Nystul later attended the Bethesda Home and Deaconess Institute in St. Paul, Minnesota, becoming the first medically trained, consecrated deaconess in September 1906.
Nystul was the first deaconess sent to China by the Augustana Synod and also the longest serving missionary with 42 years of service.
In 1948, Nystul left China for the last time, returning to to Norway to await United States citizenship, which was granted in 1954.
Nystul died 28 December 1972 at the age of 92 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.