#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

#10 One for the books

Hei Hei!

So every week in the mission gets better and better and this week was just another week that I absolutely loved! 

We met with this lady on Monday that actually had a baptismal date in June, but it got pushed off until July, and then it got pushed off again! We knocked on her door and she  invited us right in and was telling us how she already believes that the Book of Mormon is true and that she already knows it's right and that her brother took her other Book of Mormon and said, "Hey..I've been searching for this" and it was just awesome!  She is completely prepared and we got a return appointment as we were sitting there so NEW INVESTIGATOR!  We were pretty excited and the whole way home all we could say was..."We have a new investigator!"

On Tuesday we had District Meeting as usual and talked about baptism and confirmation,and then had District lunch! We also, watched the District as part of my 12 week training and we watched them find investigators through a ward activity so we are now in the process of planning a ward activity for October so that we can get our members involved with our less actives and non members. We are super excited!  Later that day one of my companions went on visiting teaching splits so the other sister and I got Dr. Pepper and went home and ate Mac and Cheese that she had and it was delicious!  We kept planning our ward activity and it is going so good!  Then we had FHE at a family’s house and a non-member was there as well. We have to talked to this person before. It was so much fun that this person got to see how FHE goes:)  We had a lesson, activity, treat, the whole bit! 

Wednesday was the BEST. DAY. EVER. So you probably didn't wake up on Wednesday morning and know that this day was history in the making, but it was PHENOMENAL!  So hold onto your hats and make sure you're sitting down for this one! One of my companions had MLC (Missionary Leadership Training) in Oslo all day so it was just me and my companion again, and we decided that we were going to get 2 new investigators in the time that our second companion was gone, which is a pretty lofty goal, but we were going for it!  So we started out by organizing and cleaning out the creepy closet (storage closet) and we found a pile of old former investigator records!  So cleaning out that closet was a blessing in disguise!  But we had planned to drop some soup off at a lady's house in our ward who was sick and then work in the area book and then contact before our dinner appointment.  So we had 5 Books of Mormon, 46 mormon.org cards, and probably a little less in church building cards and I literally wrote out our number on all the church ones! We were laughing at ourselves because of how much we were doing all at one time but it was awesome!  So we said our prayer before we left the house and told Heavenly Father what our goals were and that we were ready to be led to where we needed to be.  My companion drove and as she was driving I was calling in the area book...SECOND PERSON I CALLED MADE A RETURN APPOINTMENT!  NEW INVESTIGATOR! We kept calling and then we decided to go to the church and continue to call because it was going well!  We have 7 people who asked us to call them back on specific days and 4 NEW INVESTIGATORS!  We even found a referral for the Elders in Stavanger! It was soon time to go to our dinner appointment so we left the church and talked to a guy outside the gas station as we were going in to the gas station store, and then when driving to our dinner appointment we saw a lady on the street and my companion said, "We need to go and talk to her". We literally parked on the side of the road in the neighborhood and went to talk to her and WE PLACED A BOOK OF MORMON!  Literally we were blown away! We had said a thank you prayer earlier for all the success we had had and the day was just going perfect!  We then had our dinner appointment (lapskaus and brownies and ice cream) and then we went to go and pick up our companion at the mission presidents house!  We were so excited to tell them about our day! Oh also 2 of those 4 investigators came from that pile in the creepy closet! Then we went and visited a young lady  who expressed to us that she wasn’t sure if she wanted to attend church anymore. I wasn't sure what to even say to her to help her and just said a silent prayer that I would be able to say what she needed to hear.  I then felt prompted to ask about reading the Book of Mormon together in English (because she wants to learn to read it in English) and then asked her to bring a notebook to church and take notes...she then told us that she loved writing and it was that moment that I knew I had said exactly what I needed to!  It was amazing!  So we will be meeting with her and reading the Book of Mormon with her!  

Didn't that day just blow your mind!? I was so, so excited!!

On Thursday we had a pretty relaxed day. We ran into your friend from high school mom!!! It was so fun to talk to her! She is the sweetest lady!! I sent you some pictures:)

On Saturday, there was a soccer competition between some wards in our stake. Our Sandvika ward was just us missionaries and two other people! Needless to say, we got crushed!!  All the other wards had jerseys, cleats, shin guards and all that, and we had our P Day clothes and tennis shoes:)  There could only be 7 people on the field so I didn't have to play that much (2 minutes) which was wonderful!  But the fun part was that I saw so many people from Drammen (because the competition was in Drammen) and I saw so many people from your home ward mom!! It was fun to talk to so many of them! We also visited a lady today and she taught my companion and I how to knit!! It's just a good way for us to connect with her and she gets so excited about it!  She is the sweetest lady and though she is going through a really hard time, she is still giving everything she has to others.  I literally learn so much from the people here and I just want to be like them! 

On Sunday we had our interviews with the mission president. We had dinner at his house and we also sang our song for the president… "Savior, Redeemer of My Soul"!  We had been practicing that song a lot and it sounded way good!:))  Then we went to visit a sweet lady.  We were planning on teaching her about family history but my companion felt like we should share something from the Book of Mormon but wasn't sure what.  So we went into the appointment and just talked to her and she was talking about her knitting and then started talking about when she was a cardiac nurse and of course I was all excited to hear all those stories because I want to go into nursing!  So we could connect with that and the whole time she was talking she was so happy and excited and I felt prompted to share 2 Nephi 2:25. We then talked about how our Heavenly Father wants us to find joy in the little things!  As I shared that her daughter asked if she could say something, and told her mom to listen to what I had said, and how she could see how happy her mom had been while she was talking to us, and then told her mom she should maybe go back and pursue nursing. The Spirit just filled the room.   That was the moment when I knew that I had been led by the Spirit and knew that that scripture was exactly what needed to be shared!  It was phenomenal!  Those are the moments that make my mission the greatest thing in the entire world!  The joy you feel after moments like that are indescribable and it's just amazing!  I literally can't put into words how amazing it is!  

Today we checked me into the land because my appointment was today so that wasn't exciting at all actually and we went grocery shopping. We went to another store and bought yarn and knitting needles so that we can knit to show these sweet ladies that have taught us. We're all excited about that! 

That's a wrap for this week...just another great week in the greatest mission in the world proclaiming the greatest news the world has ever heard! 

Love you all lots and miss you all and pray for you all every day!

Ponderize: 2 Nephi 25:26

Søster Love

1. Kylee and her comapanions
2. Part of her district
3. Kylee and her best friend from high school. Kylee promised that her friend could "go with
    her"  on her mission.

#9 Happiness!!

 Hei Hei Alle Sammen!

I seriously can't even express and put into words how much I absolutely love my mission! It’s the greatest thing in the entire world and I'm so happy that I can't even contain it all...so good thing I'm called to go spread the happiness!

The rest of P-Day last week we went and played volleyball,  and I would love to report that I'm getting better but...yea I'm going to have to save that for another week because there is no improvement ..I guess some people can't play volleyball no matter how tall they are:) We also ended the day with getting slushies which was a good ending to our P-Day!

We went and visited an older woman who is just phenomenal!  We were talking about her own missionary experiences and literally I just want to be like her when I’m old!! She is always talking to everyone and anyone about the church, offering Books of Mormon and Ensigns to those who take care of her and clean her room (Old Folks Home) and she is just amazing!  She is so incredibly strong and her testimony is a solid as a rock!  But as I was sitting there I kept thinking about Oldemor (her great-grandma) and I literally almost began crying just sitting there. I could only imagine that that is exactly how Oldemor would've been if she was a member while here on earth.  She would've been just as stubborn and persistent in sharing the gospel and wouldn't have taken no for an answer...her testimony would've been as solid as a rock and she would've made sure that everyone knew that too!  She would've been one of the greatest missionaries!  But although she is gone, she knows I'm on a mission in Norway and she knows that I'm here preaching the gospel to those she grew up around. Just like Jeffrey R. Holland said, "Heaven is cheering you on yesterday, today, and forever" and that is so incredibly true!  Also, walking to this older woman and walking back home, we contacted and we actually met one girl who gave us her phone number so we could set up a time to meet!  That rarely ever happens so I was pretty excited! We also found out we're getting a new mission car pretty soon. We had to go wash our car and take pictures of it to send to the mission office. We were cracking up in the car wash because those things are much more intense in Norway than they are in America!  Yes I know that that doesn't seem funny, but we were laughing and praying that our roof wouldn't cave in!  Good times!

On Wednesday we met with a potential investigator and got an appointment to teach her so...drumroll please!  NEW INVESTIGATOR!  Do you think I was pumped about that...yes definitely!!! Later that night we taught another person and we invited the Elders. One elder was on a roll and was just asking questions and this person was answering his own questions at one point just because of the way the elder was leading the discussion. So we all agreed that the elder is basically a miracle worker and so we're really excited to see how it all goes!

We had District Meeting on Thursday and spent a lot of the time playing a get to know you game because we got a new elder. Then we talked more about the Book of Mormon!  I love District Meeting and I will send a picture of our entire District hopefully next week!  After District Meeting, we were going to do weekly planning but we got a call from someone who is sick,  so we went to visit that person and brought chocolate and watched Finding Faith in Christ. If you haven't seen that movie then I highly highly suggest you watch it!  It is amazing!  I couldn't help but wonder how amazing it would've been to see all of Christ's miracles first hand!  Then it showed his atonement and crucifixion and how much he suffered and I was thinking too that if you were the only person on the entire earth, just YOU, He still would've suffered all of that just for YOU because He loves YOU that much, and wants YOU to come back and return to live with Him and our Father in Heaven!  That's one thing that I've loved seeing grow on my mission,   my testimony of Jesus Christ.  He is my everything, my Redeemer, my Savior, my older brother, my best friend, and I KNOW that Jesus is the Christ and if that's the only thing that I can tell some people on my mission, then I will know that it was enough because through Him everything is possible. Later that evening we went and had a dinner appointment at a members house, and she had brought a friend and we taught that person the Restoration. That person wants to learn more so that will probably be another NEW INVESTIGATOR !That means that we have the potential of having 8 INVESTIGATORS (that's including someone else that I don't know but my companion does) HOW AMAZING IS THAT!? Norway has had 33 baptisms this year so far!  AMAZING! 

Today was filled with service and it was amazing!  What better way to serve the Lord than serving His children!  We helped a woman in our ward with her yard and guess what Dad!? I MOWED THE LAWN! I didn't do the entire thing because the grass was above my ankles but I indeed mowed the lawn!  Then later that evening we went and helped another member sand the cabinets in the kitchen and our entire District got hamburgers and milkshakes and it was so much fun!  A non-member came also and the elders shared the spiritual thought using the Mormon Message "Mountain to Climb" and it was really good! Also, today was my first day driving in Norway!  It's pretty stressful but thank heavens for a GPS!

Saturday we played soccer as usual, but this time we had so many people come that actually knew how to play soccer.  Søster Love doesn't know how to play soccer so this game was a little hectic...but wait for it!  I SCORED A GOAL!  The goalie totally moved out of the way so I could score, but I'll take the pity!  But I did also feel like I was 5 because the goalie moved out of the way and literally everyone on the field cheered and one elder was giving me a high five!  So I guess I'm 19 going on 5! Who knew!   After that we went and got a fan for our apartment which was much needed, because we live in a saunaJ  We also played a game while eating dinner!  You know the game I always play where I say a word and you have to think of a song? So we played tha, but it had to be a hymn or a primary song, and we got way into it! The  losers had to do the dishes! My one companion would literally just blurt out the first thing that came to mind so she said " Priesthood Power" instead of "Scripture Power", and the best part was that we didn't even catch it until we started singing the next line and realized that wasn't it! We were dying laughing..and I mean all three of us in tears and not breathing and it was the funniest thing!  So we decided that we have three news songs...Heaven Is A Place on Earth (which also gave us a real good laugh because that doesn't even make sense), Priesthood Power and Speed Kindly Light!  Fun fun!  My companion and I even have a song that we sing every time we see someone in a hat!  Can you just imagine how much fun we have every day?!

On Sunday a potential investigator came to church and it was wonderful!  She said that she could feel the Spirit and wants to learn more, so we are super excited to start teaching her more!  Later that night we had a dinner appointment.It was just a girls dinner! Us girls and the women and their daughters!  They were telling us how they met their husbands and all sorts of stories!  It was so much fun!  Anyway, then later we called people to make appointments and we had lots of people answer and solidify appointments which was awesome!

Today is P-Day and we've taken our time and done fancy hair dos and gone shopping for things we needed! It's been a relaxing P-Day ,but it's raining today, so we haven't done much!  Anyway, that was this week!  I'm happy happy happy and love my mission more and more every single day!  

Love you all tons and tons and miss you and pray for you every day!  Keep the emails coming!

My scripture for this week is 1 Nephi 11:17

1. Me and my favorite teacher at the MTC

2. Me and my companions playing soccer...

3,4 Me and my companions

5. Our district

#8 Sharing my testimony

Hei Hei!

Just another amazing week in the mission but what's new!?

Last p-day, after e-mailing, we went and played sand volleyball with our District and it was a blast!  Except you all know just how athletic and wonderful I am at playing sports so you can imagine how great I am at volleyball!  I may or may not have accidentally hit one elder in the face with the ball because of my great aim! But he was forgiving and it turned into a good laugh! We had a dinner appointment later that day. We had a super fun visit with them!  Their family is pretty big so it was fun being in that family atmosphere, just having dinner and chatting because we are so far away from our families so it was super nice!  

We had our District Meeting and for some reason it was just super funny!  One of the elders was reading out of the white handbook and it's supposed to be this short little summary but he was taking forever and he finally said, "Sorry this is taking so long" and we all just burst out laughing!  That probably won't be funny to you at all but it was hilarious so just laugh anyway!  Then we played a few games and talked about how the Book of Mormon and the Bible work together!  It was really good and we all had a blast!  Literally I just love my District!  We all get along so well and we are always laughing!  We were lucky to have another dinner appointment! Lots of visitors were coming to the house as we were giving our message so it was a lot of fun!  The one dinner appointment we had we literally drove around for an hour because our GPS had no idea where the street was so there was a lot of backing up and turning around but rest assured because we finally made it!  And I could see Drammen!!!! (My hometown) I could see the top of the church by where oldemor (great-grandma) used to live!  Oh I just love Norway!!!

We had a cleaning day!  All the missionaries, not just our district, but everybody had apartment cleaning because they haven't been cleaned in ages, and it was as deep as defrosting the freezer and cleaning the oven and basically every little nook and cranny of the apartment.  Our apartment is not that big but we were cleaning for 12 HOURS!  It was so insanely dirty!  I was washing walls and doors and on all fours scrubbing the floor!  Just imagine how beautiful our apartment looks now!  But we did clean for a little too long because we were all a little out of it...I tried feeding the vacuum cord back into the machine when there was just a button you had to push for it to go back in,  so my companions had a good laugh about that one!  Oh and then I tipped the bowl of soapy water all over the floor so that was a blast!  So in case you were wondering if I'm still embarrassing and a clutz ...I indeed am!

We have been blessed with lots of dinner appointments this week! One day we went to go and pick up the elders so that we could all go to a dinner appointment, but we were delayed a little because there was a wasp in our car, and there was no way my companion and I were about to jump in the car with a wasp in there!  My other companion was just standing at the bottom of the hilll just laughing and the Elders got a good laugh out of it too!  This was the funniest time I’ve had so far!! I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my whole entire life! We were seriously all in tears! Loved it!!  Later that day I called one person who has been interested in the church. Unfortunatley this person had gotten into some anti-material, so we got slammed and criticized about our religion for about 45 minutes! All I could think was to testify because even if this person didn't believe me, no one could argue with my testimony so that's exactly what I did. I shared my testimony. I didn’t want this person to get off the phone without  knowing what I know is true!  It was a super simple but strong testimony and I could feel the Spirit so strongly through my simple testimony.  A missionary moment I will never forget! We were all in tears at the end but it made us stronger as a companionship and definitely strengthened my testimony.

We had another dinner appointment. Seriously, these memebers are unbelievable! We are so grateful for everything they do for us! We had two dinner appointments this day. One was with this great couple. I felt like I was visiting grandparent. I loved it!  While we were sitting in the car because we were early for our next appointment, there was a bird that almost flew in the window!  On my side!  It landed on the windshield right in front of me and I thought I was going to die!  But anyway, it didn't get in the car but that's still a fun story to tell! 

We played soccer again! Even though we play it every Saturday, I'm still horrible at it and I got hit with the soccer ball who knows how many times but it was a blast!  Then we had a teaching appointment. We asked this person the baptismal interview questions without this person knowing, so that we could see where we were at. We had planned to maybe get a baptismal date. We had discussed before we left that if I felt like I should ask this person to get baptized, it was all on me ! (because of new missionary training)  The lesson was going really well and then I knew I was going to ask the baptism question. My heart was pounding!  I was super nervous, but I asked! The person didn’t feel ready yet. We all feel a little stuck, because the person knows everything and can explain everything, but we can't give the person the desire. We're not quite sure what to do. We talked to another person who feels like there is no hope, so what did I do? Testified again, and I absolutely love feeling the Spirit working through me!  It's unbelievable! Oh and then we went home and I called every potential in the phone because we were inviting everyone and anyone to church!  So that was fun!

We had transfer calls this morning and we are staying a trio!!  Sister Petersen got called to be an STL (sister training leader) and we're all staying in Asker!  So I will for sure be here for the next 6 weeks!  I love love love it here so I'm super excited!  We taught the Sunday School lesson about having faith in Christ, and I basically led out the lesson, which was out of my comfort zone! Especially when I'm teaching to grown ups and there's a good handful of them!  But we survived!  Even if I was asked to write things on the board and wrote soccer in German...don't even know how that happened because I don't know German, but I think it's the same in Spanish too!  Anyway, point is, is I still managed to have something embarrassing happen!  After a dinner appointment we went to a devotional who was a BYU Professor! He basically proved the Book of Mormon is true through just facts and studies!  MIND BLOWN!  It was so incredibly good!  

Anyway, today we went shopping and we're going to go play volleyball again!

I absolutely love my mission, love every moment, love every day, love life, love how happy I am, love how much I laugh everyday, love the people I serve, love my companions,love it all!

Love you all so much and miss you every day!

 Søster Love

Thank You for all the letters and e-mails I’ve gotten!! Thank you for all the love and support I get! The e-mails and letters help a lot…they get me through the week! I Love to hear from you!

#7 Greetings from Asker!

Hei Hei Fra Asker!

First of all I want to apologize for the hectic emails last week! Also, I want to apologize to all the people who have written me personally and I haven't gotten back to you yet..I'm trying to get through them as quickly as possible because I do want to write each one of you back!  I do appreciate all the love and support I get from home and from my family and friends!  It truly helps me push through the week!  So the emails are coming I promise! 

Anyway..so I made list of all the stuff that I was going to update you guys on that happened this past week but I left it in my apartment so...that's not going to help me any!  But I shall try my best!

Tuesday

This was the day of our first District Meeting and it was a blast!  I absolutely love my District and we have so much fun no matter what we are doing!  We talked about the Book of Mormon and just listening to the testimonies and experiences that my District had had, were phenomenal and I just think that the Book of Mormon is the coolest book in the entire world!  I loved it!  We then had lunch with our District and then taught an investigator.  I loved the lesson because I felt that I really understood how the Savior feels when we are sad or going through trials...so let me just say that He cares and loves us a lot more than we think at times!  After that we went out and did contacting for the first time in my mission!  We went to like a town square type thing and just started talking to people and I was scared out of my mind at first but once I did it once I was good to go!

Wednesday

We spent a lot of the day contacting this day as well because we're in the process of trying to find new investigators and there are some days that we have really good conversations and everything is going well and days that are more challenging.Contacting is hard and it takes a toll on you some days but there are other moments that make it worth it! We also had a dinner appointment with a sweet lady.

Thursday

Today we met with an investigator again and basically just talked about hope and using the Atonement of Jesus Christ to get through trials and afflicitions, and we watched the Mormon Message Mountans to Climb, and I would highly suggest watching that because it's phenomenal! Oh and this was the first lesson where I actually led out the lesson! Then later we had an appointment with one who has a daughter who is not a member. So our goal was to get her a baptismal date and WE DID! I couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day!

Friday

Today we had a double dinner!  Our first dinner was with a sweet lady and we shared the Testimony of Jeffrey R. Holland with her and talked about the Book of Mormon!  Then we went to another dinner! We played the piano and Sister Peterson played the violin!  We showed the Come Unto Christ video and chatted about it and honestly I'm amazed at how much these members teach me when I'm supposed to be teaching them!

Saturday

This day was completely planned for contacting and playing soccer with our District but we had the worst rain that Oslo has had in the past 35 years and I sent pictures of what I could!  But we went and played soccer anyway and it was a BLAST!  We had so much fun!  It was absolutely hilarious and I'm actually getting better at it!  Athleticism here we come! After that we went contacting in Sandvika when the rain had sort of stopped and we met one guy who spoke English and he had been to our church in the Phillipinnes and so we taught him the First Vision on the street and the Spirit was so strong!  It was amazing!  Highlight of the day!  Makes everything else worth it!!

Sunday

Sunday we went to church and had Fast and Testimony meeting and the members here are seriously phenomenal!  They are so incredibly strong!  Then we went and contacted and we actually saw three guys that we were a little afraid to talk to. Sister Petersen started the conversation and we actually ended up placing a Book of Mormon which was just a testament to me that you should never judge and that it is not up to us as to who needs the gospel!  Talk to anyone and everyone!  Then we had dinner with the elders at the church because we were running out of food so we had spaghetti and boller and we had a blast!  We laughed so hard that our stomach literally hurt and we were crying!

Today we are helping a lady move and playing volleyball! We also have a dinner appointment!  We have 6 dinner appointments this week!!  We got a lot to do this week but I'm excited!

My challenge for this week is to just talk to the missionaries!  Invite them over, go talk to them, give them referrals, let them know if someone needs help, service opportunities!  The missionaries depend so much on the members and they can't do it without you!

Love you lots and lots and miss you!!!!!

Ponderize Scripture: 1 Nephi 19:9

I'm seriously the happiest I've ever been and I literally laugh so hard everyday that my stomach hurts and I'm crying!

Pictures 1-6 from her 3 1/2hr hike

Pictures 7-8 is taken right outside her apartment...and her car

Pictures 9-11 is from Asker...obviously a cold and windy day:)

Where she sleeps and studies. Because they are 3, she sleeps on the couch:)

Kylee loves to send pictures of the food she eats so I can be jealous:))

#6 I couldn't be more excited!

Hei Hei!

Saturday

Today was any normal Saturday...Sister Temakei and I taught our last TRC today and that was a little sad!  I have pictures with Kylee (the investigor) that I will send in a little bit...but our last lesson was awesome!  She got super involved in the lesson and it was great!  Hopefully she continues to investigate the church even after we're gone!  We took pictures with our District and Sister Allred and Sister Bain because it was everyone's last day so I got lots of pictures to send!  Sister Bain gave us each a picture of Christ with a note on the back of it so that was super nice and it's now in my scriptures!  I'll definitely miss my teachers at the MTC! We also had a testimony meeting with our District and it was super powerful and we were all leaving too so you mix feeling the Spirit and all that sadness together then you can definitely say there were lots of tears!  

Sunday

THIS WAS THE BEST 24TH OF JULY EVER! After sacrament meeting we went to a departure devotional which was super good!  It got me so excited for the mission field!  But here's the best part of the day...NASHVILLE TRIBUTE BAND CAME!  I was in the MTC choir and I believe there were 1400 missionaries! They sang all the songs off of the Joseph Smith CD and the Missionary Work CD and it was all really good!  Then they had a few new songs and we got to sing backup for 3 of them!  We also sang the song 'The Hardest Thing I ever had to do.” He sang the song first and then we sang it with him so that left the entire MTC in tears because it was so relatable to all of us! We also watched 'Open Your Mouth' by Jeffrey R. Holland which was definitely needed before the mission field and then Elder Perreira, Kempener, and Janotti gave me a priesthood blessing!  

Monday

Today was another normal day mixed in with trying to do laundry and finish up packing!  We had class as usual and practiced street contacting with missionaries around campus which was hilarious because some missionaries didn't catch on to the fact that we were practicing so they looked super confused when we asked them if they knew about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and they would just point to their name tag...Elders...but it was a lot of fun!  Yea...that was about it for today!

Tuesday

You know...this was the day that I left for the airport and was going to fly from Utah to Amsterdam to Norway...loooooonnnngggg story short is that my Amsterdam flight got cancelled, booked another trip to London to Norway and then the London flight got cancelled so I had to go back to the MTC at midnight and then back up to the airport again the next day and flew Utah to Detroit to Munich to Norway so that was the longest trip of my life...but there was a Chick Fil A in the Detroit airport and on the way to Munich there was barely anybody on the plane so I had three seats all to myself so I just laid down and slept!  Wonderful stuff! 

Wednesday

Traveling Day

Thursday

I made it!  I got off the plane to go and get my luggage and I had a panic attack because I thought my luggage was lost, but it wasn't,..just on another. However, one of the pockets had been opened and all my stuff in that pocket were gone...my notebook full of notes from the MTC, my memory book that everyone had signed, all my missionary pamphlets, yea....and somehow my laundry bag had disappeared so yea...that wasn't exactly what I would've wished would happen but all is well! President and his wife picked me up and we went to the mission home and had chicken and potatoes and chocolate cake and apple pie and ice cream and it was all heavenly! Then I found out where I was going and who I would be companions with!  In Asker, and with Søster Petersen and Søster Blankmeyer!!!!! 

Friday

I visited with the President Hill and the missionary couple, and we went over financial stuff, visas, drivers license and so on! Søster Petersen and Blankmeyer showed up and Søster Petersen and I just ran to each other we were so excited!!!!  Then we went to a member's house and showed her a Mormon Message and we had weekly planning and went to another member and her daughter and visited with them!  The members here are so so nice and are so welcoming and kind! We had dinner with our District, curry and then we had pound cake and raspberries. It was a lot of fun and our district gets along so well!  

Saturday

Every Saturday we have two hours where we go play soccer and it is so much fun! I bet you can imagine how great I am, considering how athletic I am:)) but it was us three sisters and a member against the four elders and we beat the Elders 19 to 9 so it was a blast!  Then we went and visited an inactive member and helped her with her yard by mowing the lawn and cutting down weeds and so on!  We quickly ate our frozen pizza while on our way to an appointment with one of our investigators.  I was a little nervous because it was my first lesson lesson in Norwegian but it was awesome!  We talked about the Atonement and Baptism and it went really well!  Whenever I felt prompted to ask or say something it was like the words just came or I could find the words I needed in Norwegian because it was what needed to be said! Our member was in the lesson too and his thoughts and testimony helped a ton! Then we had spaghetti, vegetables and bread for dinner and it was so good!  Not quite like the spaghetti in America but it was good!  Then we finished up weekly planning! ( Kylee told me before she left that she would keep a food journal and tell me everything she is eating over there so I can get jealous:) yup, it’s working…I’m jealous:))

Sunday

We updated our teaching record and went over our Young Women lesson because we had to teach that 3rd hour!  So we went to our meeting with the ward mission leader  and talked about our progressing investigators and then went to church! We went into sacrament and the talks were great!! We went to Gospel Principles that the elders were teaching .Sunday School was quite fun!  Then we went and taught the young women about covenants. We ended with showing them a Mormon Message so it actually went really well!  It's funny there are so many people I talk to that tell me that they can hear I have a Drammen dialect which is pretty funny!  Then we went to eat at the President's house and we had taco salads and chocolate cake and  we had to sing a song because that's the rule if we eat at their house!  Sing a song or share a spiritual thought! 

Today

Today we went and filled up our car with gas and went grocery shopping. I'm introducing them to all the good food because they've barely had any Norwegian food!  So we got Firkløver and Salt and Pepper Chips and don't worry Mom...I took pictures of it all!  We also went on a hike as a District for 3 1/2 hours!! but it was super super pretty!  Now we're e mailing!  (Kylee said she didn’t have much time to write, so that’s the reason you haven’t heard from her this week. She needs to take shorter hikes! :))

I absolutely love it here in Asker!  I love the people, I love the rain that comes every single day, I love the view out our window every morning, I love the ward, I love the members, the inactive members, the investigators and just the ones that I pass on the street!  Oh and on a side note...if you have not read Jesus The Christ then GO READ IT!  If you don't have it then go buy it, or find a way to borrow it or something!  It is so so so good and I think everyone should read it!

Anyway...love you lots and lots and miss you tons!  But I love it here and am happy happy happy!

Pictures:

1. Asker Norway, my first area

2. Pictures Sis. Hill took when I arrived

3. MTC group and friend Parker who is going to Italy