Sister Sicky Pants!…Week 30

Hello!!!!

Oh my goodness! I do not even know where to begin! FIRST OFF, I have been out 7 months....... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Why won't time just stop?! It is so weird! I love being a missionary and I am so excited to be here in this beautiful country!!! This week was a little hectic…

So on Monday Søster Rogers and I flew to TRONDHEIM!!! (I love Trondheim so much! That is where I was "Greenified".) We flew there for a Zone Conference where we got to see a ton of Missionaries including one of my favorite missionaries, Elder Abril! He is from Sweden! He was also my District Leader when we were in the MTC. The conference was so amazing and our mission President and his lovely wife were there! I seriously love them both SO much! They are such good people and the love that they have for us crazy missionaries is unreal! I am so grateful for them! 

While we were in Trondheim we also got these things called Kbabs... they are SUPER popular in Norway and SO good! mmmm YUM!!! They are like gyros we get in America! Trondheim has the best ones for sure! 

     

So we had FHE on Wednesday instead of Monday because we were in Trondheim on Monday night. It was so much fun! Åse Marie (a member here and our Relief Society President) brought her 10 year old son! His name is Erlend! He is SO cute... oh my goodness! I love Erlend! Erik also came and we had an EPIC battle of Ping pong! Erlend won... I tried so hard! hahahaha! We ended up having a balloon ping pong war!

We had dinner at Åses the next day with all her kiddos and it was so fun! The view from her home is INCREDIBLE! We played some Soccer and Erlend beat me at that too! This kid is just PURE talent! We had a really cool spiritual thought about gratitude and being grateful for what we have! It was fantastic!

Sorry this email is all over the place. I have a really bad cold and I am not feeling super well. My head is extremely FUZZY! I am planning on sleeping the rest of Pday!

We have a new investigator!!! He is so awesome! I don't want to give away too much information about him because it is personal but he is so great! He said that all his questions can be answered in the Book of Mormon...YES SIR!

Our wonderfully large family from Burma is doing great! We have a lesson scheduled with them this week and I am so excited! They make my heart happy!

Yesterday after church we watched the Women's General Meeting! It was so good! I loved the emphasis on families and being one! I have never felt so close to my family then I do now living in Norway! I love them so much!

    

Okay peeps...my time is up and my brain is now blank! ;) Love you all! Gud vær med deg til vi sees igjen!

 -Søster Neilson

Eldeste Abril! He was her District Leader in the MTC!

He has been like a brother to her!

Maybe it's just because he's from SWEDEN! :)

Her current District of FOUR! 

Zone Conference in Trondheim! 

Great time to reboot with President and Sister Evans!

Zone Conference in Trondheim! 

Soster Peterson and Soster Neilson were in the MTC together!

View from the airplane between Trondheim and Alesund!

Hahaha… FHE with Eirik! 

"This is what JOY and HAPPINESS looks like!!" ;)

-Soster Neilson

Erlend the Ping Pong CHAMP! AND funniest kid EVER!

"This is the CUTEST kid on earth!" -Soster Neilson

The view from the Nedregard's home while they played soccer!

Soster Sicky Pants! 

Fishes and Burma!…Week 29

Hei San!!!

Hello my beautiful family and friends! Things in Ålesund are still kicking! It was beautiful for about a week! The sun was shinning and life was good!!! And THEN reality hit again! It is raining right now but thats okay! I still love it!

This week was crazy! So much has happened! A couple days ago my companion and I had a very strong prompting to go bonk (knocking) on some doors by the highway. The FIRST door we knocked on was a family of 9 and they welcomed us in with OPEN arms! They are so sweet! We taught them the restoration and they asked us when we could come back. We went there again yesterday and at the end of the lesson, the mother asked us again when we could come back! She told us that she wants her children to know the word of God! They are so good! They are very short and small and love to hug me…they are from Burma! Hahaha!

Sunday services consisted of me, my companion, and our branch president... it was great! A less active came a little later and that was amazing! I love this little branch!

Well my loves I dont have much time. I love you all and I am so grateful to be a missionary! Life really is so special here and I love to feel the Lord in my life every day! 

Gud vær med deg til vi sees igjen!

 -Søster Neilson

     

The family they are teaching from Burma! 

This is 6 of the 9. :)

Teaching Simon how to throw the Shocka sign! 

Celebrating David's Birthday!

Gangsta PEACE Norwegian Style! ;)

Now she can say she's fished in the Fjords of Norway! :)

She CAUGHT one and then it GOT AWAY! :)

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!

"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." 

-Matthew 4:19

Happy Hearts! <3

Rough, Testimony Building Week!…Week 28

Back Story:
This has been particularly hard week for our family! My father, aka Grandaddy, went in for a routine angiogram and the results were grim. He had a 90% blockage in the main artery to his heart. He had two choices: pass away from a fatal heart attack in the next 6 weeks OR undergo open heart surgery to replace the artery in his heart. There was a 30% chance he'd suffer a fatal heart attack on the table and not survive the surgery. He is 82 years old and his health is fragile. Mom and Dad discussed the options with me and my three siblings. It was decided that Dad would undergo the surgery the next morning.
Unbeknownst to us, Soster Neilson had a very emotional and difficult day on Wednesday. She couldn't put her finger on why she was so emotional. Now we know why. I believe her heart was being prepared and she was close to the her Grandaddy in spirit. Thursday was when we all received the bad news. We were able to get word to Soster Neilson regarding her Grandaddy's condition and also the joyful news that he survived surgery!
She decided to not send out a mass email today but here are a few blurbs from the email she sent to me…

"This week was hands down the hardest week on my mission! BUT there was never a second when I wanted to leave it or go home. The Lord is SO GOOD!"

"I was confused and worried and I knew it was grandaddy right away. I could literally feel what he was feeling. I felt like I was there with him, holding his hand."

"My heart was so full. I got a text from Soster Hartley (a Sister Training Leader and her former companion) and she said, 'Hey. Are you okay? You are coming to my thoughts A LOT right now.' WHAT?! It is so incredible the tender mercies of the Lord. I felt so much love!"

"I knew everything would work out and that Heavenly Father really was watching over us! I am so grateful to be a missionary and I know that God loves us!"

"I love you so much! Sorry there is no general letter this week. It was all in all a rough, testimony building week! I love you!!!!"

-Soster Neilson

Soster Neilson, Soster Rogers and Ase-Marie hiked 

Aksla Mountain on Pday! 

LOVE this Happy Heart! <3

BEAUTIFUL view of Alesund! 

Soster Neilson trying to be serious?! ;)

Picnic Time!

This old bunker reminds me of a Hobbit Home! :)

"I love Jesus stickers! YES we do!" -Soster Neilson

"Kult!" translation: COOL!

Ase-Marie! <3 This woman is an extension of my Mother's Heart!

She is Soster Neilson's Norwegian Mission Momma!

Forever Friends…Forever Sisters! 

"Knock and it shall be opened!"...

Unless no one lives in the beautiful old barn! :)

BEAUTIFUL Girls! <3

Sunset in Norway!

The end of a rough week…

The beginning of new possibilities!

Whoa! March?!…Week 27

Hey Dere!

Um…WHOA! Can I just say that I love being a missionary?! It is seriously the BEST thing in the world! This week has been absolutely crazy! So on Monday last week we had an amazing Family Home Evening in church! Usually only 2 other people come besides the missionaries but we had 6 other people there! It was INCREDIBLE! We played a WILD game of Yahtzee (Norwegians love that game... I don't know... Hahahah!) and then we played a game called "lets see how many sticks we can put in Søster Nelson's Hair"… yes! It was very fun! I love these people so much! 

So in missionary work you have different zones which are just different areas that cover the missions. We have 4 zones in Norway and I am in the North Zone AKA: the forgotten ones. And then you have your district which is NORMALLY (if you aren't a missionary in Norway) the other missionaries serving in the same area as you, and in that district is a district leader who holds district meetings once a week. So since I live in Norway, my district leader (Elder Curk and his companion Elder Ankeman) live 4 hours away and we have district meeting over the phone every week EXCEPT for once a month where we meet in this town called Molde... and guess what?! That was this week! YAY!!! So we got to actually meet the other missionaries in our "area". So awesome! I love them so much! 

The Sister Training Leaders came this week! That is two Sisters called to be kind of like the sister support group!…Hahaha! They just come and visit us for a day to see how we are doing and to get us pumped about missionary work! It's the best :) Sister Hartley is one of the Sister Training Leaders and she was one of my trainers! I love her so much. We got to go visit some less active members and find some people! We met these two girls on the street and they were SO open which literally NEVER happens here! They loved what we had to say and we got to teach them the Restoration lesson and prayed with them! They gave US their numbers and want to meet…another thing that NEVER happens! AND THEN...THEY GAVE US HUGS! AH!! SO SWEET!!! They will be in Italy the next 3 weeks but want to meet up after that! So cool!

So there are not many buses that run on Sundays so Søster Rogers and I took a bus like 30 minutes away and just bonked (knocked) on doors and walked up and down mountains! It was so fun! We visited some less active members and just gave them hugs and a spiritual message! It was way amazing and I loved spending my Sunday in that way…BONKING and visiting!  

I am so grateful to be a missionary in this wonderful time and in this wonderful place! I love you all so much and I am so grateful that I am able to share this good news with my brothers and sisters! I love you all! 

Gud vær med deg til vi sees igjen! 

 -Søster Neilson

TOO FUNNY! Family Home Evening Challenge!

Pickles on cookies! YUMMERS??? ;)

EWWWW!

Family Home Evening Game Night!

Yahtzee and Sticks in Soster Neilson's hair! :)

Katt and Bente at FHE! <3

The AMAZING Simon! 

Soster Rogers! <3

"Hallo! I'm Soster Neilson! I have a wonderful message for you!"

An AMERICAN made car! WOO HOO!

FREEZING cold ferry ride! :)

Spring has begun in the Fjords! BEAUTIFUL!

Still finding JOY and FUN in the journey! <3

THIS face! Hahaha…

GLORIOUS Alesund Norway! SO blessed!

Sabbath Miracles! :) ….Week 26

Dear Peeeeeps!

Hey!!!!!! Holy cow! I have been on my mission for 6 months...NOOO!!!!!!!!! That is insane! I feel like I am still a greenie! Hahaha...

So a couple of things: First...I am loving life! Norway is so good! I love to me a missionary! And second.... yesterday was insane! We were at church and our  branch President was on a business trip so he wouldn't be able to lead the meeting or pass the sacrament BUT the old branch President was going to come so no worries right?! WRONG both of his sons started barfing in the car on the way to church! Awful! So... now what?! One of our new converts led the meeting and blessed the sacrament even though he had been in the hospital a few days before!!! We also had another problem...no bread! I said a prayer, walked into the kitchen and BAM a cracker was there waiting for us! Awesome! It was so good and our investigator who came LOVED it!

I'm sorry I don't have much time to write today! I love you all! Thank you for all you do! <3

Gud vær med deg til vi sees igjen!

-Soster Neilson =)

Background Story: Simon, who led the church services on Sunday, was baptized last March, 2014. He is a kind hearted man from Kazakhstan. He was brutally beat up last week and spent a few days in the hospital. It was a wonderful thing for Simon to be the presiding Priesthood leader on Sunday. :) The cracker was enough for all during Sacrament because there was only five people attending services on Sunday. <3 Sometimes it's hard for me to imagine not having a 100 plus congregation on Sundays. The gospel is TRUE not matter where you are in the world or how many people you worship with…it is ALWAYS constant! "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them".  -Matthew 18:20

This is the church building...It's an old bakery with the front room converted into the church! :)

Hmmm…I wonder! :)

Feed the Birds! Toppins per bag! ;)