Chillin' With My Gnomies in Norway: 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 =)