#23 "Light the World"

 Hei Hei fra Asker!

This week was another phenomenal week and I literally just love every second of my mission! Plus…Christmas is almost here, and there are lights and decorations everywhere.  We started singing Christmas hymns in church and we have new contacting cards…I’M SO EXCITEDE!!

Monday

So after e-mailing, we walked around H&M and got a little lunch… to kill time before we had to go pick up the Drammen Sisters from the train station so that we could go to the TURKEY BOWL! (Football game)  We drove to Jar which is where the turkey bowl was, and we had missionaries from all over coming to play...well those that were in my zone and in the East zone!  So that was super fun!!  And guess what Dad?! You would be so proud!  One of the elders threw the ball to be and I CAUGHT IT! You should have seen me! So proud of myself:)  It ended up being out of bounds so it didn't count, but the important thing is,  is that the catch was beautiful! :)))So the turkey bowl was a blast!!t and luckily it wasn't as cold as it was supposed to be and we were running around so it was all good! And No injuries!!  Before we dropped the Drammen sisters off at the train station, we had pizza…and then we picked up the Elders to go to Family Home Evening.  We talked about Patriarchal Blessings and then spent the rest of the time talking to people!  It was a lot of fun!   

Tuesday

Today we had District Meeting and had a Web meeting with all the missionaries in the mission about the new Christmas Theme "Light of the World" or as they say here "Lys over Verden" and we watched the new video that came out on mormon.org and IT IS SO GOOD! So everyone go and watch that video and then share it because it is fantastic!  There is also a calendar that talks about service we can do every single day of December. Our District  planned what we can do for December 1st since that's the worldwide day of service and I'm just super excited for the month of December!  It's going to be so much fun!  Then we went and picked up my package and thank you again for that!! We went with two of the elders to visit a family in the ward and they are the coolest people!  We watched a Mormon Message about Thanksgiving and then we sang hymns with them in Riwandic while one of the elders played the ukulele! So cool that no matter what language you are singing the hymns in, the Spirit is still the same!  Then we dropped the Elders off and we went and visited a lady in the ward that I love so much! She is one of my favorite people!  So we went and answered her question about the 12 Tribes of Israel and showed her how to study the tribes in the scriptures!  It was such a good visit and I wish everyone could just sit and listen and learn from her!  I have never met anyone that is more anxious to learn than her and it is phenomenal!  She was so sweet and even gave us cake from the bakery when we walked out the door!

Wednesday

Today we visited one of our investigators and two of the elders came with because she  loves one of the elders!  We just sat and visited with her for a little while and then talked about the foundational commitments of prayer, scripture study, and coming to church.  It was a great lesson!  We shared multiple scriptures, personal experiences and after one of the elders had said the closing prayer, she said that she had  felt so much peace!  These little miracles of missionary work are amazing to me!  Then we went and visited another girl and did Personal Progress with her!!! I haven't done Personal Progress since I was in Young Women's and I was so happy doing it with her!  We read the scriptures, had discussions, and I felt the Spirit so strong!  Ever since I've been on my mission I have just felt the Spirit differently. It's like my whole body just feels like it's overflowing with joy and you literally feel like your body is just filled with happiness and with the love of God!  AHH it's incredible!  Then we went taught another investigator and that was an interesting lesson.  We continued with the foundation principles, but it kept coming back to the Restoration and how he didn't believe that the church had been restored in its fullness.. and that all the churches needed to come together as one to have the right church.  I asked him multiple times why the church would be restored in multiple pieces across the world when it was all in one piece when Christ was on the earth and it's the same church.  So I learned patience in that lesson:))

Thursday

We did Weekly Planning today which took up half of our day and then we went and knocked on a door of a referral that we received from the Senior Couple in Stavanger.  We found this person’s house even though it was a little tricky, and then they said they couldn't talk right then but that we could come back later… so I'll let you all know how that goes!  Then we picked up the Elders and drove to Oslo for the Thanksgiving dinner!  It was the missionaries in my District,  the Oslo missionaries, the senior missionaries in Oslo and Sandvika and President and Sister Hill!  It was so much fun!!! It was fun to be all together and just have Thanksgiving!  The missionaries and senior couples are your family when you are on a mission so it was nice to be with a big huge "family" on Thanksgiving!  We played a game after dinner and we all got Thanksgiving cards from the Hills so that was super sweet!!!  

Friday

Today we met with one of our investigators that we haven’t been able to see in a long time!  I was so excited!  She called us and asked us if we could meet and talk… and so of course we met with her!!!  We talked about faith and then she opened up to us and talked about how she had met the missionaries and just how her life had been in the past few weeks.  The Spirit was so strong and I just want to help her! We talked about how as missionaries we are representatives of Jesus Christ and even though we may only be 19 year old girls, we still want to do all we can to help!! We told her we felt we were in this area so that we could be able to help her and she said that she felt the same way!! We had a great talk with her! After that we went and visited  an elderly widow in our ward. We had some problems finding her house:)))….we literally sat in the car for 15 minutes trying to figure out where she lived when she was literally 40 feet away!  So we finally got to her door and she answered and said, "Her er jeg!" (Here I am!) so we all got a good laugh out of that one!  We had a lamb dish that was good…. but all I kept thinking in my head was "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and well that wasn't exactly helping!  She told us how she met her husband and all these other stories and she is the cutest old lady!  We then later talked about Christ and she had asked us questions too!  Good, good visit!  We even helped her lift some things off of a shelf in the garage and she was so grateful for just a small little thing!  After that visit we went to a dinner appointment with two of the elders and another lady in our ward. The person we had dinner with had been working for Black Friday…so she kept telling us she was over tired and so everything and anything was hilarious!  All of us were laughing so hard we were crying and it was the funniest dinner appointment I have ever been to!!! One of the elders tried to say the closing prayer but he couldn't even do it because we were laughing so hard!  We walked out of there still laughing!  So funny!!!

Saturday

Today we played soccer as usual and then we got ready for the day. We had another Thanksgiving dinner and there was a member there from California! A 19 year old girl…so we were invited so that we could come and meet her! She even mentioned that she wanted to go to UCLA when she was back in the US… and guess how excited I was to hear someone in NORWAY talk about UCLA!?!:)) After dinner we drove to Drammen and went to Jul I toner and I LOVED IT!  I sat next to Mommo and Besse (grandparents) and said hi to many people in the Drammen ward!  The songs were fantastic and it was so much fun for me to recognize the Christmas songs because Mom has been playing them my entire life!  We even got to sing Glade Jul!!! (Silent night) Christmas in Norway is just magical!!!  We drove the Elders home and got McFlurries from McDonalds so that was fun too!  

Sunday

So today I had to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting and I was pretty nervous...I was asked to speak about “how you can gain a testimony of the gospel”…. As a  missionary the answer to that question is super easy:))… but I didn’t just want to go up and say "Prayer, Scripture Study, Church, Amen" :)) So guess what Dad!?  I used your conversion story:))  And it was pretty good if I do say so myself!:))  Lots of people came up to me after and thanked me and one even asked what happened to you dad afterwards…and if you  ever got to play baseball again. He was pretty upset when I told him that you didn't.  But it was a great experience!  Then in Relief Society I translated for a sister and one lady made a comment that I just loved,  "I come to church to feel God's love.  What more could you want?" After church we had dinner at the missionary couple’s house and then went and visited an investigator.  We caught up about what had happened throughout the week and then talked about Christ and His enabling power and it was a great lesson!  Then we went knocking doors and we had a few gospel conversations but there were a good amount that well...were not too happy with what we were going to talk about… but you know, the good conversations make it worth it and then you just have to laugh off the other ones!  

Today

Today we have emailed and had hot chocolate!  We haven't really planned out what we want to do exactly for the rest of the day so we're just playing it by ear:)  

I love you all and miss you all lots!  Go get in the Christmas Spirit and remember why we celebrate this magical holiday...It's all because of Christ which is the greatest message anyone could hear:))