Tips pt. 2

Kjære kids,

ok here's some advice for the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of a mission:

-Bring stuff that makes you happy. I wish I would have brought some more art stuff from the beginning. I have purchased a couple paint brushes and paints and different crafty things that have really been such a stress relief.

-Missions are for the most part, mental games. You need to kind of expect the unexpected and be completely ok with it.

-Missions are controlled trials. You are signing up for something that can be sometimes really challenging. Understand that it is through challege that we grow and change and become better people. You are not exempt from the challenge.

-You walk and talk ALL DAY LONG for a year and a half. I was obviously prepared for that, but it can be a bit of a draining experience. I got used to the walking part pretty fast, but to be honest the talking part still takes a toll on me haha It has brought me WAY out of my comfort zone, so be prepared for that if you aren't already.

-Probably one of the hardest parts of my mission has been having to say goodbye to members, investigators, and people in general from every single area. You fall in love with the people around you and they become your family. Prepare for the goodbyes.

-Controlling spiritual experiences:

One of the coolest things I learned on my mission is just how in control you can be in having spiritual experiences and enlightenment, You control your thoughts. You control your studies. You control your teaches, your conversations, and every single time you open your mouth. If you are controlling all of those things with the spirit, you WILL have spiritual experiences!

-Prepare for rejection.

Obviously not everyone is going to be open to the gospel. And even progressing, "golden" investigators can end up disappointing you.

-You are building a foundation for the rest of your life.

I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am for the lessons I have learned and the habits I have developed here on my mission, that I already know will influence the rest of my life. Bring journals or notebooks to write down EVERYTHING. There is SO much that goes on every single day of your mission, and writing it down will be the best blessing for you in remembering those lessons and habits.

-Your brain is a muscle too.

The more you use it, the more it grows. I remember being at the beginning of my mission and thinking, "holy freaking crap, I will NEVER learn Norwegian." and a fellow sister told me that my brain is a muscle too, it will grow and retain the language the more and more I use it, and guess what it's true! The more you practice, one step at a time, the easier things become.

And not just with learning another language. Everything. The walking, the talking, the stopping, the teaching, the uncomfortable, the embarrasing, the tired, the schedule, the home-sickness, the new, the focusing, the study, and the breaking away of all depedences except for your father in Heaven.

It allllll gets easier.

-The more you develop your relationship with God, and discover what the gospel can do with your life, the more you are going to have a desire to share that with others. Work on that now, and if the desire falters throughout your mission, continue to work on it.

-Your mission President is your rock.

Rely on him. Trust in his council the second you meet him. You were called to your mission because of him and his wife.

-Hard diligent work= happiness.

-Do not waste a single second.

Relish in every moment because a year and a half is NOTHING. I feel like time could not have gone any faster, and I am grateful for the times in my mission where I was IN the moment. Don't look behind you, and don't focus so much on what might be ahead. Be here now.

-Prepare for trials.

Like isn't perfect, and it never will be. Somethings might happen at home, or you might get put in the "not so preferable" companionship or area. Trust God. Trust that those difficulties are there for SO many reasons beyond yourself.

-uhg ok the toughest one for mmeeeee: prepare to gain weight, or prepare not to? I haven't figured that one out, but it is a thing. You can't always control what or how much you are being fed (SOMETIMES), and you can't really control how much you gain due to stress, and you can't really work out whenever and however you want, and ofcourse if you have nothing else to resort to, food is an answer hah. So you know, do what you gotta do to make all of that work out for you individually within the limits of mission life. Bring work out videos and reciepes. haha I don't know why I'm so bitter about this one, but I am, and I just want to warn you of the chance that you might gain weight. :))) *eye-twitch* LOL

-Read Preach my Gospel everyday.

There's no better way to prepare to be a missionary than learning and knowing those principles.

-Bring pictures of your family and friends and puppies.

I esp. wish I had printed out ALL of my instagram pictures before coming out.

-Don't ever ever ever give up on your mission language. No matter how hard it might seem, or no matter how good you might feel you are. Push through and keep learning! I can't express how grateful I am for Norwegian, and how much power I have felt through using it as a missionary. There is power in your language. Love every second you get to speak and use it!

-Let the mission change you.

Some people come on missions expecting to be changed automatically. It doesn't work like that at all. You have to let it change you, you have to conscientiously make those decisions to change every single day.

-Make a happy journal.

At the beginning of my mission, I found myself writing in my journal a lot about the hard and the sad moments, and it began to really bring me down. I decided then that that wasn't who I was. I wasn't a sad person! So I went and bought a new journal to write ONLY the good, the happy, and the miracles from throughout the day. That journal eventually evolved into my all the time journal and has been theeeee best thing.

There have also been other random journals I have made, like a dream journal, study journal, and prayer journal. Just be prepared to want to write a lot of different things.

-Buy a bouncy ball.

They relieve stress and it's fun to do language study with them. haha

-Think a lot about WHY you are on a mission. I think that is one of the main questions you get asked consistently throughout your mission.

-Have fun EVERY SINGLE DAY. YOU ARE ONLY ON YOUR MISSION FOR A YEAR AND A HALF!!!! God wants us to have JOY. Don't take things too seriously if it is going to turn you into a stressed out maniac. HAVE FUN!

-Learn a cool skill like piano of singing before your mission, that would have been so handy!

-Companions.

I have loved each and every one of my companions and they have become some of my absolute closest friends. I remember people warning me that sometimes companions can be a tricky aspect of missions. lol yeah it is tricky to live with a human being who isn't you obviously but I feel like I have learned a lot of people skills through it. I learned that if a companion is annoying me in someway, it isn't THEIR fault that I AM annoyed. It's my fault for being annoyed. I also learned that it takes someone being told something 7 times in 7 different ways before they actually learn something properly. Patience is key in any given relationship. Patience will be key in every companionship that you have on your mission. You are also all your companion has sometimes, and they are all you have. Prepare to love your companions, I never expected to meet some of my best friends through my companionships but I have and it has been the greatest blessing.

ok det var det!

I love you and dang you are going to love your mission.

Snakkes!

squad.

We took a bus ride to Haugesund for splits and got to play on a feiry boat for awhile, it was SO windy on the top, 2 much fun.

pretty shades from our balcony