"Fishy! Fishy!" 🐠

 Heia alle sammen!

Sooooo, I got quite the laugh when one of the elders this week said that I reminded him of the girl, Darla, on Finding Nemo 😅. With much respect he did say that I didn't necessarily look like her but the glasses apparently do help draw the parallel which I still don't understand because she doesn't have glasses haha. Anyways, Happy Halloween y'all! 🎃 Here's our adventure this week!

- Exchanges with Alta sisters! Sister Schneck and Sister Matthews got to come and visit us in Trondheim and it was so fun! I got to spend the day Sister Matthews and we had an interesting member visit (haha), help out with språkkafé, and have dinner out on the streets of Trondheim as we watched the huge ferris wheel in sentrum. I just love the Alta sisters and it was just so fun having them visit:).

- Don't procrastinate! I learned that lesson again this week (yes... again) as I finally, after lots of overthinking, talked to a lady sitting across from me on the bus. She was so cool! She is Christian and so I told her that I was a missionary and then she asked if I wanted her number! I think I almost about died haha:). Obviously, I didn't and we exchanged numbers and are going to try and plan on meeting her again sometime:).

- Got to do a scavenger hunt game with the youth around sentrum and then ward Halloween party where all of us missionaries were... missionaries!! 😅 (Yeaaaah not a whole lot we could do for costumes this year:)

- Sister Nartker and I went door knocking this week and in the meantime saw a full, bright rainbow! We couldn't help but just and stand there and stare at it for a couple minutes it was so cool! We then preceded to knock on a door of a guy who was a professor in biology. So, naturally he asked a lot of questions about evolution and where religion and God ties into everything. Let's just say we weren't exactly able to answer a lot of his questions (haha), but he was a nice guy:).

Speaking of rainbows and biology and just the way of life, it just reminded me a lot of one of my favorite verses in the Book of Mormon, Alma 30:44. It says, "all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator."

Now when we were talking with this guy and tried explaining a few principles of what we believe in he kept coming back to of how it doesn't make sense to believe in God when we just have science. For those of you who don't know, I love math and I love science:). I love learning how so many different factors can be puzzled together in order to make a solution. And as I've learned more and more about all these factors that make up the world, I have come to know my Heavenly Father and Savior better. I think it's interesting when people say it's either science or religion. For me and just like this verse says, everything there is, everything that has been created, plants, animals, planets, the universe, isn't contradictory to God, but is evidence that He lives. And when we look at all these amazing and incredible creations, the most amazing and incredible one that He made was you. He knows and loves you and that's why He sacrificed His son and that's why Christ sacrificed Himself so that we could be with them again. 

Glad i dere! Hope y'all have a great week! 

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede

Rainbow

We found a friend

Exchanges with Sister Matthews

Fun little lunch break

It's been raining a lot lately

The party bus 🥳 ...also struggle bus 🥴

 Heia alle sammen!

Well, last we had the magic bus and this week we got the struggle bus. This week we got to celebrate Søster Nartker's 20th birthday!! Gratulerer med dagen!! On this fun exciting day we were on the bus and after a minute Søster Nartker decided to change seats because she realized that there had been beer on the seat . So therefore, we had a little bit of a struggle bus this week:). Anyways, here's the week!

- Exchanges down in Oslo! Yes, I know, another trip to Oslo, but it was super fun! I was with Søster Barker again and it was awesome! We got to do some door knocking and street contacting which was good. We also went to young women and young mens and it was so fun because I got to see some of the members I served with! It was so fun! I just love the members:). 

- Got to do some service for a lady this week who we were just friends with and she is just so sweet! After we helped clean her apartment she asked us some questions about what we believe in and wants to learn more! Woot woot!

- Got to help clean out the church this week and part of that was just throwing stuff into a big dumpster. I can't tell you how satisfying that was haha:)

- Språkkafé was so cool this week because a random Norwegian girl reached out to us on Facebook asking if she could come and help out! Of course we said yes and it was so fun! We got to talk to her afterwards and she just expressed how she just loves helping people and it was so cool! Definitely a little miracle:).

Now this week I was reading in 3 Nephi 26 and it's when Christ is telling the people what the name of the church should be. This week, just like every week, I said the name of the church many times. Every time I knocked on a door, every time someone asked me why I'm here, every time someone wondered which church I was from, I said the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Now a lot of times people don't know what that church is until they ask if we are the Mormons. Now I knew that the name of the church was important but I think I realized it a bit more when I read this chapter in the Book of Mormon. In verse 6 is says "And whoso taketh upon him my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day." 

Every week in my email I write "Kia Kaha" and "just keep swimming". For those who don't know, Kia Kaha comes from the movie "Forever Strong" and it means to be "forever strong". What I love about this verse is that it doesn't just say to endure to the end. No, it first says to take upon Christ's name and endure to the end. Kia Kaha, just keep swimming, enduring to the end, it is not possible without Jesus Christ. His name holds power. His is the only name that makes being strong to being forever strong and to not just swim but to keep swimming. He didn't suffer infinitely for us to give up, He did it for us to endure to the end and make it back home. 

Glad i dere! Wish you guys a great week!

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede 

Pretty scenery

Pday trip to Hell

Language Class

Abandoned Fortress

We got our Christmas tree!

Pday trip to Hell

The Magic School Bus! 🚌

 Hei alle sammen!

Well, "another one bites the dust", there goes another week! It blows my mind how fast the weeks go especially when sometimes the days feel really long, but time is a relative concept at this point haha :). Anyways, this week I said goodbye to Søster Schneck as she headed up to Alta. It was so sad because she had been here for a while and made such an impact on the people here. As she would say, "absolute girl boss!" :) But her and Søster Matthews will be absolutely amazing in Alta! Now we've got the MTC duo back with Søster Nartker! And just like that another start to another adventure, here we go!

- THE BUS IS MAGICAL! I love the bus! It is just so fun to talk to people on the bus and some of my favorite experiences have been with talking with people on the bus, t-bane, tram, etc. This week I had several experiences where I just had such cool interactions with people on the bus. One of which we were on our way to the Purcells and I met a girl who one of her friends growing up was a member! She was from Drammen and had been to the church there and seen missionaries several times around Norway! She was so cool! And then just to top it off, she asked me if we could exchange numbers! Like I said, the bus is magical!

- We also had a young adult dinner on Wednesday which was so fun! We had a lot of the young adults in the ward there and one of the friends that we invited came with several of her friends and it was just such a fun time!

- Had our hiking group on Saturday and there was snow! Yep, that's right y'all, winter is coming.

- Took a another beautiful trip out to Melhus to visit a member and it was awesome :). I just love the members!

So I've been reading along with the Come Follow Me chapters and I really enjoyed reading the chapters this week. There was one part that I particularly liked and it was in 3 Nephi 18 when Christ instituted the sacrament. After the disciples and the multitude partakes of the sacrament it says, "they had eaten and were filled...they did so and did drink of it and we're filled." Now I don't know about anyone else but when I take the sacrament, a little piece of bread and a tiny cup of water, it isn't exactly "filling". So after reading this I'm sure they weren't filled physically, but on the other hand they were filled spiritually. In Elder Christoffersen's talk from General Conference, he talks about aligning our will with the Lord's and it reminded me of something someone once said that when we do align our will with His, we will never be disappointed because His will will always happen. So when we take the sacrament that is not a way for us to reflect, but it's also a time for us to realign and be filled. Be filled with peace, joy, hope, comfort, etc. Christ gave us this time every week to be consistently filled with His love as we choose to align our will with His. He is truly our hope and strength. 

Glad i dere! 

Hope you guys have a great week!

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede 

Sister Nartker!

Hiking Group

Volleyball

I just love Fall!

"I don't like carrots" 🥕

 Hei alle sammen!

Transfers! So kind of crazy, Søster Schneck is heading up to Alta! The last two transfers have flown by and we have had so much fun :). I going to miss Søster Schneck so much, but I know that she will be amazing up north:). As for my new comp, I am going to be reunited with my lovely mtc comp! Yep, Søster Nartker is coming to Trondheim! This transfer will be quite the party haha:). But with that being said, here's how the week went!

- Visited the farm again this week! This time we got to pick carrots and it was so fun! The Hegdal family is the best!

- This week we had a first lesson with a lady that Søster Schneck found on facebook! She has friends who are members in Bergen and decided that she wanted to learn more about what we believe in. So we met up with her and ended up giving her a Book of Mormon! We're hoping to meet up with her again and see where things go :).

-Another trip to Oslo! Yes. I don't know how many flights I have been since coming to Norway but let's just say it's been a lot haha:). Anyways, we had an in person meeting in Oslo so we flew down there Wednesday morning, had the meeting, and flew back to Trondheim that night. Don't we love traveling :). But it was super fun to see the other missionaries, especially my two old comps Søster Bell and Søster Gundersen :)! Sadly, I also had to say goodbye to Søster Bell since that was the last time I would see her before she went home (Glad i deg! :). 

- We had such a great lesson with two of our newly baptized members and it was so fun! I just love those two girls! Every time Søster Schneck and I see them, afterwards we are always just saying how cool they are and how much we love them :). They have been such huge examples to me of having so much faith and willingness to follow Christ. 

-General Conference! Saturday morning session/evening session Norway time we got to join with the other missionaries and the young adults in the ward over at the Purcells apartment and it was so fun! We had a delicious dinner before and then watched conference :). 

Speaking of General Conference, one of my favorite talks given was during that Saturday morning session. It was by Elder Karl D Hirst and he talked a lot about the love of God and the power it has in our lives. I came to conference with a lot of concerns, questions, and just a lot of things on my mind and felt that this talk really helped answer some of those. I loved the part when he said to take a step back and keep taking a step back until you can see the stars and realize the magnificence and power of Him who created it all. For those who don't know, I love space! This reminded me of an experience that I had when my family went camping at Capitol Reef. It has one of the darkest skies in the world and so one night we went stargazing and it was incredible. None of us spoke and if we did, it was a whisper. At first we wondered why we whispered, but then we realized that it was because of how grand and sacred that moment was. It was a testament of the power and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Yes, it was the darkest sky, but the light of stars millions of light years away pierced through it all. That is what love of Jesus Christ does. His light is infinite and reaches us in our darkest moments to give us peace and strength. 

Kjempe glad i dere! Hope y'all have a great week!

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming :)

- Søster Twede

The Farm:)

Hiking Group

Sister Bell

Hiking Group

Post Sunday General Conference Party