God Jul og Godt Nytt År!…Week 69

Kjære familien og venner,

    

God Jul og Godt Nytt år! (Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!) I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas filled with Christ, family, happiness, and FOOD! :) I sure did! Boy oh boy did I learn a lot about my Savior this year. What a blessing it is to have Christmas to remember Him and the GIFT God sent to our earth! 

     

This Christmas season has been very special and sacred to me. I was able to spend it with truly special people who have sacrificed so much in their lives yet they continually and unconditionally GIVE! There is this quote I really love from our beloved Prophet: " Christmas is the time of GIVING without the thought of getting." (Thomas S. Monson) How true that is. I love Christmas and I LOVE teaching these amazing Norwegian people about the true meaning of it and what the REAL GIFT was!

     

As me and my companion, Søster Randall, have studied together this month, we always begin with a Christmas hymn. One that has become my favorite is the Norwegian version of "Away in  a Manager". The last two verses have had a big affect on me...

"So simple, and quite, our Savior was born.

Oh how loved I am of Jesus my brother.

He came from God presence, and God is He like.

Christ was born more and now I am made rich...

"From the crib to the cross, He walked the path for us.

He opened the gate to heaven for me

Bless us, be with us, shine the light on our path

so we all can be together in heaven with You!"

     

It doesn't sound as good in English but it is SO beautiful in Norwegian! I am so grateful to Jesus Christ and that He has lit the path for me and I now have a choice to follow it... and I will! I love my Savior! I love you all and I am so grateful to be a missionary this special Christmas season! God Jul! 

Jeg elsker dere! Gud vær med deg til vi sees igjen! :) 

                             

-Søster Neilson

Happy Heart in Norway! <3

Christmas Caroling! :)

"Christmas Party! So much LOVE!"

-Søster Neilson

<3

Package from HOME! :)

Sister Stockings! <3

"A warm hug from my family in Alesund!"

-Søster Neilson

"A wonderful and joyous Christmas 

from my Ohana! Thank you! Love you!"

-Søster Neilson

Yum! :)

Advent Calendar! <3

JOY! <3

The missionaries and some of the 

Young Single Adults from the ward! :)

God Jul!

Basket of gifts for the missionaries!

SO KIND!

This one is for Grandma…Fifi the dog! :)

Too much yummy food makes 

for sleepy missionarues! 

Skyping with their missionary friends in 

the North! HAPPY!

"This is one of my FAVORITE little 

peeps! She gave herself a mullet…haha!"

-Søster Neilson

Big Hearts! Happy Hearts! 

CHEESE! hahaha…

Shadow Play Nativity! SO COOL!

Christmas with the Morgan Family! 

Christmas JOY!

Sometimes you need a mom HUG on 

Christams! Thank you Sister Morgan! 

BEAUTIFUL winter's day in Norway!

Hiking with the Isaksen Family! 

Breathtaking!

Making homemade pizza with the Top Family! :)

YUM!

Last Christmas Day! Dancing around the 

Christmas tree one last time to bid

farewell to the Christmas season! 

Highlights from our Christmas Call…

What a delight it was to talk to our sweet missionary on Christmas morning! We were able to hear her beautiful voice AND see her lovely face via Skype! Grandma (my mom), Zack, Kaylee, and Baby Brooklyn were here with us. We conferenced in Clint, Aubree and Mora from Georgia! It brought instant tears to my eyes as soon as we were able to connect with Soster Neilson! :)

She looked wonderful and SO happy! It was awesome to hear about her wonderful week! It was a week focused on our Savior and service…caroling with the YSA youth; American style YSA Family Home Evening Christmas party; celebrated an early Christmas on Tuesday with the Arnes Family; celebrated little Christmas Eve on the 23rd with the Top Family; celebrated Christmas Eve with the Fyhn Family; celebrated Christmas Day with the Morgan Family! Saturday was a hike and picnic with the Isaksen Family! A week filled with families and so much LOVE!

Haylee had some sweet words for her Grandma. This is the first Christmas we've celebrated without my dad. It's been especially tough for my mom. Haylee shared with her times that she has felt Grandaddy near. It brought Grandma great comfort. <3

She and her companion, Soster Randall, sang a beautiful Norwegian Christmas hymn for us. Haylee also shared a scripture with us in Norwegain…3 Nephi 1:12-13 "And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the Lord all that day; and behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him saying: Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world,to show unto the world that I will fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets."

We ended with a family prayer which set the spirit for the rest of our day and ended her day perfectly!

God jul Soster Neilson! We love you! <3

SO much LOVE! <3

Making her littlest niece SMILE! :)

One of my FAVORITE moments…

talking with Clint, Aubree and Mora! <3

The many faces of Soster Neilson! :)

God Jul 2015 Skein Norway

God Jul 2015…Week 68

Dear Family and Friends that are Family,

     

Well, this is the week... Christmas week! I am so excited to be spending another year in Norway! What a beautiful country to be for Christmas. We have absolutely NO snow.... very sad. It is rather warm actually. There is a member who keeps telling me about the ozone layer... she is really worried about it but I am okay with it! I miss warm Christmases :) How is everyone doing back at home? How is the weather? How is the beach? Haha :) All is well here is little Skien. I love this sweet little town. There are very few people here and they just keep leaving as Christmas comes closer. It’s a little rough but we are keeping the hope! :)

     

This week really was so special...

We had a really fun FHE last Monday with the young adults where we made American cinnamon rolls and played a couple of games. It was really nice to be all together and have a good time. We are having a big Christmas party tonight with the young adults thrown by the missionaries ;) hahaha it will be very fun... and very American! 

    

We visited some really sweet less actives this week and had the opportunity to share the message of Jesus Christ. It was very special and I am so grateful for Christmas and the time we get to put aside and remember Him! #asaviorisborn christmas.mormon.org  I love Christmas and I know that the Savior is the gift we should be excited to get! 

     

On Saturday we had this huge mission Christmas Conference! It was so fun! We got together and learned about Christ and how we can better share the message of Him! We also learned about the Antonement which is always beautiful and humbling. It was nice to be with all of these missionaries I have come to love and be close with. I love this mission so much. I also love our senior couples...what amazing people! I look up to them! The Oslo Norway missionaries are spoiled when it comes to the leadership in this mission. What amazing leaders we have! I love my mission President and his wife with my whole heart! They really are the mom and dad of this mission. What amazing people! We also had a cute talent show from all of the missionaries and there were some amazing performances! My companion for example, recited the Living Christ in Norwegian! It was epic! :) Some sang while others recited poetry. After that we had a little music concert the Hills put together. We would watch The Mormon tabernacle choir perform something and then they would talk about the meaning behind it. It was so beautiful and spiritual! Perfect way to bring on the Spirit of Christmas! :) 

     

Yesterday was a very special day. It was the last advent before Christmas and a start to our amazing week! We had a wonderful time in church and had a beautiful musical program which we were asked to sing last minute! It was so fun to get up there with my companion and our awesome Elders and sing from our hearts! We all had different parts in the song and it sounded really good actually! (I mean I think it did at least!) After church we went to a less actives house and had Christmas porridge! It was SO good! Its like a warm rice pudding sort of but not really hahaha... you add butter and cinnamon sugar... deilig!(Yummy!) It was so koselig (cozy) and wonderful to be there. Afterward we headed to a members’ house for dinner. We helped them set the table while we listened to Christmas music and ate by candle light. That is very normal in Norway to eat by candle light. I will miss that a lot. After we ate and were about to share our spiritual thought, another member family walked through the front door so we had a spiritual thought with a bunch of kids and their parents! We had a big bowl filled with water and asked them what they thought would happen if we set an orange in the water... some said it would float which it did! BUT when you take the peel off or the protection, it sinks. We shared the story about how Peter could walk on the water to Jesus Christ but when he took his eyes off Christ he began to sink! We took it back to Christmas and how important it is to keep our focus on Christ! 

    

After that we went to visit a less active with her mom. Her daughter lives at her school which is on a ranch and she has this huge beautiful horse! We sat in her room for a while and just had a lot of laughs and talked about life and family and Norway! After that we went to go feed her horse and that was so fun! She was showing us all the tricks her horse can do and guess what... her horse can kiss on demand! It’s awesome! I will send a picture of it :) While we were walking back to the car to drive back down the hill, I looked up in the sky and BOOM! NORTHERN LIGHTS!!! That does NOT happen very often in this part of Norway! Its very common up North but NOT here in Skien! It was beautiful! I just stood there in awe as this huge spot light from heaven danced on the night sky! What a world we live in! I love it :)

     

I love you my dear family and friends! Have a Merry MERRY CHRISTmas! MUAH! 

Gud vær med deg til vi sees igjen! 

-Søster Neilson

Good Jul from Skein Norway! <3

FHE with the YSA making cinnamon rolls!

Thanks for the recipe Eldste Phipps! :)

All packaged up and ready to deliver

some Christmas CHEER! <3

Bishop and his darling Family on a hunt

for the PERFECT Christmas tree! :)

FOUND it! 

Heading to Oslo! :)

Most of their group from the MTC! 

It's like a mini family reunion! :)

Sister J! These two are like sisters! <3

Eldste Arbil! One of her favorites! :)

Risen Grot! (Christmas Rice Porridge)

Christmas in Norway! <3

The 4th Advent Sunday!

Christmas week IS HERE!

The kissy face horse! <3

I do believe she misses horses! :)

ICICLES! There might not be snow but there 

is TONS of ice and frost! :)

BEAUTIFUL Norway in Winter! <3

God Jul!

HEELLLOOOO!…Week 67

Kjære alle sammen!

      

Woah. Its getting cold! I LOVE IT! I think my Cali blood is being changed into Norwegian! I love the cold! It hasn’t snowed in awhile but everything is just covered in frost! Skien is trying to prepare for the snow but the clouds aren't giving it! Grrrr! Oh well :) This week was a week of love! We have been visiting a lot of members lately and it has been so special! I love spending time with my members! Just loving them and them loving me and my companion! I love  sharing experiences I’ve had with them and helping them learn how to share God’s love with their friends! Let me tell you, Norway has some STRONG members! They do so much! I am eternally grateful for the goodness I have been able to see while serving in this incredible mission. It has been really hard but really worth it! :) I love my mission!

     

So this Sunday we had a big ward party! St. Lucia was this week and we celebrated it last night before we watched the Christmas devotional. The bishops’  twin daughters dressed in all white and had a crown of gold and candles as we sung the St. Lucia song. They walked through everyone as we sat there at our tables and sung. It was so special. I do not know all the historical details about St. Lucia but I do know she is a symbol of peace. One thing we eat in honor of her are these yellow rolls. They mean something but I don’t remember...hahaha... I think she made them for like a peace thingy... or something... I am going to ask this week!  (Mom note: see below a post from my Swedish friend regarding St. Lucia Day)

     

We have been contacting a lot which is fun and talking to a lot of interesting people. I have a story for you! We started talking to this little old man and asked him if he was having a good Christmas so far and he just started talking all about Jesus Christ and how much he loved him... and then he went CRAZY! He saw that we were missionaries which means we were apart of an organized religion and he just started quoting right out of the bible, word for word, and yelling about how we needed to run away from all organized religion and how all we need is JESUS! JESUS! JESUS! AND THEN... he grabbed my arm and Søster Randall’s arm and got really close to our faces as he started pushing us backwards and screaming scripture. He definitely was not well in the head and it was sad but I grabbed his hand, looked him in the eye and said "Merry Christmas" and put my arm around my companion and walked away. He started laughing and said, "You too!!!". The next time I looked back he was standing in the road talking...to... someone? Oh my Norway. :) 

     

Well other then that, things have been about the same! We’re doing our best and working hard! I love you all lots and lots! Have a great week! 

Gud vær med deg til vi  sees igjen! 

Søster Neilson :)

St. Lucia Scandinavian Tradition:

One of the biggest celebrations in Sweden is St. Lucia's Day ( or Saint Lucy's day) on December 13th. Celebration of this day started in the late 1700s. Love this tradition so much, Filled with light, charity and fun family time....The celebration comes from stories told by Monks who first brought Christianity to Sweden. Saint Lucy was a Christian girl who was martyred killed for her faith, in 340AD.The story told about Lucy is that she would secretly bring food to the persecuted Christians in Rome, who lived in hiding in the catacombs under the city. She would wear the candles on her head so she could find her way, at the same time using both her hands to carry the food and other items needed. St. Lucia's day is celebrated by a girl dressed in white, with a red sash around her waist, and a crown of candles on her head. The crown is made of lingonberry,which are evergreen, and symbolize new life. Schools and cities chose a Lucia. Also a national Lucia is chosen. Lucia visits hospitals, and do other charitable acts, while singing special songs that has to do with Lucia. In families, the girl dress up like Lucia and sing for their parents. Lucia is joined by the star boys and star girls with candles but not on their heads. Buns flavored with saffron and and ginger cookies are traditionally served. This tradition is celebrated also in Norway, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Bosnia, Italy and Croatia. :)

Julenissen! <3

This is a box the Relief Society put

out. It says, "gifts for missionaries"! :)

Right now it's EMPTY! :(

St. Lucia Celebration with the ward! <3

St. Lucia saffron rolls! Yum!

Christmas in Norway! <3

Nativity Scene! <3

"I was making bread and dropped the 

glass bowl on the floor and it 

shattered! I guess I still live up 

to my nickname, 'Messy Molly!'"

-Søster Neilson 

One of her FAVORITE breakfasts…

musli, yogurt, and banana! :)

This isn't snow! It's FROST!

BEAUTIFUL Norway at sunset…3:00PM

BEAUTIFUL Soul in Norway! <3

Hei San!…Week 66

Hello!

GOD JUL! (MERRY CHRISTMAS!) How is it all going?! Oh my goodness, have I ever told you how much I LOVE Norway in at Christmas time?! It is just so magical! WOAH! People have these beautiful light arrangements in there windows. I need to take a picture of a few and send them! :) Things have been a little slow. When is get closer and closer to Christmas people get more and more busy and then no one wants to talk to us... its really rough. BUT we are still sharing the good news! CHRIST WAS BORN! What a beautiful thing to remember and celebrate! :) 

     

There is a new Christmas video that the LDS church has sent out and it is called "A Savior is Born" eller "En Frelser er Født" and it is so good! :) You can see it here at this website...English: christmas.mormon.org og på norsk: julen.mormon.org  :=)

     

I really love and miss you guys a lot. Christmas is a hard time for missionaries all over the world. Be sure to send them some extra love! Remember, we like to get Christmas cards! They are way fun! :)

We got to talk to one of our investigators about the pre earth life and where we came from! She was so touched and blown away that we lived with God before and that He has made a plan and that because of that plan, we celebrate Christ’s birth! The plan was only possible through Him! What a blessing! I know that is true. I KNOW that the Savior of the world was born to kind parents who laid Him in a humble manger in a tiny stable. What a gift! What a joy! A SAVIOR IS BORN! :) 

     

I love you all so much! I hope you have a wonderful week and remember what the true meaning of Christmas is! GOD JUL! (MERRY CHRISTMAS!) 

Gid vær med dere til vi sees igjen!

 -Søster Neilson :)

"Many Norwegians display lights in their windows

to celebrate Christmas! It's one of my 

favorite things here in Norway!"-Søster Neilson 

"Jule tid (Christmas time) in Skien!"-Søster Neilson 

"One of our church memebers whom 

I love and adore!"-Søster Neilson 

"The Skien Drean Team!" -Søster Neilson 

The Missioaries set up their booth again

this week for street contacts and FREE waffles! 

I would listen to this cute missionary

ALL day long if I were in Norway! 

Gratis Vaffler (free waffles) would

just sweeten the experience! :)

"My bros!"-Søster Neilson 

"THIS! This cute band of kids marched by

and I basically had a heart attack! I was

so excited! There were four clarinet 

players and it totally reminded me of

Bear! I loved it! They were good too!"

-Søster Neilson