"HI, I'm Dory" 🐠

 Hei hei alle sammen!

Yep! Another crazy but fun week so let's get started!

This week I got to meet a lot of people between just talking to people in public, our Taco night (so fun!), Book of Mormon stand (I felt so much like a salesperson), and through a few fikas we had this week. And just a quick explanation: I don't know what it's like in other missions but in Norway we actually introduce ourselves with our first names in public because it's really weird to say "Søster" or "Eldste" with the culture. We really only use those titles with other missionaries or in church settings. So with meeting a lot of new people, I used my first name a lot which does sometimes feel a little weird, but kind of fun. 

But Søster Bell and I got to meet a lady who is so cool! She's originally from Cuba, but has lived in Norway for a while. We got to talk to her about what we do as missionaries and the more we talked to her, the more we learned that she has a lot of the same values as we do in the church and just tries to stay focused on Christ! Woot woot! So crossing our fingers that we can meet with her again and possibly start teaching her:). 

This week I've been studying and thinking about our relationship with Christ and prayer. In "Secret Prayer" is says, "That this boon to mortals given, May unite my soul with heaven." I think we often forget how thin the veil is. So far in my mission I have had multiple experiences that have shown me that we have angels walking right next to us. In "A Child's Prayer" it says "some say that heaven is far away, but I feel it close around me as I pray." Prayer has for a long time been very special to me. I know that it is our way to communicate with our loving Heavenly Father and allows us to feel heaven and angels surrounding us. And I know that we can come to know our Savior,  Jesus Christ, is right next us as well. He loves us to much to leave us and is ready to help us if we just let Him. I know that through Christ we can come to experience the powers of heaven in our individual lives. Hope you all have an amazing Easter! God Påske!

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming!

- Søster Twede

"Here comes the [snow] do do do do" 🎵

 Hei alle sammen! 

Tell you what, it's been kind of funny to hear about other places getting warm and nice when I look outside and the rain/snow/sleet is coming down and the wind is blowing to the point where there's no point in doing your hair in the morning . But that's okay! I mean I do like the cold and on Sunday my comp and I got to shovel snow outside the church in our Sunday clothes (and no I was not wearing boots so that was fun:). Luckily it was sunny and it ended up being really fun :). 

Anyways, we had an awesome lesson this week with one of our friends! She is amazing! We taught her the rest of the plan of Salvation and oh my goodness... the Spirit was so strong! My comp and I both got to bear our testimonies and you could just tell that she could feel something and that she was ready to learn more. So we are really praying for her and hoping that she continues to progress with the lessons:). 

We also had transfers come out this week and guess what! Yep, Søster Bell and I are staying in Oslo, woot woot! This transfer went by so fast and now I'm half way done with training so we'll see how the other half goes.

Okay so this week I started to study the Consecrated Missionary talk which is amazing! The last little bit I've been trying to really focus on obedience and how we can have our will "swallowed up" in the Lord's will. There is a quote (I can't remember where from): "Obedience brings blessings but exact obedience brings miracles". In Alma 57:21, it talks how the 2,000 stripling warriors followed each command with exactness. In the mission, we have a video of all the miracles that have happened in Norway in the last six months and it's just been a testimony to me to know that obedience truly brings blessings. Yes, it is not always easy and convenient, but neither was the atonement that Christ suffered for us. I know that when we not only choose to follow Christ, but follow Him with exactness, we will experience blessings and miracles in our lives. Hope you all have a fantastic week!

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)!

- Søster Twede

Remember!

 Hei alle sammen!

So this week was super packed but I don't have a whole lot of time so let's get going!

This week I got to drive! Was kind of weird since I haven't driven in a little while but it was pretty cool!

I got to take a little trip down to Moss this week! Little background... a member in Moss served in Utah years ago and came to know my dad and his family really well and so it was so fun to visit with him and ask about his mission. The food was also amazing! Tusen takk Eddie!

Eddie!

We also got to visit quite a few members this week which was so fun! It has been super helpful getting help from them with the language and also great to get to know more people from the ward :).

We had zone conference this week! So this transfer our focus was sacrifice. I got to do a lot more study on the Savior and the sacrifice he made for each and every one of us. I also was able to think more on what sacrifices were made not only by me but by others in order for me to be here in Norway serving a mission. I have a lot of thoughts but some of the main ones are:

- REMEMBER. Remember why you chose to serve, remember why you chose to sacrifice to be here, remember those who also sacrificed for you to be here, and most importantly remember what Christ infinitely suffered and sacrificed for every single person.

- Sacrifice is something that gives us strength not sadness. One of the most important things we can do is to remember the joy that comes from sacrifice and using that helps give us strength to keep pressing forward when it's the most difficult. 

- Gratitude is essential. It may seem like we are asked at times to sacrifice a lot but in the long run, the blessings outnumber the sacrifices. Remember to look for the tender mercies EVERY DAY. Recognize Christ's hand constantly working in your life.

- Last, but most certainly not least, Christ. He is the greatest example of what sacrifice means. He gave his all to us and though we can never repay Him for the price, we cam continually show our love and appreciation for Him by giving our all. It is through Him we find strength, peace, and comfort. It is through Him that we can find true joy in sacrifice.

Love you all, Kia Kaha and Just Keep Swimming

- Søster Twede 

Adventure is out there!! 🎈🏠

 Hei hei alle sammen!

Quote of the week that pretty much summed it all up: "It's an adventure being Søster Bell's companion." 

SO, as you can probably guess, this week was quite the adventure so now I will give you the run down:

This week we were very busy! Which is great because it keeps us out of trouble, haha. We unfortunately had quite a few cancelations for lessons this week, but we are trying get more lined up for this week and praying that they work out :). We did though get to teach a couple lessons, one of them was on Monday with a lady and it was super cool! We talked about the plan of salvation and how we have a loving Heavenly Father. 

We got to help with yoga night, institute, and ukulele night this week which was also very fun. At institute I was kind of lost because it was all in Norwegian and they spoke really fast. That was until a guy wrote: Tro (faith) = håp (hope) × handler (actions) ÷ prøvelser (trials). I thought MATH, now that I understand, haha. Not sure if the logic behind the equation makes sense but in the words of Darren Twede, "It all goes back to math." :)

As for the language... this week I had a 15 min conversation with a lady on the t-bane (subway)! Public transportation has definitely been very helpful when finding opportunities to talk with people. I can't say that every day is great, but I will take the wins where I can:).

On Sunday right before church started, a lady came bursting in and started yelling at the bishop. Luckily, I could not understand all that she said but definitely did not help with the inviting the Spirit into the meeting. However, bishop then gave an amazing testimony and the meeting ended up being filled with the Spirit. Don't ever underestimate the power of your testimony. And then we sang Come, Come Ye Saints which just made it all even better.

Okay, so there was an experience that I had this week that I want to tie into my spiritual thought. First one: Saturday we went and tried visiting inactive members with our senior missionary couple, the Osburns, and we met a young single adult that loved the church but had some questions regarding some heavy topics. At the end we knelt down in his very tiny apartment and said a prayer. For those of you who don't know, I don't really cry hardly ever, but there was something about that prayer touched me in a way that made me realize that love is one of the most powerful things we could have. Love is the reason our  Heavenly Father gave His son. Love is why Christ chose to suffer, die, and sacrifice himself for us. When Christ was in the garden of Gethsemane, He asked if there was possibly another way to pay the price. He was scared, but it was His love for us that gave Him the strength to endure that incomprehensible amount of pain. He went willingly, humbly, and most importantly, lovingly. I know that even when life may seem restless and conflicting, we can find peace and comfort through the love of our Savior and as we choose to love as He did, we can witness miracles in our lives.

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming!

- Søster Twede :)