We are seeing miracles here in Mo i Rana, people! Miracles.

My dear dear people!

I am so grateful for this email time every week. I need it so much and I am so blessed to have so many wonderful emails to read. Thank you thank you thank you. They truly strengthen me and help me to do it again for another week.

So.. last week was rough when it came to finding somewhere to email, you know? We ended up at the library and there is a 30 minute limit to use the computer, so I typed as fast as I could and then we had to go. I was so frustrated and cried all the way back to our apartment. But. There was a man from Congo named Vikrossy sitting in the corner of the library. He came up to us and said, "Are you Catholic?" And we told him no, but we were Christian and he asked if we had church he could come to. Uh.. YEAH!!! We made an appointment with him and taught him this last week. We introduced the Book of Mormon and he just quietly listened and smiled at us. He speaks English, so of course I loved that, but I also loved how the Lord literally plopped him in our laps. We are seeing miracles here in Mo i Rana, people! Miracles.

We've been praying all week that the computers would work for us today in the little internet cafe where they didn't work last time. And of course they work today! Thank goodness. I know that the Lord answers prayers. My sweet companion knows how important email time is to me so she is letting me spend lots of time here.

We went to Trondheim this week for zone conference. This country is crazy. Everyone just flies everywhere all the time. We got on a baby plane for about 50 minutes and flew to such a beautiful city! Oh my gosh. It was breath-taking. I am so grateful to be here in Norway. We stayed with the sisters there for the night and then had a very good, motivating conference with all of the Northern missions and President. He told us that when Cortez invaded Mexico, he made his men burn the boats they had come in as they ran into the city so there was no going back. President said, "Burn the boats as we go foward. This isn't business as usual." We have 26 baptisms this year for the whole mission and the goal is 100. We'll get there. I can just feel it. Pray for us.

We rode in a taxi thing to the airport and the lady that rode with us paid for us! Just because. We didn't even really talk to her. Such a tender mercy. Norwegians are either extremely kind, or extremely rude. Haha we were "banking" aka knocking (and you pronounce it like a snobby British person) the other day and we found a really cool dude with a bunch of piercings and tats that agreed to meet with us again! His name is Kurt but he spells it Qrt for fun. But we also found a lady that told us, "Just keep on walking!" And at another house a girl answered the door and she was kinda interested in talking to us. Her mom came out to throw something away and then looked at us, pushed her daughter out of the way, and shut the door in our faces. Haha I thought it was so funny! That's fine, lady. It's your salvation, not mine. And.... then of course there is the sweet old lady, Eleanor. We visited her the other day, she's been a member for a long time and she knows her stuff but she's going a little crazy. She cleaned out her fridge and gave us all of her unwanted food. It was really nice of her! But she just talks and talks and talks. I was doing my best to look like I understood (even though I didn't) and she looked at me all of the sudden and said, "Du forstår ingenting" which means " you understand nothing." Yes, that would be me, Eleanor. Søster Morris and I say it to each other all the time now.

When we make eye contanct with people we have major power here. Most of them look really terrified and then if we talk to them, we have to be prepared to do CPR cause they think they're going to die. Haha good thing I'm certified. There are people who are ready for this though and we are going to find them!

It's a miracle everytime we get where we are trying to go in this place. We almost missed our flight back to Mo i Rana from zone conference but we ran through the airport, got a bunch of weird looks, and made it! The Lord loves His missionaries and watches out for them always. Also. This week we rode the bus kinda ignorantly to find two different investigators houses and we found them flawlessly!

We found out that we have bikes this week! They are in this cellar thing under our apartment and you could kill someone under there so it's not enjoyable to get them out, but I like to ride them. We are very grateful for them too cause everything is so spread out here cause it's a little place. This town is so broken. It has the highest suicide rate in the country and you can see in people's faces that they need relief. My heart hurts because I want so badly to help them know that they have a Savior! Most of the time people just tell us that they don't believe in God. I get so discouraged sometimes. I am so grateful for my testimony, for the testimonies of those that I love, and for our knowledge of the gospel. I know that it is true more than I have ever known! Hold fast to it. It is what makes life happy.

We have literally seen miracles. I know I keep saying that, but it's true! We have 6 new investigators this week. That doesn't happen. Especially here. But we do!! Ahhhhh it makes me so happy. One of them, we met just last night. We were at another investigator, Mirella's, house for dinner. She's from Cuba and makes super good food and we had been fasting all day so it was excellent. But she said she had a friend coming. We didn't really understand cause she speaks Spanishy Norsk, but he showed up at exactly the right time. He prayed with us, read 2 Nephi 31 with us, and then testified to Mirella why she needs to follow Christ and be baptized. What? He got all excited about the Book of Mormon and pulled out his notebook and started copying verses. We told him he could have one for free and he said, "When can you meet tomorrow?" We're meeting him tonight. Pray for his heart to accept what we teach him. He also complimented my Norwegian and said that I'm very smart which was so sweet because I'm definitely struggling in that area... I pray every day to be abe to understand.
We've been having a hard time getting Helena to pray. She came to church yesterday and told us that she prayed and that she felt so much peace! Another miracle. I am so grateful because she needs love so badly.

Oh and then Romine. She is from Iran but she read the Old Testament and decided to become Christian because it doesn't mention Muhammed anywhere. She's very educated and very sweet. She had us over for lunch on Saturday. I was so grateful for her kindness. We really hope that she accepts the teachings of the Book of Mormon fully. Please pray for her so she can have more happiness in her life! She has a cute little family that needs it too!

Um... also. Oh man. So much to tell you. We met Andreas this week. He's a less active member and he is 19. He is incredible! He has had a really rough life and he said one day he was recording in the studio (he's an awesome musician) and he said, "God told me to put my guitar down and go out on the street." So he did, and there were the elders! He has so much faith and he wants to come contacting with us which would be much appreciated. He really wants to move to America too so he likes to speak English and he said he's help me with my Norwegian! I have a video of him playing guitar for us, but I think it's too big to email. Ah. Maybe I'll send a mem card home again. I just want you guys to see everything!

I read a quote from President Monson this morning during personal study in the conference Ensign. He said, *Young men (of course young women too), I hope you appreciate the sacrifices which your parents so willingly make in order for you to serve. Their labors will sustain you, their faith encourage you, their prayers uphold you. A mission is a family affair. Though the expanse of continents or oceans my separate, hearts are as one." I feel you guys so close. I know that our hearts are as one and I cannot express my gratitude enough. You are incredible. We are doing hard things and our hearts are stretching so much. It's miserable sometimes. But I know that blessings flow when we do what the Lord needs and I am grateful to wear His tag. I know that His plan for us is the only plan! My how blessed we are. Have a wonderful week and find peace and comfort through our Savior, Jesus Christ. Of course I'm praying for you.

Love,

Søster Pyne

Also sorry there will be a thousand emails with pictures. I don't want to take them in less quality on my camera so they just have to be huge. But the baby plane that we rode on and the double decker on that we took from Houston to London and then beautiful Trondheim and Søster Morris made me kjøtt kaker! Also, mom, the pic of the little house is so you can squeal at how cute it is with me. I creepily took it and then we knocked on the door and I'm pretty sure the lady saw me take it cause she didn't want to talk to us. Oh well. Haha you have to come! You would die. I die every day wanting to show you stuff. Also. There are pics of my apartment!