Pitts and Pyne in Oslo.

Oh my goodness!! I'm dying to tell you everything and I'm going to type as fast as my little fingers can go.

I'M IN OSLO! And I'm in love. I have had the craziest, most exhausting, my happiest days of my mission these last four days. Saying goodbye to everyone was really sad in Mo i Rana. I even cried a little! But I am grateful to have those friendships and to have met those people. They taught me a lot and strengthened my testimony. I got to Oslo Wednesday afternoonish after taking 2 planes and a train. I had to take the train by myself and even though it was only for 20 minutes I was terrified. Haha I'm always scared to be alone. But I did it! And Sister Pitts was there to meet me.

Oh my goodness. You guys, Sister Pitts is incredible. I am so grateful for her. She is an amazing missionary and we work together so well. We both have this desire to change Oslo and I know that we can do it. Norway as a whole mission is struggling right now and we believe that if we can get Oslo going, the whole country will get going. And the key to all of this is member missionary work. I "got to" give a talk in church yesterday. Haha those poor people that had to listen to my Norwegian. But I bore strong testimony that we need their help. I showed them the pink temple card of Anna Andersdatter from Norway that I got to go through the temple for and talked about how what we all want in Norway is a temple. I know that our ancestors are helping and that it's right around the corner, but everyone has to step it up. Sister Pitts and I have a plan. We are going to design a logo cause we are POP. Pitts and Pyne in Oslo. Hahah we're dumb.

But really, please help the missionaries. They need you. Give them people to teach. It's the best way for missionary work to go about and there are so many people that we need to share the gospel with! I know I sound like a preachy stereotypical missionary, but it's so true!

I have never seen so many miracles! Both of us have only been in the land 3 months, but Heavenly Father is letting miracles fall from the sky and drop in our laps. Oh my goodness! We have hardly had any time to contact, but we had like 15 minutes the other day so we walked out on the street, went around the block once, and as we were walking back in, an Italian woman had stopped and was looking at our sign. We talked to her and she started telling us she was looking for a job. She ended up telling us all about her life and her belief in God and all three of us were in tears on the street! I also felt like I should hug her, so I did, and then when I pulled away I thought what did I just do? I hugged a random Italian lady on the streets of Norway! But. It was the spirit. She walked three hours to get to church yesterday, stayed for the whole thing and loved it. She's gonna get baptized, people. The only thing is that she is going back to Italy until October. We're working to get in touch with the missionaries there.

Oslo is huge and our apartment is tiny, but it's an absolutely beautiful European city. I'm in love. There is so much craziness going on all the time. I feel like the city has so much energy but it sucks so much energy out of you too. We have 8 missionaries here, 4 sisters, 4 elders, and we see each other all the time so it's really really fun to have a social life again! We were so lonely in Mo i Rana! We went hiking with some of the elders today and it was great! We sat on a dock of a little lake and ate guacamole and chips. Haha.

I have also seen miracles in language. I can understand people better than ever and I can have conversations on the phone something that I'm always so scared of. I know that Heavenly Father is blessing us because there are things that he needs to get done. We have taught 15 lessons this week and met with 7 members. Miracles are happening, and I pray that they will continue. Oslo needs us.

Ah there is always more that I could say, but I have so much to do! But, I love you guys. I love you so much. God is real, and He is there. He loves you too. I'll talk to you soon!

Love,

Søster Pyne

1. I'm moving to Oslo!!! 2. Hallgeir got baptized this week.

My beloved people! I have lots of news.

1. I'm moving to Oslo!!! I am so excited. It's going to be basically the biggest change that will ever happen because it's opposite in every way from Mo i Rana. My new companion will be Sister Pitts and I LOVE that woman, so it's going to be so much fun! We were in the MTC together so it will be a little scary with the language, but we'll do it. She went to Lone Peak and we went to junior high together and now we're here in Norway. What a cool thing. I fly out on Wednesday at 11, but um... first I have a lot of packing and cleaning to do.

2. Hallgeir got baptized this week. 2 elders flew in Saturday morning and interviewed him. Then... Sister Morris and I thought the place he was getting baptized was called one thing, but it ended up being called something else. So we walked to the place and other people drove and it ended up being a crazy disaster and really stressful. Osimeire came to the rescue and directed traffic and helped us all get the right place. She's an angel and we are so grateful for her. It was pouring rain and as I ran I just prayed and prayed that we would have some sort of miracle. As soon as everyone got to the right place for the baptism, the sky right above us cleared for 15 minutes and the sun came out. We had a quick little ceremony-- Elder Jones gave a fantastic talk and Sister Morris and I sang a quick a capella version of "Baptism" and he was baptized. It was really neat to be outside because it reminded me of when Jesus Christ was baptized. As soon as we got back to the church for our little party, it started raining again. We ate some hot dogs (mmm my fav...) and chocolate cake and then we had to get the elders to a train so they could travel for 7 hours back to Trondheim. They are saints and we couldn't have done it without them!

3. Sunday morning we called Hallgeir like 16 times to make sure he was awake and coming to church and he didn't answer. So. We decided to go knock on his door and windows and do whatever we could to get him to wake up and come to church so he could get confirmed! We had talked to him about it a lot and he knew how important it was to be in church. We had his address, but no idea how to get there. We just started walking up the street praying that we could find it. And then another one of our investigators came riding up right beside us on his bike with his iPhone!! He is such a kind man and he literally ran all over the city with us to find his house. When we finally got there, we couldn't get him to answer the door or his phone or anything. We yelled and threw little rocks at the window and tried everything we could think of, but nothing happened. So Hallgeir didn't get confirmed this Sunday. We finally got ahold of him on Sunday night, but he said he was very sad and he didn't like how thing went with the baptism and then he hung up on us. We tried calling him back and got hung up on again. I'm not sure what the Lord has in His plan now, and it's been a really frustrating and sad thing for me. But, I just have to continue having faith and relying on Him because I don't know what else to do. Pray for him!! He needs this so badly!

Okay well, those are my big newses. Now for the little ones. We met a really cute girl this week on the street and gave her a Book of Mormon and had a really powerful quick lesson. We cried together, so I'm pretty sure that's a good sign. :) I'm really sad to be leaving her, but I know the new elders coming will take care of her.

We also gave Lone and her family a Book of Mormon! We got to hiking again with them yesterday for one last time and it was so lovely as always. More picking wild raspberries and running around with the kids. We told her that we love how important family is to her and gave her a Proclamation too. She seemed very happy and accepting and said she wondered what we believed in. Again, I'm really sad to be leaving her. I will keep praying that her cute family can recieve the blessings of the gospel!

Our mission is really young. We will be getting lots of new missionaries again on Wednesday and it's really exciting! It's also really scary cause 64% of us will have only been here 6 months or less. President Evans told us yesterday that all this means is that we rely on the spirit more. I literally have nothing else to rely on, so the spirit and I are going to become even closer and I'm really excited for that. Phew. Pray for me this week!

I am praying for you guys and I love you all so much. Be happy and feel peace from our Savior.

Love,

Søster Pyne

He's going to get baptized in a fjord and I'm so pumped!

Hello my dear friends,

My how I miss you! I don't think missing will ever get any easier, but I know that the Lord hears me everytime I pray for help, so that's good.

here are my people in church:

Sister Morris, Osimeire (Bonnie's baby), Hallgeir, me and Bonnie's kids

Eleanor, Annie, Jan-Erik

Sigmund, Raymond, Bonnie

Church this week was great! Usually Sundays are hard cause no one comes and it's sort of a downer, but this week we had so many people! And by so many I mean like... 10. Haha it was wonderful! So Jan-Erik, the branch president, gave a talk and he was in the middle of a sentence when the door opened. He left for a second and came back in carrying a huge, beautiful cake! Hahaha Osimeire made a cake to celebrate Hallgeir getting baptized. It was so funny. So we had a break between sacrament and Sunday school for cake. That's what happens when you are in a baby branch! We gave a lesson about sacrifice and it was a lesson for me, mostly I think. A mission is definitely a sacrifice, but it is worth it.

We get new missionaries next week! And get this: There will be six of us here from American Fork High School. I think that's the coolest thing ever. Dallin Childs, Taylor Gunther, Kaijsa Angerhofer, Tyler Ashton, Sara Kitchen, and me. We're going to attack Norway!

Hallgeir is on track to be baptized this Saturday. It seems like a dream or something because he is so perfect. We saw him in the city this week and he had a cup of coffee. We talked to him for a minute and then Sister Morris, who I look up to so much because she is so good at being bold, just said, "Whatcha drinking?" He kind of sheepishly told us it was coffee. Later, he sent us a text and said he felt so bad and he needed to apologize to us and he wasn't going to drink it again. We were busy so we didn't respond to the text so fast, so then he called us to make sure we got it. He said he read in the Book of Mormon and prayed and asked for forgiveness and he wrote on a piece of paper that he would not drink coffee. This man! He has so much faith. And he hasn't had it since! He's going to get baptized in a fjord and I'm so pumped! 

fjord hunting...

So uh... that means last week Sister Morris and I went fjord hunting. We spent 2 hours and lots and lots of walking trying to find a place. We even had to get in the water to check out the slipperyness and the stability of the ground. The goal this week is to find white crocs that they can wear for the baptism. Wish us luck!

We went to Trondheim this week too. It's always so nice to be with other missionaries and in a bigger city. I'm grateful for amazing zone leaders and district leaders too. Those poor boys have been on the phone with us so much this week for baptism stuff. Two of them will fly here on Saturday morning, interview Hallgeir, help baptize him, and then take an overnight train back to Trondheim. Now that's dedicated service. We figure we can repay them with food while they are here. :)

We also met a very kind, adorable little lady named Johanna this week! She is 83 years old and acts like she's 20. We couldn't find her apartment so she came out to find us and then we followed her up 3 flights of steep little stairs to her apartment. I said, "You live way up here!" And she just laughed. She fed us fruit tea and fancy little open-faced sandwiches and we talked about God. It was great! Her sister was there too, so we chatted with kind little ladies over tea. Then we told them we had to go because we had to find a fjord. Hahah Mo i Rana never fails to provide us with craziness.

here is our hike from this week! you could see our whole
baby town and we've walked as far as we can see! cool!

We also got to go hiking with an incredible referral this week! Bonnie, one of our members has a friend named Lone. She is the sweetest, cutest lady. I'm kinda secretly obsessed with her cause she is so cool! She is a legal assitant and has 3 adorable little kids. She took us hiking just because she is kind. It went really well! We picked wild raspberries along the way with her kids and sang some songs. Well... I tried to sing in Norwegian... haha yeah right. 

Yesterday we went hiking again with her family and Bonnie and her kids. I talked with her husband for a while and they are the kindest people. We just need to have an actualy lesson with them now. I love them and want so badly that they can share the blessings of the gospel. They basically live like members already. Pray for them this week!

there were these tiny baby frogs everywhere on the hike too!
you could just catch them in the water. it was so fun!

A lot of our investigators have been gone this week so it's been hard to meet with them. But hopefully we'll have more success this week!

i collected raspberries that i picked to eat on my cereal.
they taste like nothing in the US. they are so sweet and
delicious! it was lovely :)

I am very grateful for the opportunity to have the Lord's name on my heart. I know that He lives and loves us! Have a wonderful week and be happy! l love you!

so my trainer's trainer's trainer has
been passing this sweater down.
it's from Target and a little worn, but cute!
i'll pass it someday if i ever train!

Love,

Mikelle

Put your tag on, love it, and remember what you're fighting for.

My favorite people!

I think about you guys all week and pray my heart out for you and I can't tell you how thankful I am for you. God loves me more than I can even understand because I have been blessed with such incredible people. I love you.

Hunt! Here you go!! I can't believe that this is actually happening. Come join me in the Mormon Mafia :) Put your tag on, love it, and remember what you're fighting for. You will be blessed for eternity for your service and I just cry when I think about you. I am so proud of you, Hunter. You are such an example to me and I look up to you so much. I love you and I will be praying with everything I have for you. You can do this!

I learned a good lesson this week. Well, I always learn lessons. But I want to tell you about this one. Being a missionary has felt like a mental marathon because it has required all of the mental endurance I have, and more, that comes from the Lord of course. I say so many prayers every day begging God to help my heart not hurt so much from missing my family, or to help me stay awake, or to not be terrified to not only stop people, but then try to speak Norwegian to them, or to help me accept that my hair is falling out and I just have to trust Him and not worry.

I read my patriarchal blessing this week and the word "faithful" is in it everywhere. I started to think about what "faithful" means and the difference between it and faith. Faithful means you are consistent. You don't run away, you try. I could run away from my mission. I could come home and not have any of these trials. And yes, I think about it often. But my patriarchal blessing seals the blessings stated in it according to my faithfulness. And when I read it, I think Heavenly Father simply wanted me to understand, "just keep trying." I fail to recognize that when I "just keep trying" I'm being faithful. And that means that I have faith, because I'm showing it through my actions. And I pray it won't always be this hard. And it won't because thankfully time keeps going. But just trying, especially when it's so difficult is all God requires. It's easy to not try. But then the blessings promised me aren't mine. And I love my Father in Heaven, so I can keep trying. And He loves me and each of you. Enjoy the easier times and then keep trying in all the others and it will all be okay. 

Moroni 8 is an epistile to his son, Moroni. He says, "My beloved son, Moroni, I rejoice exceedingly that your Lord Jesus Christ hath been mindful of you, and hath called you to his ministry and his holy work. I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto God the Father in the name of His Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his infinite goodness and grace, will keep you through the enduracne of faith on his name to the end." I know that prayers are heard and they are answered in my behalf so that I can have "the endurance of faith on his name (faithfulness) to the end." I am so grateful for the sweet peace that this gospel brings and I know it is true. I know it!

Guys. We were knocking this week and this really old man was sweeping out his garage so we stopped and asked if we could help. And.... he asked if he had to pay us and I told him no we just want to help! He stopped sweeping, walked really close to my face, and stroked my cheek with his hand. I was so scared cause I had no idea what he was going to do! Hahah then he told us his son is a Jehovah's Witness and he didn't need our help. Oh. Okay. Have a nice day! 

Also, this is awful, but me and Sister Morris laughed about it for like 20 minutes. How do you arrest a man with only one arm? You don't! Hahaha yes, we witnessed the police trying to arrest him. Mo i Rana is crazy.

I think that we might be the most north sister missionaries in the world. Alaska needs to be checked out. Will you do that for me, dad? Haha thanks.

We have seen absolute miracles, my friends. Hallgeir, our investigator, and I don't even think I've told you about him yet because he's too good to be true. But he will be baptized in 12 days!! And he is the coolest person in the world. We decided to call him just because we found his number in our phone. He agreed to meet with us, quit coffee and tea in one day, has been to church every Sunday, reads the Book of Mormon daily, prays, you know. He's an angel. We taught him law of chastity and went through the baptismal interview questions with him last night and he just grinned and told us he wants to be baptized! We will have to fly elders in to help us out with priesthood, but it makes my heart so happy because a baptism will bring some more fire that this area needs. And Hallgeir will be the most wonderful member in the world. I am so excited for him. He truly understands that Jesus Christ is His Savior and He has so much faith.

Yay! Sis Morris had good pictures for me!
That's Osimeire and her husband, Ole.
He's Norwegian and she's from Brazil.
They are the kindest, kindest people.

Oh my. Sorry this is so long. One more thing. Osimeire, the lady that we found out is actually a member, took us to Svartisen this week! It's 10,000 year old glacier and we got to hike to it and touch it! The hike was the most beautiful thing I've ever done in my life and I was in heaven to just be able to climb the mountain. There were HUGE waterfalls and fjords everywhere with fresh jumping fish and you just hike around them. How can people not believe in God when they have Norwegian mountains?? I certainly know that He lives! There are a billion pictures, but you just gotta see, my friends.

ICE ICE baby! they were huge!

the water melts and makes this HUGE waterfall. i was soaked but i got as close to it as i could without falling off the cliff. Osimeire kept telling me to be careful. haha

watermelon and moutains. i was in heaven.

I hope that you have a wonderful week. Thank you for everything. Ah. I can't tell you thank you enough. I love you I love you!

Love,

Søster Pyne