November 24

Because of the 2014 Turkey Bowl here in Oslo which we organized, I don't have much time to write this email.. I know I know, I say that every week and I'm sorry they have been lame lately! Pics of the turkey bowl to come... Next week!! ;)

It's confirmed that I will be staying here in Oslo with my current companion Elder Christensen throughout the Holiday season:) I'm loving it! All the lights are going up around they city, they have a Christmas market outside on the main street, and they are putting an ice rink in! The only thing we need now is some snow:)

(the main street of Oslo leading up to the Kings palace)

This time of year tends to be a little tough since everyone is so busy with vacations and holiday celebrations and everyone is too busy to talk or wants to just wait until after the holiday.. But! For those of you who haven't heard, the Church is having a huge initiative called "He is the Gift",

                          http://t.co/fEkD87vbc7  which will help us to really center our holidays and focus on the greatest gift, our Savior Jesus Christ.We as missionaries have been asked to use this initiative every day in our work. If you haven't heard of it, they should be announcing it in a few days. It's going to be huge!

With that said, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. I couldn't be more grateful to Heavenly Father for the opportunity to be a missionary in Norway. I'm so thankful for the Gospel that I get to focus on each and every day, and that I get to try and share with anyone that I can. And I'm grateful for my increasingly large family, who I miss a lot:) Have a good one! Love you!

Elder Nilsson

Had to sew up the pants. Taking lessons from the master, Sister Rasmusson!

           outdoor exercising equipment! Genious!

Nov 17

It's been an awesome week!

It's quite unbelievable that Thanksgiving is next week! A couple days ago during a stake choir rehearsal, I sat down next to a Norwegian member and then we just kind of looked at each other and were like,  "You look familiar!" After talking for a second I remembered that I helped this guy move one time when I was in Drammen! It felt so weird talking to him and saying "oh ya I helped you move about a year ago!". Doesn't feel like it's been that long. But I still have plenty of time!

We had an awesome stake conference this weekend! Elder Adler from the area 70 came, and he gave a very powerful message. I loved it because it was so straight forward, but so filled with love. He talked about the importance of finding joy in the Gospel. Not just finding joy, but showing it! He talked about how so many times he has walked into a stake conference or a sacrament meeting and everyone looks like they are like dying, and then people talk a lot just about their problems. But he encouraged everyone to find excitement! Come to church excited, and focus on the JOYS of living the Gospel. That's really what it's all about. He mentioned how the scriptures not one time mention the word "fun". Fun is the world's word, and is different than joy. Fun doesn't last. Joy is eternal if we follow the Gospel. You can find the word "Joy" several times in the scriptures! There is a difference! 

And it was fun to sing in the stake choir with Fredrik and Elin :)

In the middle of the week Fredrik took us out to dinner to some Italian Restaurant, which was way good, and then we went back to the institute center and watched the Testaments. It doesn't matter how many times I watch that movie, it gets me every time!

We had some awesome success out on the street this last week, and have being able to teach quite a few lessons to people who we have stopped! I love the feeling after walking away after a good lesson and meeting someone new who is awesome:)

Happy Holiday seasons everyone! Enjoy it! But always remember the reason for the season.

I have been absolutely terrible with taking pictures lately, so I apologize for that, but I'll work on it! 

Love you! I love Norway. I love Norwegian. The church is true.

Elder Nilsson

November 10

Hey mine venner,

We had a good week this week! There was a zone conference on Tuesday which was all focused on member work.  Zone conferences are always so inspiring, and they pump me up so much! We were so blessed in our finding this week. In the matter of about 2 hours of street contacting, we taught like 6 lessons on the street, all of which we got contact information from! 

It's pretty decided that I will be staying in Oslo for at least another transfer, which I'm totally ok with! We are getting 2 extra missionaries in our district, so now their will be 10 total! 

Sorry this one is pretty lame. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures this week either.. But just be patient! I'll probably have some next week:)

Love you all!

Elder Nilsson

Nov 3

It has been a fun p day today, hence the shortness of this email... I got to play tennis again today!

A member set us up with her second cousin's husband who reserved a court for us and we played with him! He was dang good. And he is about 70 years old. He gave me a good work out. I'm not going to tell you if I beat him or not..  ;)

We were able to pick up a couple of really great new investigators this week! Rune, who is an older Norwegian man who has a really good friend who is a member of the RLDS church, and Rune just has a ton of questions and is pretty open. And then Emmanuel, who is from Congo, really liked the Restoration and is going to read and pray. 

I think it's safe to say that I have the cutest little nieces in the entire world. Thanks for all the pictures!

I'll try and send a few pictures but I just don't know if I have enough time! We are about to go tracting in a few minutes, so pray for us!

Love you all. Kos deg!Elder Nilsson

the oslo opera house

Me and Elder Christensen with Oslo in the background