The Lord is SO Good!…Week 12

Dear Family,

I love being a missionary! This week has been so busy but I find that those are the best times! We are having a transfer on Wednesday and I am so excited! As you all well know, my trainer, Søster Hunt, went home to America a couple weeks ago so I have been in a trio with the other two Søsters serving in Trondheim, Søster Robbins and Søster Williams. Søster Williams was in the MTC with me so Søster Robbins has been our trainer. On Wednesday, Søster Robbins will be leaving to her new area and two other Sisters will be replacing her and Soster Hunt. My new companions name is Søster Heartly! I've heard so many good things about her and I am very excited! Søster Williams' new companion is Søster Hoggard... Søster Hoggard was mt MTC companion.... so 2 BRAND SPANKEN NEW Søster missionaries will be training each other.... hahahahaha I am so excited for them! If anyone can handle that it is those two!

Most of my investigators are doing really well! There are a couple of people who are struggling to keep there commitments which is so hard to see! I have such a deep love for the people I am serving and to see that they are not taking things as seriously as they should be is torture, but I know that if we approach everything with love, the Lord will take care of the rest!

DÅP!!!!! (BAPTISM!!!!!!!) We have a baptism on Saturday for a man named Joseph. He is amazing! He is from Africa and has such a strong testimony of the Restored Gospel! He is very excited to be baptized. When we teach him, we go to his house and sit in the slightly lit basement. The whole house is a house for African refugees so there are about 20 black men living there. They are so funny! I love going over there to visit and teach! We are going to convert that whole house! Charles was the first one to be baptized and now Joseph is being baptized and we are teaching Arnold  now! Such good men!

I want to take a little time to talk about the AMAZING members that I serve with here in Trondheim. First I want to talk about the beautiful and talented Mali! Mali is a college student here and she is SO smart! She invited us to come to her mother's house for dinner. Her mother lives in Hell (what the town is called.... hahaha in the winter Hell LITERALLY freezes over!) which is about an hour train ride. Mali and her brother are the only members in their family. So we get to Hell and walk off the train and there is Mali's mom with a HUGE smile on here face! She welcomes us all in Norwegian with huge hugs! She then starts driving up this LONG, DARK dirt road. We finally get to the house and it is so cozy! Mali was cooking us real American Baked mac and cheese with bacon! I found about 5 cats running around the house so naturally I was on the floor playing with the cats the whole time. :) We had an amazing dinner and after we had some apple cake (BIG deal here in Norway) and knitted! Then Mali's dad came home. He came in and started making fun of the fact that I am Swedish (hahaha Norwegians and Swedish don't like each other but it's more like a brotherly dislike hahaha ;)) it was so amazing! They invited us to come back to spend Christmas Eve with them! I am so excited! Mali had to go back into the city because she had school the next day so she drove us home and on the way home she told us how here parents NEVER do that, and how special it was that they invited us to spend CHRISTMAS with them! How blessed I felt! 

     

Another member I would like to mention is Sister Hansen. What an amazing woman! Every time she has the missionaries over for dinner (All 8 of us!) She has us bring all of our investigators! She lives in a beautiful farm house somewhere in the country of Norway and loves to serve! She is one of the most giving people I know (besides my mom). Every week she buys 10 dozen FRESH EGGS FROM A FARM and gives them to us missionaries... we live off of eggs! What an amazing woman and giving woman she is. She is about 5 foot nothing and is always smiling and hugging everyone... I love her! She is filled with so much wisdom! The same goes for Brother Hansen! The man is always serving! Every time we come to the church during the week he is there cleaning or setting something up or just being amazing! I cannot understand ANYTHING he says in Norwegian because his dialect is SO thick but I love him! He always traps us in hug even though he knows he is not supposed to! I love awkward side hugs from Brother Hansen!

 THE WEGGERSON FAMILY! Okay...so there are 13 children in the Weggerson family ranging from 40 something to 7 years old! They are amazing! The actual Weggerson parents are living in Olso but 3 of the Weggerson sons live here in Trondheim with their wives. Sam Weggerson is the second councelor in the bishopric. Aaron is married to Majken who is one of my best friends now! She is American but grew up in Thailand! Ben Weggerson is married with three HILARIOUS children! Ben is the ward mission leader here. I love the Weggerson family! They do so so much for us missionaries!

Bestemor (grandma) is next! What a beautiful woman! Her name is Inger Jørgensen! I love her! I can't understand anything she says either but she is a kick in the pants nonetheless! She is in the hospital right now because she had surgery on her knee. We went to visit her! We made her a card with a picture of Jesus in it and she was showing all the nurses and telling them we were missionaries hahahaha she is the best! She then asked ME to sing and dance for her.... so I did! Hahaha I love her!

Okay...time for some funny stories! This week it snowed and I almost fell on my butt like a million times! The snow didn't stick but it is FREEEEZING! I was proposed to this week! We were making phone calls to people to see if we could meet with them to teach them and I was just calling some of the people in my Kontakts (contacts)! So I call this guy and I ask him if we can meet with him and he said "Okay,  if will you marry me! Will you marry me when I join your church?" and I said, "Uh... NO!" so he said, "Okay, I am not interested then!..." WEIRD!! Also, one night we were sleeping (it was 4 am) and we have a door bell on our apartment door, and someone held the button for a good 30 seconds! It was scary mostly because I sleep pretty close to the door..... hahahaha so there are a couple weird things that have happened!

I love Norway! It is literally a Christmas country! It is so beautiful here and the people have such beautiful spirits here. :) 

Well my family and friends I love you all so much! I hope you have a great week! 

Gud vær med deg til vi sees igjen!

-Søster Neilson!

     

The Trio...Robby, Nilly and Willy! <3

CHARLES! :)

"Arnold was kind enough to wait with us at the bus stop after a lesson. 

Such a GREAT guy!"-Soster Neilson

Mali's house and her kitties! #catladyforever

"Soster Robbins is afraid of cats! This one loves to give high fives! 

She was a little freaked out! Poor dear…haha!" -Soster Neilson

Apple Cake! YUM!

"It's a BIG deal here in Norway!" -Soster Neilson

Visiting Bestemor in the hospital :)

FREEEZING!

Farewells and Tender Mercies…Week 11

Hallo Min Familien!!!

How are you all doing?!?! Holy Cow! BEING A MISSIONARY IS THE COOLEST THING EVER!!! BAHHHH! Norway is SO beautiful!I love the people, the food, the city, not so much the cold, BUT I love everything else! These weeks have gone by SO fast! Its insane! I feel like I just had a P-day! AHHH…make it slow down!!! OKAY?!?!

Are you ready to hear about my amazing week in Trondheim with the amazing people I get to know?!?!…

Last Monday night, Soster Hunt and I had dinner at Ben's house. He's our Ward Mission Leader.He's got an adorable family! I was kind of having a grumpy night…hehe. I was NOT in the mood to speak Norwegian and I was TOTALLY exhausted (not a good enough reason to be a miss grumpy pants though!)! Anyways, Ben talked to us a little about humility, and how we need to be humble to be a missionary, and it really made me think about my attitude and how I should be acting. As a missionary, my purpose is to invite people to come unto Christ and if I wasn't even doing that myself, how in the world could I teach that honestly to others?! The answer is….I CAN'T! So, I left Ben's house with a NEW attitude! We hopped on a bus to return to our apartment and I sat next to this guy…there is something you need to know about Soster Neilson, I LOVE to talk to people I don't know! Haha, but its been really hard rough trying to talk to people in a language I'm not comfortable speaking…Anyways, so I sat next to this guy and said a little prayer that God would help me speak Norwegian and guess what?!…I DID!!! We talked and talked and talked! ALL IN NORWEGIAN! Usually people will just give up on my Norwegian and start speaking English to me (most Norwegians speak better English than I do!) but I told him I was trying to learn Norwegian and so he helped me! Such a NICE guy! He is now one of our new investigators! Yay! I know that if I had not humbled myself and changed my attitude, I wouldn't have been able to meet Daniel!

So my trainer, Soster Hunt, went home this week. :( I miss her SO much! She was such an AMAZING trainer and has changed my perspective on missionary work and how to REALLY love someone! On her last night, a member of the ward that we are both really close to, took us up into the mountains where we had a little fire, roasted hot dogs and drank hot cocoa! It was SO much fun! Afterward, we went back to the church and she said all her goodbyes. It was so sad to see her go the next morning but I am really excited for all that life has to offer her!! LOVE that girl with all my heart!

I am now in a trio companionship! Yay! We are so busy ALL OF THE TIME! There is not a minute of my day that isn't planned and in a lesson! Missionary work is INCREDIBLE!

This week we meet with our African family! They ALL have baptismal dates set! We taught them about some of God's commandments. We taught them about how important scripture study is and how it is important to read them daily! Askmei (the husband) told us that the Book of Mormon is his bread of life. He wakes up every morning and first thing he does is pray and then he reads from the Book of Mormon for 30 minutes AND 30 minutes from the Bible! He told us that he feels so much more happiness in his life and when he goes out, he wants to tell everyone about how much God loves them! What a stud! Askmei and Rawa (the wife) also told us about how their home feels so much different. There is a sense of peace there now. AHHH! How incredible is that ?!?!

I know that this church is TRUE! I know that God loves ALL of His children! I know that the Book of Mormon AND the Bible can bring us so much peace and happiness!

We had Stake Conference this week and I really want to express how important CHRISTmas is! It is about CHRIST! Please DO NOT for get that this Christmas season!Invite the missionaries to come to your home. If you are a member, invite them and some of their investigators to your home! The CHRISTmas spirit brings so much conversion! Remember to always have a picture of Jesus Christ in you home for ALL to see! AND remember…fun is short term but JOY is long term!

FOLLOW UP TIME! Did you get a copy of Preach My Gospel?! Did you study chapter 3? GOOD JOB! If you haven't then…you can still do it! AND if you have NO idea what I'm talking about…my Momma can hook you up! ;) NOW…I want you all to go call your missionaries and go teach with them this week! Ask them who they are teaching and what they want you to share so you can prepare! Ready…Set…GO!!!!!!

I love you all so much! I hope you have an amazing week! REMEMBER: God loves ALL of His children…THAT MEANS YOU!

Gud vaer med deg til vi sees igjen!

Soster Neilson =)

Soster Hunt and Soster Neilson

"She was such an AMAZING trainer and has changed my perspective on missionary work and how to REALLY love someone!" -Soster Neilson

Ben, the Ward Mission Leader,
and his darling family! :)

Soster Neilson ate SVEN! ;)
First time trying reindeer! OH MY!

Farewell Soster Hunt…God be with you till we meet again! <3

Sophia, Soster Hunt, Olah (?), 

Soster Neilson 

LOVE this pic of Soster Neilson!
Happy <3!

The Little Scoot Scoot a lady from the ward drives! She serenaded Soster Neilson and Soster Hunt when they first got to Trondheim! Too funny! :)

Beautiful people from North Africa! Soster Neilson, Samhar, Soster Hunt, Rawa and Askmeh

Nepali dinner with Hem and Shanti! YUM!

That would surely warm you up
Soster Neilson! ;)

Soster Neilson and Soster Williams! They also served in the MTC together! :)

Jule Brus! Christmas Drink! YUM!
LOVE this girl! <3

Families are FOREVER!…Week 10

Hallo alle sammen!

How is everyone doing? OH MY HECK…I just love you all so much! I hope life is treating you well. Life is treating me VERY well! I am loving being here in Trondheim! It is such a BEAUTIFUL city!

Oh…I have a cute little quote for all of you that I found last week at a member's house:
FAMILY (fam.mel.ee) n. a group of people, each a unique masterpiece, sharing unconditional love, hugs, and support one of life's greatest blessings…CHERISH ALWAYS!!!
I ADORE this! It is so incredibly true! Families are so special and an incredible gift from God!The word "Marriage" in Norwegian is "gift" (pronounced like yeeft). How beautiful is that?! The word "children" is "barn" in Norwegian…not relevant but its just funny haha! ;)

Now that we are on the subject of families…a family that we've been teaching, got baptized on Saturday! It was SO special! This is the little couple from Nepal that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Hem and Shanti. They have to barn (children) and they are 6 (son) and 3 (daughter). They are such a SWEET family! Hem (the husband) invited his mother and sister to come. Now we are teaching them and they want to be baptized too! The most incredible part about the whole baptism was when I was sitting quietly with Hem, Shanti and their family. We were watching the font fill up and they were speaking Nepali. Shanti turned to me and said in her broken Norwegian, "We tell them what means to be baptized and we will clean up our sins!". I felt like such a PROUD Momma! Hem and Shanti are NEWLY members and even BEFORE they were members, they were sharing the gospel!

Something very special about Hem and Shanti is their testimony of Joseph Smith. Neither of them speak very good Norwegian and they speak even less English. There is no Nepali translation of the Book of Mormon so they have never read it. Even though these incredible people have not been able to read the convincing evidence that Joseph Smith was a prophet, they KNOW he was the prophet who restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth again! SUCH incredible people with SO much faith! They were confirmed yesterday at church and it was AMAZING! Last night, Soster Hunt and I went to their home to finish filling out some paper work and stuff. We walked into their home and BAM…the spirit was there! I have felt the spirit AT their home but I have never felt the spirit IN their home! It was incredible! They were so happy, excited and told how peaceful they felt. That little family has so much love and they are so strong in the Gospel of Jesus Christ already! The ward loves them and I can see amazing thing coming there way! Hem is preparing to receive the Priesthood. Yay! I love this little family! They are cooking us a traditional Nepali meal on Tuesday and I am SO excited to be apart of their culture!

All four of us Sosters ate at a member's house named Pelle. Pelle is the best! Such a great man! I always feel 10 times happier after seeing Pelle! After dinner, he drove us to the fjord and we saw the Northern Lights! Well…we kind of saw green stuff in the sky…hahaha. We didn't get a good view of them this time but it was still a FUN adventure!

Sunday was the Primary Program and wouldn't ya know…the whole program was about Eternal Families! I cried the ENTIRE time! These kids are SO sweet and they helped strengthen my testimony of the temple and eternal families. I want everyone to know that I LOVE my family so much! Every time I start to teach someone who is giving me attitude, I look at them with tears in my eyes and say, "There is NO way I would be away from my family, in another country, speaking another language, if I didn't know that this gospel was true!" That usually gets a quiet response and brings the Spirit. Jeg elske Jesus Kristus og jet vet familien er evig! (I love Jesus Christ and I KNOW families are forever!)

So my trainer, Soster Hunt, is leaving to return home on Wednesday :( I'm really going to miss that crazy bundle of craziness! She has been such an incredible teacher and friend. I look up to her in so many ways! She has such a powerful testimony and she amazes me every day! Once Soster Hunt leaves, I will be in a trio with the other two sisters here in Trondheim, Soster Robbins and Soster Williams, until transfers two weeks from now. That's when I'll get another trainer! Haha…so by my month mark in Norway, I will have had 4 companions! ;) I promise I'm not a troubled missionary…haha!

SO…last week I challenged you all to get YOUR OWN Preach My Gospel…did you do it?!?!?! I sure hope so, and if you didn't well then…DO IT! Now that you have your handy, dandy PMG, I want you to start reading in chapter 3! I want you to read the WHOLE chapter by next Monday! Okay…Ready…Set…GO!!!!!!!

Well family and friends, I sure do love you! I love being a missionary and Trondheim is treating me well! I have already learned so much and I am so grateful for all of my experiences! It's getting pretty cold up here in the North but our heart and feet are staying warm!

Gud vaer med deg til vi ses igjen!

- Soster Neilson =)

Happy Heart! <3 "Even the trees wear sweaters to stay warm in Norway!"
 -Soster Neilson (aka Tree Hugger!)

"It's getting pretty cold up here in the North but our hearts and feet are staying warm!" -Soster Neilson

She received our package last week and LOVED smells from home! :)

Getting ready for Hem and Shanti's baptisms by scrubbing the font! 

"Hem and Shanti are NEWLY members and even BEFORE they were members, they were sharing the gospel!" -Soster Neilson

Visiting Bestemore (Grandmother)! Soster Neilson ADORES this sweet lady! <3

Visits with Pelle always brightens their day! :)

Trying to view the Northern Lights from the fjord. Didn't see much this time…
hopefully next time! :)

Jack Frost has been visiting Trondheim! Get ready for the snow Soster Neilson! ;)

Trondheim Norway…Autumn 2014 :)

Crossfit with a Missionary Twist! :)

Regarding Soster Hunt…"I'm going to miss this crazy bundle of craziness! She has been an incredible teacher and friend. I look up to her in so many ways! She has a powerful testimony and she amazes me every day!" -Soster Neilson

2 Month Mark! Oh My!…Week 9

From Soster Neilson…

Hallo!!!

How are you all doing?!?!?! Are you enjoying being WARM?! YOU BETTER BE! Hahaha…sit out in the sun for me okay?! PROMISE?!?!
Its my 2 month mark on my mission and my 3rd week here in Norway! I am doing well! It is mostly cloudy and rainy here right now so it is ALWAYS pretty dark AND cold! It is different from anything I've ever known but I LOVE it! So many things are happening in Norway!
We have a baptism this Saturday for a couple from Napal, Hem and Santi! They speak very  little Norwegian (like me!) and come up to my hip! Hahaha…they are VERY short and I am VERY tall! Love it! They are so excited and so ready for baptism! Good people! I LOVE them!!!
We helped a woman named Siv, move from a 4th floor apartment to another 4th floor apartment in another building…no elevator! Oh…and the stairs are very narrow and VERY steep! Haha…it was a fun, although life threatening, experience! :)
We had a Zone Conference on Halloween which was SO SUPER AWESOME! Loved it! I got to see some old MTC peeps! Great reunion for sure! Zone Conference was about involving members in our teaches more. SO…I am challenging all of you to (if you don't already have one) get YOUR OWN Preach My Gospel and STUDY it! Call the missionaries and see if you can go teach with them! AND…if you are reading this and are not a member of this INCREDIBLE church…My mom can hook you up! :)
Halloween was SUPER fun! I got my first Turkish kebab! It was DELISH! We saw a bunch of weird people walking around in costumes and I got pics with my favorite ones! We also celebrated with a ward Halloween party! Good things for sure! :)
We also had the opportunity to teach the Young Women about the Plan of Salvation! I taught the lesson in Norwegian! Haha…the language and I are a work in progress! It will come, it will come! ;)
Sorry for the shortness of this letter! Life is AMAZING in Norway! We are teaching some incredible people who are SO ready for this gospel! LOVE you all so much! Happy belated Halloween (ish)!

Soster Neilson

Beautiful Sunrise over Trondheim!

This is the view from her bedroom window! 

Hem and Santi form Nepal! <3

Helping Siv move on the tiniest, most narrow stairs EVER!

Zone Conference reunion with a few of her MTC peeps! :)

Ward Halloween celebration! 

"I guess I'm a gypsy?! I don't even know…ha!"

-Soster Neilson

With Spohia…the greenie prankster! <3

Soster Hunt and Soster Robbins! PUMPKINS! :)

Halloween in the streets of Trondheim! :)

AWESOME make up! :}

FIRST Turkish kebab! YUM!

BEAUTIFUL Young Women from the ward! <3

Happy Heart! Soster Neilson selfie! <3

Last week I asked Haylee to send me photos of her apartment! We were able to find it on Google Earth and see the exterior but I wanted to see the inside of where she lives everyday. I guess it's my Mother's heart speaking but it brings me GREAT peace that I can see she's warm and safe! :)

The church building! :)

The kitchen!

Their Living Room! LOVE the windows! 

Her Study Desk! :)

The down comforter that will keep her WARM during the long winter!

We LOVE this girl! We are so proud of her and her willingness to…

follow her Savior, Jesus Christ

love others, even complete strangers

serve unselfishly

do hard things