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 

Beautiful Bergen

This past week we were able to go on splits and visit the sisters in Bergen! It was such a blast. I was so glad we were able to make our way out to Bergen again. It's such a beautiful city in Norway and the people there make it even better. If I had more time here in Norway, I would totally want to go and serve there. Luckily enough for me, I've been able to go and visit these past two transfers. Before we left for Bergen though we went and tried back at an apartment that we had knocked on last week and had told us to come back another day. It's really kind of crazy because in Preach My Gospel, it talks about contacting people who have recently had a baby, moved to the area, or experienced a death in the family. Well this contact had all three. We had knocked on her door and asked if we could share a quick message and she told us she was interested but her husband was out of town attending his dad's funeral and she was trying to feed their new baby so she asked us to come back another day. Well we decided to try her again before heading out to Bergen.  She let us in this time and we were able to teach her a little bit about The Book of Mormon. Come to find out she's actually from Romania where her and her husband just recently moved from and they both come from religious families. She was very interested in what we had to share and was really grateful for the free copy of The Book of Mormon that we gave to her. It was a really cool experience and it just goes to show that one, Preach My Gospel knows what it's talking about and two, Heavenly father is preparing people here in Norway and placing them in our path. It's honestly so cool. We committed her to start reading The Book of Mormon before our next visit and then we were off and on our way to Bergen.

We arrived there Thursday night, talked and caught up a bit and then we noticed they had a ukulele in their apartment, so we sang some songs and went off to bed. The next morning splits began and I was able to start out with Søster Gagon and visit some members I had visited last time I was in Bergen so that was pretty cool. He then went back to the apartment for studies and lunch and it ended up being a great morning. By the time I got finished with all that, it was time to switch companions, but it was also almost time for sports so we decided to just all get changed into our sport clothes and then go knocking on doors nearby the soccer field. It was a really nice day and so everybody was out doing yard work since it's hard to come by a sunny day in Bergen. It made for some really cool knocking experiences we decided to do it all together and make it like a little group activity. It was way sick. I had never done missionary work like that before and so it was cool to learn a new way. It was just like four girls out to do service and people responded very well to it. It was way cool. I think maybe we were less intimidating in our normal clothes or seemed more legit with four rather than just two people but either way it was different and fun. It was also really cool because that's totally something that anyone can do. You can get together as just a group of friends or a church group and go out and try to find people to serve. Regardless of religion, service is a great way to show our fellow humans that we care and are willing to spend some of our time and energy for them and it's so rewarding. I challenge you all to go out and find someone you can serve. I promise you it'll be worth it. Have a great week!

Klem,

Søster Blankmeyer