Creeper saves the day!!!‏

Heisann!!

Thank you so much for the email from everyone in the family!! Hayden, it was SO FUN for me to picture you saying those words even though you can't pronounce them. Takk google translate! ;) Heather, you look STUNNING in your homecoming dress, and Sarah, STOP GROWING, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

These week was full of some ups and downs and boring in betweens, but I'll try to give ya the general idea. :) 

We met with one of our investigators and talked about family history with him.  You guys.  Family.  Over these last couple months and with this lesson, I have a testimony of journal writing!  It is SO important.  Getting into the habit is hard, but it is SO important to remember.  I haven't kept a perfect journal on  my mission, but I have tried, and hopefully, as my kids or grandkids are preparing for their missions, I can have them read my journal.  Elder Lemon said that without keeping records, who we are as people on this earth is gone in about three generations if we're lucky.  So basically what I'm saying is get ready because I'll be interviewing you all when I get home (especially mom and dad). I want to hear stories :) Yup! There's that schpill... :)

I'm SOOOO excited for conference!!!! Oh man! This will be my third and last conference on the mission!... weird.  But Sister Randall and I haven't been able to talk about anything else! We are so excited!  Everybody be sure to watch! Then send me your favorite parts\quotes!

I love the members in Oslo so much.  We had lunch with the Relief Society President this week and we talked with her about the Atonement.  As we're talking, she just whips out a poem she wrote years ago that helped her understand the Atonement.  It's long, so I won't take time to write it here, but it is INCREDIBLE!!! She gave us each a copy.  We left the appointment agreeing that we didn't teach her at all. We needed that appointment.  Then at our ZLT on Friday, about 5ish members came to help (the theme was member missionary work).  It helped so much to see the members' perspective on the work that we do, and what they expect of and appreciate about missionaries.  SO helpful! These members are my favorite! 

There is on member in particular here I have become pretty much best friends with. (At least, I consider her one of my best friends).  She served her mission in Finland and knows the Londons. She has lived in Oslo only about as long as I have, and she is just SO GOOD!  At Institute on Friday, she asked if there was a time this week she could come contacting with us.  WHAT? This is a member asking to come contacting! As in talking to strangers on the street!  I told her I would definitely take her up on that! :) I love her so much!

Speaking of Institute, we really love going.  A lot.  And we can go if we bring a less active member or an investigator, so that was one of our goals for the week: Get someone to institute.  We tried all week with nothing, then on Friday, we went to visit a older lady, and on the way back, there was this pretty creepy guy in the elevator.  We gave him a pass along card and walked down to the train to go to our next appointment.  And he followed. When we got on the train, he was in the same car as us, and we just felt really uncomfortable, so at the next stop, we got off, and switched to a different car.  We never sit together on the train, so Sister Randall sat next to a girl who was about our age.  I was in a different conversation, but long story short, the girl wanted to come to institute! And she brought a friend.  They both really liked it and the lesson was about Jesus Christ.  Perfect! Creepy guy saves the day!

Some other fun things:

-the ward had a cowboy themed party this week and had all of the missionaries give their best cowboy accents.  One of the many times I'm thankful to be from Morgan :) It was SO FUNNY! Elder Lemon ended up winning!

-You know how we have apple pie? Well, in Norway they have apple cake, and it's AMAZING!!! Everyone makes it in the fall time! YUMMMMMM!!!!!

-A couple members threw Sister Larsen and Hoggard a birthday dinner yesterday.  They are the best! (And one of them is originally from Ålesund). Again... these members!

CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK: Write in your journals everyday.  If you don't have a journal, GET ONE and start writing.  You'll never regret anything you write down.

I love you all!! Keep the faith! The church is true!

Love, Søster Heywood

Oslo Zone Leader Training

Cowboy Themed Ward Party

*I will be found of you*‏

Hallo family!

Crazy stuff this week.  SO MUCH happened! (and I'll have you know, Sister Randall has really helped me get a habit of writing in my journal EVERY NIGHT so I actually remember everything that happened this week) SCORE!

Last Monday Ricardo (from Drammen) sent me an email and said he would be in Oslo in the evening if we wanted to meet up. uh... SELVFØLGELIG (of course)! We met him by the palace, and he brought us both chocolate, (taking note of my favorite norwegian chocolate, SMIL which is basically like Rolos but SO MUCH BETTER!) He and I talked for a while while Sister Randall was on the phone and OH MAN! he is doing so good.  He has been helping to bless and pass the sacrament, and he teaches the missionaries the Preach My gospel lessons once or twice a week.  He opened his scriptures to show me Alma 26:15, and thanked me for giving him that chance.  I feel like I did nothing.  Absolutely nothing. He went on an on for an hour about the blessings he has been receiving. He's just so good! AH!

Wednesday was transfers and we got another 14 missionaries! So now officially half of the Elders in the mission are greenies and EVERY other Elder is training. Cray. Yup! We went to the mission home to return the car and got to meet them all. they were all SO jet lagged but SO happy to be in Norway.  Aw man! I remember that day like it was yesterday.  Those Elders don't even know the awesome stuff that is coming for them :)

Sister Randall woke up pretty sick halfway through the week, and Saturday we just decided to go home early so she could get some rest.  The journey home to Nordstrand that would have taken 15 minutes with a car took TWO AND A HALF HOURS on public transportation!! Uff da! Granted it was because there was a crash in the city.  But still!

Speaking of getting sick, I didn't! And I haven't... for my entire mission! So that's really awesome! Also, the other night, we were eating with a member, and after I had eaten two platefuls of this curry stuff with rice, she told us how she made it.... Coconut milk.  My heart kinda dropped and Sister Randall looked at me like... CRAP! We didn't say anything, but I was done anyway and we didn't want the member to feel bad.  But afterwards, we were walking back to the bus, and Sister Randall was like, are you okay??  I was fine.  And I stayed fine.  Does this mean I'm cured of being allergic to coconut?  I'm way confused, but WAY thankful that nothing happened.  Maybe it's just the Lord protecting His missionaries.  Love it when He does that.

We ate at another members house this week, which was a tender mercy in and of itself, but we messed up on the time and got there about 20 minutes early.  There were some people getting off of a bus stop a few meters away, so we stopped one of them, a 20ish year old kid that was pretty skeptical...until we brought up the Plan of Salvation.  We told him that we lived with God before and that we chose to come here because we wanted to be like him.  WE related it to a child wanting to grow up to be "just like daddy".  For some reason that really hit him and HE asked US if we could meet again and talk more about it.  Miracle! What if we hadn't have been early to that appointment?

The dinner appointment was so fun! One of the best EVER!  There were three adults there and 3 kids and we prepared my favorite spiritual thought: Hide and Seek.  We had the adults all hide, and had the little kids try and find them.  Of course, None of the adults are hiding especially well, and they were all found pretty quickly. We all came back to the table and read Jeremiah 19:12-14.  It talks about how the Lord hides sometimes, just to see if we will look for him,  verse 14 says "I will be found of you, saith the Lord."  He hides with the intention of being found easily, just like a parent hides form a child during the game of Hide and Seek.  The parent will stick out a foot, or make a noise, or even hide in the same spot that they have been found all the other times.  Our Heavenly Father gives us little hints and promptings as to where we can find him.  We can find Him by looking in places where we have found him before.  We just need to ACT and start looking.

Sister Randall have been studying the principle of prayer lately.  We both know for a fact that prayer works, but we've been asking questions and studying how and why it works.  On Saturday we went to a nonmember lady's house to do some yardwork, but instead of helping with the yard, she needed help with her cell phone.  So we tried to see what the problem was.  She had just lost her Sim card.  So we started looking all over her house for it.  We looked for about 20 minutes.  Last time we had come we talked about prayer with her.  She doesn't really believe in it, but in desperation, she said, "This is the only time I would ever pray".  I just smiled and said that that was a good idea.  She looked at me through pretty skeptical eyes, then agreed.  So I said a prayer, then we kept looking.  I kept praying in my head, "Heavenly Father, she really needs a testimony of prayer, please help us." Not a minute later, we found her card in a place that we had already looked.  It was a testimony to all three of us that prayer really works! God is SO aware of us!

That's about that for this week. Some other fun things:

-It's still hard not to hold little kids.

-We showed up an hour early to a dinner appointment.  #thoughtitwassixo'clock #itwasonly5 #SLOWDAY #whydidn'twerealizethat?

-It's Eline's birthday tomorrow and we're going out to dinner with her family!

-I gave a talk in church.  First time since Ålesund.... Oslo has more people than Ålesund...

-President randomly decided to come to the Oslo ward the one week I was giving a talk #takkprez

-I tried caviar.... It's gross... I thought it would taste like the orange things dad puts on sushi... not in Norway at least!

Mom's answers:

-Having no car has been crazy and we have been able to meet some awesome people because of it. :) And it's harder to estimate times we will be places.  Usually we're really late or really early.

-Elder Lemon teaches the English Institute class.  There are three classes taught every Friday and another one on Thursday.  Elder Lemon only teaches the one.

I love you all SO much! Sorry this week was really long! Enjoy the novel! The Church is True!!! Prayer works.  God loves us!

-Love Søster Heywood

 p.s. Selfies with our favorite 95 year old! :)

p.p.s. Soldiers marching up to the palace. Not sure why!

Can I go to the temple now?‏

Hey Familie! 

Wow, this week felt long.  Part of me feels like I did a ton of stuff this week and part of me feels like nothing happened.  Yup! It's one of those kind of weeks.  Not terrible, not amazing, just another week of serving the Lord, speaking Norwegian, and growing my testimony (Okay, maybe that is pretty amazing!)

This week is our last week with the car, so we made the most of it, and drove to all of the less active members that live super far away.  So that was LOTS of time in a car.  But it's ok. Later this week I'll beable to contact people on the busses and trains again. YAY! (didn't think I would ever actually miss that).

We visited and had lunch with a member this week, and talked about temples.  *Oh man!.... I seriouly cannot stress it enough how badly I want to go to the temple.  I hope you guys are okay with going on the way home from the airport in 6 months.  Really though.  We were all talking about the peace we feel in the temple and how it is a kind of peace that you really can't feel anywhere else on this earth.  there were so many times when I was at home that I just went to the temple because I was having a bad day.  I guess it just put things into perspective.  When I have hard times out here, all I want to do is go to the temple, but instead, I just think about it.  that helps alright :)

Anywhooo.... Eline and I and Søster Randall went to lunch this week at a Norwegian Food Festival!! There were so many different food from all around Norway. MAN! I love that girl so much!  We went to her school, saw her through the window, then contacted for a little while until her lunch break.  (Who knew her school was like 5 blocks from the institute center?) Speaking of Institute, to answer your question mom, The younger missionaries don't have any of the responsibility for it, but we are welcome to bring investigators and less actives. (So we try to do that so we can listen to Elder Lemon's awesome lessons) :) Elder Lemon is the best.  He is really good to answer any questions we have about the gospel.  We usually set asaide a dinner hour every week so we can eat and ask questions.  It's awesome! and the Lemons made all 9 of us missionaries waffles for breakfast on Saturday. Senior Couples are the BEST!

We had moves call on Sunday and neither I nor Søster Randall is leaving. (Hallelujah) I'm not sure what I would do if she left right now... This place is still kinda a maze to me.  Hopefully it will help to be on publlic transportation from now on. 

We met a really cool and open Norwegian man on the street the other day.  He told us that he didn't believe in God, but that he was willing to listen.  We got his number, then on a whim asked him to pray before we met up again.  He said he would, but we kinda forgot about it.  When we met with him on Saturday, that was one of the first things he mentioned.  He told us that he had prayed right before coming to meet with us.  He actually prayed!! We taught him about the Restoration with a big focus on praying in order to know the truth.  He was really interested in what it feolt like to us to feel the Holy Ghost.  He really is just so sincere.  We're excited to meet with him again :)

More fun things:

-Norwegian cheese is the BEST!

-Aviz asked me to summarize the entire Book of Mormon in sign language for her.  That was interesting...

-A less active lady named Astrid gave us about 5 gallons of soup to take home with us because she is worried we aren't getting fed enough.

-There are ALWAYS students from the university in church because they are studying different religions.  It's kinda awesome!

-The bishop called us "canaries in a mine shaft" during ward council.  He was referring to less active work.... yup! Takk bishop! haha

-Sister Hoggard and I were talking about plans for school after the mission.  I think I might go into speech therapy.

Welp! That's about it for this week! I love you all SO much!  

Challenge for the week: Find something during scripture studay that you never noticed before, then email me about it next week.  There is SO much to learn!

Love you! The Church is true.  

-Søster Heywood

Eline with Søster Heywood in Oslo (notice the cool phone booth)

Oslo missionaries

1 Year!.............wait what?‏

Okay, so there was this one time, like a couple of weeks ago that I was eating Costa Vida with my family on the way to the MTC.... Oh wait...

There is NO WAY it has been a year since that day! AH! Okay. Done with that part. Not thinking about it. La La La..

This week though! It was so good!  We met with the family again, and the mom leaned over to Sister Randall during dinner and told her that she really identifies with this church than she does with the Catholic church that she grew up in.  That is a MIRACLE because before, she was VERY VERY strong in her faith. Still is.  But now she is open to adding to it.  We are SO excited for them.  They are planning on coming to church this Sunday.  All 4 of them! YAYAYAYAYAY!

Another really cool thing. There is a member named Tora Nyman who just got home from her mission in Finland a few months ago. (Yup! She knows the Londons).  Last week at church she walked in and told us about a guy that she had met on the train on the way there.  She mentioned she was on her way to church, and he said that he was looking for a Christian church.  So she invited him to institute that Friday, and wanted us to come and teach him afterwards. Uhm... yep, I'm pretty sure we can most definitely do that... :D So fast forward to friday... Evans came to institute, loved it but was way confused, then we met with him afterwards.  He is actually from Zimbabwe and has lived in Norway for about a year.  When we handed him a Book of Mormon, he looked at the church logo on the back and realized that his house in Zimbabwe is right by one of the church buildings! WAY COOL! Also, we told him about the Book of Mormon and where it came from and his only concern was, "Wait, why doesn't everyone know about this book? This is really important!" We just said, "Yup! That's why we're here!" :) He's a champ.  Tora is a champ. yup. Aviz came to church again yesterday and I got to translate for her again.  It's a workout I'm telling ya.  She's doing well.  Our other investigator Eystein is getting baptized in Utah on December 19th. (A TON of his family lives there) He's basically a member and instead of teaching him the lessons for the 300th time, he just tells us what he wants to learn about.  So that's fun.  He calls himself a dry mormon :)

At Institute on Friday, (all the Ysa in the Telamark and East come to it), I saw Madelen, who just got taught and baptized in Skien.  She was taught by none other than the GORGEOUS Sister Horner! (My little girl is growin' up) *Wipe away a tear* Madelen and I basically talked about how awesome Sister Horner and Grubaugh are the whole time :) She's awesome.

Other fun things:

-Had lunch with a girl who was an exchange student in America.  She's not interested, but we ate some yummy pizza with her.

- Went to the KonTiki museum. Norway just keeps getting cooler.  I had no idea the guy who sailed the Kontiki was Norwegian. CRAZY! (Also, he proves that Lehi and his family definitely could have crossed the ocean way back then.) #butwealreadyknewthat

-Went on splits and met some people from Utah who were here on a cruise.  They were wondering we wanted them to look you guys up when they got home. :)

-Got flipped off.... that like NEVER happens here.  I kinda forgot it was a thing...

-I LOVE THIS COUNTRY! 

I know the church is true.  I mean, Norway is awesome and beautiful and breathtaking, but I'd be on the next plane out of here if I didn't know this was true.  I miss you all way too much.  I love my Savior Jesus Christ.  The Book of Mormon is SO TRUE! Read it every day!

Love you all!

Sister Heywood

 Madelen and I 

Kontiki Museum! (The actual ship!)

Small girl in a BIG city! :)‏

Hallo! 

Just kidding, Oslo isn't that big, but definitely bigger than anywhere else I've lived! I'm really glad we have a car and that Sister Randall knows where she is going, because this city is a maze! Like... ya know how most cities have a block system?... yeah... Not Olso :) But I'm absolutely loving it here!

On tuesday, we got to teach the Norwegian family again, and this time, the kids were there.  They fed us dinner, (yes, an investigator... feeding US dinner! oh yeah!), then we started the lesson afterwards.  We gave them each a piece of paper and told them that we were going to tell a story about families, and that they would have to draw it as we told it. Then we taught the Plan of Salvation.  We told them all about how they can be together as a family forever and that it doesn't just end here.  The kids had awesome questions, and the spirit was just so strong!  AS I was bearing my testimony to them about families, I kept thinkin about you guys and how this year and a half away is nothing! It's a blink of an eye, because our family is forever!! I love that and I'm realizing more and more what that means.  

Tuesday was also our two-zone p-day since we had a mission tour on Wednesday.  Unfortunately it was raining, so my first p-day in Oslo was playing card games (mostly spoons) in the church with a bunch of other missionaries.  It was really fun (except I have a bruise on the back of my leg... yup... I got hurt playing a card game... see family? I haven't changed a bit! haha!

The conference on Wednesday was so good! Elder Johnson from the seventy came and spoke to us.  He actually served his mission in Norway!! With President Hill! That was awesome.  He talked about a lot of different things, but one thing in particular he focused on was helping people commit.  He had two missionaries come up and being their investigator, he told them that he hadn't had time to read the Book of Mormon, but that he still wanted the missionaries to keep coming and just tell him about the church.   Initially, the missionaries were fine with that.  Then he explained it in another way.  He said, "I want to play soccer.  I want to play in the World Cup. And you guys have to help me get there.  Tell me all about soccer.  show me videos of people playing soccer.  But I don't want to ever run, or train, or really do anything.  and after a few months, I'm sure I'll be able to play in the World Cup." Of course we were all laughing by then.  Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ. To invite people to ACT! The people we teach CANNOT get a testimony unless they DO THINGS. A lesson without a commitment has little purpose.

Another fun thing from this week: The mission office moved from Sandvika to Oslo, so since we were on the Oslo end, we offered to help unpack the already packed and moved boxes.  We decided to take on the project of orginizing and shelving 70 Languages of the Book of Mormon, pamphlets, manuals, and other materials. It took 4 hours one day and two hours the next day, but we finally did it! An here's the kicker: We actually use all of those languages here in Norway.  I swear, I think I've met someone from every continent here...wait... yup! I've met and taught someone from every continent here. It's CRAZY! 

Other Fun things:

-Taught Aviz again- She already has a testimony of Joseph Smith :) 

-A group of kids came to church on Sunday because they were doing a project for school.  So we got to show them around the building and tell them more about what we believe in.  Way cool.

-Reunited with Sister Larsen: I LOVE HER!!!!! Yup!

-Asked a less active old lady to tell us a story from when she was young, and she told us about her first love... during World War 2.... I'm going to write a book based on her story... not even a joke.

-Most people that we contact think we're absolutely crazy and usually don't even treat us like people... so that's lame.

-Don't know if I mentioned this last week or not, but Sister Randall's favorite musical is Aida!!! AHH!!! yup! We'll be friends for a long time.

I've been reading the Book of Mormon lately with an emphasis on Christ.  Newsflash: That Book is really another testament of Jesus Christ. Yup! It's true. Also, every person in that book lived. They all had families, and a childhood, and trials.  It's true!

I love you family!! I hope you are all changing, growing, and becoming better and better than you were yesterday! Keep it up! The church is true, the Book is blue!

Organizing the books/pamphlets at the new mission office.

A beautiful p-day, sitting on the docks by the river.  what could possibly go wrong??

I dunno... maybe Sister Heywood could be swinging her legs off the edge and kick her shoe into the water?... #notallowedtoswim....

Operation: OSLO‏

Hey Family!!!

Holy Guacamole have I got a lot to tell ya.... wow... where to begin...

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAKUM! p.s. you have the same birthday as Sister Randall, my new companion.  I thought about you lot's yesterday and hope you had a great day!

On Tuesday, we met with Ricardo for my last time, and that was rough.  just hard.  He is so incredible and has really changed my whole life! He had Sister Larsen say the closing prayer, then said right afterwards: "I should have said it. I need to thank Heavenly Father for sending Sister Heywood to me that day on the street and for all of the things that she has taught me." Then he looked at me and said, "thank you SO much."  I couldn't help it... I defs teared up a bit :) I'm going to be friends with Ricardo for a long time!

Then on Wednesday, it was time to go to Oslo.  I packed up all my things, got to the train station, and had to wait a little bit for my train all alone. (Being all alone is SO weird!!!) Then the train came and I realized something... I have two hands... and three suitcases... and a backpack... and my dynebag... so I got two of my bags on the train then ran back to get the other two.  Right as I got them on the train it pulled away. PHEW! Then as I was sitting on the train, I realized: I have to get back off... and find Sister Randall.... in a really big train station... Uff da! Luckily, there was a really nice man on the train who helped me get my things off. Then I put my carryon on top of my big suitcase, and my dyne bag on top of my other suitcase, and tried to walk... then up an elavator, then a little bit further... don't ask how many times the carry-on fell off... yup! But then I hear, "Sister Heywood!" and there's Sister Randall. (never been so relieved in my life!)

Little bit about Sister Randall. She's from Utah, went to U of U for a year, LOVES Broadway Musicals (seriously....God loves me) and her birthday was on Sunday! :) She is super sweet and came on her mission in January. She's awesome. 

Also, WAY cool story: so a few months before my mission, A couple of the girls and I went to Temple Square together and tried to find a Norwegian missionary. We did, and her name is Sister Isaksen.  She told us a bit about Norway and how much we would love it there.  Well, guess who just came home from her mission on Thursday! And Guess who is in the OSLO ward?? Oh yeah!! She is the best!! And she remembered me!

Another cool thing: The elders had an investigator, Avis, who is deaf, and they weren't really sure where else they could go with her because of the language barrier, so I told them that I knew a bit of sign language.  We went to one of their lessons and the elders just said, "go ahead", so I taught her the Plan of Salvation in *Tegn Språk!! I have missed signing SO much!!! AS I was signing, one of the elders said, "Invite her to baptism", so I signed it to her, and she said yes, if she finds out that it is true :)  Then she came to church on Sunday and for the first time since Stavanger, I got to translate Sacrament meeting in to sign language! Oh man, I've missed it. So Avis is now our investigator and WAY positive! I just love her!

There is also a NORWEGIAN FAMILY that we are teaching.  That's right. a FAMILY!! AHH! They are incredible.  They watched Meet the Mormons on netflix, then saw some missionaries at the airport and asked if they knew of some sisters that could teach them more.  So now we're teaching them and it is going really well. They are just so sweet!

On Thursday, we had a relief society activity at Vigaland Park (That one that we have in the book at home with all the statues.... yup!) And it is BEAUTIFUL there! I, being my art nerd self, was running around taking pictures and just freaking out! The whole park and every statue in it was created by one artist!! Amazing!!  Definitely let my art nerd show at that activity. uff da!

We also had a miracle happen this week.  We had planned to teach the family the first lesson, then felt prompted to teach them about the Atonement.  And it went really well.  We had spent about 45 minutes of comp study practicing the first lesson so we could teach it really well though.  We went out to contact later in the day, and as usual started it will a prayer, and before I knew what I was saying I was asking Heavenly Father to let us teach the first lesson that we had prepared that morning.  We said Amen, and Sister Randall goes, "oh really? Okay!" hahaa!! But we did! We found a guy that was actually a teacher at a bible school and definitely had his own faith, but he wanted to know how the church began.  so we taught him the first lesson! It was awesome!

Basically, I love Oslo, This city is beautiful, and there is SO MUCH to see.  The only complaint I have is that we have a car.... this is my first time having a car.... I hate it... We sit in traffic all the time and watch people walk past.  There have been so many times that I wanted to roll down my window and proselyte that way.. would that be weird? maybe... :) I'll try to send to pictures of the apartment for next time! 

Last minute weird things:

-We drive through a square roundabout every day.... Norway Logic...

-The translation for Young Single Adults in Norwegian is Unge Enslige Voksne... which means Young Lonely Adults... BAHHAA!

-I really love boat rides. I think I'm going to live on a boat someday.

I love you family!! I know this church is true!! Know it. Live it. Love it. and all that jazz :) Jesus Christ lives! God loves his children.  the Book of Mormon is true.  Every little story, every little verse.  It's all true!

Love ya,

Søster Heywood

ps. -Rebecca, who just got back from temple square!

p.p.s. REALLY tall tower 

p.p.s.s First comp selfie

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