The Final Transfer

I still can't get over the title of this post. This morning we found out about moves for my final transfer. I will be finishing out my mission here in Stavanger with my new companion Søster Sorenson. I am way excited! No matter what happens, I'm determined to make my final transfer a good one. This past week has been wild but at the same time, it's been a really good one. Before I get into all the details though, I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish my little sister Eliza happy 18th birthday! Eliza turned 18 this past Friday, July 14, and I just can't believe it! I've been away from home for almost 18 months now and everyone has just been growing up and moving on with their lives, it's crazy!  You think I would be a bit more used to the fact by now but as a matter of fact, I'm not. It's still so wild to me and I'm sure it will be even more wild in a month when I'm back home and get to see all of you wonderful humans again. Anyway I love you Eliza and I hope you had an absolutely fantastic birthday. You deserve it. 

All right now on to the week! This past Monday for family home evening, we had one of the best volleyball games I have ever been a part of here in Stavanger.   It was literally so much fun! I think that Elder and Sister Gormley's grandson and his three best friends from America brought a lot of energy to the game. Everyone loved it. It was awesome one of my favorite family home evening's here in Stavanger for sure.  Tuesday we started off the day with a really great district meeting focused purely on our Savior Jesus Christ. We went around sharing our favorite miracle stories and just stories of the Savior. The spirit that was in the room was so strong and there were even some tears. I really like the focus on Jesus Christ. We also had a discussion about Christ's atonement and how we have been able to use that in our lives not only to repent but also to just find that peace that comes from it. That discussion reminded me of two quotes I had read recently, one from Elder Neal L. Anderson and one from Elder Jeffrey R Holland.  The first one states, "for those who are truly repentant but seem unable to feel any relief: continue keeping the Commandments. I promise you, relief will come in the timetable of the Lord. Healing also requires time." I love that! To me this "tells us how we can use the atonement to find that peace we were talking about. Elder Jeffrey R Holland stated, "however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don't have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sing for lower than the infinite light of Christ atonement shines." I thought those were just beautiful. I found peace after reading those and remembering that the atonement really is such a hopeful message. That's always a good reminder. 

Tuesday night we had a dinner appointment with such an amazing family in the world. They reminded me a bit of my family and so it was such a fun dinner appointment for me. For a spiritual thought we decided to stick to our mission focused and talk about the book of Mormon. We all went around the room shared what the book of Mormon was to us. It was very powerful to hear how different everyones experience with the book was and also at the same time how everyone had such a strong testimony of the book. At the end we gave this family a brand new copy of the Book of Mormon and ask them to write their testimony on the inside and then either hand it out themselves or give it back to us to hand out to someone and well it didn't take this champion of a family very long. Yesterday at church the father of the family informed us of their little miracle with the book. He said that it was actually really easy because he had prayed to God to know who was in need of this book and then suddenly a co-worker came up to him and was like, hey I need a Book of Mormon. Turns out this coworkers sister had been studying religion and this coworker knew that this member was a Mormon and they have been talking about the gospel ever since. How cool is that? That's a total miracle that just goes to show how that not only are our prayers herd but they are answered as well. That was such a testimony strengthener  for me and I'm sure for that entire family as well. Talk about blessings. 

On Wednesday we had the Oslo sisters here in Stavanger for splits. It was such a blast! Søster Crenshaw and I were able to feed some cats we've been watching, visit a less active, and talk to a couple of awesome Scottish people before having to meet up in the city to switch with the other two. Turns out we made the news as we were just standing out in the city so that's pretty cool. Then for the second half of the day I got to serve with my daughter again, Søster Davis.  That was quite the party. There's just something special about getting to go on splits with former companions. It's so nice! I love it! Thursday is pretty normal day and then Friday was our mission wide selfie day I was telling you all about a couple blog post to goto. If you go on Instagram and look up the #TheBookOfMormonOslo. You might see some pictures of me! It was such a blast. I actually really like the selfie days Saturday we played American football and then European football or sports. It was so much fun! I loved it so much! Then right after sport we caught an hour and a half bus as a district out to the members cabin to help with some yardwork. That was actually quite fun as well. After working all day we were able to go and see some nearby bunkers and tunnels and cannons that had been used during World War II here in Norway that was rad.  Literally so cool. These members had the special head light so we could see inside the underground tunnels and look through them and stuff. It was awesome.  A nice reward for a day of backbreaking service.  

Sunday was a nice day of rest.  We had such a fantastic day at church.  We decided to go to Young Woman's this time and we got to be a part of such a wonderful lesson.  It was about taking upon us the name of Jesus Christ.  Which I get the opportunity to literally do every morning when I put on my name tag as a missionary.  It's still so crazy to me that I only get to do that for another 6 weeks, but that lesson was a good reminder to me that even when I'm no longer able to wear my name tag that I can still take upon me the name of Jesus Christ each day.  In fact, that's what I should be doing and what we all should be doing.  For now though I get the awesome privilege of wearing this name tag for one final transfer and trying my best to be like Christ as I serve his and my own brothers and sisters here in Norway.  I would invite you all to try and find one way you can better take upon you the name of Jesus Christ this week and then do it.  I know you will be blessed by so doing.  I hope you all have another fantastic week and keep being awesome.  I love you all!

Klem,

Søster Blankmeyer 

Blessings of Bergen

First off I want to start by saying happy late fourth of July everyone! I hope you all were able to have a fantastic Independence Day back in the states and that you were able to see some fireworks and eat some good barbecue! It is really rather difficult to try and re-create a national holiday when you aren't actually in that nation. But luckily for us, our district meeting happened to land on this glorious day so we opened that meeting with God bless America, said the Pledge, and closed our meeting with the Star-Spangled Banner. It was great. Then after district meeting we had a very patriotic lunch altogether thanks to Elder and Sister Gormley. We had really good and fresh hamburgers and for dessert Sister Gormley had made an amazing cheesecake which she decorated as the American flag. The rest of the day we all would remember things we love about America like Costco and football. Together we made a long list. America really is such a wonderful place and even though we've had our share of good and bad. I'm glad we get to call that place home. I hope you all enjoyed celebrating America just as much as us Norwegian Missionaries! Shortly after our district meeting and Fourth of July celebration Søster Hutchings and I headed to the airport to catch a flight to none other than Bergen. This would make Bergen around three for me, but now I'm not complaining. Bergen is a beautiful city. A city where all the tourist come for a visit and where most of the Missionaries dream of serving. This time we would be getting to go on splits with Søster Bennett and my very own daughter/Trainee Søster Love. Like I said earlier, we ended up flying into Bergen the night of the 4th of July. When we arrived we took the Bybane to their house and actually made it home before the Bergen sisters had made it home. When I had called them it sounded like they were at the church or something and I didn't think much of it. After a few minutes the sisters arrived and their first question to us was, "are you guys hungry?" Turns out these amazing sisters had been buying food for another 4th of July meal celebration! Of course, Søster Love and I had served together before and so she knew my love for certain foods and drinks and so that night we were pleasantly surprised with a macaroni and cheese dinner with Dr Pepper to drink and ice cream, reeses, Butterfinger and Oreos for dessert. It was wonderful. That is when I knew this splits was going to be a party!

We ended the night with a little Språk/ language study and then Søster Love and I caught up a little bit while Søster Bennett and Søster Hutchings talked. It was absolutely fantastic. I really was blessed to be able to train such an outstanding human. I was so grateful to be able to talk with Søster Love that night and truly feel of her love. That was vital to me. Actually, both her and Søster Bennett both truly exemplify the quote by Elder Ronald A. Rasband when he says that, "people are more important than anything else" Throughout my entire time in Bergen this past week these sisters taught me that through their actions. Never once during our time in Bergen did I feel like a burden or a bother I mean let's face it, it can be tough to have another sister missionary come and stay at your place. You have to feed them, get them a place to sleep, double book your days so that everyone isn't just out on the street the entire day, etc. It can be a rather tough situation but these to Sisters in Bergen never made us feel that way. They were and are absolute champions. You could tell that they both came on their mission for the people whether that be us, their fellow missionaries, or the people on the street, they came here to serve and to love the people. That was such a cool thing for me to see. During my time in Bergen we ended up having a really great splits experience and saw some more miracles and I had some fun spreading the gospel with the people of Norway. I really did love every second of it. Before we knew it, it was time to head back home to Stavanger.

Our ward mission leader had also just arrived back in Stavanger with his family. After picking up the daughter from the Temple Square mission in Utah. On Saturday, we were able to have our ward missionary meeting at their house where he shared a story from their vacation. Apparently while driving out in the middle of nowhere Utah, their car completely broke down it was way hot and while the other's were trying to stay hydrated, the adults were trying to figure out what was wrong with the car. Eventually a member of The church stopped to ask if they needed any help and was able to help them get the car towed and everything figured out. I can't remember all the details of the story, but I believe that man had actually served a mission in either Norway or some other country in Scandinavia. Either way he was excited to see and interact with some Norwegians and was kind enough even to pay for the repair on the car. Our ward mission leader then told us that something that easily could have been the worst part of their trip turned out to be one of the best and I would just have to assume it was because that man also understood the quote, "people are more important than anything else." It really is so true though, when we Focus on the people around us and show them our love it can make all the difference. I would challenge you all this week to seize the opportunity to show someone your love. Let them know that to you, people are more important than anything else. I love you all so much and am so grateful for the many blessings and lessons I received from knowing you. Have a great week! 

Klem
Søster Blankmeyer

Back At It Again In KSand

This past week was absolutely fantastic and I bet you all can guess why! This past week we were able to go on splits and visit the sisters in, none other than, Kristiansand!  It was literally such a blast I can't even tell you guys enough but I sure do plan on trying today in my blog.  Before I do that though I want to tell you guys a little bit about what has been going on in Stavanger this past week. Since Norway does not have an LDS temple yet, most of the members have to go to Sweden or Denmark when they want to go and visit the temple. Most of the wards and or branches will then plan a trip to go to the temple together at least once or twice a year since it is such a trip to travel all the way out there. Well this past week has been the chosen week for the Stavanger ward to go to the temple. We were even lucky enough to watch some members cats this past week and hear some wonderful testimonies yesterday due to this outstanding trip. 

However, all the Mormons in Stavanger didn't ditch us completely, we still had a handful of members here with us. One of which had just been called as a ward missionary and was completely ready and willing to go and do missionary work with us. This member is actually a recent convert to the gospel and has such a strong testimony about her faith that she is just so excited to share that with everyone. The same Sunday that she received this calling, she came up to me and asked if she could, at a minimum go out with us each week for at least a couple hours. Of course we said yes! This past week we went out with her on Tuesday and Friday for a couple hours just going around the city and talking to people. It felt as if I was training all over again. This was a recent convert who had never been on a mission before and actually comes from the Middle East so she doesn't actually speak Norwegian and English isn't her first language either, although she is really rather good at English. We went out and started talking to people while this member was literally taking notes on what we said or what we did. We would sometimes ask her to stop someone and she would think over her notes and then do it gladly. By the end of the first go we sent her back home with a Norwegian Book of Mormon and some pass along cards to hand out while we were away in Kristiansand.  She was literally so excited! You can tell she loves the gospel and loves that, unlike her home country, she can share that with others here in Norway. She truly is a champion and I'm so glad that she got called as a ward missionary here in Stavanger. 

Shortly after contacting with this member we had to catch a bus and the train to Kristiansand! I was literally so excited. I was hoping that maybe, if I was lucky, I would get to see some of my member friends that I had made while serving down there. After a wild trip, we finally made it safe and sound in Kristiansand where we ran into one of my YSA (young single adult) friends who was just coming in from Oslo, talk about a blessing! It was so great to see and talk to her and it just made me so happy, and the happiness continued. The next day I found out that we would be meeting with another one of my favorite young single adults, Evan. Evan is honestly such a light. He is always so happy and kind and you can tell that he cares and that he loves the gospel as well so I was super pumped. Before meeting with Evan, we were supposed to teach some Chilean guys some English but they were running 45 minutes late so we just combined them and had Evan help us teach them English.  While in the meantime me and Søster Geddes got to clean the YSA center basement and talk a little bit. Søster Geddes and Søster Newell as well are both such lights as well.  They are exactly the sisters that Kristiansand needs right now and I feel so lucky to get to go on splits with them this past week. I know they brought a lot of light and joy in my life but I was very grateful for. In the end, Søster Geddes, the Chileans, Evan and I had a great time and then it was time to switch. Søster Newell, The elders and I all headed to a dinner appointment at an older members house which was so good. After the dinner appointment Søster Newell was kind enough to ask me if there were any other members I would like to say hi to and I had just the couple in mind.  It was actually a miracle because as we showed up to their house they were just leaving and the man told me that they had been running late and if they had left on time they would have just missed me so that was pretty lucky. I was able to say a quick hi to them before they headed out and then crazy coincidence the two kids of theirs I had met during Christmas time we're back home again from school for the summer so we went in and had some ice cream sandwiches and just talked about our missions.  It was such a cool and literally a perfect experience for me and I think for the other missionaries as well. We shared a spiritual thought and then we were off and as soon as splits in Kristiansand had begun it was suddenly over. 

I was so grateful to get to go to Kristiansand again and see some of my absolute favorite members there. It was great to learn from them and to learn from the absolutely amazing sisters there. It was literally the perfect splits and I left that city with so much happiness and joy in my heart. It was a wonderful week. I hope you all have a wonderful week as well.

Klem,

Søster Blankmeyer 

Lady vs Flower Girl

All right so we had a really good week last week because it was the week of our zone conference here in the west! Zone conferences have always been a thing I look forward to because for me zone conference is a day where we just get to come together and learn from our wonderful leaders how we can be better, more effective Missionaries. There were a few things this past conference that really hit home for me. And I'm excited to share those with you all. The majority of our conference was focused on The Book of Mormon since our mission has really been putting a major focus on that with the whole Book of Mormon play coming to Oslo, Kristiansand and possibly Bergen this summer/fall. With all the publicity that has come with the play, our name and The Book of Mormon have become a bit more well known here in Norway. 

Last transfer we had a mission wide selfie day where we went out and took selfie's with the people on the streets and had them use the #TheBookofMormonOslo when posting to help try and put faces of real Missionaries on social media where the play has been advertising as well. It was actually very successful and all of our selfie's have been calculated to have been seen by thousands of people here in Norway so that's really exciting. We are actually planning to do another selfie day this transfer on July 14th if you all back home want to keep an eye out or even participate this time around. Maybe post a picture of The Book of Mormon and your testimony and use the #ThebookofMormonOslo to help us out. That would be great! You don't even have to wait until July 14, you could do it today and you'd be doing some great missionary work back home and here in Norway. How exciting! It's so easy to be a missionary now days. I love it! 

Anyways, so our mission has really been trying to focus on The Book of Mormon and how we can use it better as missionaries and in our missionary work. We have started a Book of Mormon reading chart here in the mission and this past zone conference the Assistants to the Presidents (APs) really focused all of their time on how to present the Book of Mormon and answer those frequently asked questions on The Book of Mormon. It was fantastic. They split us up into different groups and for the most of the time we were practicing how to use the Book of Mormon in our contacting as well as a really good method on how to get return appointments. It was really cool. 

After zone conference we went on splits with the sisters from Haugesund and we were able to practice this some more as well as try and put it to practice here in Stavanger.  It was really cool to keep the momentum alive after zone conference. Another thing that hit us, as well as the Haugesund sisters, was something that President Hill really briefly touch on and that was the challenge to try and refrain from gossiping about one another. It's crazy how big a problem gossiping is in our society today. It's almost to a point where it's more natural to talk bad rather than good about a person and that's really messed up. In the end we are all brothers and sisters here just trying to do the best we can. His little insert on gossiping reminded me of a talk I have really grown to love. I swear I bring it up all the time now days, but it's so applicable. The talk is entitled "With Hand and Heart" by Thomas S. Monson, from the October 1971 general conference. If there is anything I can commit to you all through this blog post it would be to go and read that talk. This truly changed my life. President Hill's comment reminded me of something I read in that talk. It says, this truth was stated so beautifully on the stage in My Fair Lady. Eliza Doolittle, the flower girl, spoke to one for whom she cared and who later was to lift her from such mediocre status: "you see, really and truly, apart from the things anyone can pick up (The dressing and the proper way of speaking, and so on) The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she's treated. I shall always be a flower girl to Professor Higgins, because he always treats me as a flower girl, but I know I can be a lady to you because you always treat me as a lady and always will." Eliza Doolittle was but expressing that proven truth: when we treat people  as they are, they will remain as they are. When we treat people as if they were what they should be, they will become what they should be." I love that. It's so true. It works the same with gossiping. If we go around saying mean things about others than that is what they will stay to us and to those we gossip too.  But if we go around spreading the good than people will want to be good and will aspire to be the best they can be. I have seen this truth manifested in my own life. 

We all have such a divine potential that we can reach sometimes we just need to help each other remember that and help them get there. We are all on the same team here just trying to make it through our day to day lives so why not be kind and loving. That is what the rest of that talk is about so I really encourage you all to read it whether you be Mormon or not it's a good talk about how we can be better people. Thank you all for being the wonderful people you already are! I Love you so much!

Klem, 

Søster Blankmeyer 

Nightly Beans

I'm sorry that this blog post is coming a week late. Of course right when I get all caught up I suddenly get behind again. This blog should have been posted the day after Father's Day but now I will just have to wish all the dads out there a very happy late Father's Day!  Thank you all for all you do. Dad's are so important and I'm so glad I have been blessed with the best one. I was thinking about my dad and all he has done for me and my family and all the many things he has taught me over the years one of which being that I am also a daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves me and is there for me. What an important lesson that my dad took the time to teach me and all my siblings.  A lesson that has helped me all throughout my life and especially out here on my mission. That little bit of knowledge is actually one of the first things we share with people as missionaries that they have a loving Heavenly Father who cares for them and wants to hear from them. Just as we might call our fathers when we are in trouble or in need, we must do the same with our Father in Heaven. 

Our Heavenly Father wants to help he wants to hear from us all, the good and the bad, that is going on in our lives. He truly wants to be a part of our lives like any good dad would and he wants to be a part of our lives so that he can help us. He wants to be that shoulder to cry on when we need it or he wants to be that one to give us guidance or direction when we need that. 

At the beginning of this transfer we flew down to Oslo to have our leadership meeting and while there one of the zone leaders talked about how in their zone they have been encouraging companionship's to hold what translates to nightly prayers or “nightly beans” hence the title of this blog post. 

Søster Hutchings and I have decided to participate in those nightly prayers together.  Even though we aren't technically in that zone, but we are seeing the difference it has made. It has not only brought us closer to each other but it has brought us both closer to our Father in Heaven as well. We have been able to see that Heavenly Father hears our prayers and really does answer us as well, whether it be through other people, the Scriptures or many other methods. As we can see our Heavenly Father truly does love us he has given us a way to communicate with him and he has given us ways to receive his answers. He really truly does love us so much. 

This past week I was reading through both my parents and my own patriarchal blessing when it hit me that our patriarchal blessings are basically a fathers blessing to us from our Heavenly Father. How cool is that? No one knows us better than our Father in Heaven and through these blessings he is able to remind us of what we are and who we can become with his help. It's truly beautiful I was thinking about it as well as I was reading through them how kind are Heavenly Father is when talking about us. 

Satan tries and really succeeds sometimes at making us feel terrible about ourselves and can convince us we can never amount to anything. On the flip side though our Heavenly Father our creator reminds us that we are His and that because we are his we have the divine potential to be like him and his son Jesus Christ. It is such a nice thought and feeling to be reminded of that. We truly do have a Father in Heaven who loves us and because he loves us he has given us the opportunity to come to the earth in families. I really am so grateful for my family and for my earthly father as well. I know my earthly parents see the same potential in me that my heavenly parents do and it's really a refreshing feeling to feel all of the support from both sides. 

I am so grateful for prayer and that through prayer I can communicate with my Heavenly Father. And grateful that in his perfect plan he has provided a way to communicate back to me I am so beyond grateful for my earthly family. I really do believe I have one of the best. I can honestly say that I know they are always there for me and at the same time are always willing to show Gods love for me through their words and actions. Although Satan is good at his job my family and God are better and I know that if I work on having a strong relationship with them and I can overcome anything. I am so grateful for that knowledge. I'm grateful that my dad helped me to learn that among many other important aspects of the Gospel. I would be so lost without it. 

I would encourage you all this week to really focus on your relationship with your family and with your Father in Heaven. Maybe if you don't really do so, you can hold family prayers together. I know that can bless your lives. I have seen it blessed me and my family. I am once again grateful for you all and all your support. I really have been blessed with some of the best family and friends out there. I can't say it enough. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I hope you all have a wonderful week and strengthen those important bonds. Love you all.

Klem,
Søster Blankmeyer

Ps Love you so much dad! Happy (really late) Father's Day!

Be All In!

First off I apologize for the craziness of my blog these past couple of weeks. I think I ended up missing a week and then things got crazy and I got lazy and so I've been trying to catch up ever since.  I should be all caught up now. This has been such a great week for me actually and I'm super excited to tell you all about it. 

Tuesday night Elder and Sister Gormley came and picked us up to take us to the airport. The Gormley's, my companion and I, as well as the rest of the district would all be heading to Oslo together that night. On Wednesday we would be having a mission conference with half of the missionaries in the mission and our guest speaker Elder Herland. We all got into Oslo safely on Tuesday night and headed to our respective sleeping arrangements.  After the conference Wednesday Soster Hutchings and I were to go on splits with the sisters in Asker and so we decided that we would just spend the night there during our entire time in the Asker and Oslo area. We spent some time Tuesday night catching up with the sisters in Asker but quickly made our way to bed since tomorrow was a big day. We had been waiting for this day the entire transfer and now it was finally here.  On our way to the church building we ran into some of our fellow missionaries and I was able to catch up a little bit with some of my favorite people! It was such a blessing.  

We made it to the Oslo church safely and with just enough time to catch up with the missionaries there. I was able to see a few of my old companions, some cool sisters I met on splits, and just hang out with the homey's from my old districts. It was honestly so nice. We have some really great missionaries serving here in Norway. We eventually made our way into the chapel and quickly finished catching up with each other and started to prepare for Elder Herland's arrival. The assistance came in and told us that the STL (Sister Training Leaders) and zone leaders were going to get the chance to meet and hear a few words from Elder Herland when he first arrived and so we were led down stairs to a room to wait for him. Shortly after, he arrived with President and Sister Hill and told us all a little bit about himself, gave us a sneak peek as to what he was going to talk about and then thanked us for our service. The cool thing about Elder Herland is that he is totally Norwegian with ancestery going all the way back to the Kings and he served his mission in none other then Norway. 

After hearing wonderful words from President and Sister Hill we were privileged to hear from Elder Herland. He talked about his life and his mission and his journey to becoming a general authority 70. He left us with some inspiring messages and thoughts, among those being: 

 “The rascal who became a Seventy”
- Stop worrying and start focusing
- Don’t be someone else – be you. You are called to this mission because you are you.
- It is not a heavenly principle to beat yourself up – don’t do it
- Is Heavenly Father an optimist or a pessimist?
- Obedience is the first law of heaven
- Righteous decisions over time create joy
- A disciple not as a slave, but as a follower
- Heavenly Father will never leave you – you may withdraw from Him, but He will never leave you
- All or nothing – be all in 
- This is the Church for people with something wrong with them. If you have a problem, fantastic, join the 
Celestial club
- Heavenly Father will never tell you that He does not like you. He would not do that.
- Go to the source, Jesus Christ, and the scriptures
- Your mission can change your heart, and change your life forever
- We all have our battles – it’s part of the test. We will be able to overcome those challenges
- So glad I did not give up until I could better feel the Spirit. 
- Missionaries are like horses – sometimes they need “to be broken”
- 5 things
o Be kind to yourself
o Be obedient
o Be optimistic
o Have faith
o Do all you can do – because Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are doing all they can do to help you
- To those soon departing – "put the frosting on the cake"
- To those continuing – “step up”

 All in all though he was real. He still had a sense of humor and he didn't hide the fact that he wasn't perfect and he helped us to feel as if we really could accomplish everything he was saying to us. I really appreciated that he gave a really good presentation and then we were off to lunch to talk some more with the homey's. We then came back and heard a beautiful musical number, listened to Elder Herland's final comments and then heard some testimonies from nine elders who are going home this week. That conference was honestly exactly what I needed. I literally felt so blessed to be a part of that. Elder Herland was able to say somethings that were exactly what I needed to hear and I was able to see and talk to some people that I really needed to see and it was all just perfect. 

After the meeting Søster Ralphs, one of my old companions, and one of the girls I would be on splits with, told me we had to quickly run to an appointment. I said my goodbyes and hopped on the train to Asker. Man let me just tell you all it felt so good to be able to go on splits in Asker, one of my previous areas and to go on splits with Søster Ralphs, who I had served with before, was such a fun time. Our appointment was at the church building in Sandvika with one of our old investigators and we even had a member of the bishopric there as well. That alone brought back so many memories. After our teach we walked out of the room and turns out that they were having young men's and young women's activities that night so it was so fun to get to see all of the youth again. We also ran into Soster Vega who was Søster Hutchings trainer who now lives with her grandparents in the Sandvika area so that was cool. As we were leaving, a few of the members of one of my favorite families showed up and then I was really on cloud nine. There is no way that the day could have gotten any better. 

Thursday was a wonderful filled day of splits in Asker. It was really cool actually because as we were catching up the first night I noticed the white board they had up with all their investigators on it. One of the names up there was the name of a woman I had gotten really close with while serving in Asker, so I asked how she was doing. The sisters said she had been on vacation and they were unsuccessful in getting an appointment with her. I decided to try and give her a call and see if we could meet while I was in Asker. She was so excited to get that call and on Thursday we were able to go and visit her. Her house is my goal and so I took a lot of pictures of her house and we were able to catch up and have a good time together. She ended up really liking Søster Jones who had come with me and so I expect that the sisters will be visiting her again sometime soon. After that meeting we went over to sweet old Martha's house with some flowers for an early birthday gift. Martha is a champion. We called her that morning and I said I was in town and she invited us over to dinner. We had a wonderful dinner and chat and then headed out on our way.  We had some extra time and so we were able to pop in and say hi to another one of my favorite families. Honestly, one of my absolute favorite splits ever. 

Suddenly it was Friday and we were back in Oslo again to participate in a "miniature mission leadership conference" with Elder Herland. He asked us about our thoughts and impressions from the previous day and then he would take our comments and add upon them and relate them to leadership. He also shared a lot of really great thoughts about how to be the best leader we can be and it was honestly very inspiring and I felt very lucky to be a part of that meeting as well. Elder Herland is a very inspiring and completely inspired servant of the Lord and this Norway Oslo mission was blessed to be able to hear from him. I'm so glad for the past week and all the inspiring memories that came with it. I'm excited to bring that energy back to Stavanger and hopefully carry it with me for the rest of my life as well. I hope you all have a wonderful week. Kjempe gladi dere!


Klem,

Søster Blankmeyer 

Dance In The Rain

Happy Birthday dad! I hope you have a wonderful day! You're the best and I love you so much! My commitment to anyone reading is to give my dad, Erik Blankmeyer, a birthday shout out if you get a chance. It's crazy because this time last year I was living in Ålesund, Norway and was still a pretty new missionary and here I am a year later in Stavanger finishing up my mission. It's literally so crazy to me how much time flies. I think it actually dawned on me this week just how much time flies and how we need to learn to enjoy the "now" no matter what.  

It was once again a pretty crazy week in the life of a sister missionary here in Stavanger. Yesterday we were asked to sub in and teach one of the primary classes at church last minute. The class happened to be right after sacrament meeting and so we had absolutely no time to prepare the lesson. Instead we ended up doing something we had done earlier that week with one of the member families that we visit. We had the kids in the class pretend to be Missionaries while we were the investigators. First up we had two of the Norwegian boys give it a shot. They knocked on the door we let them in they taught us a little about The Book of Mormon and that was that. After they were done the American boy asked if that's usually how it goes down. We told him no considering we opened up and let them in on the first try. We asked if they would like to see how we usually do it and they all said yes. We told the boys they could be as difficult as they wanted and so they really took that opportunity. Got to love sassy 10 and 11-year-old boys. They slammed the door in our face after a few times before giving us the opportunity to properly introduce ourselves and why we were knocking on their door. Finally they let us in and we were able to teach them a little about The Book of Mormon as well. It was as we were teaching these "investigators" that I realized what a cool opportunity it is to be a sister missionary. Although it's not always the easiest thing it's such a cool experience and no matter how many doors get slammed on our face. I really should be enjoying the "now" because before I know it this adventure will be over. Last Monday for family home evening FHE we took a walk over to the botanical gardens here in Stavanger and for a straight hour got to just enjoy the beauty of the nature here in Norway and enjoy the good company. It was very literally a breath of fresh air. We were able to just enjoy God's creation and not worry so much about the every day worries that life throws our way. Needless to say I really enjoyed it and it was much needed for me.  

Later this past week we were out knocking on doors a ways away from home and as we were out we decided to take a little break and run down to the ocean. On our way down, it started pouring down rain. Like pouring. One of the worst storms I had seen in a long while. Like the type of rain storm where there are major puddles in the streets and the cars driving by our splashing all the water up on the sidewalk. I still have yet to see or hear thunder or lightning here in Norway but I bet the storm would have been as close as I would get to those. Anyways here we were at some random little beach in Stavanger in the pouring rain and I was just soaking every last minute of it up without a care in the world. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want us to be happy and to enjoy the blessings that are raining down on us from heaven. I invite you all to take a second and watch the Mormon message entitled, "Shower of Heavenly Blessings" I know that the blessings are there if we just take the time to enjoy the "now". For a second we can forget about all the trials and challenges and worries of every day life and we can stop and smell the roses and 'dance in the rain' too. I'm grateful for the opportunities and blessings I have received in my life and for my new found appreciation to live in the now and except and acknowledge the blessings in my life. And once again grateful for you all and for all of the support I received. Also shout out to Mary Jordan for the wonderful letter! Also another big shout out to my dad, another one of the major blessings in my life. I love you all and hope you can all take the time to dance in the rain this week!

Klem,

Søster Blankmeyer 

Splits on Splits on Splits

Well this has been quite the crazy packed week! On Monday after emailing we headed over to a YSA's house and had some dinner before everyone else started to show up. After everyone had gathered at the house we walked over to a nearby campsite and had a campfire and roasted marshmallows and hot dogs and played guitar and sang songs. It was a really Køstleg experience and reminded me of all the many bonfires I had with me and my friends in high school. There's something about being out in nature gathered around a warm fire that just brings people together and make some of the strongest bonds. Literally love it and it's totally worth the fact that everything in our apartment smells like campfire. We were then given a really cool spiritual thought about angels being all around us and how everyone at the bonfire was an angel too. It was way rad. 

Tuesday was Eldste Carver and Søster Hutchins birthdays. We had a birthday lunch of Caesar salad and cinnamon rolls and then had an awesome district meeting afterwards. Then later we went over to a members house for hamburgers, cookies and ice cream. We also had a way cool spiritual thought at the end of that meal where we went around and kind of bore testimony on different aspects of the gospel or on life or just shared something positive. It was really cool to hear about the good in everyone's lives. It was really inspiring and uplifting. 

Wednesday we had our first missionary meeting with our new ward mission leader. It was a really cool meeting and he even took the time to give us a quick rundown on Norway's history which was different but way cool. We were able to come up with some new ideas on what to do better as missionaries to help out the investigators, less active, and members here in the Stavanger area. It was way good, then it was time for another split. This time we were to have the Nordstrand Søsters (Petersen my old companion and Søster Eart) come here to Stavanger. They flew in Thursday night and left Saturday morning. It was another great splits. I was able to spend a lot of time with Søster Peterson as we taught a Jehovah's Witness and then met back up with the other sisters and one of the young women who had served a mini mission with søster Petersen as well. Søster Petersen and this young woman were then able to teach Sister Hutchings and I a very powerful lesson on the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was really cool to act as an investigator during that teach and to see those two girls really listen to the spirit and give such a powerful lesson. I can only say how touched we all were from that lesson of course as quickly as the party started with the Nordstrand sisters it was suddenly over and they were headed back to the Oslo area to keep killing the missionary game over there. 

Saturday as we were out contacting we ran into a cool free little art museum and decided to take a break real quick and check it out. We got some great pictures from that experience as well. We ended the week off with a wonderful Sunday meeting where we had the privilege of participating in primary and hanging out with all the cute little kids there, one of which will be getting baptized this upcoming Saturday. Then we had the grand finale at dinner at a members house where we had wonderful food a good spiritual thought and discussion and a great bonding time. All in all it was a crazy packed week but a great one as well!

Klem
Søster Blankmeyer