"Born and cold and winter air and mountain rain combining!" ❄️⛏️

 Hei alle sammen!

The amount of times I have had to shovel snow and scrape ice this week has been incredible! It was really fun when we one day had to not only scrape the windshield on the outside, but also on the inside haha. But, the first song in "Frozen" just kept playing in my mind every time 😅. 

- Happy New Year's! 🎉🥳🎉 We celebrated by watching a firework show at 6 pm and then visited our cute old lady neighbor 😊 and went to bed at 11:20 because we got too tired to stay up for another 40 minutes 😅. But that sleep felt amazing so it all worked out!

- Got to visit an inactive member this week that actually kind of went preacher mode on us haha. We kind of got stuck there to the point where we had to have the elders call us to give us an excuse to leave haha:). On the bright side, the member is very passionate about her faith so there could be worse things 😁.

- One of the days this week we realized that we needed to grab some groceries so we stopped by the store. After we got done and were walking back to the church we passed by this guy that we just thought we should talk with. Mind you, at this point, I have a box of rice and bags of frozen veggies in my hands and Søster Cox is holding a bag of yogurt haha:). The guy was super cool though! He ended up being Christian and we were able to invite him to church! Despite the awkward beginning we were able to have a good conversation with him :).

In the spirit of the new year, there is a talk that a sister in the zone told us about. It's by Elder Holland and it's one of his BYU speeches. It talks about not New Year's resolutions, but how we can have better faith in the future and what the Lord has in store for us. He uses the story of Lot's wife and how it wasn't necessarily the act of looking back that made her turn into salt, but the fact that she looked back with the desire to go back. She didn't have the faith that the Lord could provide an even better future than the past. He says, "we remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives." I had never really thought about it before and I just love how he explained how faith is about us learning from the past, doing all we can today, and having hope for even better things in the future. So whether 2024 was a great year or relatively terrible, have faith that the future will be better because Christ made it so.

Godt nyttår! Glad i dere! Have a great week!

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede

We got LOTS of snow!

Happy New Year!

My glasses got a little foggy

We got safety vests!

Had to get a picture of the flag

Walk out the door and this is what we see one morning.

"The winds of change" 🌬

 Heia alle sammen!

God Jul og Godt Nytt År! Hope you all had a great Christmas! This week we got snow and then a lot of rain which made a lot of the snow go away, but... let's just say the snow has come back in it's full glory haha. We are going to be getting 2 feet of snow in the next couple days and we've already begun the snow shoveling, so that will be fun:). Anyways here's how the week went!

- Christmas! We got to spend lots of time with members for Christmas Eve and Christmas and that was super fun! I got to try Ribbe which is essentially lamb and that was good. We got to play games and just kind of spend time with them:).

- The day after Christmas was kind of slow because we couldn't go out and talk to people due to the holiday and so we got creative on what to do. We decided to go on a walk which was interesting because we experienced the strongest wind I've ever felt! Almost got knocked over a couple times, but it was a fun time😅.

- Saturday we were reaching out to some people that had contact with missionaries before. One of them was an old Russian/Ukrainian lady. She invited us over to come and visit her that day and it was super fun! We don't think she's interested in learning more, but we did get to have a good conversation about Christ and how He can help us find peace:).

As we were visiting this lady she talked a lot about the war between Russia and Ukraine going on right now. As a missionary, it's easy to kind of forget all the things that are going on right now in the world. But as we talk to people, you see how real it is for them and it's very heartbreaking. All this lady wants is for the war to stop so she can go back home. As we were talking to her, it reminded me of a talk that I had read, "The Peace of Christ Abolishes Enmity". In there, it talks about how we are all different but one thing we do or can have in common is our discipleship of Jesus Christ. He gives multiple examples of people who were different but were still able to get along because "each put his discipleship of the Savior first." After talking to this lady, it was made very apparent that the world does not need more conflict. There is enough of it. Is it easy to be offended, frustrated, angry? Yes! But why does it have to stay that way? It doesn't. Even if you can't avoid it, there's always a way to handle it in a way that reflects the Savior. That is the goal. To do as the Savior would in order to spread His light, love, and peace to those around us.

Glad i dere! Hope you all had a great Christmas and will have a great New Year's!🎉🎊

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede

People love skiing

Post member visit pic

Pday activity-Do you wanna build a snowmaaaaan??

Snow angels

MTC Group-one year later-scary how time flies!

"The sky is awake, so I'm awake, so we have to play!"🌌❄️

 Heia alle sammen! 

The sky's awake!! Saw the northern lights for the first time this week and it was magical :). They weren't super strong but it was still super cool! It definitely made for a fun but absolutely crazy week:).

- Exchanges with Søster Haycock! So on Monday, I flew down to Oslo to have exchanges with Søster Haycock in Samdvika and it was so fun! We tried going around talking with people and got some weird looks, but I guess that's how it goes haha. We also got to visit a lady who had a really fancy house and that was quite the adventure:). Basically it was just such a fun time with Søster Haycock!

- Zone Conference! So this conference we combined with one of the other zones and it was so fun! It was great seeing all the missionaries there and we got to do a white elephant exchange at the end which was interesting haha:). It was kind of a crazy long day, but I learned a lot from the presentations and it was a fun time:). 

- Mirakler skjer! So lately Søster Cox and I have been kind of worried about one of our friends who we lost contact with. I knew her from when I was in Bodø before and she is just amazing! We have been praying that we could get in contact with her again, but didn't know how other than text. Well, on Friday, we were at the library for a lesson and as we were walking past a café there, we saw her working! So we went in, kind of terrified because we didn't know how this interaction was going to go, but as soon as she saw us her face lit up! Apparently her Facebook got hacked and couldn't contact us and was praying that she would run into us, mirakler skjer! It was so cool and she ended up coming to church for the first time on Sunday:). 

Speaking of answered prayers, there were few things this week that I had been praying quite a bit about. For a long time, I have loved learning about prayer and how powerful and crucial that line of communication is with our Heavenly Father. This week I had a few very specific thoughts on my mind and I just needed maybe not complete answers but definitely guidance. With that said, this week taught me again how amazing prayer is. He hears you, He listens, and He does answer. He answers in a way that is so personal to you that shows how much He loves and cares for us. The answers don't always come when we want or they aren't always what we want, but they are what we need and they come when we need them most. He cares too much to leave us alone.

Glad i dere! God Jul! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas! 

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede 

Northern Lights!

Northern Lights!

"The boys are back!" 🎵😎

 Heia alle sammen!

Well this week we have had an interesting turn of events so I'm just going to get right into it!

- Emergency Transfer! Yep! On Tuesday, I got a call from President saying I needed to go to Bodø because there is a sister that needed to leave for medical purposes. So less than 24 hours later, I was on a flight back to Bodø and I am now here with Søster Cox! She was in my MTC group, so it's been super fun to catch up and she's just amazing! It was really tough having to leave Trondheim (there were definitely some tears), but I was able to see some people before I left. Søster Nartker and Søster Harmer are just incredible and are already doing great things there . We are all just praying that the sister who had to leave is able to get better soon so she can come back. 

- Bodø! So now I'm back in Bodø. Let's just say it's a little different from when I was here last. Instead of the sun never going down and it being green and relatively warm, it is now dark. The sun comes up for a couple hours but it's behind the mountains so we actually never see it, haha. Basically we are in what is called the dark times (mørketid:)), very snowy and very cold. I will never complain about it being cold in Utah anymore because this is the tundra haha:). So it's been great! It actually has been super fun and just great to see the members here again:). 

- Fika! (It's where you meet up with someone at a café) Ok but before I left Trondheim, we had a really great fika with a girl we found on Facebook. She was super cute and was very interested to learn more about what we believe in, woot woot! It went great so I hope maybe now they are teaching her :).

Ok so with all the craziness this week, I'm not going to lie, I was really nervous and scared and was just trying to feel the Lord with me in all of this. It was a little hard at times. But during my personal study on Thursday, I read this verse in Moroni 8 and it said, "Perfect Love casteth out Fear". Oh my goodness, it was exactly what I needed. I thought about the love that our Father in Heaven has for us. Yes, He gives us hard things but they are never more than we can handle and they are always for our benefit. And then I think about the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He loves us too much to leave us to overcome our trials by ourselves. He suffered so we wouldn't ever be alone even if it felt like we were alone. His love is what casteth out all fear and allows us to find peace and stillness even when the winds and waves are still becoming bigger. However, they will never grow bigger than His infinite, perfect love.

Glad i dere! Have an amazing week! :)

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede

Trondheim Christmas Market

Back in Bodø with Søster Cox

Dinner movie with the Christ Child video

Bodø is just beautiful (this is about how light it gets)

The wind was so strong, I couldn't open my eyes. Haha!

Goodbyes at the airport 😢

One last picture of the Trondheim Trio 💗

"Hi I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!" ☃️

 Heia alle sammen!

What a week! Definitely have had a lot of things happen this week, but I don't remember half the things that happened so thank goodness for journals haha :). Here's the update!

- Book of Mormon stand! Helped out with the Book of Mormon stand this week and it was very cold, but worth it because we gave a Book of Mormon to a girl who was wanting to become more religious, woot woot! 

- Hugs! So we were out street contacting as we were walking to the church today and we were walking past a Norwegian old lady. I said hi and she looked at me and just stopped. She asked me if I knew her and I said no and just wanted to say hi and right then she just lit up and gave me a hug haha:)! That was definitely a first and definitely made my day:).

- Julekonsert! On Sunday, our ward had a Christmas concert and I got to help accompany the choir and it was so fun! We also all sang a couple Norwegian Christmas songs and they were so fun! 

- Julemarked! So Trondheim apparently has one of the biggest Christmas markets in Norway and it started this week! It was so fun to walk around and see all the food and shops! We all tried "gløgg" for the first time which is basically apple cider but better 😋. It is now one of my favorite things from Norway:).

This week during District Council we got on the topic of success on the mission. Now, I remember when I first got called to Norway, I was told that I would not see a whole lot of baptisms and not a lot of people would want to talk to me. The longer I've been here, the more I've seen how that would make sense but... when have any of the Lord's biggest miracles made sense? In Moroni 6:4 it says, "their names were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God."

It can be very easy to get caught up in the numbers of everything, but one of the many things my parents taught me growing up is that it's not about the numbers, but about the people who those numbers represent. It's about bringing people closer to Christ. We can't control where people are on their path back to come unto Christ, but we can help them along wherever that may be. This week has probably been my favorite week of talking to people on the street and just helping those around me because I felt like I wasn't just trying to preach, but I was just trying to minister and connect with people so they can feel His love. Is faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost important? YES! They are so important! But how are we supposed to obtain those things and endure to the end without that relationship with our Savior? Just like that scripture, we record to remember and so we can nourish them with the word of God and I might add the LOVE of God. I know that as we come closer to Christ and help others come closer to Him, we will find that peace and joy in our lives "at all times, in all things, and in all places." 

Glad i dere! God Jul! Wish you all a great week!

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede 

"Gliiiide and pivot! Gliiiide and pivot!" ⛄️⛸️

 Heia alle sammen!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving this week! We got to have a little Thanksgiving dinner with our district and it was so fun! I am just so grateful for Norway, amazing companions, incredible members, the opportunity I have to be a missionary and help others learn more about Christ:). 

- ICE! Lots of it! Walking is honestly not the most safe mode of transportation and I'm about ready to get a sled or ice skates. My comps and I had a lot of close calls and unfortunately Søster Nartker took one for the team as we try to "walk" down a steep icy driveway...yep she slid down instead haha:).

- NAMSOS! Another road trip up to Namsos where we visited one of our new members and her daughter. It was so fun and definitely just so nice to spend time with them:). Was definitely a highlight when we were saying goodbye and her eleven year old daughter gave me a hug by body slamming me down to the ground . Love that girl:)

- At språkkafé this guy who Søster Nartker and I had talked to on the street came. When we first met him he said that he was athiest and did not believe in God. Well, that was about a week and a half ago... Then he showed up to språkkafé and informed us that he is now Christian! The Lord works in mysterious ways 

Speaking of the Lord's works, I was reading again in Ether this week and chapter 12 is just amazing! I knew that it was good, but I don't think I realized how good. But one of my favorite things was all the examples of faith that are given: Moses, Alma and Almulek, Lehi and Nephi, Ammon, the brother of Jared, etc. 

In verse 19 it says"And there were many whose faith was so exceedingly strong, even before Christ came, who could not be kept from within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and they were glad."

I sometimes don't think we realize how powerful God's power is. All you need is a tiny seed of faith to allow it to work in your life. In the Santa Claus movies with Tim Allen one of the lines is "Seeing isn't believing but believing is seeing." Faith is what allows us to see God's power already working miracles in our lives. The "eye of faith" is what opens the heavens and allows us to experience the joy of Jesus Christ in our lives. 

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

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede

Winter wonderland drive to Namsos

Ice adventure

Road trip naps!

Practicing my posture at the young adult activity

Pday to Nidarosdomen

Thanksgiving

"Snow! It had to be snow" ❄️

 Heia alle sammen!

Soooooo y'all remember that part in Frozen where Anna is hiking through the thigh deep snow in her dress??? Yep! We were walking through a neighborhood this week and we weren't quite thigh deep, but let's say there was lots of snow. On the other hand our hike today, THAT was thigh deep and it was an adventure . We love winter! Anyways, here's the week:).

- Søster Harmer has arrived!! This week we got a new addition to the Trondheim sister crew and she is awesome! She just came to Norway and has seriously just jumped in with both feet. The three of us had lots of fun learning Norwegian, trying not to fall on ice, driving and walking through lots of snow, getting accidentally lost and separated (don't worry we found each other again haha), and just doing the work! We are all super excited for the transfer!

- We had a Thanksgiving ward party and there was so much food! It was so fun and quite a few of our friends came and it was awesome! The members are absolutely amazing and it was just so fun spending time with them:).

- We also had a lesson with one of our newly baptized members and her mom and it went just really well. We got talking about the Holy Ghost and it was just a very simple, tender lesson that just made me so happy:).

- Did just laugh at myself when I stood too close to the road to be splashed by muddy slush by a bus... it was a day.  

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I would just want to express gratitude for Jesus Christ and His gospel which has brought so much joy to my life and so many others. Lately, I've been studying more about the Priesthood and how I can better access God's power in my life. I have lots of thoughts, but too many to share all of them so here is one thing that has been a constant take away: covenants. The covenants we make hold so much power and so much more than I realized. It's our covenants that not only bind us to our Lord and Savior but they are key to accessing His power in our lives. There is specifically one covenant that we make that especially plays a big role in that and that is our first: baptismal. When we are baptized and as we take the sacrament, we enter into a promise with the Lord that allows us to have the Spirit with us always. How else does the Spirit guide, protect, comfort, and strengthen us if it isn't through the power of God? It doesn't matter who you are, if you make AND keep covenants with the Lord you WILL have the Spirit with you and therefore have access to God's power in your life. The Savior said He would not leave us comfortless and the more I see His power in my life the more thankful I am for Him and His sacrifice that made it possible for His power to work in my everyday life. I know He and His power will allow us to overcome all.

I am so grateful for you all and wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede

Pday hike

Pday hike

Pday hike

Snow angel

More trips in the snow!

"I'mmmmmmm the leader, I'llllllllll say what it was... it was just a lil' ol' cricket bug."🐶

 Hei alle sammen!

It was a fun week so we are just going to get right into it!

- Transfer news! I'm staying in Trondheim! Woot woot! I was really hoping that I would be staying. I was very happy to get the news that I would not only be getting another transfer here in Trondheim but also be staying with Søster Nartker too! We are also super excited because we are actually going to be training a new missionary. So, we will have three sisters in Trondheim. Crazy! So this morning we got to rearrange the whole apartment to try and fit three, because it's not the biggest apartment but I think it has turned out really nice:).

- Trip up to Namsos! We got to drive three hours this week up to Namsos and visit a new member and her daughter which was so fun! We got to help the Namsos elders teach the daughter about the creation and it was awesome! It was funny because her daughter kept saying, "jeg er sjefen" (I'm the boss) and so we had to follow and listen to what she said (hence subject line from the Aristocrats). It was also so good to spend time with the member in person because usually we just call her on facetime, so this was much better.

- Exchanges with Bodø! Bodø sisters got to come down to Trondheim which was so fun! I got to be with the one and only Søster Berg! I just love that girl! I used to see her a little bit when I was in Oslo so it was super fun to catch up with her. We got to go knock on doors in the rain which was actually a lot more fun than it sounds haha :). We also visited a member and we listened to their story of how they found the church and it was just awesome:).

This week as I was reading in Ether about how the Brother of Jared (knowing his real name-no wonder we just call him the Brother of Jared:) was preparing to travel across the ocean to the promised land. I had a lot of different thoughts as I was reading through chapter 2 but one of them was with verses 24 and 25 when the Lord says,"winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth...I prepare you against these things".

I thought a lot about how it is the Lord who sent the winds, waves, rains, and floods. Sometimes (maybe more like a lot of times) we see the winds, waves, rains, and floods as these terrible trials that come into our lives that are highly inconvenient which can be and is true. So why would the Lord be the one to send them? In this story, it is the very wind, waves, rains, and floods the Lord sends that gets them to the promised land. Yes, the trials in our lives come and make us feel broken, but it's those very trials, when overcome, what get us to where the Lord intends us to be and that is ultimately with Him. And what really brings hope and peace is that He has prepared the way. These aren't just trials, but the very things in our lives that give us the opportunity to have a personal experience with the Savior and become closer to Him. 

Glad i dere! Have a great week and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

Søster Twede

Rearranging the apartment

Prelude for church on Sunday

Christmas lights are going up

We love snowy cars

Exchanges with Sister Berg!

"We're going on [some] trips [with] our favorite [airline], zooming through the skies, [tired missionaries]!" 🎵✈️

(Sorry that didn't rhyme in the end but you get what I mean haha:)

Heia alle sammen!

So 4 flights, 5 trains, 3 busses, 2 very early mornings, and 1 road trip later... we are safely residing back again in Trondheim with...drumroll🥁... my Norwegian driver's license!!!! Woot woot!!! Definitely the most expensive (regarding time and money) souvenir I will have from Norway, but you know I guess it will be worth it:). With that said, here was the week!

- This week consisted of 1 trip to Oslo and 2 trips to Fredrikstad. In Fredrikstad I had to take my driving practice and test which went well:). Also a little fun surprise is that when we were in Fredrikstad the first time, so was Søster Washburn and Søster Haycock for the driving practice! It was so fun seeing them! 

- Zone conference!! Oh my goodness it was so fun! First of all, we had President Emily Belle Freeman and her husband and a member of the Area presidency come and visit Norway. So we got to combine with the west zone for zone conference! It was so fun seeing everyone! I got to see most of all my MTC district, mission companions, missionary senior couples and just a ton of mission buddies:). The missionaries are awesome! It was also amazing to hear from the church leaders! We got to ask them a bunch of questions and it was amazing to hear their insights and just learn so much from them. 

- We also had a lesson with one of our newly baptized members and it was awesome! We're trying to help her get more and more familiar with the Book of Mormon. So we started using the Book of Mormon videos and it was so fun! We also got to explain more about temples and it so fun to see how eager she is to learn more and more:).

Speaking of learning, zone conference was awesome! Like I said, we got to ask church leaders questions and I learned so much. I can't really share everything, but there were a few things that were shared that reminded me of something I heard once: "When you are on the Lord's errand, you are entitled to his help."

I think it is has been very easy to feel at times alone in the work, like the spiritual well-being of all these people is on your shoulders (I'm being a little dramatic but you get the point:). However, President Freeman talked about how we can better call upon the power of God in our lives and that it quite simply requires us making covenants and then keeping them. That's it. Simple yes, easy not always, BUT always worth it. A lot of times we forget how almighty and all-knowing the Lord is. He knows what's going on and wants to help, but can't unless we let Him. Or maybe we do ask but don't necessarily have the faith that the miracle is really going to happen. In Moroni 7:33 it says, 

"And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me."

We can't put limits on the Lord. The whole point of His ultimate sacrifice was that it was infinite, limitless, and all encompassing. When it comes to His will, it will be done. 

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

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede 

Zone Conference

Mini companionship reunion

Good morning sunrise! (This is when I wish I had a better camera.)

Plane #, who knows! But, pretty view!

Pday hike

"I'm guessing you haven't had much experience with heat...Nope!" ☃️

 Heia alle sammen!

First of all, I would just like to say thank you so much for all the birthday wishes! It definitely meant a lot to hear from you guys! Thank you so much for all the love and support you all show! :)

With the end of October and start of November winter decided to greet us with hail and snow not necessarily falling down... but sideways. Basically the big coat, hats, gloves, scarfs all came out this week. Super fun but not always the most practical when we had 3 hours of nothing to do but talking to people on the street haha, thank goodness for buses:). But just like that the summer blow out has come to an end and we say hello to the winter department! 

- This week we traveled to Oslo again for another meeting (we love meetings ha ha:). It was actually super fun because we got to see other missionaries! Søster Nartker and I had a little mini reunion with Søster Cox and then I got to see Søster Gundersen again:). The missionaries here are just awesome!

- We got to visit one of our friends who just had her baby! Her baby is so cute! We haven't officially started teaching her but we've told her about what we believe and she's super interested to learning more and is wanting to come to church when she has recovered more:).

- Exchanges with the Tromsø sisters! I finally got the opportunity to meet Søster Hawkins in person and it was just so fun to spend the day with her! We got to visit a member which was super fun. Søster Nartker and I also got to be featured in their Julebrus (Norwegian Christmas soda) rating videos with the Hamar Julebrus so that was a party:).

So this week in "Come Follow Me" we got to read more about Mormon. Now I knew before that Mormon had it rough but after reading about his life again and also watching the Book of Mormon video along with the chapters I have gained a lot more respect for him. He was quite literally the only one who believed in Christ and what is really heartbreaking was that no matter how much he tried to help those around him learn of the joy and peace that comes from following Christ, no one would listen. To be honest, at times it has been very easy to feel like this through the mission. I'm walking along the street, knocking on doors, talking to people on the bus trying to share with them the good news and what great joy and peace one finds through Christ and His restored church but they won't listen. It at these times where I think that maybe Mormon was kept there to help those around him come closer to Christ or maybe he was there to come closer to Christ himself. It's the times where you feel completely alone that you more readily notice the quiet, steady, peaceful presence of your loving Savior stand right next to you. The invitation "Come follow Me" was for everyone and guess what...that includes you. We can't control what other do but we can control what we do and I'm choosing to follow Him.

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

Kia Kaha and just keep swimming:)

- Søster Twede

Matching scripture cases with Sister Gundersen

Exchanges with Sister Hawkins

Dinner to go on the train

Pizza party!

Getting ready to brave the cold!

Mini reunion with Sister Cox