Car update

Hopefully the saga of my Polo has finally ended.  I picked it up this morning and they had replaced the fuel pump (what I suggested a month and a half ago).  Anyway, now we can probably make the drive to Oslo toward the end of April to pick up a new car (another VW Polo).  By then we are hoping that the weather will be good and we can enjoy the scenery along the way without worrying about being stranded somewhere in the middle of Gudbrandsdalen.  

Have a Happy Easter

love, 

mom and dad/Gerald and Nancy/grandma and grandpa

spring may be coming!!!

We are having temperatures on the + side of zero now and the snow is melting, so spring may be around the corner. We could not let winter get by without enjoying the snow, so last friday evening at 5 the young single adults and two sister missionaries met at the church and piled into 2 cars (11 altogether) and drove about 10 minutes to an area called Lian, to the South and west of town. We had an assortment of sliding devices and were the only ones on the hill (unlike Richland, there is more than one sledding hill in Trondheim). The first car was already there and the passengers enjoying sledding when we arrived, as I had to pick up Terry (a friend of Shina's) at the university on the way out. That plus the fact that I took a wrong turn when we got close to Lian didn't help our on-time arrival. Two others, Egil and Oscar, arrived after us, so we had a total of 13 participants, including two non-members--Terry from China and Phoebe from Australia. Four of those present had never been sledding before--Shina and Benildo from Africa, Terry and Lisa, both from China. They were a bit hesitant at first, but then got the hang of it and had a ball. As we were getting ready to leave, Benildo asked, "what time are we coming tomorrow?"

After sledding, we returned to the church where we zapped hotdogs and warmed up hot chocolate and enjoyed visiting and reliving the experiences. We stayed until about 9:30 playing "golf" with Nadia and Phoebe.

Earlier in the day, we were going to meet the sisters at Justices' apartment to teach him. However when we got in the car it would not start--same problem as before the dealership worked on it for a month. We are now driving a rental car again--a VW Golf this time--while they try to figure out the problem. I told them to check the fuel pump for the 3rd or 4th time. The biggest problem with the car failure is we had lots of "stuff" in the back for the sledding activity and had to take it all out, carry it up to the apt, then back down to load it in the rental car. Mom gets good exercise going up and down the stairs.

We have some great young people here and they are good about including the new members and investigators in activities. Last night (Sunday) we had Sisters Engebretsen and Molholt here for dinner with Shina and Corrie. They are teaching Corrie and she is present for about everything we do with the young people. She comes from the Netherlands and is studying microbiology here.

At our last zone conference in Stavanger, all of the couples in the mission were there and we had a chance to share ideas and experiences. There are 5 full time couples, plus a member couple in Stavanger who work with the YSA there (he is in the USAF working with NATO). It was good to get to spend some time with the other couples. Elder Arnesen (he and his wife work in the mission office) is planning a "couples retreat" sometime in May--should be fun.

March 24 – 28, 2010

TRONDHEIM, NORWAY

March 24 – 28, 2010

Dear Family and Friends:

Another short week has passed. We had 19 (including the missionaries) to dinner before Institute.  The missionaries can stay to institute if they have an investigator.  In the fall we began setting the table for 12 (4 missionaries) and sometimes we filled it.  Later we set for 16 and now we set for 20.  We do have 8 missionaries including us, but the Lord is blessing them with people to teach and bring to church.

Friday we left the apartment to go meet the sisters at the apartment of one of their investigators, a young student from Ghana.  The trunk of the car was loaded with all the things we were taking to the sledding activity at 5 that evening.  Wouldn’t you know—the car would not start. It showed the same symptoms it did a month ago before the local VW dealership had it in their shop for almost a month.  Needless to say, I was not happy, as I had told the service manager when I picked it up a week ago that I was not convinced that anything they had done had addressed the problem I was having with the car. 

                                               

So it was back to our friends at Viking tow service (I am getting to know all of their drivers by now). They towed the car to the dealer and I picked up a rental car—again.  Of course there were no mechanics around by the time the car got there on Friday and since this is Easter week, it is questionable if there will be any working this week. At least the rental car is a step up from the VW Polo we drive.  Maybe they can just keep it.  Here is an altogether too familiar sight.  The good thing about this is that it has never failed to start at some very inconvenient time or hazardous location. The Lord does watch out for us.

Friday night we had a great YSA activity.  We still have LOTs OF SNOW, so why not go sledding.  Our YSA from Nigeria, Mozambique and China had never been sledding.  They were all hesitant at first.  Benildo from “M” went first.  He loved it.  By the time the sledding was finished, he asked what time we were coming the next day.  All had a great time. Included in the group was a young Australian girl the elders had met on Wednesday. She came to our dinner and returned Friday for the sledding activity.  We returned to the church for hotdogs and hot chocolate.  Great bonding!!

 

Saturday a few came to play sports (one young man and two young women).   So Gerald joined them and they played volleyball and then floor hockey.  Oh the energy (at least on the part of 3 of the 4)! 

We have had a YSA president and now we have a vice president also.  We are holding regular meetings with them, the branch president and the institute teacher.  Finally getting organized is really improving the program and gives it more enthusiasm also.

Our cupboards are now stocked.  We went to the store and bought quite a bit of food.  People shop here every few days.  Shelf life isn’t as long as in the U. S.  Now I can at least make a few things without running to the store for each days meals.

The sisters, a new convert and an investigator came to dinner today.  It is always special to have them here.

The new convert, Shina, is learning to play the piano.  His goal is to play in church next year.  He really is interested and tries very hard since we only get together Sunday after church for about 10-15 minutes each week.  He doesn’t have anything to practice on, so each week it is all new.  This week is spring break so he plans to be at the church to practice.

Today I had to speak in church.  I hate it when people get up and read their talks.  I said that and then read my talk in Norwegian.  Is that an oxymoron? My pronunciation is getting better.  I couldn’t have translated it directly into English, but generally I did know what I was saying.

One of the YSA played prelude in RS and in Sacrament Meeting.  She is getting more confident.  One of the other YSA played in Primary today.  I think they have heard me make many mistakes and so that gives them more confidence in their piano playing skill.  At least they are practicing and trying to improve.

The Lord is blessing the people here in Trondheim and it is exciting to be a part of it.  We are making wonderful friendships here with missionaries, members and young students from all over the world.  We are happy to be sharing the message of the restoration of the Gospel with them. 

We love each of you and pray for your continued health and happiness.

Mom and dad/Gerald and Nancy/grandma and grandpa/nana and granddad

March 15-23, 2010

WEEK OF MARCH 15-23. 2010

TRONDHEIM, NORWAY

Just so you won’t think our weeks are a little longer here than other places, I am covering the time from Monday Wednesday of the next week because there has not been time to write anything until today.  That is how the “week” has gone.

We were planning to enjoy a fun “P-day” with the single missionaries by going bowling at the local bowling alley.  Nancy was especially looking forward to this as she loves to bowl.  I took the rental car back to the VW dealer in the morning and picked up our car—after having been in and out of their shop since Feb. 20—drove home, picked up Nancy and as we were headed to town, noted that the engine temperature light came on. I thought at first it might just be some random thing,  and planned to drop Nancy off at the bowling alley, then take the car to the dealer.  I then watched as the temperature gauge continued to rise and realized that we were not going to get into town and back to the dealer, so I pulled off the highway into a parking lot near a gas station. I got out and looked under the hood and found that the coolant reservoir was empty. I got water from the station, filled the reservoir, then started the engine to circulate the water to the engine and as it went down, poured in more water—then noted it was coming out as fast as it was going in. So I shut down and called the dealer and our friends at Viking tow service (I think we have met every driver they have).  It was about 2 p.m. at this time and it was cold and snowing. We sat in the car and played “Farkle” for a while, then I worried that we were not going to get to the dealership before they all went home for the day. I called Viking to see how long it would be and the dispatcher said at least another hour as there were lots of stuck cars and accidents they were taking care of and had people in front of us who had already been waiting for over 2 hours.  At this point, Nancy was getting cold (and beating me badly in the game) so I called a cab, went to the dealership and picked up our faithful rental car—again.  I returned with the rental car and took Nancy to the church, then went back to wait for the tow truck, which arrived at about 4:30.  After seeing the car off, I returned to the church where we met at 5:30 with the young single adult council to discuss the plans for the young single adults. After the meeting it was time for family home evening which included a good lesson given by Elder Bartholomew and a fun time playing games afterward.  Victor (a convert from January) conducted the FHE for the first time and had an enjoyable time doing so. He is very quiet, but did a good job keeping things moving. It is so much fun to see the growth of these young people as they develop confidence in their abilities and testimonies.  There were 9 in attendance, including one non-member.

Tuesday there was a “pensjonist lunch” (retired people lunch—or anyone else who is free at noon). These are arranged by one of the sisters in the branch (Inger Jørgensen) as a way to get the older folks involved with each other and encourage them to bring their non-member friends and members who don’t always come to church.  She had invited a woman who has written several books about Trondheim history—as she experienced it while growing up here.  The lady’s name is Ester Nordmark and she is in her mid 80’s. She was delightful to listen to (I tried my best to translate for Nancy) and to visit with as we enjoyed some Norwegian waffles afterward (waffles are not a breakfast food in Norway, they are used as desserts in the evening, or for lunch—but we enjoy them anytime).  Nancy accompanied some community singing during the program and also played a piano solo after Ester had talked. They enjoy having her here for her musical talents among other talents.

In the evening we had an appointment with Eirik and Åsta.  When we arrived with Sisters Engebretsen and Mølholt at 7 p.m., Eirik was not yet home from work and would not be coming until after 8. Åsta’s father, Jeffrey Stevens was there, as one of the twins (Victoria) had been sick and he was helping Åsta. They were in bed by the time we arrived so we did not get to enjoy their presence.  After we talked about Victoria, I asked Åsta if she would like me to give Victoria a blessing, which I did with the assistance of Jeffrey.  We had taken some rice krispie treats out with us, as Eirik had mentioned on our last visit that he really liked them. Nancy also took the ingredients and the recipe so he could learn to make them.  We had a very good visit with Åsta and her father, then he left to return to his home and we visited for a while with Åsta and learned a little more of their family.  They have been praying together since we began visiting and she said they all feel a difference in their home.  Eirik is a good man, works hard to provide for his family and then comes home to work hard remodeling their home. Now that there is some daylight after work, he usually comes home, changes clothes and goes to work outside.

On Wednesday I picked up our car again, we attended District meeting and Nancy prepared dinner for institute.  The service agent at the dealership said he made the mechanics drive it for an hour or so yesterday after they finished working on it (someone had forgotten to tighten a clamp on a coolant hose) so he had some confidence that I would not be back again.

On Thursday I shoveled snow from the church parking lot and Nancy spent a good part of the day working on a “member book” for use by the missionaries. It is intended to have some basic information on the members of the branch, along with a photo so when new missionaries are assigned, they can review the book and get a better feel for the members before coming to church the first Sunday or when they are preparing to meet with members.  In the evening was the Relief Society (hjelpeforening in Norsk) held their birthday dinner which Nancy attended and played the piano for the singing.  I spent the time in the YSA room studying.

On Friday we tried to catch up on things at home—laundry, vacuuming, etc. before leaving to spend the weekend in Mo I Rana. Nancy spent more time working on the member book. We also spent time on the talk Nancy would be giving in Mo (and also giving the talk next Sunday in Trondheim).  She tries to get as much mileage as possible out of her talks. She was asked to speak this coming Sunday in Trondheim on the atonement and resurrection, so that is the topic she talked on in Mo.  We will not be back to Mo before Easter, so the topic is timely.  She is doing much better with her talks and is still determined that she will give them in Norsk, which the members all appreciate—even though almost all of them would understand it in English.  They appreciate her efforts to speak their language. One of them told her on the first Sunday we were here and she bore her testimony in Norsk that she was the first of the sisters in the couple missionaries that they could remember having spoken in Norsk.  So she wants to continue to do that and is doing well. She understands much more now and is able to follow most conversations and talks in church—but is not comfortable trying to engage in conversation.

On Saturday, we picked up the sisters at 0700 and caught the 0740 train to Mo.  It was a foggy day for most of the trip, but the fog and the snow made for beautiful scenery.  For some reason we were about an hour late arriving, but were met by Jan Erik Granaas, the branch president when we arrived. He took us to our hotel where we dropped our luggage, then went off to visit members. The sisters had prepared book marks for each of the members, which included a scripture on one side and a quote from President Uchtdorf on the other.  They shared the scripture with the members (everyone we visited were older widows) and sang a song before we moved onto the next home. These older sisters love it when the young sister missionaries come to visit. They had called everyone on the branch list to encourage them to come to church on Sunday and for those who live near the city center, asked about visiting on Saturday afternoon. There is one woman who has not been to church for years, but she said yes we could come visit. When we drove to her place, President Granaas said, “she has never let any of the branch leaders in. She used to let the missionaries come visit occasionally, but not the branch leaders or home teachers.”  When we knocked on the door, it took her some time to come to the door, and he said, “she saw us through the window, so she will probably not answer the door.”  Finally she answered and was surprised to find 5 people standing on the door step, then she said, “well, you can stand out there or you can come in”.   So we all went in and had a good visit with her.  She lives right on the harbor, with a beautiful view of the fjord, in an old home she has lived in for many years. Her husband passed away many years ago and it is just her and “skip” her little dog.  Hopefully now that President Granaas has been in her home, she will continue to allow members to visit with her and bless her life.

We went to the home of Bengt and Bonnie Andreasen for dinner on Saturday evening. They moved into their new home just before Christmas last year.  It sits up on a hillside about 5 minutes drive from the city center and has a beautiful view of the fjord, the city, and the mountains across the fjord.  Bengt said, “on a clear day you can see all the way to America.” After dinner we returned to the hotel to rest and prepare for Sunday.  Saturday was a beautiful sunny day and it was supposed to be more of the same on Sunday.

When we awoke Sunday and looked out the window, it was snowing and there was enough snow that it was clear it had snowed for a while.  We enjoyed breakfast in the hotel, then waited for Pres. Ganaas to pick us up.  I went down to the lobby to check out, then while I was returning to the room, stopped and spoke with a man who was standing in the hall. He and two others were doing some remodeling in rooms on one end of the floor. I said “good morning” (in English) and he said, “you are not Norwegian.” (in English)  I said, “no, and it sounds like you are not either.” He said he is Norsk, but spent many years living in the US—Minnesota and California.  We talked a little about where he had lived and what he is doing now, then he said, “my son and I noted you and your wife and daughters at breakfast this morning, we both commented on how refreshing it was to see two young women wearing long skirts and modestly dressed.” I explained that they were not my daughters, but that we are all missionaries for the Church. We had a good conversation about the church and values before he had to return to work.  He is seventh day Adventist, and therefore they were working today.

We had a wonderful sacrament meeting. Nancy played the keyboard and Sister Engebretsen led the singing.  I helped Pres. Granaas bless the sacrament and Bengt passed it.  Then Nancy spoke, each of the sisters spoke and they sang a couple of primary songs. When they started singing, Lydia, the Andreasens’s 4 year old daughter came up and stood with them, so Sis. Engebretsen pulled a chair up and stood her on the chair while they sang.  It was very touching to see how this little girl admired the sister missionaries.  After they sang, it was my turn to speak but the time was gone, so I told Pres. Granaas that I could just give my talk another time. He said, no, go ahead, we have time (since the branch only holds 2 meetings on Sunday—Sacrament meeting and a combined Relief Society and Priesthood meeting, if Sacrament meeting runs longer or shorter, they just compensate in the next meeting).  So I gave my talk about temples. During the closing song, Lydia pushed her chair up by Sis Engebretsen and Sis Engebretesen stepped behind her and helped her lead the singing. Again, a very touching scene.

While the rest of us held priesthood and RS meeting, the sisters took the 3 children in the next room and held a primary class. After the classes, we all sat around in the chapel area and Nancy brought out the Rice Krispie Treats she had made and we sang happy birthday to Bengt, whose birthday was on Monday and Pres. Granaas whose birthday was the previous week. The people all enjoy rice krispie treats and nobody left until they were all gone.  I told everyone that this would be Sis Engebretsen’s last visit to Mo, as she would be going home before the end of April, the sisters and children all gave her long hugs and wished her well.  There were hugs for all of the sisters (4) from Nancy and the missionaries before we departed for the train station.  It is always a delight to be with these faithful members.

The train was about ½ hour late arriving, so it was about 11 p.m. before we got back home after dropping the sisters off at their apartment. 

Monday morning came way too early.  But soon Nancy was working on the member book again (our P-day activity) as I did the laundry and started getting things ready to go to zone conference on Tuesday. We had a good FHE on Monday night with 9 young singles (including 3 non-members) and 6 missionaries. It was a full house but a great feeling to have so many there. All of the non-members took an active part in the lesson as well as activities. There is a good spirit among the members, missionaries and investigators as they attend.

We got home at about 9:30 on Monday night and made preparations to get up at 0345 on Tuesday to travel to Stavanger for zone conference.

Nancy was asked to say the opening prayer for the conference and Sister Johnson (one of the other senior sisters) had been asked to lead the music. Sister Johnson said she did not know how to lead music (her husband had accepted for her) and asked Nancy if she knew how.  Nancy said, “yes, but I am giving the opening prayer”. So Sister Johnson said you lead and I’ll give the prayer. Nancy was then talking with sister Thomsa who was going to play the piano and Sister Thomas said she was not able to play one of the songs as fast as it should be played, so Nancy asked if she could lead music. She said she was a choir director. So they swapped again and when Elder Miller went to announce the opening hymn and prayer, they had him totally confused.  But it all went well.

Zone conference was a wonderful experience. This time all of the senior couples in the mission were in attendance and we met together for about an hour and a half while the young missionaries did some of their training. It was great to be able to get better acquainted with them and to share experiences and ideas. There is much success being gained with the young people in Norway and it is good to be a part of it. We had a wonderful lunch provided by the sisters in Stavanger—RS president, Primary Pres., YW President and a couple of their daughters. Two of the women are Americans whose husbands are here working—one in the US Air Force with NATO and one working for an oil company.  I asked the Norsk sister what her name was and she said, Sister Steffensen. I asked if Anskar was her husband and she said, “yes”. So I told her that I had confirmed him a member when he was baptized about 50 years ago.  She was excited to know that and then introduced me to her daughter who was there helping out. 

At the zone conference in February, we met an Elder Severson who is serving in Bergen. Nancy asked him where his ancestors came from and he said, “Røyken”. She told him that is also where our Severson ancestors came from.  Knowing that he would be there this conference also, she copied off the Severson genealogy and brought it with her. At a break in the conference, we sat down and looked at the sheets and he said he thought that one of Oscar Severson’s brothers was his great-grandfather.  He will do some checking with his family to confirm (I have sent his parents an email with a copy of the Severson line, so we will see).  Anyway, it has been fun to make some family connections here as well as all the other connections we are making. 

Too soon, the conference was over and it was back to the airport. Our flight was about 1-1/2 hour late departing, so by the time we got home it was 11:30 p.m. again.  These hours and travel schedules are not meant for old bodies.  We were spiritually alive, but too tired to do much with it.  Today (Wednesday) is a day of getting ready for institute dinner and class. We met briefly with Sister Catherine Bjørnevog where she goes to art school and had a good visit with her. She has come a long way since our first visit with her several months ago. She and her 4 children are in church almost every week now.

We love this work and the people we are blessed to associate with each day. We miss all of you and wish you could be here with us—rather than we being there—as we know you would love the country and people as much as we do. And they would love you as much as we do.

May God continue to bless each of you.

Mom and dad/Gerald and Nancy/grandma and grandpa/nana and granddad.

MARCO--POLO

We picked up the car on Wednesday, March 17. The problem this time was that whoever worked on it last had not tightened a hose clamp and when the coolant became warm and pressurized the system the hose came off. When I was talking with the service agent to pick it up, he told me he had had 2 mechanics drive it for a couple of hours the previous day when the work was completed, to make sure it was done correctly, then had another mechanic check the work. So far, things seem to have been repaired this time. We had the rental car for almost a month (from Feb 20 to March 17). The VW dealer was to cover the first 5 days of the rental and I told them when I picked up the car that we needed to sit down and look at the bill to determine what they were going to pay for and what the Church would pay for. Today (Thursday, the 18th) he called and said they were going to cover the entire rental car expenses.

The new car left the assembly line 3 days ago and should be in Oslo in about 5 weeks.

SAGA OF THE POLO

It has been a long time since I posted anything here, so here is an update on our car problems. The first problem raised it's head on Feb. 17, when the car would not start one afternoon and I needed to go pick up 2 older sister missionaries who were coming in from Germany to do some training with us. The tow truck driver got it started and when I asked what he did, he laughed and said, "I have no idea". Anyway it worked until the next morning when I was to pick up the same 2 sisters at their hotel. We ended up walking the 4 blocks from the hotel to the church. Since I was just going to be out of the car long enought to walk into their hotel, I had not bothered to wear an outer coat even though it was -10C. It was a cold walk!!

The car was towed to the dealership (VW) and later in the afternoon they called to say it was ready. I asked what the problem was and was told they replaced an engine coolant sensor and updated the computer. What that had to do with the problem I was seeing was beyond me, but the car worked. We gave the sisters a tour of Trondheim and got them to the airport on Friday morning. On Saturday we were at the church for seveal hours and when we came out at about 2:30 in the afternoon, the car would not start--same symptoms as the last 2 times. Since the dealership was closed on Sat. afternoon, we got in touch with an emergency number in Oslo and they authorized the towing, cab fare to the airport to pick up a rental car and use of a rental car. We picked up the rental car at about 5 on Saturday afternoon.

About Wednesday of the next week, we stopped by the dealership because I had not been able to reach the service technician by phone. He told me the car had a bad head gasket. One of the 3 cylinders had very low compression. It would cost about 25,000 norsk kroner (about $4,000) to do the repairs. I called the mission office and was told that we might as well get it done, even though I am getting a new car in April, as we would pay the price to repair it or have the cost of repairs taken from the tradein value. So they began to work on it, saying it should be back the next week.

We picked up the car on March 9 (Nancy's birthday present), drove about 4 km and visited with some members. I left the car running while I visited with the husband outside where he was working on his daughter's car. When I walked back to the car, it sounded like it had an exhaust leak and the engine temperature light was on--so we went back to the dealer, left the car and took the rental car again. It only took until Monday March 15 for this repair to be completed. I picked up the car at noon on the 15th, drove home (about 15 km) parked for about an hour, then we headed to the city. On the way, the engine temp light came on again and the temp gauge was rising, so I pulled inton a parking lot near a gas station, checked the coolant and found it was empty. I got some water from the station, filled the overflow container, then started the car so the coolant could begin to circulate to the engine. When it did, water was flowing out as fast as I was putting it in. So I called the dealership and the tow company and we waited--and waited. It was about -5 and snowing while we sat in the car and waited for about an hour. I called the tow company and they said it would be at least another hour, as they were very busy (lots of people stuck in the snow and accidents). I called a cab and went to the dealership, picked up the rental car again, came back and took Nancy to the church where she could wait in a warm room and went back to wait for the tow truck. He finally came at about 4:30 and took the car off to the dealer. It is now Wednesday and I have not yet heard what this problem is, but I am not taking the car until they have driven it for at least 20 km so I know it will get me home. The bill was at 35,800 kroner (divide by 6 to get a good approximation of $) when I last picked up the car.

The new car cannot come too soon. Here are pictures of the car being loaded on the truck on Feb. 20 and the rental car we have been driving for the past few weeks.

March 8-14, 2010

Photo of Victor in his new suit (you'll read about him).

WEEKLY UPDATE

WEEK OF MARCH 8-14

TRONDHEIM, NORWAY

We have had another good week in Trondheim, filled with good experiences with the young single adults, investigators and members here.

On Monday we had a busy day getting things done in the apartment—laundry, vacuuming, shopping, etc.  In the evening there were 15 present at family home evening, including 2 investigators and 5 young single adult members—the other 8 being the missionaries.  The room is almost filled to capacity with 15 people and it makes us reflect on the first few family home evenings we held here back in August with just the two of us, two sister missionaries and 2 young single adult members.  The Lord has truly blessed this small branch.  One of the investigators present, Liaqat Rizai from Afghanistan, is planning to be baptized on Saturday.

Tuesday was Nancy’s birthday and she received many birthday greetings from the members here as well as from friends and family at home.  She commented that she has never received so many birthday cards as she received this week—and the cards kept coming throughout the week.  The first birthday greeting of the day came at 2:45 a.m. via a text message from one of the young single adult women.  One of the hazards of working with young single adults is the hours they keep.  For the first few weeks we were here, I would turn off the cell phone at night, then realized that this was our only contact method, so have been leaving it on  since then and occasionally we get these early morning “greetings”.  Anyway, we love Torunn and appreciated her thinking of Nancy so early in the morning and wanting to be the first to wish her a happy birthday.  The last greeting of the day came from the Relief Society president (who celebrated her birthday on March 12—the same age as Nancy) at about 10:30 p.m.  We enjoyed a good sirloin dinner at EGON, a nice restaurant in downtown Trondhiem.

We had our missionary district meeting as usual on Tuesday morning at 11 and at the end, the sister missionaries brought in a pan of brownies which had been baked by one of the sisters in the branch (Torunn’s mother).  Sister Engebretsen also served her a bowl of broccoli with cheese (one of her favorited meals).   Later in the afternoon, we picked up our car from the dealership garage (where it has been since Feb. 20). We drove about 3 km to the Hansen’s home to return the empty brownie pan and I left the engine running while Nancy took the pan into the house to visit with Turid and Torunn and I visited with Harald outside, where he was doing some work on Torunn’s car.  After 10 or 15 minutes, we went to go into the house and as I got closer to the car I thought “that car sounds awful loud—like an exhaust leak,”  I got in to turn it off and noted that the engine temperature light was on.  So after visiting for a few minutes more, we returned to the dealership and fortunately, found the service agent still there as they closed at 5 and it was about 5 after.  I walked in and he said, “are you back?”  “yes, I am back—I’ll trade you for the rental car again.”  I explained the problem and left it with him.  Sometime during the afternoon, we found time to join the sisters in teaching an investigator, a young student from Turkey.

On Wednesday was Institute. Nancy made chicken noodle soup for dinner—this is a favorite of all who attend and there were 18 present to enjoy the dinner. 15 stayed for institute class.  Also on Wednesday evening was a branch council meeting, which I attend representing the missionaries.  We leave tired at the end of the day on Monday and Wednesdays but feeling blessed with the good spirit which we enjoy as we meet with the young single adult members and investigators and other branch members and missionaries. 

Thursday we met with a 25 year old young man (Hans Christian Moan) who has not been active in the church since he was about 13 and has pretty much been on his own since he was 15.  We had a good visit with he and his girlfriend and feel encouraged that we will continue to visit with them.  Nancy also met with the sister missionaries and a member (Birgit) to practice a song they will be singing in Church on Sunday.

Friday was a day to catch up again.  We did some shopping, I repaired the tread on two stairs in the church going down to the basement rooms and Nancy worked on preparing forms on the computer to help the missionaries become better acquainted with the members.  The mission president has asked the missionaries to have a “member book” with member addresses, and basic information so they can more effectively interact with members.  So the assignment became Nancy’s to prepare something.  While at the mall, I saw a good sale on suits and purchased a new suit plus an extra pair of slacks to match the suit and a pair of gray slacks. They were having a “take 3 pay for 2” sale.  I decided my old suit could be given to one of the new converts and help him be dressed in something other than jeans at church. 

Friday evening, Nancy met with Torunn and Vera Dahlø to practice a song which they will sing in church the last Sunday of the month.  When Nancy and Torun first arrived, they went into the chapel and Nancy sat down at the piano and started to play—there was not a sound from the piano.  She opened the top and found that all of the hammers had been removed (she remembered then that Torunn’s dad had told us the piano tuner was working on the piano earlier in the week) to be repaired.  They enjoyed a good laugh at their shock, then went to another piano.  After they finished practicing at about 8:30, Torunn came home with us and visited until about 11.  She needs a little extra attention every once in a while.

Early in the week, we had several days of temperatures up to as much as 6C, so snow was melting and there were large puddles everywhere.  On Friday afternoon it started to snow and by Saturday morning , there was about 5” of snow on the ground—on top of the frozen puddles.  I awoke early Saturday morning and decided I had better go remove snow from the church parking lot (it is only big enough for 7 cars) as we were having a baptism for Liaqat in the afternoon. Norwegians use large scoops (about 3’ across) to remove snow as opposed to our typical snow shovels.  I went to the church and got out the scoop and started working. Just after I started, Harald Myhren—the branch clerk—came out and measured the snow. Then said that there is a firm that is supposed to come remove the snow when there is more than 10 cm.  I said, then there is no need for me to do any more?  He said, “No, you can continue, they are not all that reliable. Sometimes they come and sometimes they don’t.”  It took about an hour and a half and as I was finishing the guy who should be plowing it came by on his 4-wheel drive ATV and did the sidewalk.

The baptism was a great experience.  Liaqat speaks some English but next to no Norsk, so the baptismal program was all done in English. The opening prayer was given by Victor who was just baptized in mid-January. Victor is from Nigeria and gave a very sincere and beautiful prayer to start the meeting. I think his first in a group setting.  Harald Myhren gave a talk—his first in English. He speaks English quite well, but is always hesitant to use it, especially in a group setting where there are many Norwegians present. In Institute and FHE, we generally give lessons and conduct the business in English because of the many non-Norwegians who are present and all of the YSA speak good English (Harald is 62 years old).  Harald wrote his talk in Norsk and Elder Henshaw translated it for him. As Elder Henshaw was trying to convince him that he could do it in English, Nancy said, “you speak better English than I do Norsk, so if I give my talks in Norsk, you can surely do this in English.”  He agreed and gave a very good talk.  After the baptism, Sister Kimo, a member from the Philippines, had made a nice meal of Filipino food to feed all those who were present.  

I had given my old suit and a white shirt to Elder Henshaw and told him to give them to Victor or Liaqat, whomever they would fit.  They fit Victor and after the baptism he came upstairs to the dinner wearing his “new” suit and white shirt. He was excited!  Came in and gave me a big hug and a “thank you”.  He looked good!

On Sunday morning, I noted that it had snowed about 4” in the night, so the parking lot would be buried in snow again.  So I went to the church early to shovel snow once more. I went downstairs where the snow scoop and shovel are kept, only to find—nothing.  I looked throughout the building with no luck, then woke the branch president to ask if he knew where they may have gone? Would someone borrow them to do their home driveway or sidewalks?  No, he did not think so and he did not know where they could be.  As I stood on the front steps of the church trying to figure out what I could do, I saw what appeared to be the top half of the handle to a scoop sticking out of the snot along side of an apartment building across the street.  I walked over and pulled it out of the snow (it was sitting on dry ground, so had not been used all winter, so I did not think they would mind if I borrowed it for an hour or so. I told Nancy when I came home that it was nice that the Lord provided a way for me to carryout the work I had decided to do. It reminded me of the story of Abraham and Isaac and how Abraham found a ram in the bushes to use for his sacrifice. The Lord provided me with a snow scoop.

Nancy had to be at church at 10 to practice the piano with those who were singing in Sacrament meeting (all of the young missionaries plus Birgit), so I took her in, picking up the sisters on the way and then went to pick up Victor and Liaqat to bring them to church.  Victor looked great in his new suit with a white shirt and tie.

Nancy played the piano for Relief Society, as well as the organ in Sacrament meeting and accompanied the special musical number, so she got a good workout.  After Priesthood meeting, I took Shina to pick up one of his friends who wanted to come to church. Then returned to teach a temple preparation class for Sister Kimo and an older brother, John Hansen (80).  They are both excited to be preparing to go to the temple this summer. Sister Kimo will travel to the Philippines to attend the temple in Cebu when it is completed and John will be going to Stockholm. 

After church we had dinner with the young single adults and then watched the YSA fireside broadcast of Elder Rasband’s talk to the young single adults last week. We had 19 to dinner and 15 who stayed for the broadcast.  Afterward, we visited with two of the YSA (Nadia and Oscar) and Harald Myhren for about an hour before taking the sister missionaries to deliver cupcakes to some of the members and investigators.  The first place they wanted to go was to Sarah Jordan. Sarah lives up a fairly steep hill on a small dirt road. I told them I was not sure we would make it all the way to her house. We got within about 200 yards of the house before the wheels started to spin, so they walked the rest of the way, delivered the cupcakes and I backed down to where the road had a fork. I backed up into one part of it and proceeded to pull forward to head back down the hill, when I went into a ditch and was stuck. The sisters thought hey could push, so they got in front of the car and as Sister Molholt took a step off  toward the middle of the car, she stepped into snow about up to her chest and almost disappeared. About that time, Sarah called and asked if we needed help—I said yes.  Her husband came down with their 4-wheel drive car and a tow rope and got us out. I told him that perhaps he needed to accompany us out to the main road, to make sure I would make it up the next hill, which he did, but we did not need anymore assistance.  This was our first time being stuck in the snow, so I guess we have done well so far—however, winter is not over yet.

At the end of some days, we ask ourselves if we have done any missionary work (teaching the gospel) and have to conclude that there are many ways to do missionary work and not all of them involve sitting in someone’s living room teaching a lesson. We are seeing progress with the young people we work with and have some members attending who have not been to church for some time, so when we look at the bigger picture, we realize we are doing some good. We love the people here. The snow is a pain it times, but everything is so beautiful that it is not possible to dislike it.  We just have to say “we are in Norway, what do you expect?”

We send our love to all of you and express our love for the Savior, Jesus Christ. We are mindful each day of the great privilege we have to have such a wonderful family and friends.

Love to all,

Mom and dad/grandma and grandpa/nana and granddad/Gerald and Nancy

March 8th - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! :)

Happy Birthday!!!

We love you! With love from the States: AZ, WA and FL!

Weekly update - March 1-7, 2010

Attached for your information is a copy of our latest mission report. I am also attaching a photo of Eirik and Asta's twin girls--Emma (missing a tooth) and Victoria. They turned 3 on Feb. 13 and are a delight. They help to ease the fact that we are not near any of our own grandchildren.

love, 

mom and dad/gerald and Nancy/grandma and grandpa/nana and granddad

 

WEEK OF MARCH 1-7, 2010

TRONDHEIM, NORWAY

It is now Monday morning after a very busy, but fulfilling week.  We had a wonderful Family Home Evening last Monday with the young single adults. There were 15 in attendance, including a young Vietnamese girl whom Elders Johnson and Spencer had met just a few hours earlier.  For the first few months we were holding FHE with the young adults, I (Gerald) gave the lesson each week and Nancy provided the refreshments. Then we decided things don’t work that way with a family, so a couple of months ago we held a “family council” at FHE and talked about rotating assignments for the FHE.  Nancy put together a FHE assignment chart and at the start of each meeting, we make assignments for the next week. The evenings have been much more educational and entertaining since then and we do not feel stressed about what to do or prepare.

On Tuesday evening, we visited with Åsta and Eirik and their twin daughters, Emma and Victoria.  It was a very good and spiritual lesson on the restoration of the Priesthood.  Eirik asked before we left what the treat was that we brought to them before Christmas (Rice Krispie Treats) as he really liked them and would like the recipe.  We decided next time we visit we will take the ingredients and Nancy will help him make them.  They are a lovely young couple and we see a lot of change in the time we have been visiting. They are holding family prayer with their daughters now and reading the scriptures. The biggest problem is thy live an hour out of town and Eirik is doing a lot of remodeling on their home, so now that there is some daylight after he gets home from work, he spends that time outside working on the house, as well as Saturdays and Sundays.  Somehow we know the Lord will help them make the decision to become involved in the church.  When we returned from there at about 8:30, we went to a small theater in town to see a presentation that Catherina had been working on for the past several weeks.  She too has come a long way in her activity in the church since we first met her back in October.

On Wednesday, we enjoyed a good dinner before Institute, prepared by Egil, one of the YSA. Egil was a cook on a ship for the past few years and made a very tasty lasagna. After dinner, Nadia gave a great lesson from 3 Nephi 12-14. There were 3 investigators present and they enjoyed the evening.  At the branch council meeting earlier in the evening, we had a good discussion about creating a branch mission plan and I was able to make some helpful suggestions based on things we had learned from President Belnap in the Kennewick mission a few years ago.

On Thursday morning, I picked up President Johansen at the airport and brought him to the Church, where he was to interview Liaqat for baptism. Liaqat is a young man from Afghanistan who came to church one family home evening with a friend who had been meeting with Elders Henshaw and Richardson because he had nothing else to do that night.  He became acquainted with the members and other missionaries and has been a regular participant in FHE, activities and Church meetings since. He has been taught by the elders and will be baptized this coming Saturday. While he was here, the President interviewed all of the missionaries as well as doing temple recommend interviews for a number of members. He picked one of the most beautiful days we have had for several weeks. The sky was clear blue and the sun was shining all day and the temperature even got close to zero.  His visit was all too short and I took him back to the airport at about 4 p.m.  He wanted to know what he could do for us and I said, “just leave us here in Trondheim.”  This summer we will lose two couples—the Arnesens who are in the mission office and the Thomas’s who are over the YSA Outreach Center in Oslo. That is a large and wonderful facility—in a separate building from the church buildings and would be considered the “plum” assignment in YSA centers.  When we first saw it and then a day later saw what we had to work with in Trondheim, I thought how nice it would be to be in Oslo. But now that we have been here for a few months, we have come to love these young people and the other members here and could not imagine leaving to go serve elsewhere. We realize once again that it is the people that are important, not the facilities.

On Friday, we had our district meeting with the missionaries, then enjoyed a pizza lunch before we went to visit the Reardons, a less active couple in the branch. James is from Scotland and Vibeke (Becky) is from Norway, but they lived in Scotland for a number of years.  After our visit with them, it was a stop at the store to buy treats for a YSA activity in the evening. The YSA leaders had decided a week ago that they wanted to have an evening of unstructured activities without the young missionaries, where they could get together with the investigators and new members to become better acquainted.  We had a group of 11 (including us), including 2 non-members and one of the recent converts. They had a great time together and we think the evening provided the kind of bonding they were hoping for.

On Saturday it was our sports day and we had a good turnout of young people. They played “inebande” (floor hockey) in the cultural hall—set up a chair at each end of the floor as the goal (ball has to go through the chair legs) and go at it.  There were 9 people to start, so they had three 3-man teams and the losing team was replaced by the one on the sidelines after 2 goals against.  Then a couple of others arrived so it became five 2-man teams with a new team rotating in after a goal had been scored.  This is fast paced and there were a few bruises on Sunday.  I had purchased some new hockey sticks a few weeks ago and they played last week and broke 2 of the 3 new ones (they were a cheap set), so then I bought 2 new ones, paying more for one stick than I had paid for the 3. They withstood the events of at least one Saturday.

On Sunday we enjoyed a wonderful fast and testimony meeting. Nancy played the piano for relief society and also played the organ in Sacrament meeting.  I taught a temple preparation class in Sunday School and blessed the sacrament in Sacrament meeting. In priesthood meeting when they were making assignments for the sacrament, I asked Shino if he was ready to bless the Sacrament. He said, “can I do it in English?”  After some discussion, it was decided it would be better if he did it “på Norsk”.  So after class, we went through it a couple of times, then Robin (our YSA president) took him in the chapel, where they went through it a few more times. Shina is from Nigeria and joined the church on Dec. 5 last year. In January, he performed the baptism of Benildo and for the past couple of weeks he has passed the sacrament. He did a wonderful job blessing the sacrament and the members complimented him afterward on his good Norwegian.  There were 5 investigators at church, including one lady whom Elder Johnson had met on the street in front of the church just before the start of Sacrament meeting. He was waiting for someone else and began a conversation with this woman and invited her to join us for church—and she did!

Nancy bore her testimony in Sacrament meeting and shared her feelings for the gospel and the members here. Benildo, a convert in January from Mozambique also bore his testimony and shared his feelings on how much his life has changed since he first met the missionaries. He has a wife and 2 young children at home and will return there in June.  He shares the gospel with his wife over the internet and can’t wait to attend church with them when he returns.  He said his wife called him one day and said she was sick. He told her he would pray for her. She called back the next day and told him she was better.

We invited Nadia and Corrie (non-member from The Netherlands) to dinner after church and had an enjoyable afternoon with them. They have become great friends and Corrie is doing well as she studies the gospel with the sisters. She is planning to sing in church with Nadia and the sisters in a few weeks.

After we took Nadia and Corrie to their apartments, we picked up Elders Henshaw and Bartholomew and went to visit an older (88) member (Alf Andersen) who is in a rest home.  We enjoyed sharing the sacrament with him and spent time sharing thoughts and mostly listening while he talked. It was clear that he does not get a lot of visitors other than his wife, as he talked almost non-stop the entire time we were there.  He is missing most of the fingers on his right hand and I asked what had happened. He said he was a machinist on a fishing boat many years ago and got his hand caught in some machinery.  He said, “I had to borrow a knife from the cook to cut off the remainder of the fingers to make it a clean removal.  You have to do some strange things when you are out to sea.”

I almost forgot—the weather! It snowed a little on Saturday night, but the temperature never dipped below zero during the night. On Sunday it was positive all day long and reached a high of +6.  It stayed positive through the night and is +5 this morning. This has been desired for some time, but now things are very slick as the snow on top melts but the 3 or 4 inches of ice underneath in most of the walking areas is very slippery.  We think spring may be on the way!!!

We love the young people as well as the older members we meet here in Trondheim.  It is wonderful to see the changes in those who accept the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Being here makes us all the more mindful of the great blessing our families have been in our lives and how much we love each of you.  We miss you, but would not want to be anywhere else at this time.  The young people here all speak of our children as though they know each of you personally, they have seen so many pictures and heard stories of your lives.

May God continue to bless each of you with all that you need to enjoy happiness.

Love,

Mom and dad/grandma and grandpa/Nana and granddad/Gerald and Nancy