Week Five - TRAVEL PLANS!!

 Mom!

I love you so much:) Sounds like it has been kind of a crazy week back at home. Thanks for all of the updates. That is really sad to hear about Sister Homewood. But how awesome is it to know that God has a plan for her, and for their whole family? That’s why the gospel is so amazing. I can't even imagine how hard losing someone would be if you thought you'd never be able to see them again. Thank goodness for the amazing plan of salvation!! I will definitely keep Jenna Jace and Amelia in my prayers. We have Fast Sunday this week, also so I would love to join in on the fast.

We got our travel plans!! I'll probably repeat a lot of what I tell you in the family email but I still want to tell you personally cause you're most important:) We haven't heard about our visas yet... and we might not hear until Friday and I don't know anything about my passport either, but if all goes as planned, our first flight out of Salt Lake is at 12:30 pm! We leave here at about 8 I think? Anyways, we then fly to Dallas, stay there for about two hours, then to London, and then we're there for a few more hours, then to Oslo!! Mom, I am so excited it's ridiculous! I forget to bring my paper with me so I will give you exact times a little later, and probably just send a picture of my plans a little later. But, ya, I'm going to Norway!!! Whether it’s in a week or maybe a few more weeks…I’m going to Norway, and I'm ridiculously excited!! I leave a little later than Shaylor, so I probably won't see him, but he is also going to Dallas, then London, then Czech, so that’s kind of cool.

I see Nick all the time, and Weston. All the time haha I love it.

As for Chad and Jace… If it's cool with the MTC then yes!! Totally! I forgot to tell them when our temple walk was, but I think we are going to the temple at around 9:45 this morning, so we'll probably get there at about 10 if they can or want to go! I don't know if they'll read their emails that early… But unless they wanted to come on campus like Annie did, this is probably the last chance we have! Jace could maybe come on campus with Jordan Clarke or something haha I don't know, but I'd love to see them!

I wish I could remember what I wrote in my letter to Amelia hahaha I do remember that I thought it was pretty funny, though:)

I'm sure the bag your sending me will be great. Anything is better than carrying around the black carry-on bag that I brought haha

So mom I’ve never really used a credit card or debit card or anything like that... So when I use it do I just need to type in the pin? And am I just using that for all of my travel expenses and stuff at the airport? I don't have a lot of cash left… Oh! And also, I'm not sure if I brought my patriarchal blessing or not.. .I looked in my bags and couldn't find it. :(. so if you remember where we packed it or if you see it at home I'd love to get that!

Me and a few Elders definitely sat outside Saturday and listened to the BYU - Utah game haha We couldn't tell who was winning but somehow we kept hearing updates from random people... not sure how they knew... but anyways, that’s too bad. Glad I'm on a mission!!:) hahaha

I got the last package, thank you so much!! Thanks for telling me about the calling card! I was this close to buying one from the bookstore yesterday, but ended up never getting to it. So that will be good! Not sure how to use it but I’ll make sure to read the instructions haha

That is SO awesome to hear about you and shelly. I never knew all of the details, but I always had a feeling that things would get better. We're all just trying to be the best people we can be, and some people have different challenges than others. I hope everything continues to get better there!

I got so excited to watch the video you sent me, but then when I clicked on the link it didn't work… These computers are reaaaally restricted haha worse than safeeyes ;) hahaha pretty much you can only get on lds.org, mormon channel, and you're missionary portal and email and everything else is blocked…but I will try to open it on a different computer, cause I want to see it!

We got up and did laundry really early again, so I will definitely be back on in the afternoon to write the family email and everything. The cord for the my camera didn't really work so I borrowed some guys memory card adapter thing last time a sent pictures, and I’m going to buy one at the bookstore today, so hopefully I’ll be able to send a few pics:)

It's been a great week! Mom I have been learning so much here. I have been doing really, really well with the language, I think. I'm not trying to compare myself to the others or boast or anything but just to give you a gauge of how I’m doing.  I think I am picking it up a lot better than the others in my district. I'm by no means saying I’m good though hahaha I still have to think hard about it and it still takes a lot of effort, but I understand all of the grammar and rules that we've learned. I feel like I just need to learn more vocabulary. Understanding it is becoming a lot easier. So I’m just hoping by the end of two years I’ll know Norwegian:) It's the coolest language ever:)

Another cool thing.. Before I got to the MTC, sure I’d read my scriptures almost every day. But I had the HARDEST time studying them. I didn't know what to study, how to study it, and I'd never make it past 20 minutes, and I hardly ever read more than ten minutes a day. So I didn't feel like I was really getting anything out of it. Now? I will sit down at my desk in the morning, and be able to study for like an hour, or more, without ever even looking at the clock. And then someone will say it’s time for breakfast, and I’m like, “what? I need more time!” haha it feels so awesome! The scriptures are packed!! I'm sure it’s just what happens as a missionary, but the spirit just points out the most random awesome things and it just goes on and on.

Yesterday I decided to finally figure out what the heck Jacob 5 was talking about, cause I never even wanted to try before cause I thought I’d never understand it, but as I prayed for the spirit to help me, I studied it for more than an hour, and I think I kind of get the gist! I know I’m not even close to understanding what the real meaning is or anything, but I actually understood the gist, and I was just grateful for that haha

I am so pumped for General Conference!! I hope I’m watching it in Norway! Our teacher told us that in Norway, you get to watch the first session live at 6:00 pm Saturday evening, and then the next day? 8 hours of General Conference:)  It’s going to be awesome! Anyways, I decided to give you a long email because you deserve one:) Thanks for being with me every step of the way mom! I SERIOUSLY am not sure what I would do without you. Hopefully our visas come and we'll be able to talk on the phone in a few days!! I'll be back on in the afternoon to write the family email and the rest of the emails I need to write. Love you so much mom!! Thank you for everything. Hope to hear from you a little later today! :)

Mckay

P.S. Thought I’d just share this with you. So when I was saying bye to Chiara the day before I left, I gave her a note, and at the end I just bore my testimony and told her why I’m going on a mission and why all of her friends are going on a mission. Then I talked about the Book of Mormon. And then I wrote my testimony about the Book of Mormon and gave it to her. I was anxiously waiting for her first letter ‘cause I had no idea how she was going to react, and then the first week I was here, I got a letter and she said she was reading a chapter or two every single night. It was the greatest thing to hear! And she said she also prayed and it made her feel so much better, ‘cause she was reaaally down and sad about everything in general. So I was like, “awesome!” And then a few weeks ago I got a second letter from her and she has still been reading and praying every night and she said she even goes on lds.org to look up things if she doesn't understand them! She said pretty much everything just goes over her head, so I told her to just focus on her feelings, and she said that helped a bunch. Anyways, I got another letter from her last week, and she talked about how hard 2 Nephi was haha and I told her it was ok cause I didn’t understand it either, then she said she's re-read it three times! And that she still prays! And she is even talking to the missionaries!! I was like holy cow! It’s frustrating though, cause she said the missionaries won’t answer any of her questions… and they just tell her to pray about everything. So she is frustrated about that. But hopefully my last letter will help a little. I can't really remember what I said haha but that has been an awesome experience and I hope it doesn't stop! Anyways, just thought I'd share that little experience. Love you mom!

Hello family and friends!

Another week come and gone! Such a good week though. They have all been good weeks, haha The most exciting thing that happened is we got our travel plans!! If all goes as planned and we get our visas on time, we should be out of here on Monday! We leave the MTC at around 7:30, and our first flight out of Salt Lake is at 12:30 pm. Then we fly to Dallas, to London, and arrive in Oslo at 4:15 the next day, our time. So a lot of traveling, but I can't wait to get to Norway. I'll send a picture of my plans just so you can know exactly where I am, mom:) haha

So for the last couple weeks that we have gone to the temple, we've been going down to the cafeteria in the temple for breakfast. And I don't know if it's because we have gotten so used to MTC food, but the food in the temple is SO good. Like heavenly, haha. I weighed myself earlier this week at gym… I've gained 7 pounds... 7 pounds! I'm ridiculously out of shape haha but I’ll work that off in Norway, don't worry:) 

We got to host the new missionaries this last Wednesday, so that was fun! It's pretty sad taking people away from their families, but it seriously feels like yesterday it was me haha times flying! 

So I hear BYU lost to Utah. That’s a bummer. Glad I’m on a mission:) haha You better believe I was representing though! I was decked out. And yes, I went outside and could hear all of the cheers and boos haha We tried to keep a tally of what we thought was BYU cheers and Utah cheers, but we could never tell, so we gave that up pretty fast.. haha

I got my first hair cut ever that I can remember that wasn't from mom today... It's not too bad. Nothing like mom's though! I seriously wish I had a Flowbee, though. I think that would be so awesome. I just want my hair to be like dad's as soon as possible:) 

Norwegian is coming along pretty well, I think. I understand everything for the most part, and I've been trying to speak it as much as possible here. Such a funny language! Two of our teachers got in an argument (they were just messing around with each other) and they were just yelling Norwegian and it was SO funny! I couldn't stop laughing hahaha it's hard to sound mad in Norwegian. 

We had another great devotional on Sunday, and then after, we went and watched a talk that Elder Holland gave here about a year ago. That guy is unbelievable. Not many things get me as excited about being a missionary as listening to him. It was sooo good!!! One thing he said was kind of like a slap in the face to me haha but I needed it. I would always joke around with other Elders and say jokes like "oh ya, back in real life I would do this" or  "ya, when we get back to real life we'll go do this," referring to my mission as “fake life” I guess... Not that I meant it that way, ‘cause my mission has been so awesome. But in his talk he pretty much said, "I get so frustrated when missionaries referred to their lives back home as real life. This is real life! This is as real as it gets!" And he's right! The gospel is as real as it gets. Nothing is more important! In a perfect life, we would be able to focus on the gospel 24/7, and that’s exactly what we get to do on missions. So there's a cool thought:) 

I'll try and send a few pictures. I hope they work! Thanks to everyone who emailed and wrote this week! I love hearing from everyone! Since we leave Monday, we get to email and stuff on Saturday, just to let everyone know. Love you all! Ha det bra!

Eldste Nilsson

Week Four, more...More...and MORE!!!

(more...)

Hey mom :) We got up and are doing our laundry really early today, so I have some time right now to email, but I’ll be back on to email a little later today. Thank you for the package! The scripture case is great, and the brownies were HEAVEN! They weren't mushed at all. Seriously though whenever someone from my zone walked by I would just ask them if they wanted to partake of heaven, and if they said yes I’d give them a brownie, and if they said no, then they were stupid haha and everyone loved them. Especially cause each bite was a hug from you and dad:)

Like 5 days ago I started getting a cold, but then I started taking the pills exactly how you told me and it has only gotten better and now I’m pretty much fine:) I really think it is impossible to go through the MTC without getting sick though. I have been washing my hands and using hand sanitizer more than is physically possible, AND I haven't been biting my nails or anything, and I still got sick, and everyone I know has gotten a little sick at least once. I'm just glad I got it over with and hopefully won’t be sick when I go to Norway:) But just like I promised, I've taken my drugs every day this week and will continue to do so:)

I had to buy body wash this week.. I don't know why but I think we only packed one little bottle haha and then they only sold big bottles at the bookstore so I had to buy a big one. But I kept the little bottle so when I fly to Norway I can just fill that one up and keep it with me in case my luggage is delayed or something.

So, about the shoulder bag… I think it would be really, really nice to have one other than the bag I have been carrying around. I talked to Shay and he showed me his and he loves it and I really liked it, so if you could ask Bonni where she got it and check that one out for me I would really appreciate it!! Also, my acne is terrible haha I don't know if it's just the face wash or just because there's a lot of stress here or what, so I'll try this stuff for another week and see how it goes, but I might need you to send me some of the old stuff that I used before I left. Also I was wondering if you could send me one of my Jordan tennis jackets? Either the cool wind breaker one or just the normal gray one with maroon stripes on the sleeve. Whichever one you think would be better for Norway.

Can't believe I leave in two weeks! We get our travel plans this Friday:) The people who are going to Denmark in our zone got their travel plans this last week, but only ONE of them, out of like 10, got their visas… and they are all getting reassigned this week. So we are all really hoping our visas come! But anyways, that’s all I can think of for now. I will be back on a little later, probably around 1- ish to write the family email or anything else that I forgot to mention. Thanks for everything momma! Love you!

(More...)

2nd email of the day!:) I have had no time adjusting to sleeping. I've never really had sleeping troubles and it has been really nice, since almost everyone else in my district does. haha so ya, that has been fine.   

So when we weighed my bags and they were like 20 pounds under the weight limit, technically does that mean I have 20 more pounds I can take to Norway? Not that I'm planning on taking 20 extra pounds, but I’m just wondering. My departure date is September 30! and we should arrive in Oslo on October 1^st,  I think, but we'll see what the deal is when we get travel plans on Friday:) LOVE YOU!

Elder Nilsson

I'll probably be on my email a few more times today haha I don't really have anything until the devotional night so I'll be back to the computers to check and stuff:)

(and MORE!!!)

Min Familie,

Jeg kann ikke tror at jeg har eneste to mer uke om Norge!

I can't believe I only have two more weeks til Norway! I'm starting to get pretty excited, in case you can't tell. We should be getting our travel plans this Friday, so I’m pretty excited for that. It has been a great week. Jeg laerer mye norske hver dag! I learned so much Norwegian every day, and I love it! I have really been trying to focus this last week on taking advantage of all the study time we have here. It's really easy to just mess around, or tell yourself you're going to just take a quick break, and then you end up just wasting time. But I have felt the spirit so much stronger as I've given all my effort to studying. 

Each day is basically the same haha so there aren’t a lot of new events that happen each week. But we played soccer a couple more times for gym this week. We have gym at like 7 in the morning, so the field is really wet, and the last time we played there was a TON of mosquitos, but it's still way fun, and it's so nice to just get out and run around in a big open field! haha I've had to throw away two pairs of socks though, cause they go so wet and dirty… So I might need you to send me some more mom:) We found out last week that all the Scandinavian missions are getting moved to the west campus like the day after we leave, so we just missed that haha but hopefully our visas will come so that we don't get delayed and have to move there for only a few days. 

I have been eating sooo much here! I have never eaten this much at each meal in my life. And I don't even know why, ‘cause it's not that good at all haha I’m just so hungry going into each meal that I can't help it! I forgot to weigh myself this week, but I swear I can feel my face and belly getting a little chubbier. But it might just be me. Hopefully it’s for reals though haha 

 

Got to go to the temple earlier this morning! It was so awesome, as always. When we came back outside it was pretty cloudy, and we could actually see this big storm coming towards us. It wasn't raining at all when we got outside, but we were just like, “Oh boy, this storm looks like it's going to nail us.” So when we were about half way back to the MTC, BOOM! We hit a wall of rain and it just starting coming down so hard all at once; then there was probably one of the loudest cracks of thunder I've ever heard right behind us, so we just started dashing as fast as we could haha it was pretty fun. That's the second downpour we've been caught in while in our suits since we've been here haha but it felt good.

 

Well, not much else this week. I'm so grateful to be a missionary and to represent my Savior Jesus Christ. I was randomly picked to give a talk in sacrament meeting today. They have all of the missionaries prepare 5 minute talks each week and then they pick 2 randomly during sacrament meeting to give theirs. Two Sundays ago, they got up and announced that Elder Nelson was giving a talk, so I didn't know if he just said Nilsson wrong or if he meant Elder Nelson, who is another Elder in my zone. So I looked around for the other elder and couldn't find him and nobody got up for like 10 seconds, so I was like, “Welp, guess I’m talking haha so I bent over and picked up my scriptures, and when I was about halfway to the pulpit I looked up and saw Elder Nelson standing there. Not sure where he came from, but everyone kind of just laughed at me and I went and sat back down haha So I had a very strong feeling they were going to make me talk this week, and sure enough I was right. So I got to give a talk on the Atonement.

Man, I love the Atonement. It's amazing to me to think about the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made. He suffered every sin, pain, temptation, and sorrow that could ever be imagined. And he did it for everyone but himself. He was perfect. He didn't ever sin, which means he didn't have to pay the terrible price and punishment that comes from sin. But the rest of us needed it. We all sin, and all would have to pay the punishment, which is never ending misery. The punishment of just one person’s sins is severe, but Jesus took upon Him the sins and afflictions of EVERY SINGLE PERSON. I can't even imagine how much pain that must have caused. But because He loves us so much, and because our Heavenly Father loves us so much, Jesus paid the price for us. He saved us. And all that he asks and all we must do in return is follow Him. I'm so grateful for my Savior and for His gospel. I've had a couple of really amazing experiences with prayer since I've been here. I know that God is there and that He is listening to us. He knows us and helps us and answers our prayers, very specifically. I love Him and I know He loves me!

i Jesu Kristi navn, amen. Love you all, and thank you to everyone who has taken the time to write me! It's much appreciated! Ha det bra!

Eldste Nilsson

P.S. I've heard a lot of awesome quotes here at the MTC. Here's two of my favorites :)

"I believe in Christ like I believe in the sun. Not because I see it, but because by it, I can see everything else."

"Obedience is the price

 Faith is the power

 The spirit is the key

 Christ is the reason

 Love is the motive

 Joy is the reward"

Three Weeks Down...Three Weeks To Go!

Hallo alle!

Three weeks down, three weeks to go! I've said it before but I'll say it again. Time is flying! Really feels like I just got here yesterday. And it is amazing to think how much I've learned in just three weeks. Still have a looooong way to go and a lot to learn, but hopefully I’ll learn as much during the last few weeks as I did the first three. And hopefully the last three go as quick as the first three…haha. 

I can't wait to get to Norway! I realized the other day, that there is a chance that I might be living in the Arctic Circle - like the real Arctic Circle - where for months it’s just freezing and the sun never rises. So that will be an interesting experience if that happens... but we'll see! I don't even care where I go! I just want to go!
 
I'm already prepared to not understand any Norwegian for the first while that I’m there, but my MTC Norwegian is coming along pretty well! During a lesson that my companions and I were teaching to our "investigator" Mariell, I went in prepared to just check up on her and see if she kept her commitments in Norwegian, and then I just listened to her, actually understood what she was saying, and then responded, answered her question, asked another question, and just had a good, actual conversation with her. I just pulled it out of nowhere! It was such a cool experience. The Lord really is blessing me and helping me as I study and work hard. Lessons are still hard, and in my opinion, it’s harder to prepare and teach with three people rather than just two because that’s just one more opinion and one more person that needs to be involved, and it’s just harder. And sometimes it’s frustrating having a girl companion, cause she kind of acts like a girl sometimes.. hahaha jk… it all works out, and both my companions are great:) I seriously love all the Norwegian elders here though; both the ones in my district and the ones in the other Norwegian district. All such awesome guys and I get along so well with all of them!
 
I had a terrible experience last Saturday; probably one of the worst ones since I’ve been here. As we were walking outside after we ate dinner, minding our own business, just trying to find our way back to our classroom, I heard the best, yet the worst sound I have ever heard. Lavell Edwards Stadium. It was just erupting! And it was so loud! I completely just stopped in my tracks hahaha I was happy that there was something to cheer for, but I wanted to be there so bad! This is my favorite time of year! But then I remembered that there's nowhere else I’d rather be than at the MTC as a missionary and so I was all good:) hahaha Go Cougs!
 
The rain storm before the BYU game Saturday was crazy! They made an announcement in all the buildings for everyone to stay inside, so I wasn't in it at all, but we could definitely hear it!  

 I love this fall weather; I just wish I didn't have to be in a classroom for 36 hours a day (it feels like!) I'm just trying to enjoy it these next three weeks before I get thrown straight into the winters of Norway. It will be the beginning of winter there, I think.

I see Nick all the time! His room is just one floor above mine in the same building, so I actually went up and talked to him for a while his first night here! And his classroom is on the same floor as mine in the same building so I see him around all the time. I'll tell him to write his mom next time I see him! It sounds like he is doing pretty good though. Of course, like with everyone, he mentioned how ridiculous it is when your teacher is trying to teach you the language while speaking that language you don't understand haha but he seems to be doing pretty good, and has a pretty good companion.

I got the package! Thank you so much! It was great:) Those pants fit perfect! and I loved the cookies and snacks from Bonni. I will write her an email and tell her thanks. Umm I can't think of anything I need in a package right now, but if I do I will let you know! 

I've heard from all my siblings so that was great:) I love you guys! The language is better every day, and its crazy to look back after a week and see how much you have improved! Definitely definitely DEFINITELY not even close to being ready to speak with real Norwegians, but I don't think I'll ever be ready haha best way to learn is to just get thrown into the fire. 

I forget to take all the pills a lot, but I have been healthy and I promise promise promise I will take them every day from now on:) I realized there is already enough to worry about as a missionary, and I really don't want to have my health be a distraction. So I promise I'll take them. I wash my hands a ton though:)

So guess what?! I weighed myself at gym about a week ago…and I have gained a whole three pounds! I'm going to weigh myself again tomorrow, so hopefully I’ve gained a few more. It's not good weight, and I feel suuuuper out of shape, haha, but I’ll take anything I can get. I'm not eating terrible; I'm just eating a lot and not working out a ton. So ya… haha.
For gym, I usually just play basketball, but the other day all the Danes in our zone challenged us to some soccer. It felt sooo good to just go out on an open field and just run! We ended up beating them, and I had a hat trick:) haha it was fun.
 
Sorry this one is so short; I always forget what I want to write about! So I went to the bookstore and bought a little notebook so I can write down things I want to write home about every time I think of something:) but ya, thanks for all the emails and letters!
Jeg er gladi dere! I love you all!
Eldste Nilsson

Two Weeks Down

Hei Hei min Familie!

Time is going ridiculously fast here. You have no time to think about what time it is or what day it is haha and then before you know it, two weeks have gone by! Each day gets better and better, but at the same time harder and harder. 

Yesterday was the first day where I just felt completely overwhelmed. We were in class and our teacher was giving us a lesson about how to begin teaching a lesson, and it made sense! And then she had us try it. In Norwegian. And I’m just like, holy fetch! I probably couldn't even do it that well in English and there is no way I can put these sentences together in Norwegian and I can't say anything sincerely because every five seconds I have to stop and think about how to say the word I want to say in Norwegian, and it is just tough.. and frustrating. And very VERY humbling. Which is a good thing. It’s unbelievable how much I am learning every day. The language is making more and more sense and I'm able to understand my teacher more and more every day and I'm just trying to remember all this knowledge that I am getting every day! Despite how hard it is, I am having so much fun. I love the guys in my district and all the other guys in the other Norwegian district. They are all way cool and just good guys and obedient missionaries,which helps a lot.

On Sunday night all of the missionaries in my zone that are going to the Netherlands left, and I guess as tradition we got all the missionaries in our zone, which is all the missionaries going to the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, and we all packed into one dorm room. haha it was crazy. Then we all sang Armies of Helaman and God be with you till we meet again. I got serious chills! It was waay cool and then one of the Elders said a closing prayer in Dutch. It's so fun to be with all of these other Elders who are going out to serve the Lord. We really are like the Army of Helaman. It's such a cool feeling.

Like I said, there is so much to learn in the MTC. Every day I realize more and more things I need to do to become more like my Savior. Every day I realize more and more the importance of having charity. If we don't have charity, we really are nothing! There's a scripture in Corinthians where Paul (i think) is just going off on how even if he has the spirit of prophecy, even if he has done all of these amazing things, even if he has faith to move a mountain or to work miracles, and even if he has everything else you could think of, without charity? He says he is nothing. If that doesn't stress the importance of charity then I don't know what does. Same with the verses in Moroni. And Christ set the example!

Last Tuesday at our devotional, Neil L Anderson came! It was so cool! His talk was about love and sacrifice. I don't remember the details, but I took a ton of notes. It was so amazing to have a true apostle of The Lord come and talk to us! After the devotional, they told us to stay in the Marriott center for a little because there was a ton of rain and lightning, so we stayed for about 20 minutes and sang hymns. I love singing hymns with all these missionaries. It seriously is one of my favorite things. And then when we walked back to the MTC, it was POURING. So all of our suits and clothes just got soaked haha but it was fun:)
I can't believe I go to Norway in 4 weeks! But I love it here in the MTC, so it won't be that bad of a wait.
Thanks for all the emails and prayers everyone! I love you guys and I LOVE hearing from all of you!
Kirken er sann! Jeg vet at Jesus Kristus er min frelser! Og jeg er gladi ham!
Hope to hear from you all soon!

Love Eldste Nilsson

First P-Day!

Hallo Family!

I can't believe I've already been in the MTC for a week now! Time feels way weird here. I feel like the days are waaay long and but at the same time they just fly by! Either way, I love it here. Things are going so much better than the first couple of days. I can actually find my way around, I know what my schedule is most of the time, and I'm getting so much better at studying! The first few days I seriously just felt so lost. I had no clue where in the MTC I was, I had no idea how or what to study, and I didn't know what to do at each activity we were at. But I feel so much more comfortable now:) It's so amazing how much The Lord has helped me with just little things like just figuring out where I am and where my next class is and stuff like that. haha It sounds dumb, but I'm terrible with directions and things like that so it was important to me:)

I know I've said this before, but I love Norwegian! It's such a cool language. A lot of times I start getting really frustrated, cause our teacher hardly ever speaks English and we're in a classroom with him all day, so basically he is teaching us Norwegian, in Norwegian, which makes me so mad sometimes! haha But I can tell that it's helping us learn and understand, even though he is probably speaking the most basic Norwegian he can. Whenever I start getting down on myself, I just take a step back and think about all the Norwegian I've learned in just 6 days. I can say a prayer, I can bear my testimony, and I can put other simple sentences together just about little simple things. So its coming along! And I can definitely feel the gift of tongues present in my life. 

Our teacher gave us a cool lesson about not stressing over learning the language. He promised that if we just practiced as much as possible, studied hard, and had faith, that the language would never be a barrier for us. Because after all, we're not the ones teaching - the Holy Ghost is! So, if we do our best, even if we aren't fluent, God will make up the rest and we won't need to say anymore than we can. Our Norwegian isn't what will be converting people, it's all the Spirit. 

Another cool thing I heard here is, that who we are will always make us a better teacher than what we say. If we are truly coming unto Christ ourselves, and if we are obedient to all the mission rules and commandments, then the spirit will be able to be present and teach. But if we aren't obedient and we do dumb little things and just rely on ourselves and our own Norwegian to teach, we won't get anywhere. So pretty much, the main focus always needs to be obedience, and become more like Christ. 

Sunday here was so awesome! There was a TRILLION meetings and a lot of sitting down, but it was so great. There's a devotional every Sunday night and this week Brother Steve B. Allen spoke. That guy talks with the spirit. I can't remember what his calling was or anything, so you can look that up if you want, but it was awesome. And then after the devotional you have a choice to go to about 4 different little movies they show, and everyone kept telling us we need to go to the one called "Character of Christ" by Elder Bednar. So we did. It was from a devotional about three years ago where he came to the MTC on Christmas Sunday and spoke. It was honestly the most amazing talk I have ever heard in my life. In my entire life. I don't know if it's on the internet anywhere or if you can find it, but I'd try. It was incredible! Bednar gets so into it. You never see him like that and General conference. It was like 45 minutes, and I was dead tired, so me and Eldste Naumu were worried we were going to fall asleep, but I can assure you that Bednar had our complete attention the whole time. 

The main thing he talked about was obviously, the character of Christ. He started off with a quote by Maxwell that went something like, "The atonement could never have been possible without the character of Christ." Then he talked about how the character of Christ is, that when things aren't going our way, when we feel like we have every reason to feel sorry for ourselves and feel like everyone should feel bad for us, the character of Christ turns OUTWARD by showing complete unselfishness and always serving others, while the natural man always turns inward. I don't know if any of that makes sense, but it really was life changing. Bednar was more straight forward than I have ever heard and it made me want to be so much better! It also made me feel like crap for how terrible and selfish I am, but it was necessary:) haha

So the food here is alright. I eat a ton. Like, I don't think you guys would believe me if I told you how much I eat every meal. A lot more than I normally do, that's for sure! I don't even think the food's that great. If school lunch was like a grade of F, which it usually is, I'd give this food maybe a C or C+. And the only reason it's that high is because of the chocolate milk and ice cream - haha - other than that, it's not that great. They give you like 3 meal options and I usually get two of them, which is way more than I'd normally get, and then I get a salad and dessert. And depending on whether it's lunch, dinner or breakfast, I get two full glasses of chocolate milk or raspberry lemonade. (That stuff is good!) 

I really, really think I'm going to gain some weight here, 'cause we only have gym time three times a week, and then the rest of the days is personal work out time, and I have no motivation to work out with anyone in my residence hall. haha Some of those guys go so hard! I kind of just walk around the hall while all these guys are sprinting up stairs, doing wall sits, having pull up competitions - haha - Like, some of these elders will get a chair out of their room, lay on the ground, have someone sit on the chair, and then start benching them! So ya, there's two different kinds of elders - the ones who are bench pressing people in chairs, and then the ones who are usually sitting in the chairs - like me.. :) haha 

But you would all be proud to know, that the first time I played basketball during gym, yup, lit it up! I don't think I missed a three! haha I was feeling it! The second time I kind of struggled, but I still made a name for myself...with the 8 others that played at least... haha. Elder Naumu calls me a baller all the time, haha He is the baller though! He played for Weber High but was cut his senior year, but he's got a way nice jumper and would be able to throw down way hard if he was allowed - haha He's a way cool guy. 

For how big he is, it's not surprising how much he eats. It's unreal. But he is THE SLOWEST eater I have ever met in my life. Not even kidding - one of my bites are equal to three of his. And we are always the absolute last people out of the cafeteria, haha, so I usually finish my meal like 15 minutes before him and then just sit there and wait. But it doesn't really bother me. I just tease him about it:) 

I can't remember if I ever mentioned sister Frampton in my letters, buuuuut I have a girl companion.. haha. She is the only girl in the MTC going to Norway and the two companions she was assigned are going to Sweden, so pretty much, the only time she is with her real companions is when she is in her residence at night and during most of p-day, but the rest of the time she is with me and Elder Naumu. She teaches with us, has companion study with us, eats with us, and plans and studies with us. haha So it's kind of funny, but she is way awesome! I just don't know what its like to only have one boy companion yet, that's all.. hahaha 

Anyways, we've taught our "investigator" 3 times, and each time it gets better and better! We can understand her better, we're better speaking without looking at our notes, and we've set goals that will help us improve more and more! It's way scary teaching, even though it's not real - haha. I hate asking the investigator questions, and then having no clue what they say, haha, but I've learned a ton.

   

So i just want to say a special thanks to my brothers and sisters that have sent me ZERO letters or emails this week... hahaha jk guys, but seriously... Like I've only gotten two letters since I've been here and they've been from mom and dad, and that is why I love them the most:) I don't know any of your emails, so just write me one email saying hey or something so that I can write you guys! I love you!

Again, I can't remember if I mentioned this in my letters, but I have the weirdest and funniest guys in my district. Every single one of them is one of those guys that just knows the most random facts about the most random things. Mostly it's just Elder Reber, Elder Griffin, and Elder Crook. Elder Naumu even joins in every once in a while haha but he is more like me. At night you can seriously walk into our room at any given moment and hear Elder Reber and Elder Griffin having the most intense discussions, whether gospel related or not. Last night they touched on the process of the human mind, the true meaning behind art, and then something about frequencies or something like that. Oh, and the edge of the universe. ya. Me and Naumu just look at each other sometimes and are just like "What the heck is going on!" haha I love it though. It's so fun to listen to! 

Me and Naumu every once in a while will just throw in a random subject and then just sit back and let these guys go off on it. There's was one point last night where I was getting into it, so I decided to bring up Area 51 haha but I was very VERY disappointed when they didn't seem nearly as interested in it as me. I actually raised my voice a little when I started talking about it haha (thats for you, Jace) But then a little later, I had all three of them trying to explain the 5th, 6th, and 7th dimensions to me. I was way lost haha so ya. That's pretty much how it is. 

Elder Griffin actually lives right above Marcus! But he was home - schooled so I had never seen him before. And also, Elder Reber looks EXACTLY like Jake Hunsaker to me (the guy from vocal point) haha it's unreal.

I went to choir practice on Sunday and it was awesome. I sang bass - which was a dumb idea, but I'll do tenor next time. I love singing hymns with all these missionaries. There is such an amazing spirit!

And guess what! On Tuesday there is a devotional, and they are broadcasting it to all of the MTC's, which means.... an apostle is coming!!! We don't know who yet, but it doesn't matter! I am so excited! And I'm going to be in the choir for it! We are singing Lead Kindly Light, which I have always loved.  I always just loved it for the music, but at practice the director explained the words to us, and it just made it that much more amazing! I'm way excited to sing at the devotional. :)

   

I've seen a TON of my friends here. I see Elder Farnsworth (Weston) a ton.  And then I've seen Elder Sylvester a few times, and I see David Ju a lot.  And then Kaleb Farnworth, (who went to Jordan but never really talked to till the end of the year,) is in my zone! So I see him every day, so that's nice. 

It's so nice to be able to see Weston and just say one of the dumb jokes that we'd always say, 'cause nobody in my district thinks that stuff is that funny haha But Elder Sperry, who is in my district, played the trombone at Pleasant Grove and is a typical band kid, so I can joke around with him a ton cause I'm pretty good at interacting with band kids:) haha I seriously just laugh all the time. Its so much fun being a missionary!

   

Sorry this is so long, there was just a lot to say! Mom if you could tell everyone in the fam and on facebook that I'd love to hear from them, then that would be great! They can always dearelder me or write me a letter or email me! I'd more than appreciate it and I want to hear how everyone is doing! My MTC address is

Elder McKay Leroy Nilsson

SEP30 NOR-OSL

2009 N 900 E Unit 137

Provo UT 84602

Just put on facebook that I can't write or email anyone because I don't have anyone address or email address! So they need to either send me a letter or an email so I can talk to them:) Thanks! I love you guys so much! The church is so true it's ridiculous! I love it! Let me know what kind of car we win, I can't wait to hear about it:) haha hope to hear from you soon!

Love Eldste Nilsson

First Letter

Well, first day is over! I'm not gonna lie. It was a little rough. I just had so many questions about little rules and stuff like that, as well as just being completely lost when I'm walking around. Everything looks the exact same! But I know that once I get a few days under my belt it will all be a lot better, so I'm really excited for that. I just want to get used to things as quickly as possible so I can completely just focus on studying the gospel as well as the language. We didn't have hardly any time to do either today :( but I know that it's just because it was our first day. I'm so excited to learn Norwegian! I just feel like studying all day every minute that I can! I'm pumped to actually start having classes about it. 

So get this... my companion, Elder Naumu (Now-oo-moo; but kind of slurred together) is about 6'5" with dark hair and dark skin. haha, the complete opposite of me and the complete opposite of what you'd expect from someone going to Norway. He is awesome though, and we get along well. I haven't taught with him or studied with him yet, but I like him.

He reminds me a lot of Josh Wihongi. Kind of a soft spoken guy but I'm still able to have conversations with him and stuff.. He's from Huntsville and went to Weber High. The other 4 guys in my room are pretty funny. One of them, Elder Griffin lived just above Marcus on Edgecliff Drive but was home schooled so I never saw him before. All of the guys in my room kind of have, like that nerdy humor, haha, where they'll say jokes about "the first law" of some scientist or something like that. haha I don't know, it's pretty entertaining ...I love it. 

There isn't too much else to write after just a half a day, but I am just so excited for every day and I want to learn so bad! I LOVE being a missionary and I know that if I work as hard as I can, the Lord will do the rest. I know this is the restored gospel. Heavenly Father loves EACH of His children and wants each of them to come back to Him. I love how happy this knowledge makes me. 

Sorry this isn't very long, there isn't much time and just not much has happened. But I can already feel the Lord changing me and there is no better feeling. 

Eldste Nilsson 

Hey! I have a few minutes this morning so I thought I'd write another quick note to keep you a little more up to date. 

So, I'm at the beginning of my second full day. Yes, the first day was rough, so I asked Heavenly Father to please just help me feel more comfortable around here so I can completely focus on the work. And it worked! It was amazing! The second day was so much better. It was like, the second time I walked outside that day, and I all the sudden had a sense of where I was, it was great! I love Heavenly Father! 

The guys in my district are awesome. Elder Crook is from Oregon/Idaho, Elder Sperry is from Pleasant Grove, Elder Griffin is the one that lives on Sego Lily above Marcus, and Elder Reber (who is a Vocal Point Jake Hunsaker look-alike) is from LA. The only ones who aren't right out of High School are Elder Reber and Naumu. They both went to a year of BYU first, and Elder Reber studied applies Mathematics....so ya, he's that guy... haha. They are all awesome and none of them mess around like some dumb people. I especially love my companion. He is really shy, like when we're in our classroom and big groups and stuff, and doesn't say a word, but he is really easy to talk to on a personal level and we both contribute evenly when it comes to planning and stuff. 

We teach our first lesson in Norwegian later today. Pretty much we just focused on the Book of Mormon and then copied Norwegian phrases down haha, cause I don't know any Norwegian yet! Although, I do know how to say a simple prayer in Norwegian which is awesome. I love learning Norwegian and I can reaaaaaaaally feel God's help in me learning it and understanding it. I'm so excited for each new day! Seriously ! I love being a missionary ! I still have no idea when my P-day is but I'll find out soon. Anyways, all is good! I love you guys! The church is true! 

Eldste Nilsson

Last Supper....I mean Lunch!

(Don't know what happened to the picture of us eating lunch at Zupa's...but this is the fam saying goodbye outside the MTC)

Grandpa Nilsson, Grandma Nilsson, Ashely Tanner, Aubrey, Austin, Mom, Me, Dad, Amelia, Jenna