My Bear Story

February 13, 2017

Hello Everyone!

Well, the snow's packed on the ground, and after a few weeks of little to no sun, the sky has cleared up, and the big bright thing in the sky (not the moon) is shining its rays down on the city of Drammen. It's been pretty consistent snow for the last week, and it's been pretty cold. Lucky for us, it's not Canada and a million degrees below zero.

I had this REALLY cool experience this last week. Elder Nelson and I decided one evening we would go knock some doors. As we walked up to the first door, I could see this silhouette through the giant frosted windows. It was a large bear. So I knock on the door, and this older gentleman answers the door. After about a minute, and the conversation came to a close, I asked him, "Is that your bear?" pointing towards the corner of the entryway. Looking behind the guy, I just see this giant room, with antlers and different mounts. I knew immediately that he was DEFINITELY a hunter. He said yes and asked If I wanted to see it. Naturally, I said yes and we went in and started talking with him. Needless to say, he's one of the coolest people I've met in Norway. It was fun getting to talk about hunting and outdoor things like that for a bit. As we were about to leave, he commented that if we had a camera we could get a picture with the bear. So I did. IT WAS SO COOL!!!!!!! It's amazing to meet just so many different kinds of people throughout the world.

We went and were with the young men for their activity this week. They played some different sports. I got schooled in soccer. Again. Ehh, but such is life. If anything, I'm much better now than I was back in the States. Improvement. That's for sure. But we did do pretty good in basketball. Perks of playing basketball during gym time back in school!

There is one of the nicest guys in the ward here in Drammen. We got a call this week if we'd be able to help move some flooring into his home and move some furniture around so new flooring could get put in. It was really interesting because I didn't know who he was at first. Then after getting to know him, I recognized him immediately in church yesterday. He's always been there, I just hadn't gotten to know him. It just made me realize that helping people out is a wonderful way to get to meet people you don't know. Sometimes it is just that little thing that helps you make a new friend.

A few days ago, we held a little film evening and invited a bunch people to watch Meet the Mormons. There was tons of food (snacks really, but you know), and it was really enjoyable. It didn't turn out half bad.

Overall, it was a really great week. I'm looking forward to this one! It'll be loads of fun! I hope you all have a great week!

Sincerely,

Elder Justin Mickelson

"God's ultimate purpose is our progress." -D. Todd Christofferson

This Week Has Been Super Crazy!

Drammen in the evening

February 6, 2016

Hey Everyone!

This week has been super crazy! One of the busiest ones I might dare say. Elder Hoopes and Jefferies moved this last week. And, naturally when anyone moves, it involves visiting a lot of people and saying goodbye. It was really good getting to meet with a bunch of people Elder Hoopes had gotten close with, but sad for him saying goodbye. Well, nice thing is that you can still stay in touch after moving!

Elder Nelson (my new companion) got here this last week too. He's from Lehi, UT and actually played some lacrosse! I think he's the second person I've met that played lacrosse. Not too huge of a sport in small towns ya know. But that's what happens when schools and cities and everything is small.

Elder Jefferies, Hoopes, Me, Johnson

Elder Mitchell, who I was with in Fredrikstad, moved here to Drammen too, and that's been a blast. He's also been way fun to have in the apartment. Old inside jokes, and catching up has been so much fun. That and quoting The Other Guys with him has been awesome.

We try working a lot with the youth here in Drammen. So we were at the young men's activity night this week. We got there a little later than we expected but it was no problem. They had it set up like a man cave. The young men had set up a small FIFA tournament, and I tried my hand at beating them at ping pong... My somewhat ping pong skills are rusty to say the least. But that's ok. I still held my own.

We were out visiting a family for dinner, and we hopped on the bus to go out there (mind you, I've been in that area only once before) and we started our little adventure there. We got to where I thought the bus was supposed to turn and go up their road... and it just kept on going forward... even further down the hillside. After a few bus stops I knew we were way past where we needed to be. We were a few minute drive PAST where we were supposed to be. I found out later after so kindly getting picked up that there's two busses, which both go along the same road, and only one of them turned on to their road, and that was the OTHER bus, NOT the one we were on. Well, I won't make that mistake again. Luckily, we weren't too late getting there.

So, as the subject of the email led you all to wonder, working out. So this week I've worked out A LOT. More than usual. We even had an apartment run this morning. It wasn't so bad running downhill, it was run back that sucked. So that, in addition to other work outs, and over 500 squats in one day, and other stuff spread out this week, my body (mainly my legs) has been hating me. But I'm finally feeling good again.

We had sport this Saturday, us missionaries and a few other from the church, we played soccer, and basketball, and indoor hockey (another reason my body was aching). Anyways, because I'm American I'm naturally bad at soccer, and then at basketball, the Norwegians dominated us... (Disappointing, I know), but I didn't do too bad at indoor hockey. I'm much better at it than I thought I was. So that was loads of fun.

Church was really good yesterday. We had a great class on charity and how we can find more opportunities to help others in our daily lives. It was a great class.

Well I hope you all have a great week! Take care!

Sincerely,

Elder Justin Mickelson

"But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him." Moroni 7:47

Wow, 7-Weeks Have Come And Gone!

January 30, 2017

Hi Everyone!

Wow. 7 weeks have come and gone! The transfer is nearly over and it feels like I just moved here!

This week was pretty jam-packed. We had a crazy week with two different splits, a world-wide missionary broadcast with several changes to the standard missionary schedule, and we even had time for a waffle stand!

Last Tuesday, Elder Johnson and I were on splits together. Since we already are in the same apartment it was no problem. It was pretty great, we had visited some different people that day and went out talking to people. It was tons of fun. He really enjoyed it, especially because he hadn't been on splits before on his mission (he's been in Norway for only a few months).

There was a world-wide missionary broadcast this week too. Some adjustments had been made helping us be more effective. Changes were made allowing the previously more standard morning schedule to become flexible. For example, studies could be put wherever we wanted in the day to best fit daily/local needs. So it was made a lot more flexible, leaving it up to us to decide when to do everything. (Plus, we get an extra half hour to get ready for the day!)

I went on splits with Elder Applegate too this week. He's serving in Sandvika, and he came here to Drammen for a day. He's an awesome guy, it was great having him here for the day. He was also here for some of the Waffle Stand that we had put up.

We set up a giant tent, with some tables set up, and handed out free waffles all day! It was pretty great. We got to talk with a TON of people. I'd say it was quite a success. I had done one similar in Bodø, so it was quite fun to go for it Round #2.

So as for moves this week, I'll be getting Elder Nelson and saying bye to Elder Hoopes this week. AND! Elder Mitchell will be coming to Drammen too! I was with him in Fredrikstad so it's going to be a blast!

I hope you all have a great week! Take care!

Sincerely,

Elder Mickelson

I was given a challenge by a little girl in the ward to write down every day a reason why I believe in God. So #1, I believe in God because I can feel His love for me.

Have a great week everyone!

Wow! What A Hectic Week!

Me by our apartment

January 23, 2016

Hello Everyone!

Wow! What a hectic week! But such a good one at that. We started out the week on Monday with a way fun activity as a district. Elder Hoopes had gotten the game Bananagrams for Christmas, so we decided to play that as a district. TONS of fun. It was the party edition, so all of a sudden you had to start doing crazy things like only playing with one hand, standing on one leg, or setting the banana case that the tiles go in on top of your head. It was a very silly game, but a lot of fun.

All of us at Zone Leader Training

We had Zone Conference here in Drammen this week (sadly didn't get to travel very far to it, just across to the other side of the river). The day before we were getting different things set in place for it, and out of nowhere we get this call from a member of the church here, letting us know that basically all of the busses had stopped running... It had been raining all day, but it was still cold enough that the rain froze on the ground, and the entire city became just a giant sheet of ice. To put it simply, it became one huge ice skating rink, suddenly with a bunch of cars on the roads. A bunch of accidents happened. Luckily we were taking the busses so we didn't have to worry about driving, we just needed to worry about the busses running still (which they eventually did).

Oslo

That night we had walked over to a house for a lesson, and we were walking up the driveway, which was still a sheet of ice, and it took us about a minute to walk a few feet. One step forward, two slides back.

Oslo

We had Zone Conference, which was blast. I still love getting to see everyone. I realized that I had known most of them for a really long time, and that I had been in the same city with almost half of them at one point or another. It was really enjoyable. Right afterwards, I headed off to Oslo for splits with Elder Bleggi (we came to Norway at the same time). It was great being with him. We got to teach a few different people and it was loads of fun. We were at the mission office which is the same place as the young adult center there in Oslo, and they had seminary that evening, so I walked into the room, and saw several different people I knew, some from here in Drammen, but also some that I knew from other wards I had been in. It was great getting to catch up real quick with friends there.

It was a great week. Really fast-paced, but very enjoyable. I hope you all have a great week. Take care!

Sincerely,

Elder Mickelson

Alma 37:37 "Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day."

Drammen Was Hit With Quite A Bit Of Snow

A bunch of us over at President's home after New Year's.

January 16, 2016

Hello Everyone!

A week ago, Drammen was hit with quite a bit of snow. A whole several inches. The snow we'd been missing since November finally came. Well anyways, we had gotten up one morning and were about to go out the door to catch the southbound train to Tønsberg, and all I hear is... "It's raining..." It's one thing to rain overnight, melt all of the snow, and stop... but the rain went on for a couple of days. Needless to say, I got soaked pretty fast.

Our District together after interviews.

We still caught the train and made it just fine to Tønsberg to spend the day with the missionaries there. It was really cool because we not only were in Tønsberg for a bit, but we drove down to another city called Sandefjord because that's the city they normally are in. With a constant pour, we hit the streets and it was a blast. We were with Elder Arveseth (he was in Fredrikstad when I was there) and then his companion Elder Hansen.

Elder Hansen and I spent some time knocking on some doors talking to different people. We had walked up to a door and there was just country music blaring and I thought someone was having a party. But, it wasn't like a ton of cars were parked there, so we knocked. When they came out it was fun asking about the country music and finding out that they had just been jamming to it. Fun meeting people who love country music too! haha

A game we all played to try and get a piece of a cereal box off the ground with only your feet on the ground, I found out I'm more flexible than I thought (yes, that is me)

A few days ago, we had been over at a family's home for dinner, and while we were waiting for a few minutes for the food to finish cooking, several of us sat down and played some with LEGOs with their daughter. It was fun seeing all of us, sitting around the classic bucket, loaded with LEGOs and building fun little houses. It's quite entertaining having a blast to the past with something that was such a part of my childhood.

We had finished up eating and their son, Elder Jefferies, Elder Hoopes, and I all had a wall sit competition. Everyone was out by the 2 and a half minute mark and it was just Elder Hoopes and I left. We had gone for 5 minutes straight (By the way, the longest wall sit I've ever done in my life) and we decided to fall at the same time. My legs were shaking pretty hard-core, but we managed.

I was out talking with people and started talking to this guy in high school. He had this really nice camera, and come to find out, he's way into film-making. He's helped make a few music videos for some local musicians. He was a way cool guy to talk to.

Well I hope you all have a great week! Take care!

Sincerely,

Elder Mickelson

"Difficulties allow us to change for the better, to rebuild our lives in the way our Heavenly Father teaches us." Thomas S. Monson

I Hope You All Had A Great Week, Because I Sure Did!

Elder Hoopes (my current companion) and I

January 9, 2017

Hello Everyone!!!

I hope you all had a great week, because I sure did!

There's the saying that when it rains, it pours. I'm saying that when it snows, it dumps. It finally snowed here in Drammen. From what people have been saying, there hasn't been snow since November! So many people were happy that it finally snowed so that can go hit the ski slopes and others to head off to the woods and cross country ski. As long as it stays snow and doesn't turn into slush, I'm happy! So great so far!

This week we we went to President and Sister Hill's home for dinner. A bunch of missionaries from around the area were invited over for a late New Year's dinner and to play some Minute-To-Win-It games. The games ranged from trying to move an Oreo from your forehead to your mouth, a balancing/stretching game to get as low to the ground as possible (I found out I was flexible enough to kiss the ground), and eating as many dry crackers as possible in a minute (I managed 4 and a half). It was so much fun and really enjoyable!

We were also able to help out with the young men's activity this week too. We helped out with their family history activity. It was real fun helping them look through really old church books. Often, you can hardly read what was written because it was in hardcore cursive. Still really enjoyable!

We took a train up to Sandvika, one of my old areas, to go visit their district meeting. It was real fun just to be back visiting the old area and see it all again. We had a lot of fun, and afterwards we grabbed a quick bite at the pizza place there which had an ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET!!! I got my fair share of pizza for sure!

Well I hope you all have a great week! Take care!

Sincerely,

Elder Mickelson

"True happiness is not made in getting something. True happiness is becoming something." -Marvin J. Ashton

At new missionary training

Godt Nytt År! (Happy New Year!)

The morning light hitting the other side of the city

January 2, 2017

I hope you all had a great time this week, because I sure did. This last week was what is called Romjul, there's not a name for it that I know of in English, it's just the week between Christmas and New Year's.

We had loads of fun though. We started out on Monday by playing soccer with a bunch of people from the ward here in Drammen (we lost, not terribly, but ya. The others were pretty great, to say the least).

A lot of this week we were visiting people and more of getting to know others. There's a lot of people in the congregation here in Drammen, so it is a lot of people for me to get to know, and this week has been great for me to get to know them.

All of us in Oslo (Sister Hill's picture)

We got to drive up to Oslo (it's not that far away) on Thursday for a little fireside. A lot of the missionaries from the surrounding areas (mostly those around the Oslofjord were there. It was a way great little meeting. Practically everyone went and got kebabs right afterwards, and it was delicious!

I got asked what Christmas and New Year's is like in Norway, and it really made me think about how I could explain that. And I think that the best way to explain it, is that everyone just gets together, ALL THE TIME. So for like two weeks straight, family and friends are getting together for giant, incredible, delicious dinners, and just enjoying each others' company. Of course, days like Christmas Eve, and New Year's' Eve, you have your larger parties, but still, everyone just gets together all of the other days. Most people don't have to work much at all during the last couple weeks of the year. The time is spent mainly with family.

Our view of the fireworks on New Year's Eve

(the really bright lights were the fireworks)

New Year's' Eve is the COOLEST in Norway. Basically everyone in the country lights off loads of fireworks for the night. So it's practically a nonstop firework show from 11:30pm until 12:30am. Our apartment is on the higher side of the city, so it overlooks most of the everything. So we had the most incredible view of the fireworks. Tons of fireworks going off everywhere! I'll add a picture of some of the fireworks you could see. They were going off everywhere around us!

New Year's Eve and New Year's was so great, in addition to this whole week. Take care and I hope you all have a great week! Keep up on those New Year Resolutions!

Sincerely,

Elder Mickelson

"Tomorrow, is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one." -Brad Paisley

Happy New Year!