A big old Heisann to the family and friends back home!

On Monday I went ice skating with my fantastic district. We had a district meeting on the ice. Topic: Learn to skate. (Side topic: How can we relate skating to the gospel? I have no idea, that's why I'm asking you!) Just kidding. We really did spend last Monday up in Arendal (the city of Frozen and frozen ice rinks as well) where the district went ice skating and I, Søster Blankmeyer, also attempted. There wasn't even a wall around the rink for me to hold on to so our District leader, Elder McEntire, along with everyone else in the district decided to help me out. I finally started to figure things out and I am definitely no pro yet but maybe one day. I think we may have began my ice skating career though. Then after a drink of Dr. Pepper we took the bus back to Kristiansand. 

This week as far as missionary work goes was a bit slow seeing as we couldn't contact for like half of the week. We did go caroling though and that was a blast getting to spread the Christmas cheer here in Norway. 

We spent Christmas eve here with a member family and then Christmas day with another member in the ward. We had lots of presents to open bright and early Christmas morning and it was a wonderful Christmas. 

I just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and remind you all how much I love you all. I am so grateful for the endless support I have received from you all. It really means a lot. I am very grateful for the Christmas season and for this time we have to remember Jesus Christ and his birth and how much of a gift it is for us here on the Earth. I have been able to have a wonderful Christmas experience here in Norway sharing that knowledge with others. 

I love you all and hope you all continue to have a wonderful Christmas and holiday season and know I'm sending my love from Norway! 

Klem,

Søster Blankmeyer

Arendal

delicious eats

Birthday cake from Congers

A little Christmas Fest and A Surprise Party too!

Birthday packages from America

when serving in Arendal you need a Frozen pillowcase

personalized 2017 calendar with some favorite pictures 

The beautiful Arendal

Well it really has been quite the week. On Wednesday, we met up with a girl from Ålesund who's been living in Kristiansand for the last little bit. She is a Jehovah's Witness and just wanted to know more about what we believe in. It was actually a way cool experience and it was a blast to get to hear the Ålesund dialect again and talk about the wonderful city. Shortly after her appointment we went to go teach our two investigators who are 9  and 11 and always has such fun questions for us to answer. It was a fun teach.  We read together from the Book of Mormon story book that my parents used to read with me when I was little. It brought back some good childhood memories which is always fun (especially on your birthday week). Speaking of birthday week, I might as well move onto that part of the week since that was the most exciting for me.

On Friday we had planned to attend the young single adult Christmas party with our district. It was going to be such a blast. For dinner we were going to have Risgrøtand and for dessert we were going to have Riscrem. I was to play piano for everyone while they sang Christmas carols and we were to have a white elephant gift exchange and do some Christmas service as well. It was going to be such a fun time. Søster Davis and I had gone to a bruktbutikk (basically like a garage sale but in an actual store) that morning to find some good white elephant gifts for the gift exchange. We were able to find some good gifts and we were way pumped for the Christmas party. We went and taught a few people throughout the day ending with teaching one of our new investigators at the center right before the party was about to start. We finished our teach with him and then it was finally time for the party to begin. They brought out the Risgrøtand and we had a wonderful dinner and then it was time for caroling. I went over to the piano as they started to distribute the salmebøker (hymnbooks). I began to play and everyone began to sing and it was just delightful. After I had finished playing all the Christmas songs the YSA leaders came up and asked me to play the happy birthday song. I quickly delegated that responsibility to our district leader Eldste McIntyre who is very talented when it comes to piano. It was one of the YSA's birthday that day so I figured we would all just sing to him and that would be that. The YSA girl leading brought me over to where she was standing and we started to sing. We got to the part where you just usually insert the name of the person who's birthday it is and turns out this birthday song was also for me. Surprise! Søster T came out with a birthday cake with one massive candle for myself and the YSA guy to blow out together. It was awesome. A surprise birthday party in Norway. Can't get much better than that. We proceeded to eat Riscrem and then do some service, have our gift exchange, and just chill. It was perfect. We got to hang out as a district, members, recent convert, even nonmembers and we all spread Christmas cheer with each other.#Blessed

Saturday was a day full of weekly planning, misssionary work, baking sugar cookies and finishing up my talk. We decided to make my grandma's sugar cookies for the kids in primary at church for Christmas. That took up sometime after lunch to make and bake those. It was way fun though and those homemade cookies remind me a lot of home. It was fantastic. After making the cookies we went and finished my talk and made some nametags and a Merry Christmas card to go with the cookies for the kids. At the end of the day we went and picked up Søster Davis Christmas packages and my birthday package. I was so excited to open it up but had just enough willpower to wait until the morning of my birthday. My gifts were perfect. It was such a good start to the day. I finished the finishing touches on my talk and then we were off to church. Church was absolutely perfect. I gave my talk and then I was stress free the rest of the day. We went and delivered the cookies to the kids in primary and the primary president had them all sing Happy Birthday to me. It was the cutest thing. After church we hung out at a members house and then I was able to talk to a bunch of my friends I've made here in Norway. It really was a special birthday. One I'll never forget. Thank you all so much for the birthday wishes and all the cards and gifts. I love you all so much and hope you have a wonderful week.

Klem

,
Søster Blankmeyer 

Christmas Conference, Travel Nightmare, STL Splits and Good Times

P-day emails at the library

Hei hei everyone! Before I get into our crazy week, I would like to take this time to wish a very special person a Happy Birthday! That's right, it's Bert's (a.k.a. mom's) Birthday on Wednesday. Happy Birthday Mom! I hope you have a wonderful birthday and know how much I love and miss you. I really got the best mom ever and I'm so grateful for her and everything she has done for me and continues to do for me. She's truly great and you all should wish her a Happy Birthday if you get the chance. I know me and all my Norwegian peeps will be wishing her a happy birthday from Norway! 

Speaking of Norway it's been quite the crazy week for this missionary in Kristiansand Norway. This past P-day as most of you know, due to the many rushed emails and lame blog post, we had to head to Oslo via train for our Christmas conference. Last P-day definitely kicked off the crazy week with last-minute packing that morning to quickly emailing to doing some quick service for a member to running all of our errands with just enough time to catch our 4:00 o'clock train to Oslo. Once on the train, everything was smooth sailing until all of a sudden we were in downtown Oslo, the biggest city in Norway, not 100% sure where exactly we needed to go. After being pointed in the right direction we found the Institute center which was full of helping hands (Elders) who quickly grabbed our luggage and got us to our apartment in Oslo safely. We had a decent amount of sleep that night and woke up pumped the next morning for our Christmas conference. 

Instead of doing the usual 4 different conferences, President decided to do two and bring half of the mission to one and half of the mission to the other. The first conference was the one I would be attending that Tuesday in Oslo. It would be all the missionaries from the west down and all the missionaries from the Telemark zone, so my current zone and the zone I just recently moved out of. Basically I was pumped because I would get to see all of my old friends and still be able to hang out with my new friends. It really was the best of both worlds. Well eventually the conference started with Pres. Hill talking to us for an hour about how we can improve as a missionary during this holiday season and next year as well. He had some great words for us as president Hill is truly an inspired man and I know, at least for me, I am excited to improve and be the best missionary I can be after listening to his wonderful talk.

After President Hill we were blessed to hear from Sister Hill who focused on how we can use music in our missionary work especially during the holiday season. It was a beautiful talk and a really cool perspective and one of the many ways we can do missionary work here in Norway. She closed her talk by having the members in my old district perform a musical number. They saying "Come unto Jesus" and it was just perfect. Music really is a blessing we have been given from our Father in Heaven and I'm excited to share the good music from the church with the people in Kristiansand. I love music and really enjoyed Sister Hills talk about using it more in our missionary efforts. I'm excited!

After Sister Hill it was time for The assistants to the president to talk to us for a little bit. They had created a compilation film of a bunch of the missionaries opening up the call letter before coming to Norway. It was way cool to see and brought us all back to the time we all opened up our letters and found out that we were going to be missionaries in Norway and the excitement and fear that came with that. We all wanted to be the best missionaries we could be and the assistants focused on how we all at one point had that desire and how we can keep that flame burning and ultimately be the best missionary we can be here in Norway. It was actually a really awesome presentation that got us all pumped to be great missionaries all over again. After the assistants, we were able to listen to all five missionaries who are headed back home this week bear their testimony's and then we had a delicious lunch. After lunch we had a talent show which was AWESOME! We had some really talented people perform and then we had a lot of funny skits about missionary life in Norway. Our district performed our own version of "Give Said the Little Stream" and it was pretty great. After the talent show we had another special presentation made by the assistance with everyone's baby/ toddler/ embarrassing photos included. I was a little nervous, but shouts out to my awesome parents for submitting some pretty stellar photos. Afterwards, President and Sister Hill left us with some words and then we got to chat for an hour or two before we all had to catch our trains and planes back to our areas. 

My district headed back to the train station expecting to take our four hour long train ride back to Kristiansand and when we promptly found out our tickets had not been purchased, so we missed that train and had to stay another night in Oslo with Søster Geddes and Søster Hutchings (from my MTC group) It was a blast but we were definitely on a lack of sleep the next morning when we were supposed to be catching another train, we had some issues with the code they had given us and so we missed that train as well. We were beginning to think we would just have to stay in Oslo forever. We called the APs and they told us to book the next train ride and don't miss it this time. We finally got back to Kristiansand totally sleep deprived with enough time to get a good nights sleep before the STL's came. Søster Petersen came to Kristiansand and her companion Søster Jones and we had a blast. We tried another purely Norwegian meal called a Kompe which is basically a potato with meat in the middle. It was quite the adventure and a blast to get to do missionary work with Søster Petersen again. Anyways, it was a crazy sleep deprived week but still a blast. It was a great week to be a missionary in the Norway, Olso mission. 

Kompe- Potatoes with meat in the middle

Soster Peteren and and I having Kompe

I hope you all have a fun filled week this week and I just want to wish my mom another happy birthday! I love and miss you all and hope you all spread Christmas cheer this week. Keep up the great work everyone!

Med vennlig Hilsen,
Søster Blankmeyer 

HALFWAY

halfway mark

Søster Davis and Søster Blankmeyer

Well here we are the good old nine-month mark. I am now halfway done with my mission and it's a little bittersweet. I have truly grown to love this beautiful country and the chance I have to serve the people in it. Norwegian is finally starting to make sense and things are looking up. I know I sometimes talk about or even focus on the challenging part of missionary work, but I really do love it and I am somewhat sad that it's halfway over. I am not the same person I was nine months ago and I have truly changed for the better. I have been able to learn so many valuable lessons out here and I truly would not change this experience for anything in the world. As we all know, it has not been an easy ride but it truly has been worth it. 

I think one of my absolute favorite lessons I have learned in these past nine months is that my Father in Heaven is really there. He really listens. He wants to help and most importantly he wants to have a relationship with me. He wants me to come to him for help or if I've had a bad day or even if I've had a great day. He wants me for ME and he really and truly loves me and I know it. I have come to learn of this knowledge these past nine months as I've had to really rely on Him. I love him too. It's something I'll take with me when I return home. Something I will hopefully never forget. I really have been able to learn that so personally and so lovingly and it's been a joy to share that knowledge with the Norwegian people this past nine months and I can't wait to share it more and more here in Norway and throughout my life. I'm so grateful to know that my Heavenly Father loves me and to feel that love in my daily life has been the best.

A close second though is being able to feel the love that Heavenly Father has for his children here in Norway. Tears filled my eyes just thinking about the tremendous love I have been able to feel for these Norwegians which I know is just a small sliver that my Father in Heaven has decided to share with me as one of his servants. It's indescribable. I truly felt how it feels to mourn with those who mourn and comfort those who stand in need of comfort. I've also been able to feel the joy that comes from someone who chooses to change their life and coming to Christ. It really is the best and I am so beyond blessed to have this opportunity and to see the many miracles along the way. 

I really had a wonderful nine-month mark today full of many miracles as well. This morning we had planned to have district meeting and Søster Davis and I went a little early so I could finish up the "pep reps" pretty soon everyone was there and we were about to start when a man walked in asking if we can help him. Come to find out that he is trying to do family history and not only that, but he's found out through family history that a lot of his family are Mormons. Edste Hadley, Stevens and I proceed to help him and answer all of his questions for the next hour. By the end of it all he says he will come back and we invited him to church. What a way to start off the day. A real nine-month miracle. 

We then had a wonderful district meeting and district lunch and planned our talent for the talent show. Shortly after all of that, we had our second nine month miracle. We had decided earlier that morning that we would try and deliver the banana bread to Magnus again and we had a little extra time before dinner and institute so we thought it would be a perfect time to try again. We walked all the way over to the bank and reach the side with the open door. We decided to just take a peek on the other side where his studio was and see if the lights were on. Sure enough they were. We decided we would try and call him first just in case he was in a lesson or something. We called, nothing. So we decided we would just go for it then. We navigated our way through the old bank and finally found his studio where we heard guitar playing. We were a bit nervous that he was in a lesson but we decided we needed to do it so he knocked on the door. Out came Magness dressed for a Christmas concert with guitar in hand. We were able to talk with him for a bit and he was nothing but smiles. He is a super sweet, super chill guy. Way cool. 

It truly was a miracle that we got that opportunity and remembered to say a prayer of thanks afterwards. We then went to Institute where Rolf taught another amazing lesson on parenting and families. It was just incredible yet again. It did make me miss my parents and family and the never ending love they show towards me.  But I know what I'm doing is the right thing and I really am happy to be doing it. I am happy to be only nine months away from seeing my family again but I know I will miss my brothers and sisters here in Norway. This mission has been the best decision of my life and I'm so grateful that I chose to come and was worthy to do so. I would like to finish with my mission scripture in Alma 29:9   I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.

Klem,
Søster Blankmeyer

Strength and Service

Thanksgiving meal

Potato cakes

This week truly has been all over the place.  On Monday night we had an appointment that canceled on us. Tuesday we had three appointments and they all canceled on us as well so instead we just had a member who we had invited to come on a lesson with us. Wednesday was just one of those rough days in general, but we were able to go and visit a member who had two adorable kittens. (Talk about tender mercies)  Thursday we were finally able to teach one of our investigators and then we made potato cakes with our Relief Society for Thanksgiving dinner that night. Friday we did some weekly planning for this upcoming week.  Saturday we were able to have a Thanksgiving feast with all the missionaries, young single adults, members and even non-members. It was absolutely fantastic we were also able to go to church and had a wonderful church meeting and then for a ward missionary meeting afterwards as well. We also were able to have some Thanksgiving left-overs for dinner which was great. All in all you could say we had our fair share of good days and bad days this week but we continue to soldier on. Whenever an appointment would cancel we would go and hit the streets and talk to as many people as we could to try and find someone who was ready to come closer to their Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  

We were actually able to have a lot of really cool conversations with the people and our question of the week that we asked most of the people we taught was, "what is something you are thankful for?" We got a lot of really good answers which led to some good conversations. Now that I think back on the week I can truly see that God knows us, knows our situation, knows our desires and that he wants to bless us. In our missionary meeting on Sunday I was asked to give the spiritual thought. I've been given a weeks notice and I really thought long and hard about what I wanted to share, or rather what my Heavenly Father wanted me to share. I was reading Sunday morning in the book that my grandparents had just recently sent me and I knew that was exactly what I needed to share. It talked about how in life's many changes and checklist we can become discouraged or frustrated.  But that through creativity and compassion we can find hope and joy. It talked about instead of focusing on what we have not done we should focus on what we have accomplished and who we really are. It led to a great discussion amongst us missionaries and our ward mission leader.

It got us talking about what success really is and how through it we all need to stay positive and happy and just keep going and doing our part. I mention this because I have been able to really see the blessings that have come this past week from doing my part. Like I mentioned earlier, we had our fair share of good days and bad days this week and it would have been really easy on those bad days to give up but instead we kept going and although we may not have achieved the success we were going for the Lord blessed us along the way and I can't tell you all enough how truly grateful I am for that. How grateful I am to have this knowledge of my Heavenly Father knows and loves me and wants to bless me. I'm grateful for this opportunity I have to share and serve here in Norway and to serve the people around me.  Service really is a wonderful thing. 

Every Christmas season our church puts out a video and comes up with a certain Christmas initiative for us. Now that Thanksgiving is over, the church has put out the video and the focus this year is on service. It really is wonderful. I think it's especially fitting because we have just had our focus on Thanksgiving and everything we are thankful for and all the many blessings we have been given in our lives and now for Christmas we get to focus on service and paying it forward and being that blessing in someone else's life and while doing so, sharing the light of Christ that we all have been given. I believe that as we do this, as we serve our fellow brothers and sisters, that the Lord will want to bless us even more. The church's initiative is focus on service and they have invited us, starting December 1, to do an act of service each day leading up to Christmas. I know its the missionaries in our area that are excited to take on the challenge and to do our best to serve with all her heart, might, mind, and strength. This Christmas we will be giving the gift of service which Is truly one of the best gifts. It doesn't require a lot of money, it doesn't even have to be extraordinary act of service just an act of service that you yourself can give is perfect. The church has a website dedicated to this cause and I would encourage you all to visit it at Mormon.org and to watch the video and just check out the website. It has a lot of great ideas on how to serve in a variety of different ways. 

I am once again so very thankful for you all and for the love and support you show me. That's a great act of service right there! I'm thankful for this time of year we get to focus on Thanksgiving, service, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I know that service has impacted my life in a variety of different ways and I'm so thankful that we get to focus on it a bit more this year and I hope you all are thankful and ready to serve as well. I love you all so very much and håper at dere har en kjempe fin uke og husk til å tjene andre!

Klem,
Søster Blankmeyer 

PS thank you grandma and grandpa Blankmeyer and aunt Teri for the wonderful Thanksgiving cards!

A week of whale

My second week here in Kristiansand has been one for the books, and that may have something to do with the title but I'll get to that later. As far as teaching investigators in Kristiansand, things have been a little slow. We have spent most of my time here hitting the streets trying to find people to teach and when we're not out on the streets we're "banking" knocking doors. It's been quite the adventure. We spend long days out in the dark and cold with the occasional rain or snow or even hail. Now, you read that last sentence and you may be thinking to yourself that that doesn't sound like the most fun or exciting thing to do here in Norway. I will admit that this Texas girl prefers the sun, but I am so thankful for this opportunity to be a missionary and sometimes that's exactly what missionary work is. We wake up early in the morning and don't get back home until nine at night. We walk and we walk and we walk all day long, all over the city to try and find those people who want to learn more about this happy message. Some days no one is interested and some days we get a few people to listen but no matter what we wake up every morning and we go out to find those people in search of the Gospel. 

The other day we went out to our usual path that we walk and I remember saying a silent prayer to my heavenly father asking him to put someone in our path that was ready to hear the gospel. We were actually on our way to go knock on some doors but decided to walk to "The neighborhood" and talk to some people along the way. We had stopped a few people, and although they were all very kind, none of them were really ready or that interested in what we had to say.  But of course we just kept going. We had just crossed through this tunnel when I saw a man walking in our direction. I stopped him and asked our go to question, "what is something that makes you happy?" His response being, "to see that others around me are happy." Now I have asked this question to pretty much all of Kristiansand and this was the first time I had ever heard an answer like that. For the most part people would say their families and their friends make them happy. We did get an occasional answer of food or even a couple Pokémon Go's.  But this was the first time I had heard this answer and I just thought that was beautiful. How completely unselfish, how kind of this man to find joy in other people's happiness. I was obviously pretty excited about this new opinion and told the man how I had asked this question about a million times but this was possibly my favorite answer. 

His answer told us a lot about the person he was and quite frankly taught me a little bit more about the type of person I want to become. I was so excited and we promptly began to share with him what makes us happy and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. We asked him if he would be interested to learn more and he said, and his exact words, "actually yes!" He told us that he was a bit busy with soccer training.  But that we could send a text and see what we could do. We have since texted him and set up an appointment with him for Tuesday this next week.  We are so excited and honestly so thankful that our Heavenly Father put him in our path.

With Thanksgiving being this upcoming week, I just can't help but think of all the wonderful things I am grateful for this year. I am first and foremost grateful for my Father in heaven, his son Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. These three members of the Godhead have brought such hope, peace, and direction to my life and I really don't know where I would be if I lacked the knowledge of them and their existence. I am also so very thankful for my family. Erik, Rhoberta, Sophia, Eliza, and Erik jr as well as grandma and grandpa Blankmeyer and Conger and the rest of my extended family. Thank you all for shaping me into the person I am today and for continuing to love and except me no matter what. I am so very thankful for all of my friends and all of those I have been able to associate and learn from. I am thankful for this church and I am truly thankful for the happiness it has brought into my life. I am thankful for prayer, and scriptures, and all the many resources we have been given to help us through this life here on earth. I am thankful for this time I have right now to be a missionary and just share this message with the people of Norway. I am thankful for all the members, less actives, investigators, companions, and all the Norwegians that I have come to know and love. I am thankful for my weakness and for the fact that I am not perfect but can continue to be better every day. I'm thankful for my talents and everything I have been given. Jeg Er bare så takknemlig!

I'm thankful that we could learn about being thankful in the Scriptures and I just would like to share a couple with you all the first comes from Alma 26:8 which says, "blessed be the name of our God let us sing to his praise, yeah, let us give thanks to his holy name, for he doth work righteousness forever." The other comes from doctrine and covenants section 59 verse 7 which says, "thou shall thank the Lord the God in all things." Short and sweet but always a good reminder. 

I'm also very thankful for the package I received from grandma and grandpa Conger! What a fun surprise! Last but not least, I am thankful that I could serve here in Norway and that one of our YSA's gave us the chance to eat a whale steak #Blessed. Even though everyone else was saying that it tasted like liver, it was quite the experience and I am glad that I can now say I've tried whale  Crazy things go down in Kristiansand. I hope you all have a wonderful week and a wonderful Thanksgiving break and that you all can remember everything you are grateful for and keep the spirit of Thanksgiving alive throughout the week.   Thank you all again for all that you do for me and for others and thank you for taking the time to read my blog. You all are the best.

Klem,
Søster Blankmeyer 

Velkommen to Kristiansand

Saying goodbye to one of my favorite Norwegian Forest cats

Wow! Det har vært en uke! My first few days here in Kristiansand have been quite crazy, but they have been a blast as well. I am really excited to be able to serve in this area with Søster Davis and help Heavenly Father's children here in Kristiansand come closer to Him as well as his son, Jesus Christ. Before I give you all the lowdown of the week I just wanted to wish my cat Molly a happy 12th birthday! (Yes, I know I'm a bit crazy) 

Happy Birthday Molly!

Anyways, so Monday and Tuesday were full of goodbyes and packing down in Asker. Monday night, we were able to have a delicious meal with the Elder's landlord. They are really amazing people and are also the owners of my two favorite Norwegian Forest cats in the Asker Sandvika area, Hunter and Bond. We ended up having a very nice meal and then I was able to go hold and pet the cats (dream come true!) before heading off to President and Sister Hill's house. 

We arrive to the Mission home safely where Sister Hill had made an amazing dessert for us and we all just sat around the kitchen table and talked. It was perfect. Man do I just love President and Sister Hill! It's going to be hard not living just a 15 minute drive away but it's OK because I know how to use the phone down here in Kristiansand. 

Tuesday was truly a day of goodbyes with members, investigators, and the good ol' district. One of our investigators lives in this beautiful town called Bærums Verk which has an adorable history site of the old town. We went over to her house to say goodbye and next thing we know she's giving us the grand tour of the old Bærens Verk. Some of the houses have been there since the 1700s and almost all of them have been transformed into tourist and shopping stores. Talk about incredible. The views in the little houses are beautiful and if I had been alive in the 1700s I think Bærms Verk, Norway would have been a beautiful place to live. 

Tuesday night was spent with Søster Love and the Elders who would also be helping me out with luggage and travel Wednesday morning I would be traveling here to Kristiansand alone via a four hour train ride. The train ride was just stunning and I probably took way too many pictures but Norway is just a breath taking country. After four hours on the train I finally made it safe and sound to Kristiansand. Søster Davis was at the train station ready to pick me up and get going. Let me tell you all a little bit about Søster Davis, at least a few things that I know after being her companion for a few days now. She is from Holiday, Utah and is the fifth child of eight children. She studied for a year at the University of Utah before coming to Norway to serve a mission. Søster Davis is really amazing at dance and did ballet for a good portion of her high school career. Her dream is to one day become a high school math teacher and help those highschooler's not only pass math class, but actually understand it too. She really loves teaching which makes her such a solid missionary. I have seen in just a few days that I've served with her how her passion for teaching drives her. Søster Davis is a really hard worker. It's really amazing to see where she has come just after a short 12 weeks and I'm really excited to get to serve with her here in Kristiansand. I arrived in Kristiansand at 4:00 PM on Wednesday. Søster Davis and Elder Torgeson, one of the senior couples here in Kristiansand were at the train station to pick me up and drive me and all my bags to my new home. Søster Davis gave me the grand tour and then said she could make us dinner while I unpacked a little bit. 

We didn't make it too far before I was asking Søster Davis a million questions about the area: How many investigators do we have? What are their names? What are their stories? How are the members here? Who's in the ward? What is it like serving in Kristiansand? What do you normally do? Poor Søster Davis was being hit with question after question. It's a good thing she likes to teach. After I had taken in all the information she had just given me, and I began to unpack a little bit. Søster Davis was able to make some dinner after about an hour.  

We were off and we only had an hour or two left until we had to be back home and so we decided to hit the streets and see if anyone was interested in our message. I'll never forget the first man I talked to in Kristiansand. I had been told a little bit about the Kristiansand dialect but not much. It's safe to say I wasn't really prepared. My very first area in Norway, Ålesund, had some of the northern dialect influence and then I was sent to Asker where they spoke the same Norwegian that we had learned in the Missionary Training Center. Now I was here in the deep South with a completely southern dialect. With Denmark only being a three hour boat ride away the Norwegians here have more of a Danish sound to their Norwegian, not to mention the first talk I heard in church here was given in danish. It took a little getting used to but I think I've got the hang of it now, for the most part. 

Thursday was another day full of contacting and I have literally never talked so much my entire mission. I've actually been really blessed to have a car not only in Ålesund but in Asker as well but here in Kristiansand we walk and take the bus. We walked all over town and Søster Davis was even kind enough to show me an adorable little place in Kristiansand that I quickly snapped a few pictures of. 

Glass Artist

Friday we had district meeting in the one and only Arendal! Just like the city in Disney's Frozen! It was gorgeous and district meeting was a blast. The district consists of the Arendal Elders as well as the Kristiansand Elders and Søsters. Our district leaders got to Arendal the same day I got to Kristiansand his name is Elder McIntyre and he is companions with Elder Hadley. Then we have the Kristiansand Elders which consist of Elder Stephen and he is now training Elder Rogers who is now on his fifth day in Norway. 

The district is pretty cool and district meeting was a blast. We also had Institute on Friday night with all the young single adults. Where we learned more about the temple it was awesome. We have some really fun young single adults here the highlight of Saturday was dinner with a member and almost missing our bus twice and hearing Elder Rogers scream, "I am wearing leather shoes!" as we ran through the snow and mud to catch them. Sunday was great getting to meet some of the members here was such fun and Elder Rogers and I were able to share our testimonies as well. I know he was totally nervous but for being in Norway for four days, he did a solid job. We then had dinner at the institute teacher and his wife's house which was a blast and then headed over to teach with a couple of our investigators. 

All in all it was a pretty hectic but fun week and I'm excited to see what my time here in Kristiansand will bring. I love missionary work! Så strålende Kallet mitter!

Klem, 
Søster Blankmeyer