Min kjære familie!
Det høres ut som alt går kjempe bra hjemme. Jeg har hatt det skikkelig fint her i Trondheim! Selv om det er ganske varmt og fuktig. Det er så mange mirakler som vi må finne!
This week was pretty eventful. On Monday ( I was still in Tromsø with Sister Rupp ) And we went to the Reynolds house and played in the playground with the kids :) Good pday!
On Tuesday we taught Kim and William, the two Ugandans that have baptismal dates! It was fun to teach them and talk about Joseph Smith. I love showing The Restoration, the one part that I love most is when the Mormon Tabernacle Choir starts singing "Oh How Lovely Was the Morning" and he goes out into the grove to pray. Thats the part we showed them. The Spirit can be so strong during that. Then we had the Norwegian class and I learned a few greek words from some of the students :) I love being in Norway because we literally teach the entire world! Then we had Enrichment! We made birthday cards for the primary :) They were so cute. The members in Svalbard, well the wife, taught the lesson over Skype and then we gathered around the computer while making the cards to talk with her as we made them. We also had treats after and there were a good show of people! Janne (eternal investigatr that is pretty much a member but hasnt been baptized), Lil, Sister Reynolds, then us missionaries and Sister Gerez on Skype. :) Tuesday was a good last day in Tromsø! We also had to finish packing later that night and get everything ready to go. Sister Rupp was going home and I was heading to Trondheim!
The next morning we woke up and finished all the last minute things and put our luggage in the Crabtrees car and caught the bus to the airport! Sister Rupp and I both flew to Oslo, then we said goodbye, when she went to the left to stay in Oslo for a day and I turned to the right to get on a connecting flight to Trondheim. I was nervous and kind of stressed about thigns. But I prayed and sure enough the Lord answered my prayers. There was always enough room for my carryon! My bags were exactly the right weight or a little over and they didnt make me pay extra. The bag I had to pay for was 200 kr less than i thought! The Lord really passet på meg.


When I arrived in Trondheim a nice man helped me with my bags to the airplane bus...(flybuss) and then I waited for the sisters at the busstop. They had to go get Sister Oldham from the trainstation first. It was so good to see them all! I living with Sister Robbins now too!!!! IT IS SO FUN! I missed her so much. We contacted to get Sister Oldhams bus card refilled, and contacted more and ate dinner that night. Its crazy becuase we are starting from the basics. Needing to read what the other sisters left us and get to know the town and people. Luckily we have SIster Roe that is Sister Robbins comp that has been here for 2 or so months. We saw a miracle that night. After we got out of the place to refill sister Oldhams bus card, we stood around it talking to people. Those people werent very positive, but it is because we talked to those pepole that the timing was right and we met a girl that the Sisters had visited before that is the sister of an investigator we have that is going to get baptized!!! It was such a miracle! We got an appointment with them later in the week :) It is also such a tender mercy that I was here a couple weeks ago for a few days so that I am a little more familier with the city! It was such a tender mercy to have gone from the airport to the busstop in the city, because I knew what I was doing and wasnt nearly as stressed.


On Thursday we did weekly planning and then went and visted a less active we have on our list. Her name is Turid and her sons name is Øyvind. She made us norske vafler and saft and we sang to them! Sister Oldham and I both love to sing so we made a goal to sing to someone everyday! We havent done it everyday yet...but we are going to try! We visited another less acitve that night and sang the same song "Lord, I would follow Thee" på norsk and then gave her the words because she like them a lot. :) I love singing, and I believe it really brings the Spirit!


We saw SO many miracles! We were in the church and decided that we could either contact or go inside and do more weekly planning. We contacted. With the guidance of the Spirit we turned towards a girl riding a bike...and guess who it was? It was the sister of our investigator we saw the day before!!!!! And I even saw her on Friday too! Afterwards, we saw an investigator that I had tried visiting with Sister Burns when we went on splits! And THEN (really, this is just miracle after miracle after miracle!) we were walking and saw a man and son almost running with a broken suitcase and bag on top of it trying to get home. We helped them home and as soon as they got inside the building, children ran down hugging their dad! It was so cute. Its a language barrier and we are not sure if we will teach them, because we asked if we could come back the next day and did, but the mom didnt seem so interested (mostly the language problem) but we gave them a picture book :) It was such a miracle! AND THEN we were going down the stairs and guess who lives in that exact building? HEM! You dont know who that is..haha, but it is the investigator with the baptismal date, the sibling of the girl we kept seeing. Oh it was such a miracle! He wasnt home so we left a note. :)


On Friday we tried visiting that family, but it didnt really work out very well. We will be bringing a book in their language that we are going to try to make at some point. But then we met with 2 people from Uganda. This teach broke my heart because he was not ready and told us that, and the girl told us that she had seen Joseph Smith movies, etc. but doesnt have time to come to church or meet with us, but she knows he is a true prophet. Oh it hurt my heart...but they will be ready one day! That night we went out and tried visiting a less active, but instead decided to bank. Well, we had to catch a bus to get home by 9, but really wanted a teach. We prayed and decided to show faith that we would get a teach and be home by 9:30. So we went and tried knocking on doors. No one was interested. We were about to go back to the bus to catch the one that came home at 9...but talked to a girl walking a dog first. It took like...5 minutes to get this dog to settle down! It jumped out of its collar and was going crazy. Finally sister oldham was on the ground petting it and the lady was also sitting on the ground. So we talked with her and ended up teaching a lesson right then and there. We are going to meet with her again on Wednesday! IT was such a miracle! She is originally from the Netherlands but has lived her for about 8 years. It was an amazing miracle and she is so prepared!!!


Saturday, we had sport and a family from Stavanger was visiting! So good to see them. :) And then Sister Oldham and i went out banking in kind of the same area as the day before. This was kind of a tough day for me...okay pretty tough. I had people on the street insulting my norwegian and i just got fed up with it...BUT we got 2 referrals from a boy whose house we knocked on! And then we went back to the city and taught a boy Sister Oldham had talked to on the bus the day before. His name is Christ Marco. We went and sat on the grass in a park and taught him. Boy has he had a hard life. But he believes in God and we are going to teach him again this week. It is so special to be able to bring the HAPPIEST message in the world to people! That Jesus is the Christ and our Savior and Redeemer and that the ENTIRE truth is here today!!! We went out contacting that night and I was still having a tough day. Sister Robbins had tossed me a small chocolate bar before going out and I was carrying it. I dont know why I didnt just eat it or put it in my backpack...but there was a reason. We went over to a man surrounded by little children playing around him. (they were all from the Middle East) and we wanted to talk to him, but he didnt really understand. The children did though! I was going to give him a card, but instead all of the children saw the cards I had and wanted one. There were probably 11 or so! And I gave a church card to almost all of them. And then they saw the chocolate bar and they asked me for it! haha, so I gave it to them and the other children told me I was the one that had to break it up for them to share. I opened it and it was starting to melt and one kid grabbed it and started licking it! Hahaha he gave it back and I broke it into pieces and gave a piece to each of the kids. The same kid that licked the chocolate took the wrapper, licked it and gave it back to me...hahaha. I know this doesnt sound like some huge miracle. But it was a huge tender mercy for me. The Lord was watching out for me and it made me feel so happy to see those kids so happy. :)


Sunday was church! My first sunday in a ward for a couple months! Most of the ward is on vacation...becasue that is what they do in Norway haha :) But we were able to meet some of them, and visitors! Out of 8 missionaries, 5 of us were new coming in. So they had all of us bear testimony and introduce ourselves in Sacrament Meeting. :) I already love this ward and this area! Sister Oldham is also so great. I am so glad we get to serve together. I felt before we got here that it was going to be good. :) We have the same goal and the same desire. I am really excited to see how this transfer (or 2) goes!!! It is already FULL of miracles! Aftwer we bore testimony, the man leading (not in the bishopric...they were all gone!) said that we were expecting a lot so they were going to have to keep up that standard! Later in the day we went and visited an investigator named Aref. And then we visited Urmilla (Hems sister) and her mom. Her mom was sick and she also had a friend over. We sang "I am a child of God" to them and taught about the Book Of Mormon. And are going to meet with them all (including the friend) this week. :) It was so funny, this happened a few days ago, but Sister Oldham called a less active couple, and the Spirit definitely guided her to say this, but I thought it was hilarious! They are really musical and she told them that we are practicing a song and we want to sing it so someone so that they can help us with it, and asked them if we could sing it for them! haha, so we will be doing that to go visit some less actives! We printed off some songs last night and to finish comp study practiced those. I love music and it has become more of a way I feel the Spirit since Ive been on my mission. :)


My health is doing better. I am pretty sure it is just stress. I am working on not being as stressed, so dont worry about me! I will be okay. :) The Lord is watching out for me!


I love you all so much and I will send some pictures in a little bit! We live SUPER close to the domkirke (remember the picture I sent last august of me in front of a huge gorgeous church? thats the one!) and right close to the river. :) I have been so blessed to be by water my whole mission! (not like its hard to be in Norway) ;)
jeg elsker dere!!!
xoxo
love, Søster Chapman


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Location:HAPPY!

GREAT WEEK

Good week! :)
Dear family,





WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE!? (just so you all know, I havent moved to Trondheim yet. I move on Wednesday! I just got to find out early.) But this week has been full of packing, trying to get rid of stuff, and seeing my companion pack for going home. She is done with her mission! And you know what that means? I am in the next group to go home....weird!!! Time is going so fast!
This week was SO good! Miracles happened and we were so blessed!!!
I sent a couple of pictures from last pday, but I will explain more now :) We went up to a Cable Car like thing...called the fjellheis. It takes you up the mountain so that you can see the entire island and around it! (its on the actual land, not island). And it was absolutely gorgeous! The Lord blessed us with perfect weather! We hiked around, took lots of pictures, there was still a patch of ice/snow that I sent a pic of last week! And we hiked around a little bit! The Crabtrees took the fjellheis back down, but we hiked. It was pretty steep but so beautiful! We taught a lesson to an amazing investigator named Taridzo from Zimbabwe! He is so cool and so humble. He believes strongly in the Bible, but is so open to there being another book from God. He sees how it matches up with history and with the things written in it. I really just want everyone to just TRY this. Just TRY THIS EXPERIMENT to see if this is true! It wont hurt! I know that if we try, read, and pray with a sincere heart and real intent, ALL will come to know that IT IS TRUE and that the fulness of the gospel is on earth today! The entire, amazing truth is here!





On Tuesday we had District Meeting on skype with the Alta Elders, and then we ate lunch that Sister Crabtree made afterwards :) We taught a man named Espen, a film producer...or something like that. This was an awkard teach...i really dont like awkwardness...but it happens! That night we were inside doing some weekly planning (preparing for the elders to take over our area) and it started pouring rain. There is also construction going right by our house, so we heard some loud banging and thought it might have come from that, but it was THUNDER AND LIGHTNING! That is not common in Norway! It was so exciting to have a huge storm! (tender mercy for sister rupp in her last week in Norway :) And so we went out and got DRENCHED!





Earlier that day we went out banking. It amazes me how much the Lord directs our paths. We got led to a door on a huge appartment complex (i had read dads story about the ankou family (?) I cant remember the name, but when he knocked on lots of doors and then found this family and baptized them later, to sister rupp this week...and we wanted to go to an appartment complex!) So we knocked on a door and this lady answered it. She just said, "Det er en skikkelig dårlig dag!" (its a horrible day!) and closed the door. She needed something. So we got out a MB, highlighted a couple verses, and wrote a note on a sticky note and left it outside of her door. I know it will help her, and I hope she calls us or gets in contact with the church soon in her life!











SUPER funny story!!! So, during the thunder storm, we didnt really know it was thunder yet, Sister Rupp saw the man that lives across from us. We call him Billy Mac...dont know his name and we have never talked to him. We love him though! Sister Rupp wanted to get a video of him...HAHA! This sounds so awkward. And it is, the story is hilarious! So she was hiding, trying to video him in the corner of the window...and he had left and she was just talking into her camera waiting for him to go to the window again, and all of a sudden, he opened the door and looked right at her!!! HAHA! She got it on tape and we both just died! She said, "I HAVE TO TALK TO HIM!" Because if she didnt it would have been super weird. So she went out on our balcony and asked if it was thunder. ...nice cover up. It was a tender mercy! HAHA! Oh it was so funny!


Wednesday was a super good day too! We went out on a walk on a dock that morning and saw, starfish and fish, and probably some jelly fish too...but we saw OTTERS! One just ran across the dock we were on and we followed it. It looked kind of like a river otter...i dont have that good of a relationship with them...but this one was a weird little otter from the ocean that lives under an old shack at the end of the dock! It was crazy, and of course we didnt have our cameras and havent seen them since. :/ We did weekly planning most of this day. We had to write out all about our investigators and the area for the elders coming in! We had some appointments fall through, and then went out that night and contacted. On Thursday we did some more weekly planning and taught Lena at the church! It was so nice to be able to talk to her once more before we leave. She is so great and we were able to talk to her about families. :) I love her! A little later we talked in the hallway with 2 converts (both from Congo) about missions. They can go on missions now and we committed them to continue praying and to start praying to know if they should go. It was awesome to talk to them about how amazing missions are! We had the Norwegian class, and then met with Taridzo. And then a man named Kim that we had met 2 nights before! He is A MIRACLE! He is from Uganda and we talked with him, he called over his friend (brother) and we got an appointment. He used to be muslim in his land, but wants to know about Christ. He said that the only things that he knows or has heard is that Christ is the Son of God and that He died for us. It was humbling to be able to teach about just WHO Christ is. For the closing prayer I said a few words and he repeated after me, like we do in primary. That is a moment I will never forget. He is coming to know his Savior and I get to be a part of it. :)


Tangent I want to go on: Something that I have learned this transfer is that it is hard to show everyone your love. I feel like my love has grown tremendously on my mission, but I have also realized that some people dont feel it. And the way I show it doesnt mean much to them. That has really made me sad in the past little while. There are some sisters in this zone that I truly LOVE so much and they dont really believe it or feel it and it breaks my heart. I didnt ever really think about that before...but it makes sense. Because Jesus Christ, with PERFECT love, was rejected. People refused to feel His love. It just hurts so bad. I have also thought a lot in this past while about my future family. I am thankful that I will be able to have a family to love and I truly believe that they will be able to feel how much I love them. That is my greatest desire on my mission, to help people feel the Saviors love (and to bring them to Him through baptism of course).


Friday we went out banking. We also were able to get a bag of candy and everytime someone answered their door and we talked to them, we ate a piece of candy :) haha We met with Bari and Marzie aftwerards and Marzie is going to be baptized on August 30th!!!!!!!! SO exciting! Bari is a less active from Afghanistan. They both used to be Muslim. And she believes in Christ as Gods Son now. :) Ahhh I LOVE them! We met again with Espin that night and then with Kim again!!! William came this time and we talked with them about Christs life in more detail, going through pictures and scriptures. They are both going to be baptized on August 30th also!!! Such a MIRACLE! William is Christian and wants to know how to live. It realized a little earlier in the day that Sister Rupp had lost the key card to the church...and we couldnt find it...so after the teach, the Crabtrees drove us to Bari and Marzies so that we could see if she dropped it as we to the bus. The Crabtrees that it was useless, but didnt tell us that, but that is what they were talking about when we got out to look for it...and all of a sudden they saw us both start jumping up and down and waving our arms! We found it! It was a miracle! It was run over and got a little cracked, but it still works! It was so exciting! This was a day of MIRACLES! :)
Saturday we went to Kvaløya and decided to go back to a specific house. It was the preacher from a church called Jesu Kirke. we have met like....3 or 4 of the members (out of 30ish) since Ive been here, so we watned to go back to the lady preacher and talk to her. So we prayed and talked about what we were going to say and although we were nervous...we went there! She was outside gardening and we talked for a second...and asked her about her church. She had us come and sit down on a table in her yard and told us. She didnt grow up learning about Christ as a child, and she wanted other children to be able to learn about Christ. That is how the church came to be. It was a tender story. We were able to talk about things that we believe in too, and I think it showed that we really are here to share the happy message about Christ. We actually believe very similarly! I know someday she will learn more about the gospel. :) Sister Rupp got stung by a bee on her foot as we talked with the preacher lady.





We met AGAIN with Kim and William! And we talked about the Book Of Mormon :) Then we went to Lill Kittys house. it was nice to talk with her and then share a message! She really is SO sweet! I love her! At the busstop, we realized that it was saturday and the busses dont come as often. But another miracle happened. A girl named Elie from France came and we talked. She was super interested inthe Book Of Mormon and I gave her one and asked if we could meet. We got her address and email and I really hope I can meet with her before I leave. Im not sure if thats going to happen though. :/ But I talked with her the whole bus ride back to the city and we believe in so much of the same things! She is so cool and I am so thankful that I was able to meet her! There are so many prepared people in the world! The Lord directs us so that we are in the right place at the right time to meet the right people!!! We taught Joseph, who we havent been able to teach for a while now! Nice to see him and then say goodbye. Im sure Ill have contact though!


Sunday morning was MOVES CALLS! I knew what was happening with me...but not positve about my comp and who I would be living with. (there are four sisters in Theim) And I was praying for the exact thing to happen, that is going to happen. SISTER ROBBINS IS GOING TO BE IN TRONDHEIM TOO!!!! Oh I was SO excited! Sister Oldham (from the MTC with me) is my companion! It is going to be so fun! I am super excited! :) We had Relief Society this week and then I gave a talk. Sister Rupp did too. I had a good idea of what I was talking about, but Sunday morning I didnt think that was right. I tried something else, but I was just not finding what it was I should talk about. Finally it all worked out. I talked about how we can write the Atonement more in our hearts. (a talk by Linda K. Burton in 2012.) There was about 30 people in church, some being visitors, Jannes family came, the Reynolds, John, Ole, Lill, Roger, and Kim! And of course all of us missionaries. :) The elders asked me the night before to sing a musical number with them, a surprise for Sister Rupp. We sang God Be With You Til We Meet Again. I didnt get to practice with them, becasue then Sister Rupp would know...but Az would have laughed so hard. They are great great elders...but it was absolutely a wreck. Hahaha it was not tuned exaclty right. I kept singing, but almost started laughing. I looked at Sister Rupp and I almost died. I hoped that it looked like I was going to cry. Sister Rupp didnt see I was about to laugh, so thats good. But I prayed during the song that I wouldnt laugh and I tried thinking of sad thoughts. Oh it was horrid. haha and kind of embarrassing! But hahhahaa oh it was so funny!





After church we had a potluck and it went really well! We got pictures with people too. I just LOVE this Branch and this city!!! We took a bus to Hamna, left a card with a note on it for a potential family that wasnt home and came back and did some more preparing for the elders (both of which I know)!
This was an amazing week! I LOVE TROMSØ!!!!!!!! And I am going to miss it so bad. I was so amazingly blessed to serve here. Really, SO blessed. I know that this is where I needed to be and now its my time to go to Trondheim!
Have a great week and I will talk to you all next week!


LOVE, Søster Chapman :)



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Hello family!


Sorry this letter has come in so late! We left to go on the fjellheis and then hike down it! Ill send some pics a little later. :)


This week was really good! Last Pday after emailing, we RUSHED and ran to catch a bus (which was late) to get to the plane to Trondheim! As Sister Training Leaders we went on splits with the 4 sisters there! But first, on Monday night, we went on splits with Sister Burns and Sister Buhler. We taught a man named John. It was a little ridiculous. haha its interesting the different things people think!


Tuesday was a good day. I was with Sister Buhler most of the day. And we got the opportunity to teach a man named Johnny. He told us this was going to be the last time he met with us, and you know what ended up happening? Sister Buhler tried committing him to baptism! It was so cool! he didnt say yes, but we got another appointment with him! So that was way good! Its hard when the investigator studies all of this deep doctrine and doesnt want to hear about the basics, the things we need to get testimonies of before we talk about deep doctrine. Anyways, Sister Buhler was a bit sick, so we went to the appartment and she slept. We didnt have time to contact before the two other sisters came back, so after eating dinner, Sister Burns and I went out. Before we all left the appartment, we prayed and sister burns and I both turned back and she grabbed her scriptures and I grabbed an english and norwegian give away Book Of Mormons. I thought that we had an appointment with a man named Chris. But as we were walking she said that he had cancelled! So we went contacting. Trondheim is beautiful. But SO hot and humid this past week! We decided to go over a bridge and Sister Burns said something like, "It would be a miracle if we saw Chris!" (they had met him in the area we were going 2 days before.) As we walked, Sister Burns also said, "lets blow some bubbles and watch them bounce on the water!" We did and it really was so fun. :) (theres a reason Im telling you this story) Afterwards, we continued walking and talking to people.


We saw some geese in a random persons yard and took pictures by that. And then, Sister Burns said, "THATS CHRIS." Chris was coming our way!!! She, "Well thats weird that we saw you!" And he said "I dont think its weird." Chris is from Malta and is here as an art retainer (?) helping in one of the churches in Trondheim. He was going to go fishing in the river and we went with him. We sat on the grassy border of the shore as he fished. He didnt fish to get them, it was just for fun! We got to talking about the gospel, taught a lesson, and gave him a Book Of Mormon. It was the most chill teach ever, but exactly what he needed! He even said that he would be baptized if he knew it was true! And another miracle to this was that I had brought an english Book Of Mormon to give away and Sister Burns had a Book Of Mormon to read from! It was such a miracle! If we hadnt have blown the bubbles, taken pictures with the geese, talked to the people we talked to, etc. then we wouldnt have seen Chris most likely! ENJOYING each moment is so important. Not saying we need to just "slap av" but we need to follow the Spirit. Christ enjoyed life, and we need to also.


On Wednesday we went on splits with Sister Shaw (my MTC companion) and Sister Roe! Sister Shaw and I taught a man named Øystein on his porch. What a sweet sweet man looking for comfort and truth. And then we banked/contacted/had lunch! Another miracle happened with Sister Shaw! We were walking, contacting, and we decided to go another way. There was a man sitting on the sidewalk. We talked with him and it was SO funny! He just spoke a tiny bit of Norwegian, French, and Swahili. Sister Shaw had seen him before so was trying to make him understand. Oh it was HILARIOUS! haha! But he came back to the church and we taught him! Sister Roe and I had to go to a teach so Sister Rupp finished it with her. Sister Roe and I went to a less actives house and shared a little spiritual thought. And then they had a "dinner and discussion" activity at the church, which they have everyweek, so we made the dinner (leftovers) and then we had that and a discussion about who God really is! It went well :) And then contacted! I LOVE these sisters here!


Thursday was a WAY good day! We had a Zone Leader Training. A little different than usual though! The Assistants trained us, while President and Sister Evans did interviews! I was the last interview and wasnt able to talk with Sister Evans, but I talk to her often, so thats okay :) In my interview with President, he asked me how Tromsø was. And I told him how amazing it is and how close our investigators are to baptism. And he said, "I am going to tell you something I havent told anyone yet. I am moving you to Trondheim. Im moving you here. The practicalness of Sister Training Leaders being in Tromsø is not practical." And I agree. My heart is sad, and I wasnt really expecting it! But I felt the biggest reassurance of it being inspired than I have by any other moves. There will be sisters here again, just not now. So that makes me really sad...but I am SO excited to be in Trondheim! I will be comps with another sister that is STL right now, so I think I can guess who it is :) But I will let you know next monday!


The training was SO good! It was about getting down the basics. So we practicalled and talked about contacting, bus contacting, knocking on doors, etc. It went really really well! And we, the sisters, were in charge of the food! So we did that earlier that morning. Then we flew home to Tromsø that night! I have now been on 11 plane rides in 7 weeks! haha! The bus schedules are ridiculous now that its summer, so we were going to have to wait for a bus for 40 minutes (it was already 930 at night) so we (with the Tromsø and Alta elders) walked to the closest busstation....and then missed our bus because it had the wrong sign on it...long story short, we got to bed late and didnt get lots of sleep! But its okay!


Friday we did weekly planning, and then later visited Bari and Marzie! (less active and investigator) Its been a while so that was so nice to see them :) Contacted a little too...good day!


And then on Saturday we started off by teaching Simon, with Elder Crabtree. He loves the Bible, so it was nice to have Elder Crabtree there, who knows lots about the Bible and history! Then we taught a former, named Roni - not so interested to learn, just to discuss. And then later, we had the coolest teach!!! We met a man named Taridzo from Zimbabwe a little more than a week ago, and we were able to teach him! He was so open, and had already read some of the Book Of Mormon and about it! He is AMAZING!!! He agreed to read..."I think my committment should be to read the Book Of Mormon." ...OKAY! haha, we tried committing him to baptism, and it will happen sometime! He is really really sincere and sees that the Book Of Mormon and Bible support each other - but wants to see more. The ONLY way to know it is to read it and pray and ask Heavenly Father about it! I WISH EVERYONE could realize that! Later that night we had a Joseph Smith movie night! Lots of people came and it was SO koselig! We had ice cream afterwards and, man...i just love this branch :) The long Joseph Smith movie is sooo good. I am so thankful for Joseph Smith and I really do know that he restored Jesus Christs` church and was called to be a new and first prophet in this dispensation.


Sunday was also a good day! On Saturday night I signed us up/agreed to do the musical number the next day in church! So after Branch Council, we practiced the 2nd or 3rd time and then sang it in church! :) Im going to miss playing the piano in church and having this sweet little branch.


Anyways, I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! And I miss you so much too!
Ha en fantastisk uke :)


XOXO
Love, Søster Chapman



new address starting next wednesday (not this one)

Eirik Jarls Gate 4
7030 Trondheim
Norway



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HEAVEN ON EARTH

Kjære familie,


Denne uken har vært bedre en forrige uke, i forhold med helsen min. TUSEN HJERTELIG TAKK for bønnene. Dåker har hjulpet mæ så mye!
I hope this week has also been good for you all! HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! Sadly, its not big at all here...haha so we did nothing. But we did get a wave of hotness! Today and yesterday it has been SO warm! It is supposed to be about 73 here. I know that makes me sound so wimpy, but I am dying outside in that heat. There is a reason I didnt get sent to Africa or somewhere hot like that!
Tuesday we got up super early and caught the flybuss to the airport, where we took a plane to Oslo. Missionary Leadership Council meeting was so good as usual. Sister Evans always makes her delicious cinnamon rolls and then a lunch that I could never make. So it was great in that way, but it is also so good to be able to discuss the mission with the other missionaries and President and Sister Evans. The missions goal is 157 baptisms this year. And 8 here in Tromsø. So far we have reached 35 in the mission and 1 in Tromsø. But I know that EVERYTHING is possible with the Lord. It will happen! The thing about MLC is that it is a one day thing. We fly in that morning and then we fly out that night! So we flew back to Tromsø that night. I have been on 9 airplanes in the time I have been here in Tromsø, so about a month and a half! haha and today we are flying to Trondheim to do splits with the sisters. So after this week I will have gone on 11. Its a whole other world being up here in the North! And I love it!





Wednesday we went to the funeral of a lady named Sister Rasmussen. She was baptized when she was 88 and died at age 93. We were asked to sing for her funeral! So we did and it went well :) It was kind of a sad funeral...well of course...but it was the lady priest that spoke most of the time, and it wasnt so personal. I am so thankful for the Plan of Salvation and the knowledge I know about our lives from it. I felt the Spirit as we sang and (one of the members brought two friends to help) one of the friends played the violin. I know that families can be together and that it is true that "death has no sting" with Jesus Christ. The grave has "NO VICTORY." Oh how thankful I am for that. I am thankful that I believe in angels. I know that Grandma Chapman has been with me each day. Shes my guardian angel. And I know that she has gotten to know me better than before this life. Isnt that cool? That our relationships with these people that have passed on grow stronger and stronger, even though they arent physically here? I know its true! And I am so thankful for that.
This week was still a bit slow, due to my health. On Thursday we did Weekly Planning and then had the language class that no one came to! It was the first time that I have been here and no one has come! Oh! Also, there is, well was, a shell gas station right next to our church building. It is how people knew where the church was! But it is ripped down now. Only in Norway would it be allowed for two HUGE claw like machines to tear down the gas station connected to a building that causes it to shake. haha, it was crazy and so loud. Anyways, that night we had a meeting with the missionaries, also our Branch President, who is the senior couple mann, to talk about the branch, and our investigators, etc.
Friday was a way good day. We met with Karoline, an 18 year old investigator that knows its true! She is amazing. And will be going to Denmark this week and will hopefully go to church there! Our other appointments fell through, but that night we went and did service for another investigator, Lena. She was found by the sisters banking on her door! She asked if we could help clean her house. So we dusted, mopped, etc. It was so nice to be able to do service! Norwegians dont ask for much, so it was nice that we were able to do something for her :) She gave us a ride back to the church, and while we were driving she said she might come to church on Sunday! YAY!








Saturday was a warm day! We went and knocked on houses on Kvaløya, and we had good success! We found people that told us we could meet with them later, they were all going on vacation, and so we found one or two people that were really positive! Later that night we sat out, around 7-8ish with the sun shining in our faces, and taught an investigator named Simon about the Plan of Salvation. I know that the Book of Mormon and the Bible support each other. And how I know is because I read them both! And I believe in Joseph Smith because I have prayed about both him and the Book Of Mormon! Thats what we ask others to do too. The teach with Simon wasnt the best. He is from Africa and really believes in the Bible. But the only way for him to find out if they support each other is by reading with a sincere heart and real intent! Anyways, hopefully the next teach goes a little bit better.
Sunday was also good, we taught the cute primary and I butchered the opening song in Sacrament Meeting, but thats just what happens sometimes. It was actually kind of horrible. Haha, we did not have many in church on Sunday. We had 2 investigators (and one of their sons), the new convert, the American family (minus their dad out of town), 2 converts from Africa, the elders investigator, and a less active member, 3 members on Skype, and then all of us missionaries. That counts up to 22 people total. And if you limit that down to who knows the hyms, that is like....10 people. So pretty much it was sister crabtree leading, a couple of voices, and me playing the piano. It was one of those songs that no one is really confident singing out loud because the notes are a little crazy, and guess where I messed up? On those notes. hahaha So sister Crabtree just looked at me and I tried fixing it! Oh it was embarrassing, but...ja vel! haha :) It was Fast and Testimony Meeting, and that means that each of us missionaries bore our testimonies :) (theres not many members to, so we get to every month!) And I just love bearing my testimony. So I am so thankful that I got the opportunity to do that this week. It was also nice to hear from the members that bore their testimonies. I am so thankful for how strong the members are in Norway. This is their lives! I have a lot to learn from them. After church we taught the investigator, Tidros, that was at church! He is from Eritrea, so we speak in English to him, most of the time, and he speaks Norwegian to us. :) we read in 2 Nephi 2 and then taught the Plan of Salvation (seems to be a theme this week) simply. We almost got a baptismal date for the 9th of August, but he needs to talk to his wife first and keep on learning so he can explain it to his wife (who lives in Sudan). It was a great lesson though! We ate dinner, and then went back to Kvaløya, but after walking different directions, decided a different way to go and went up to the cutest neighborhood! Kvaløya is my favorite area of Tromsø! It is adorable. I am glad we got to go up there and bank, and we will be going back again. It was SO hot yesterday too and is the same or even warmer today! SO CRAZY!
I am so thankful that I get to be here in Tromsø though. Oh it is such a good place and that I get to be a missionary! If anyone wants to know what heaven is like, come to Norway! It is heaven on earth!








I hope you all have an amazing week! And even though I am in Norway and love it here more than anything, I still sand this week, "AND IM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN! ATLEAST I KNOW IM FREE!" Happy Fourth of July! And...time is flying by because i have 3 months left. Life goes by TOO FAST!
But i love my life, and my mission, and the people here.
LOVE YOU ALL TOO!





Ha en fantastisk uke :)

LOVE, Søster Chapman


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