"Singing in the rain" 🎵☔️

Heisann!

Greetings from Oslo:). Which speaking of Oslo, we got transfers this week and guess what! (drumroll...) I'm staying in Oslo! I am going to be losing Søster Bell which is super sad. She is the best! She's heading off to Stavanger and I'm going to be comps with Søster Gundersen who is awesome! I've met her a couple times and heard so many great things and am just super excited to serve with her in Oslo:).

This week we also had stake conference which was awesome! We got to hear from a return missionary and an absolutely beautiful musical number (Norwegian hymns are the best:)! We also had a referral come who had come to church before. We visited him and got to meet his family the day before and taught the first lesson:). He seemed to really enjoy it and is interested in learning more! Woot woot! 

Okay can I just say that I absolutely love the members here in Oslo! We got to go visit a few of them this week and it was just awesome :). We had a surprise dinner appointment with one of them and it was so fun. Another one we got to go on an hour drive (beautiful:) to help out with their yard. It did end up raining, but that doesn't really stop Norwegians, so we got a wee bit wet:). Afterwards we had some lunch and shared a message about miracles. It was so amazing to hear their testimonies of Christ. The members here in Norway are just amazing and are so strong and willing to help with anything. I was reading in the Come Follow Me chapters this week and  Mosiah 2:17, 24 stuck out to me. Verse 17 says that "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." And verse 24 says, "He doth require that ye should do as He hath commanded you; for which if ye do, He doth immediately bless you;" Is it easy to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints? Nope. But it is worth it. Everyone is a child of a loving Heavenly Father and it's sometimes really heartbreaking to know that so many don't remember that. There have been so many times where it has not been easy to get going with the day and serve, but one of the things that has kept me going is that very fact. The Lord has asked us to serve Him by serving those who need to remember. Remember their divine identity, a Child of God. Remember they have a Savior that suffered and died for them, and that they are loved more than they could ever know. I know that the Lord is going to ask us to do hard things but that we will receive those blessings "immediately" because we are serving Him. 

Hope you guys have a great week! Glad i dere!

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede 

Fun bakery visit with a member

Just thought the sign was funny:)

Told a lady I liked her glasses and she then gave them to me 

"You take the [puff]. You put the [creme] on the [puff]." ⚾

Hei alle sammen!

I'm pretty sure I just wrote my last email yesterday but apparently a week has passed so here we are, woot woot! :) This week we're doing bullet point style because so much happened but due to "short term memory loss" I can't remember so let's see how this goes :).

- Språkkafe! (language class) A french couple that we had met a couple weeks back came and  as we were all trying to practice speaking norsk with each other, Søster Bell and I were asking how it has been coming to Norway and... (pause for effect...) they said "we just need God." Woot Woot! They are just amazing and are super open to meeting up again and we are planning on inviting them to church :).

- Bakekurs! (baking class) On Saturday we had a baking class and Søster Bell taught us how to make cream puffs and eclairs and it was so fun! We were able to meet some new people and invite them to more activities we have here at the institute center which was awesome! And then just to top it off, we went straight to a member meal in which I got to do a fun comprehension test as an older lady in the ward talked for a good solid portion of the meal. She talked about a number of different things that my comp and I are still not quite sure what they all were haha:).

- Sleepovers! Basically, we had a lot of sisters come to Oslo for splits with the sstl's (senior sister training leaders) this week and we got to host everyone:). So that was super fun!

Sorry I don't have a whole lot of time, but I was reading a talk by Joy D. Jones this week and there was a line that she said how when we lose ourselves in His work, that is where we find ourselves. I know that it's not always going to be easy and frankly it hasn't been, but I know that through Him I can find where I fit in this work and especially as a missionary in Norway. I know that through Jesus Christ we all have a place.

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming!

Søster Twede

"The sun was in my eye, Astrid" 🐉

 Hei alle sammen!

The sun!! 😎 It's been finally looking like spring here and getting a little warmer to the point where Søster Bell and I have done some of our studies outside, which has been amazing:). I will say it is kind of weird though waking up at 6 in the morning because it's already bright outside and you get worried that you missed the alarm only until you realize you still get to sleep for another half hour haha :).

Anyway, we had three friends in church this week! Woot woot! And two of them said that they would most likely come back! (Not sure about the third one but don't forget that mirakler skjer:). But Sunday was just an awesome day:). We also got to have a dinner appointment with some YSAs in the ward which was so fun! We had a little tea party which was so cute (no it was real tea just for any of those who were worried:). Then on Saturday, we had an stake youth activity where they were in groups doing a scavenger hunt around Oslo. Oh my goodness the youth are amazing! We got extra points if we handed out a Book of Mormon and one girl in our group was just so great at going up to people and asking them about it. She was a huge example to me of what it means to trust the Lord and fear not.

Which leads me to what I would like to share with y'all:). So this week we had zone conference and our focus for the transfer was "building confidence with the Spirit". Now, I have lots about this topic but today I would just like to bear my testimony of the Holy Ghost and his role in bringing us closer to Jesus Christ. I know that we have loving Heavenly parents that look out for us every day and know that this life is not easy. It wasn't supposed to be. But that is why we have Jesus Christ. I know that because of His love for us, Jesus Christ suffered and died for us so this life, though difficult, would be made possible. And I know that He sent the Holy Ghost so we could come to know how to come unto Him, how we can come closer to Him, and how when the winds and waves come we can remain still and bound to our Savior. I know that when we strengthen our foundation and fully rely upon our rock, Jesus Kristus, we may never fear. We shall always have confidence in Him even if we don't have it in ourselves. I know that Jesus Christ is the peace and hope. 

Glad i dere og jeg håper at dere har en kjempefin uke:).

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede

What time is it?! ... Conference time!

 Hei alle sammen!

So this week, not going to lie, was pretty awesome. We started out by having a lesson get canceled on us as we waited for them at the library which was highly unfortunate. BUT the Lord is just amazing because as my comp and I decided to do studies right then, a couple from France came and sat down next to us and we got talking with them. They had just been in Norway for a few days and were trying to learn Norwegian. Soooo, naturally we invited them to our language class and guess who's said they're coming tomorrow! We messaged them on facebook and they said that they were coming and were excited to see us again! Woot woot! 

We also got to help out one of the members this week with some service and also got to go visit her ministering sisters with her which was so fun! Then right after that we heard from one of our friends that we hadn't seen for a couple weeks. Last time we had tried to see if she was interested in learning more about the church and she unfortunately said no. She asked us if she could come to church with us this Sunday! So we are very excited for church this week :).

Last but certainly not the least... General Conference!

The first thing that really stood out to me about conference was how essential our temple covenants are. Now they don't have a temple here in Norway but that doesn't mean we don't have access to the power of the temple right where we are. Our covenants are what help us to remember that we are all spiritual temples of the Lord. As Sister Spannaus said, our covenants are the foundation that bind us to Christ. They are what allow us to have the powers of heaven constantly surrounding us everywhere we go. And that leads into my second thought that it is through prayer that we can open ourselves more up to the Spirit and they allow to feel the love and power of our Heavenly Father with us. Don't ever underestimate the power of prayer (Sister Porter's talk). I know that through prayer and covenants we can become closer to our Savior and "Be still" in the midst of chaos (Elder Bednar).

Hope you guys have a great week! Kia Kaha and Just Keep Swimming :)

- Søster Twede

God Påske!

Hei alle sammen!

God påske! Happy Easter! So just a little explanation on what happens on Easter in Norway:

- Easter break lasts from Thursday to Monday and basically all the stores are closed except for a few hours on Friday and Saturday. Lots of people like to go out of town to warmer weather and/or just stay at home and be with family. So walking on the Oslo streets this week was kind of weird because there was hardly anyone out and it was so quiet.

- kvikk lunsj! Basically a better version of Kit Kats and they are always on sale because people eat them like crazy at Easter time. People also like to have oranges and solo (another kind of soda).

- Påskekrim! 👻 So apparently crime stories are really popular during Easter. Do I entirely know why? Nope, but you know maybe by next year we'll have found out more. But yes, people buy lots of crime novels and enjoy a cold mystery to celebrate Easter 🐣 🕵‍♂️.

And that is Easter in Norway! As for the week it was a bit more chill because of Easter. I unfortunately got sick on Saturday and so my comp and I were stuck in the apartment all day but no worries I am feeling much better now (I just can't eat pb&js for a little while which is kind of sad). But Sunday was great because we had church and then held an Easter dinner! We had an egg hunt for the kids and then also for the adults which was so fun to watch 😂 (I don't think I've ever seen adults so excited for an Easter egg hunt:).

Easter though is one of my favorite times of the year. Throughout the week I've tried to study more and more on Jesus Christ and His atonement. One of the things that I have come to have a greater testimony of is that hope is never lost because of Jesus Christ. He did what was unexpected so we could expect miracles when it seems like they are impossible. We just have to remember to have faith in Him and just believe that He can do the impossible. Please just trust Him. He knows what it feels like to feel alone, hopeless, and lost. But it is because of Him that we can have hope for the future. Because of Him ALL is possible.

I hope you guys have a great week!

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming 

- Søster Twede