This is it!…Week 78

Dear family and friends,

Well, I guess this is it! I will be flying into Oslo on Wednesday and then flying home on Thursday. I will get home Thursday night around 8:00PM and then I will hug my family for a very long time...YUP!! Hahaha! 

This week has been very emotional. I have felt so strange. I go out every day and have normal missionary days but it has been so odd knowing that this time next week, I will be in sunny, snow free, Orange County California! Sunday was my last Sunday as a missionary and it was pretty emotional. I gave a farewell talk about families and how important they are... AND I DIDNT EVEN CRY!!! That was a miracle! Families are such an important part of Heavenly Father’s plan!

     

I will miss my mission so much and I am grateful for all of the people I have met and that are now apart of my life! I am not very good with words but my life has been changed. Forever changed! I feel so blessed. I love these people. I love this land. I love the LORD! I will miss this. I know that the Lord has more for me to do in life and more people to help! I will do my best...always!

I love you all so much! Thank you for the love and support! Gud vær med deg til vi ses neste uke! (God be with you til we see each other next week!) :) 

Med kjærlighet, 

-Søster Neilson

 "My life has been changed. Forever changed!

I feel so blessed. I love these people. 

I love this land. I love the LORD!"

-Søster Neilson

Finishing strong and with JOY!

Fishing at sunset! :)

Finding happiness even in s snow storm!

Being crowned the Princess of Tromso! <3

Saying her farewells on her last Sunday…

The Countdown is On!…Week 77

Hello Family and Friends!

     

Well...10 days everyone! 10 more days until I head home... I am going to miss this so much! What a wonderful journey I have had my friends! I have learned so much and felt so much love for those around me...especially my Savior. Boy oh boy does He love us! 

     

This week we had  a lot of traveling and tears. I said goodbye to many missionaries I have come to love. We also had the opportunity to visit Trondheim which was my first area. I bore my testimony in front of a group of missionaries at my last Zone Conference and did not cry like a baby! I was very proud of my self! :) I talked about how important it is to keep moving forward!!! We don't just have our missions and that is it! Our whole life is made up of mini missions!! Keep em' comin’ life! :) 

     

I don't have much time because we are going fishing but I love you all lots and I am so grateful for all of the love and support! :) 

Gud vær med deg til vi sees igjen! 

-Søster Neilson

Find BEAUTY in the winter

wonderland of the North!

"Under the Sea"

inside of a snow sculpture!

AMAZING! :)

INCREDIBLE!

WOW!

The oldest street in Tromso!

This is where their little branch

meets for church! :)

Happy Hearts in Tromso! <3

The City of Tromso…BEAUTIFUL!

THAT…is some SERIOUS snow fall! :)

Zone Conference in Trondheim! 

Soster Neilson was SO thrilled to

be reunited with these missionaries

on last time! Until we meet again!

Friends Forever! :)

Finally got to meet this darling 

little peep! :)

Eldste Osguthorpe! :)

Eldste Tennant!

This is her 'son' because

she had a hand in his training! :)

Eldste Phipps! :)

Eldste Tennant and his 'parents'!!! Haha!

Eldste Sanchez! :)

Eldste Gurr! :)

Eldste and Soster Rappleye! <3

The Darling Sosters! <3

Awww! :) Can't wait to HUG 

her in 10 DAYS!!

She was SO HAPPY to be

reunited with this family! <3

LOVING the last few days of this

Norwegian Missionary journey! :)

Starting to Get REAL!…Week 76

Note: The email server was having HUGE issues worldwide this Monday. Haylee didn't receive our emails at all and we only received a partial email from her with a 36 hour delay…ugh! I've included a little excerpt from that email. :) The most exciting thing I realized this week…TWO more weeks until we get to see our Norwegian missionary and give her a HUGE HUG! -Darbi

"Hey Mommy! I have a companion who is

just awesome…I know these next couple

of weeks will be hard…sometimes I just 

feel numb to the fact that I am coming home

and then other times I don't want to leave

AND THEN other times I can't WAIT to

get home! Hahaha…its all so confusing!"

-Soster Haylee Neilson

Busy as a BEE!…Week 75

Kjære alle sammen!

     

This has been the week! Woah! We have been contacting and tracting, tracting and contacting! We have talked to SO many people and found some really amazing positive searchers! :) We try and talk with everyone we see including people on buses, on the street, in stores, the Library, on the way to Church...just everyone! It is so important to give everyone the chance to accept Jesus Christ in their lives! I love being a missionary!

     

Well, I have around 3 weeks left on my mission and the missionaries I serve with don’t let me forget it for a second! I know I may not have much time left on this journey but I am making the most of the time I have! I love my investigators and my members! There are so many good, positive people up here in this country and I am so grateful! :) My english is not so good anymore but I don’t think my Norwegian is that great either! Hahaha...so I speak a New Language called Norwenglish! It’s great! :) Only missionaries understand what I am saying. Pretty flott!!! (fantastic!)

     

We met up with an old investigator this week who is just like in love with Elder Holland. She listens to his talks all the time! She says that he is "awe-some". Haha I agree! :) We are teaching a family that we found recently! They are so amazingly sweet and willing to learn! We are excited to see them come to the waters of baptism! We have the faith!

     

Well my peeps...not so much to report on...I love you all! 

Gud vær med dge til vi sees igjen! 

-Søster Neilson

First time they've had the sun shine on 

their faces in WEEKS! It has just

started coming above the horizon! :)

Arctic Winter Wonderland! 

Sunset at 3PM now! :)

The Olsen's have the missionaries over

for lunch every week! SO SWEET!

Sister Olsen made Haylee's favorite lasagna. <3

HAPPY Hearts in Tromso! <3

Hey Howdy Hey!…Week 74

Dear Everyone!

     

How are you all doing? I hope well :) This week has been pretty lame. I got really sick on Tuesday and because of that, I have not been able to leave the apartment much...which KILLS me! I am feeling better now and we FINALLY had a regular missionary day yesterday for the first time in days and it was so NICE! I talked to everyone I saw! Me and my Companion have renamed Our Apartment the prison. Hahaha...WE ARE FREE! :) Søster Larsen has been such a strength for me. She rubs my back while I lay half dead on the floor and she tells me funny stories. I love her!

     

We visited this amazing woman yesterday who is very sick. The elders bring her the sacrament every week and we tagged along to visit her yesterday. She grew up in LA! We had a good chat. We all talked about how much we love America and miss cheddar cheese! ;) Hahahaha! I love the spirit you can feel when coming into someone’s home who is living the gospel and following the commandments. You can feel the difference! I am so grateful to my parents for making our home like that!

That is about all the exciting missionary things we did this week. OH WAIT! Last week we met this girl! OH MY GOODNESS! So we are not supposed to contact children and so sometimes we pass by people on the streets BUT there was this girl walking and she looked really young so we let her walk pass. Then we were like NO we need to talk to her so we ran after her and I pulled out a pass along card that had a Picture of Jesus Christ on it and I said, "Do you know who is this is?".  She didn't say anything (I thought she was being rude) but when she looked up she was CRYING! She said, "How did you know? I have been praying for the first time in ages this week because my parents are having a hard time." She then told us she was 19, from Spain and wanted to find God. She was just AMAZED that we were there offering her Christ are that moment! God is mindful of His children...ALWAYS! It was so cool! She is so sweet! We meet with her again later this week. :)

     

OK family...that’s about alll! I love you! Gud vær med deg til vi sees igjen! 

-Søster Neilson

Found a penguin in the North Pole! :)

BEAUTIFUL Tromso in the winter!

Hahaha! They went fishing as a district today!

She got the first catch of the day in less 

than 10 minutes! :)