Everything Felt Very Scattered This Week

A street in a city called Mo i Rana has my name on it!!!

August 1, 2016

Hello everyone!

Man, what a crazy week, hmmmm, well, where to begin?

Well, everything felt very scattered this week, but in the end, it all worked out. Our week was filled with the normal, everyday activities, talking to people on the street, knocking doors, etc. Aside from that though, we flew up to Tromsø for Zone Leader Training. That was really fun. Normally, we would fly down to Trondheim for it, but they split the training so half went to Trondheim and the other half (us) flew to Tromsø.

View from our airport gate to fly to Tromsø

I have been to Tromsø several times already. That was while I was living in Alta. So I hadn't been back there for about 8-9 months or so. It was pretty great to go back there and visit the city. There were a bunch of other missionaries that were in Tromsø that I got to see and it was great to catch up with them.

At ZLT, the meeting was centered around the importance of the Holy Ghost in missionary work. It led me to think a lot about how important it is for us to be focusing on true conversion to Christ. The Spirit plays a large role in how we become more converted to the Lord. It is necessary for us to help others feel the Spirit to help them come closer to Christ. I think that too often when we as people begin to discuss religion or beliefs, it just turns to philosophy/ethics (nothing wrong with philosophy or ethics) and we forget what we really are talking about. We forget at times that we are talking about God and His plan for us, his plan that helps us come closer to Him, find more happiness in our lives, and live a more purpose-filled life. I think when we focus on what the doctrine of Christ is, that is when we can have a greater relationship with Him.

Caution, 

watch for hedgehogs haha I can't wait to see 

a hedgehog walking around Bodø. 

They exist in Norway I guess, 

just haven't seen one yet here.

In other news, it totally looked like I got punched in the face this week. I totally woke up one morning, and I blinked, and it was then that I realized I was going to be getting a stye eye, totally sucks to have, but ya, it basically just turned into a gnarly black eye, but it looks MUCH better now, nearly unnoticeable.

Other than that, there's not too much else that's new. I'd like to end with a thought that I've had these last few days.

There is a saying along the lines of "church is not a showplace for saints, but a hospital for sinners".

Perfect people don't need church. But no one is perfect. All of us have our faults, our trials, our struggles. It doesn't matter where we are at spiritually, or temporally, we all need church. It is there that will help strengthen us spiritually, and where we will find spiritual healing we need. When we feel like we shouldn't go to church, that is when we dearly need to go. It does more good than I think we will ever really realize.

I hope that we don't take church attendance for granted, there's a lot we can learn and it helps us grow.

I hope you all have a great week! Take care!

Sincerely,

Elder Mickelson

Zone picture at Zone Conference

Showing off my black eye!