Chillin' With My Gnomies in Norway: September 2015

Monday, September 28, 2015

God IS Love!…Week 56

Hello family and Friends!

I hope all is well where you are. Things are going great here in Skien! The water has gone down and it has dried up a little bit....but now it is just cold! The fall is here and it is cold! Hahaha...I need to get a winter jacket soon! I can’t say I have really missed the snow because... I HAVEN’T! Hahaha...It was magical at first but then you FREEZE your buns off and its not as fun as you thought! It is definitely amazing to have a white Christmas though! I am looking forward to that again! Christmas in Norway is SO special! Norwegians really do know how to celebrate Christmas...IT IS SO FUN AND BEAUTIFUL! I am way excited to have that experience one more time!

This week was awesome! I cannot honestly think of anything specific about it that was like incredible but missionary work, in general, is just amazing! I love to help others come closer to their Lord and Savior! It is amazing!

One thing that has really pulled my attention this week is how much people focus on the negative things in the world. As a missionary, we don’t watch TV, listen to the radio or read the news papers. I go outside every day and walk in these streets and I can literally see that I am in this world but I am NOT of it! What a blessing! It is hard work but it is amazing work! Because of my choice to stay away from all of that stuff, I feel the spirit so much stronger. I am able to feel Gods love more and more and I am able to share it with others! I love to love! I love to feel the Lords love and I LOVE to help others feel that love! There is nothing better I could be doing with my life right at this very moment.... NOTHING! I love this work so much and I love being a missionary!

We had a great Zone conference this week and it was so fun to be with so many good missionaries. There are SO many new elders! It was SO weird! I loved it! I guess the group of missionaries that are replacing my group just got called this week... HOLY COW! So strange! That will be a lot more missionaries! There were 15 of us that came out all together last October! I am so excited for all of these cute missionaries! WELCOME NORWEGIAN BABIES!!!!! WE ARE SO EXCITED TO HAVE YOU!!!!!!!! :D

Gud vær med dere til vi sees igjen! Glad is dere alle sammen!

-Søster Neilson

The District at Zone Conference! :)

This is what JOY looks like! <3

P-day PLAY day! :)

Service Project in the woods!

SO BEAUTIFUL!

RUNO the Amazing Dog! :)

The TERRIFIC trio! :)

Eldste Bjornn, Eldste Gurr and Eldste Daly

Lovely Skien! <3

"Eldste Daly doing what he does and

being totally AWESOME!"-Søster Neilson

Happy Hearts with Soster Hill! <3

House Rules (translation!)…

Love one another

Forgive yourself when it is hard

No complaining

Clean up after yourself

NEVER GIVE UP

No phones on the table

Be grateful

Chew with your mouth closed

Keep your promises

Laugh a lot

Show respect

Do what you love

Break the rules now and then...

Monday, September 21, 2015

Farewell Sarpsborg and Hello Skien!…Week 55

Hei Sann!

How is everyone doing in the world of Norway and America!? I hope well! So, as you know, I have moved to the wonderful city of Skien! It was hard to leave Sarpsborg and the people I love so much there BUT life is FULL of new journeys! I will never forget the friendships I made in Sarpsbrog. Those friendships are eternal and I am so grateful I was able to serve in Sarpsborg. I am also grateful for technology so that I can ALWAYS keep in contact with these people even after I go home. I LOVE NORWAY!!!!

Well, before I left Sarpsborg, we spent some time in Sweden at the Isaksen’s home. :) It was WAY fun! The elders where helping build the upstairs of the house with Daniel (the husband) and Søster Rogers and I helped his wife Ankie make Swedish meatballs! It was so fun to learn! We had such a good time and just laughed and ate and laughed some more. I love Ankie! She is such a doll!

We visited an older lady named Dagney Kultorp. She is a legend! She is so dedicated to Family History Work! She is such an amazing woman, I am not exactly how old she is but I am pretty sure she is 90?! Maybe a little bit older. ANYWAYS, we visited her and she was so sad to hear that I was leaving. She is such a sweet woman. She told me that she would never forget me and that she wishes we were related so I could keep up her family history work. Hahaha! I love that woman so much! She said, "I am so happy because of you. You are such a wonderful missionary. I will never forget you and because of you this area will never be the same!” I love her! She is so kind and every time we are with her she talks about how excited she is to die so that she can see her husband and daughter again...so sweet! What a wonderful woman! I will miss her a lot!

AND THEN IT WAS WEDNESDAY! The day I had to say goodbye to the Ravneng Family...HEART BREAKING! They had been sick the whole week before with the stomach flu (awful)! So I already had not seen them in a while but we went over on Wednesday anyways! They were all feeling a lot better and Izzy was there too! I was so excited to see all of them! We sat and ate waffles together and just talked! It was so good to just be with them! I gave them a couple of pictures, a note and one of my name tags... Anne Marie just starts crying! Of course I start to cry! And then we just sat there holding each other crying! It was so sad! Hahaha...she looked and me and said "It doesn't help that I’m pregnant!" WHAT?!?! SO exciting! Hahaha...poor dear. I love her so much! When it was time to go I was on the couch with Tilje not wanting to leave! By the time I was walking out the door all 4 of the girls were crying and upset... not because I was leaving... but because they wanted to play with the iPad and needed to go to bed. Hahahahahahahaha! So I got a couple goodbye hugs and a lot of tears... for the iPad. ;) Hahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love that family so much! I cannot wait to be with them again in July.

So Thursday I woke up at around 5 am (ugh) because I had to go take my behind the wheel driving test at the government office...SCARY! I was a little nervous but I had a practice drive with my driving teacher right before and I she actually ended up raising her voice at me when I was trying to back up because I kept doing it wrong...I started busting up laughing because as a missionary your companion MUST back you up. Its a big rule. SO I was not very good at backing up... she thought I was crazy when I started laughing but I just looked at her and said,"Ok! Ok! I can do this!" Hahaha...she thought I was a nut case! After that I took my test...ahhhh! My driving instructor was SO nice! He was super funny and kept making jokes about America and LA because he visited there one time. He kept saying how he was always afraid for his life in LA! Hahaha...the coolest thing was we only talked about the church my entire test! THATS AN HOUR! He had a lot of questions and comments haha he was talking about it and randomly said,"I want to become mormon! How many wives do I get?!" and he started to giggle and then there was silence! I said, "Only 3!"...hahahahaha!!! He BUSTED up laughing! (Just as a side note MORMONS DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN PLURAL MARRIAGE! IT IS MARRIAGE BETWEEN A MAN AND ONE WOMAN! ONE WIFE EVERYONE!) Hahaha!!! He was a really nice guy and really like a lot about the church. It was cool to be able to talk about the Gospel the whole time. It made me feel way more comfortable! :) I loved it! So we

get to the end of the test and I have to back into a parking spot...and I did it!!! He talked a lot about my driving in big long Norwegian words that I could not understand... and then he said... I PASSED! WAHOO!!!!!!!! I now have a European license! Wahoo! I am so stoked! These things don't expire for like 70 years! I’m stoked! :) So we jumped in the car and drove to a place called Tønsberg! We met my new companion there (Søster Horner) and then drove another 2 hours home! Now I am in Skien! It is beautiful here!

So in my pictures that are below Skien had a HUGE flood! There were houses almost under water! It was crazy! Its all doing better now but it was really insane!

Well my peeps...I love you all so much! Not much to share this week! Just trying to find my way around Skien and get to know people. The ward is great! The weather is cold which is a bit of a problem when your winter coat was stolen 5 months ago! (Oh yeah, sorry I forgot to tell you Mom...my coat was stolen out of our car because the back lock is broken! Hope the person who took it needed it more than me and I hope it keeps them WARM this winter! Hahaha!) I love you guys! MUAH!

Gud værmed deg til vi sees igjen!

-Søster Neilson

City of Skien! <3

Her new companion Søster Horner!

"She is the chillest person alive! We walk around

the street singing 'I am a Child of God' while

she plays the ukelele for anyone that will

listen! Hahaha!" -Søster Neilson

Flood in Skien! Could easily liken it to Noah! :)

"The flower baskets hang 8 feet above the walkway!

SO much water! CRAZY!" - Søster Neilson

Chivalry isn't dead! This young man was

helping his sister through the water! :)

Søster Neilson's photo wall above her study area! :)

"One of our sweet members made me a

'California' pizza! I felt so bad when I

told her I am allergic to pineapple!

Oh my!" -Søster Neilson

Sports! Hooray for sunshine! :)

"The adorable elders in my new area!"
-Søster Neilson

HORSE!

DOG!

BEAUTIFUL Norway!

Monday, September 14, 2015

HELLO Beautiful People of Norway…and the USA!…Week 54

Hello!!!

Oh my goodness! This week has been CRAZY! I feel like I have so many things and stories to tell EVERY week but I don't want to not have ANY stories to tell after my mission so sometimes I save them... and its kind of a week like that! ;)

One of the biggest and greatest things about this week was that... Øystein chose to be baptized! It was such a beautiful baptism with so many people there to support him! What a blessing it truly was! His beautiful family was able to be there and that's what made it so special! Families are so important and precious! What a blessing! I know that we can find eternal happiness within the walls of our own homes.

So last Monday we went on a bike ride with Øystein. He is a very good biker and he doesn't even drive a car because he bikes everywhere! When Søster Gates was here he kept telling us that he wanted us to go on this bike ride and then he would get baptized! Haha...he finally said that he was just kidding but he really wanted to take us on this bike ride because to him it his journey, "There have been a lot of up hills and down hills" he said, "and when the road is flat you can enjoy everything but then you have to bike up the huge hill and you want to turn back! You don't want to keep going! But then you get to the top and it is so worth it!" After he said that there was no way we couldn't do this beautiful bike ride!!! So Søster Gates and her companion, Soster Leland, came down for the bike ride and we had a great time! It was WAY hard...at least for me! Every time I had feelings of doubt and wanting to quit I kept going because I knew that it meant a lot to Øystein and that this was his journey! I never gave up! I cannot remember the last time I went on a bike ride and my legs were cramping bad! I had to stop at one point and push a rock into my muscles so they would stop cramping. I was PRAYING a lot and kept going! Towards the last 30 minutes of the bike ride we stopped to take a break and Øystein looked at us and said "Its like the Gospel of Jesus Christ! We have to have faith, repent, be baptized and endure to the end! Come on!" hahahahaha it was epic! It was actually a very spiritual experience for me. I learned a lot about myself and how much I have grown since coming on my mission a year ago. I really have grown in my faith and had to rely on the Lord a lot more and when we do that we can NEVER fail! EVER! I am so grateful for that knowledge! I want to share it! We finally made it and I was in a lot of pain then and a few days after that! Hahaha :) Øystein was baptized two days later! Go Øystein!!!

Oh boy... I am so grateful for the Lord’s gentle hand in our lives. He is so good. I have just learned so much his week about the love the Lord has for all of His children. He really has a plan for all of His children and we are all apart of each others journeys! In Norway, not many people believe in God and so whenever they feel like they need to do something like walk to work another way and then randomly running into someone who needs help, they call it "a stomach feeling"... but that is the Holy Ghost! Never ignore your "tummy feelings" (AKA: the Holy Ghost!) because God is using you to be apart of someone else's story! Never let that opportunity pass you up! This week I feel like I was apart of someones journey because I know he was a big part of mine! It is a rather long story but just know that we can never go wrong when we are following the Lord. We are ALL His children and we need to love each other!

Well my beautiful family not much else is happening here is little old Sarpsborg! The Lords work is going forward! Nothing can stop the work of the Lord! OH...hahaha! I am moving! I forgot about that! I am moving to a beautiful town called Skien (you pronounce it like Shayen)! I am so excited! I am really going to miss my beautiful Sarpsborg and the wonderful people here! I have learned so much in this small town and I have made memories and friendships I will never forget. WHAT a blessing! Tusan takk alle sammen! Jeg er så glad i dere! Du er en STOR velsignelse til meg og jeg er så glad i dere! Jeg kommer til å savner dere veldig mye!

Well my family and friends, I love you all so much. Thank you for your support and love!

Gud vær med dere til vi sees igjen!

-Søster Neilson