The Present

Can I just say how much I love each of you? You are all powerful examples to me and I am so blessed to even know you. I was so touched by those who actually took on the simple invitation of asking for service last week. Thank you everyone for the love and support you give me through your thoughts, words, and actions. You all are truly magnificent!

This week... where do I begin? Let's just say that this week really helped me see just how connected we are as members of Heavenly Father's family.

We had a lesson with Johny on Tuesday. We met him at the bus stop for the church and he was able to find us no problem. But at the last minute he said he didn't want to meet in our church building. He said that he had begin reading in the Book of Mormon and that he had bad feelings reading it. SAYETH WHAT?? We calmly found an alternative place to talk. Johny had just read the introduction and the testimonies of the witnesses. He had difficulties believing that these people had seen angels and that was the cause of his bad feelings. We taught him the full Restoration and really focused on the role of angels in the restoration. We read Moroni's promise in the end of the Book of Mormon and oh boy the spirit was so strong! By the end of the lesson, Johny felt much better about reading and also praying about the Book of Mormon. The spirit truly is the teacher and I am simply the mediator.

One fun contacting story: We were walking around the older part of Trondheim. Most people gave us the "I'm not interested" and kept on walking. As we turned the corner, I see a young couple walking towards us. Like a good missionary, I went to stop to them and begin to talk when suddenly the guy exclaims, "I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN!!" I was... surprised by this unusual reaction. The guy (Loari? Lauri? A Finnish name) then explained to us that he was experiencing a "Mormon Month" meaning that he was being stopped by the missionaries A LOT. He was like, "Yeah I've heard it all, but you can talk to my friend here" and the girl (Essi) was like "Yes please! I would love to hear what your message is!" We mainly talked about what makes our church different from other churches. When we mentioned that we had a living prophet, Loauri jumped in and was like, "Wait you have a prophet? I didn't hear about that!" We ended up talking for 30 minutes and committing them to come to the Easter concert!! They were hilarious and yet so open to talk with us even though they were not religious.

Saturday was the other sisters', Sister Angerhofer and Sister Shaw, investigator Karoline's baptism. It was a beautiful service where you could strongly feel the spirit. As Karoline was changing, Sister Hornback played the piano. She transitioned into playing "Joesph Smith's First Prayer." As I listened to the soft piano, I simply thought "And this baptism today happened because of a humble boy's first prayer." Pretty amazing.

Last but certainly not least, General Conference happened this weekend. We had a huge gathering at the senior couple Elder and Sister Bradford's apartment with dinner and watching conference together. I can't quite explain how I feel about what I received from Conference. I can just bear my testimony that I know that the Lord does speak to us personally in every talk that was spoken and every song that was performed. Every question I went in with received an answer that I needed most. This gospel is a personal gospel because our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ know us personally and perfectly. President Thomas S. Monson is God's true living prophet on the earth and he's calling is to help us.

The title of this blog post is also in connection to my little thought for the week: "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift: That is why it is called the present." General Conference has come and gone, the future is still unknown to what will happen, but we can use what we learned and received from conference. Every new day is a new present from our Heavenly Father. This week I will be reflecting on the notes I took from conference and do what my mission president has asked: Make goals to apply what I learned. I would like you all to do the same. The Lord gives us personal guidance and direction in every conference to help us go forward in faith to the future. Treasure the lessons and enjoy the presents we all receive daily.

Thank you all again for your love and support. You truly are the greatest!

Take care,

Søster Buhler

1) The cool evening sky on the way home after a day of tracting

2) I made boller! Norwegian goodies :)

3) Seriously, Norway just has beautiful skies!