#27 Food, food and more food....

Hei Hei and God Jul fra Asker!!!

So this week literally FLEW by! My companion and I are all confused about what day it even is, because time has not been a thing this past week!  CRAZY!  We had a phenomenal week and I was loving every second just like I do every week!

Monday

So last week I told you guys that we had gotten up early and taught seminary, so after that we were going to go and get breakfast, but we got stuck in traffic, so that didn't happen:(  After emailing we went and got pizza at some run down place in Sandvika, but it was actually really good!  Then we went back to the church and played a little volleyball, basketball and that was about it!  But it was fun nonetheless! We had a dinner appointment with the elders and some members in our ward. We had lasagna... and ice cream for dessert!  It was so much fun!

Tuesday

Today we had planned to contact all day, but then things kept coming up, so we only were able to contact for a little bit!  While we waited to get some more Christmas cards to hand out, we found 2 referrals that we had gotten online!  So we drove out to meet them, and it turns out it's 2 or 3 guys that are doing a school project about Mormons! They figured that it would probably be a good idea to just ask the Mormons themselves!!:)  Not many people think that way, so we were pretty impressed! We will be meeting with them this coming week!  Then we got stuck in traffic on the way to go contacting... so we decided to go and try another referral that we had gotten from the missionary couple in Stavanger. They were not home,  so we decided to bank until we had to go to our new convert's appointment.  So we began banking and we had a gospel conversation with the first 4 people that we talked to!!  We kept pulling  Plan of Salvation pamphlets out of our backpack... and these people were the nicest people I have ever met while banking!  Every time the door closed my companion and I were just like "WOW! We decided to stay in that neighborhood and just go down the street. We thought that everyone would be nice like that...but nope!:)  These people slammed doors one after another and there was one person that we talked to that told us, "Poor you!" and then had a little rant and then said "Poor you!" once again.  Plus it was frigid cold...like so cold to the point where it's almost painful!  But we continued to bank:))!  Then we went to our convert's house and she had made us dinner!  We taught her about the temple and it was a great lesson!  She is an awesome member and is soaking up information and new things like a sponge!  

Wednesday

Today was the day of my driving lesson!  It wasn't even my test and I was nervous!  But we went to the driving school and then we drove for about 45 minutes!  So when you are in the car, they just tell you what place to go to and then you have to find the sign and then follow it... and that's all they tell you!  Obviously since it was my lesson he was pointing out things here and there so that was good!  He said that it went really well and then I'll have a "warm up" hour before my test next week, and then I'll take the driving test after that!  Talk about being terrified!  And apparently he told me the wrong date so my test is actually the 23rd! Today was the day of contacting. We were in Sandvika sentrum talking to people and we met a guy who was not happy to hear what we had to say and continued to tell us how we wrong we were:). After that we went and visited an elderly woman in our ward and talked to her about Christmas and her Christmas traditions and it was so fun!!!  I love hearing other people's stories!  She gave us hot chocolate, krumkaker and clementines and then gave us Firkløver (chocolate) when we left!  She is the sweetest lady and we had so much fun visiting her! We went back out to contact and it was seriously so, so cold!! Once again we weren't having much success with people wanting to talk to us, but we did meet some people that we very friendly, and at that point we just wanted someone to talk to us!  But we did have one big success...we met one guy that actually wants to meet with us this coming week so that's super exciting!  So we could be getting a new investigator!!:)) Then we taught our investigator and we talked to him about testimonies and watched the apostles give their testimonies of Christ!  It was a great lesson!  It went super well and he responded to it really well too!  

Thursday

Today we had District Meeting and it was our first District Meeting with only us 4 missionaries!  We were just laughing at the fact that it was so small, but we talked about the commitments that President Hill had asked us about at Zone Conference and our zone leader shared a talk called, "The Fourth Missionary".  Really good!!  Then we did role plays and tried to resolve the "investigators" concerns. We also had District Lunch, but my companion and I didn't eat much, because we were going to our investigator's house and we knew we were eating there!  So we went to our invetigator's house and had pizza, salt and pepper chips and then she opened  this huge cupboard that was literally filled with chocolate bars! We got to pick one of those too!  We visited with her for a little bit and then we began talking about peace and how she can find that through prayer and having faith.  It was an awesome lesson!  She was sharing her thoughts on it all, we were sharing personal experiences and scriptures and it was just a phenomenal lesson... but then the greatest thing happened...she told us how she prays morning and night and how it's becoming a routine!  SHE'S PRAYING!!!! I was so so excited!!!!! Baby steps!!!! Then after that lesson we went and picked up the Elders from their appointment and they went with us to our 10 year old investigator. We taught her about Joseph Smith and we showed her the Restoration video... but she got bored really fast so we tried all sorts of methods... but she understands the information which is good!  Then we played a few games with her and then headed off to our other appointment!

Friday

Today we went up north to see one of our investigators. She had actually reached out to us and asked when we could come up so that was awesome! So we taught her about the temple and temple work and we said how baptism is one of those smaller goals that needs to be met before the temple.... so we got a baptismal date!! It's all the way in June because she wants to be baptized outside in running water... but I think it's great that it's in June, because then there is enough time for her to prepare and be ready for it!  Later we met with one of our new investigators. Right before we even started our lesson,  he told us that today would be the last visit.  We had planned to teach the Plan of Salvation...but with his comment... we asked him why this would be the last time and the reasons that he was dropping us. We ended with that he was always welcome to come to church and that if he had any questions about the gospel or the church in general, then we would be more than happy to help him and that those in the ward would do the same.  Then that was that!

Saturday

We played soccer, did Weekly Planning and then headed to the church so we could prepare some stuff that we we were going to use to decorate a less active's door. Unfortunately the place where she lives was closed, so we went back to the church instead and helped one of the members clean the church. So we helped him with that and then the rest of it went really fast!  The elders said that there was a Texas BBQ place over by where they used to live and none of us had eaten dinner... so that's where we went and oh my goodness... it was like America!!!  We showed up and there were Texas flags all over the place and then we went inside and the menus were in English...and there was country music!!  They even had Mac & Cheese!!  So that was our dinner and it was AMAZING!! It was heaven!!

Sunday

Today we had church and it was fantastic!  Great lessons and talks in all the classes! We had a dinner appointment with a family in the ward... and I absolutely love that family!  They are fantastic!! We went and had lasagna with them and then we went with them in the "fakkeltoget" which is a Norwegian tradition that you walk in a parade basically... carrying these huge torches..they do it for all sorts of things.  They did it in their neighborhood and walked to a daycare.... there they had peppekaker (gingerbread cookies) and saft (juice) and gløgg (Norwegian Christmas drink)... Santa came and gave candy to all the kids!  It was a lot of fun and it was fun to be a part of something that is such a big tradition with them!  We came back and had ice cream for dessert and shared a Christmas video called "What shall we give?" on Mormon channel.We had another appointment right after with the elders with another member.  We got to know him and his family... and then we had more food and gløgg and peppekaker... and then we sang some traditional Christmas songs and it was a lot of fun!! ( On a side note, they have this dog and it's literally like a fluff ball..it looked like the one in the Proposal and oh my gosh it was the cutest dog I have ever seen) Then that took up our whole day! 

Monday

Today we watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional and that was fantastic!  Then now we're emailing and we are going to Bærums Verk today to see the Christmas decorations so I'll be taking more pictures!! 

Love you all lots and miss you tons!!!  Have a very Merry Christmas and God Jul from Norway:))


Thanks to Sis.Hill...There are some pictures from where Kylee goes up north
Pepperkaker
Gløgg
Kylee in "fakkeltog"

#26 "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....."

Hei Hei fra Asker!!!

This week was another amazing week!  As usual:) Just making sure everyone in Norway is getting excited about Christmas and remembers why we celebrate the holiday! 

Monday

Today we went to Oslo and met the Oslo District...we had lunch at Max..a typical American lunch.  Hamburger and shake!  It was delicious and we all sat there saying, "This is so American" HAHA! After lunch we went to the "Jul i Vinterland" (Christmas market) and it is the cutest thing!  There were a bunch of little booths set up but they're all made out of the old wood and then they have these cute little signs and this huge ferris wheel...it's hard to describe...you just have to look at the pictures:)) But anyway, so all of us went on the ferris wheel and since it gets dark at 2:30pm... the sun was setting and we could see all the lights and the city of Oslo below us! We walked around downtown Oslo because the whole city was decorated and had lights all over the place!  We ended up walking into some Sami shop and listened to some Norwegian who lived in Nashville sing country music!:) Then we walked up to the castle, walked by the American Embassy and then went back to the Institute Center in Oslo and just hung out with the other missionaries before it was time to go back home!  So much fun!!

Tuesday

ZONE CONFERENCE! So today we had Zone Conference with our zone and the Vestlandet zone (So the people in Stavanger, Bergen, Kristiansand, etc.) and we had it in Oslo!  President talked about "What Lack I Yet?" as a mission and what we can do to have a better mission culture!  Then Sister Hill talked about using music in teaching.. so our District sang "Come Unto Jesus" for the zones!  Then the AP's talked to us for a little bit and showed a video of a bunch of the missionaries in the mission opening their mission calls, which was super cool because it all brought us back to that moment! After that we had lunch and then we had our talent show! I was laughing so hard!  Our District had done a parody of Santa Baby and addressed President Hill, Sister Hill, and the missionary couple in our district! One of the elders was the center of it all and then we were the backup dancers while another elder sang!  It was hilarious!:)) There were other missionaries that had written a songs, some did  skits, but there were three elders who did a dance from Napoleon Dynomite and we were laughing so hard!  It was hilarious!  Then we had a Christmas presentation of where we had the pictures of the missionaries as babies and growing up and then we were trying to guess who was who! That was super fun and we all got good laughs out of that too!  After the conference one of the sisters from Bergen went with us to our next appointment because her companion had a meeting because she is leaving this week. So we went and visited a less active!  We showed the Mormon Message "True Identity" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf and she just cried through the entire film!  We then talked about how our Heavenly Father loves us and how we need to find those around us that are going to help us realize our true identity! We did a little bit of Personal Progress and picked one of the experiences that we are going to work on next time! After that we went home and made dinner and then dropped off the sister from Bergen at the Hill's house.

Wednesday

One of our appointments fell through so we decided that we were going to prepare some things for service for the ward.  We  wrapped a couple of Book of Mormons and put one of the Light the World cards in with it, and used it for contacting on the street!  Then we went and visited our new convert and we talked about how we can prepare ourselves to meet God and how we can find joy along the way. Then we went back to the church and picked up the elders and then drove to a random neighborhood to go banking..they took one side of the street and then we took the other.  We make it into a competition...which is always fun!:))  We started banking and it was raining and I felt like the girl in the Errand of Angels movie...when they knock and knock doors but no one wants to talk to them. But we had a couple of gospel conversations and found one person that was super nice... but none of them were interested in our message.  The last door that we banked on wanted to talk to us about how we are wrong and how there is something wrong with what we believe...so we stood up for our beliefs and then ended the conversation very nicely!  Later we went and had an appointment with a member.  We had never met with her before because she is fairly new to the ward... so we sat and chatted with her and then we showed her the Christmas initiative and invited her to participate in the days of service as well!  Really good lesson and lots of fun! 

Thursday

Today we had Weekly Planning and met with one of our investigators and a member in our ward at the church.  We talked about the church in earlier times and then started comparing it to the church today...which is the exact same... but he told us that he still believes that all the churches need to work together and that we can then become one true church. So I asked him if he thought that the church in earlier times was all in one place or if it was in different places... and he said that in earlier times the church would have all been in one place.  So then I compared the Restoration of the church to Skolebrød (didn't know you could do that could you hahaha).I told him that if I had the recipe to make skolebrød and given all the ingredients that I needed... I would be able to make it, and then if I pulled out that exact same recipe later then it would still make the exact same skolebrød! So if the church in earlier times had a prophet, apostles, priesthood, revelation and then it was restored later, then why would our church today be restored in all these little pieces? Well, he couldn't answer that question so we asked him to read in Gospel Principles about the church today and the church in earlier times... so we'll see how this next lesson goes!:))

Friday

Today we began preparing our seminary lesson that the elders, my companion and I are teaching Monday morning at 6:30am!  We also visited one of my favorite investigators,  and she fed us pizza, chocolate, ice cream, wafers and solo...talk about walking out of that house stuffed!  But it was delicious!:)  We talked to her about faith and repentance and shared lots of scriptures!  But we were talking and I thought of that scripture that talks about the peace the Savior gives to you, not as the world giveth unto you..and I wanted to share it with her! I just couldn't remember where it was.  I knew it was in John and I had an idea of where the chapter was, but I couldn't find it.  So I said a prayer that I would be able to remember where the scripture was and I immediately thought John 14:26 and so I flipped to that scripture and it was the scripture directly underneath it!!! I know it was a small thing but it really stood out to me! It really strengthened my testimony about a few different things.  One being that the Spirit truly does bring things to your remembrance.  If you truly put in the time to diligently study the scriptures, to prepare for lessons, then the Spirit has something to pull from and you will be supplied with the things you need when you need them.  Also, Heavenly Father always hears our prayers.  Every. Single. Time.  It doesn't matter how simple, how small, how short, how quick the prayer is...it can be a simple plea..but it is always answered.  Also, Heavenly Father knows His children.  I've been teaching this investigator for a long time and as a missionary I'm always trying to teach her and give her the things that she needs that will help her progress... but our Heavenly Father knows exactly what she needs and exactly what is going to help her the most.  He knows what she needs to hear and what is going to resonate with her and all I am is the instrument in His hands, and it is the greatest thing!  Front row seat to miracles once again!  Then later we went contacting in Sandvika Sentrum and my companion and I split up...we were in the same area, but we were talked to different people.  We talked to so many and it was so fun!  Contacting is one of my favorite things to do! I absolutely love it!  I stood on a bridge in Sandvika and asked those who passed me if they believed in Jesus Christ..how amazing is that!? It was one of those moments that just resided with me.  I get to be on His errand for 18 months and testify of Jesus Christ the entire time!  I had a few people who would stand and chat with me for a little while as I asked them questions and others were not interested but that's okay!  Maybe they'll be interested later down the road!  And there was one girl that we talked to on the way back to the church and she said that she didn't think there was a God or that Christ lived because of all the bad things happening in the world...but I got to stand there and say that I know that Christ lives and that He is there!  I just think it's so incredible that I literally get to bear my testimony of Christ on the street to someone who doesn't think He is there during Christmastime!!!! WOW!  Then later we went and taught another investigator. We only got to Pre-earth life and earth life because he had so many questions:)  It was a good discussion and he has a lot of potential!

Saturday

Today we played soccer and then ate lunch. We got ready and then headed to our appointment with the guy that we met last week that was from Poland that just moved to Norway.  We knocked on his door ready to teach...ready to teach a Polish family, in English, with a Norwegian Book of Mormon!  But he wasn't there and it was just his wife and his son, and she told us to come back another day... so it wasn't a success this week but we'll be trying them again this coming week!  So we drove to Drammen and had dinner with Mommo and Besse! (grand parentes)  Mommo had made Fiskeboller and potatoes for me and hamburgers for my companion and I was stuffed..like to the point where I thought I might explode!  But it was delicious!! and Mommo was cracking us up the entire time:))! We showed them the Christmas video and they really liked it! We talked about that and then just sat and visited with them for a little while!  It was a great visit and I like sitting there and just chatting with them!  I also got the Christmas package and now it's sitting in our apartment!  So excited for that!! 

Sunday

Today the Elders had a baptism!!  They've been teaching him for a really long time and then today finally came!  So, funny story...so they were figuring out who was going to give talks, etc. and they had asked him who he wanted to speak and he had said, "One of the sister missionaries...they're both American right?  I just love American girls" and so they asked which one and he said, "The one from Utah" so guess who spoke about the Holy Ghost at his baptism? Me!:))) It was a great baptismal service and the talk went well! Then we had church and I translated in sacrament meeting and that was exhausting.  It is so hard to be able to listen to Norwegian and then put it in English quick enough so that the story still makes sense for those listening to the translation!  But I managed!  Then we went to the missionary couple's house and had dinner.. and that's always a blast!! After dinner we went to a family in the ward and it was a great visit!  Their home teacher was there too and he told us how he had found the church and how he came to know that it was true and the Spirit was so strong! None of us were even moving, we just sat and intently listened.  So cool!  Then we sang a couple of Christmas hymns and then were off.

Today

Today we got up at 5 and went with the elders to go and teach seminary to 4 of the youth in the ward!  We all know them pretty well so it was a lot of fun!  We taught John 9 and talked about afflictions and how they build our faith and that we can't be spiritually blind.  It was so much fun!  Now we're e-mailing and I don't know exactly what we're doing for the rest of the day! 

Love you all lots and miss you tons!!!  Go get in the Christmas Spirit!

Pictures from the Christmas market (Thanks to Sis.Hill) and from the Christmas Zone Conference

#25 JOY and Christmas spirit

Hei Hei fra Asker!!!

This week was another amazing week in the Norway Oslo Mission... so nothing new!:)  It's always phenomenal and always will be!!!:)

Monday

So last P-Day we walked around Asker Sentrum and had lunch at the closest thing that you can get to Subway in Asker...not the most delicious thing in the world but it suffices:)  Then we went to the church and played a game with the District and then spent the night eating dinner and calling people from the area book!

Tuesday

So today the Elders had the car so we were transporting by bus...well at least trying to... but the busses weren't doing us any favors.  We had planned to go visit a member and I had planned the bus routes for the day. All was well until I had a feeling that I needed to ask her if that was the right address and it wasn't... so to make a long story short...we had to cancel that appointment.  So we took the bus to the church instead and my companion finished up her BYU application while I called people from the area book.  I got a few people that were willing to meet, some that said "Nei Takk", and others were just not interested.  But I was on the phone with one guy for 40 minutes because he kept asking questions and voicing his opinion on religion. I was able to teach him about how God is our loving Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son, we are all God's children, free agency, prophets, the Spirit, testimony and lots of other things...at the end of the conversation he was still uninterested in learning, but he wished me the very best of luck in life and told me that I should never lose faith in myself no matter what comes my way. He also told me that he wished he could give me a hug so that's how that conversation went.  But I had a lesson on the phone!  Then we went and met with our new convert and she is awesome!!  We talked to her about church and just how she is adjusting.  So we spent a lot of the time asking about each meeting, visiting teachers, the study manuals and practical things that usually go unnoticed sometimes by new converts.  It was a great meeting and we figured out a few things that we need to do, so it was very effective!

Wednesday

Today we met with one of our investigators.I love visiting her!  She is going through a lot of hard things right now and feels that God has abandoned her because things are so hard so we talked about joy.  We talked about how you can find joy throughout your trials and afflictions because of the gospel.  We shared scriptures and I had made a "Glede Glass" or in English, "Joy Jar" so that she can think back on all the things that bring her joy whether they be big or small, and she thought that was the cutest idea!:)  It was a great lesson and I really just hope that she can find joy in the gospel!  Joy has been talked about a lot this week especially with the Christmas season coming and there is so much joy in the gospel and we simply need to look for it because it is always there.  The gospel isn't something that is given to us to make it harder to find the joys in life, it highlights them.  The gospel is joy, Christ is joy, it is just JOY!! It's a joy sharing the message of the gospel and I simply want others to feel that joy and then grasp onto it!  Later that day we went and tried visiting a referral that we had received from some other sisters.  We found their house and talked to them for a little while and they were the nicest people, but weren't interested in the message that we had to share.  But we still had plenty of time before our next appointment so we decided to go banking. (knocking doors)  I have come to love banking!  We started out and people either weren't answering or they didn't want to talk to us... so we prayed and I had a feeling that we needed to go back to the street we were parked on and so we did.  We started banking and then we almost went past this house but I just walked over and started going to the door.  We started asking who Christ is to her and she said it was something that she would want to learn more about!  She gave us her cell phone number..POTENTIAL!  Then we continued to bank and we were running out of time but we decided to bank on one last door and then head off.  We asked the same question, Who is Christ to you and then we began talking.  She was asking us lots of questions about the Plan of Salvation and then we started talking about the Book of Mormon and she kept asking questions.  We thought we were getting in until she decided that she wasn't interested.  We were so close!!  You could see as we were talking to her she considered having us come back multiple times and then it didn't happen...but we are finding one way to get back to that house in the future! We went and taught our little ten year old..and we   taught her how God is our loving Heavenly Father, and then we gave her a Primary Songbook... she was so excited about that!  She marked pages left and right and told us all the songs that she was going to learn... so that was a big step for her!

Thursday

Today we had District Meeting and planned what we were going to be doing for Zone Conference and then had Distrct Lunch...plus today was the Worldwide Day of Service so we had decided to clean the entire church before a couple came to clean it.  We cleaned the church from top to bottom... and with 6 of us in the District it didn't take too long... but they were so incredibly grateful!  His wife even started to get emotional when we told them that it had already been done!  The power of service is incredible and if you haven't done the 25 day countdown of service, I would highly suggest it!  It is absolutely incredible and there is nothing quite like service.  If you want to have the Christmas Spirit, then service is the quickest way you will get it:)  After cleaning the church, we tried to visit a less active that we had never been able to get a hold of…. and miracles happen because WE GOT IN!  We helped her little son read his book and then talked to her for a little while... and then tried to plan when we could come back!  It was a quicker visit, but we got in and that's what is important!  We then rushed out of there to get to our appointment at the church with another investigator.!  We had planned to teach him the Restoration... but he kept asking multiple questions.. so we never got that far.  So we have planned to teach him the Restoration the next time we meet with him instead!  He's got a lot of ideas and things that he believes which arises a lot of questions so we spend the time answering them all, but it was a decent lesson!  

Friday

Today we planned to go and visit a potential that we had gotten a  hold of earlier this week and she had called us about a month or so ago.  We had trouble finding where she lived, so we called her to ask her to help us. One of the workers at the retirement home where she lives told us that she can’t have any missionaries come over...so, that was that!.  So we went to the church to practice our performance for Zone Conference and did weekly planning instead. After that we went to our dinner appointment!  As you all know too, she is the sweetest lady and we had such good food!  It was some chicken thing but it was delicious!! We talked about the Christmas initiative and asked her to be able to find someone to serve this week!  It was a great visit with her and it's wonderful meeting with these older people especially during this season!  Then we had a little bit more of our Zone Conference performance practice!

Saturday

Today we played soccer...and you all know how that goes!:))  We walked home and got ready and met two of the elders Elders...we all headed up north (1hr drive) . I absolutely love visiting this person.. she cracks me up!  We laughed the whole time because she is just always entertaining... but she also understands the joy that is found in the gospel!  She is always happy and is always explaining to us how she doesn't understand why not everyone is just going out and spreading the joy!  She is the greatest example of what it means to be a missionary and to serve!  Then we came back to the church, practiced a little and then ate dinner with our District.

Sunday

Today was my companion’s birthday!!! So I had blown up balloons and taped them to her desk and covered her desk in sticky notes with messages on them and then wrapped candy for her presents!  So that's what she woke up to!  Then we went to church and 3 investigators came!! So it was a great Sunday just because of that reason too!  But my favorite part was Relief Society...we watched the Christmas video and talked about the Christmas initiative and I literally can't get tired of the video!  I absolutely love it and I want to watch it with every single person I go visit every single time!!! It's phenomenal!  We then talked about serving others and how those services don't need to be big.  Then the women in Relief Society talked about how we need to call instead of texting...and although that was a small thing, it has a big meaning behind it.  We need to start getting to know people, to have face to face conversations, and if that's not possible then to call so that you can hear their voices!  We start to think of service being an afterthought because it's just "sending a text" and then that text later becomes a burden to send.  So..take whatever you need to from that but let's just talk to people!  After church we went and ate at the missionary couple’s house, and they had made a birthday cake, and we sang happy birthday! After our dinner we went banking and had 11 gospel conversations!!! Even while banking we found a family that is interested in learning and we have an appointment with them next Saturday!!!! We're so excited!  We weren't having much success at the beginning, but we prayed to be led to those who needed the gospel... and this guy was outside and boom appointment!!  God performs miracles...all the time!  

Today

Today we are going to Oslo to go look at the Christmas Market that they have down there! So that will be exciting!! I'll take pictures and send them next week!

Love you all lots and miss you all tons!!  Go spread the joy this Christmas season! :)

Kylee didn't send any pictures this week...so these are from a video that was posted on facebook:)