August

FEBUARY 2010
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 Brother and Sisters,

As a mission we are being incredibly blessed by our Father in Heaven. We are seeing prophetic utterances by His
apostle L. Tom Perry being fulfilled.

The Spirit of the Lord is over Norway

and the Lord is placing into the paths of the missionaries
those whom He has prepared.
As the number of new investigators increases so does our responsibility to have the Spirit of the Lord with us to
ensure that each investigator is taught what is needed and when it is needed with “power from on high”. It is a
solemn responsibility to have investigators. We must fulfill our responsibility to them by teaching them in such a
way that they not only understand the message, but in a way so that they cannot misunderstand the message.
Only then will our skirts be clean from any responsibility if the investigator chooses to reject the message. There
cannot be anything sadder than an investigator rejecting the message because they misunderstood the message.

Preach My Gospel teaches us that the Lord is anxious to help us in our responsibilities and has promised us
inspiration to know what to do and receive the power to do it. PMG says, “He will help you as you try to recognize
and understand the Spirit through diligent scripture study. He will guide you to people who will receive the
message of the Restoration. (We are seeing this literally fulfilled) He will give you power to deliver the message
and to testify of Christ and His gospel. He will shower His blessings upon you through the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

In D&C 43:15-16 we read, “Ye are sent forth…to teach the children of men the things which I have put into your
hands by the power of my Spirit…ye are to be taught from on high. Sanctify yourselves and ye shall be endowed
with power, that ye may give even as I have spoken.” We are commanded to teach the children of men by the
power of the Lord’s Spirit. And we are to be taught from on high, in other words we are to be taught the things
which we are to teach by the Spirit of the Lord. What is required of us that we may be able to do this? PMG says
two things: The Lord asks that we remain worthy of this gift and that we ask, seek and knock.

We see this in the example of the sons of Mosiah, some of the greatest missionaries the world has ever seen. In
Alma 17:2,3,9 we read, “Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren (the sons of Mosiah)…were still his
brethren in the Lord (in other words they had remained worthy)…yea, they had waxed strong in the knowledge of
the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they
might know the word of God. But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore
they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and
authority of God…they fasted much and prayed much that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of his Spirit
to go with them, and abide with them, that they might be an instrument in the hands of God to bring…the
Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth.”Continued on page 2
 February 2010
Message from the President
Continued from front page

As we are obedient, diligently search the scriptures (and search PMG), fast much and pray much, the Lord
has said, “I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls” Alma 17:11. All
of us desire to be effective missionaries. The strength of this desire is manifest in
in how diligent we search
the scriptures, how sincere our prayers are and how obedient we are. Imagine being an instrument in the
hands of the Lord unto the salvation of many souls. The Lord has placed no limitations on us. As we ask,
seek and knock the Lord will give us the spirit of revelation and when we teach we will teach “with the
power and authority of God”. There cannot be anything happier for both the investigator and the
missionary than to know we taught an investigator with the power and authority
authority of God. As we do this our
investigators will turn into progressing investigators and new converts.

As a mission we are getting more baptismal commitments. As individual missionaries we need to become
more responsive in our teaching. We need to be better
better prepared and be guided by the Spirit so that a
greater percentage of those who have accepted a baptismal commitment are baptized.
With Our Love,

President Armand D. Johansen and Sister Johansen

Baptisms Reported in January 13 YTD as of 1/31

Baptism Confirmation
Name Date Date Location Missionaries
Ndambara, Rugombossa 1 Jan 3 Jan Fredrikstad Stake Elders Jaffa/Whitehead
Turay, Alimamy 9 Jan 10 Jan Bergen Mission Elders Maxwell/Crandall
Cheng, Jia 9 Jan 27 Sep Oslo Stake Elders Hill/Carlson
Olsen, Elisabeth 16 Jan 17 Jan Sandvika Stake Elders Gilbert/Miller
Balate, Benildo 23 Jan 24 Jan Trondheim Mission El. Henshaw
Henshaw/Richardson
Birkeland, Aslaug A.R 30 Jan 30 Jan Oslo Stake Elders Hill/Carlson
Rasmussen,Ashild 30 Jan 31 Jan Tromsø Mission Elders Hunsaker/Harris
Høyland, Robert 30 Jan 31 Jan Kristisand Mission Elders Hillyard/Linge
Ibeh, Victor Chijoke 30 Jan 31 Jan Trondheim Mission El. Henshaw/Richardson
Bastesen, Knut Henning 30 Jan 31 Jan Moss Stake Elders Pratt/Brush
Leghmari, Said 30 Jan 31 Jan Bergen Mission Elders Maxwell/Crandal
Maxwell/Crandall
Brooks,Patrice Simone 30 Jan 31 Jan Bergen Mission Elders Maxwell/Crandal
Maxwell/Crandall
Kabba, Emelia 30 Jan 31 Jan Bergen Mission Elders Maxwell/Crandal
Maxwell/Crandall
 February 2010

Message from the Assistants

Dear Elders and Sisters,
The Norway Oslo Mission is becoming a baptizing mission! Do we truly believe that? It is not a question
about whether or not we believe, but the real question is, are we willing to take the next step that is required of
us, to put our sacrifice upon the altar so the Lord can use it to perform His miracles. We read in James 2:17 that
faith without works is dead. We have a great and important calling to represent the Lord in bringing his children
unto Him, and our diligence in fulfilling this calling is a reflection of our faith, as well as our Love for our Heavenly
Father.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland reminds us of this important calling as he stated in a talk titled Mediocrity "In the
Gospel of Jesus Christ, a mission is the most important you will ever do in your life, today, tomorrow, and forever
- you will never, ever, ever do anything more important than what you're doing right now, not ever! Now in that
work, with the salvation of the human family hanging in the balance, how comfortable are you with mediocrity?"
This is a very bold statement reminding us of the great importance of our responsibilities. "I don't
question your faith, I don't question your hard work, I don’t question any of your integrity, and I don't question
anything about the quality of your life. It's a different kind of frontier that I am asking us to move into, and it has
something to do with urgency. It has something to do with belief that miracles will be produced. It means
moving off the level that we're on and the kind of routine that we're in." Elders and Sisters, we are moving
forward in bringing the Lords work to pass in Norway. Do we have the spirit of urgency? To help these people,
we need to teach them the importance of not taking lightly the things which they have received. Many of our
investigators have received testimonies and knowledge of our Heavenly Fathers plan, but they are still reluctant
to be baptized. Our spirit of urgency will help them better understand that these blessing are waiting and their
salvation is hanging in the balance.
Our attitudes play a big role in helping our investigators make that next step. Often times we have the
tendency to think we are doing all we can by staying at the steady pace we’re moving at. These thoughts are not
to be taken lightly; in missionary work there is always more to be done. How much different is you missionary
work now than it was last transfer? 6 months ago? 1 year ago? While we need to constantly analyze ourselves
and our work, we must not get discouraged. To obtain a positive attitude we must be willing to be taught by
others and especially the Lord.
Let us remember that we are agents unto our selves, the way that you experience your mission is
completely in your hands. Your mission isn’t where you are assigned, it isn’t what happens to you. It is how you
decide to treat it and what you decide to make of it. Consider this quote by Ella Wheeler Whilcox:

One ship drives east, another west
With the self-same winds that blow:
´Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales
Which decides the way we go
Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate
As they voyage along through life
‘Tis the will of the soul
Which decides the goal
And not the calm or the strife
 February 2010

Message from the Assistants Continued from page 5

The Lord has given us these 1½-2 years to show Him our love and desire to
serve Him. Our time of service in the mission field is limited and it is of great importance that
you continue forward with a positive and urgent attitude. You can't settle for mediocrity
when it comes to the Lord work; you need to constantly strive to better ourselves and those
around you. With love and appreciation,

Elders Gilbert and Miller

Our Miracle Column

Will return next month

From the Office: IMOS and You

Dear Elders & Sisters,
In the past, under the old Mission Office System, every missionary payment was submitted as a one-time
special payment. Each month I would manually enter each receipt into a huge spreadsheet which aggregated the
payments by category and then, using complex formulas which included the current rate of exchange, converted
to them to U.S. Dollars. These amounts were entered, category by category, into the old MOS system. Even the
descriptions and comments [such as the amounts in kroner] had to be entered by hand, one at a time. This was a
laborious and time consuming process requiring many hours each month.
The new Mission Office System allows me to enter a pre-set monthly base payment, in kroner, and
automatically adjusts the amount paid in dollars depending on the rate of exchange and how long the missionary
is scheduled to be in Norway during the month and when the payment is made.
Also, beginning February 1st, we have implemented the payment of area additives for elders and
missionary-specific additives for Sisters. Each elder in the mission received extra payments at the beginning of
the month to cover the cost of public transportation and/or his share of the projected gasoline expenses for
the area. Area gasoline additives were distributed equally among all elders assigned to car areas. That means that
all elders assigned to a car area are required to pay an equal share of the gasoline expenses as long as they are
assigned to that area.
For the present time, each Sister in the mission receives the same additive amount for public
transportation. They do not drive, they do not have varying area-additives and do not share in the cost of
gasoline.
At the beginning of each month each missionary will receive a payment summary showing the base
payment and any additives paid.
In order for this system to work all elders in the mission must remember that all missionary support funds
are consecrated for one sacred purpose, the building of the Kingdom of God. The concepts of “my money” and
“your money” do not exist”. It is all “the Lord’s Money”. All funds distributed must be available for any sacred
purpose, regardless of which missionary’s card the funds were sent to.
With everyone cooperating, having the pure love of Christ, this will work. Please call if you have any
questions.
Elder Arnesen