May, 2009 The

HARVESTER
Den Norske Misjon

D&C 101:63-4 . . . I say unto you, I will show unto you wisdom in me concerning all the churches, in as much as
they are willing to be guided in a right and proper way for their salvation--- that the work of the gathering
together of my saints may continue . . . for the time of harvest is come, and my word must needs be fulfilled.

Message from the President

Dear Elders and Sisters,
Moroni teaches us that after we are baptized and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, we are
“numbered among the people of the Church of Christ; and their names were taken, they might be
remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep
them continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the
author and finisher of their faith.” (Moroni 6:4).

We have been reading some writings from our Norwegian Apostle, John A. Widtsoe (1872-1952),
who said, “Since a testimony is a compound of knowledge and the use of knowledge, it is much as
a living thing. It is never static, like a stone. The small testimony may grow larger, the large
testimony become smaller. Therefore, it must be cared for, as any other type of life. Our treatment
of it is of prime importance. He who would retain his testimony is required to give constant study
to the gospel. He cannot live forever on what he learned yesterday. By a little such study every day,
light will follow light, and understanding will increase. This is doubly important since we live in a
changing world, which requires continuous applications of gospel truth to new conditions.”

Our daily study time is of great importance to us and should be regarded as the time the Lord has
given us to be the investigator. It is our time to study, ponder, and pray for understanding and
assistance in our preparations to share the gospel with others. Elder Holland tells us that the first 3
hours of the day will make or break us as missionaries. PMG gives us a tremendous promise:
“Missionaries who strive to prepare themselves daily and seek to improve regularly will receive
direction from the Holy Ghost and see blessings in their lives.”

We urge you to follow the counsel given us in Preach My Gospel regarding study time for yourself
and with your companion. It is during this time you will prepare yourself on the things you will be
teaching. As a result of this preparation, you will be able to “speak the thoughts that I shall put
into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; for it shall be given you in the very
hour, yea in the very moment, what ye shall say.” (D&C 100:5-6) This is a great promise to us if
we do our part.

We express our love and support to each of you and promise you great understanding and results
as you apply yourself in personal and companionship study.

President and Sister Poulsen

 May 2009
Assistant’s Message
Dear Elders and Sisters,
A recent experience in the mission caught our attention. A companionship had a teaching
appointment with one of their investigators from Vietnam. She’s in her twenties. They taught
her in the church with a member. The investigator did not speak any Norwegian and the
member was well into his eighties and didn’t speak English. Some of us may think that would be
an odd match-up for a teach, since the member and the investigator could hardly communicate,
but it turned out to be a success. The lesson was about the nature of the Godhead and the
revealed truths that were given back to us through the prophet Joseph Smith. The first half of
the lesson didn’t go as the missionaries had planned; it was almost as if something was missing.
It didn’t feel like there was power in the lesson. The Elders were really trying their best but just
couldn’t get through to the investigator. They were saying all of the right things, and explaining
the doctrine great, but she just couldn’t get it. The member, near speechless up to this point,
decided to say something. A picture of the First Vision was on the table, and with his broken
English this eighty year old member said, “I prayed about this, I know that is it true…. I know
this”. The two missionaries looked at each other and paused for just a brief moment. They both
noticed a spiritual change in the room. The investigator was not the same; she sat staring at the
member and both elders knew that the spirit had touched her heart. The rest of the lesson was
different and she made some real progress. Near the end of the appointment, the same member
unexpectedly extended a commitment to her. He said, “When you go home tonight, I just want
you to do one thing for us. Would you think about what we have talked about and ask God?”
The spirit was so strong in the room as she committed to pray.
It was clear that the member’s humble testimony changed the course of that lesson.
Preach My Gospel states, “Powerful testimony is not dependent on eloquence or the volume of
your voice but on the conviction of your heart” (pg.198). How can we apply this experience to
our work? There are several different things that we could emphasis, but what really stuck out to
us was the sincerity of the member.
The simple fact is that a sincere missionary is a powerful missionary. That means that
when you’re at a teaching appointment, you’re really there. Your thoughts and your desires are
centered around the people you are teaching. When you’re speaking to people on the street, or in
their homes, you really care about what they’re saying - you really listen. We share personal
experiences, and listen to concerns. Basically, you are real with people.
Sincerity in the work is very dynamic; it will increase the quality of every aspect of it. We
have read the words of Moroni hundreds of times on our missions, “if ye shall ask with a sincere
heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power
of the Holy Ghost”. If we are to be powerful servants of the Lord, we will need to do this work
with a sincere heart, with real intent, and having faith in Christ. Then, the Holy Ghost will enter
into our work in a new and refreshing way.
Love Eldste Cramer and Eldste Henshaw

Baptisms Reported in April

Love, Baptism Confirmation
EldsteName Date
Cramer and Eldste Henshaw Date Location Missionaries

Duphey, Dziedzom 28 Mar 2009 12 Apr 2009 Tromsø-Mission Elders Maxwell/Eagar

Nketiah, Kofi 18 Apr 2009 19 Apr 2009 Moss-Mission Elders Liddle/Severson/Harris
Moo, Bleh Say 25 Aprr 2009 26 Apr 2009 Romerike-Stake Elders Bishop/Grover/Fish
Moo, K Baw 21 Mar 2009 22 Mar 2009 Romerike-Stake Elders Bishop/Grover
 May 2009
More Miracles
One random day this guy called us and he said, “You boys can read English, right?” He wanted us to
help them figure out how to work this sound board for recording and making music. Later that day we
went to help them read the instructions, and we were able to fix there problem and answer there
questions. Then we got talking about the gospel and how the two guys there both had talked to the
missionaries before. The older guy wanted us to come visit him at his house, so we could talk over a meal
and in a nice living room. This man happened to be someone that we tried to find the first day I was in
my area and we couldn't find him. The Lord blessed us to lead him to find us, and now we will begin
teaching him again. The Lord helps his work progress in so many ways.
---
Two days ago we went out to knock on some doors, way out in the middle of no where, because we
thought it would be a good place. After a long while with no success. We were kind of discouraged, but
we of course continued onward, because we had prayed about banking this area and we both felt good
about it. After a little while we bank on this door and this guy opened up and we said, “Hi, were
missionaries”, and he yelled inside to his friend saying "Do you want to have a visit from the
missionaries" and the guy replied back "NO", but we continued to talk to him and then this old man
walked around the corner and invited us in. So we talked to them for awhile and the guy that lived there
invited us back. It was cool and I'm excited to visit him on Wednesday. If we continue to teach this man
the gospel it will bless his life so much and bring more happiness then he can imagine.
---
We had some time left because a few appointments got cancelled right in a row. So we went knocking on
doors. I felt like we should go to this area that hasn’t been knocked in a while and looking a the streets I
picked the first one that caught my attention. We started knocking down the long street. No real success.
The last house we knocked at the end of the street was an older couple. The wife answered and we began
talking. She said she had a strong belief in Christ. I said that we have a book that’s another testament of
Christ… She let us in. We sat down and taught her and her husband. There house was very clean and
orderly with books and family pictures. They had at least four bibles in the room, two on the coffee table
and more on the book shelf. We began with a prayer. They said they wanted to know why there were so
many churchs and believed Christ’s church was lost. As we taught them the first lesson they were
very involved. They seemed to know the bible backwards and forwards. When we read from James
1:5 or Ephesians they knew the context and what it was about. Its apparent they have read through it
several times. For the most part they were interpreting it correctly. We gave them a Book of Mormon and
challenged them to read it. We also set up a return appointment. The spirit was very strong. It is
apparent the Lord has been preparing them to receive the restored gospel. I know the Lord led us to
them.

Departing Missionary
Iina Silvennoinen
Hämeenpuisto 43-45 C90
Tampere, Finland FIN-332
“….And blessed art thou; for because ye have been diligent in
laboring with me in my vineyard, and have kept my
commandments, ….. behold ye shall have joy with me because
of the fruit of my vineyard.” Jacob 5:75
 May 2009
Our Miracle Column
We brought a member on a teach because he went on a French speaking mission and we had a French
investigator, when he got there the member told us that he really wasn't comfortable with his French so
we should just teach him in Norwegian. The lesson was going the same as they had before: he was sort
of understanding and sort of participating, then we came to the spirit world and were trying to describe
it in Norwegian and the member just said the word we were looking for in French and our investigator
spoke some French back to him and after that they were just on there own. The investigator was way
happy and exited about it and asking questions. He really just came to life; it was a really cool experience.
On the drive home, the member said it went great and that he was blessed with the gift of tongues. That
week the member got up and bore a great testimony about the experience in sacrament meeting. It really
just helped me realize that member missionary work helps the members just as much as it helps our
investigators.
---
One of our biggest successes this week was teaching a mother who is less active and the son isn’t a
member. We watched the Restoration movie and were teaching afterward with the help of the mom
translating. As she was translating she started to teach herself and testified of Joseph Smith. It was really
incredible. I felt the spirit really strong even though it was in a completely different language. I could see
that her son was touched. He then committed to be baptized after he receives an answer that it is true.
We're excited to go back and see how he’s doing tomorrow.
---
We have had a few miraculous experiences. Last week we contacted a lady who believes in reincarnation
and spirituality and we basically answered all her questions and gave her a leaflet. She didn’t want us to
have her number though as she said that if we were meant to meet again, we would. So, we went merrily
on our way. Then, I was thinking about her last night and I wondered how she was doing. Today we ran
into her again. It was crazy, because she said that she had this feeling that she would see us again, and
we met her in a completely different place than the last time. She had read the leaflet and talked to her
friends about it and continued to have more questions. Then she said she would think some more and
that we would meet again.
---
Actually this past week has been a huge eye opener to me of the things that I need to improve on! I
don’t know why but I asked the Lord to tell me things that I could work on and slowly everyday I see
something in my life that I can fix and then also a solution to it! It truly is amazing what the Lord is
willing to do for those that ask! I love this work!
---
After my companion heard a success story about some missionaries who had prayed for referrals, we
spent an hour of our weekly planning time just kneeling in prayer. I just prayed for faith that a miracle
could happen with referrals. After we prayed, we got to work. Within a half hour we got a phone call
from a member that had a friend which requested to meet with us. Later that day, we were giving a
member a ride back to town for church on Sunday, and he said he had a friend he wanted us to visit. We
talked to him, and he ended up coming to church the next day. I'm excited to see what miracle will
come. We received 4 member referrals last week.
---
I learned this week to never stop ten on topping. It was Sunday morning and we were on our way to
pick up a couple of investigators from Sentrum and we stopped the first man we saw. I said something
I’ve never said before: “Hey we go to that church right there and we’re out to invite people to come
today, would you like to?” He agreed. I tried to tell him that there were three hours of church, (“are
you still sure?”) But he wanted to come. OK. So we took him to Sentrum with us to pick up the
investigators and he came to all three hours of church. He told us afterwards that he’s lived in Norway
for 22 years and that he’s always wanted to go to a church here but no one has ever invited him! We
have an appointment with him for Tuesday.