Dear Family,
Well, I am not exactly sure what to tell you. It was a great week and everything, but I don't know exactly what would interest you. Whenever I am in this situation I ask myself "what would make my missionary blog go viral?" It has worked until this point and I actually was called by the mission home last week to take a call from Oprah on doing an interview. The price we pay for fame. However, I am still keeping myself unbridled by the things of the world as much as possible and will proudly proclaim that I am not and will not become a slave to fashion.
We began a new English course this past week and were able to find this cool guy named Erlin. He told us that he had actually been recently praying to be around happy people, and we try to make that happen! He was not able to come to Church on Sunday because of some other problems, but he seems way cool.
Throughout this week we were working (thank goodness, right?) and we looked at our goals for the week for investigators in Sacrament Meeting and we looked at who we were really working for to be in Sacrament Meeting that next day. We decided that if those that we hoped would be there weren't able to make it out that the Lord would provide a way. The next day in Sacrament meeting not all of the investigators that we had hoped to come came, but a recently returned missionary walked in with a boy that she knew from high school that she invited to come to church with her. Way cool huh? The Lord totally provides a way when He has a plan. We just need to have the faith to pick up the ball and run with it.
Each day we get to study and learn a little bit more about the message that we are here to proclaim to the population of Albania. It is cool how when we study with a purpose we receive spiritual help and guidance. Some days I will feel something hit me and I will think, 'this is the thing! This is the thing that we need to tell everybody!" sometimes when it is something kind of small and obscure but it just hits me in that moment. However, as I listen to the testimonies of the 12 and our Prophet, they testify on things such as the Love of God or His plan for us, the more basic portions of our doctrine. Everything in the Gospel has importance, but it is incredible how all of the smaller things really lead back to the basic foundational doctrines that God loves us, He has a plan for us, and through His Son Jesus Christ we can be saved. Our testimonies will be strong if they are built from the bottom up and we focus on the pure and simple doctrines that strengthen us.
Love you so much and hope that you have a beautiful week!
Elder Ostergaard
Monday, November 24, 2014
Monday, November 17, 2014
#70
Hey People,
I hope you all are great! I am doing great. We just had the mini-transfer calls last night and I was thinking that I had pretty good chances of getting taken out of T2, but no call came and I am in the clear, so I will be here for another 6 weeks in Tirana! At the end of this transfer I will have spent 13 months in this beautiful city (mainly beautiful because of the wonderful people here, because this concrete jungle is not the most picturesque of Albanian cities...which would probably make me sad if I took more pictures than I do, sorry Mom).
This week started out and continued a bit rough on the work side. On Thursday and Friday we were able to have Elder Dyches of the Second Quorum of Seventy in our mission. On Thursday went down to the city of Durres that actually has a built from the ground up church building (it totally looks like America!) and had a mission conference. It was way good. The next day we had Mission Leader Conference. Almost all of the time was spent with a training by Elder Dyches about agency and accountability. Those moments in my mission where I have been able to really look at myself, my companionship, and the work that we are doing and analyze before the Lord that which we have done have led to the most lasting changes in what we do. When we truly feel accountable before the Lord for everything that we do, how can we use our time poorly. When we were baptized we covenanted to always remember our Savior and how much better off we would be if we would just do that. Yesterday morning we were reading in the White handbook during our companionship study and read a part where it said that by following the standards of the handbook we would magnify our calling. It is crazy how just by doing exactly what we were asked to do we could magnify our calling. So often we just land so far under what we should be shooting for that magnifying our calling seems like something you hear about in General Conference where really if we are doing what is asked of us with our full heart, we will be fulfilling and magnifying our calling.
This past week Elder Rawlings and I had an opportunity to try and help some elders in our zone try a little harder to be a little better. It was a bit difficult to sit down and talk to these missionaries that we love and tell them that there were some things that needed to be improved in, that they were things we knew that they knew they should be doing and could be doing. It was a great learning experience for us as well as for them.
Our week this week was a little rough on the work side comeSunday morning, but we had faith that the Lord would fill in the gaps we could not. Friday night we had called a lady in the ward that has several children that are not baptized to come to the baptism. She was not able to come, but brought them to church the next day for the first time in a long time. we sat down with them and told them that we wanted to help them take the steps necessary to be with their mom here and were able to plan to meet with them during this week. The night before I had the feeling that we needed to try hard to meet with this recent convert that just moved up from Fier and her parents. So we called them up and were able to go over to their house Sunday evening and help them catch the vision of joining with their daughter on her way to eternal life. Pretty cool. On the way home from that we stopped by the little stand of a less-active guy's family and talked with his non-member wife. While talking to her about her family she told us about her brother that lived right next to them that needed a lot of help and started crying about it. We were able to testify to her and will be going by again soon to see what we can do.
This is definitely the Lord's work and it goes forth at His pace, not ours.
Love you everybody!
Elder Ostergaard
Hey,
So these are some photos that Sister Russell (she is like my in the mission mom) took of Elder Rawlings and I in our new suits. Some of them are kind of ridiculous, but I will send them anyway.
Love,
GQ
I hope you all are great! I am doing great. We just had the mini-transfer calls last night and I was thinking that I had pretty good chances of getting taken out of T2, but no call came and I am in the clear, so I will be here for another 6 weeks in Tirana! At the end of this transfer I will have spent 13 months in this beautiful city (mainly beautiful because of the wonderful people here, because this concrete jungle is not the most picturesque of Albanian cities...which would probably make me sad if I took more pictures than I do, sorry Mom).
This week started out and continued a bit rough on the work side. On Thursday and Friday we were able to have Elder Dyches of the Second Quorum of Seventy in our mission. On Thursday went down to the city of Durres that actually has a built from the ground up church building (it totally looks like America!) and had a mission conference. It was way good. The next day we had Mission Leader Conference. Almost all of the time was spent with a training by Elder Dyches about agency and accountability. Those moments in my mission where I have been able to really look at myself, my companionship, and the work that we are doing and analyze before the Lord that which we have done have led to the most lasting changes in what we do. When we truly feel accountable before the Lord for everything that we do, how can we use our time poorly. When we were baptized we covenanted to always remember our Savior and how much better off we would be if we would just do that. Yesterday morning we were reading in the White handbook during our companionship study and read a part where it said that by following the standards of the handbook we would magnify our calling. It is crazy how just by doing exactly what we were asked to do we could magnify our calling. So often we just land so far under what we should be shooting for that magnifying our calling seems like something you hear about in General Conference where really if we are doing what is asked of us with our full heart, we will be fulfilling and magnifying our calling.
This past week Elder Rawlings and I had an opportunity to try and help some elders in our zone try a little harder to be a little better. It was a bit difficult to sit down and talk to these missionaries that we love and tell them that there were some things that needed to be improved in, that they were things we knew that they knew they should be doing and could be doing. It was a great learning experience for us as well as for them.
Our week this week was a little rough on the work side comeSunday morning, but we had faith that the Lord would fill in the gaps we could not. Friday night we had called a lady in the ward that has several children that are not baptized to come to the baptism. She was not able to come, but brought them to church the next day for the first time in a long time. we sat down with them and told them that we wanted to help them take the steps necessary to be with their mom here and were able to plan to meet with them during this week. The night before I had the feeling that we needed to try hard to meet with this recent convert that just moved up from Fier and her parents. So we called them up and were able to go over to their house Sunday evening and help them catch the vision of joining with their daughter on her way to eternal life. Pretty cool. On the way home from that we stopped by the little stand of a less-active guy's family and talked with his non-member wife. While talking to her about her family she told us about her brother that lived right next to them that needed a lot of help and started crying about it. We were able to testify to her and will be going by again soon to see what we can do.
This is definitely the Lord's work and it goes forth at His pace, not ours.
Love you everybody!
Elder Ostergaard
Hey,
So these are some photos that Sister Russell (she is like my in the mission mom) took of Elder Rawlings and I in our new suits. Some of them are kind of ridiculous, but I will send them anyway.
Love,
GQ
Monday, November 10, 2014
#69
Hey everybody,
Well, once again their is not much time to talk! We were asked by the Assistants to take a car up to Kosovo and drop off some document for a car up their, so that occupied our whole day. It was cool to go step onto another country though! It was basically a more Russian-feeling Albania.
This past week we were able to see Mariana get baptized though. I mentioned her a few weeks ago. We started teaching her again (after she had been taught 3 years ago in another city) and then gave her to the Sisters with the new rules. This weekend she was finally baptized and it was wonderful! She is so ready and we have seen her change over the past month or so that we have been around her! She is so much happier and has so much more purpose in life and she knows it too. Pretty cool what the most important message in the world can do for you!
Elder Rawlings and I were able to go up and do that exchange in Shkoder as I mentioned we started last Monday. There is some good stuff going on up their, however, some of the missionaries are getting beat down a bit because of the difficulty of the work. It is pretty hard to work with all your heart, might, mind, and strength when you are sad and it is also very difficult to have full faith in the Savior's enabling power to help you in the work. We are hoping that they are a little bit better off than they were before.
To answer a couple questions:
We had 89 people in church this week.
The sacrament can almost always be administered by the priesthood of the ward without our help, but there is always mostly Melchizedek Priesthood doing it.
Oh, I was able to give a short talk in Sacrament Meeting this past week and that was pretty cool. I based it around a line in Chapter 1 of PMG that says that as our knowledge of the Atonement increases, our desire to share the Gospel will grow. It is so true. So you should do it.
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
P.S.
This is my new suit in the pictures at Mariana's baptism.
Well, once again their is not much time to talk! We were asked by the Assistants to take a car up to Kosovo and drop off some document for a car up their, so that occupied our whole day. It was cool to go step onto another country though! It was basically a more Russian-feeling Albania.
This past week we were able to see Mariana get baptized though. I mentioned her a few weeks ago. We started teaching her again (after she had been taught 3 years ago in another city) and then gave her to the Sisters with the new rules. This weekend she was finally baptized and it was wonderful! She is so ready and we have seen her change over the past month or so that we have been around her! She is so much happier and has so much more purpose in life and she knows it too. Pretty cool what the most important message in the world can do for you!
Elder Rawlings and I were able to go up and do that exchange in Shkoder as I mentioned we started last Monday. There is some good stuff going on up their, however, some of the missionaries are getting beat down a bit because of the difficulty of the work. It is pretty hard to work with all your heart, might, mind, and strength when you are sad and it is also very difficult to have full faith in the Savior's enabling power to help you in the work. We are hoping that they are a little bit better off than they were before.
To answer a couple questions:
We had 89 people in church this week.
The sacrament can almost always be administered by the priesthood of the ward without our help, but there is always mostly Melchizedek Priesthood doing it.
Oh, I was able to give a short talk in Sacrament Meeting this past week and that was pretty cool. I based it around a line in Chapter 1 of PMG that says that as our knowledge of the Atonement increases, our desire to share the Gospel will grow. It is so true. So you should do it.
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
P.S.
This is my new suit in the pictures at Mariana's baptism.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
#68
Hey everybody,
I hope you are doing great! I can't say that I think about you all the time ( it would definitely be hard to stay focused if that were the case), but when I do think about you they are good thoughts and I miss you in healthy amounts.
I actually started this earlier in Tirana, but various things have taken up time and we are now up in Shkoder on an exchange and do not have much time to talk at all.
We did some service with a lady from our ward and her boyfriend and it was way good, I will shoot you some pictures of that.
We have not had a ton of investigators to teach in the recent past and we are hoping that as we continue on especially in working through members and such that we can get some solid work going on that are more than just lessons, but teaching opportunities that will lead to strong investigators of the Gospel.
There was a pretty cool thing that happened this week. We had been thinking about a lady in our ward quite a lot because we met some potential investigators that knew her and one day Elder Rawlings was passing by her house while on an exchange and slid a note under her door to say that the missionaries had passed by and we were sad to not see her and that we would see her sometime. She told us later that that note came at a very important time when she saw it later because she had been going through some really difficult things that I didn't even know about. It is pretty cool how the Lord works through us sometimes to keep His children alright.
Well, I love you everybody! Keep it real over there!
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
I hope you are doing great! I can't say that I think about you all the time ( it would definitely be hard to stay focused if that were the case), but when I do think about you they are good thoughts and I miss you in healthy amounts.
I actually started this earlier in Tirana, but various things have taken up time and we are now up in Shkoder on an exchange and do not have much time to talk at all.
We did some service with a lady from our ward and her boyfriend and it was way good, I will shoot you some pictures of that.
We have not had a ton of investigators to teach in the recent past and we are hoping that as we continue on especially in working through members and such that we can get some solid work going on that are more than just lessons, but teaching opportunities that will lead to strong investigators of the Gospel.
There was a pretty cool thing that happened this week. We had been thinking about a lady in our ward quite a lot because we met some potential investigators that knew her and one day Elder Rawlings was passing by her house while on an exchange and slid a note under her door to say that the missionaries had passed by and we were sad to not see her and that we would see her sometime. She told us later that that note came at a very important time when she saw it later because she had been going through some really difficult things that I didn't even know about. It is pretty cool how the Lord works through us sometimes to keep His children alright.
Well, I love you everybody! Keep it real over there!
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
Monday, October 27, 2014
#67
Dear Everyone,
Well, this past week has been a bit interesting in that we have been trying to become accustomed to the new parameters set last week by our mission president still. We have been working really hard to do everything for the good of the investigator and not just for us and our own personal glory. That, along with some other factors has made quite an impact on our weekly results. However, I have been learning in the past couple months that my mission is for so much more than personal recognition. That shouldn't be any of it. If everybody thought that we weren't doing any kind of good work, but we knew that it was what the Lord wanted us to do, that is still what we should be doing.
One time this week, kind of randomly, I saw a picture from the Bible Videos on Lds.org of Jesus Christ. I told my companion that one thing that I have noticed in the past couple of months is that my love for my Savior has grown. The first several months of my mission that was something that I wanted to see happen more. I was trying to do everything that I could and did have a love for the Savior, but I have seen my love grow more than ever over the past little while. What a wonderful blessing and mercy! I sure hope that as I study more, pray more fervently, and serve with more of my heart that that love can deepen and spread.
Gerti got baptized this week! How awesome is that, the very first person that showed interest enough to give us their phone number when I first entered 2nd ward has entered in at the gate that leads to eternal life! He has grown a lot, and though is definitely not a General Authority yet or anything, baptism doesn't mean perfection in knowledge. He has made that step and now he will grow even more every week in church and every day on his knees and in the scriptures. He brought his brother to the baptism which was cool and after we got out of the water he grabbed me in a hug and said he felt like he was reborn. He was right.
We had a good learning experience at the baptism too. We asked Eni, an investigator that Elder Rawlings and I had both taught a few months ago to speak at the baptism. She is still an investigator and has been having some deep and difficult questions challenging her faith and we thought that she could really use the spiritual strength that came from testifying to others of what she knew. So we asked her to speak about the Holy Ghost. She did great (she is very smart and though she has her doubts, those things she knows, she knows) but afterwards both Bishop Gjini and President Weidmann pulled us aside and let us know that we were not allowed to do it again (though President agreed that perhaps the Lord had allowed it to happen this time innocently for the spiritual well-being of Eni). Well, you live and you learn!
We actually have been finally able to start listening to conference this week during our companionship studies. It is wonderful! My favorite so far is Elder Christofferson's talk about agency and belief. It rang so true with so many people that we meet here. Here is maybe my favorite part:
"To those who believe anything or everything could be true, the declaration of objective, fixed, and universal truth feels like coercion—“I shouldn’t be forced to believe something is true that I don’t like.” But that does not change reality. Resenting the law of gravity won’t keep a person from falling if he steps off a cliff."
We don't just share the Gospel because it is a nice thing to think or believe, but because it is the truth and others need to know about it! And it needs to be done boldly because universal laws aren't exactly subtle (take a look at the gravity example). It rips me to shreds when I see people here get a taste of the goodness that it entails and then turn it away, but their agency is their own. We just have to make sure we are doing everything possible to allow them to use that agency in the right way.
I love you everybody and I hope that you are doing some things in your life right now to love your Heavenly Father and Savior a little bit more every day!
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
P.S. I bought a suit today. I wasn't really sure if I should, but I was thinking about my situation on suits (one was bought for me by my lovely parents for my 16th birthday and the other bought from Salvation Army and then tailored by my lovely sister...the first one seeming to be very bulky right now- weird because I don't think that I have lost weight or anything- and the second having been worn away between the legs, fixed out here, and then wearing down again) and about how often we need to wear suits here with our winter season for dress starting up yesterday. Okay, that is a lot of explanation, but Elder Rawlings and I got one and it was $100 which I guess is supposed to be really good. Whoo, well it feels to good to get that off my chest!
Hey Mom, I realized that I didn't answer you at all about your question on the influence of pornography here in Albania. I would pretty comfortably say that the problem of pornography is even more prevalent here than in America. It just isn't recognized by society as being as bad as what I remember noticing from those I knew at school, but then again I was in a pretty sheltered group of friends (thank goodness). As for church leaders addressing it, I really haven't heard anything on the subject here outside of teaching the Law of Chastity to investigators, so I am sure that it could be much better guarded against.
I don't really have any ideas for Christmas, but only a hippopotamus will do.
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
Last week Kimball sent a link to a Dropbox of pictures that a Sister missionary had taken on a Preparation day excursion. Here are a few:
Well, this past week has been a bit interesting in that we have been trying to become accustomed to the new parameters set last week by our mission president still. We have been working really hard to do everything for the good of the investigator and not just for us and our own personal glory. That, along with some other factors has made quite an impact on our weekly results. However, I have been learning in the past couple months that my mission is for so much more than personal recognition. That shouldn't be any of it. If everybody thought that we weren't doing any kind of good work, but we knew that it was what the Lord wanted us to do, that is still what we should be doing.
One time this week, kind of randomly, I saw a picture from the Bible Videos on Lds.org of Jesus Christ. I told my companion that one thing that I have noticed in the past couple of months is that my love for my Savior has grown. The first several months of my mission that was something that I wanted to see happen more. I was trying to do everything that I could and did have a love for the Savior, but I have seen my love grow more than ever over the past little while. What a wonderful blessing and mercy! I sure hope that as I study more, pray more fervently, and serve with more of my heart that that love can deepen and spread.
Gerti got baptized this week! How awesome is that, the very first person that showed interest enough to give us their phone number when I first entered 2nd ward has entered in at the gate that leads to eternal life! He has grown a lot, and though is definitely not a General Authority yet or anything, baptism doesn't mean perfection in knowledge. He has made that step and now he will grow even more every week in church and every day on his knees and in the scriptures. He brought his brother to the baptism which was cool and after we got out of the water he grabbed me in a hug and said he felt like he was reborn. He was right.
We had a good learning experience at the baptism too. We asked Eni, an investigator that Elder Rawlings and I had both taught a few months ago to speak at the baptism. She is still an investigator and has been having some deep and difficult questions challenging her faith and we thought that she could really use the spiritual strength that came from testifying to others of what she knew. So we asked her to speak about the Holy Ghost. She did great (she is very smart and though she has her doubts, those things she knows, she knows) but afterwards both Bishop Gjini and President Weidmann pulled us aside and let us know that we were not allowed to do it again (though President agreed that perhaps the Lord had allowed it to happen this time innocently for the spiritual well-being of Eni). Well, you live and you learn!
We actually have been finally able to start listening to conference this week during our companionship studies. It is wonderful! My favorite so far is Elder Christofferson's talk about agency and belief. It rang so true with so many people that we meet here. Here is maybe my favorite part:
"To those who believe anything or everything could be true, the declaration of objective, fixed, and universal truth feels like coercion—“I shouldn’t be forced to believe something is true that I don’t like.” But that does not change reality. Resenting the law of gravity won’t keep a person from falling if he steps off a cliff."
We don't just share the Gospel because it is a nice thing to think or believe, but because it is the truth and others need to know about it! And it needs to be done boldly because universal laws aren't exactly subtle (take a look at the gravity example). It rips me to shreds when I see people here get a taste of the goodness that it entails and then turn it away, but their agency is their own. We just have to make sure we are doing everything possible to allow them to use that agency in the right way.
I love you everybody and I hope that you are doing some things in your life right now to love your Heavenly Father and Savior a little bit more every day!
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
P.S. I bought a suit today. I wasn't really sure if I should, but I was thinking about my situation on suits (one was bought for me by my lovely parents for my 16th birthday and the other bought from Salvation Army and then tailored by my lovely sister...the first one seeming to be very bulky right now- weird because I don't think that I have lost weight or anything- and the second having been worn away between the legs, fixed out here, and then wearing down again) and about how often we need to wear suits here with our winter season for dress starting up yesterday. Okay, that is a lot of explanation, but Elder Rawlings and I got one and it was $100 which I guess is supposed to be really good. Whoo, well it feels to good to get that off my chest!
Hey Mom, I realized that I didn't answer you at all about your question on the influence of pornography here in Albania. I would pretty comfortably say that the problem of pornography is even more prevalent here than in America. It just isn't recognized by society as being as bad as what I remember noticing from those I knew at school, but then again I was in a pretty sheltered group of friends (thank goodness). As for church leaders addressing it, I really haven't heard anything on the subject here outside of teaching the Law of Chastity to investigators, so I am sure that it could be much better guarded against.
I don't really have any ideas for Christmas, but only a hippopotamus will do.
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
Last week Kimball sent a link to a Dropbox of pictures that a Sister missionary had taken on a Preparation day excursion. Here are a few:
Monday, October 20, 2014
#66 Monday, October 20, 2014
Dear Family,
Happy Monday dearest people! I hope that this week has been fantastic and that it wasn't exactly the same as the week before. Some lessons learned, maybe a couple hard things (just enough to get you moving forward even better), and even more wonderful things. This last week had a couple of pretty dramatic changes in the missionary work here in Albania (if you don't remember what that is, it borders on the Adriatic, is mainly mountainous, and exports chrome chiefly-- except I don't really know about that last part because I have never heard of any kind of chrome export here).
On Wednesday morning I got a call from Elder Rawlings (I was at the time on an exchange with some Elders in Shkoder) and he told me that President Weidmann had just put out a new regulation that Elders had to teach guys and Sisters had to teach girls. It was kind of a punch in the gut (I don't know if you have been reading my emails for the last year or not, but most of the success that has been found has been with girls). We knew that it was the right thing to do because President is in fact an inspired man, but it took about 12 hours for me and my companion (who has been in the same boat in regards to teaching girls mostly his whole mission) to really found out for ourselves that it truly was the will of the Lord not only for the President, but also for us personally. Even though we were always keeping the rules in teaching with another guy present and keeping within the regulations that the Brethren had set, we have discovered that there are in fact a ton of benefits to this new regulation:
1. The priesthood force here in Albania is minimal, and if more than 2/3 of the missionary force here can only be teaching potential Priesthood holders and their families, that number really has no way to go other than up.
2. It definitely makes finding members that match personalities easier. When we taught girls that meant that our pool of those to help us out was very limited and it is now so much larger.
3. It helps people be baptized for the right reasons. It is not unheard of for an investigator of the opposite sex to be baptized simply out of devotion to a missionary that taught them, and this should whittle that down.
4. It helps the work in the ward become more tightly linked as missionaries will be finding investigators for other missionaries and the whole feel will be for the good of the investigator rather than the good of the missionary.
We were also given new steps to incorporate into our daily planning that allow that time at the end of the day to become more Spirit-based and driven.
We had this powerful lesson with Gerti and told explained the covenant that he will be making at baptism entails attending church every week to partake of the Sacrament. It is hard for him because he works in Tirana during the week and then on the weekends he goes home to see his family. So on Sunday he actually brought his mom to church which was wonderful! We are shooting for him to be baptized this week, so keep him in your prayers as well as Qamil, Suleman, Andrit, Aurel, and Roland.
That also reminds me of a wonderful opportunity that we had to see the hand of the Lord during our week this week. We were out knocking down some doors on Friday and we get a call. It was another missionary telling us that a member would be bringing his friend to church that wanted to learn form the missionaries. His name is Aurel and he is now on a baptismal date. It was cool to see that when we were doing what we could, the Lord was willing to step in and do that which we couldn't.
The picture is of a brother and sister that Elder Rawlings and I were asked to baptize. Their mother was re-discovered after 12 years and decided to bring her family to church and the sisters had the wonderful opportunity to teach them. Their names are Frenkli and Armela and they are awesome.
Well everybody, I love your guts and all their coatings. Keep it real out there and don't do anything I wouldn't do.
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
Here are a couple pictures of some of the missionaries in our zone at a Canadian Thanksgiving Day waffle party last week.
Happy Monday dearest people! I hope that this week has been fantastic and that it wasn't exactly the same as the week before. Some lessons learned, maybe a couple hard things (just enough to get you moving forward even better), and even more wonderful things. This last week had a couple of pretty dramatic changes in the missionary work here in Albania (if you don't remember what that is, it borders on the Adriatic, is mainly mountainous, and exports chrome chiefly-- except I don't really know about that last part because I have never heard of any kind of chrome export here).
On Wednesday morning I got a call from Elder Rawlings (I was at the time on an exchange with some Elders in Shkoder) and he told me that President Weidmann had just put out a new regulation that Elders had to teach guys and Sisters had to teach girls. It was kind of a punch in the gut (I don't know if you have been reading my emails for the last year or not, but most of the success that has been found has been with girls). We knew that it was the right thing to do because President is in fact an inspired man, but it took about 12 hours for me and my companion (who has been in the same boat in regards to teaching girls mostly his whole mission) to really found out for ourselves that it truly was the will of the Lord not only for the President, but also for us personally. Even though we were always keeping the rules in teaching with another guy present and keeping within the regulations that the Brethren had set, we have discovered that there are in fact a ton of benefits to this new regulation:
1. The priesthood force here in Albania is minimal, and if more than 2/3 of the missionary force here can only be teaching potential Priesthood holders and their families, that number really has no way to go other than up.
2. It definitely makes finding members that match personalities easier. When we taught girls that meant that our pool of those to help us out was very limited and it is now so much larger.
3. It helps people be baptized for the right reasons. It is not unheard of for an investigator of the opposite sex to be baptized simply out of devotion to a missionary that taught them, and this should whittle that down.
4. It helps the work in the ward become more tightly linked as missionaries will be finding investigators for other missionaries and the whole feel will be for the good of the investigator rather than the good of the missionary.
We were also given new steps to incorporate into our daily planning that allow that time at the end of the day to become more Spirit-based and driven.
We had this powerful lesson with Gerti and told explained the covenant that he will be making at baptism entails attending church every week to partake of the Sacrament. It is hard for him because he works in Tirana during the week and then on the weekends he goes home to see his family. So on Sunday he actually brought his mom to church which was wonderful! We are shooting for him to be baptized this week, so keep him in your prayers as well as Qamil, Suleman, Andrit, Aurel, and Roland.
That also reminds me of a wonderful opportunity that we had to see the hand of the Lord during our week this week. We were out knocking down some doors on Friday and we get a call. It was another missionary telling us that a member would be bringing his friend to church that wanted to learn form the missionaries. His name is Aurel and he is now on a baptismal date. It was cool to see that when we were doing what we could, the Lord was willing to step in and do that which we couldn't.
The picture is of a brother and sister that Elder Rawlings and I were asked to baptize. Their mother was re-discovered after 12 years and decided to bring her family to church and the sisters had the wonderful opportunity to teach them. Their names are Frenkli and Armela and they are awesome.
Well everybody, I love your guts and all their coatings. Keep it real out there and don't do anything I wouldn't do.
Love,
Elder Ostergaard
Here are a couple pictures of some of the missionaries in our zone at a Canadian Thanksgiving Day waffle party last week.
Monday, October 13, 2014
#67 October 13,2014
Hey everybody,
Sorry that this note is going to be rather short, but we don't have a ton of time. I have really been noticing more fully this week the weight of leadership and of goals. With new goals that we have set as a mission and as a zone, there is this new fire that has been kindled inside of us to accomplish these goals that we have set with the Lord. The efforts have been intensified and the Spirit more earnestly sought. I hope that as we work to reach a new potential that we will be guided in that journey. Along with that fire there is definitely a certain weight though. As we see from our perspectives where the zone is and where we are, stagnation and mediocrity are not options. The only way that we will be able to achieve what we need to achieve is through excellence. It is just that getting to excellence is not the easiest thing in the world. But that ain't nothing but a thing, because we can do hard things.
I just want to tell you really quick about a cool person we have been able to start teaching this week. Her name is Mariana. She was taught 3 or 4 years ago in the city of Elbasan by some other missionaries, but that didn't work out. She has been friends with members since then however. We met her about a week and a half ago as she was walking on the street with one of her member friends. We were able to bring her to the YSA FHE and since then have found that though she wasn't ready then, she has been slowly, slowly prepared by the Lord to hear the message now. So, plant those seeds, because however long after, something can happen. And it's pretty cool when it does.
Love you so much everybody, keep it real because fake just won't do it.
Elder Ostergaard
Sorry that this note is going to be rather short, but we don't have a ton of time. I have really been noticing more fully this week the weight of leadership and of goals. With new goals that we have set as a mission and as a zone, there is this new fire that has been kindled inside of us to accomplish these goals that we have set with the Lord. The efforts have been intensified and the Spirit more earnestly sought. I hope that as we work to reach a new potential that we will be guided in that journey. Along with that fire there is definitely a certain weight though. As we see from our perspectives where the zone is and where we are, stagnation and mediocrity are not options. The only way that we will be able to achieve what we need to achieve is through excellence. It is just that getting to excellence is not the easiest thing in the world. But that ain't nothing but a thing, because we can do hard things.
I just want to tell you really quick about a cool person we have been able to start teaching this week. Her name is Mariana. She was taught 3 or 4 years ago in the city of Elbasan by some other missionaries, but that didn't work out. She has been friends with members since then however. We met her about a week and a half ago as she was walking on the street with one of her member friends. We were able to bring her to the YSA FHE and since then have found that though she wasn't ready then, she has been slowly, slowly prepared by the Lord to hear the message now. So, plant those seeds, because however long after, something can happen. And it's pretty cool when it does.
Love you so much everybody, keep it real because fake just won't do it.
Elder Ostergaard
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)