"Aaaaa svenyaaaa...the circle of life!" 🌅

 Heisann alle sammen!

I honestly have no idea if that is the correct spelling for that song but hopefully you get the point . Anyways, I got to see the midnight sun this week and it was so cool! It's sometimes crazy to think the sun never goes down here and a little bit interesting when your trying to sleep but we're just really grateful for blackout curtains and sleeping masks . With that said let's get going for this week!

- This week we met up with one of our friends and had a lesson about the atonement of Jesus Christ and it was amazing! Her life has not been very easy lately, but the amount of faith she has in her Savior is amazing! We watched the Easter video and as we were talking about it afterwards she said how she would not have had the strength to endure all that she is if it wasn't for our Savior Jesus Christ. I honestly have no other words other than yes. That is true.

- Later that day, we had English class and game night which was super fun! Søster Washburn and I also got to play a musical number afterwards which was so cool! We played Gratitude by Brandon Lake (Søster Washburn on the violin, me on the piano) and the Spirit was very present. We had played that song for zone conference this week in Trondheim with two other missionaries as well. My awesome trainer Søster Bell on the viola and Elder Hancock on the guitar. That song is our mission president's favorite so it was really fun to play for zone conference:).

- Zone conference! Yes, we did just have zone conference three weeks ago, but we are getting a new mission president this week, so we had it earlier so we could say our last goodbyes to President and Søster Montague. So, zone conference was really good, but definitely a bittersweet! I have learned so very much from my mission president. He and his wife are truly amazing! It was really special to hear from them one last time and to listen to their powerful testimonies. They have truly been big examples to me of what it means to be disciples of Christ. Kjempe glad i dere!

Trondheim

Trip to IKEA

Zone Conference!

On that note, one of the things that President Montague has put a focus on in the mission is really coming to personally know the Savior and doing that by reading and studying stories of Jesus. So today I would like to share a story of Jesus that I have come to love. Many know the story of when Christ calmed the sea, when he spoke the words "Peace, be still." Before this, the apostles at the time were worried and terrified. They were probably asking, "Why is this happening?", "Are we going to make it?", and maybe even "How is He sleeping right now?" We do know that they did ask, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" Now did Christ wake up all flustered and worried? Did He shake with fear and ask what was happening? No. He confidently and purposefully stood up and spoke to the winds and the waves and they heard his voice. They knew his voice and obeyed. Now, it's okay to recognize that the winds are strong and the waves are huge, but we can't let that make us forget how much bigger and stronger the power of Jesus Christ is. Even if the winds and waves continue, when we focus on Him and have confidence in Him, we find that peace and stillness.

Hope you guys have a great week! 

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede 

"The hills are alive with the sound of music!" 🎵

 Heia alle sammen!

Greetings from the great land of Bodø! We have now gone from the big city vibes of talking to a person on a bus then never seeing them again to a town where you have giant mountains and fjords all around you and you start to see the same people most days. Quite the difference, but Bodø is amazing! I quite literally started thinking of the beginning scene in Sound of Music with the mountains and Julie Andrews singing. I just love Norway . And my comp, Søster Washburn, is just awesome! We have had so much fun this week, so let's get going!

- Wednesday, I arrived in Bodø and that day we had a fika with a girl about our age and who had been given a Book of Mormon by the elders that used to serve here. She is so cool! And apparently, she had read the whole thing and had prayed to know if it was true and let's just say she is a very big fan of the Book of Mormon and is wanting to learn more about the gospel! Woot woot! 

- This last Sunday was super fun! I got to help translate in church for our friends which went pretty well for the most part. At times, I was really struggling to understand the dialect and had to put in some of my own interpretation  but it all worked out! We also had a guy walk into church with a Book of Mormon (also given to him by the missionaries before, way to go you guys! :) and said that he wanted to worship with us! So now we are in contact with him and are planning to start teaching him soon :). 

- We also have this cat in the neighborhood named "Safety Cat" because it wears a bright neon yellow vest and just makes a trip across our yard most days. This week we had our door open to cool down our apartment a little and Safety Cat decided to pay us a little visit inside  . Needless to say, Safety Cat is watching out for us :). 

Now just like Safety Cat, we have someone else watching out for each one of us and his name is Jesus Christ. One of the things that my mission president has done in our mission is had us share a story of Jesus in every meeting and conference we have. I used to think I knew most all of the stories of Jesus and what we could learn from them, but I realized that there is so much more to learn. I was messaging a couple people on Facebook this week and I asked them what their favorite story of Jesus was. One of them responded with the scripture John 14:6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Why did Christ suffer? Why did He choose to bleed from every pore, shed every tear, endure every heartbreaking thought? I'll tell you it wasn't because He thought it would be fun, because it definitely wasn't. But it was worth it. He did it because He loved us too much to see us suffer on our own and be lost forever in the darkness. There's a quote that says, "Sometimes He calms the storm, but sometimes He calms the child." He is the way, He is the one that protects us every day even and especially when it doesn't feel like it. We just need to open the door to let Him in and trust Him in every step we take. I love you all and hope you have a great week! And even if it's not a good week, then I just hope you know that storms don't last forever.

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming :)

- Søster Twede

Fun boat!

The water is so blue!

Little band playing by the library

The view from our apartment

The red houses are just so fun!

Pday exploring!

The fjord

"We have our heading, here we go!" ✈️

 Hei alle sammen!

Yep that's right! We had transfers this week and I'm heading off to the north! I'll will be in Bodø which was Søster Gundersen's last area and quite of few of the missionaries and a couple members here in Oslo have served there and they all say it is amazing! So I'm super excited and I'll will be with Søster Washburn! I've met her a couple times and her and Søster Gundersen grew up together so I've lots of amazing things about her and am so excited to be her companion:). Not going to lie, I'm really going to miss Oslo and all the people here. They are all so amazing and it has been so fun to serve here! But I'm excited to experience more of Norway and meet new people as well! So we're just a mix of emotions right now haha.

But here are the highlights of the week!

- Tuesday we met a guy in the library who recognized us as missionaries and wanted to talk. Initially, we were excited but within the first five minutes we soon realized that he was a little crazy and had a hard time trying to get out of the conversation. But luckily, a family from Utah was visiting Norway and saw us and said hi! So then we told the guy that we had to go because we had to go meet with the family and that was that . We then got to talk with this family which was super fun because their daughter had her mission call and was getting ready for her mission! 

- We got to go on another road trip to Moss to visit a family friend which was so fun! Thank you Eddie!

Visiting Eddie

- Språkkafé was awesome this week because we had it at the church building and weren't sure how many people were going to show up but the we had 30-40! We also got to do a little musical number for everyone afterwards and the spirit was so strong! 

- Splits with Søster Terry! She is just the best and we had so much fun on splits! There was one point where we realized neither of us had a sim card so that was lovely haha :). Then we couldn't get wifi so we got to do some fun street contacting! While we were walking we actually ran into one of our old friends so that was awesome! We also had taco night later in which we found a new friend who wants to learn more about Jesus Christ! Woot woot! 

With that said let's just say that everything happens for a reason. In the Book of Mormon, Nephi and his brothers were getting food and their bow broke. Was that hard? Yes. Was it quite inconvenient to the point of starvation? Yes. And do they wish it didn't happen? Absolutely. BUT, unlike Laman and Lemuel who decided (as Grandma Twede would say:) to just sit there with their teeth in their mouth, Nephi decided to see it as an opportunity to witness a miracle. He went and built a bow and by doing so, he built his faith and testimony. Trials are not necessarily inconveniences, but blessings and miracles in disguise and waiting to happen. If things were supposed to go according to plan, they would. But our plan is not always (maybe more than not:) what the Lord's plan is and that's okay because as long as we are willing to accept what His plan is, we will see unlimited miracles. 

Hope you guys have a great week! 

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede 

Moss Scenery

Road Trip

Museum Trip

The Book is always better 📚

 Hei alle sammen!

What. A. Week. I'm convinced that that first week after I get home, I'm going to be bored out of my mind and not know what to do haha. But anyways, here's the rundown:

- Zone conference! It was awesome! We had zone p-day before zone conference which was super fun. Then we spiritually recharged the day after :). Our focus was on Embracing the Doctrine of Christ and I loved it! It was a good reminder of how important it is to just focus on the principles. It's really easy to get caught up in logistics, but when we focus on the simple truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that's where we find clarity and strength.

Zone Conference

Zone P-Day

- Guess what! Marvin was baptized!! Yes, that's right! We had a baptism on Sunday! He is one of the Elder's friends and is just awesome:). He was baptized right before church and we had a bunch of members there and it was just a great day! Me and Søster Gundersen had the opportunity to talk with him earlier this week and you could tell that he was ready to get baptized. So we're super excited for him:).

Marvin's Baptism!

- Splits with the legend Søster Conde! We got to explore a new area of Oslo that we both had never been to, which was awesome! Then we got a little lost on public transportation, which was fun haha. All in all it was such a fun day and Søster Conde is just awesome! (Fun fact: she's my mission grandma :)

- Miracle in ukulele class yesterday! So we had to change locations from the institute building to the church building. So not a lot of people came (there was 5 including the teacher). BUT, my comp and I were talking with the teacher and turns out he's Christian and teaches Sunday school! So we invited him to church and he said he couldn't come this week, but will be there next week! Mirakler Skjer! And this is why we invite all to church :).

Now I'd like to back track a little to zone conference. One of my other big takeaways was the power of the Book of Mormon. I know that it is the word of God. It is the way for us to truly learn more about Jesus Christ and for us to have a relationship with Him. Growing up, my dad always showed so much excitement and passion for the Book of Mormon (still does:). He always encouraged us to read it and gain a testimony. Let me tell ya, it is true. The Book of Mormon holds an incomprehensible power that no other book has. It truly testifies and confirms that Jesus is the Christ. He is our Savior and it is through Him that we find strength to take one more step, say one more word, to breath one more prayer. I know that when we choose to learn about Christ through the Book of Mormon we can become rooted in Him. 

Love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede

Overlook of Drammen

They take their Teslas very seriously!