Have a pretty, happy, wonderful Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Hello my dear friends!

Just a quick Christmas note! This week we have met a lot of neat people and we have had some neat experiences.

This morning Sister Frampton and I were practicing the first 

lesson and I started to talk about when Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ and the Spirit was so strong. We were just in our little apartment talking to ourselves, but the Spirit still testifies every time. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and I know that Jesus Christ lives! I am so grateful that He does and I know that He is the head of His church.

Oh! Thank you so much for all of love I have gotten in the mail lately! Oh my goodness. I have been spoiled rotten. You guys are absolutely wonderful.

Have a pretty, happy, wonderful Christmas. I love you and I am praying for you!

Love, Søster Pyne

 

I love Oslo! I'm staying for another transfer! Hooray!!

this is walking to church at 9:30 a.m. the sun is already
thinking about going down and it just barely came up!

Send me some snow or something.

Hello!

So on Sunday, this boy walks into church. And Sister Frampton starts talking to him, and he says, "This is my first time in church. But I ordered a Book of Mormon online a year ago. And I talked to the missionaries once, but not really. I just wanted to see how this church is." We got to teach him after church and it was crazy! He knew all about the living prophet, the Word of Wisdom, the pre-existence. He is just this 20 year old Norwegian named Magnus and he fell from the sky, I think! I'm really excited to meet with him again when he comes back from Christmas break.

Last night Sister Frampton and I were out talking to people and this girl was coming toward us and walking fast like she was in a hurry, but the Spirit said, "Stop her." It's like when you are supposed to bear your testimony on fast Sunday you, know? Your heart beats a lot faster and you just have to do it. So I said, "Hei!" And she stopped and looked at me and stared at my tag and then said in Norwegian, "I'm from Salt Lake. But I have chosen to not..." and then she pointed to my tag and shook her head. What? We don't meet people from Utah here! I don't know why we were supposed to stop her, but I think that she will think about why these two missionaries stopped her. It's God's way of saying, "You can't run away from me, even in Norway!" Hahah just kidding. I know that God loves all of His children though and it feels good to follow the Spirit.

we had to dress up.

We got to go to the Freia chocolate factory this morning and oh my... it was dangerous. They just kept giving us free chocolate! It was really fun though, especially at Christmas time.

making my own chocolate today!

Merry Christmas! We even have
red curtains in our apartment!

Enjoy all that Christmas snow and freezing weather because we have rain and 40 degrees here! It's driving me crazy!

COWS!!!!!

at the relief society Christmas party

Send me some snow or something. I love you!!

Love,

Søster Pyne

A sweet message

Brother - Sister Pyne, & Brother - Sister Frampton,

I wanted to share with you an experience I had yesterday at the Rema 1000 store on my way to the YSA Center. There is an employee at the store that my wife and I have spoken to your daughters about. We all feel she is such a nice kind lady. You can tell she is not native Norwegian, and speaks with broken English, but is always so happy to see us. She has a lot of light in her eyes, and we've all commented what a great member she would be. As I walked in the store yesterday this employee was so happy to see me. As I went to check out she said, "you're the teacher, and look what I have." She showed me a wrapped Christmas present with a card signed by Sister Pyne & Sister Frampton. She said again with a big smile, "your the teacher." I told her no we are friends in the same church. She then said, "no you are a teacher, and all of you are so kind." I then told her that the reason your daughters had given her the present was that they thought she was so kind and nice, and at that moment they were my teacher. I can't tell you how it touched me that your sweet daughters, on a limited budget, would take the initiative and time to do something so caring. They are a great team, and as you can see follow the Spirit as missionaries. It is small sweet acts like your daughters performed that touch a heart, and bring honor to our Lord's Church.

Sister Rasmussen and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, and 2014 is the best year ever.

God Jul,

Elder Rasmussen

*Note from Sis. Pyne's mom: I'm sharing this because Sis. Pyne has always been my teacher in matters of giving, and it reminded me to be more thoughtful this season. And because all of these small connections we have had during her mission (and there have been many!) are evidence to me of Heavenly Father's love.

I feel like I'm walking around in a snow globe or something.

thanks for the tree mama! we decorated him!

God jul, my dears!

I don't even know where to start. I love these Norwegians and their love of Christmas. You should see Oslo. I feel like I'm walking around in a snow globe or something. It's beautiful. I don't know why Heavenly Father has blessed me so greatly.

Sunday morning I was brushing my teeth half asleep and I looked out the window and said, "Sister Frampton! Come here!" There was snow. Finally! I don't think it will ever not be magical to me to look outside the morning after it snows. It snowed all of Sunday. We helped the relief soceity president set up the Christmas tree at the church and then she fed us warm food and then we got to go to a Christmas concert with some of our new converts! It's called Jul i Toner and it is members from the whole country who get together and create an orchestra and choir. It was very professionally done and I was in heaven. At the end we all got to stand and sing, "Deilig er Jorden" which literally means "delicious is the earth" but it's the tune of "Beautiful Savior". It's their traditional song. It was really powerful and neat to be able to participate in it. Then cute ladies in their bonads (traditional Norwegian dresses) had baskets of homemade boller (yummy roll things) that they handed out. It was so much fun!

This morning, Sister Frampton and I woke up and went outside in the dark and freezing at 6:30 in the morning and went sledding!! I don't know where they came from, but we have two sleds in our apartment so we tried them out. The hill is really steep so it was really fast and fun! Then we would run back up the stairs (that's the exercise part) and do it again. We were screaming and speaking English so everyone knows who we are now... but it was worth it.

We got to meet with David 3 times this last week! He is so ready to be baptized. It's going to happen. I know it. You just feel it when they are people that you know will really get baptized. He texted us and thanked us for helping him in his life and asked when we could meet again. I love those ones! His dad died when he was 15 and he told us that his dad came to him in a dream and told him to keep following the path that he was on. He said that his dad hasn't "come to him" like that in a long time. His dad knows that it's time! We've got nothing stopping us when we have people working from both sides of the veil.

Sister Frampton met a couple on the plane when she was flying here from England and the lady had met with missionaries before and showed her her name on her ticket, so Sister Frampton remembered it and wrote it down later. We looked her up this week and found her house! She wasn't home, but her husband was and he told us we could come back when she was home. It was really neat to see his face light up as he recognized her.

After we visited him, we were knocking and Sister Hilton was with us and we all had our black puffy coats on. A man opened his door and said, "OH! What happened?" Hahaha I don't know if that meant, "Oh why are three cute girls on my doorstep at this time of night in this cold?" or "Did someone die? Why are you all wearing black?" But we laughed and talked to him for a minute. He wasn't interested... but it was funny!

No, we don't have a million investigators like other missions, and yes, we go days without finding or teaching anyone, but I still know that the Lord's hand is in this work. This kind of work means that you have to be in tune with the Spirit because it tells you exactly who to talk to. I love how close Sister Frampton is to the Spirit. We walk down the street and she says, "Not this one, not this one, ok, this one." And I feel it too and I am so grateful to be learning how to follow the Spirit and be more in tune.

Have a pretty, snowy, Christmasy week and know that I am praying for you! I love you!!

Love,

Søster Pyne

hockey rink! these Norwegians know how to do it!

this is how we get dressed in the morning.
white ninja in our thermal garments, then black ninja.

I think it was the cutest baptism I'll ever see.

 Hei dere!

hooray for the twins!!

It's so good to talk to you again! I go into my own little world in the library when I tell you about my week and then I walk outside and it's like, "oh yeah!" I'm in Norway!

Emma and Sandra got baptized on Saturday! I think it was the cutest baptism I'll ever see. These two little blonde Swedish twins in white dresses? So cute. They were so excited and expressive and happy too. After they got baptized, Emma said, "I just feel light!" There's nothing like sitting in the chapel at a baptism. The Spirit is always so thick. I love it. The program went really well and it even made President Evans cry so I think that means we did something right.

On Sunday, Tonje showed up at church! It's always good to see her. I was talking to her and she told me, "I think it's time to get baptized." What? And then all of the sudden Sister Frampton ran over to me and told me that the man that was supposed to confirm Emma and Sandra wasn't there. So we did a bunch of running around, but I'm just so grateful for Sister Frampton! We work so well together and she sees what needs to be done and just does it. She is fantastic. It all worked out and Tonje was able to be there to watch Emma and Sandra be confirmed. I cheated and kept my eyes open the whole time just to watch their faces as they were confirmed. Then I started crying so I closed my eyes. I love to watch people receive light in their lives. Light is one of my most favorite things to study in the scriptures. This light that we have-- it's the solution to everything.

So... yes... Tonje will be getting baptized. We have a lot to work on, but I believe with a lot of prayer and fasting, we can get to the point that she will be ready. Right now we have planned for the 14th. Pray for her. It's going to be exciting to see more light come into her life in these next couple of weeks.

Casper, our investigator, owns a pizza place. We visited him!

Last week Sister Frampton and I went to meet a man we had talked to on the t-bane. He wasn't there, of course, that happens all the time. But instead, there was a man working for Red Cross and he was out talking to people like we do. Sister Frampton said, "Let's talk to him instead!" So we talked to him. He is from "Barthelona" and his name is David. We met with him last night and it went really well! He said the closing prayer and said, "Thank you for this moment of peace." He told us he felt really good and he could tell that we really believe what we told him. I love when people feel the Spirit and try to verbalize it but they don't know how to explain it. Sister Frampton and I had to laugh because we had a member come who spoke Spanish as well and we were sitting with these two swooshy-haired Spanish men on a couch in Norway talking about the Gospel. David is going to get baptized. We both know it. 

We spent a day and a half in our beds with some kind of sickness. I don't know what happened, but we both were dying. Haha we tried getting up the second day and having a normal morning, but after personal study we both looked at each other and said, "Time to get back in our beds." That was frustrating. But we are feeling better now and we both fasted yesterday to find prepared people this week and we hadn't even talked about it before! So. I'm ready for a week of miracles.

the Swedish sisters gave me a birthday present and it was a real live
clam with a pearl inside! i had to open it myself and then put it in
the necklace. the coolest birthday present ever!

I hope Thanksgiving was lovely! Bring on the Christmas! Norwegians light a candle each Sunday of December leading up to Christmas and they start advent calendars on December 1. The kids get little gifts and they do something Christmasy each day. Ah man. This place is magic. Be Norwegian and do something fun like that! And of course, remember our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that He lives and I know that His light is the reason this time of year is so magical.

I love you!
Love,

Søster MJP

So sweet!!

Dear Family of Sister Pyne,

My name is Annalisa, and last week I was in Oslo picking up my youngest sister (Sister Pace) at the conclusion of her mission in Norway. I had the opportunity to meet your wonderful daughter one evening in the young adult center in Oslo. She and her companion and my sister taught a lesson to an investigator my sister had helped find months ago. It was a sweet experience for me to be a part of. Afterward she and her companion didn't have plans for dinner so we brought some pizza back to the center and visited for a few minutes, and met again a few days later at church. I wanted to let you know she is a strong missionary and she radiates the spirit wherever she goes. It was a pleasure to get to know her a little bit. I wish her much success with the rest of her mission.

Sincerely,

Annalisa

 

 

He got baptized!

Hey pals!

I don't even know where to start. This week has been fabulous. It is freeeezing here. I'm learning the art of wearing 18,000 layers and still looking "professional." Ha. Yeah right.

Well, first, most importantly, Adrian got baptized. It was a really neat experience. I just can't wait to see where his life goes because he really is incredible. You just feel this spirit around him and you just know. The baptism went very smoothly and I will never forget his face as he came up out of the water. He was beaming. It's amazing to see what a knowledge of their Savior does for people. It was his birthday too, so we sang to him and ate cake and gave him Book of Mormon presents. He liked them. And then on Sunday, as he walked up to the stand to be confirmed, he walked a little taller. The bishop confirmed him and it was a really neat blessing. He said that he would be able to overcome his weaknesses so that he could share the gospel. Um... MISSION! And then Adrian opened his eyes and just sat there for a second. I think he was overwhelmed with feelings that come from the Spirit. He was so happy. Sister Pitts got to come for the baptism so I sat between her and Sister Frampton and we all squeezed each other and smiled through the whole thing. I love my girls and I am so grateful for good people that want to do the right thing. I am so proud of Adrian and grateful to know him. Bringing people to Christ. What a thing.

Speaking of good people.... oh my. Sister Frampton made my birthday amazing! I almost feel guilty having such a good birthday as a missionary. Haha we went for a good run and then while I was in the shower she decorated and made me breakfast and folded my laundry. Then she gave me a surprise present! I don't know how she snuck buying it when we were shopping last p-day. Then we went to TGI Fridays for lunch and she surprised me again and had all the missionaries there waiting! And then another surprise! The senior couple made me a divine chocolate cake and the YSA made me stand on a chair while they sang the Norwegian birthday song and Adrian gave me the kindest note and a lucky Chinese dragon turtle. And the Swedish twins called and sang me the birthday song in Swedish. Again-- I am so grateful for good people. It was a wonderful day. 21 baby. Gross.

The twins are getting baptized on Saturday. It's been really neat to come closer to them and help them plan this baptism that they have been waiting their whole life for. They haven't had it easy, that's for sure and I admire them so much for holding fast to what they know is right. I feel really blessed to be here right now so I can learn from them and develop our friendship. I love them so much! They will come to Utah someday. I keep telling them there are husbands waiting for them there. :)

Unnur brought us a friend on Monday! He saw her on a bus and thought she was cute (of course-- she's the prettiest person I've ever met) and so he saw her again and decided to talk to her. She talked to him for a long time about religion and then just said, "You know what? Do you want to meet the missionaries?" And he did! His name is Casper and he's awesome! We are going to his pizza place on Wednesday and we will talk more there. He told us he would start reading in the Book of Mormon. I love members who help us find prepared people. Hint hint members... get to work.

Oslo is getting all Christmasy and we are having missionary Thanksgiving today. I gotta go back to our apartment and make rolls! I made some this morning already and they are super good thanks to you sending me that little orange sticky note recipe, mom. The missionaries will thank you for that. Me too!

Have a good week! I love you!

Love,

Søster Pyne

check out the bunny!

my only birthday in Oslo

sunset at 2:30 on the dock. yeah, Norway!

we made our own legit sushi! it was delicious!

I just know that God is so aware of His children.

I'm sitting in the library with tears running down my face because I am so grateful to be assoicated with such incredible people. I feel like I say that so often, but really, I'm not sure you guys understand how incredible you are. Thank you so much for your kind, uplifting words. I feel like I suck all of the strength out of the computer and go again to do another week. I know that the Lord's hand is in my life and your lives and I am just so filled with gratitude.

I finally got my sweet girl from the USA this week! Sister Frampton is a dream. I feel like I have known her forever and we are best friends. She has such a quiet dignity and she is so brave and bold. I love her so much and I am so grateful to get to be with her this transfer (and hopefully some more!) At least we will get to be in Oslo together for Christmas. And that is such a treat.

Last night we met with the Swedish twins and they decided that it is finally time to get baptized. They will be getting baptized on November 30th. Adrian is getting baptized this Saturday, so we will have 2 baptism weekends in a row! Lots of planning, but so exciting! These people are going to be able to make a promise with their Heavenly Father. I am so happy for them.

Last night another one of our investigators, Wang, also called us. He has been having a hard time with a lot of commitments and he keeps saying, "If you want to give up on me, I understand." No no no, Wang, we won't be giving up on you. But he called us to tell us he has a friend that would like to meet because she has "worldly views" and he thinks we could talk to her. It sounds like not that big of a deal, but it was to us because it meant that Wang is actually hearing some of what we say and that he recognizes it can help! So that was really exciting.

Sister Frampton and I talked about our goals for these next six weeks and we really want to help Tonje get baptized. We met with her on Saturday and talked about the Plan of Salvation some more. She sitll reads out of the Book of Mormon and comes to church. She's just slowly progressing and my patience is slowly improving ;) Pray for her though. She needs prayers and lots of love.

It's dark outside right now and it's 3:40. Ah yeah. I think the only thing that will get me through this winter is the fact that I will only be here for one. But actually, the city is starting to look really pretty! Sister Frampton and I go on our cold runs through the city in the mornings and they are starting to put up Christmas lights! It's really exciting.

I just know that God is so aware of His children. He understands needs and He understands how to help and He has a plan that is bigger than we can comprehend. I have to remind myself of that and just relax and trust. There is nothing He does not know and nothing He cannot do. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior. I know that they live.

Happy Thanksgiving! I think Thanksgiving is this week? Actually. I think it's next Thursday, huh? I don't know. Enjoy eating lots of good American food and I'll see you next year. Haha. Love you all!

Love,

Søster Pyne

I know that God lives because of all the good things in life.

i bought a birthday present, and the man asked if i wanted
it wrapped, so i said, why not?

Hey guys!

How is everyone doing? I've been thinking a lot about all the of the people that have influenced my life and I am so grateful for the community that we have. There are so many great teachers and leaders and mentors and I know that we all influence each other and help each other. It's fun to think about all of my friends in Utah! I love Utah. Yes, it's happy valley, but I love it. I think that it's the best place.

Well... Sister Hilton and I will be separated this week. I'm real sad about it. She has been such a fun companion to be with. I am grateful for her influence and for what she teaches me. That means that Sister
Frampton is finally coming to Oslo! Hooray! I'm excited to meet her on Wednesday. I will be here in Oslo for the next six weeks and could be longer. We will just have to see.

my nice comp has a nice camera and
she wanted to use the morning light...
so we went out on our balcony. haha
mostly i just want to show you these
gorgeous roses!

The other day was just one of those really bad days. Lots of things happened and lots of people were angry  and yelled at us and I was tired because a random drunk man called us and woke us up in the middle of the night and you know-- just a yucky day. But Heavenly Father always knows how to cheer us up! Guess what?? We found the most beautiful roses for the best deal in the world! They were 20 kroner for 20 roses which means that they were like less than $4. So we bought some and took them to our apartment and ate homemade macaroni and cheese. That helped. Haha.

Adrian continues to just be his golden investigator self. I am grateful for how much I have learned from him. He feels it, he knows it is right, and he sticks with it. I've never seen such a strong conviction of something come in such a short amount of time. The spirit works miracles.

I know that I only tell you about Adrian every week, we are working with a few other people but there isn't anything that exciting to say about them yet. Include all of them in your prayers though!

It's really interesting to me how my testimony seems to just bounce back every time something happens. People fight and Satan fights so hard but in the end it doesn't matter. The dangerous thing is us forgetting. And that's why the Spirit is so important because it is the reminder. I am grateful for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. There will always be reassurance and hope to remind us who will win.

We had all my girls in Oslo this week for a training meeting!
I was soso happy to see all them!

We taught a man named Wang yesterday and we had a wonderful member, Josef, that helped us. Our discussion led to human relationships and how the Book of Mormon teaches us about a relationship with God and through that our human relationships become so much more rich and beautiful. The Book of Mormon is all about humanity. It is written for humanity. It has all the answers.

Being a missionary is the most difficult thing I've ever done. But the experience gained and the change that happens-- if you let it-- is really significant and important. I'm grateful that it's no longer than a year and a half, but I'm grateful to be here too. I know that God lives because of all the good things in life. He is in charge.

I love you! Be happy.

Love,
Søster Pyne

love Sister Oldham!

we look a little lost

we had a sisters lunch and it was so koselig! look at the
candle! Norway knows how to do it!

It's MOvember. Which means have mustaches. I think it's funny though
cause they still call it Movember here but the word for mustache is
"bart". Whatever. Anyway... these two are my Swedish twins. They are
getting baptized soon! The elders have been working with them and I
love them.

haha almost!

there we go!

just a few pictures

pretty Norway!

Fall Ward Party. We had the Elders go out and
collect leaves for the tables, and I'm obsessed
with those cute little white berries!

Heavenly Father has bigger plans for us than we even realize!

My dear friends,

I typed this once and then the computer deleted it... so sorry if it's not as good the second time. Maybe that's not what Heavenly Father wanted me to say. "No, Mikelle, start over. Try again." Haha He says that a lot.

On Friday we met with Adrian and he sat down and wrote, "I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I want to get baptized very very badly. Amen." And he wrote the last period and then sat back with a grin. Of course I just sat there and cried. Who is this kid? I feel like he is my little brother or something. I always tell him that this decision is more significant than he even realizes and I try to explain it to him. He's probably sick of me talking. Haha. After church yesterday Sister Hilton and I made him hamburgers cause they are his favorite food. We made them extra fat and marinated them over night to make sure they werevery American. Haha and then we made homemade fries and chocolate milkshakes of course too. I think he liked it :) Only he ate his hamburger with a fork and knife... Norwegians always do that.

At church yesterday I sat in sacrament meeting with Tonje on one side and Adrian on the other and I had one of those "look at your life" moments. Who would have ever thought I'd be sitting with my friends in a chapel in Norway, understanding what the speaker was saying, and wearing a name tag? Not me. Heavenly Father has bigger plans for us than we even realize!

We got 11 referrals this week and we got to talk to Lauren! I don't remember what I told you about her and her cute family, but they are the ones Sister Pitts and I got the impression that we needed to visit them. She told us that we could come back for dinner sometime! Unnur went with us and it was so dark and pouring and rain and we had puddles in our shoes of course (it sounds like a movie) but we got to the top of the hill and I asked if Unnur would say a prayer for us. We huddled our umbrellas together and prayed. I love when Unnur prays. And then our prayer was answered! I was so happy that we got to talk to Lauren!

Also. The bible dictionary is magic. Here is what is says, "Fear is spoken of as something unworthy of a child of God, something that 'perfect love casteth out.' The first effect of Adam's sin was that he was afraid. Sin destroys that feeling of confidence God's children should feel in a loving Father and produces instead a feeling of shame and guilt. Ever since the Fall, God has been teaching us not to fear, but with penitence to ask forgiveness in full confidence of receiving it."Amen! Don't be scared. That's something I'm going to work on this week. I don't want to be scared anymore.

we tried to bring halloween to Norway!

I love you! Heavenly Father knows our hearts and He takes care of them. Pray for Adrian too, please! He is going to need lots of strength this next month as he makes such a big decision.

Love,
Søster Pyne

look at the beautiful leaves and the sun!

Old pics from Sis. Hilton from my Northern Zone Mo i Rana Days