Jord's Adventures in Norway

Jord's Adventures in Norway

Monday, November 3, 2014

2 MONTHS DOWN!!!

HEI HEI!!!
So today is my 2 month mark!!! Wow!! I cannot believe it!! Time has flown!!!!
So this week.....
This week on Monday we had a ward and young single adult activity, Søster Frampton and I taught country line dancing!!
It was so fun and everyone loved it!! After the line dancing, they had bobbing for apples and a donut eating contest on a string and you couldn't use your hands!! It was so fun and everyone got a good laugh!! Let me tell you bobbing for apples was.... well the best way I can explain it is “GO BIG OR GO HOME!!!” hahaha.  My whole head ended up going under water in the bucket!!! Søster Frampton was dying!!! I was not expecting that to happen!!
 

 

 
On Tuesday we had sign language class!  Norwegian sign is way different than ASL, but I am slowly picking it up!  It really helps me with vocab and learning words too!  Oh my!!! Want to hear the best news ever!!! Casper our deaf investigator has set a baptismal date to get baptized!!!! Søster Frampton and I were so excited and wanted to jump for joy!! We waited till after he left and then did a happy dance!!! The spirit was so strong! It was such a cool experience!! I am so so excited for him!!

It was also Søster Frampton's birthday on Tuesday!! I made her waffles (we eat them with jam and goat cheese) and I put sticky notes and signs all over the apartment and then wrote the lyrics to the Taylor Swift song 22 because she was turning 22!! It was a great day!! The elders made her brownies and we ate at a member’s house and they made her a traditional Norwegian cake!! It was to die for!! Best thing ever!!!
On Wednesday we had zone conference so all the missionaries from the cities that are in my zone came to Stavanger and the Mission President talked to us.  I got to see Søster Johannessen, Sorensen, and Hoggard from the MTC!!! It was like a mini reunion!! So great to see them and talk to them!!
President Evans gave great advice about making sure we have a strong faith and a solid testimony of Jesus Christ! On Sunday it was fast Sunday which means we fast for two meals and have a purpose in mind when we fast. It can be for a specific person, etc.... On fast Sunday instead of people giving talks in church, it is opened for the congregation to come up and bear their testimonies.  I made a goal for myself to bear my testimony every fast Sunday on my mission.  For me this is HUGE!!! Considering I hate public speaking haha and because I would have to do it in Norwegian!! Well it came time for testimony meeting and I wanted to die!!! I have a girl in the ward that I have become friends with and had made a pact with her that if I did it so would she.  Her family feeds me and Søster Frampton every week!! They are so awesome!!! The girls name is Eddel.  She is very shy, so I was nervous that she wasn't going to do it with me! 
I sat by her in sacrament and we both went up together!! I was so so proud of her!!!  When I got up to speak I was so scared!! I just wanted to die!! However I did it!!! I was so proud of myself!! Especially since I had to do it in Norwegian!! After church many people came up to me and told me how good I sounded and how they appreciated my testimony and it made me feel so good!!  I am so grateful for the support and encouragement I have!!  I am so blessed and grateful for how the members of the ward have made me feel welcomed!! I love this church and gospel and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a missionary and share it with the people of Norway!
 It still is raining in Stavanger, no surprise there!!  The language is coming along!! Slowly, but surely!  I am learning a lot!  Stavanger has the hardest dialect to understand and pick up, so everyone has said that it is good I started here because everywhere else will be easy!!  Søster Frampton is such a great help!! She is so awesome!!! 

Funny stories of the week:
  • We were teaching with one of our investigators named Magne.  He is so nice and has been in and out of jail and used to have problems with drugs, so he is very hard to understand because he can't open his mouth a lot! He doesn't really understand English.  We asked him if he would say the closing prayer and he didn't want to (most of our investigators are hesitant to pray and are embarrassed to) and so I said, “you say it first than I will say one in Norwegian.”  He said okay!! I haven't talked a whole bunch in our only Norwegian lessons because I have a hard time understanding what is going on and he wanted to hear me speak Norwegian.  When it was my turn to pray I looked at Søster Frampton and said “His name is Marco right?” She thought I said Magne so she said yeah!!!  I called him Marco at least 3 times in the prayer!!! hahahahah luckily he didn't say anything about it, but Søster Frampton was dying!!! It wasn't till after I was done praying and saw her trying not to laugh that I realized his name was Magne..... Then I wanted to compliment his jewelry because he was like decked out!! So I asked Søster Frampton how to say jewelry and when I said it to him he got a look on his face and looked very surprised! I looked at Søster Frampton and said “what did I say wrong?!” Turns out I told him I liked his makeup!!!!  Turns out jewelry and makeup are very similar words if pronounced wrong. Jewelry is “smykker” and makeup is “sminka”.
Søster Frampton is the best!
Just doing a little shopping!

  • Me, Søster Frampton, Søster Hudson, and Søster Hornbeck went to get pizza on Saturday night! Søster Frampton and I went to their city to help them for the day.  Søster Frampton knows and has learned that if she dares me to do something I will do it.  There was a couple next to us that was leaving and had all this food left!! So she dared me to take it when they left and bring it to us to eat.  As soon as they got up I checked to make sure no one was watching and grabbed the two garlic breads that were still untouched on their table. Søster Frampton was dying laughing and the other Søster’s I'm sure thought I was crazy!! We ate the breadsticks than Søster Frampton told me to get the rest of their pizza that was still left that they hadn't finished. Norwegians eat everything with a fork and knife and cut it up so their mouths hadn't touched the pizza, so I checked to make sure no one was watching grabbed the pizza's off their plates and we all ate it!! hahahah it was the funniest thing ever!!!

  • Me and Søster Hornbeck were bonking and a guy came to the door and in Norwegian I said that we are missionaries from Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Before I could say anything else he started shaking his hands and head and said “no no no no no no way jose!!!” and closed the door.  I started busting up laughing because I had never heard that one before!!
Jordan's Tidbits:

·         Norwegians don't celebrate Halloween..... but we did get to decorate a pumpkin!
 
·         Norwegians don't celebrate Thanksgiving

·         Norwegians celebrate Christmas (God Jul) on December 24th and Santa actually comes to their house

·         Norwegians are already stocking the stores and decorating for Christmas!!

·         I will have a Norwegian baby stroller for my babies!! They are the coolest/best things ever!!

·         I had to get a registration card to use as I.D. in Norway and you aren't allowed to smile!!! I got it in the mail and I about died!!! It looks like a mug shot!!!!

·         The desserts here are deadly!! They are so good!!! You can't say no!!! 
This is the Norwegian "KitKat".
This is a Norwegian "pop tart", it has cinnamon butter on the inside!!
 
·         Invite the missionaries to your house!!! They appreciate it more than you know!! Especially if you feed them!!

·         Attach pictures in your emails!!!  Love getting letters too!!

·         I love and miss everyone!!! You all are so awesome!!!

·         Many people have asked me if I have met with the blue haired guy yet... sadly no because he got sick so hopefully this week!!

·         Live life in the moment!! Don't rush!!

·         Norwegian styles are very interesting and different than Americans.... They love to wear short shorts and tights and they love to wear their Nike tennis shoes with everything!! Doesn’t matter what the outfit is!

INVITATION FOR EVERYONE!!!!!

·         If you are a member of the church I would like to challenge you to invite/bring a nonmember to church or a church activity this month

·         If you are a nonmember I would like to challenge you to text or ask a Mormon about the church or about something they believe that you would like to know

Love you all so much!!! Thanks for the love, prayers, and support!! Means so much to me!! Have a great week!!
xoxox
Søster Peterson
www.mormon.org

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