FROM DRAMMEN TO ....

Kjære familie,
WHAT A WEEK!!!! You will NEVER even believe how amazing this week was!
#1. DEBBY GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!
#2. IM GETTING TRANSFERRED!
I will start with #2 because #1 is going to take a little while to write about :)
So President and Sister Evans were here doing intervews, and it was my turn with President. So I went in and we were chatting. Then he looked at me and said, "Youre moving."


"And Im making you a Sister Training Leader. You are going to have a great companion...etc. etc." And then he said, "But Im not going to tell you anything else...But you are going to be a looong ways away from here." Then he did this mysterious smile to me. There are only Sister Training Leaders in Oslo area, Bergen, and Tromsø. So the whole week I was stressing/thinking about where I would be going! Yesterday he announced I was replacing the old STL who was serving in Bergen. But when they got to Bergen, they didnt say my name!
IM GOING TO TROMSØ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I dont know if you all know where that is...but its ALL THE WAY UP NORTH! Ive heard its the most north Sister MIssionaries in the world, the northest city in the world, etc. HOW COOL!!!!!! I am SO excited!


But I am also sooo soo sad to be leaving Drammen and Sister Frampton. We have only served together for 3ish weeks - my shortest companionship. But she is getting a great companion. :)


So that is BIG news! President told me to start packing before...so I have been...and this is the first time I am moving by plane on my mission...so I have a weight limit. I leave here tomorrow by train to Oslo, then Im taking a plane up to Tromsø! My companion is going to be one of the 2 sisters I havent met yet. Her name is Sister Rupp and she goes home in 2 months! As sister training leader we get to visit the sisters in our zone. So I get to travel to Trondheim and Ålesund (which I heard is the prettiest place in the world). So I am SO PUMPED!!!
So that is some big news! But here is the rest of the week :)


Last Monday we were able to meet with Debby. It was so stressful, well not to stressful, but we needed a lot of faith. Because Debby could NOT smoke at all in order to be baptized on Saturday. So we texted her often and visited her a LOT this past week. Monday was her first day of NO SMOKING in a long time! She excersized, drank grapefruit juice, veggies, and prayed to not smoke. She is absolutely amazing!


On Tuesday we had District Meeting, and thats hwen I had my interview with President and Sister Evans. We ate pancakes and eggs for district lunch and afterwards, we got a text message from a former. He asked if he could call us. Then said that he was in dyer need of talking to someone. So we and the Zone Leaders went and visited him. His wife had left him and taken their child to a crisis home, even though he hadnt done anything. We were able to talk about the Atonement and other things to bring him peace. I know that the medicine to a hard life is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and Im so glad we could help him and the sisters here can continue to help him. We met with another person that we had met contacting, named Robel. We didnt have much time but we were able to give him a Book of Mormon and get a return appointment with him! Tuesday was a good day :)





Wednesday we met with Debby again! We taught her the last of the lessons (now, it is mandatory to teach the laws and ordinances before they are baptized) and she STILL HADNT SMOKED!!! We ate dinner with some members Sister Frampton knew from Oslo that were visiting. We ate pizza and then got something called Softis - soft serve ice cream...but with toppings on it. I got chocolate powder on one side and strawberry candy on the other. It was SO good, but HUGE! I thought it wasnt a bad price...but now thinking about it, it was around 32 kr. So about 7 dollars? hahaha We were invited to be with the YW, but we only had a little while before the Sister Training Leaders came. We were there for a few minutes in the lesson, then we went to the trainstation and picked Sister Johnson and Sister Oldham up! (both in the MTC with me) :)


On Thursday we went on splits with the STLs. I started the day with Sister Oldham and we visited a less active member from Iran. I think Ive written about her before, but she made us a Middle Eastern lunch - really good! Then we shared a thought with her and read in the Book Of Mormon. This day was SO HUMID. I cant handle humidity! It made it so much hotter than it was! After knocking on doors and meeting with Maria, we switched and I was with Sister Johnson. We stopped in on an investigator, who is also from the middle east and had a really spiritual teach. Her cousin had just passed away and she finds it hard to believe that she can see him and her mom, who has passed away, again. We hadnt planned to talk about the Plan, but sister johnson and i thought of the same scripture, and we were able to share some scriptures in Alma 40 with her. :) Then we all had a dinner with some members, we got to borrow the elders car and drive there! It was so fun and koselig for members to have us over and feed us :) Then we dropped the sisters off at the trainstation and we went and taught Debby again! The bishop had met with her the night before to go over practical things, and the ward was plannin on her baptism...so she COULD NOT SMOKE!!! It was announced on Sunday, we gave out little papers announcing it, and just walked off a cliff having the faith that there was a feather bed at the bottom, or the Lord would catch us. well, she STILL HADNT SMOKED! :) It was a great full day :)





Friday was also SO good. This was just a great week! We went and had lunch with a member named Tonje, who also invited one of her best friends that has actually gotten all of the lessons, but not right now. It was so koselig and fun to be able to be there with them :) And then we shared a thought about the Holy Ghost. It was absolutely perfect and the committment we gave them, even though it wasnt the one we planned on, was one both sister frampton and i were thinking when we were teaching. We had a typical norwegian lunch - openfaced sandwiches. yumm... and then we had a dessert that was absolutely heavenly. Its called (no idea how to spell it) Pavlova. Anyways, it was a great start to the morning :) We sat outside and did some things preparing sister frampton to know more about the ward, and then made our way to our next appointment, not to far from there. We met with the Lystad family, ate dinner, and did a FHE. (this is the family that has the au pair from Ukraine working for them...I used her computer to skype you all) I love that family :) We went to Debbys afterward and she trimmed out hair and we did nails. (she needed everything she could to get Satan away! He attacked her so much this past week!) She had told us the day before that Kjetil, her ex boyfriend was going to come and pick up some of the art he did while he was at her house, on friday. He had called her on the phone crying and begging her to not be baptized. That she had chosen God over him, blah blah blah. But when we came to her house on Friday, she told us that she had told him NO, that he couldnt come, but he could pick the stuff up after the baptism on Sunday. SHE IS SO GOOD! She knew that he would try to stop her from being baptized. She is sooo sooo sweet so she has a hard time saying no to peoples faces, so she just told him not to come. I am just so amazed with how strong she is!!! Then later that night we did a FHE with Melissa (the 10 year old recent convert) and her mom :)





Debby told us she had a hard time sleeping that night because she was SO EXCITED for her baptism!!! On Saturday we woke up and traveled to the church to get things ready. Debby was supposed to get there around 9:30, and we called her a few minutes before, she didnt answer, then she called back and just thanked us for calling because she didnt hear her alarm and she had slept in (talk about Satan getting to her right until the last minute) so she would be there at 10. It was close to ten and she wasnt there, and members were coming. So we walked up there and helped her bring her stuff to the church and walked with her :) She got into her white clothes, we took pictures, and it started! SO many members came!!! This ward is absolutely amazing. Our MMK got sick and couldnt come and lead the meeting, but we asked another in the bishopric to do it and he did it gladly :)


The opening song was "When i am baptized." I started crying as I heard little children just beliting the song. Debby was FINALLY BEING BAPTIZED!!! After almost 9 years of learning, she was going to take that step and be baptized. She had none of her family there. Her mom called before, but couldnt come, but that was sweet that she called :) (Her mom is now trying to quit smoking and her brother has asked about the church!) Anyways, Two amazing ladies spoke, and Margrethe Evensen sang a song called Greater Miracles. She was in the church choir (state church) in Trondheim..she is AMAZING I wish I would have recorded it!!! And Bishop also said some things. But when Debby was baptized it was so special.


After she came up she covered her face with her hands, I couldnt see her face immediately, but when I did, she had a huge smile on her face. (Some of the elders investigators said that they want to be baptized after they saw it!) She felt so good. She felt so happy, and we could see her just glowing. Satan continued getting at her because before and after her baptism, her eye was bugging her! It was way red afterwards, but it ended up going away. The RS gave her a huge bouquet of daisies, and she got cards from others too :) SIster Trydal and the other Asker sisters were able to come and see it too! :)





The RS presdient got the refreshments all sorted out, and they used our idea to make waffles (norwegian waffles) :) After her baptism there was a ward activity up in the woods :) OH I LOVE THIS WARD!!!!!!!!!!!! We did a "scavanger hunt type thing." But while we were up there with Debby we took our precious time. Sister Frampton had a flower crown from someon in the ward and Debby made me one too, and we just chatted and laughed, took pictures, etc.





I finally got a call fromt he elders asking if we were lost. "NO! Were not lost, were just taking our time!" haha Someone had told them that the sisters were lost and it was the elders responsibility to find us! EXCUSE ME! I know Im not an eagle scout, but I have brothers and a dad that are, so you do not need to worry about me being lost! ;) No, it was so nice of them to call and check. :) After we got back we had bbq and chatted, then we went and helped an investigator pack a little bit so that she could move in 4 days. It is a terryfying appartment complex and we did not feel good at points. But when we got into her appartment we were there for a short time, helped her, shared a thought, and left. The Lord really is so aware of us. We had an absolutely amazing day! We called Debby later and saw how she was doing. She said that she had an amazing, fantastic day! I LOVE DEBBY!!!!!!!!!!!!


On Sunday we woke up and had moves call! Then we walked to church and I had to tell everyone I was leaving. It was sooo sad, but it was so fun to hear their reactions! "Å! Tromsø! Lykke til!" or "Du er faktisk så heldig! Det er så vakkert i Tromsø om sommeren." etc. :) I got pictures and people to sign my minne bok...oh i just love this ward. Then Debby recieved the Holy Ghost in Sacrament Meeting and she felt peaceful again. :) I love her so much and I am so thankful she now has that companion to help her all of the time! Hard times dont go away after one is baptized and recieves the Holy Ghost, but with the Holy Ghost, everytihng can feel easier. The ward was so nice to me, saying goodbye, taking pictures with the YW, etc.


Some YW tried adding me on instagram and probably will try facebook soon, so if you get anything then you can accept them. Has anyone from Norway added me? Haha, I had someone in Ksand tell me that they looked us up on the internet and found the video of Andrea and Az and I doing the music video to Taylor Swift! haha! How embarassing!


Anyways, after church we ate with the Stake Presidents family (he wasnt there, but his family was!) And then met with Dennis that night. I love Dennis too! He gave me some African snacks to bring with me to Tromsø.


AND he told me that he had a friend in Tromsø that he would try to give me their number! He is a REFERRAL AND MISSIONARY MACHINE! (really, that is what all the missinoaries say here) :) I love love love Drammen. I gave Debby the pearls that Yayoi gave to me to give to someone on my mission. And then, and last night with Sister Frampton, were the only times I have cried knowing that I am leaving. Im getting better at not being so emotional! ;) haha, no I dont know why Im not breaking down more. Ja vel!





Today we are going to visit some of my favorite people to say goodbye, then we are going to eat dinner with Debby and the Kongsberg elders :) Elder Hinton, in Kongsberg, is going to Bodø, so we will be traveling a little bit together! Just to Oslo though. Anyways, I will be leaving tomorrow morning at 6:45 from my apparment, so TONIGHT for you all!
Men men, I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!! Have a great week and I will talk to you next week!!! :)


STOR KLEM,
Søster Chapman


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