Søster Heywood: Norway Bound!: Julen, Julen, Julen den er her!!!‏

December 21, 2015

Hei Family!

Oh man, the Christmas season is in full swing :D And it seems like it has come out of NO WHERE! Maybe that's because Søster Peterson and I are having too much fun ;) I mean like... appropriate, missionary, productive kind of fun :) (What other kind is there??)

I'm just going to start with the highlight of the week. We had zone conference on Saturday, and there were about 50ish missionaries there which was awesome as always. But here's the fun part. So the mission is really focusing on family history, and it has been INSPIRED!!! Everyone is interested in finding their families. I mean, I've been looking for stories about my ancestors now for months. I found a couple on my own, but during the conference, Sister Hill pulled out a little present from our parents, a completely filled out "My Family" book!! You guys! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I've read the stories over and over again. MAN! I feel like I never knew who these people are, and they are the reason I even exist!! Søster Peterson and I took some time after planning one night and just read them to each other. I started crying! Ok, Ok, I know that's not a big shocker, but I'll have you know I had a LONG record of not crying until now. I LOVE MY FAMILY! I'm excited to come home so I can learn more. But that's like... FOREVER AWAY.

Another exciting thing about the conference: Linn Steffensen was there!! She is one of my favorite members from Stavanger and she is serving her mission in temple square. Except, she hasn't gotten her visa yet, so she is starting her mission here with us! :) She basically attacked me when I saw her!! I LOVE HER!!!! GAH!

we just met with Magni, like.... hmm... 15 minutes ago, and she is doing great! She's taking some time to decide for sure about everything, but that's probably just because she's Norwegian ;) haha! She is so sweet. I actually showed her my family book and without hesitation, she pulls out her iPhone (little more high tech) and showed us a picture of her grandparents who recently passed away. I'm telling ya. Spirit of Elijah is a real thing.

Some other quick fun things:

-we made Julekake (Christmas cookies) with Eline and her Grandma

-we found a MONSTER in our apartment (picture to follow... shudder**)

-We had an ARMY of swans swim at us.

-President really likes singing Somewhere over the Rainbow on the ukulele :) He also laughs by saying HA really loud. just once. It's HILARIOUS!

-We are singing in church three times this week. That's got to be a record.

-An awesome member gave us a book with Norwegian christmas songs. Oh yeah, you know I'm singing these every year.

-Last night we SAW THE NORTHERN LIGHTS!!! and of course... my camera wasn't charged.... That's the WORST! but they were huge and green and wavy and AMAZING!

I'm reading the part of Jesus the Christ where it talks about the Atonement. One chapter on Gethsemane, one chapter about the questioning, one chapter about Golgata, and one about the Garden tomb. I could go on and on about the amazing things I've learned this week just from that book alone. Right after I read about the resurrection, I turned to where I am reading in the Book of Mormon and it was 3rd Nephi 11. Oh yeah... that happened :) Jesus Christ lives. He loves us. He understands us. And THAT is why we celebrate Christmas.

Love you family!!!

Talk to ya soon!! ;)

-Søster Heywood