Chillin' With My Gnomies in Norway: "I'm in Norway…HOLY COW!" Week 7

I would normally just post a portion of her email BUT this week was so CRAZY and HILARIOUS that I'm posting the entire LONG edition! ENJOY!

Please feel free to email her too! She LOVES to hear from anyone and everyone! haylee.neilson@myldsmail.net

Hallo Familien of Venners!!! (Hello Family and Friends!)

So…I'M IN NORWAY!!!! IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!! I have so much to tell you all! I also forgot mu notebook at the apartment so I'm going off of memory! Haha! Okay…here we go!

DAY 1 and 2: MONDAY/TUESDAY
So at this point we are all still at the MTC. We got up a 5AM to get everything ready for the day. Our bus left around 7ish. We took a bus to the train station and then took a train to the airport. It was funny and sad though. Most of the sosters in my district are from Utah and we were going right past where they live. Poor dears! After the train we made it to the airport, got checked in, and went to our gate only to find out our flight to Texas was CANCELLED! UGH! So our travel leader, Eldste Abril, got us another flight and after a day and a half, we FINALLY got to Oslo! On our flight from London to Oslo, I sat next to a man named Eric. Eric was from TRONDHEIM and was just in London for business. We talked about my purpose as a missionary and why I was doing what I was doing. It was WAY rad! I couldn't help but cry as we started to land in Norway! I had been waiting SO long and had already gone through so much to get here! Poor Eric didn't know what to do! He held my hand! That's okay though because he was like 50 so it wasn't weird and we had bonded! Such a sweet guy! Haha. Anyway, I gave him a pass along card with my number on it and told him he could call the number or visit the website if he had any questions. :)
We got off the plane and went to get our luggage. EVERYONE got their luggage! YAY! Then we walked out to go meet whomever was picking us up. It was President and Soster Evans! They also had Eldste and Soster Allen (a senior couple) and Eldste Holden and Eldste Jones! (Oh…apparently I know Eldste Jones or his family of something from Mission Viejo?? Haha…I'm not sure. Mom?!) So we loaded up and started our journey to the mission home. Once at the mission home, they fed us dinner and we got into bed around 2AM. :)

DAY 3: WEDNESDAY
In the morning we had breakfast and had our last meeting as a district. :( President Evans told us who we would be serving with….drum roll please….Brothers and Sisters….friends and family….mom and dad….cats and dogs….I am serving….in the beautiful city of….TRONDHEIM!!!!! My companion's name is Soster Hunt and she is the greatest! Trondheim is the furthest north sosters are allowed to go. IT IS FREEZING HERE (haha its a high of 42 right now. She's going to be a popsicle when it reaches -42). ALSO…if you remember earlier in my week, Eric (the guy on the plane) is from Trondheim! I have been looking for him everywhere! SO SUPER AWESOME! :)
So I packed up all my things again and hopped on a plane with Soster Williams to Trondheim! Saying goodbye to my district was super tough BUT we will all see each other again soon!
We met a guy on the plane named Martin who lives in Oslo. I asked him if he wanted to learn more about Jesus Christ and he said YES! So I got his number, called the Oslo missionaries, and passed along the information. SUPER GREAT!
Once we landed, we met our companions who are the CUTEST! We were already running late for our train so we RAN (we are always late for the bus or train!)! As soon as we got on the train, I fell right asleep! My poor body was DONE! We were greeted at the train station by Eldste Shanklin and Eldste Childs. They helped us get ALL our luggage to our apartment! SUPER sweet! Once we got there, this lady drives up on a scoot scoot and starts singing to Soster Williams and me! Apparently she's a craxy lady in the ward and she LOVES Elvis! She kept calling me Mr. Neilson…haha, i don't even know! We finally got settled in and the Sosters made us dinner. We ate by candle light. It was AWESOME! We went to bed early that night because we were both EXHAUSTED! :)

DAY 4: THURSDAY
We had a CRAZY day ahead of us! There were 5 lessons scheduled! ALL but one canceled! :( We hopped on a bus to visit an elderly lady in the ward. We call her Bestemor (Grandmother) but we got on the wrong bus. Then we got on another wrong bus. By the time we got on the third wrong bus, we had missed our appointment…oh my!
Our last appointment was with an investigator who's name is Sophia. Sophia is dating an RM named Ola (you pronounce it oooolah). So were waiting for her at the church and she finally showed up after being an hour late. She had straight, jet black hair. TONS of black make up and she was dressed in ALL black. I thought to myself "Okay, she's a bit emo. No biggie." So we go into a room and we are just talking in Norwegian (when I say "we" I mean my companion) and Soster Hunt askd me to say the prayer. I start praying in Norwegian and both my companion and Sophia BUST UP LAUGHING! Was my Norwegian THAT horrible?! I wanted to die! So I start again and they laugh AGAIN! I wanted to cry! FINALLY, I prayed and we had a lesson. Sophia was very dark and super quiet. Every time I'd speak, they'd laugh…UGH! I was so confused and felt so stupid! Soster Hunt asked Sophia if she would pray and she said YES. So she pulls out these creepy dried up flowers, kneels down, puts her head on her knees and starts chanting something in a language that was NOT Norwegian! AND THEN…her whole body starts to shake! AND THEN…in the middle of her chanting, she says my FIRST name!!!! WHAT THE HECK RIGHT?!?!? I was SO FREAKED OUT!!! So she says AMEN and opens her eyes and just STARES at me! Uh…okay?!?! Then Soster Hunt speaks and says, "I'm so sorry we couldn't make it to your salt worship dance last week. Is there another one we can come to? We'd love to come!" WHAT?!?! NO!!!! When I asked her what that is, she explained that it was ritual at her church. It's when they draw images on the ground in salt, light candles, and dance around the salt chanting things…what the freakiness?!?!? Then Soster Hunt and Sophia start talking to each other in a dialect I couldn't understand, look at me, and start LAUGHING AGAIN! Sophia turns to me, smiles and say in English, "I think this is what you call a greenie PRANK!" HAHAHAHAHA…HOLY COW! Turns out the reason they started laughing every time I spoke was because they felt so bad about what they were about to put me through!….its ALL GOOD! They got me GOOD! Sophia is really an investigator and she IS NOT a crazy Satan worshipper! I LOVE her! :)

DAY 5: FRIDAY
So we met with one of our investigators, Havard (you pronounce it hovard). He is SO awesome! He's a HUGE hippie! He has these gnarly dreds and only wants to be taught in English…which suits me just fine! :) He is a really deep thinker which is super cool. He believes in a God and has such a deep testimony of his creator. He calls God "the Great Creator". He talked about how he sees God in his life through the stars and constellations. He has read the ENTIRE Book of Mormon! He is seriously considering baptism. What a stud! His wife is from Thailand and he invited us to a Thai Festival the next day.
Next, we went to visit a less active member named Mali (you pronounce it Molly). SHE IS SO GREAT! She taught me how to knit. All we did was eat chocolate, drink some delicious Norwegian drink, knit, and talk about Jesus Christ. So fun! AND THEN…she came to church on Sunday! YAY!!
On our way home from Mali's, the bus passes this HUGE university. A bunch of college kids got on the bus with us. The two guys sitting in front of us were speaking English with American accents! (Yes. We have accents…weird, I know!) I tapped one of them on the shoulder and asked them where they were from. One was from Italy and the other from Texas! I was so excited! We started talking about California and how awesome it is! I really wanted to give them a pass along card but I had given all of mine away! I asked Soster Hunt what I should do and she told me to get their phone numbers. So not even thinking, I blurted out, "Hey, can I get your number?". He turns ALL the way around, with a HUGE smile on his face and says, "Yeah!". HE THOUGHT I WAS HITTING ON HIM!!! NOOOOOOOOO!!! HAHAHA! Once they got off the bus, my companion looks at me and says, "He is going to be so confused when you call him tomorrow and you are like, 'Hey! Can we talk about Jesus?!'" Poor guy! BUT we have an appointment set up with him on Tuesday and I think he has gotten the clue! ;)
After that AWKWARD moment, we went to the church to meet with two young men from the ward to make homemade pasta and bread! It was a BLAST! Mali met us there too! SO great! The boys are Tyler and Andrew. They are both from Idaho and moved to Norway with their family 3 years ago. They are the only LDS young men in Trondheim. Tyler is 15 and Andrew is 13. They are the BEST! After we made dinner, we had a game night! I played Skipbo for a couple of hours! I felt like I was at Grandma and Grandaddy's house again! :)

DAY 6: SATURDAY
So we got up early, did our studies, and hopped on a bus to go to the Thai Festival. We got off the bus at our stop and had NO idea where to go from there! There was another lady there looking as lost as we did. We started talking to her and realized she was going to the same place, the Thai Temple. We eventually found it together! We walked in and they asked us to take our shoes off. We walked into this HUGE room and there were Thai women EVERYWHERE! Most of their husbands were BIG Norwegian men and they just stood off to the side…haha. We hadn't found Havard yet so we just hung out with our new little Thai friend. She takes us up to the monks who are sitting on a stage and we sit with her on the ground. They light candles all around a Buddha statue and start praying and chanting. We just sat there in awe! It was amazing! After that, everyone rises and stands in a giant circle. The monks walk around the circle with bowls. Everyone puts a bag of rice in the bowl. Before you put your bag in, you raise it to your forehead and make a wish. Our little Thai friend was telling the monks that we came all the way from America to see them…haha! It was SO great! People kept taking pictures of Soster Hunt and I! I would like to think it was because we were missionaries but I think it was because we were the only Americans there and they all came up to my knees! HAHAHA!
We found our investigator Havard, met his DARLING Thai wife and their 2 year old son, Odin! He is PRECIOUS! THEN we got to chow down on some BOMB Thai food! SO MUCH FOOD! It was GREAT!

DAY 7: SUNDAY
My FIRST Sabbath in NORWAY! Church was AWESOME! I met everyone! (tiny ward) I had the privilege to bear my testimony in Norwegian during Sacrament Meeting. Everyone said I spoke very well and they are surprised that I JUST arrived in the mission! (I think they were just trying to be kind…haha!) Made my day! There was a baptism after church! HOORAY! A little girl named Michele was baptized…so sweet!
We went on member visits after church. I noticed and black guy with an American baseball cap at on of the bus stops. I started to talk to him. We started talking about the church and stuff and he says, "Yaaa…I loves my church man! It so great! Yaaaaa…one love, one God man…yaaaa!" Turns out he was a TOTAL Rastafarian and he was TOTALLY loaded! HAHAHA…crazy stuff! It was SO funny! Who would have thought in the middle of Norway on the Sabbath?! SERIOUSLY! All good things! All good things! :)

Well…I love you all and I hoped you enjoyed reading about my first CRAZY and AMAZING week! So much fun here in Norway! I LOVE spreading the gospel! Our investigators are WONDERFUL and I love them all so much! I know this church is true! I know that as missionaries, we are bringing to past the immortality and eternal life of man! Families are forever and you are all incredible! MUAH!!!

Gud vaer med deg til vi sees igjen!

Soster Neilson =)