"[Søster] Twede, the chickens are organized" 🐓

 Hei alle sammen! 

I don't know who here has seen "Chicken Run", but apparently my lovely comp, Søster Gundersen, thinks of this line in the movie every time she says my name. But this week has been a pretty good week, so let's get going :).

- We got to do some ministering with a member this week who is absolutely amazing! She's from Chile but served her mission in Norway and is just the best! 

- We had a hike this week for those that come to our språkkafé and any of our friends which was super fun! My comp got talking to a guy from Russia for a while and taught him a lot about the gospel. She asked if he would be interested in learning more and he said maybe and we were able to get his number,  woot woot! (He didn't necessarily say "no" so we're taking it as a win:).

- We also had a painting class this week where one of our friends came and we ended up having a really good conversation with her. Her boyfriend is a member so she was asking more about what we do as missionaries and also the church. We got to talk to her about the Book of Mormon. She said she had one and wanted to read it, so I asked her if she would want to meet up to read it sometime and she said yes! Mirakler skjer:)

All in all, it was a pretty good week! It is still crazy busy here in Oslo and sometimes I wonder how things turn out, but then I remember that this is the Lord's work and He's got our back always:).

Which leads into what I would like to share with you guys today. Tomorrow we have Zone Conference and so I wanted to share one of my takeaways of this transfer (also I can not believe we are already almost done with this transfer! Time flies). In Luke 15:4-7 Christ talks about the shepherd who goes and looks for the one sheep who lost their way and when He comes back everyone rejoices. It says, "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." It's the one He cares about. Yes, at times it would be nice to think of us getting a lot of baptisms here in Norway, which I'm saying is a bad thing but I just live how Christ just always focused on the one. In the hymn, Prayer is the Soul's Sincere Desire, is says, 

"Prayer is the contrite sinner’s voice, Returning from his ways, While angels in their songs rejoice And cry, 'Behold, he prays!' "

Christ did everything He could to bring the one back and He continues to do everything He can to bring back the one. The way back may seem daunting but know that He and all His angels will rejoice upon your arrival.Love you guys tons and hope you have a great week!

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede

Vi elsker dette landet!!

 Gratulerer med dagen!!

So this week was awesome because... we had 17. mai!! The 17th of May is when Norway celebrates their constitution and let's just say that Norwegians are very proud of their country because they party hard! I thought Americans were pretty big with the 4th of July, but 17. mai is even bigger. Most everyone wears their bunads or festdrakts and if you don't, then you wear dresses and suits. You also eat tons of ice cream and hotdogs. They have barnetoget which is a parade of children and their schools. And you basically just party all day:). So by the end of the day on Friday, my comp and I were worn out! But it was so fun! Plus we had a miracles that day because one of our friends came to a bbq we had at Frogner's park and she asked why our name tags say "siste dagers hellige" (the Latter-Day Saints). Well we explained that and that led into the plan of salvation and then at one point we just asked her if she would us to teach her about our church since we've already told her a lot and guess what! She said yes!! Mirakler skjer! So we are now very excited to teach pur new friend:). 

We also met three new awesome people at språkkafé (language class) this week and ended up giving a Book of Mormon to one of them! Woot woot! Tell you what, it's times like these that just give you the strength to just keep going because people here in Norway aren't super interested in learning more about Jesus Christ and His church but the important part is that it's not everyone. There is the one who is just waiting for us to find them and they're the ones we do it all for. Christ always goes back for the one and so must we.

And speaking of Jesus Christ, I wanted to share some thoughts that I've been having through the week. I've been studying a lot on repentance and how we can come unto Christ. There is a talk by Elder Hamilton, "Then Will I Make Weak Things Become Strong", and it talks about a guy who works at a rehabilitation center and a critic told him, "You should know that leopards don’t change their spots!’ “Replied Warden Duffy, ‘You should know I don’t work with leopards. I work with men, and men change every day.’” "

At the beginning when God created everything, He said that it was good. But then when He created man, He said it was very good. He created us to look like Him for a reason. It was so we would energized be like Him. We are humans learning how to be more like Him, but we can't do it alone. We were never supposed to. Jesus Christ is the way, He suffered so we wouldn't have to. We aren't meant to be perfect because we need to learn and it is through Christ that we can. It is through His love that He guides us back home, we just have to let Him. Let Christ work that "mighty change" in your life. Love y'all and hope y'all have a great week!

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede 

"The drop off!!" 🐠

 Hei alle sammen!

Another day another dollar, another week another win:). I don't know, that was the best I could think of haha, but greetings from this absolutely amazing land of Norway! This week we had a lot happen and these are some of the highlights:

- Contacts! Oh my goodness, before the mission I did not think of myself of a very good texter but let's just say, the Lord is giving me lots of practice now:).

- We had a couple meals with members this week which was so fun! I just love the members! We were with a member named Bjørn who is just awesome. His mom, Randi, lives with him and she is so funny because she just gets talking and the goal is to just follow the conversation (well story because you don't say a whole lot, you just listen haha:). She's just so cute, however we do tend to get home late when we visit them because we never know how to end the conversation but det går bra! :) It's always a great time visiting them :).

- We got to meet up with a couple friends, one of them we had visited a restaurant in which we miraculously had enough money for because we are only running on one card right now (Søster Gundersen lost hers in Bodø so pray that we can find it soon!). But we were able to share a lot more about the gospel with both friends and are now hoping that we can start teaching them soon :).

- Søster Gundersen's grandpa and aunt were in town on Sunday so we got to have them in church which was super fun because they had both served there and still knew some of the people in the ward :). We then got to get lunch with them and they were just super fun to meet and spend some time with :).

This transfer our focus is Embracing the Doctrine of Christ and so this week I've been trying to study on faith. The work here isn't ever really easy because people just aren't super interested in being part of a religion. Not saying that it's impossible, because it definitely is and we have had a couple baptisms in the last couple weeks in Norway which is awesome! However, there have been times where my comp and I experience a miracle with one of our friends and gain more momentum with them but then sometimes it's like we go of the drop off ("the drop off?!" -finding nemo :). Which is not always the most fun but I read the talk, "To be Healed", by Elder Richard G Scott this week and one of the things that stuck out to me was that faith includes having patience and trust in the Lord during the hard times. That means by always continuing to do the small and simple things and doing them with patience. There's this song, "While I'm waiting", from a movie called Fireproof (great movie!) and it talks about this and is so good! I know that things don't always work out how we think or want but they do work out how they need to. He knows where we all are, what's happening, and what we're trying to do and as long as we continue to just trust Him we will see and experience those miracles, whether that's now or later, they will come. And it's through Christ that they are. Hope you all have a great week! Glad i dere!

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede

Walking back from dinner appointment with Bjørn and Randi

Walking back from dinner appointment with Bjørn and Randi

Dinner at the park

Dinner at the park

Karl Johans Gate getting ready for 17. mai! 

"Probably getting gorgeously tan in Summer!" ⛄️⛱️

 Heisann!

I'd like to announce that this was the first week I was able to wear short sleeves outside. I even got a little sun to the point where I've got a farmer's tan starting haha. Yep, spring is here and summer is coming! Okay so this week can only be described in one way: roller coaster. Honestly, I feel like I say that every week but this week was a little bit more so and this is why.

- So initially Søster Bell was going to Stavanger and leaving on Friday. But then we found out that she was going to Tromsø and leaving on Thursday, so that was just crazy within itself.  I'm very sad to see Søster Bell leave, she is the best! You're going to be awesome in Tromsø!

- We got to do some fun last minute contacting on the streets of Oslo in which we found a lady who apparently was trying to have a better relationship with Jesus Christ! That was just amazing and we were also able to give her a Book of Mormon :).

- So my new companion, Søster Gundersen, didn't roll up til Saturday so I got to hang out with my buddy Søster Nartker! MTC gang back again :). That was just a party as we ran around Oslo (quite literally:). We actually got to teach a lesson to one of our friends who speaks Kinyarwanda. What was really cool is that we called in a sister missionary from Utah to help translate for us and it was so cool! We invited the sister to bear her testimony and it was amazing! They loved our message and are wanting to meet again so that was just an amazing miracle:). 

Splits with Sister Nartker

- Book of Mormon stand! Got to talk with a Ukrainian singing group through google translate. That was a fun experience haha:).- Got to also hang with Søster Jaynes for a day and that was super fun! Public transportation was not working for us that day, so we rode in a very very full bus. But we also had a lesson with a referral who said he would read the Book of Mormon this week, woot woot! :)

- Søster Gundersen! Let's just say that she's awesome and we're so excited for this transfer! She served in Bodø before but is now joining the Oslo gang and is ready to get going with the work, kjør på!

So yep this transfer I will be helping out Søster Gundersen since she'll be the district leader. I will also be leading out the area which honestly has kind of terrified me. In the midst of having many companions this week, I was starting to feel really overwhelmed and just didn't feel very adequate to lead out the area. It was starting to feel a little lonely and I was saying lots of prayers and just begging for peace and guidance on how I could best serve in Oslo. Then one morning during my personal study, I read Mosiah 7:33. "But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage."Obviously I'm not in bondage but absolute stress... yes. But what I love is that this verse helps me remember that I'm not perfect, but Christ is and so is His plan. All I have to do is give my all to Him every second I get and no matter what happens or doesn't happen it will all turn out how it needs to. He's got our back, we just need to trust Him. Love you all and hope you all have a great week :). 

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede

Studies at the park

Crazy mirrors

Pday at the beach

Pday at the beach