Reindeer hotdogs, groovy dancing, and goats
Hei hei dere! This week marked my 1 year mark and it is so weird to think that I have been out for so long! In the spirit of Thanksgiving I have just been thinking about how grateful I am that I have had so many amazing experiences, met so many special people and that I have grown so much. Not to mention that on top of that, I am in Tromsø Norway! Quite possibly the most beautiful place in the world!
To celebrate my year mark Søster Stocks and I went to this little place in Sentrum that sells Reindeer Hotdogs for lunch with the Oslo STLs. ( Søster Morris and Søster Palmer were here on splits) It was so koselig and skikkelig Norsk! It was perfect! Søster Palmer and I had an appointment with Antionio who ended up not being able to come because he got stuck at work. We instead had a very good Språk study with the member, Alexander, that was supposed to be with on the teach and then headed out to go banking on doors. On the way to the neighborhood, we stopped a tourist from china and Søster Palmer recognized him from her plane ride here. Turns out he is one of the few christians in China and was so excited to get his own copy of the Book of Mormon and read it! He walked all the way back to the city with us to the church so that we could give him one. It was amazing to see how all of the circumstances lined up so that we were able to meet him. He says that he is going to find the church in Hong Kong. I love planting seeds!
All the missionaries went to a goat farm this past Saturday as well. Right from the beginning it was so much fun! I got to pet a lot of goats, hold some baby goats, and shovel a lot of poop! We had a great time there losing ourselves in the work and getting to know Bente (a member) and the volunteers that are working there a little bit better. We all had really good conversations with the people that were staying there. I talked with a lady from Spain most of the time that has this amazing light and positivity about her. She was very interested in hearing about my mission and the church. At the end of the day, we shared a spiritual thought with the non members. Everyone went around saying what they were grateful for and the love and respect that everyone there had for each other was evident. We then read from the Book of Mormon and invited everyone there that night to offer up a prayer of Thanksgiving to their Heavenly Father. I am grateful for the opportunity that we had to share the gospel with them and I am excited to go back!
Also, yesterday, Soster Stocks and I went down to the university to do some contacting and also to eat lunch in the cafeteria with some of the students there. I was looking through my zone conference notes with Elder Sabin and that was one of the suggestions that he made for finding people and we thought why not? As soon as we got off the bus, a professor there came up to us and told us that he had never seen female missionaries before. He then showed us around campus and showed us all of these different opportunities for how we could be mora a part of the student environment there. He was an answer to our prayers! We looked into a volleyball club and then went to the cafeteria to get something to eat. We sat by a girl, Eda who was sitting all by herself. We got to know her super well and she really opened up to us, telling us about her family, what she was studying, what she liked to do in Tromso, and even how we could survive morketid. She also invited us to a Christmas concert in the state church that is happening in a couple of days. She was so sweet and genuine and I kept on thinking about how I want all of my interactions with people to be like that.
Also, just super fast, we went to Portia's bible group again and it was an amazing experience. This time after we bore out testimonies and started singing, everyone there got really into it and one man stood up and said "I just have to dance". In no time everyone was up dansing, swaying, and clapping. I felt like I was in a baptist church. They again amazed me with their knowledge of the gospel and their faith in Christ. They really do have a light.
There is more, but looks like I am out of time again. I hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving and that you remember how blessed we are to have this gospel!
Love, Søster Starkie
To celebrate my year mark Søster Stocks and I went to this little place in Sentrum that sells Reindeer Hotdogs for lunch with the Oslo STLs. ( Søster Morris and Søster Palmer were here on splits) It was so koselig and skikkelig Norsk! It was perfect! Søster Palmer and I had an appointment with Antionio who ended up not being able to come because he got stuck at work. We instead had a very good Språk study with the member, Alexander, that was supposed to be with on the teach and then headed out to go banking on doors. On the way to the neighborhood, we stopped a tourist from china and Søster Palmer recognized him from her plane ride here. Turns out he is one of the few christians in China and was so excited to get his own copy of the Book of Mormon and read it! He walked all the way back to the city with us to the church so that we could give him one. It was amazing to see how all of the circumstances lined up so that we were able to meet him. He says that he is going to find the church in Hong Kong. I love planting seeds!
All the missionaries went to a goat farm this past Saturday as well. Right from the beginning it was so much fun! I got to pet a lot of goats, hold some baby goats, and shovel a lot of poop! We had a great time there losing ourselves in the work and getting to know Bente (a member) and the volunteers that are working there a little bit better. We all had really good conversations with the people that were staying there. I talked with a lady from Spain most of the time that has this amazing light and positivity about her. She was very interested in hearing about my mission and the church. At the end of the day, we shared a spiritual thought with the non members. Everyone went around saying what they were grateful for and the love and respect that everyone there had for each other was evident. We then read from the Book of Mormon and invited everyone there that night to offer up a prayer of Thanksgiving to their Heavenly Father. I am grateful for the opportunity that we had to share the gospel with them and I am excited to go back!
Also, yesterday, Soster Stocks and I went down to the university to do some contacting and also to eat lunch in the cafeteria with some of the students there. I was looking through my zone conference notes with Elder Sabin and that was one of the suggestions that he made for finding people and we thought why not? As soon as we got off the bus, a professor there came up to us and told us that he had never seen female missionaries before. He then showed us around campus and showed us all of these different opportunities for how we could be mora a part of the student environment there. He was an answer to our prayers! We looked into a volleyball club and then went to the cafeteria to get something to eat. We sat by a girl, Eda who was sitting all by herself. We got to know her super well and she really opened up to us, telling us about her family, what she was studying, what she liked to do in Tromso, and even how we could survive morketid. She also invited us to a Christmas concert in the state church that is happening in a couple of days. She was so sweet and genuine and I kept on thinking about how I want all of my interactions with people to be like that.
Also, just super fast, we went to Portia's bible group again and it was an amazing experience. This time after we bore out testimonies and started singing, everyone there got really into it and one man stood up and said "I just have to dance". In no time everyone was up dansing, swaying, and clapping. I felt like I was in a baptist church. They again amazed me with their knowledge of the gospel and their faith in Christ. They really do have a light.
There is more, but looks like I am out of time again. I hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving and that you remember how blessed we are to have this gospel!
Love, Søster Starkie
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