Wow am I so grateful for the sun and summer and best of all here in Ålesund, tourist season. It has been quite the week here (but then again when isn't it?) and we have been loving every minute of the sun and the tourists. We have been able to talk to none other than good old AMERICANS! It's always way fun to get to talk to someone from your home country. The other day Søster Ralphs and I were headed back home after a long days work. We spotted one of our friends here in Ålesund walking ahead of us so we hurried to catch up. We finally got close enough to say Hei Hei and not only did our friend turn around to see who had said that but this elderly couple did as well. The elderly lady then said, "Oh I thought you were talking to us," and it took Søster Ralphs and I a second to realize that that was ENGLISH! As soon as it had registered we asked them where they were from and started up a lovely conversation with this cute couple. They were from the wonderful state of California and live not far from Woodland Hills where I was born. We have this cute little music store here in Ålesund and the old man told us they had just come from the music store and had become good friends with the store owner. He told us how they talked about music and bands for a while and then he remembered he was wearing a tshirt that had one of the bands they were discussing so he decided to give the owner the SHIRT OFF OF HIS BACK. I mean that's pretty crazy. Apparently the owner gave them some free records and things from his shop which is awesome. Obviously they were a very friendly and giving couple and it was way fun to get to talk to them for a little bit. I'm sure their trip to Ålesund will be a trip they will never forget, from the little music store to talking to the Mormon missionaries, it seems like they had quite the vacation.
This fast Sunday was also blessed by the presence of good old AMERICANS in the Ålesund branch! We had a visit from our stake high councilman and he was wrapping up his Sunday school lesson when a big family walks by the big windows in our bakery/church building. They originally walked past us but then spotted all of the Books of Mormon in our display and eventually realized that this little bakery was really the LDS church building here in this tiny town in Norway. They came in and for the first time since I have been serving here in Ålesund we actually didn't have enough chairs set up! What a good problem to have! It was way fun to be able to talk to this awesome family from Salt Lake City, Utah and to hear some testimonies in English as well. Also thought my Mom and Sister Malouf would like to know that I am the piano player for the branch, so all those years of piano practice are starting to pay off! It did make me a little more nervous when all of a sudden all of these Americans showed up and the size of the branch doubled and now I would have to play piano in front of 6 more people but the Lord really provided and I was able to play the Hymns with ease. Church was really amazing this week and the Americans may have snapped a picture of Søster Ralphs and I to send home, so keep an eye out Mom(;
After church we headed to our usual Sunday dinner at our favorite Dutch family's home. We walked right in (as we have become really close with this family) and proceeded to the kitchen to ask if we could help with anything! They said they had it under control and so we proceeded to ask how their week had went. We got the response, "Terrible!" and were quite taken aback. They told us that the husband had lost his job and that they are moving back to the Netherlands before the end of this transfer. We plan to spend every weekend with them up until they move helping to pack and get the house ready for the new owners. It was really sad to hear that a family who has taken such great care of us would now be so far away but we were happy to get the opportunity to know and befriend them and are humbled to serve them in any way possible. I was able to share Helaman 5:12 with them and explained that sometimes in life we are thrown things that are out of our control and that we all go through challenges, but as long as our foundation is in Christ, we cannot fall. We hope to keep in touch and they will be in our thoughts and prayers while they go through these next couple of weeks.
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| I tried to pet the sheep. The adventure that is Norway! |
Last week was a really hard week for me and I was kind of in the mindset that nothing was going right and that my life just sucked. I was really humbled this week as we talked to not only our Dutch friends but also one of our investigators from Venezuela. She told us that her friends and family back home were really struggling economically and that they were all going through some pretty hard times. It's been a very humbling experience to hear about all of these people having to endure much harder things than I am at this point in my life and seeing them all handle it with such grace and not saying to themselves, "Wow my life sucks," like I had been doing earlier this week. I am grateful for this opportunity to serve those around me and grateful for the tender mercies and miracles that I have been blessed with while serving here in Ålesund.
Earlier this week I was reading in the Liahona (a church magazine for those of you who aren't familiar with this title) and I came across a story entitled "Seven Tender Miracles Along the Way" and (of course) I would encourage all of you to take like 5 minutes to read this article when you have the chance. It is a story of a boy who had a pretty challenging life and yet was able to recognize some miracles that got him to where he is at today. It was also a very humbling experience for me to read this article and to recognize that my life really isn't all that challenging and that I need to be more grateful for what I do have, so this past week I have been trying to focus on and be more grateful for all the little tender mercies and miracles I have experienced here in Ålesund. I'd love to share with you all 7 tender miracles I've had along the way.
1)Members from Logan, Utah. Usually I am not the biggest fan of this particular city in Utah seeing as I attend the Lord's school in Provo, Utah, but here in Norway it's a real blessing to have some members from America. We have two men in our branch from Logan and we were able to visit both of them this past weekend. We got to speak English, have pizza and even make Smores. Norway doesn't actually sell graham crackers and really I don't think Norwegians make Smores on the regular but we did what we could and it was a tender mercy that reminded me of home and who doesn't love a good Smore??
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| Norwegian Smore |
2)Also I hit my 3 month mark as a missionary! As I said earlier I had been having a rough week and my wonderful companion Søster Ralphs picked up on that, so I woke up to a wonderful apple cake to celebrate my 3 months as a missionary! I am so blessed with a companion that is so aware and willing to serve in any way possible!! It was truly a monumental day and I am lucky to work towards 4 months this transfer!
3)I'm not sure if any of you would remember the super cute African kid who helped me play piano a couple weeks ago, but he was the cutest thing! He is one of our member's nephews and my first time meeting him he was super shy and I couldn't get any words much less a smile out of him, but this week we passed him and his Mom walking to the store and he saw me and just smiled from ear to ear. I was just as excited to see him! I am so grateful for little children who are just so loving and kind!
4)We went to meet with one of our investigators this week and she really loves to shop. We met up with her at her house and shared a spiritual thought. Afterwards she asked us if we wanted to go to Fretex (the Norwegian equivalent of Goodwill but so much better) to go shop for a little bit so of course we said Yes! While we were there I found a super cute and super modest skirt for a super good price and anyone who knows me knows that clothes and retail therapy are always considered a blessing in my life!
5)I finally found a Norwegian sweater!!! Ever since coming to Norway I've been on the hunt for the perfect Norwegian sweater. I am happy to announce that I have found it and I am so beyond happy about that! Søster Ralphs found a couple as well and so we gladly took a companionship photoshoot with out Norwegian sweaters, hence the title of the blog post today!!
6)Søster Ralphs got her package! While Søster Ralphs was on her 2 week vacation in Tromsø her Mom told her there would be a package waiting for her back in Ålesund. Of course, Søster Ralphs comes back home way pumped to receive her package and yet Søster Bender has taken our mail keys with her to Moss. Søster Ralphs gets right on that and has Søster Bender send the keys to our Dutch friends so we can actually check our mail. We finally get the keys and there is nothing to be found in our mailbox (classic life of a Norwegian missionary). She proceeds to have us check the mailbox every time we pass it and even would watch for the mailman and have us check once he left. Every time it was the same result, an empty mailbox. Finally today we go and check our mailbox and the slip that says you have a package at the nearest post is waiting for Søster Ralphs! She was so happy to get her package and I was so happy to not have to check the mailbox 100 times a day! JK! I was happy for her to get her package too(:
7)Last but DEFINITELY not least, probably one of the coolest miracles happened this past fast Sunday. Ben bore his testimony! That was a way cool experience for me as a missionary to see my first convert go up and bear such a solid testimony of this gospel. He has such faith and it was way cool to see him share that with all of us in the Ålesund branch as well as our American visitors. I am forever grateful and humbled that I could play a small part in his conversion and expect nothing but wonderful things from him. He is such a rock and even was giving us some spot on missionary tips on Sunday as well. It was such a miracle to see and hear Ben bear his testimony and a very wonderful way to end my week!
Alright, I just had you all read quite a bunch so beklager (Translation:sorry) but I hope you all have a fantastic week and I would challenge you to look for the tiny miracles we are blessed with on a daily basis. Thanks for reading and can't wait to hear from you all next week! Ha en fin uke! (Translation:Have a fine week!)
Love,
Søster Blankmeyer
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