Week Jan 24-30, 2011

Here it is only Monday morning and we are getting this letter out already. We have had a wonderful week and look forward to yet another good week in a winter wonderland. The temperature has been above 0 for most of the week, so snow is melting, but not real fast--then on Saturday night we got another couple of inches of snow to replace what has been melting. We can see a bit of brown near the top of the hill behind our apartment, so this is the first sign of spring.  right now it is raining.
Happy birthday this week to Meghan and Paige (2/2), Jonathan (2/6) and Lizzy (2/7)
We will start with the end of the week first. Today (Sunday) we were scheduled to speak in church, this being the last regular Sunday that we will be in Trondheim. We were the only assigned speakers, so when mom got up to speak at about 20 after 1, the Branch President turned to me and said, “how much time you have will depend on how long she speaks.” Her talk lasted about 10 minutes.
When I got up to speak, I told the congregation what the Branch President had said to me, then commented that “I knew I would have a lot of time, as she is limited by the language (she always gives her talks in Norwegian), but when we get home and speak, she will not have that limitation, so all I will have time to do then is get up at the end and say ‘amen’ and sit down.”
We were asked to speak on the topic of senior missionary service and our experiences here in Trondheim. Mom gave a good talk about the blessings we have received during our time here and she also talked about the young adults we have had the opportunity to work with. She did well until she got to that point, then her voice began to quiver and it became difficult for her to see what she had written because of the tears. But, she did a good job and was able to get through with it without too much difficulty.
At the start of Sacrament meeting, the Branch President (Rune Krogstad) said a few nice things about our service here, then turned time to his first counselor, Kjell Paulsen, who asked us to come to the mike with him. He presented us with a nice painted wooden plate and a nice card from the branch.

After the meeting, his wife, Margareth, gave us a door plaque and a small painted wooden bowl—all of which match the painting on the plate. We were very touched by their kindness. And after all of this, we are supposed to give talks. I told them sitting there listening to the kind remarks from both Rune and Kjell made me feel like I was sitting in my own funeral.
After church we were invited to the home of Bjarne and Annali Hansen for dinner. Bjarne is the Elders Quorum president and recently received his Phd in psychology. He has a private practice here in town and also teaches at the university. Annali is educated as an MD, but has not been working much for the past couple of years, as they have a young (1-1/2 year old) daughter. Bjarne is the cook in the family and always has delicious food. They had also invited a young woman from Ghana who has been in the branch since last fall. She is studying here and her husband is studying at BYU-Idaho. She is delightful and had lots of interesting stories about the church in Ghana.
The sister missionaries are teaching a woman (Kassandra) from Honduras who does not speak much Norsk or English, so they teach her in Spanish. Turns out that Sister Berggren majored in Spanish at BYU. They invited mom to join them on Saturday when they visited with Kassandra. She said she could understand more in the lesson in Spanish than when they teach in Norsk.
On Saturday we had scheduled our second annual “polar dip” in the Trondheimfjord. This time we had recruited one additional young single adult woman (Audhild Storseth-from Norway), so we had a group of 4 (doubled from the first time I went with Terje Dorr). Unfortunately, when we got to the “sjøbadet” (sea bath) we found that the building that houses the change rooms has been torn down as they are going to build a new one a short distance away.

The platform and ladder down to the fjord were still in place, but there was so much debris between where we were and that area that we decided it would not be wise to attempt the crossing. So…we took a couple of pictures of us anxious to get in the water, but unable to do so. Mom says it was the Lord’s way of protecting us from our own stupidity.
On Thursday we flew to Stavanger to attend a zone conference on Friday. Thursday evening, Elder Jose Teixeira and his wife gave a fireside for the youth and young single adults. We got to Stavanger in time to catch the remarks of Elder and Sister Teixeira, but missed the talks from President and Sister Johansen. They had done a fireside in Oslo on Wednesday night and we were going to watch that as our institute class. We had dinner on Wednesday night, then went into the chapel to watch the fireside. We use a video conferencing system, which also allows us to participate (they can both see and hear us). There were young adult groups in Bergen and Tromsø participating as well. At the beginning, we could all see and hear each other, then when the fireside got started, none of us could hear Oslo. After several “hang up and redial” we gave up and went into the cultural hall and played a few games before everyone went home. So our youth were not able to hear what the Teixeira’s had to say, but we did, as they gave the same talks in Stavanger.
After the Thursday night fireside, we met with the other senior missionary couples from Bergen, Stavanger, Kristiansand and Tromsø to share what is happening in our various “centers for young adults”. The Hickmans, who are in Kristiansand have only been in Norway for 2 weeks and neither of them speak Norsk, and they are trying to establish a center. They have an uphill battle, but the Lord always seems to provide a way to accomplish what he asks us to do. As a result of this meeting, we did not get back to the hotel until about 10:30, and were to be back at the chapel on Friday morning at 8:30 to start zone conference, so it was a short night.
We were asked to share our testimonies toward the end of the zone conference, as it was our last. It was emotional for both of us as we looked into the faces of the young missionaries there, many of whom we have served with here in Trondheim who are now serving in other cities. It was interesting that Elder Teixeira was there (he is 2^nd counselor in the Europe Area Presidency), as it was he who presided at the Richland Stake conference in November 2008 when I was released from my calling as stake president. It seemed fitting that he should be here when we were about to be released from our mission. We had a good opportunity to visit a little before and after the zone conference. The current Area Presidency is the first in the history of the Church in Europe in which all members are from Europe. The President is Elder Erich Kopieschke from Germany, first counselor is Elder Gerald Causse, from France, and Elder Teixeira from Portugal as second counselor. During the time we have been in Norway, all of them have been to a zone conference.

It was rather nostalgic to be back in Stavanger so near to the time we will be leaving Norway, as I have so many fond memories of Stavanger from 50 years ago. The city has changed a lot, but there are some things that do not change—like the 1000 year old cathedral in the center of town.

However, we have found that our hearts belong to Trondheim this time. There is no question that it is the association with the people that makes a place dear to ones heart and this time our association with the people has been mostly in Trondheim.
Construction in the church building continues. I have been photographing the progress since the end of October when they began and was hopeful (but not optimistic) that I would be able to record the completion—that will not happen unless we stay to at least the end of March. Most of the ventilation system above the main floor is complete and they will soon be putting new lighting and ceiling tiles above the main hallway, but there is still a lot of work to be done downstairs and the elevator shaft is in, but nothing more. This has been a bit of a disruption, but we have only not been able to use the building one week back in October. We have had to do a lot of cleaning and work around ladders, scaffolding, compressors, etc. but things have gone forward almost as normal.
We talked yesterday about having a dinner for the young adults after fast and testimony meeting next Sunday. Somehow it has morphed to a dinner for the whole branch. President Krogstad announced it from the pulpit at the start of Sacrament meeting yesterday and I had not been able to talk with mom since that happened in our missionary meeting that ended just before the start of church. I was watching her as she sat on the organ bench while he was talking, but fortunately she did not have here earpiece in and thus did not hear the translation.
We still have much to do and now literally so little time to do it in. Not sure if we will get a letter written next week, so this may be the last you receive from Norway. It is with very mixed emotions that we begin this week, knowing that it will be filled with many “lasts”—last time we visit Brother and sister so and so, last time we attend church here on Sunday, etc. We try not to think of these things, but people constantly remind us. The Springers will arrive next Tuesday (the 8^th) and we will help them get into their apartment. We will be here for Institute and dinner on Wednesday the 9^th, then spend the night at the “Rica Hell Hotel” and be off to Oslo on the morning of the 10^th.
As much as we do not look forward to leaving these wonderful members and friends, we look forward to being reunited with each of you—watching ball games, enjoying evenings together, and just knowing that we can pick up the phone (when we get one) and call and talk.
Love to all
Mom and dad/Gerald and Nancy/grandma and grandpa/Nana and granddad

Week Jan 19-23, 2011

If we make the week short enough, we can get this letter out on Sunday. We are seeing what may be the beginning of spring now. .Temperatures for most of the week have been above 0, so it is getting wet, sloppy and slippery. 
The bus ride back from Mo I Rana last Sunday left mom with a sore back for most of the week, but she still managed to make dinner for Institute on Wednesday. We enjoyed a good lesson on Section 84 of the Doctrine and Covenants after dinner. Somehow even though the class is over at 8, we never get out of the building until 9:30 or 10. There always seems to be a lot to talk about with young adults.
We spent time with the Husby’s on Friday. His health has improved quite a bit since he was released from the hospital several weeks ago. We enjoyed a nice lunch with them and then watched the church film “Legacy”.

Work in the church building makes it difficult for the missionaries to find a quiet place to teach and it does not appear that the work will be finished anytime soon. It was initially to begin in August and finish before Christmas. Work finally began the end of October and they were still saying it would be finished the end of January. Now they say the end of March. I have kept a good photo record of the process and was hoping to be able to see the completion, but I think that is wishful thinking.
Mom spent some time on Thursday evening with a less active woman in the branch helping her get started with “family search indexing”. Right now the only thing she does is sing in the choir, so hopefully the spirit of family history work will move her to be more faithful in attending church and enjoying the blessings of the gospel. While she was doing that, I joined two of the elders as they taught a beginning Norwegian class to a group of about 13 students from such diverse places as Italy, Honduras, Tanzania, Seattle, Vancouver B.C, Chile, Ghana and Angola.
Saturday we enjoyed a couple of hours of sports in the cultural hall with a good group of young adults, after which I joined Elders Gardner and Carmichael in teaching one of their investigators.
Today (Sunday) we had a good group of members and investigators in attendance at church. There are three women who only come once a month because of the distance they must travel to get to Trondheim (4 hours for one and 2 hours for the other 2). All 3 were here at the same time today, plus a young man (Robert) who lives in Kristiansund (a 4 hour boat ride). Robert arrived at about 6 on Saturday evening, had dinner with Erik and Eli-Kristine Paulsen (former branch president who has just returned from 6 months studying in New Zealand), then Erik brought him to our apartment where he and I talked about the priesthood and the temple. He has been a member for about 2 years now and is a priest, but because he has not been able to get to church very often, has not yet received the Melchizedek Priesthood. We have encouraged him to come here once a month so he can be taught more and can show the branch president that he is ready to be ordained an Elder. This is the second time he has been here since we arrived. The first time was in September when we brought him back from Kristiansund with us. He seems to be committed to coming once a month now.
During English Sunday School class the teacher divided the class into small groups to read and discuss various scriptures and then present their findings to the class. We have been using the gospel principles manual and “Signs of the Second Coming” was the topic. One group (consisting of a missionary, an investigator and Robert) had “coming forth of the Book or Mormon” as their topic. When asked to share their thoughts, Brad, (the investigator-first time at church) got up to explain their discussion. He did a great job and everyone was surprised! All the missionaries had pounding hearts and huge grins! It was his choice to give their response.
After church we watched a rebroadcast of the young adult fireside from 2 weeks ago. Elder Christoffersen talked about taking each day—one day at a time. We have had difficulties watching these “streaming videos” in the past because we were only connected through a wireless network and it was not fast enough. Our branch technical specialist fixed a broken connection for the internet on Saturday and we now get the full benefit of a high speed internet. At the conclusion of the fireside, mom had prepared a dinner for the young adults and missionaries. When dinner was over, I took Robert to the boat so he could return home. We then spent time visiting with some of the young adults and then found our way home.
This week we have had lots of rain. The temperature for most of the week has been on the + side of 0 and today hit a high of 7 C (~45F). With the mounds of snow and ice that are everywhere, there is lots of water running everywhere and sidewalks and parking lots are VERY slippery, with a layer of water on top of the ice. So far we have been lucky enough to not fall—slipped several times, but have not hit the ground. We hold each other up!
For those who have wanted to know when we will speak in church upon our return, we now have two dates. Since our ward was divided a few months ago, we have been asked to speak in the Cottonwood ward (our ward) on Sunday, February 20. We will then speak in the new Duportail Ward on the 27^th. Both meetings start at 9 a.m with Cottonwood meeting in the Paradise building in West Richland and Duportail ward meeting in the Richland Stake Center.
We are being asked a lot “are you excited to be going home”? Yes, we are, but we are sad to leave behind so many good friends here. Some of whom we know we will not see again in this life. Having email, facebook and Skype will make the separation a little easier.
We love each of you and look forward to seeing you soon.
Mom and dad/Gerald and Nancy/Grandma and grandpa/Nana and granddad

Jan 10-19, 2011

Attached for your information is our latest report from Trondheim.  We have actually seen some temperatures on the + side of 0 this week, so things are getting a little sloppy, then of course it freezes at night and everything is slippery as can be, but this is a sign that spring can't be too many months away.
This has been another busy week with most of the young single adults having made it back from Christmas vacation by the time we had our activity on Friday evening. Ingrid finally made it back from the U.S. at about midnight on Thursday, after being delayed by snow storms in Atlanta and Amsterdam. The last to return was Alex, who had been in Egypt and made it back on Saturday.
We had our first institute class of the year on Wednesday, with only 3 young adults present due to work and vacations. Nadia, the instructor, is still sick with what seems to be strep throat, so I (Gerald) got to teach the lesson from the Doctrine and Covenants.
On Tuesday evening, we had a video conference with the other couple missionaries working with the Centers for Young Adults in other parts of Norway—Oslo, Bergen, Kristiansand, Stavanger and Tromsø. There is a new couple who just arrived on Tuesday afternoon in time to join the meeting. They are the Hickmans and come from the Salt Lake City area. They will be opening a new Center for Young Adults in Kristiansand. It should be interesting, as neither of them has ever been to Norway before and therefore they speak no Norwegian. This is the same situation with the Springers, who will be replacing us when we return home next month. President Johansen has been trying to rent a building in Kristiansand for the Center and hoped to have it ready before the Hickmans arrived. Unfortunately, religious bias is still alive and well in Kristiansand (the Bible belt of Norway). He had two facilities located (first one, then when it fell through the second) and things were moving along well when the building owners realized this would be used by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. At that point, the buildings were no longer available for rent.
We don’t often see or talk with the other couples in the mission, so it is fun to get together with them even if it is just on a video conference call for about 90 minutes. Also on the call were President and Sister Johansen (mission president) and President Odd Gjevik, counselor in the District Presidency with responsibility for the young single adults.
An interesting experience from the week. There is still a lot of remodeling work going on in and outside of the building and on Tuesday morning, I noticed a man was welding some reinforcing wire in forms for the new back steps. Some time ago I had noted that the bracket on the basketball rim was cracked and caused the rim to “clang” everytime it was hit by the ball. I thought this would be my opportunity to get it welded free if I could just get it removed and out to him. I borrowed a drill driver from one of the inside workers and got the rim off, but by the time I got outside, the welder was gone. On Wednesday, I joined the elders in teaching a 40 year old man who has been to Church several times. Before they started the lesson, I asked him where he works. He said “for a construction company”. Then clarified that he works in the office, not doing the construction. I asked if he knew any welders and he said yes, so I showed him the cracked rim and asked if he thought he could get it repaired. He said the man owed him some favors, so he was pretty sure he could get it repaired. He took the rim when he left the lesson and called back about 9:30 on Thursday morning to say it was done. He met us at the church later in the day with a repaired rim—very good weld and he had even repainted where it was welded. Friday evening the Springers were here to join us in our trip to Mo I Rana, so with the help of Elder Springer and a few borrowed tools left by the workers, we got the rim reattached for use in sports on Saturday.


On Friday evening the young adults had planned a “welcome back” party for all who had been gone for the Christmas vacation. Mom had those present assist in preparing the ingredients for straw hats, which they enjoy eating.

After dinner, she brought out the ingredients to make “ice cream in a baggie”. Some of them were here when we did this a year ago, but for many it was a new experience and one they enjoyed. Following the ice cream dessert, we cleared away the tables and chairs and held a paper airplane flying contest (for distance). She had asked Elder Whitehead (who is a private pilot) to organize it and it was a lot of fun. He had groups of 4 stand on the front edge of the stage and launch their planes, then the winners of each of the 4 groups had a fly off to determine the ultimate winner. There were two of the finalists whose planes hit the divider between the cultural hall and chapel, so they had to fly again—with the divider open. The winner landed just inside the chapel. Following this we brought out a long rope and they jumped rope, seeing how many they could get in jumping at one time—7 was the best. It was a fun evening with a good group of young people and missionaries.

Saturday morning we were up early to get the train to Mo. The Springers had flown in Friday morning so we could show them the apartment we rented for them and to join us in the trip north. Unfortunately, the elders making their arrangements had found that it was cheaper for them to fly up to Mo than to take the train, even with the stopover in Trondheim. So they caught the airport bus from the train station and we caught the train. They arrived in Mo at about 10 a.m. and we arrived at 2:15 p.m. This was our last trip to visit these faithful members in Mo I Rana and it was emotional to think that we will probably not see most of them again in this life. We have been there once a month (missed two) since October 2009 and because there are so few members there, it has been easy to become acquainted with each of them and their challenges. We marvel at the faithfulness of these members, most now in their mid 70’s to 80’s. The older women are all widows and have various health problems, but health allowing, they are faithfully in attendance each Sunday. They so much desire to have missionaries back full time to help “grow the branch”.
We both talked in church on Sunday, as did the Springers. We both had a hard time concluding our remarks, as we expressed our love and appreciation to these wonderful saints. After Sacrament meeting, they normally have a combined priesthood and relief society meeting, but this time they moved the chairs out of the way and brought in a table which was then set with sandwiches (smøbrød) and cakes—a little farewell lunch. We enjoyed good food and a chance to visit for the next hour before we had to head back to the train station and the Springers headed for the airport for their flight back to Oslo.
When it was time for the train to arrive, there was an announcement that the train was not coming, but there was a bus waiting outside (groan!). What should have been a comfortable 7 hours on the train, with room to stretch out, walk around, visit a dining car and the bathroom if needed, turned out to be 6 hours on a crowded bus (not a greyhound type, but a local bus—no room between seats, no bathroom, bumpy, etc. etc.). When we arrived in Steinkjer (about 2 hours from Trondheim) we caught up with a local train for the remainder of the trip home--arriving at 11:30 p.m. and home at just after midnight. It certainly made our last trip to Mo a memorable one.
As a result, Monday was a day of rest and laundry, followed by our meeting with the young adult council and family home evening. I met the landlord of the apartment the Springers will be renting, paid him for their February rent and picked up keys so we can move the things we will be leaving with them into their apartment.
Tuesday night was moms last choir practice. We had a good District meeting with the missionaries on Tuesday morning, led by Elder Mathews. He is a good leader. Tonight will be institute, so mom is busy today with dinner preparations—burritos.
So this turned out to be a week and a half, but maybe that will make it easier to get the remainder of the week on time come Sunday.
We love each of you and look forward to seeing you soon. We are excited to hear soon about Steve and Rozann’s new baby. Congratulations to Meghan and Paige on their all-state soccer selections.
Love,
Mom and dad/grandma and grandpa/nana and granddad/Gerald and Nancy

HOME

We have heard from Brother Dearing (counselor in the bishopric) and we will be speaking in church in the Cottonwood Ward on Sunday February 20 at 9:00 a.m.  The ward now meets in the Paradise building in West Richland. So now you can respond to those people who ask when we will be reporting on our mission.

We look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Rozann, how is everything going for you?  We don't remember hearing a date when the baby is due.

love,

mom and dad

January 3–9, 2011

Attached for your reading pleasure is our latest (but not late) report of life in Norway. 
love,
mom and dad/gerald and nancy/grandma and grandpa/nana and granddad
We will try to get this done in only one week this time. The year has started off in a hurry and it will only get faster as it moves forward.
On Monday afternoon, we had a phone call from a woman who used to be a member of the branch, but has “written herself out” of the Church (had her name removed).. She had just bought a new computer and wanted to know if I could help her get it set up. She said, “I didn’t know if I could ask you to do this since I am no longer a member.” I told her that we are still friends, so there is no reason for her to hesitate to call. After thinking about it for a while, I called Elder Gardner (our resident computer geek) and asked if he and his companion had time to help her. We picked them up and went to her home where Elder Gardner soon had her new PC working like she wanted. We then hurried to the church where we had a small (4 young adults, Harald Myhren and the two of us), but fun group at family home evening. Most of the young adults are still out of town for the holidays and those that are here have worked a lot during the holidays.
The Family Home Evening lesson was given by Lisa, a convert of about 2 years from China. This was her first attempt and she did a really great job. It is fun to see these young people grow in their abilities and confidence.
After the lesson, we played a fun game called Villa Paletti. It is a “building” game along the lines of Jenga, but with some interesting twists. If you have a chance to buy one, it is a lot of fun and will entertain kids from about 8 up to us old folks.

Tuesday was our first District meeting under the leadership of our new DL, Elder Mathews, from AZ. His father was raised in the Columbia Basin—family comes from Mathews Corners. He is a good missionary and we are pleased to have him in Trondheim. He has been in Alesund (south of us) for the past 6 months and is excited to be in a bigger town with a sizeable branch.
After District meeting, we visited several older members, attended the branch council meeting (Gerald) and choir (Nancy). After council meeting I took the sisters out to visit an investigator who lives about 25 km out of town toward the airport.
Wednesday was a visit with less active members followed by dinner for the missionaries. Mom would normally cook dinner for the young adults and missionaries on Wednesday night before institute and although we have not held institute since mid December, we figured we might as well stay in the habit of fixing dinners, so we have continued even though most of the young adults are gone. Missionaries still have to eat.
On Thursday, we visited a less active sister who has recently had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in her stomach. She had her first chemo treatment on Wednesday and asked for a blessing afterward. So we visited with her and her daughter who had just arrived on Tuesday from Bangkok, Thailand to spend some time with her mother as she recuperates. It is interesting that many people who do not come to church regularly, for one reason or another, still have the faith to ask for a priesthood blessing when they are in need. It is a great comfort to us to know that we are able to help in this manner.
Two weeks ago, the 2^nd counselor in the branch presidency asked if we could give talks in church on the 9^th. Then last Sunday evening the branch president sent an email and asked when our last Sunday would be. After we responded that it would be the 6^th of February, he sent back and said, “I know you are talking on the 9^th but I would like for you to talk on the 30^th as well, since that will be the last meeting to hear from you other than the testimony meeting on the 6^th. On Saturday evening, the counselor told me that he had lined up another speaker for the 9^th and he (the counselor) would talk, so we would not need to talk both weeks. I told him I had a talk prepared and was happy to do both days, but thought that Nancy would appreciate a reprieve, so she got a break. Actually she had her talk prepared and planned to give the same talk on the 16^th when we visit Mo I Rana, but was not unhappy that she only had to play the organ in Church today.
Saturday afternoon was the branch “juletrefest” (Christmas tree party). It is an annual affair, usually the 2^nd Saturday after the new year. It is primarily for the children to enjoy dancing around the Christmas tree, but the adults seem to enjoy it as much as the kids. Santa (julenissen) came and had a bag of goodies for each child and there were plenty of snacks for all. We were pleased to have one of the less active families we visit come to the party. This week, the Christmas tree will be taken down and stored until next year.
After church today, we were invited to the home of Kjell and Margareth Paulsen for dinner. Their son, Erik and wife Eli-Kristin and their 1-1/2 year old daughter were also there, as they have just returned from 6 months study in New Zealand. It was a fun afternoon visiting with the family and we enjoyed a good Norsk dinner.
The mother of one of the branch members was visiting from Bergen today and as we were saying good-bye to her we realized that we will not see her again before we leave Trondheim. She was previously the Mission Relief Society president and we have enjoyed visiting with her as she has come to conferences here and on other social occasions to visit family. We try not to think of these things because it would be too painful to dwell on it, but suddenly you realize as you say good bye, that it will truly be good bye. We have truly come to feel a love for the people here in Trondheim as well as other places where we are blessed to visit.
We are enjoying “warmer” weather now—back above freezing on occasion and for the most part around -6 to -2 C, which seems balmy after what we experienced in November and December.
We send our love to each of you and look forward to seeing you soon.
Love,
Mom and dad/Gerald and Nancy/grandma and grandpa/nana and granddad