RAIN RAIN GO AWAY!!!

Hei Hei!!!

Alright so this week......

I absolutely love Stavanger!!! It is so beautiful however it rains ALL the time!!! Literally every day!!! I live in my rain boots; however the rain here is very weird... It is light and rains sideways or horizontal.

It is starting to get cold, but not too bad yet!  I am getting the hang of the public transportation down!! Riding buses are becoming very normal to me.  This week I had my first real Norwegian meal at a member’s home.... It was potatoes not mashed and lamb that was cooked in cabbage.  For those of you that don't know, I am not a fan and hate eating meat off the bones and seeing the bones.  I don't like it and it freaks me out.  The lamb was very much on the bones!! There were bones everywhere!!! Søster Frampton loved it!! I on the other hand was not a fan.  They eat the lamb with this type of jam so I was smothering it in jam and eating it as fast as I could!  Norwegians will feed and feed you even if you say no.  I had finished and the mom asked if I wanted more and I said no thank you but next thing I know there is another lamb on my plate!!!  Well you can't not eat it!! You have to eat what they give you!! So I picked at it and luckily Søster Frampton put her plate on top of mine when she was done so they couldn't see haha.  Søster Frampton said I will learn to get used to the food here and I sure hope so!! I am not a picky eater and will eat anything, but man some of the things I am really just going to have to learn to love.  Søster Frampton was dying throughout dinner and thought it was so funny because she knew I didn't like bones. Also this family was all Norwegian.... so during the whole dinner everyone was speaking Norwegian.  I could pick up a few things, but for the most part had no idea what was going on! I would just smile and nodd like I do at church haha.  We did get some free fish soup one day on the street!  It was so yummy!

Craziest thing!!! At the Young Single Adult activity on Monday night me and two of the members , who are cousins, from the ward named, Jørgen and Linin who are so great and awesome, figured out that we knew and were friends with Jacob Lasswell!! I was mind blown!! I met and became friends with Jacob at school and he had lived in Norway when he was younger and was totally friends with these two!!! Such a small world!!! At the activity that night we watched "Surfs Up" and made Donuts!! 

Jørgen and Linin

 

This is Casper (our deaf investigator)

 

On Tuesday Søster Frampton and I were contacting in the street which means you walk up to people and just start talking to them in Norwegian of course.  We weren't having any luck and one guy that did stop and talk with us tried to argue the whole time.  I didn't understand what was being said, but Søster Frampton did not like him haha.  Usually I go up to the person and start talking to them and introduce who we are, etc... then when they start talking Søster Frampton steps in because I have no idea what they are saying.  As we were walking there was a man with bright blue hair, sketchy guy, gages, etc... Søster Frampton dared me to talk to him.  I always accept dares so I walked up to him introduced ourselves and Søster Frampton talked with him and next thing we know we have an appointment with him this week!! So crazy!!
By the way.... I love the cobblestone streets in Stavanger.   


This week Søster Frampton went to visit other Sisters in other areas since she is a district leader.  While she was gone I went and stayed with Søster Hudson and Søster Hornbeck just in the next town over called Sandes.  Søster Hudson and I were in the MTC together.  It was very interesting to see what they do.  They opened a new area so they are starting from scratch which means no investigators or anything.  Which also means contacting and bonking all day!!! (bonking is knocking on doors) That was an experience for me! It made me appreciate how lucky Søster Frampton and I are!!  The Norwegian people are very stubborn and set in their ways. I learned this while with Søster Hudson og Søster Hornbeck. They either don't believe in God, are happy with the way their lives are and don't need God or religion, don't want to talk, aren't interested, etc... It was so frustrating and discouraging!! It was a rough day and we had been walking all day long and had no success and constantly were rejected.  I even questioned why I was here and what I was doing.  However I know that a mission is not going to be easy and there are going to be days like the one I had.  I just need to stay positive and endure to the end!  While reading my scriptures I came across two scriptures that really stood out to me and helped me a lot!! They helped me remember that I am on a mission to help others and I will not give up.  The Lord needs me and has called me specifically.  I need to forget myself and go to work and He will help me and I know that without a doubt. 

The scriptures that helped me were:

John chapter 15:16

This scripture talks about how: His servants have been chosen and ordained by Him

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Isaiah chapter 6:8

Also, I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I, send me

I related these scriptures to me personally and they helped me so much!!!

There was a fun, crazy, scary moment when I was with Søster Hudson in Sandes.  We were walking in the city and found some CRAZY "demon" swans!!

 

 A LITTLE ABOUT MY INVESTIGATORS:

 We have Loui, Casper, Clarissa og Philip, Nnnana, and Pawet. They are all amazing! Clarissa og Philip are so sweet and so eager to learn about the church!! They live two hours away so they don’t come every Sunday, sometimes every other Sunday.  We are going to start skyping them and calling them to do the lessons.  We may get to go see them again on Saturday.  Here are some more pictures from when we went to visit them last week in Farsund.

 

 

Pawet is scared to come to church, but we are working on him! Casper is so sweet and nice and very eager to learn more about the church!! I had my first signing class last Tuesday!  Loui has a baptismal date, but won't come to church so we may have to push it back. He is African and very funny and always messes with me about speaking Norwegian.  Nnanna is African as well and is kind of shy. I have only met with him once, but we are unsure with how things are going with him.  He doesn't call us back a lot, but he reads the Book of Mormon and prays so that's a start!

 

JORDAN'S TIDBITS:

·         Norwegians do not use or have garbage disposals..... they have like 4 different trash cans and are very into recycling

·         Søster Frampton and I are teaching country line dance tonight at a ward and young single adult’s activity.  That will be fun!!

·         Norwegian sign is way different from American Sign Language, but I am catching on pretty well and it is a great way for me to learn Norwegian vocabulary

·         Sport every Saturday at the church is way fun and our investigators love to come!! Casper, Loui, and Pawet came this week!! It's great to be able to play volleyball again!

This is Pawet

 

·         Norwegian kids don't learn English until they are 12 so it is a struggle talking to little kids especially at church

·         Tuesdays in the mission are Norwegian only days so no English!! That is tough but helps me learn!

·         The language is coming.... Søster Frampton is a superstar and helps me so much!! I learn new things every day and I think the hardest part is understanding people!

·         I love love love Norway!!! It is so beautiful and just the best place ever!!

·         Norwegian desserts and most of their food is to die for!!! Definitely going to miss it when I am back in the states!

Eating yummy kebab

 

·         Norwegians very healthy people which means their food is healthy as well.  This week Søster Frampton and I made a delicious dinner!  SALMON! So Yummy!

·         Norwegians have many words that have more than one meaning which can get very confusing

·         Søster Frampton was making me laugh and I choked on my orange I was eating and spit it out all over the floor hahahah

·         Norwegians eat with a fork in left hand and a knife in the right hand and cut everything!! Even sandwiches!! They eat desserts with spoons!  Søster Frampton and I went out to celebrate her birthday!  Here I am eating my sandwich with a fork!

·         Talked to a person on the bus for the first time!! All I said was “How are you doing?” But it was in Norwegian and a great start!!!

·         Met a family in the ward who knew my grandma and grandpa!! So crazy!! The Meads are awesome!  Sister Mead and I doing genealogy together!

·         For a day it literally smelled like dog food in the city!! Wanted to gag!!!

·         Søster Frampton and I were running to catch a bus and we probably looked so crazy! She was trying to wave it down and I am dying laughing running with an umbrella behind me! If I was on the bus watching, I would have been cracking up watching two girls running with rain boots, long skirts, and waving their arms with umbrella's hahahaha!!

·         The ward here is so awesome!! People are so great and friendly even if I can't understand half of them they are so nice!

I love hearing from everyone!! Thank you so much for the emails, love, and support!! Means alot to me!! I also love seeing pictures!!
 

xoxo

Søster Peterson