It's officially the most wonderful time of the year! Happy First of December!! The streets of Ålesund are getting all decorated which is wonderful and just jolly!! While the Christmas buzz is growing, people are getting busier with prepping for family visits or going to visit family. Been a tough week for finding and teaching, but luckily the world is my oyster and I got lots of blessings to be thankful for! Here are some highlights of the week:
-Decorated our branch windows
-Brand New Progressor: Yen Johnson
-Tea Party with Uncle Martin
-Adventure out to Vestnes
-Spiritual Thought: What We Know
Since the city was being decke dout, we thought we would decorate our windows for Christmas too! We had a little Relief Society craft night to make all the decorations and we made a former investigaot come and help us out! So cool! I did sadly forget to take pictures so that will be in next week's update.... My apologizes.
So Yen is so incredible! He met with the sisters earlier this year and for one reason or another, the missionaries lost contact with him. We called him up and he was still very interested in meeting with us. Where on earth do I even begin to describe Yen? Perhaps the beginning would be good:
Yen is from Shanghai and has been in Norway for about a year now studying engineering. Being from China, he didn't have a belief in God but since coming to Norway he's had some way cool experiences that he says he cannot call just coincidences. One for exmaple, he was doing laundry one day and there were two american pennies on his washer. One was dated 1993 (when he was born) and 2014. Within that same week he met the sisters. He took that to mean that God wanted him to talk with these two American missionaries. So amazing!
He is just so receptive to the spirit and is so eager to learn! When I texted him the next day to follow up he had already read the restoration pamphlet we gave him and started reading in the Book of Mormon!! So excited for him!!
Quick background story: Uncle Martin is a referral we got from Inger Anne Amundsen in Oslo (she was in Romerike my first area!). She told us that we could pop in and say hi for her and just ask if they'd want to learn more. We stopped by about a week ago and he was pretty excited to see us! He loves family history and really liked talking with us. We got each other's numbers and planned to meet up this past Friday.
So what happened on Friday - We come up to the door and as we walk in, he had his table set up for a tea party! It was super delicious and we were able to talk about the church. He did accept to learn more!! Inger was super excited to hear that as well :)
We went out to visit a less active family in Vestnes which is about an hour and 20 minutes away. GORGOUS drive on the bus by the way. Anyways, we visited Helene and her two kids Brigham and Logan. Helene is Norwegian and her exhusband is American (from Logan). When we got there, we found out that she has an American boyfriend named John (also from Logan). They are so adorable! They talked about how they are aware they are less active and just are struggling with finances right now. They both have strong testimonies and really wonderful! I hope things will be able to turn around for them soon.
During my studies this week I was reading in John 9. In this chapter, Christ heals a blind man and this man becomes one of the quickest and strongest converts ever! After he is healed, he gets taken to the Pharisees and they question him if he was really blind before. This former blind man was being attacked right after his incredible miracle. But one of the things he says that I love is in verse 25, "He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner of no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was bling, now I see."
This man was aware of his lack of knowledge but that did not get in his way of what he knew. He not only shared his newly found testimony to the Pharisees but he defended it. What incredible faith! I know that this faith is possible for each one of us when we do the same - rely on what we know.
Have a wonderful week and kick off the best time of year! If you haven't done so, check out the new video "He is the Gift" on christmas.mormon.org
It's wonderful to me :)
Love you and take care everyone!
Søster Buhler
Our thanksgiving dinner!! Went a little crazy with the stuffing...
A beautiful sunrise in Ålesund!
Me and Sister Heywood! Before the buss trip
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