#32 Trondheim was a blast!

Hei Hei fra Drammen!

Well this week is the same 'ol, same 'ol...just as fantastic as last week!!:)

Monday

So last Monday we played Banangrams...again! We had a blast!! We headed to the train station to take the Flytog to Oslo and then we got on our flight from Oslo to Trondheim!!! The flight was only 45 minutes and we just slept the entire way:) When we to Trondheim we got on another Flytog and went to another train station where the sisters picked us up.  We didn't get in until almost 9 o'clock and we hadn't even dinner... we were starving!!  so toast with peanut butter and jam was dinner!

Tuesday

Full day in Trondheim!!  I went with Sister Neilson first and we went out and contacted people on a path right next to a river which was super pretty... and people up there just stopped and talked to you..even if they weren't interested in the gospel! They were very friendly!  After talking to 3 people  we handed out a Book of Mormon, so that was super cool! After that we had District Meeting with their district and talked about how we can find, retain, and activate all at the same time. We did a practical with a street stand which was nice, because we had a street stand planned for Saturday too!  Then the missionary couple up there made us lunch and it was delicious! After lunch Sister Neilson and I updated their progress report for investigators and then we went out and contacted again. We saw Nidarosdomen (Nidaros Cathedral is a Church of Norway cathedral located in the city of Trondheim in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. Built over the burial site of Saint Olav, the king of Norway in the 11th century, who became the patron saint of the nation) and the ByBrua ( Gamle Bybro was constructed by Johan Caspar von Cicignon in 1681 in conjunction with the reconstruction of Trondheim after the great fire of 1681) Super pretty and just a cute town!  Met a lot of just super nice people, really friendly!  I was able to understand the people up there too!  There were a couple of sentences where you just nod your head and smile because you're not sure what was said, but for the majority I was good!  Then we headed back to the church and met with a girl who is our age, is a new convert, and preparing to go on a mission! We taught her about tithing, fasting, and paying both of those.  Really cool lesson and I've had many experiences with both tithing and fasting so it was a good opportunity to be able to share those!  Then we did språk study and then I went out with Sister Ralphs and a member from the Trondheim ward.....and we visited a less active. We contacted a couple of people on our way back home and then had pizza for dinner and then splits review!  We had a lot of fun with them and it was a blast seeing Trondheim!

Wednesday

Today we left the apartment at 6:40am  to catch our train to the airport. We got to the airport way before our flight was supposed to leave, so we got some breakfast and then we got a couple of things from the tourist shop up there! When we were on our way to the airport our train stopped in Hell, Norway...so I had to get a postcard of that too haha! Sister Cook and I got a laugh out of that one!  Then we hopped on the plane and slept again which made the plane ride go so fast!  When we got back to Drammen  we went out and contacted people.. and we were determined to find people.  We don't have investigators right now and we are trying to find them... but no one is listening. We contacted people and handed out Book of Mormon cards... and then we tried visiting a less active who didn't answer. So before we went out and contacted again... we decided to say a prayer. We said that Heavenly Father can not not bless us if we talk to absolutely everyone... so that is what we did!  We found one person who was English speaking and said she wanted to come to our church... so we have contact with her... so pray that she becomes an investigator!  We also met a guy that promised us that we would see him in church one day, so pray for that one too! We talked to two people and those conversations were my favorite!:)  First off, there was one guy that I talked to and I started flipping through the pictures in the front of the Book of Mormon..I didn't get through them all before he said he needed to go and then pulled out his necklace and told me that he was orthodox.  I told him that that was great but that he was still welcome to come to church.... and guess what...he said that he lived next door to the church!! So he took the Book of Mormon and the card!  Then this one is my absolute favorite!! Sister Cook and I stopped this one lady and after asking her a couple of questions she told us that she knew a lot about the Mormon church and that she knew about the Book of Mormon and that we don't need it.  I told her that it wouldn't make sense for God to speak to us for thousands of years and then suddenly become silent...so in my head I had the thought to say that it talks about the Book of Mormon in the Bible, but I didn't know where that reference was! Then it kind of just came out and she said, "Well that I would like to see" She then continued to tell us how she knew more about the bible than most! Sister Cook was already flipping through the pages to find the reference.  Sister Cook then read it out loud and this preacher just goes quiet.  Then after a little bit she said, "Well I don't think that is talking about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon" and then we gave her a card and she walked away...but we literally made a Norwegian preacher go silent!:) It was one of our favorite parts of the day!!!!!! Then we walked to the church which was a long walk (2 miles) and then got dinner and watched the Worldwide Missionary Broadcast! It was great!!

Thursday

Today we had District Meeting with our own District and a returned missionary girl was with us which was super fun!  We talked about humility and how to have humble confidence as a missionary! We did practicals and practiced teaching the Restoration which was super helpful! After our meeting the elders drove us to our dinner appointment. We shared 1 Nephi 13:37 talking about missionary work and committed them to do missionary work... they are already doing a ton which was awesome!  There are so many members doing missionary work but they never say anything unless you ask them about it, so it was super fun to hear their stories and hopefully get the work here in Drammen moving again!  Then the Elders picked us up after their appointment and drove us to the church where we went to a member in the ward. We just talked and got to know her!  She hasn't been in church for a little bit so we  all just met her for the first time and it was so much fun!  She showed us her art and she is super good at it, so we talked about having a craft day one of these days!

Friday

Today we did weekly planning at the church and then we went to our dinner appointment which was so much fun! The mom has served a mission in England so she is always asking us about our missionary work and giving us advice. She is truly engaged in missionary work and always asks us how she can help! She was so nice and drove us to the church where we called a bunch of potentials and we got a few people who are interested and AN APPOINTMENT FOR TONIGHT!!! So I'm hoping and praying that that one will be good and that it will happen because we need investigators!!!

Saturday

Today we had our street stand on Bragernes and oh my goodness was it freezing!  I mean I know this is Norway and that it's cold, but today was bitter cold and it didn't matter how many layers you had on...it just was cold!!!!  Almost painful!  There weren't too many people out, but we gave out free waffles...so many people just took the waffle and left...other people talked and took a Book of Mormon...others were scared to take the waffle because they saw the Book of Mormon... and then others didn't want a waffle:)) We were out there from 12-4 and then we went to grandma and grandpa for dinner where we had hot dogs and krone ice cream which was delicious!  We also watched a video on the sacrament and then broke down the sacrament prayers which was a really cool experience!  I love teaching them!! and grandpa is doing great with the new convert lessons!!

Sunday

Today we had MMK and church and then we went to our dinner appointment with a family in the ward. They have never had the missionaries over before but we went there today!  We played with their little boy on this car track thing and then had dinner and then shared 1 Nephi 13:37! We talked about missionary work and she is also doing missionary work that might turn into a referral later on, so that is super exciting!  Both of them are returned missionaries too so that's super cool!  Then we tried to go and visit a friend of Tante's (her aunt)!  We had the hardest time finding it and so we walked out in the snow for a while trying to find which street was connected to what, but we eventually found it!  We were able to talk to her for a little bit and just had a casual conversation..it was super hyggelig!  I don't even know what the word for that is in English!  But it was awesome! Then we went home and had companionship and language study and then Mac & Cheese because we were hungry! 

Today

Today we are emailing and there was transfer announcements today... so Sister Cook and I are still here in Drammen and then we are getting Elder Nelson and Elder Mitchell in our District and Elder Mitchell went to Westlake too (Her high school)!!! Small world!!

Love you all lots and miss you tons!!!