Week of Dec 21-27, 2009

WEEK OF DEC 21-27
TRONDHEIM NORWAY

Here it is after Christmas already, where has the fall and winter gone?  Before you know it, we will be seeing sunrises early and sunsets late. Right now, we are just happy to see the sun.

We continued to do things related to getting the Elders established in their new apartment, like buying and installing a washing machine. 

On Monday we had a good family home evening discussion on service we could recall having participated in which had an impact on us and on others.  This was a follow up to a lesson last week in which Nadia challenged all of the young single adults to do at least one item of service each day between that day and Christmas for at least one person. We talked Monday night about some of the things they had done and then talked about service memories. 

On Tuesday evening, we thought we were settled in for the evening when Sister Engebretsen called and said she had been talking with Shine and he had been thinking about all that his friend had said and had been looking at a lot of anti-LDS sites on the web and wondered if he had really made the right choice. She said he would like to talk with us, so I called and made arrangements to pick him up and bring him and the sisters to our apt so we could talk in a bit more comfortable setting than his dorm room. We had a good discussion and I gave him a blessing before I took them home.  He was feeling better, but still questioning. I told him that most people whom I had seen fall away from the church did so because they forgot to do what brought them a testimony in the first place—read the Book of Mormon, pray and attend church.  He agreed to go home and read and pray that night.

On Monday we had bought a washing machine for the elders apt and it was to be delivered between 4 and 9 p.m. on Tuesday, so they stayed home and did their weekly planning that evening, but the delivery did not happen.  I went to the store first thing Wednesday morning and talked with a sales clerk and he talked with someone else, apologized and said they would deliver between noon and 1 p.m. today. I gave him my phone number and said to have the driver call when he gets to the apt and I would meet him there.  He did and the machine got delivered.  I hooked it up and turned it on to check it out only to find that water started coming out from underneath. Fortunately, the washer is in the bath/shower room and the shower area is just a corner of the floor where the floor slopes to a drain.  I used a squeegee to push the water to the drain, tipped the washer up so I could look underneath and found a hose that had not been connected.  Once I got that connected, it at least did not put water on the floor.  A wash cycle here takes about 2 hours so I told the elders that they need to turn it on some morning and let it run through a cycle to make sure it works properly.

Wednesday evening the sisters and Shine had been invited to the home of a couple in the branch for dinner.  Shine was not sure he wanted to go, because he thought they had only invited him because the sisters had asked them to do so.  I called and talked with him and encouraged him to go with them, told him that this is a couple who would invite him to dinner just because he is a new member.  The man (George Jorgensen) is from Australia and works on a ship which goes out for a month at a time, then is home for a month. He has spent some time in Africa and I thought Shine would enjoy visiting with him. He did end up going and got a lot of his questions answered as he talked with George, who is also a convert to the church.  Sister Engebrestsen was so excited when she called after they got home on Wednesday night.

On Thursday, sister Molholt used the computer to Skype with her family in Denmark (Denmark, like Norway does most of their celebrating on Christmas eve day).  We got her set up and she was excited to visit with her family, as one of her brothers had just returned from a mission to London the day before.

Thursday evening, we along with the elders and Shine had been invited to dinner with Kjell and Margareth Paulsen and their son, Erik and his wife Eli-Christine and their 7-month old daughter, Eli-Johanna.  Margareth called on Wednesday evening and asked if Nancy could come and prepare the turkey she planned to bake for Christmas eve dinner. She was not sure how to make stuffing or prepare the bird.  We went over around 10 on Thursday morning and stuffed the turkey and got it in the oven, then went to the church to get Sister Molholt set up to talk with her family.  When we arrived at dinner time (5 p.m) Thursday, she said the turkey was not yet ready. I went in and checked it and it was not yet done (the little thermometer had not popped out). I put it back in the oven and we all visited for a while. Eric and Eli-Christine were busy preparing ribs (typical Norwegian fare for Christmas).  After about 10 minutes I came back in the kitchen and told Eric that if he was ready to put the ribs in the oven, I could take the turkey out and carve some meat off the breast and if needed we could cook the remainder after the ribs were finished. When I took the turkey out and uncovered it, the indicator had popped out, so all worked out well. I carved the turkey while the ribs cooked and we had a very delicious meal. 

After dinner, Eric said he had been asked to play Santa to a neighbor family who have 2 young boys (4 and 2) and he asked if any of us wanted to play Santa’s helpers?  Most of us went along—his wife, Elders Henshaw and Richardson, Shine and I.   The family was quite surprised to see 6 “yule nissens” come through the front door.  The 2 boys were very excited!!

After the gifts were delivered, we returned to Kjells home and had dessert, then Kjell put on his jule nissen outfit and brought in a bag of presents for all who were there.  The baby got the most presents, but all she wanted to do was eat the ribbons.

We then played some games, ate more dessert and finally went home. The sisters had planned to spend the night at our apt and they had gone to dinner with another family in the branch. When I called as we were taking the elders home to let them know we were on our way, Sister Engebretsen said Sister Molholt was already asleep, so we went home alone.

On Christmas morning, I picked up the elders, sisters and we all had breakfast at our apartment, then they opened presents.  We went to the church at 1 p.m. as we had invited all the young adults and several of the missionaries investigators to come there where we could eat and play games for those who did not have anywhere else to be on Christmas day. Since the buses were not running, I ended up playing taxi driver, but we ended up with a good group of investigators there and they all had a good time. After eating, we watched “the Testaments”.  One of the elders investigators told them afterward that he really liked that video and said, “don’t tell anyone, but I cried during it”.  When I took him home that evening, he asked, “how long does it take before someone can be baptized?”  We talked about what is needed to be baptized and he was very interested. The elders will be meeting with him again and he was planning to come to church on Sunday.

Elder Richardson talked with his family by phone and Elder Henshaw and Sister Engebretsen used my computer to Skype with their families.

We got home around 9:30 then had to pack to be ready to travel to Mo I Rana on Saturday morning at 7:40.

The trip to Mo was very relaxing and since it was dark most of the time, I did not take many pictures along the way.  Nancy always says “don’t get off the train”. But when I see something worth taking a picture of while we are stopped in a town, it is just too tempting. 

We attended Church in Mo on Sunday. Nancy played the piano and gave a talk, I blessed the sacrament and gave a talk.  There were only 5 people there other than the branch president and the two of us—a father and mother and 3 young children. After church, we were invited to the family’s home. Bengt and Bonnie Andreasen just moved into a new home in mid November.  It is in a beautiful setting, with large windows looking out on the Ranafjord.  He still has some things to finish, but it is livable and very beautiful.

All of the return trains to Trondheim were sold out when we made our reservation, except the midnight train, which leaves here at 12:15 a.m., so we are “relaxing” in the hotel lobby from about 5:30 to 11:30.  It is now only 8, so we have a ways to go.

We are touched by the faithfulness of the members of the church here in Mo, the branch president, Jan-Erik Granaas, is a single man about 60, never married, and he takes good care of his “little flock”.  Most of them are older women, so he calls regularly during the week to check on them, picks them up and takes them home on Sundays and is a true shepherd for them.  The members have mostly been coming for years without family.  One member, Sister Aasheim lost her husband about 10 years ago. She told us that a year of two ago, she was bringing in a basket full of wood for the stove one afternoon, when she started to lose her balance on the stairs and fall backwards, she knew if she fell, she would sure bang her head on the concrete and be killed. She said she felt like someone put two hands on the back of her shoulders and pushed her forward. She said “there was no one there, but I said ‘takk’ just the same”. When she later related this story to her daughter, the daughter said, “it was probably papa, he did not want you yet.”

What a great blessing it is to be serving the Lord as a missionary during the Christmas season and help people understand the real reason for this wonderful time of year.  We send our blessings and wishes for a very good new year to all of you and your families.

Love,
Gerald and Nancy/mom and dad/grandma and grandpa/Elder and Sister Sorensen