A Boat, A Gun, and A Few White Handbooks Later...

Alright, what a week this has been. I know I pretty much say that every week but it really is an adventure every day here in Norway! Last Monday after logging off my email we had our little branch FHE. We had decided to all be tourists together for a day and we took a hike up fjellstua which is a big tourist attraction here in Ålesund. After a quick 418 stairs we made it to the top and wow was that view breathtaking. Living in Ålesund is unlike anything else I have ever experienced in my life and I am truly blessed to have started my mission out here on the gorgeous west coast! I loved being able to look down on my city here in Norway and recognize all the cool experiences I have been blessed with thus far and be able to recognize all the cute little shops we frequent and you can even see our Bakeri church building from the top of fjellstua which is way awesome. Growing up in a big city, it's cool to be able to live in a cute little Norwegian town and be able to climb up a mountain and look down on the city and know every street and building within view. I took so many photos so I plan to keep this blog post a bit shorter so that I can post more photos and not completely overwhelm all of you reading! Also I found a friendly cat and was able to get a picture with it, so something to look forward to! Anyways, if any of you ever happen to make it to Ålesund, Norway you have to hike fjellstua and take in the beauty that is Norway!

our Bakeri Church building

restaurant at the top

tourist for the day

This week we were able to have our Sister Training Leaders come and visit us. Sadly, Søster Ralphs ended up getting way sick and had to stay in both days with one of the STLs but I was able to do some amazing missionary work with both of the STLs during their visit to Ålesund! It was really cool to learn from the Sister Training Leaders as they are both going home next week and are obviously very seasoned sister missionaries.There were a lot of cool experiences and awesome miracles happening those two days. Since we couldn't really go to many of our appointments without Søster Ralphs, me and the STLs had a lot of time to go out and try and find some people who have been prepared to hear the gospel! While we were out talking to people on the street something really cool happened, people starting coming up to us! We would start up a conversation with someone and then I would hear "Søster Blankmeyer" or even "Abigail Blankmeyer" which was way different! Considering Ålesund is a pretty small city and I may or may not have talked to pretty much everybody living here, it was cool to have people come up to me and recognize me. I have really grown to love the people here in Ålesund. I have been able to make so many friendships and that is by far my favorite part of missionary work. I am a firm believer that people have their agency and don't always want to listen to our message but that doesn't mean we can't just love them and be a good representative of Christ and his church here in Norway. I am so thankful for the friendships I have made here in Ålesund and that will make leaving it (whenever that day may come) so much harder, but what a cool thing to be able to say that you made such wonderful friendships with the people that it made leaving them hard. I love the people of Norway!

While I was out on splits with Søster Randall (one of the STLs) she got a text from one of her member friends in Oslo saying she wanted us to go and visit her Mom here in Ålesund. Of course we wanted to go and visit this member's non-member mother so we asked her how we could get to her mother's house. She told us to go and hike up fjellstua and look down at the city and find the big pink house near the water, so in our skirts and all I got to hike up the 418 stairs again to try and find this house! We get to the top and start to look down at the city. Let me tell you, I don't think I've ever seen so many pink houses near a body of water before in my life! We ended up spending a couple hours hiking up and down and trying to find this house. We eventually got an address and were able to find this lady's mother and sing to her. That was a way cool experience. I had never thought of singing a primary song or hymn as missionary work, but of course it is! I love music and am so excited to start incorporating that into my missionary work here in Norway! That was a way cool lesson that the STLs taught us, that missionary work is not just going out and talking to everyone out on the street. It is a big part of missionary work to do that, but we can also do missionary through service and song, as well as many other daily activities! I would challenge you all to find a simple way to share the gospel with those around you. It doesn't have to be a song, but just a tiny act of service or something to brighten someones day.

pink house?

Speaking of service, we were able to help our Dutch friends with yardwork on Saturday and I was able to pet two of their adorable cats!! That was a tender mercy. I just love cats! We have an investigator who wants to get a hairless cat and buy it some cute Norwegian sweaters to wear so that it doesn't get too cold. I'll let you know if she ends up committing to that! It really was a week full of cats which was really a party for me!

We also had a branch party this past week. We went and had hot dogs and brownies and such on an island nearby where we live. We got permission from President to take one of our member's boats out to this island and man was that cool to see Ålesund from the water! This town is beyond stunning and I can't stress that enough! I just love Ålesund! 

I also love all the wonderful packages and letters that I received this week!! I just want to give a special shoutout to the Academy Ward primary for writing such sweet letters to me! I know I was only in that ward for a short period of time but I feel so much love from all the members there. Thank you for all the kind letters and words of encouragement! Also special shoutout to Ava and Cam and that wonderful family! I loved getting your letters in my package this morning! I can't wait to come and hang out with you all when I get back home! Of course, I can't say enough thanks to my own wonderful family! Thanks for the AMAZING letters and package! I loved getting a card from my cat! That letter was killer!! You all are the best and can't wait for Christmas in just a short 195 days!

Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! You are the best! Thanks for being such a wonderful example to me and for being just the absolute best man in the entire world! I really lucked out with you! Thanks for all you do and I hope you have a wonderful birthday! Can't wait to come and celebrate with you in 2018! Most of all Dad, thanks for teaching this Texas girl how to shoot a gun! In honor of your birthday, our Relief Society President let me shoot her (air soft gun? you guys may need to clarify what kind of a gun I was shooting. It wasn't like a real gun). These pics are for you! Love you tons!!

Love you all! Have a wonderful week! Keep up the great work and talk to you soon!

Love,

Søster Blankmeyer

The sun is out and so are the Norwegian sweaters!

Hello friends and family! 

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. 

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?? 

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

Transfers, transfers, transfers. 

This week was my first transfer week and it's been something else. First off, we were told on Sunday that we would be losing Søster Bender here in Ålesund. We had until Wednesday to go around to everyone she had become friends with during her 6 months here in Ålesund and say goodbye and take pictures. That was quite a hectic couple of days. Somehow, we got through it alive and successfully got her to the airport and on her way to her next area, Moss, Wednesday morning along with our mail keys. That's a funny story...

A few hours later I was able to pick up Søster Ralphs from the airport as she had finished her two week vacation to Tromsø and was now back to finish training me. We have had quite the week as Søster Ralphs has been out on her mission for only 12 weeks and I've been here for 6. Somehow we are surviving and trying to have some fun along the way. 

It's been a pretty slow week as far as missionary work goes so this may be my shortest blog post yet. (I'll try and keep it interesting though for all you readers back home.) 

Once Søster Bender was gone, Søster Ralphs and I basically had to start from ground zero. We tried to set up as many appointments as we could and still ended up having a lot of time left to go and find some new investigators. The sun is finally coming out here in Ålesund and it's starting to feel more and more like summer. Although the weather is getting warmer, the people are still pretty cold (Don't worry, I still love the Norwegian people)! We spent hours and hours this week trying to find people who would be interested in our message and by the end we didn't have much to show for it. It's been a tough week to say the least. 

Sometimes though, when we are having our hardest weeks or we are going through our most challenging trials, we are humbled enough to see the hand of the Lord in our lives. That is something that became really evident this week. I can definitely say I drew closer to my Savior this week as I leaned on him and recognized that I couldn't do any of it without him. There were moments where I just wanted to pick up the phone and call my family or talk to some of my friends back home, but being a missionary that's not allowed and in a way I am grateful for that. Not being able to call my Mom when things get tough is really hard but it gives me the opportunity to rely on the Lord and that is such a blessing. My relationship with my Father in Heaven and my brother, Jesus Christ, has really been able to grow. I have felt their love and concern for me and I have been able to know that I am not alone. 

If they won't let us in we will...

take some pics for mom!

I was reading a recent General Conference talk this week for personal study and it talked about how,"the first thing you must commit to do is to go and serve knowing that you do not go alone." I absolutely love that. I know that I am not alone here in Norway. I have amazing leaders, wonderful companions, and none other than an Almighty God helping me through this work. I would challenge you all to go out and serve someone in need this week and just go the extra mile. 

The week wasn't all hard though and we were able to turn things around for the better. We were able to chase down the mail women and get into our mailbox. We were able to talk to our friend with the boat a few blog posts back. We were even able to talk to multiple Americans this week which is always a sweet surprise. I am so grateful for all the tender mercies we experience during hard times or even during good times. I know the Lord knows us personally and knows what we are going through and what we need. I am so grateful for this gospel and for the opportunity to be here in Norway. I love you all and hope you all have a wonderful week!! Ha det bra! (Literal Translation: Have it good.) 

Love,

Søster Blankmeyer

Ålesunds little lighthouse.

wildflowers

city on the water

Reunited and it Feels so Good!

I apologize in advance for that cheesy title. Alright so hopefully some of my 17th of May pictures made it onto the blog but if not I was told Snapchat did a nice little story of the event so hopefully you all tuned in! Lol! That was such a fun day to be serving here in Norway! We were able to attend the parade and see everone in their traditional clothing! We were able to go to a member's house after the parade and watch Brother Bear and Puss in Boots as well. Great movies. It was such a fun and relaxed day and I can't wait for next year when I get to experience it all over again.

MTC companions reunion

classic selfie with Hutchings!

This week has been such a blast. Not only have we hit week 6 of my first transfer, but this was the week of my mini MTC reunion. On Wednesday of this week Søster Bender and I packed up and headed to the Ålesund airport. After a short 40 minutes we arrived in the amazing Oslo airport. The last time I was in that airport I was split up from my first companion, Søster Dransfield, and was on my way to my first area in the country- Ålesund! It was crazy to step foot in the Oslo airport again and brought back a flood of memories which only got me more pumped for the days to come. We grabbed our luggage and headed to the train that would take us to the mission home, or rather the APs who would then take us to the mission home. Søster Bender and I were the first to arrive and were taken to the mission home to wait for the others. Eventually, one by one, my MTC group and their trainers began to arrive. What a cool experience. It was so awesome to not only see my friends and catch up on the past six weeks but see how much we all have grown. We all had the same personalities and for the most part looked the same (with the exception of a haircut which Søster Dransfield may or may not regret) but we all had grown so much spiritually. It's crazy what the mission will do to you and your testimony of this gospel if you just let the Spirit work on you and let these people and these experiences change your life. 

selfie pics with the people.

Everything is turning so green from the snow melt and rain.  Stunning!

beautiful city!

We were able to learn a lot during this conference as well. We were taught from President and Sister Hill and our APs. The Spirit of the conference was so strong and helped me to expand my knowledge of this gospel and how to be a more successful missionary. One of my favorite parts of the conference was actually focused on Family History work. Our mission has been trying to incorporate family history work more and more and I have really grown to appreciate learning about my family history and getting that time to focus on the importance of families. It is way easy to use family history work as a missionary tool and I'm so excited to put that to use this upcoming week here in Ålesund. With this emphasis on family history work is also an added emphasis on temples and the work which we perform there. Unfortunately, Norway does not have a temple of their own at this point in time but for those of you nearby a temple I would plead with you to attend the temple. Elder Russell M. Nelson has said, " if families were not sealed in holy temples, the whole earth would be utterly wasted." He goes on to say, "The purposes of the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement all converge on the sacred work done in temples" that is a bold statement. This really put the importance of family history and temple work into perspective for me. For those of you reading who are able to attend the temple I would challenge you to attend the temple at least one time before the end of the month. For those of you not able to attend the temple, I would challenge you to research your family hstory. Find out where your family is from, find out what they were like or read some stories about your ancestors. I know this will bring you closer to your family and also closer to your Father in Heaven as you come to realize that families are a central part to His plan and that our families really are a blessing from God. 

The conference was a strong testimony builder for me and it was such an enjoyable time to catch up with old friends and make some new friends as well. I hope you all have a fantastic week and know I love you all so much. Thanks for all you do!

Love,

Søster Blankmeyer

A member gave us some Norwegian food and snickers.

Cheesecake

Trainer and Trainee Hugs!!

Norwegian: Denne uken var en fest!

English: This week was a party!

Norway's independence day!

In Norway the 17 of May is HUGE.