#14 Another amazing week in Asker!

Hei Hei Alle Sammen!  

One day I will be coming up with some rocking way to start my e-mail but for right now I’m  just going to start of the same...I'm happy, happy, happy and it's just another wonderful amazing week in the mission field!  The leaves are changing colors and since Asker is basically in the woods, then it's super pretty and it's starting to get colder! 

Monday

So after e-mailing last week we just went to a few stores since we all needed things. Then later when P-Day ended  we went and visited this awesome lady. I love going to visit her!  She started out our appointment with talking about Michael Jackson and singing some of the songs for us which was so fun for her! Then afterwards, we read the first few chapters in Moroni in English with her and then talked a little bit about the sacrament and what it means to her which was so good! 

Tuesday

So this really has nothing to do with anything but guess what!? I actually had milk today (she absolutely hates milk:))...I chugged it so I didn't have to taste much of it but indeed I had milk!  So you guys can all be proud!  Aside from that, we went and had an appointment with one of our new investigators. They are originally from Burma but have lived in Norway for about 4 years…and they are the nicest people ever!! We decided to introduce the Book of Mormon and just talk about the pictures that are at the beginning of the book, and then we talked about Joseph Smith and the First Vision...I was reciting the First Vision in Joseph Smith's own words and the Spirit was so strong and then their phone rang!  It's like you can never tell the story of Joseph Smith without being  interrupted!  But the lesson went really really well! We have to explain everything very simply because they're still trying to get a grasp on all the Norwegian but they are awesome!!!  Then later  we went to an investigator’s house. I love going to her house and visit!  She had wondered about why the leaders in the church (Prophet, Bishop, etc.) were always male, so we talked about the priesthood and the different roles that men and women in the church have.  It was a really really good lesson and as soon as we explained it she accepted it!  She literally just soaks up all the information we give her like a sponge and it's phenomenal to see someone have such a great desire to learn!  After her lesson we watched the Legacy!

Wednesday

We had District Meeting and talked about charity and loving those we teach and those we serve with, and how to resolve our investigators concerns.  We then did role plays to practice what we learned, which is always good. Later we went to another investigator’s house! We did the same thing with him that we did with the couple…..we talked about the pictures in the front of the Book of Mormon and then talked about Joseph Smith...that lesson also went incredibly well!  He had been asking questions and was so open to everything we were teaching him!  So we were blessed with another great lesson!  Then we went and had another lesson with another new investigator, the one we met at the hockey game!  We did yet again the same thing...pictures in the Book of Mormon and he was sharing experiences and sharing his thoughts and opinions and it was great!  We even taught him how to pray and he said the closing prayer which was great!  After that we went to a members house for our dinner appointment, and she is just the sweetest old lady!  She opened the door and says, "Jentene minne!"(my girls!) and she is just like our grandma!  She is one of the greatest examples of what it means to have charity and to truly "love your neighbor as yourself" She told us that she is always praying for opportunities to be put in paths so that she can serve!  How incredible is that!? Then after that we went and picked up the Kristansand sisters (one of them  went to Houston with me) who came and stayed with us because we had First Transfer Training on Thursday and Friday! 

Thursday

First day of First Transfer Training!  We drove to the President's house and he drove us 5 sisters down to Oslo to the mission office where we would have it!  We had breakout sessions about how we're adjusting to missionary life and then about how we can improve our studies.  Then we had other breakout sessions about how to improve our finding skills and the AP's  did a role play for us about what not to do when contacting on the street and we were dying of laughter!  Then we went back to the mission home and watched The Best 2 Years which is even more hilarious when you are a missionary! My companion and I literally quote it on a daily basis so we were laughing so hard we couldn't even breathe!  

Friday

Today was the second day of First Transfer Training and it was just at the mission home! We had break out sessions about asking questions, using the scriptures and how to Begin Teaching (section in Preach My Gospel) How to use the scriptures was my favorite!  One of the elders was telling us a story about how he had an older companion, that every time their investigator had a concern,  his companion would always turn to the scriptures and have  the investigator find the answer on their own.  That's what I usually do… I try to discuss it, when in all reality I could be using a much more helpful source, a source that I can effectively use and the investigator can find the answer on their own, which is what is going to give them that testimony of the scriptures and deepen their own conversion.  I'm already trying to apply it in my teaching along with the other things that I’ve learned… although it won't all come overnight I know that as I keep working at it that I will be able to become a better teacher! Then we finished up by talking about what it means to be a successful missionary which was also incredibly good!  We also sang our "Savior Redeemer" song for the missionaries who were at First Transfer Training which was a little bit of a struggle because I had a cold, but all is well! Later we practiced the songs that we would be singing in church and practiced them in the evening with the other Elders.

Saturday

Today we played soccer again...and guess what!?  I scored 2 goals...not 1...but 2!!!  Then after that we had our lesson with one of our investigator and talked about Baptisms for the Dead, which is what he had asked specifically about!  So we talked a little bit about the Plan of Salvation first because that's really the whole reason why we do it, so we started there and showed him pictures of the open house of the temple so he could see the baptismal font which really helped him!  Then we talked about family history and cleared up his questions and he said that he would need to think about it and try to understand it a little bit better but we started him on that path and he says that he feels a little bit more comfortable with it which is great!  Then we did weekly planning and had dinner with our District and practiced our many songs that we had to sing on Sunday!

Sunday

So today we had to sing in Sacrament Meeting, Relief Society and to practice for the Stake Choir!  But let me rewind a little.. first of we had moves call this morning and one of my companions (Her best friend from EFY) is leaving on Wednesday and going to Moss!  She is super sad to be leaving Asker but she is excited for Moss and we will be able to see her for conferences and such so that will be fun!  I am still in Asker and will be for the next 6 weeks, but we are moving apartments at some point in October, but we don't know for sure when yet!   Anyway..then we went to church and our two investigators came for the first time!!  We sang the EFY Medley in English and Norwegian in Sacrament meeting with our entire district and we had people crying again!  Then we sang " I love to See the Temple" in Relief Society with our District for the lesson which was also really good!  Then we practiced the songs for the Stake Choir after church!  I don't think I've ever sang this much in my life...well unless it's to the radio in the car...but no one is listening to me at that point. After church we had a dinner appointment and then went this wonderful women’s house with all the Elders, and we shared a Mormon Message with her and her daughter. Her daughter asked so many good questions and although they are bold sometimes, she is always respecting what we teach and always thinks that it's good what we are doing and has never met happier people than Mormons, so it was a good discussion! 

Today

Anyway..today we did the usual and now I'm here e-mailing!  We are supposed to be playing indoor hockey with our District since it's my companion’s last P-Day… oh and the AP's are moving too because they are going to Oslo... So we went from 7 to 4 missionaries!  So small!  It's the smallest District in the mission!  

But anyway...I get to watch Conference and the Women's session on Saturday and Sunday and I am SO EXCITED!!! I'm so incredibly Happy here and loving every second!!!  

Love you all lots and miss you all tons! Thank you for all the love and support I get from your e-mails and letters! That means more to me than you’ll ever know!



Kylee and her district visiting Oslo and the mission home for First Transfer Training

#13 Hockey game = investigator

Hei Hei Alle Sammen!

It's been another wonderful week in the Norway Oslo Mission!  Happy as can be and loving every second of every single day!

Monday

 Like I mentioned last week, we went to go play volleyball with our District and I'm actually improving!  Like I actually know how to serve the ball and I can even hit it over the net multiple times in a row...baby steps but I'm getting there!  We spent the rest of the day calling investigators to set up appointments and we also called the potentials in our phone and on our board and ended up getting 2 new investigators which was our weekly goal and we accomplished it the first day of the week!  So that was exciting!

Tuesday

Today we had District Språk where we went over grammar principles and practiced pronunciation!  Then we had District Meeting and talked about the importance of members and how we need to try and get them on teaches with our investigators which is always easier said than done...so if you have missionaries in your area pretty please go talk to them and ask them if you can help in some way, because you just may be the one person that they need help from!  One of my companions had to go to a different city on splits, so we got a new sister missionary for two days! So fun!  One of our investigators is a security guard for the local hockey team ..so she invited us to go to a hockey game! We got permission to go…and I’m so grateful for that!  I've never been to a hockey game in my life before and the closest I've ever been is watching the movie Miracle so it was so much fun!  We were standing next to the cheering section so they were chanting "Heia Asker" all the time and it was a blast!  Plus in the time we had to wait for the game to begin again I came up with a song "God loves you, you love Him, He wants you to be happy so here I am (points to missionary tag) With a baptismal date and a little bit of faith, you can be a Latter Day Saint" So there you go...know you all appreciated that one! We were able to talk to our investigator throughout the game and she was so excited to tell us about the players, how she always went with her friends when she was a teenager, etc.  We were able to truly get to know her and it was awesome!  Connections come before conversions as they say in Zone Conference!  She was even talking to her co works about us and we got a potential investigator! So we found a new way of contacting..hockey games!:))

Wednesday

Today we had an appointment with this awesome lady!  I love visiting her!!  She had asked us in the last lesson what else we could teach her, so we knew we could count on her to listen!  We taught her about the Restoration and she was soaking up all the information like a sponge!  She absolutely loved the Joseph Smith First Vision story and the majority of people at that point start to doubt and have questions, but not this lady!  The Spirit was so powerful as we testified and told the story of Joseph Smith!  We then read in 3 Nephi 17 as we were talking about the Book of Mormon and she loved that too!  We invited her to be baptized when she knows that these things are true and she voiced one concern but said that if we could solve that, then she definitely would be!  YES!  Then we went to President Hill's house to meet his daughter and her family and sang the EFY Medley for them!:)

Thursday

Today we picked up my companion from her splits and immediately drove to a town up north with the elders, to visit a member.  We sort of got lost because the GPS was leading us to the wrong street, so one of the elders decided that he was going to be the GPS, and he ended up getting us there so that was good!  This member is so much fun to visit and we are always laughing the whole time!  She is always expressing just how good she has it and how wonderful life is and that is such a good way to look at it!  We truly are so incredibly blessed with all the things around us and we simply need to look for them because they are more than we could ever count!  But it's never bad to try and "count your blessings"! Then later we went to another family and had dinner and visiting them was also so much fun!  We spent a lot  of time talking about President Uchtdorf's talk from last Saturday and then talked about having the courage to stand up for what we believe in...such a good visit! 

Friday

Today was the "Finne Fest" that we have every Friday and today the Elders went towards the sentrum and we went down towards Asker.  We talked to a few people, but then we met this one lady who is actually from Lakewood, California!  (where her dad is from…small world!) She was actually playing Pokemon Go (that game is HUGE here and everyone from 8 to 80 plays it) but I had a prompting that I needed to start the conversation with that so that is what we talked about...Pokemon, but then she went into lots of other things and started talking about how we shouldn't judge people and how we need to just help others when we can. She said that she wasn't really interested in the church but we got her number anyway and we're just going to try and go the service route, and service brings the Spirit, so you never know!   We then had an appointment with a new investigator but he never showed, so we spent time doing family history and helping one of the members clean the downstairs of the church instead!:))

Saturday

Today we played soccer as usual and although I may be improving in volleyball, I am most definitely not improving in soccer!  But that's all good...baby steps! After that we spent some time reminding people about church the next day and then went to our lesson with an investigator.  We talked about what President Uchtdorf had said last Saturday about gratitude and then went to God's will and then went into standing up for what you believe in...so it was sort of all over the place but it was such a good and powerful lesson!  My companions and I were talking about why it was such a powerful lesson and we had decided that it was because it was more of a discussion instead of a teacher student lesson. It was so so good!  Then we went to visit this lady and the missionary that had served in Norway that had baptized her was actually in Norway at her apartment!  So she had invited us over to meet him, so that was really cool!  It truly shows that missionary work is not something that just one person can do, but that it's literally generations of missionaries that make a difference!  He had once met with her and converted her to the church and now here we are visiting her and listening to her missionary experiences!  

Sunday

Today was a phenomenal Sunday!  Our potential that we met at the hockey game came to church and stayed for all 3 meetings and the Elders told us that he was participating in Priesthood!  AND one of our investigators brought his sister to church!  Plus the Elders have an investigator that finally came to church as well and so all of us kept telling each other that we had no idea what had happened today, because this Sunday was not normal!  Oh and because we sang in church last Sunday we have now been  personally invited to be in the stake choir for stake conference. We will be having dinner and singing at someone's house, and we have been asked to have all the missionaries come in and sing as part of a Relief Society lesson!  So who knows what we just got ourselves into...I guess we're just the singing district now!  Later we went to visit a mother and daughter with the elders.  It was so much fun being there!  We had such good conversations and the daughter even invited all 7 of us missionaries to come back next Sunday so that will be really exciting!  Oh and funny story..the mom had asked if we should just hope for nice weather next week and her daughter had said, "What...are we going to ask the gods?" and then the mom immediately pointed to us and said, "They've got connections!" We all got a good laugh out of that one!  We then later showed her the Mormon Message "You Never Know The Good You Do" and they both had such great insights on it!  They even brought up the lesson we had taught last time!  It was amazing and it was a good ending to a really good Sunday!

I love you all and miss you all tons but I'm loving every second of every day!  Thank you for all your love and support! I love getting your e-mails and letters…you have no idea how much they mean to me!



1. At the hockey game
2. A foggy morning driving to a member's house
3. lunch

#12 Pres.Uchtdorf fireside and Scottish Royalty

Hei Hei Alle Sammen!

Another week has come and gone, and I literally feel like it was just P-Day yesterday!  Time on the mission is crazy...the days can feel like they are really long but the weeks fly by!  Not quite sure that that's how the time goes at home, but time just flies and it's insane!  

Monday

So we played volleyball last P-day after e-mailing and you're probably guessing that I wasn't playing too great because you know how I can't play volleyball, but I was killing it!  And it was probably only because I was being told by the other team I couldn't do something and was getting sassed the whole way through so my companions and I destroyed them:) Then after that we went to an appointment with a new investigator.  She gave us eplekake (apple cake), ice cream and solo (her favorite soda) and we started talking about church. She was asking questions so we explained what church was, meetings, what happens in the meetings, and by the time we were done she was asking what else we could teach her!  She committed to try and come to church on Sunday so she is really positive!  

Tuesday

So we have to sing in church on Sunday...so we practiced our song this morning and then ate lunch with the elders.  We are singing "Savior, Redeemer of My Soul" which is sort of a tricky song, so we were hoping for the best!  We then had an appointment with a girl that we haven't met with in forever, so we were really excited to meet with her!!  We decided to give her a church tour and watch the Restoration film.   We started on the church tour and when we got to the baptismal font she asked us what we wear when we are baptized so we pulled out a baptismal suit from the closet and showed it to her.  Then we went into the chapel and the Spirit was so strong, I could see in her face that she felt the Spirit.  My companion played the violin while I played I Am A Child of God on the piano while she sat in the chapel. She absolutely loves music so that brought the Spirit as well!  Also, earlier when we gave her the church tour, she specifically asked us to teach her the Plan of Salvation!  So of course we taught it to her and she was asking questions and it was such a good lesson!  She even opened up about her family which was huge!  But this is the best part, we had mentioned that we would be singing in church and she committed herself to come to church!  She is coming to church on Sunday!  Also, a few weeks ago we had given her a gold feather charm (she loves feathers) that I had found in my black jacket and she has it on a bracelet and told us that she wears it all the time which I just thought was cool!:)  This girl  is just the greatest!

Wednesday

Today we had splits once again because they wanted to have the companions of STL's be able to go on splits with another STL so we had a new sister come to us while one of my companions went to Oslo.  We had two people cancel on us today and every one we tried to call couldn't meet or didn't answer, so we were just taking one step at a time.  We did our studies and then went to the church to do family history! And guess what family!? We're related to someone that was in the Revolutionary War and Scottish Royalty!  That Scottish Royalty is the coolest thing!  Now we can all wear kilts and play bagpipes because our roots from Dad's side is from there!:))  Then we did 12 week which is my training and we talked about the Book of Mormon and then it led into how to connect with investigators and it was a really good lesson!  Then we had splits review!

Thursday

ZONE CONFERENCE!  We had it in Oslo with my zone and the zone that Oslo is in that I can't remember the name of! But it was so much fun and it was fun meeting all the other missionaries!  We talked about members and missionaries and how we need to be equally yoked which is so true!  When I was at home I never even thought about how the ward and its members played such a huge part in the missionary work.  I never thought to ask missionaries about who they were teaching or how I could help. Now being a missionary, I see just how much we need members to help us whether it be fellowshipping in church, coming on a teach, giving a referral, or simply asking how they can help us.  We talked about how it doesn't matter which one pulls the most or who pulls the quickest, but that when we both pull together is when we make the most progress.  Then we had lunch and  went over reminders for the mission.  After zone conference we had a Telemark Zone meeting where the zone leaders told us about the Zone Goals for the rest of the year. 120 new investigators, 80 people in church, 20 baptismal dates and 5 baptisms.  Those are lofty goals but with faith in the Lord and hard work then why wouldn't it be possible!?  We came home and found out our stove doesn't work so it was hashbrown mix in the oven!:))

Friday

Today we had a "Finne Fest" with our District where we go contacting for an hour and the elders said they wanted to go in the same spot and wanted us all to be in the Sandvika Sentrum. So the elders rode with us to sentrum (they were on splits) and when we got to sentrum they went left, we went right and off we went.  The first person we talked to told us that he felt bad for people like us, that we need to remove our names from the church, that what we're doing isn't right and that we needed to get on board with what he was doing and that we didn't actually believe what we were saying.  So what did I do?:)) Testified that the church is true and that it is our job to invite because we know the joy the gospel brings, but that we respect his decision.  The rest of the time contacting we were getting hit with how religions are man made, how God doesn't need us, how parents shouldn't be teaching their kids religion, etc.  We had a few nice people and one even came up to us and we were so shocked that we didn't even know what to do!:)) We also taught a guy who we are giving to the Elders.  He is 17 and really religious.  We talked about the Book of Mormon and it went really really well!  He was asking questions, intently listening and it was awesome!

Saturday

Today we played soccer and it was actually so much fun because the people who really know how to play didn't come:)))  Then after dinner we went to the chapel to watch the broadcast of Dieter F. Uchtdorf. We didn’t get to go to Romerike because it was so packed.  So Eldste Johnson who is over the Europe Region spoke, Sister Uchtdorf spoke about the Holy Ghost and how it's the greatest gift you can have.  That receiving the Holy Ghost is like receiving a compass or a tool and how we need to discipline ourselves to listen to the Spirit.  Then President Uchtdorf spoke and talked about gratitude at the very beginning and if we are grateful then it will give back ten fold but then he talked about....MISSIONARY WORK!  Love that topic! It was perfect because we needed help with member missionary work so now all the members are ready to go because of President Uchtdorf!  He said a TON of things that I was scrambling to write down but a few of my favorite things were: "Be strong and confident in your testimony...we don't force it on anyone, but we don't keep it away from anyone", "Just continue on and do it joyfully", "God takes the improbable and helps us reach the impossible" and he continued talking about how the gospel is who we are!  So good!  But my favorite part was at the very end when he just went through the pews and shook hands/hugged everyone, talked to them and just lifted and helped in any way he could.  It made me think of Christ and how he took the time to talk to, lift, and help everyone individually.  Plus, the girl that I talked about last week, that really wanted to see him.. got to hug him and that was the greatest feeling ever...knowing that she was able to be there and talk to him! That was worth me sitting in another building watching a screen just so that she could be there!  It was priceless!!

Sunday

Today we practiced our song before MMK because we had to sing in church today!  Then we went to MMK and then anxiously waited at the door for the girl that promised to come to church to come in.  I was a little nervous that she wasn't going to show up, so when she walked in the door I had to contain my excitement! One of my companions and I sat next to her because my other companion had to give a talk, but the girl was awesome!  She was opened up to every hymn and read the words as we sang the songs, and listened to the talks and then she loved our musical number!  Many people in the ward came up to us and thanked us for the music, told us that it sounded like an EFY CD, haha:)) and that it was sung with the power of the Spirit because almost the whole congregation was in tears! You never thought I would sing in church!! I do all kinds of things on my mission:))   After sacrament meeting I asked the girl if she liked the meeting and she had told me that she felt something different, and I identified that as the Spirit confirming truth and she said that maybe that was it!  She's making progress!  Then she went home after sacrament meeting but that was a start!  Then we went to Sunday School and there were students who were there to do a report for school, so there was a presentation about what the church was.  Then in Relief Society I sat next to this lady and she pulled out a box of cookies and told me to eat them and put them in my lap, so cookies for Relief Society!!:)  There is a lady in our ward that is American and she gave us a box filled with American food like Mac & Cheese, Devil's Food Cake, Maple Syrup, Bisquick, etc.!!!! She is the greatest!!!  After dinner we tried to find this one person that we can’t get a hold of. We don’t know what street this person lives on, but we do know the neighborhood, so we prayed and looked at a map and decided which streets to go to.  We didn't find this person but we found someone that told us that we could come back!!  And we found a potential investigator that accepted a Book of Mormon and gave us her phone number!  So even though we didn't find the one we were looking for, we found a potential investigator and the Lord knows where we needed to be at what time and who would be prepared,so that was a really cool experience!  I'm so grateful that I have the chance to recognize the Lord's hands every day!  

Monday

Today we did the usual...shop for food and e-mail and our stove got fixed today so that is really exciting!  We're playing volleyball again today so I'll be ready for the Olympics when I come home! Thanks again for all your  letters…they are like gold because we get them in the middle of the week!  I'm happy happy happy and loving every single second of my mission!  

Love you all lots and lots and miss you tons!

1-4 From our Zone Conference
5-6 Our sand volleyball court 
7 Trying to catch a spider with the vacuum
8-9 New T-shirts from one of my companions mom!!

#11 Savior's love

Hei Hei Alle Sammen!

I feel like all my blog posts start out the same saying that it's been another wonderful week in the mission field:) but what do you do when it's been another WONDERFUL week in the mission field!:)  

Monday

Last P-day after e-mailing we went home and started knitting..and singing Sound of Music.  You would think that we're 50 instead of 19 because we're all just sitting there in our apartment knitting ties:)  We were laughing at ourselves, but it was actually a lot of fun!  We have a less active that is always asking about our knitting so we have to knit something to show her our progress!  We had a dinner appointment and we decided to share the Mormon Message "Dare to Stand Alone" and then share Joshua 1:9. They shared lots of experiences that fit right in with the thought.  Then we got up to leave and everyone is completely silent and in case you didn't know every single doorway in Norway basically has a curb at the bottom of the doorway so you always have to step up...well America doesn't have that, so still not used to it, so of course I jammed my foot into that curb when everyone was completely silent!!:) Literally can't go anywhere without an embarrassing moment! So that one should keep you laughing for the next week! 

Tuesday

We had an appointment but it got cancelled...hopefully we will have an appointment with her this coming week. She was one of our new investigators.  Then we went to District Meeting and talked about the Plan of Salvation and how to help our investigators get to their baptismal date! We had another appointment with another new investigator, but that one got cancelled as well. We had to drop one of my companions off at the train station because she had splits in Drammen the next day, so we got another companion for the day!  We had a great time getting to know her! 

Wednesday

We had another appointment cancelled on us and he said that he should just stick with the Norwegian church…so we lost that investigator, but we had never met with him before, he was just a former.  We went to go and drop off a chocolate bar and a note to another investigator who just recently had surgery, and on the the way home, we decided to go to Asker Sentrum and try and hand out at least 1 Book of Mormon. My companion started talking to someone and asked questions about life after death… so we taught this girl while on the street!  My companion asked the perfect questions!  The girl agreed to meet with us, so we have an appointment with her this Wednesday!  We offered her a Book of Mormon but she says she wants to stick to the Bible, so we're going to have to work with that a little bit, but it was awesome!  Then we got a new mission car!  Which I haven't taken  pictures of yet, but I will this coming week!  It's super nice and has a backup camera and heated seats and steering wheel, and the only downside is that the color looks like a blue raspberry:)) but, it's easy to spot so it's great!  Then we met with another new investigator at the church and so it was me and my companions that taught him.  We gave him a church tour and then gave a little bit of a run down of the Book of Mormon/Restoration because we had an appointment that we had to get to. He's very open and wants to learn more so we're super excited to teach him!  He said he has lots of questions so we explained that was normal and that we would go more in depth next time when we are actually teaching the Restoration and we get to teach him in English which is exciting!  We went to a less active and watched the Testaments and that is the greatest movie!  If you haven't seen it then go watch it!  I couldn't help but think how happy my life is and how much joy I can find in life, simply because I believe in Christ!  There are thousands that go throughout life without that knowledge and I am so incredibly blessed that I got to go my whole life knowing that Christ lives!  AMAZING!  And of course I was crying at the end of the movie!  SO GOOD!  

Thursday

We went to go visit a member that just recently got her wisdom teeth out…we brought a popsicles and just sat outside!  We shared Joshua 1:9 with her and it's always fun to go and visit her!  After that we had weekly planning and guess what!?!  We had 4 new investigators this week and 14 people in our investigator pool!  THAT'S CRAZY!  We also have had 2 baptisms in the past couple of weeks in the mission..one was in Oslo and the other in Stavanger.  

Friday

Our Zone has decided that each Friday everyone in our zone is to go out with their District and just contact for an hour!  So the Elders went one way and we went the other and talked to anyone and everyone we could!  We had multiple conversations and handed out one Book of Mormon!  Many people expressed that they didn't believe in anything so we would ask them why they believed that way and tried to find anything and everything that we could grasp onto and connect to the gospel and bare testimony of.  We had long conversations where we thought it would be going somewhere and then they would say "nei takk" and then move on. There was even a guy who turned into McDonalds when we were walking and he probably didn't even hear us but we all laughed because we were joking that he had just picked McDonalds over salvation. 

Saturday

We played soccer again like we do every Saturday and it just gets more and more stressful every week because more and more people who actually know how to play soccer keep showing up!:))  I had my little moments where I kicked the ball maybe once...well actually there was once where I almost scored so that was fun!  But one of my companions and I kept saying that we were just obstacles in the field!  Then we drove to Drammen!!!  We had an appointment with  Mommo and Besse (her grand-parents. She got permission from the President since her grand-parents live so close) We had a dinner appointment with them…and I got my favorite food…fiskeboller!!! We had so much yummy food!...we have never walked out of a dinner appointment more stuffed in our lives!  Mommo even gave us candy and Dr. Pepper (My companion loves Dr. Pepper just as much as I do so we were happy campers!!!) We shared the Mormon Message “Because of Him” and then read 2 Nephi 25:26. It was awesome to be able to sit and talk about our message with them! It was so much fun being back in Drammen!  Literally love that town and probably one of my favorite places on earth! 

Sunday

Today was phenomenal!  It was Fast Sunday and one of our investigators  got up and BORE HER TESTIMONY! She doesn't even have a baptismal date yet but she went up there!.. so you can bet that that got all of us crying!  It was absolutely amazing!  The gospel changes lives and I'm so incredibly blessed that I get to have a front seat to see how it's changing the lives of those I'm teaching.  My heart just bursts with joy!  Then we had to teach the lesson in Sunday School about baptism, so we decided to do a role play where the class had to teach us and we were the investigators. Our investigator was in there and HE was teaching US about baptism and we're thinking something finally might've clicked so we're super excited!  I'll keep you updated!  Then we went and had dinner and had some delicious lava cake that COMES OUT OF A BOX!  I was blown away!   Later we went to go and visit another person who is struggling a little bit. We read the most recent general conference talk from President Uchtdorf and talked about how the Savior carries us.  She was expressing how much she just wanted to see President Uchtdorf and is praying that there is enough room in the church so she can just see him! (He will be in Oslo on Saturday) It made me think that how I always take it for granted that I have lived so close to the conference center and have seen them so many times...she simply just wants to see him!  She has been through so much and I literally want nothing more than for her to be able to sit in the church building with him!   As she was talking I could literally feel the burden that was on her, and my heart ached.  We asked what we could do for her at the end of the lesson and she simply said, "Just pray for me" We went out to the car and I just broke into tears!  All I wanted was to fix it all and have everything be okay and that was only a little piece of what our Heavenly Father and Savior feel.  Every time they see us sad or going through a hard time, they want to come right in and fix it,  but they know it is for our good so they just help us endure and carry on.  They love us SO much and I only felt a little bit of that yesterday, but that means that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us so much that it is literally unfathomable!  They LOVE us and I KNOW that.  They truly do cry every time we cry and are happy every time we have joy.  That is TRUE.

Today

Today we have gone grocery shopping and  now we're e-mailing!  We are going to play volleyball later today and then we have an appointment with another investigator (new one) tonight!  

I love you all so much and miss you tons!  But I'm happy happy happy!  Hope you guys have a fun Labor Day! Thank you for all your e-mails and letters! I appreciate all your love and support!!

1. Kylee with her grand-parents in Drammen
2. Kylee at her old elementary school
3. Kylee with two of her favorite things