(and soon to be pre-)wedding craze! Urime and Trashgofshi to Carley and Sam whatever your last name is now! Also congratulations to Carley who has a piece of paper telling her that she is smart! That is always a plus. (Sometimes I write up little sticky notes that say I am smart and put them places, it's a real moral booster. Someone tells you that you are a skilled metal worker and it really helps you through the day.)
This past week had some really good stuff going down. A big one was for Saimir. He has been investigating for about 8 months now and last week I believe that I mentioned we put him on a baptismal date. President Ford was going to be down in Fier for an interview on Sunday and so we asked Saimir if he would be interviewed then. He looked at us and said "I guess now is the time to take a leap." When we first set him for a date we said the 17th of May. Then on Monday the Botts (the senior couple here) asked if we could move it to the 10th because they will be ending their mission on the 15th. However when Saimir was in the interview with President Ford they decided that he would get baptized on the 3rd, so it is happening this week! He has it tough, but he thinks that this could be the change he needs in his life right now. Me too. Florjan might also be getting baptized this week, but we might push that back a week because he is not quite ready. We will see what goes down.
Enxhi also got baptized this week! I was talking to Elder Jorgensen about it and he said that right after he actually baptized her they were just kind of standing there in the water and everybody started clapping. I guess his trainee started clapping too and he was like, "no Elder, you can't do that!" Oh, funny people!
We started up English course about a week and a half ago and it started rough! There are a lot of recent convert priest-age young men in Fier and they really enjoy making noise. However this past week, though it wasn't perfect, was much better. We have some really promising investigators coming out of it right now and I will write more about that as they develop more.
On about Tuesday or Wednesday last week we street-contacted this blind lady named Ina and her friend. She told us we could come over and on Friday we took over Lavdosh (a 39-year-old recent convert) and met them. Ina believes in God a lot and was super positive during our lesson. We began to go through the Message of the Restoration and it was going well. Lavdosh was talking about Joseph Smith and just kind of took the reigns from there somehow finishing off that lesson as well as laying out the steps of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and discussing the Plan of Salvation in probably about 7 minutes. It was impressive. They both (Ina and her friend) expressed desire to be baptized, so we are hoping to help them down that path.
Elder Simons and I are doing well. He sometimes gets a bit frustrated about his language because he can't always express what he wants to, but he is doing well. We have to travel up to Lushnje sometimes to do baptismal interviews (about 30 minutes away) which can be a bit of a bother, but it's all good because people are getting baptized!
This past week in my scriptures I was re-looking at two scripture stories that parallel each other. One of them is the story of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 4&6). The other is the story of Lehonti (Alma 47:1-18). These two stories are so similar until one point. Nehemiah and his men were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and when the adversaries come to bid him stop he, "sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down." Lehonti sat upon the top of the mountain with his men "being fixed in the minds with a determined resolution that they would not [come down]." A messenger times unto Nehemiah asking him to come down from his labors and with each time he became more resolute, his workers having one hand wrought in the work and the other ready to defend. Lehonti was called three times by Amalikiah to come down the mountain and talk. He refuses. Amalikiah then goes up to the camp and says that he just needed to come out a little bit and could even bring his guards, he consents. Nehemiah victoriously helps his people rebuild the walls of his city and succeed in their fight. Lehonti leaves his safety, and eventually is poisoned by degrees and dies. Check those chapters out, there is a lot more story than I shared. However, these, for me, are an incredible example of the importance of enduring and never taking our sights from our course. How often do we allow ourselves to come down just a little bit thinking that we have our guards and all will be safe. We must stay on top of the wall and, like Nehemiah, ask, "why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?" We are doing a great work and cannot come down.
Well, I love you family and hope that you are doing great! Have a wonderful week and good luck on your conics test Brigham (that is some good stuff, but I hope it is in polar because the Cartesian conics are rough).
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
P.S. Start thinking about this (because I just thought about it on Sunday), but Mother's Day is on the 11th, I believe one day after Alex and Rachel's wedding, so it would be good to get some feedback on timing.
I hope that everyone is doing well on their post-(and soon to be pre-)wedding craze! Urime and Trashgofshi to Carley and Sam whatever your last name is now! Also congratulations to Carley who has a piece of paper telling her that she is smart! That is always a plus. (Sometimes I write up little sticky notes that say I am smart and put them places, it's a real moral booster. Someone tells you that you are a skilled metal worker and it really helps you through the day.)
This past week had some really good stuff going down. A big one was for Saimir. He has been investigating for about 8 months now and last week I believe that I mentioned we put him on a baptismal date. President Ford was going to be down in Fier for an interview on Sunday and so we asked Saimir if he would be interviewed then. He looked at us and said "I guess now is the time to take a leap." When we first set him for a date we said the 17th of May. Then on Monday the Botts (the senior couple here) asked if we could move it to the 10th because they will be ending their mission on the 15th. However when Saimir was in the interview with President Ford they decided that he would get baptized on the 3rd, so it is happening this week! He has it tough, but he thinks that this could be the change he needs in his life right now. Me too. Florjan might also be getting baptized this week, but we might push that back a week because he is not quite ready. We will see what goes down.
Enxhi also got baptized this week! I was talking to Elder Jorgensen about it and he said that right after he actually baptized her they were just kind of standing there in the water and everybody started clapping. I guess his trainee started clapping too and he was like, "no Elder, you can't do that!" Oh, funny people!
We started up English course about a week and a half ago and it started rough! There are a lot of recent convert priest-age young men in Fier and they really enjoy making noise. However this past week, though it wasn't perfect, was much better. We have some really promising investigators coming out of it right now and I will write more about that as they develop more.
On about Tuesday or Wednesday last week we street-contacted this blind lady named Ina and her friend. She told us we could come over and on Friday we took over Lavdosh (a 39-year-old recent convert) and met them. Ina believes in God a lot and was super positive during our lesson. We began to go through the Message of the Restoration and it was going well. Lavdosh was talking about Joseph Smith and just kind of took the reigns from there somehow finishing off that lesson as well as laying out the steps of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and discussing the Plan of Salvation in probably about 7 minutes. It was impressive. They both (Ina and her friend) expressed desire to be baptized, so we are hoping to help them down that path.
Elder Simons and I are doing well. He sometimes gets a bit frustrated about his language because he can't always express what he wants to, but he is doing well. We have to travel up to Lushnje sometimes to do baptismal interviews (about 30 minutes away) which can be a bit of a bother, but it's all good because people are getting baptized!
This past week in my scriptures I was re-looking at two scripture stories that parallel each other. One of them is the story of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 4&6). The other is the story of Lehonti (Alma 47:1-18). These two stories are so similar until one point. Nehemiah and his men were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and when the adversaries come to bid him stop he, "sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down." Lehonti sat upon the top of the mountain with his men "being fixed in the minds with a determined resolution that they would not [come down]." A messenger times unto Nehemiah asking him to come down from his labors and with each time he became more resolute, his workers having one hand wrought in the work and the other ready to defend. Lehonti was called three times by Amalikiah to come down the mountain and talk. He refuses. Amalikiah then goes up to the camp and says that he just needed to come out a little bit and could even bring his guards, he consents. Nehemiah victoriously helps his people rebuild the walls of his city and succeed in their fight. Lehonti leaves his safety, and eventually is poisoned by degrees and dies. Check those chapters out, there is a lot more story than I shared. However, these, for me, are an incredible example of the importance of enduring and never taking our sights from our course. How often do we allow ourselves to come down just a little bit thinking that we have our guards and all will be safe. We must stay on top of the wall and, like Nehemiah, ask, "why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?" We are doing a great work and cannot come down.
Well, I love you family and hope that you are doing great! Have a wonderful week and good luck on your conics test Brigham (that is some good stuff, but I hope it is in polar because the Cartesian conics are rough).
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
P.S. Start thinking about this (because I just thought about it on Sunday), but Mother's Day is on the 11th, I believe one day after Alex and Rachel's wedding, so it would be good to get some feedback on timing.
Monday, April 21, 2014
#41 Monday, April 21, 2014
Dear Family,
How is it going!? If you do indeed find time to read this letter this week amidst the whole "my sister is getting married" stuff, I hope that you are having a swell time. That is so crazy. Whaddya do, crazy stuff happens some times.
But hey, this last week was a good week. We weren't getting all the lessons we wanted or hitting all of our goals, but, we did do something, and we did effect someone. So that's good.
A couple good successes. Saimir is now on a baptismal date again. He his previously been on at least one date before, but stuff happened and he is still thoroughly dry. We had a lesson with him on Saturday where we brought out a talk from President Monson relating the Cheshire Cat's words to Alice to his situation with baptism. He told us he wanted to be baptized, but he had to be totally sure about it first. We told him that he of course cannot be baptized before he is actually ready, but that in order to even get there he must have a goal in mind. That goal was a baptismal date. We also tried to overcome his thought about being totally sure by talking about Zeno's paradox. I learned it in my Philosophy class (as well as the movie I.Q.) and it is a good way of showing that at some point in our faith travels we have to talk a leap. He accepted finally and here's hoping!
Another good success was with an inactive family called the Ahmetis. They haven't been in something like 8 years and feel totally abandoned by the church. Our first meeting with them 2 weeks ago was basically them venting their anger on us. This last week though we went over and it was much better. I think that their trust in us is improving and we are sure hoping to help them see the beauty of the Gospel light again. It might take some time though.
This doesn't really count as a success, but it kind of made my day. On Saturday we were out street contacting and this girl came up and tapped me on the shoulder. I was kind of weirded out but turned around and said hi. She asked if we had church the next day, where it was, and what time it was. We told her (because those are questions we like to answer). She was just like "I'll be there". Then she booked it out of there. She didn't even just run across the street, she ran until she was out of sight. We laughed pretty hard about it. However, we didn't see her in church which was a shame. Maybe next week.
I was able to speak in church on Sunday along with the 3 other missionaries who recently came to Fier. Preparing for a talk on the Savior was such a blessing. Man. What an incredible gift bearing testimony is. I mean, we get to do it all the time as missionaries, but still bearing testimony is so great. Also, Enxhi came to church here in Fier with her sister and should probably be getting baptized on Saturday! That is way exciting.
I have been working really hard this week on being happier. I think that I mentioned that I was going to be doing something like that last week. It really has made a difference. Being happy is so good. Sometimes it is really hard to start and often difficult to keep up. However, it is sure happier than being melancholy or even just content. Having high highs sets you up for low lows, but they are worth it and are always made up for if we continue to be honest seekers of happiness like Ammon. If you aren’t happy, start taking those steps to change it. It matters.
Well hey family, I hope that you have such a good day and week. Don't go too crazy. The Church is true. Christ is the Savior. He did what the good books say He did, and he did it for you and for me. Love you lots!
Elder Ostergaard
How is it going!? If you do indeed find time to read this letter this week amidst the whole "my sister is getting married" stuff, I hope that you are having a swell time. That is so crazy. Whaddya do, crazy stuff happens some times.
But hey, this last week was a good week. We weren't getting all the lessons we wanted or hitting all of our goals, but, we did do something, and we did effect someone. So that's good.
A couple good successes. Saimir is now on a baptismal date again. He his previously been on at least one date before, but stuff happened and he is still thoroughly dry. We had a lesson with him on Saturday where we brought out a talk from President Monson relating the Cheshire Cat's words to Alice to his situation with baptism. He told us he wanted to be baptized, but he had to be totally sure about it first. We told him that he of course cannot be baptized before he is actually ready, but that in order to even get there he must have a goal in mind. That goal was a baptismal date. We also tried to overcome his thought about being totally sure by talking about Zeno's paradox. I learned it in my Philosophy class (as well as the movie I.Q.) and it is a good way of showing that at some point in our faith travels we have to talk a leap. He accepted finally and here's hoping!
Another good success was with an inactive family called the Ahmetis. They haven't been in something like 8 years and feel totally abandoned by the church. Our first meeting with them 2 weeks ago was basically them venting their anger on us. This last week though we went over and it was much better. I think that their trust in us is improving and we are sure hoping to help them see the beauty of the Gospel light again. It might take some time though.
This doesn't really count as a success, but it kind of made my day. On Saturday we were out street contacting and this girl came up and tapped me on the shoulder. I was kind of weirded out but turned around and said hi. She asked if we had church the next day, where it was, and what time it was. We told her (because those are questions we like to answer). She was just like "I'll be there". Then she booked it out of there. She didn't even just run across the street, she ran until she was out of sight. We laughed pretty hard about it. However, we didn't see her in church which was a shame. Maybe next week.
I was able to speak in church on Sunday along with the 3 other missionaries who recently came to Fier. Preparing for a talk on the Savior was such a blessing. Man. What an incredible gift bearing testimony is. I mean, we get to do it all the time as missionaries, but still bearing testimony is so great. Also, Enxhi came to church here in Fier with her sister and should probably be getting baptized on Saturday! That is way exciting.
I have been working really hard this week on being happier. I think that I mentioned that I was going to be doing something like that last week. It really has made a difference. Being happy is so good. Sometimes it is really hard to start and often difficult to keep up. However, it is sure happier than being melancholy or even just content. Having high highs sets you up for low lows, but they are worth it and are always made up for if we continue to be honest seekers of happiness like Ammon. If you aren’t happy, start taking those steps to change it. It matters.
Well hey family, I hope that you have such a good day and week. Don't go too crazy. The Church is true. Christ is the Savior. He did what the good books say He did, and he did it for you and for me. Love you lots!
Elder Ostergaard
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