Out with a BANG!!‏

Kjære Familien min,

OH MY! This week was the BEST! ok... That's a lie... from Saturday on was the BEST!!! 

We warned Ricardo last week that satan didn't want him to get baptized and that he'd have to be really strong to keep away from temptation.  He took it seriously.  but the thing is, nothing even touched him! He was walking on sunshine all week long which was a HUGE relief! However... I guess we took the hit for him because this week was rough! Not just missionary rough, but just ROUGH.  WE contacted on the street a TON trying to find new people to teach and we had a lot of people just say really disgusting disturbing things to us.  Lot's of creeps. Lot's of jerks. There were tears... just rough. But we were happy to take the "Baptism week hit" for Ricardo.

Let's just fast-forward to Saturday shall we? We had planned to be at the church two hours early so we could get things ready, but we missed our bus by about 10 seconds so instead of a ten minute trip, it turned into an hour... yup! But we got there, and the Elders had filled the font and were making cookies. #CHAMPS. We were a little stressed, but soon enough, Ricardo walked in.  IN A SUIT!!! I almost started crying! We showed him the font, got him his clothes and started handing out programs. 

It was BEAUTIFUL! I couldn't describe his baptism if I wanted to.  And for the first time in ALL HISTORY, Ricardo was SPEECHLESS! haha! When he came back in the chapel for the rest of the meeting, I asked him how he felt and he just said ".....bubbly?..." haha! He didn't know how to describe it. I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost (first talk in English since my farewell) (That was rough) #should'vebeenpåNorsk... But hopefully it turned out alright.  Then the Eduardo family, (One of the best families in the whole ward) sang "I am a Child of God" in Portuguese! Needless to say, the baptism was perfect!

After the Baptism, I got a call from President Hill. One of the sisters went home, so the sisters have to move around a bit... so I'm headed to OSLO on Wednesday.  That was a shocker! Saying as it's only two weeks into the transfer. I'm so sad to leave Drammen, Ricardo, and Søster Larsen, but again, like every transfer call, as soon as he said it, it felt right.  So I'm headed to the BIG CITY! I'm just SO glad that the baptism happened first!

The next day, he came to church in his suit again, and apparently, the bishop asked him to give a talk!!! I love this ward!!! So after Ricardo was confirmed, he went up to the stand, pulled the microphone down and in the best Norwegian he could, bore his testimony.  My favorite part -> "I look out at all of you, and I can say, you really are my family.  It means so much.  Because of my mistakes, I've lost my family, but now I can say, I truly have a BIG family"  yup! I was BAWLIN! :') Ricardo has changed my life. Absolutely changed my life.  I'm going to be friends with that man for a LONG time.  In Norway, it's rare for a missionary to meet someone on the street and stay long enough to see their baptism.  I'm SO thankful I got that chance.  I love Ricardo.

So since I will be leaving on Wednesday, Sunday also was my "saying goodbye to the ward" sunday.  This ward is so big and even though I tried my best, I still didn't get to know everyone, so that's a bummer, but I said goodbye to some ward favorites and during sacrament meeting, they announced that I would be leaving, and the member of the bishopric who was announcing looked around until he could make eye contact with me and said, "Thank you so much for your service here in Drammen." I think that was the first time someone looked me in the eye and really thanked me.  So of course.... again.... for the third time in two days... I started crying... GAH! Before this week, I hadn't cried once since being in Stavanger! grr... anywhoo...

I think that's all the big news for this week. Some other funpoints:

-We played sand volleyball with the elders and the ward mission leader this morning. WAY FUN!

-Found some SERIOUS anti material at one of our less actives house...

-Sister Training leaders came and sister Hartley will be leaving this week! LOVE THAT SISTER!

-One of the Elders that went home last transfer is engaged and the WHOLE ward is talking about it...

-The bishop here looks like James Marsden

-There was a youth mission prep activity this week, so I got to see one of the youth from STAVANGER, Annett! 

-Casper went to the temple to do baptisms (found out from Annett) :)

WELP! I think that's about it! OH!! Here's my new address as of this Wednesday:

Breiens Vei 19

1165 Oslo

Norway

There we go!  I sure do love you family! I know this church is true! It's changing my life! I thought I knew earlier in my life, but I'm pretty sure I was just saying things that sounded nice. I love telling random people on the street about God and that He loves them.  It is SO true! This is SO real! LOVE YOU ALL!

-Søster Heywood

 Ricardo's baptism

 Ward members

Beautiful places in Drammen

I'm contaaaaaactin in the rain, just contaaaaactin in the rain!‏

August 10, 2015

Hey Family!
 

I'm contaaaacting in the rain, Contaaaacting in the RAAIN,

It's a bittersweet feelin' we're aaat it again,

We're smilin along, as they say no and pass,

I'm just trying to help, I'm not lookin for sass,

They stroll as they come. They see the tag, and they run,

We don't mind at all, we're just fiiiiiinding the ONE!

We walk down the lane with a haaaaapy refrain

Just singin' and contactin' in the rain!

Yup! That's our song for the week :) Somehow our love of musicals really shows when we need a cheer up.  And we have needed some cheering up this week.

It's been pretty rough trying to find people to teach, and the investigators we've been working with haven't been making progress in a while, so we've had to drop them.  It's sad because I feel like I'm giving up on them, but nothing happens in missionary work unless people have a real desire to change. BOOO...

But I'm done complaining! The Lord's work still goes forward!  Ricardo had his baptismal interview on Wednesday, and afterwards, Elder Rolfson, the district leader told us that Ricardo was the most prepared person he has ever met.  So I guess that means he passed with flying colors eh?? The next time we met, we asked him about some more details for his baptism and he asked me to give the talk on the Holy Ghost.  So that will be fun, and a little nerve-racking!

We also taught him this week about temples and family history. He opened up and told us about a brother that had died way earlier in his life, and right then I knew who was helping to prepare Ricardo all this time.  We testified that he had been learning alongside his brother and that they were both ready to be baptized now.  The spirit was SO STRONG! It really strengthened my testimony of the Spirit World.  I know that there are people just waiting to have their work done, and sometimes, those same people are helping us to find their family members who are still on the earth.  This work is INCREDIBLE!

The ward absolutely LOVES Ricardo and they're beginning to see how much a miracle he really is.  The ward sent off two missionaries this week, Henrik and Hanna.  They will both be serving in England (though in different missions).  Their farewell talks were awesome, and it reminded me of the excitement I felt right before leaving on my mission.  No one could have told me what this experience would be like, and I don't think I would have believed them if they did.  

Transfers happened this week and we have two new elders in our district, Elder Bleggi and Elder Merritt.  They are both pretty good at the language already, and way awesome at working with the members. They're just champs.

This week, Søster Larsen and I found out why we need to be together one more transfer.... we've got a LOT more to learn from each other.  We have become such great friends and I love her to death, but this week we definitely found some kinks that we need to work out.  I'm just glad that we're both so open and up front about problems so they can get fixed faster :)

Cool miracle though: Last night we had a little bit more time to contact, so we started over the bridge.... the same bridge we always contact over... but it's all good.  As we started across, I had a feeling to stop this girl walking towards us, but before I could even make eye contact, she took out her headphone and said, "Excuse me, but can I ask you a question" (Which is the EXACT same thing I was about to ask her).  Then she asked why we always wore skirts.  We told her and ended up teaching her a lesson.  She was probably the friendliest stranger I have met here.  Like... I felt like I was in America! But she was Norwegian.  She is a really strong member of her church, but she loved hearing about the Book of Mormon and what we believe happens after this life.  Maybe nothing will come of it, but it was definitely a tender mercy after a week of "Nei Takk"s.

We decided that this coming week is going to be Faith Week for us.  Everytime we contact, we will be looking for a specific person who needs us right then. We really need people to teach right now. And they are here, we just need to find them.(So prayers are welcomed) :)

I love you all SOOO much! Have an amazing week!

Challenge this week: Serve someone in a BIG way without letting them see who it is! I will be following up with EVERY MEMBER OF THE FAMILY... Cuz I follow up.... cuz I'm a missionary heehee :) 

Love, Søster Heywood

 p.s. found a field of wheat and had some time before the bus came... Enjoy some typical Sister Missionary pics :) D&C 4:4

p.p.s. Also found a river that reminded me of the Weber :) mmmmm

Washing Hands and Stealing Overalls‏

Hey Fam!!

Thank you for all the emails this week! I absolutely love all of the pictures!! Lot's of crazy stuff happened this week, but we might as well start with Ricardo and the "washing hands" part of the email.

OH MY GOODNESS HE IS SO COOL!  That's all. Just kidding it's not.  At the beginning of this week, he was still struggling with smoking and cried about everytime he smoked.  On Wednesday, he asked us if he could receive a priesthood blessing to help him.  We hadn't even taught him about blessings, but he read about it in the Word of Wisdom pamphlet.  He told us it was the only thing that he hadn't tried.  He has become pretty good friends with the bishop, so he asked if he could give him a blessing. So on Thursday, we met with him, explained how the priesthood worked, and then he got a blessing.  I was definitely tearing up a little bit.  It was so incredible and there were concerns mentioned in the blessing that Ricardo had only mentioned to us.  It just shows how it wasn't the Bishop talking at all.  On Sunday, we were sitting in Sunday School learning about prayer when the teacher asked us to share a specific experience when we had a prayer answered.  Everyone sat thinking and Ricardo raised his hand to tell his experience.  On Saturday, he was washing dishes, and some words from his blessing came into his mind. Right then, the light in his kitchen got brighter and he just had a feeling that he was washing not only the dishes but his desire to smoke too.  He said, "I just washed it away, and if I felt clean then, imagine how I will feel in a couple of weeks!"  It was incredible!! He will have his baptism interview this week, then his baptism the next. :)  I'll try to send a picture of him next week if I remember.

As far as the stealing overalls part of the email, that was just a fun dream that Sister Lasren had about someone stealing all of her missionary clothes out of her closet. She asked him to stop and he said,"fine, but I'm keeping the overalls" :) So uh.... that's kinda how our 6:30 workout conversations go.

Fun fact about Norway: Things just die in the summer... I mean like... everyone goes on vacation, and it's hard to get people to actually meet or commit to anything really... I don't think I've ever been so happy about summer ending in my life.  The ward is all coming back and our investigators are too!  And with the summer ending, even the finding is picking back up.  We met some super awesome people this week and I LOVE SØSTER LARSEN. SHE IS THE BEST PERSON I'VE EVER MET EVER. heehee.... Sister Larsen stole my keyboard... :) haha! Anywho... One thing I've realized this week is that satan really doesn't want us to find these prepared people.  There was one day this week that people on the street were just mean. Just plain mean. It was one of those "Father forgive them" moments.  Anyway, after about an hour of it, we were feeling pretty discouraged. However, we went a little bit further, and ended up meeting Nora.  She is a super cute Norwegian YSA-age girl who was really interested in what we had to say.  We asked if she had time to meet another day, and she said that she actually had time right then. So we pulled out a Mormons Bok and taught her the first lesson.  She is working everyday this week, so we're not sure when we will be meeting with her again, but hopefully soon. 

Then last night we had a little bit of time after an appointment, so we decided to go to the city and try to find some people.  We ended up on this cute little pathway with hardly any people, but we stopped everyone on it.  The last lady we stopped was on her way to the river to enjoy the sunset, so we asked if we could walk there with her and tell her a little more.  She said yes, and on the way there, she told us about her super hard life and how she had a really hard time believing in a God, but she was really open to the idea.  She asked about our families and where they were living and we told her the situation.  She was amazed that we would leave our families to come and try to teach Norwegians about Jesus Christ. I smiled and just thought to myself "Yeah... it would be a hopeless cause if it wasn't TRUE!".  

Transfers are this week as well, and though the thought of leaving did give me a little anxiety, (considering I would miss Ricardo's baptism) Both Søster Larsen and I will be staying in Drammen! WOOHOO!! And sidenote... the mission is getting 14 new elders this next transfer! and 15 next transfer! For a mission that only has 60ish elders, that's a little crazy... But no new sisters until December.

I Love you family!! Have an amazing week! The Church is True, the Book is blue and all that jazz :)

Love, Søster Heywood

p.s. We were out contacting and just ran into this little beaut. did we throw coins in?? of course!

Teaching Isaiah :)‏

July 27, 2015

Hallo! God dag! Heisann! And all those other Norwegian greetings!

I have to start by thanking the fam for praying for Ricardo this week.  He is doing just great!  We met with him last Monday, and set a baptismal date for the 12th of August! He told us, "If I'm going to be baptized, I need you two to help me prepare." We were like yup! That's why we're here buddy boy! We taught him on Monday about the Word of Wisdom, and he told us that ever since coming to church, he wanted to stop because he could smell the smoke on himself while he was at church.  He also told us that coffee would be really hard to stop, but he said as the week went on that he could feel the Spirit leave ever time he drank it.  So he just stopped! He reads in the Book of Mormon more than we do probably.  He started reading the Book of Mormon with the ward for their summer reading challenge (about 4 chapters a day), but not only that, he STUDIES the chapters again and again throughout the day.  WE met with him and the Bishop on Friday and by the end of the lesson the bishop said, "Ya'know Ricardo, missionaries have a special term they use to describe people like you.  They call them GOLDEN INVESTIGATORS".  Half of me was like, WOAH! Bishop! Don't let him in on our secrets! then the other half was watching Ricardo react with a big smile at the idea of being called Golden.  With everything we teach Ricardo, he just nods and says "That makes sense" or "I felt that way as a kid. I already know that's true". He came to church on Sunday with a newly bought white shirt and tie.  Less people came up to talk to him this week and I think it was because he looked like a member! haha!

Though, something else about Ricardo, he loves to talk! We knew that when we first met him.  At first nothing of what he said made any sense at all and sometimes he'll still go on his rants, but now he comes to a conclusion that is wonderful and inspired! For example, we were sitting by the river teaching him this week and he said something along the lines of, "Look at the water.  It's almost completely still, you can almost see the reflection of the buildings on the other side.  Why do you think that is? *Insert theory of water and wind movement here* now if you think about that, I guess that's in a way how my life is right now.  I couldn't see anything clearly because nothing in my life was still or peaceful and now that I'm finding peace, I can see things clearly now." And that is why sister Larsen and I have decided to call him Isaiah.  Because he goes on and on about things that don't seem to make very much sense, but when you give him time, and really try to understand, the conclusion is something incredible! Not that I completely understand Isaiah now, but I'm beginning to understand Ricardo.

Our investigator Møyfrid also came to church! That was her first time coming since I've been here.  She fit right in with the members as well :) She has been an investigator for a long time, so a lot of the members know her too! 

Eline and Brede came to Drammen for an eye appointment with Eline, so Eline texted me and asked what I was doing.  We were on our dinner break, so I told them that they could come to the church if I could share something with them. They agreed of course.  So they came to the church and showed me pictures from their trip to Utah ;) Then I shared Ether 12:27.  I shared your story, Mom, about being called as the Relief Society President and how you didn't feel quite ready for that. Then I told them how I had had some hard times on my mission that have really humbled me and how my weaknesses really have been made strong through God's help.  After I bore my testimony, Brede told me how he had been humbled through meeting our family as well.  Right as we finished up talking, Ricardo walked in 45 minutes early to his appointment just because he wanted to sit in the chapel and read :) Whatcha gonna do eh?

Since it was pioneer day this last week I decided to read "Our Heritage" as part of personal study.  It basically starts with Joseph Smith and tells the history of the church up until today.  I'm just amazed every time by the stories of those that crossed the plains.  today I read about a man that came in one of the handcart companies, and a few years after arriving, he heard some church members criticising how the church had let it's members do that.  The man stood and said how thankful he was to be part of that group and how none of the survivors ever complained because through their experience, they gained a relationship with God unlike any other. 

That hit me hard today.  I don't know all the reasons that we on the earth have to go through so many hard things. But maybe one of the reasons is simply to strengthen our relationship with God.  Like this guy from the handcart company,  I don't regret a single hard day on my mission. The hard times just bring me to my knees to stand up stronger and better than I was before.  God gives us the chance to do that everyday! Why not take it?

I love you family!! Keep being strong.  Keep bearing your testimonies (with words if necessary).  And never forget who you are!

Ha det godt!

-Søster Heywood

p.s. Walking a half hour home in the pouring rain? Yup! We know we look like drowned rats :)

My picture wall.

Our bedroom.

Our bathroom

"Sister?... So are you a priest or a nun?"‏

Hey fam!!

Shoutout to the random 12 year old on the bus that inspires the email title this week... No I am not a nun :)

This week was pretty wonderful, but let's start it out with a good ole miracle story!

Our investigator, Ricardo has been struggling to come to church. He doesn't really feel that it's necessary.  We asked him multiple times to read the Book of Mormon, and he would just skim a little. This week, it was like he dropped off the face of the planet.  Really, I'm pretty sure we called him every day and texted him a couple times too.  So we just continued praying for him until Friday when he FINALLY answered. He told us he was very sorry for not answering and that he wanted to meet up.  So we set an appointment for Saturday.  Then he called again and postponed it, so we were thinking... oh GREEEAT... But he eventually came.  We sat down to start the lesson and asked him how his week had gone. He told about a really scary experience that basically left him unconcious in his apartment for four days. He doesn't have any family here, so nobody knew. He said he didn't think he was going to wake up, but he did.  And when he woke up, he decided to turn on the TV and there was a song playing that said, "Everything you need is right in front of you..." He looked down at his coffee table where the Book of Mormon was sitting, turned off the TV, and started to read.  He read all of Moroni, and other places as well.  In fact, the reason he had postponed our appointment was because he was at a really exciting part and didn't want to put it down! He told us that he felt like God had given him a second chance to fix his life.  We bore testimony of that, then continued to teach about the Plan of Salvation.  At the end of the lesson, we asked him if he would come to church and he said, "How can I not? God saved my life!"  But he still left the answer at a "probably".  

The next day, we went to church, and the relief Society President asked us if we could translate for some Americans that were visiting, so we couldn't really wait by the door to see if Ricardo came or not. We went through all of Relief Society and neither of us had gotten any kind of message from him, so we assumed he wasn't there again.  For Sunday school, we got asked to help with the CTR 7 class for the beginning, so we were late to the investigator class.  When we did get there however, we walked into the back, and there sitting by the Elders was Ricardo!! I almost started crying! He was in a shirt and tie, slacks and dress shoes.  I almost didn't recognize him! He smiled and waved at us as we walked in.  The lesson was about "Staying in the Boat, and Holding On" -M. Russell Ballard, or enduring to the end.  The teacher asked what kind of things keep us in the boat or on the right path. Some people commented, then Ricardo raised his hand and said ,"Celestial Heaven! We need to remember where we are going!" I swear my mouth dropped open! We had just taught him about that the day before!! We continued on to Sacrament Meeting and he loved every minute.  He loved the little kids making noises, loved the talks, and even sang the hymns even though he doesn't know them.  After the meeting, he turned to me and said, "You know? I think this is like a life-time thing." I was BEAMING!I turned to talked to someone else then turned back and he was gone.  I looked around a little and he was talking to a member of the bishopric about the summer Book of Mormon reading challenge that the ward is doing.  I heard him ask, "Can I do it too?".  I'm so proud of him!! He just turned his life around since Friday and is like a completely different person! I know God really gives second chances.  Who am I kidding? He gives thousands. millions. limitless.  Not only has Ricardo been given another chance, but he recognizes it! We'll be meeting with him later today and inviting him to baptism. :) 

Another miracle that happened on Friday:  WE had a couple of hours of time before dinner, so we decided to go banking: aka knocking on doors.  We prayed, picked out an area and went there.  Now family.... One thing you may not know about Sister Heywood's mission: I have NEVER been invited in or even invited back while banking.  And I've done it A LOT on my mission. I said a silent prayer that these two hours wouldn't be a waste.  We started at the group of houses we had chosen and found out that it was an area where only elderly people lived.  Strangely, we felt good about continuing.  After about an hour, we meet an old lady named Rakel, and get this: SHE INVITED US IN!! We were able to share a little about the Restoration and she thought it was really interesting.  She said we could come back whenever we wanted, but that she wasn't really too interested in actually learning more. But it was still a little tender mercy for me :)

Mom, that is so cool to hear about President Skinner asking the ward to really sing and think about the closing hymn.  The Hymns are SO powerful! (even though they come into my head in Norwegian now :) I'm actually studying the hymns for part of my personal study each day. right now I'm on the "Sunshine Hymns" (Scatter Sunshine, you can Make the Pathway Bright, Today while the sun Shines etc...) and it really is helping me keep being positive and happy.  Which is exactly what I needed because lately I've been trying to figure out the balance between a focused missionary and a happy missionary.  I think the answer is to stop mistaking "stress" for "focus" because it isn't the same thing :) but yes! The Hymns are AWESOME!

I LOVE that picture of the Sister Missionaries being protected by the angels.  I've definitely been protected out here whether from really scary people, or just from eating coconut. (Whoops) I feel like I'm honestly in the safest place in the world. (Not just because it's Norway). :)

I'll be sure to send a picture of the apartment next week.  I would this week, but then I'd have to hike back up there and take one :)  but I do have  some other fun ones for ya!

I love you family!! Have a WONDERFUL week!! Thank you for taking the challenge and going to the temple this week! It is SO important. Never take it for granted! I know this Church is really God's church on the earth! I love being a missionary.  It never gets old :)

Love Søster Heywood

Pic #1- So uh... I found a statue of Hayden... :) You should see the shoulder blades in the back! Uff da!

Pic #2- This fountain is only of my favorite places in Drammen.  It reminds me of a temple fountain... except this one usually has a few kids playing in it :)

Heisann!

Heisann!
 

Alrighty, well, to start off the email take a look at this beautiful companion of mine! Not to mention the Norwegian countryside behind her. We're just the luckiest!

I'm gonna be honest and say this week was a blur! I gotta organize my thoughts so I'll give ya some highlights:
Monday: Solberg family came to celebrate my birthday with me! Aksel and Martine had never heard me speak Norwegian before, and I've never spoken Norwegian to them.  It was AWESOME! They took us out to lunch (first time in a Norwegian restaurant), then we walked to the church to show them around.  They couldn't believe how small the chapel was in comparison with the ones in Utah.  And yet we have 250ish that come every week.... we need a new building :)
Tuesday:  Søster Trydal, a missionary who just went home came to visit and go on splits with us. (She is Norwegian so she is only a couple hours away)  She had been companions with Søster Larsen earlier this year, so that was a fun reunion for the two of them.  We walked over the bridge in the city to do some contacting and we decided it would be a little intimidating if there were three of us stopping these people, so I went on one side of the bridge to contact, and they went contacting on the other side.  I was glad to get my companion back afterwards because contacting by yourself is HARD!  "Can we meet with you another day?"  "Who is we?" "um... I mean.... I'm schizophrenic..." Just awkward... haha :)
Wednesday: We went out to visit a less active member, and Sister Larsen cut her thumb on something, so I made her a band-aid while we were sitting at the bus stop. Gotta do what ya gotta do eh?
Thursday: We met with Møyfrid, one of our investigators. She really wants an answer about whether or not this church is God's church.  She has been a member of the State Church here and doesn't really see anything wrong with it.  We promised her that the way to find out for sure is to read in the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true.  We brought one of the new converts, Zofia, to help us and she bore solid testimony about how she found out that the church was true.  
Friday: Åse Marie came to Drammen to go on splits!! Man, I have missed that lady! The three of us started the day by going to the church to help a member clean it and get it ready for Sunday.  We thought it would take one hour and it ended up taking almost 3! (Maybe we don't need a bigger building...) We ate lunch at McDonalds afterwards (Which may be cheap in America but CERTAINLY IS NOT HERE!)  It still doesn't taste great, but it isn't cheap either!  But I remember back in Ålesund days when Åse would take us out to get McFlurries on hard days, so we just had to eat at McDonalds :) She helped us with a few other lessons, then she popped back on the train to go back home. LOVE HER!

​Saturday: We had Zone Conference in Tønsberg and we got to finally meet President and Sister Hill.  We actually rode with them to the conference.  They are SO awesome and President Hill's Norwegian is already so good! We had interviews with him, and he spoke Norwegian almost the whole time! He said, "Why should I expect my missionaries to speak it if I don't?" He's so good! And Sister Hill is a sweetheart! She said the hardest thing for her to leave was her grandkids and even got a little emotional talking about them :') They are just so sweet! 
And guess who else I got to see at the conference! None other than my adorable daughter, SISTER HORNER! She has grown so much and it's only been a transfer and a half since I last saw her. Still a CHAMP and SWEETHEART!
After The conference, we met with an investigator named Ricardo.  He already has a testimony of the Book of Mormon, but he is just struggling to actually come to church.  I don't know whether he is scared to come what, but we gave him a tour of the church, then had a lesson with him in the chapel.  It was really powerful and we were both able to bear testimony of how coming to church has strengthened us. He told us he would try to come to church, but didn't end up coming... We'll see what more we can do for him, but ultimately, he's got his agency. BOO!! ;)

Sunday: We went over to dinner at a member's house.  They have two teenage daughters who...are classic teeanagers.  Really hard to get them to interact in lessons.  So we decided to play the game with them where we open up to a random scripture and have to come up with a spiritual thought.  It got really funny and we had both of them laughing by the end of it -> SUCCESS! :)

See? I told you this week was a blur!  I usually don't go day by day, but there ya go!

Random add-ons:

-Go to the temple this week, NO MATTER WHAT!

-Don't ever fall asleep on the way to Zone Conference or Sister Hill will take a picture of you. :)

-You know you're a missionary when you get a tanline where your watch goes.

-Norwegian slugs are huge... and all over the place!

​Jeg vet at Gud elsker oss.  Jeg vet at dette er Herrens arbeid.  Jeg vet Mormons Bok er sann.  Jeg vet at vi har jo en profet som lever idag.

I love you family!! Keep being amazing, read your scriptures, pray, go to the temple, eat Otter Pops, sing campfire songs, and most importantly remember that I LOVE YOU!!!!

-Søster Heywood

Here are some more photos...from Monday, July 6, with the Solbergs:

Like a Fire(work) is Burning!‏

Kjære Familie,

Just kidding, no fireworks for us on the Fourth of July, but we aren't allowed to handle them anyway so it wasn't too sad.  I did however get the package on the third of July, so it was PERFECT!  We both loved it!  And it was nice to have some good ole 'Murica candy! :) and I LOVE the jewelry! The Young Women here have been wearing anchor things to "Embark" so now I can fit right in!

But Drammen has been burning up like a fire.... literally... it is SO HOT!!!  I guess the only good part of it is that we got permission to not wear nylons for the month of July. But really, it has been just BURNING! And since it's humid here, I just feel gross and sticky all of the time!  I'll take winter back anytime!  On the up side, Norwegians are really happy when the sun is out, so it's easier to talk to them.  Norwegians love their vacation time.  Half the ward is gone at a time just traveling the rest of Europe. It's crazy! Quite a few of our investigators are away as well, but they'll be back soon.

I do get to spend my birthday with the Solbergs!!! They are coming to Drammen after we're done emailing and I am SOO excited.  I also just got an email from Åse Marie asking if she can come down friday and go on splits! I miss her so much! I love these people!!!

We got to do some service this week which is always my favorite because we get to wear pants! We helps a member finish scraping the paint off of her house to get it ready for painting.  Sister Smith and I did it a couple of weeks ago, but this time it was the whole district (6 missionaries) that came to help.  It was a lot of fun, but a little scary because the scaffolding we were standing on was about a foot and a half from the house, and we were working on the third level.  But despite my past record, I did not fall and I'm still alive. Miracles happen! haha! :)

This week has been a little weird as well.  On the way home from the service project I was on the bus, (Sister Larsen on the other end of the bus), and this kid walked up to me and started a conversation.  Norwegians NEVER start conversations with random strangers, so it caught me off guard.... then I realized he was flirting.... then he asked for my number... way awkward.  I told him I was a missionary and that he could only have my number if he was interested in talking about God and Jesus Christ. He said, "We can talk about whatever you want." *Insert puke noise here* I gave him a pass-along card and luckily it was time to get off anyway.  Uff da!  We got off the bus and Sister Larsen goes, "What's wrong?" And I said, "uhm... I think I just got flirted with..." Then we just laughed about it. Sometimes being a missionary is just awkward.  The next day we had a lesson with one of our investigators and we were talking to him about baptism and he just got this serious face and said, "I want to marry you." I was like "uh.......... wait what?" Then I just looked at Sister Larsen and she was speechless too.  Then he said, "wait, but if I join your church couldn't I marry both of you?" We quickly explained that that is not okay... at all... then went on with the lesson.... we'll probably let the Elders teach him from now on... BUMMER!

We visited the family again that we met last week, and they seem interested, but more in comparing their religion to ours.  They are Bahai, which means that they accept every religion.  They believe that God gives us a new set of rules every 100 years or so because the world is constantly changing.  We explained that that is why we need a prophet so we can be guided today.  They are such a sweet family, and I really hope we can start making progress with them soon.

I haven't met President Hill and Sister Hill yet.  I mean, I knew them from the MTC, so I have met them, but not since being in Norway.  We have interviews this Saturday, so hopefully I pass ;) They did call me this morning to wish me a Happy Birthday and to sing to me.  They are just so sweet!

Sister Larsen and I are getting along great!  We sing songs from musicals together and debate favorites.  We are so alike as far as personality, which is hard because when it comes to missionary work, we have the same weaknesses.  But I like to think of them as opportunities. :) 

I love the picture of the whole family together! I miss you all so much. I love you! I know the church is true!

Love, Søster Heywood

p.s. Package time!!!

p.p.s. Our Elders were in the NEWS! Front page!