Easter Week in Norway

Easter Week in Norway is like a ghost town, so that means that missionaries spend a lot of time with the members! It was really fun!

Highlights of the week:

Mandag: We celebrated Elder Broadbent's birthday at Mariell's (member in the ward). We played a fun norwegian game.

Tirsdag: We went to a member dinner with the elders and then helped out at Balliadon.
Balliadon is Norway’s youth conference! It is soo cool! They stay together for 3 days and do sports and have a huge dance/ball party with dancing and singing. We helped serve food at the ball Tuesday night. The singers in the show were just youth from the stake and they were so talented! It was fun to talk to the all the youth dressed up. They all said hi to the missionaries. :)

Onsdag: We went to a funeral of a sweet lady I knew in Trondheim, who recently moved to Drammen. It was a very beautiful and sad day. I got to see the Rappleyes and some other members from Trondheim. It was a day I won't forget on my mission.

Torsdag: We had zone leadership training all day and then we contacted. It was the last day we were allowed to contact, so me and Sister Crenshaw went with faith into the city. We talked to a lot of people and taught this one guy the restoration. He wasn't interested in meeting, but he asked what makes us different from other churches. He said in the end.. oh that is a difference! It was cool!
Fredag: Such a fun day!! We went on a hike, roasted hot dogs and played games with a member family (The Weggersens). Then we all went to dinner at the Brownlees. Super fun!

Lørdag: We ate at a member's house, played a game with them, and then got a referral!

Søndag: God Påske! Went to church and then ate dinner with the Pedersens :)

Mandag: Yesterday, we spent the day with the nicest people! We have some neighbors who love sister missionaries. They are not members of the church, but wanted to spend the whole day with us and take us around Drammen. It was super fun and I loved learning about their lives and what they are interested in.

This weekend is General Conference! I am so stoked! I encourage you to write down questions you have and listen for them during conference. This is a great time to receive personal revelation! I am grateful for living prophets and apostles! I know that God speaks through them and we should obey their counsel. There are blessings that come when we listen to them! I know this to be true because I have experienced it.

Glad i dere!

Love,
Søster Allen

I love this family

more weggersen fun and drammen downtown at night. 

Easter fun and creepy troll at the toy store.

Playing a fun game afterwards :)

Happy Easter for real!!!

Easter fun with the Weggersens!

We had a Special Week.

God Påske!

We had a special week.  Our mission president took the car away because Ålesund needs to more than us, so we became bus missionaries! It was a little stressful, but it is kind of nice not having to worry about a car and all of my other areas have been bus areas. We have no idea how to use the buses, so it is kind of fun getting lost.

Spring is in the air and it feels so good to be outside. We had a visit from the sister training leaders this week. Sister Randall from the MTC was one of them and I was soo happy to spend a day with her. She is one my best friends in the mission. Love her!

Sister Randall got to come on splits with us in Drammen. 

It was the first time I got to do missionary work with her and spend a day with her since the MTC. 

Love her so much!

We also learned how to knit from Norwegian ladies! Dreams do come true! So I have been knitting during our lunch break and after we plan at night. It is addicting.

We taught this lovely girl on a bench on Thursday and it was all in norwegian and I just sitting there thinking.. wow I can have a 2 hours conversation all in Norwegian. It was a good moment. She was super cool. I want to be her best friend.

One of my sweet friends, from Trondheim and then she moved her to Drammen right before I got transferred here, lost her mother last week. So we spent some time with her on Friday. She is a huge example to me of strength. It was tender for me to share time with her that night.

Saturday, we met with one of our awesome investigators. I love her and I love seeing her faith grow! I am really impressed by her courage to meet with the missionaries. It is not a normal thing to do here in Norway. She doesn't really have any support.

I have already probably talked about this, but I love the old lady members in Norway! They are so wise and I have learned so much from them! They are strong in the faith. It has been a gift to be able to hear their stories.

If you haven't seen this yet watch it.. https://www.mormon.org/easter

Also, if you want to get in the Easter mood read "The Living Christ." I read it today and felt the spirit so strong. Jesus is the Christ. He lives! He is King. He is the Light, Life, and Hope of the world. He is coming soon.

Love,
 Søster Allen

Last p-day we celebrated Elder Hadley's birthday by eating pizza on the top of the mountain. 

My cute companion!

 Sunny days!

We had an Awesome Week

We had an awesome week! 

We talked to a ton of people on the street and invited them to an open house we had on Sunday. At the open house the members shared what we believe and one of the members told his conversion story. We had an investigator come! We were so excited to see her!

We also got a new investigator this week from Sri Lanka. We are really excited about him. He is humble and interested in learning more. We are working hard and trying to find people. Seeds have definitely been planted. 

I love my mission!

Kirken er sann.

Love,

Søster Allen

Picture: Making cookies for people. Classic sister missionary move.

New Sister

I got my new missionary on Wednesday! Her name is Sister Crenshaw and I am the worst because I didn't take any pictures this week! I will send them next week. She is super cute! She is 19 years old, from Lindon, UT, and we have a lot in common. :) She is a ballerina and just so adorable. We have a 5 year age difference, so it feels like I am hanging out with my cousin, Kenzie. haha I love training!! I didn't realize how much I would love it until it happened! Wow. I have learned so much these last 5 days. I am already so grateful.

I picked Sister Crenshaw up from the mission home on Wednesday and took her back to the house to drop her suitcases off then I said, ok let's go contacting! Is that mean? haha Well, we did and found a cool potential. That night we went knocking on doors and found a former investigator. The gift of tongues is real and Sister Crenshaw is doing so well even though she doesn't understand what most people are saying! haha It is super fun!

On Thursday, we had some appointments with some investigators and stopped a guy on the street that said he would call us later. Well, that night he did actually call us and invited us over with his wife on Saturday. He actually just wanted to bible bash with us, so that was a little heartbreaking... We talked to a lot of cool people on the streets and met with some cool members. On Sunday, we got asked to teach the whole Restoration lesson in Sunday School. We were a little nervous for it, but oh my gosh! It went so well! I am so proud of Sister Crenshaw! The spirit worked through us so well and the members were impressed. 

Missions are the best! Training is so fun!

Ha en fin uke!

Love ya!

Sister Allen

Note from Jenn: I found this cute picture of Jessica on Sister Hills blog. (mission president's wife) Jessica is at the mission home picking up Sister Crenshaw and dropping Sister Firth off to go home and Sister House to go to another area. I thought it was cute.