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| there were sheep running around on our hike this morning. |
Good Morning!
Sister Osten, one of the missionaries we live with has this
cool thing where you can record your voice and send it as a picture, and she
does that instead of typing an email. So
we’ll see if it works, and it feels really weird sitting in my room talking to
myself. But it’s fun!
Let’s see, this week we visited the crazy cat lady that
makes us apple cake, and this time it was like 7:00 at night, and she never
lets us out, she always has more to say, and we had to go. So I was racking my
brain for a way to get out of there, and I said ok Bergette, we have to go, we
haven’t eaten dinner yet, and she said, you haven’t eaten dinner? Oh, well, I
have a fish cake! You guys can share the fish cake! And Sister Robbins looks at
me and mouths, I hate you. And I said
no, it’s ok, it’s ok, and she said no, I want to feed you. So she goes to the
kitchen and brings back two forks and she’s cleaning them with her thumb.
Sister Robbins gets sick a lot, and she has throw up bags,
like from an airplane, in her bag. So she gets one out and we make a plan. So
we go in the kitchen, and she is plopping mashed potatoes in a bowl too. And she cuts up the fish cake. Then she said, I don’t have very many cups because
I’m just here by myself, so she takes a cup that was already on the table, and
I don’t know what was in it…and she dumps it out in the sink, swishes cold
water around with her hand in it, and dumps it out, dries it and sets it on the
table, and poured orange juice in it and sets it in front of me. Luckily, she put the dinner on the table and
then left the room. So we were awful:
clinking our bowls, pretending we were eating, but really shoving it in the
bag. We really could not eat it, there was cat hair everywhere too. So that was Bergette for the week.
We went to Stavanger for the week for Zone Conference. We
flew there Friday morning, then flew back that night. It’s weird, flying is just like driving here.
It’s fun! And I sat next to a lady who
was Norwegian, but she had been to Arches National Park, and she loved it. So
that was good.
We taught Art again. He had asked for a Bible a couple of
weeks ago, which we ordered through the office. It was in Chinese, and way cool
when we got it. So we texted him when we got the Bible, and said we have that
Bible if you still want it. And he said,
yes, I do! And also, that Joseph Smith movie you were telling me about, we
could watch that too if you want. So we met him at the church, gave him his
bible, and watched the 20 minute Restoration movie with him. And then he started asking six million
questions about…I don’t know…he drew us a diagram on the chalkboard about how
he’s a dust particle in the corner of a room…I didn’t follow all of it.
Sometimes it’s so frustrating because people make it so complicated, because I
think finding God is such an abstract thing to them. So they try to research
it, and they go places they’ve never been before because they want to find him,
but they don’t understand that it’s really simple. We just kept saying, I don’t know the answer
to that question, but God does. And first you need to find out if He’s really
there. You have to build a relationship by just talking to Him. We said that
over and over, and I think he was getting frustrated because we were giving him
the same answer. I’m trying to figure out how we can help him. He’s really
honest about finding God, he really wants to, but he also has a neighbor that
met with missionaries for a while, but this neighbor is telling him things all
the time about how God isn’t there, and they get in arguments all the time. So
we’re trying to figure out how to help Art, but at least he’s making progress.
He’s reading in the Book of Mormon still, so that’s really good.
Yesterday at church Anders came, and I sat with this family
(he has twins, I don’t know if I told you that, a boy and a girl that are 4,
and Mina) and he’s such a good dad and husband. He lives the Gospel already, so
being baptized isn’t going to change anything for him…well, it will, but not
his lifestyle. It was awesome.
Also, we had another girl named Anisha. When I first came to
Bergen, she had a baptismal date, I don’t know if you remember. I talked about
her, but she’s from India, and she knows it’s true. Our lesson in Sunday School
was about the Holy Ghost, and she was talking about how she knows what the Holy
Ghost is and she’s felt it in her life. But she just believes everything is
true in a way. She’s the one we went to the Hindi temple with, and she was
worshiping false idols… so I don’t know how to help her either. We need to do
some praying and fasting. I feel like we need some guidance with a lot of our
investigators right now. But it’s good
that she came to church. She texted us, hey, I want to come to church with you
guys today. So that was really exciting.
And she is the sweetest girl. She just graduated. She’s really smart. And she’s
going home for the summer, but she’s coming back in the fall to work in Oslo. I
think we’re meeting with her tonight, so that should be really good. Hopefully we can figure out what will make
the difference for her, to help her realize that this is the only true church. But
it was exciting to us that she came to church.
We’ve been making homemade boler to give to less actives
this week. It’s like homemade rolls, pastry rolls kind of, with chocolate
chunks, so they look kind of like chocolate chip cookies. But they’re rolls and they’re really good. We
found a really good recipe, but the oven said to set the oven to 225 degrees Celsius,
which is really hot, but I didn’t think about it. So we did it, and we were in
the other room calling people, and we came back to check on them, and the oven
was full of smoke! We were so sad, because we were so excited to see how they
turned out, and then they got ruined! But it’s ok, we tried it again, and it
was better success.
Today is a holiday, Saint Hans Evening, and it’s the longest
day of the year. So they do bonfires and bbq with their families and such. So
the ward had a party on Saturday night at a family’s house in the ward, the
Livsalts. They live on an island outside
of Bergen, and it is breathtaking. I want to go there so bad, just to see the
road. But their house is breathtaking too, and they’re right on the fjord, and I
don’t have words to describe it. It’s beautiful. So we had a barbecue there and
a lot of ward members came. It was really good.
Oslo ward never had activities, and they weren’t very close.
This ward isn’t very close still, but they’re good about having activities. It’s
good, they’re coming. I think there’s a reason there are only American
missionaries here though, because they need some big, loud, American love. I don’t know, their culture is just
different, but I love them. They’re really honest people. So it’s good.
Last night it was freezing! It’s been really windy the last
couple of days. So we had our coats and scarves on, and we were knocking on
doors, and nothing that exciting happened. And we were going back home to study
Norwegian, and we walked past this house, and Sis. Robbins said, Hey, we need
to go to this one. Do you still have that Book of Mormon? I had grabbed one on
our way out just because I felt like we should have one to maybe give to
someone…I don’t know. I said yeah, here. So we knocked on the door, and this
lady answered, and she was really nice! Usually, they’re not really mean, but
they’re kind of sarcastic, and they’re just not nice. But this lady said, yeah,
Mormons! I’ve heard of you guys. I’ve heard of the Book of Mormon. And we were talking to her about it, and she
said, well, to be completely honest, I don’t know if I’m that interested, but
we gave her a card, and she said, Yeah, that’s good! I can look up stuff and
call you if we have questions. It was a
big deal to us, because it was the nicest lady we had talked to that night. And
it was just cool how Sister Robins used the Book of Mormon to talk to her, and
also how she followed the prompting to go to that house. I feel like I take
little things like that for granted all the time now because it’s just so
normal, because they happen all the time. It’s really neat!
I feel like I’m talking weird, because all the girls I’ve
lived with lately have their own little ways of talking, and you just pick up
little things. And I hate the sound of
my voice on recordings, so this is a big deal…you’re welcome.
We had a lesson with Anders this week, and we talked about
tithing. He’s had all the lessons before, because he was there when Mina got
taught, and also, he met with the missionaries a couple years ago. But we
talked to him about tithing again, we just read the pamphlet. And he said,
yeah, Lynne and I (that’s his wife) need to try it! I’m willing to try
anything, and we need to try it and see how it goes, because if all the
blessings it talks about in this pamphlet really do happen, then we need to try
it out and see. So that was good. He’s like the perfect investigator. He does what
you say, and reads his scriptures and everything, so that’s really good.
We’re going hiking again today, so that will be good. We’re
going to hike Ulriken, which is the mountain right behind our house. I’ve done
it before, but it’s like a waterfall bed that you hike up, and it has a rod
held into the hill the whole way up so you can hold onto it. So that will be
fun!
I’m happy and I’m having fun, and I’m so grateful to be a
missionary. Oh also, we were talking about this the other day. I don’t know how
President is going to do anything when my group goes home, because there are 17
girls, and there are only 4 coming this next transfer, and there are 10 others
here. So he’s going to have to close areas like crazy. And I don’t know how he’s
going to do companionships before we leave, because some of us are going to have
to be with each other, but then the area’s just going to close because we’ll
both leave. But I’m grateful he prays about things and receives revelation and
does such a good job. It’s just neat the way the mission works. I love the
city, Bergen, I think it’s beautiful, and I love Anders and his family. And I
think that it’s been really good for me to be here. It’s been a really growing
experience. But I’m also really excited to see where I go…well, I’m assuming I’m
leaving, because I’ve been here six months, but we’ll see.
Hopefully this recording works, that would be cool! I love you guys! Thank
you for everything you do, and for letting me be here, and for all of your
support. I pray for you, and I think about you, and I’m so excited to show you
this place! It’s going to be so much fun! Have a very good day and a happy week,
and I’ll talk to you soon! Bye!
Good
morning my dears!
Sister Robbins and I have been fasting and praying so much
lately to help our investigators because we feel like Satan is working really
hard to distract them. Most of them, in fact, have had crazy things happen the
last couple weeks. We have also been fasting for a baptism this transfer
because we have a couple people that are right on the edge and they just need
to get pushed over into that water! So we visited Anders this week and we had
planned to set another date with him. We decided to read from Mosiah 18 and let
the Book of Mormon do the talking. After we read though, the Spirit wasn't as
strong as I wished and I just felt like it wasn't right to try and set a date
with him. We were really frustrated. We sat there for a minute as I silently
prayed to know what to do. And then the words just came out of mouth and even
though I've asked him this question so many times, I said, "How are you
feeling about baptism?" And he said, "I thought about it today,
actually, and it needs to happen before you guys leave, so maybe next
weekend?" UM WHAT??? I probably looked so dumb because I just kept
grinning. He and his wife pulled out their phones and started looking at dates.
He ended up having to work this next weekend but we're going to see if we can
work around his schedule and if he doesn't get baptized on Saturday it will be July 12 when they get back from vacation. 
Then it got even better! His wife starting saying,"Well, we
need to plan well so that this time next year we have the ability to go to the temple and get sealed." Oh baby. She said it's her dream to get sealed in
the Salt Lake temple so mom and dad I told them they can stay in our basement.
:) Haha I am going to die if I can see that family sealed. I love them so much.
So there's our miracle!
Among other things, a bird pooped on my head while we were
talking to people in the city. We were having a good conversation with this
lady and all of the sudden I heard this plop really close to my ear. I tried
really hard to just concentrate on her face and what she was saying and then as
soon as we walked away I made Sister Robbins do an inspection. Poor girl had to
wash bird poop out of my hair. I was even wearing a shirt with birds on it.
Guess he liked it.
Good morning to my dear friends!
.JPG)
Earlier in the week we met this cute girl from Thailand. She told us she believes in herself and that she didn't want to talk about religion. We talked to her for a minute more and she said, "You know what? My eight year old daughter believes in God and Jesus Christ. She talks about them all the time. Here's my address. You can come and talk to her." So we went and visited her on Saturday. We weren't sure if anything would really come of it, and when we found her house, she wasn't home. But we walked down the street and there was a lady with her back turned sitting on a bench. There was a little girl running around the park that looked about eight and we walked over there trying to not look creepy so we could see if it was her. And it was! She told us she forgot we were coming but she was really excited to talk. We started asking her about her life and she told us she's 23 and has had a difficult life. She said she just feels empty inside. As we talked to her about how she has a loving Heavenly Father she said, "I can see it in your eyes. When you talk about Him I can see that you know Him. But how can I feel it?" We testified to her of the power of prayer and the Book of Mormon and coming to church. She was so excited that we had a Book of Mormon in Thai and she said, "Okay. So. Where should we meet to go to church tomorrow? It starts at 11? Okay. Then we probably need to meet at 10:30?" She was so eager! She ended up not being able to come because her little girl was sick but we are meeting with her tomorrow. Sister Robbins and I have been praying for a miracle and I think that we found her! It was such an answer to prayer.
We also visited this less active lady this week and helped her clean her house. But she had a dog that was crazy and at first I tried to be his friend, but by the end I was chasing him with the vacuum to make him stay away because he was biting us! He bit Sister Robbins on the bum and both of us on the legs and we have bruises all over now! It was ridiculous. So Sister Robbins would mop the floor while I would use the vacuum to chase him away. That's why you have companions I guess, to protect you against dogs. .JPG)
We also met this guy last week named Art. He's from China and he is so funny! He keeps asking us if we have seen God. He is an engineer and he is so smart but so logical. He doesn't base anything off of feelings so he is having a hard time understanding how we know that God is there if we haven't seen Him. We're working on it though. And the other day we got a text from him that said he had gone home from work with a big headache and he started to read from the Book of Mormon. He said, "I don't know what happened but I just felt so much peace and I started having these thoughts that I need to read the Bible too. I think He is there and He is trying to tell me something." YES! I love the Book of Mormon. It does things that we can't do ourselves because it brings the Spirit so strongly. We're going to meet with him tonight again and watch the Restoration movie to give him a visual idea of what happened. And we have to find a Bible in Chinese for him too... Hahaha we'll call the office..JPG)
So I'm not really sure if I'm on a mission in Norway or Asia, but that's okay! I am so grateful to have met these people and to be serving here. I think it's amazing how Heavenly Father works. These people wouldn't have had the chance to hear the gospel in their native lands, so they had to come to Norway to hear it! Pray for them and pray that we will be able to get in contact with Else Marie this week! .JPG)
I just know that this work is so important. The other day I remembered how my tag was my most favorite thing in the world when I was in the MTC. When I left the MTC I remember walking through the Salt Lake airport and freaking out a little because everyone was staring. It took me a while to get used to the fact that everyone just stares always. But I think it's great now! Stare all you want, people. But you better watch out because if you stare, you're going to get a big smile. It's my favorite thing to wait for them to finish starting and then they make eye contact and I just grin at them. I love my tag!.JPG)
