No Place Like Norway: Goodbyes and Hellos

This week all the following happened:

1) Said good-bye to Romerike after an incredible four months

2) Took a train through Norway

3) Arrived in my new area: TRONDHEIM

Yeah, it doesn't sound like a whole lot but I can promise you that really a lot did happen!

From Sunday to Tuesday Sister Johnson and I were packing, cleaning, and saying our good-byes to the members here. At church I was actually surprised how sad people were that not only Sister Johnson was leaving but that I was also leaving. See, I was fairly quiet because I wasn't so confident in my Norwegian for most of my time here so I was worried that I was like a ghost here in the ward. But I was indeed wrong and I am quite happy that I was wrong!

When people found out I was going to Trondheim, they all said something along the lines of, "Oh you will love it up there! It's warming up and you will get to learn Norwegian all over again!"

(Quick clarification: In Norway there's something called dialects. Depending on where in Norway, the people change some words and pronounce things differently. Similar to an accent, but really like another language. It's a bit similar to how Spanish and Italian are similar but not the same.)

On Monday last week, it was a district P-Day with the Hamar elders and Anna, a less-active the Hamar elders work with. She took all of us to a Norsk Skogsmuseum (a Norwegian forest museum). It was super cool! It was the history of everything that goes down in the woods (types of animals, how they lumbered (lumberjacked?), hunting, and so forth.

Wednesday morning was when I took the train from Lillestrøm to Trondheim. It was a seven hour train ride and OH MY GOODNESS IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. I was so absorbed by the gorgeous scenery that I kind of (OK just completely) forgot to take pictures.

When I arrived at the station, I got a bit lost but I was able to find my companion (Sister Hornback) and the senior couple (The Bradfords) fairly quickly. After we dropped off my things, Sister Hornback told me about the two investigators we currently have, Sharifi and Mats.

Sharifi is from Afghanistan and has been meeting with the missionaries for a few months now. He's come to church several times now and really likes it. He reads the Book of Mormon and prays frequently. He had a baptismal date but freaked out saying that he needed time to get his answer about the Book of Mormon. Very shy but once he gets to know you he opens up.

Mats is a newer investigator that the sister found when tracting. He grew up atheist but is open to talk about religion. He was taught the Plan of Salvation and he really liked it because it made sense. He is spiritually receptive but he has a hard time recognizing that he is feeling the spirit.

When we met with Sharifi, Sister Hornback took the lead to talk about prayer as a commandment. He really likes that with prayer, it's a conversation with someone. He said that he's had some dreams that have helped him know that what we're teaching him is good but he didn't want to tell us what he dreamed about. He will be traveling out of town for a week, but we will meet with him this Friday!

With Mats, we had planned to teach the Restoration but we ended up talking about prayer and some questions Mats had. Last time the sisters asked him to try to pray and he did. He says he didn't really feel anything as he prayed but he still liked the idea he was talking with someone. He asked about why the Book of Mormon is important and we were out of time so we gave a short answer and told him we would go over that next week.

The rest of this week has mainly been finding and getting adjusted to the area. Ben, our MMK, is very excited and dedicated to his calling which is awesome. He has lots of cool ideas and is really wanting to discuss and work with the missionaries. This ward is very focused on member missionary work and I'm very excited to work with them!

Quick spiritual thought: John 13:15-17. I actually found this one on accident. I was trying to write down the reference for "If ye love me, keep my commandments" but wrote the wrong chapter. Out of curiosity I looked up the reference and found, "For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them."

I especially like verse seventeen, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." The gospel is very focused on having faith and doing works. With faith we know things and we take it a step further by acting on it. When we act on our faith, we not only strengthen it but also receive happiness.

I hope you all have a wonderful week and thank you all again for your support :)

Take care,

Søster Buhler

1- Trondheim, the new area!

2 - Me and Morin, the less active we were working with

3- Me, Karoline Rapp, and Emma Rapp.