Strength and Service

Thanksgiving meal

Potato cakes

This week truly has been all over the place.  On Monday night we had an appointment that canceled on us. Tuesday we had three appointments and they all canceled on us as well so instead we just had a member who we had invited to come on a lesson with us. Wednesday was just one of those rough days in general, but we were able to go and visit a member who had two adorable kittens. (Talk about tender mercies)  Thursday we were finally able to teach one of our investigators and then we made potato cakes with our Relief Society for Thanksgiving dinner that night. Friday we did some weekly planning for this upcoming week.  Saturday we were able to have a Thanksgiving feast with all the missionaries, young single adults, members and even non-members. It was absolutely fantastic we were also able to go to church and had a wonderful church meeting and then for a ward missionary meeting afterwards as well. We also were able to have some Thanksgiving left-overs for dinner which was great. All in all you could say we had our fair share of good days and bad days this week but we continue to soldier on. Whenever an appointment would cancel we would go and hit the streets and talk to as many people as we could to try and find someone who was ready to come closer to their Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  

We were actually able to have a lot of really cool conversations with the people and our question of the week that we asked most of the people we taught was, "what is something you are thankful for?" We got a lot of really good answers which led to some good conversations. Now that I think back on the week I can truly see that God knows us, knows our situation, knows our desires and that he wants to bless us. In our missionary meeting on Sunday I was asked to give the spiritual thought. I've been given a weeks notice and I really thought long and hard about what I wanted to share, or rather what my Heavenly Father wanted me to share. I was reading Sunday morning in the book that my grandparents had just recently sent me and I knew that was exactly what I needed to share. It talked about how in life's many changes and checklist we can become discouraged or frustrated.  But that through creativity and compassion we can find hope and joy. It talked about instead of focusing on what we have not done we should focus on what we have accomplished and who we really are. It led to a great discussion amongst us missionaries and our ward mission leader.

It got us talking about what success really is and how through it we all need to stay positive and happy and just keep going and doing our part. I mention this because I have been able to really see the blessings that have come this past week from doing my part. Like I mentioned earlier, we had our fair share of good days and bad days this week and it would have been really easy on those bad days to give up but instead we kept going and although we may not have achieved the success we were going for the Lord blessed us along the way and I can't tell you all enough how truly grateful I am for that. How grateful I am to have this knowledge of my Heavenly Father knows and loves me and wants to bless me. I'm grateful for this opportunity I have to share and serve here in Norway and to serve the people around me.  Service really is a wonderful thing. 

Every Christmas season our church puts out a video and comes up with a certain Christmas initiative for us. Now that Thanksgiving is over, the church has put out the video and the focus this year is on service. It really is wonderful. I think it's especially fitting because we have just had our focus on Thanksgiving and everything we are thankful for and all the many blessings we have been given in our lives and now for Christmas we get to focus on service and paying it forward and being that blessing in someone else's life and while doing so, sharing the light of Christ that we all have been given. I believe that as we do this, as we serve our fellow brothers and sisters, that the Lord will want to bless us even more. The church's initiative is focus on service and they have invited us, starting December 1, to do an act of service each day leading up to Christmas. I know its the missionaries in our area that are excited to take on the challenge and to do our best to serve with all her heart, might, mind, and strength. This Christmas we will be giving the gift of service which Is truly one of the best gifts. It doesn't require a lot of money, it doesn't even have to be extraordinary act of service just an act of service that you yourself can give is perfect. The church has a website dedicated to this cause and I would encourage you all to visit it at Mormon.org and to watch the video and just check out the website. It has a lot of great ideas on how to serve in a variety of different ways. 

I am once again so very thankful for you all and for the love and support you show me. That's a great act of service right there! I'm thankful for this time of year we get to focus on Thanksgiving, service, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I know that service has impacted my life in a variety of different ways and I'm so thankful that we get to focus on it a bit more this year and I hope you all are thankful and ready to serve as well. I love you all so very much and håper at dere har en kjempe fin uke og husk til å tjene andre!

Klem,
Søster Blankmeyer 

PS thank you grandma and grandpa Blankmeyer and aunt Teri for the wonderful Thanksgiving cards!