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| 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)
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| 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.
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.
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| 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
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