June 17, 2013

Familie,

I am so good. This week has been a tough yet so rewarding week. We make our own food. There is plenty of gluten free stuff here so I usually have a sandwich for lunch and meatballs for dinner. I can't complain the meatballs here are so amazingly delicious it is insane. The chocolate is also so good it is insane!!! btws the chocolate I sent for dad has cool Norwegian stories on it. You guys can translate those. I am warm enough. The weather is a lot nicer now sunny all the time. It is about 70 to 80 degrees here. So it is absolutely perfect. Yes I have enough. 

Roger is good except we lost communication with him this week, but we found him at a bus stop. We were just going too fast with him we need to slow it down. He got a bit scared I think. He still believes the BOM is true. I just think it will be a little later when he gets baptized. Which is great. He was going to get baptized this Saturday. But that won't happen anymore. Yes I am on the bus most of the time. 

Alright I will tell you guys more about about Bergen. btws Bergen has a super strong dialect and yesterday I showed a girl in the ward my Bergen dialect and she said I was the best missionary so far at it!! That was a good language boost!!

But Bergen. There are 7 mountains all around with a little wharf. The center of the city is a park with a huge pond. Around the ponsd are a lot of newer buildings but as you go through more of the little cobble street roads you can see churches built in 1717 and more of the old style architecture. That is beautiful. The nature here is absolutely gorgeous. There are old buildings everywhere. Most of the houses here are white with red roofs. The cobble street roads are everywhere. I really like when we go out to members houses and see the fjords because the water here is so clean that all the fjords and houses reflect on the water. I pretty much feel like I am in a dream all the time. It is so beautiful. Bergen is the second biggest city in a ll o fNorway. But it is still pretty small. They have flowers averywhere!! Let me know what else you want to know about!!

love you all

søster shaw

June 10, 2013

Dear Familie,

This week I have made a goal to make this letter much more organized then last week so sorry about that. One of my companions was looking over my shoulder the whole time also so I felt like I couldn't exactly say what I wanted to say.

Alright lets get started. Dad Happy Birthday!!!

This week was amazing!! We have someone who committed to baptism on Monday. So my first full week in Norway we already have a baptism!! That is way awesome! His story is way cool too. My companion søster Pace just invited him to church on the bus and he came to church, He liked how he felt and that night after church found the Book of Mormon online and read it. He knew it was true and could feel it's power. The next day Monday we invited him to be baptized on  June 22nd, he said yes. His name is Roger and he is a Norwegian!!  People are ready here. People need the gospel here. Moral of the story just gather up the courage to ask, our only job is to invite. The Lord will do everything eles. He changes hearts we don't. The Book of Mormon is a powerful tool in conversion also. I feel like when we can get an investigaor to read the book of mormon then there pretty much on the path to conversion and then baptism. We love roger he is amazing and is the perfect example that Norway is ready we are here to bring them the gospel and hope and they are ready for this message!!

Another cool experience this week is at the hospital. One of our investigators is in the hospital and we visited him there. my companion and I just felt like there was a lot of spirits stuck there. Like they just couldn't progress.It just testified to me that people are the same here and in the spirit world. I f they don't learn and grow from this life they won't learn and grow from the next. It just was a powerful experience that demonstrated to me how I need to be teaching people now!!! . It was a way cool way powerful experience.

Today we climbed a mountain for pday that was absolutely amazing!!! It was so cool. The people in Norway are so in shape there like sprinting up this mountain that is steeper than pyramid peak!! People here are so beautiful. I feel so at home because everyone is blonde and they don't wear a lot of eye make up but are so beautiful anyway. I have pretty much stopped wearing makeup.  People's eyes are so beautiful here I also love there hair. Oh man it is so great here.

The chocoalte is so good!! The food is amazing here!!! The milk and yogurt is the bomb!! I drink so much more milk. It is also so beautiful!! We got to go to a members house for dinner and she lives an hour outside of the city where there are a lot of fjords. The member lives on a fjord!!! She is so amazingly lucky. The little towns of Norway are so beautiful I love them!! The houses here are white with red rrofs. Lots of new and old buildings all mixed together!! It is so beautiful!! I love the cathedrals!!! It rains a lot here almost everyday except today!! It is very green. In a way its looks like tropical with a mix of northern california pine trees. The nature reminds me a lot of cali though!! I love it so beatiful, so much more peaceful here than america. Everyone is so nice. There is no fear to talk to others!!

If you guys have questions please send them I will be in Bergen for another 3 months so just ask whatever you want!! Do you have my address mom? 

loads of love 

søster shaw 

CHLOE IS IN NORWAY!!!

On Monday, Chloe flew out to Norway. 

This is what we received from the Mission President on Thursday, May 30:

Dear Parents,

Your missionary has arrived safely and brought much sunshine, both physically and spiritually.  Attached is a picture of them outside the Mission Home.  We are so happy to have them here in Norway.  We have already witnessed their enthusiasm and conviction of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.

President and Sister E

May 7, 2013

We are halfway done!  Norway I will see you in three weeks!  It is crazy to me that in 3 weeks I will be in Europe.  My teachers are so great!  I love them. They speak Norsyk so well and they also have such strong testimonies.  They are like the coolest people I have met in my life. My whole district is extraordinarily awesome! I love them all.

Happy mothers day on Sunday, Mom.   I am so glad you are my mom. Your love is so amazing and I feel really comforted that I know I have a family who loves and cares about me.  I love you all!!!   Mom. thank you for being such a fantastic mom.  Sometimes when I am really down I just think of you giving me a great big hug. I feel your prayers. I feel your love. I am so grateful for you.

A funny thing happened this week.  My companion wanted to sing in a devotional.  This meant that I needed to go with her.  I was still a bit sick with not much of a voice.  Sister Chapman said to nudge her if the cameras were on us even though we were told not to look at he monitor.  So, everyone is singing and they totally focus in on Sister Chapman!  I nudged her and, come to find out later, others saw that nudge!  Oh well!

I am feeling healthy.  I actually work out a lot.  We run, do kick-box, play soccer, you name it.   I've made a few goals the times we have played soccer.  It feels great to have a break sometimes.  

Dearelders are free and I get mail daily. So I would like some more of those please!  I love you all:}

April 31, 2013

Our P-day was changed to Tuesdays.  I am sick in bed taking a 3-hour nap on P-day.  I'm so tired!  I think it's some kind of flu.  I'm grateful for a day of rest.  You were right, Mom.  The MTC is a bit exhausting at times.  

April 25, 2013

I think this week has been the happiest week of my life.  I love the MTC.  I wish I could stay here the rest of my life.  The food is great the people are great.  I keep bumping into people that I know from school or from when I was young.  It truly is an amazing place to be.

Right now the MTC is 41% sisters.  There are 2 sets of elders and 17 sisters!   We have such a fun group.  My companion's name is Sierra Chapman. I'm pretty sure she is the best companion in the whole world.   She is so sweet, mature and funny.   She has a super funny accent she does that cracks me up when I am stressed out.  I love it!   My zone includes the Swedish and Dutch missionaries.  It's a great group of people.  We even play soccer together on P-day.  

They have the best food here at the MTC.   But ya they have such great gluten free food here.  Bagels and cookies and wraps. My exhaustion level is low. I am never tired I know it is because the Lord is helping me with everything. I proabably get 7 to 7 1/2 hours of sleep a night. It feels like I get 11. That is a huge miracle!!!

April 17,  2013

Going into the MTC with Kelly, Lacy, Lindsey, and Grandma.  I think we said good-bye in a total of 2 minutes.  Mom was on the phone saying good-bye.  I'm excited and bit nervous all at the same time!