A week of Repentance and Conversion

Just me and Bond the Norwegian forest cat

To begin the blog post this week, I would like to share with you all a wonderful Norwegian word that will be the focus of this weeks entry. The word is omvendelse and this word can be used two different ways. Omvendelse means repentance, but it also means conversion. I think that it is truly beautiful. I think it's beautiful because both words are dependent on one another. You can't be truly converted if you haven't truly repented and you won't have the desire to repent if you don't have the desire to be converted. You really can't have one without the other. It just doesn't work. 

This past weekend Søster Love and I had the opportunity to drive out to Drammen to go and hear her grandfather give his first talk in church. It was stake conference so there were people from all over Norway and they had asked him to tell his conversion story to the Gospel. He got up there and told everyone how he, after many years, had come to be baptized and converted to this gospel. He talked about his journey and his experiences that eventually brought him to baptism and his strength and his testimony along the way. It was incredible and you could just tell how happy he was to now have the entirety of the gospel in his life and to be able to share his story with others. 

The stake presidency had also asked another recent convert to share her story with the congregation and you'll never guess who that was. It was none other then Alida from Ålesund! 

Alida and her mother had driven the nine hour car ride from Ålesund to Drammen so that Alida could share her amazing conversion story with us. With just a few notes and one or two scripture verses, Alida got up and shared her amazing testimony which brought the spirit so strong. She shared with us how she had grown up in a non-Christian household and how what she was trying to find direction in her life. Much like Joseph Smith, she decided to get down on her knees and pray for help. She said, "God if you are really there, please help me." She got the impression to research a little bit more about the Mormons she ended up on LDS.org, the church website, and began to read and read and read. To make a long story short, she eventually got in contact with the missionaries serving in Ålesund and they were able to teach her about the Book of Mormon and the gospel. Shortly after, Alida was baptized in one of Norways most stunning fjords. Alida is one of the most amazing people I have met during my stay in Norway and I am so beyond grateful for her. At the end of her talk she was able to share a scripture with us from Doctrine and Covenants section 18 verses 14 through 16. I would like to quote it in Norwegian first. It reads,   

14  Derfor er dere kalt til å rope omvendelse til dette folk. 

15  Og om så skjer at dere skulle arbeide alle deres dager med å rope omvendelse til dette folk og bare bringer én sjel til meg, hvor stor skal ikke deres glede være med ham i min Faders rike! 

16  Og nå, hvis deres glede vil bli stor med én sjel som dere har bragt til meg i min Faders rike, hvor stor skal ikke deres glede bli om dere skulle bringe mange sjeler til meg!

In English it reads, 

14 Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people.
15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!       
16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!

I thought this scripture was perfect and I specially love it in Norwegian with the double meaning of omvendelse. 

As a missionary in Norway I'm here to cry conversion and repentance, both of which lead to a change in heart. In preach my gospel we read, "our faith in Christ and our love for Him leads us to repent, or to change our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that are not in harmony with His will."  The key word there being changed. Elder M. Russell Ballard once said, "True conversion comes through the power of the Spirit. When the spirit touches the heart, hearts are changed."  In both cases, there was a change occurring. A change for the better. I'm so grateful for the opportunity that we have to change, to try and Be better, to try and Do better. In a talk that my amazing brother recently gave on repentance he shared a story from President Thomas S. Monson about a woman and her husband that strayed from the path. He quotes the woman and she says, “How does someone go from being one of the lost sheep and gripped by [sin], to this peace and happiness we now feel? How does that happen? The answer … is because of a perfect gospel, a perfect Son and His sacrifice for me. … Where there was darkness, there is now light. Where there was despair and pain, there is joy and hope." We have been infinitely blessed by the change that can only come through repentance. (I would add conversion) How amazing is it that we have the opportunity to continually repent and continually strengthen our conversion that brings us that joy, that hope.  

I would like to end by quoting my brother when he said, "Throughout our lives we will need to nurture strong testimonies by studying the scriptures and by praying and by pondering the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When firmly planted, our testimony of the gospel, of the Savior, and of our Heavenly Father will influence all that we do."  I would invite you all to do just that.  Study the scriptures, pray, ponder the different aspects of the gospel and then let that testimony that you gain influence all that you do. Share that testimony through your actions so that others can see the joy it has brought to you. Lastly, never forget omvendelse. Our heavenly father has blessed us with the opportunity to change, let us take advantage of that. I love you all and I love this gospel.

Until next time, 

Søster Blankmeyer