Stake Conference In Romerike

April 25, 2016

Hello Everyone,

We had a full week of talking with people and the normal missionary work, BUUUUUUT, on top of it all, we had stake conference! That topped off a really great week!

Elder Tangen in the sunset

We did have the normal talking to people on the street and knocking on doors this week, and that went well. We did however meet a really awesome guy on the street though! We talked about finding out if God exists and we talked about life after death. We had an awesome conversation. We gave him a Book of Mormon too, which he seemed excited to learn about and read. He'll be on vacation for a few weeks, but we will meet with him afterwards. It was really great!

As a side note, it's been snowing off and on these last few days... while at the same time being really warm. I don't think that the weather can make up its mind when it comes to springtime in Norway!

Like I said earlier, we also had stake conference this weekend. So all of the churches in Eastern Norway (plus Trondheim), our entire stake, had a meeting in Romerike. It was a really great opportunity to see everyone I knew from Fredrikstad again, and also a great opportunity to learn. It was wonderful to see basically the entire Fredrikstad ward. A lot happens in two months of being gone! It was great to catch up with everyone and say hello.

I hope you all have a great week this week!

Oh! As of two days ago I did reach my 10 months mark. So almost at the halfway point! It's crazy!

Have a great week!

Sincerely,

Eldste Mickelson

Leaving Early Today To Do Some Service!

October 26, 2015

Dear Family & Friends,

Sorry in advance for such a short letter. I don't have much time because we have to leave early to go do some service. But this week has been really good. I had my first birthday up here in Alta!!! So ya, I'll get a picture sent hopefully next week of it. We had our ZLT on Monday and Tuesday in Trondheim so we got home late Tuesday night. It was really great. We talked about different ways to find people to teach and better ways of teaching. That was really good to go over.

We've continued to do some service. We got to help work on an extension to a house. So it's really been a cool experience getting to serve others and make their lives easier.

We had moves call yesterday. Elder Cheney is getting moved to Stavanger and I'll stay here in Alta for most likely another 6 weeks.

Sorry for the short email again. I'll have more next week! Have a great week!

Elder Mickelson

Stayed Busy With More Service!

October 19, 2015

Dear Family & Friends,

So this week we stayed busy with more service! We helped build the foundation for the extension of a house. We moved gravel for 8 hours (always fun! :D) seriously, it's really fun lol. We helped put some siding up on a garage. We also stacked some wood. That really made me feel at home haha. Hopefully we get to keep doing more service this week. We might get to help build an extension on a tree house. It would be so legit! haha

But it's been a really good week. We've just been busy with service and the normal stuff. Other than this, not too much sticks out as too noteworthy.

I'm headed to Tronheim here in a few hours to go to a zone conference. That's super exciting. It'll be really fun to get to go there again. It's a really cool city. I think it'd be fun to serve there one day. I guess we'll see!

Have a great week everyone! Here's a picture of Elder Cheney and I with some Bad Limes. You can only get it above the Arctic Circle. It tastes really good by the way. It tastes like Mountain Dew. So have a great week!

Love,

Elder Mickelson

So This Week We Have Kept On Doing More Service

The Northern Lights

October 12, 2015

Dear Family & Friends,

So this week, we have kept on doing more service. We worked on installing a garage door. We also ended up putting up some siding for the garage too. One day we went and moved a wind mill. Super legit. Pretty much, most of this week has revolved around service.

We had splits this week. The Tromsø Elders came up to Alta. It was really fun to have more people up here. While we were on splits, we came across a Nepali guy at the university. We got to talking about our church a little bit and he told us we could meet again. So we get to meet with him this week and talk about the Book of Mormon. I'm really excited. I'm hoping for the best!

So I figured you guys would be interested in kinda how my day goes. It's pretty basic but still really awesome. Pretty much getting up. Studies are from 8-11, personal, comp, and language study. Then we take lunch from 11-12. we go work from 12-7. 7-8 is dinner. 8-9 is 12 week (basically a 12 week program which is your training program with your trainer). Then 9-10:30 is just time for yourself. A lot of that time has been spent being outside looking at the northern lights haha.

So the Northern Lights have been super legit this week. We had a few nights where they just filled the entire sky. I got to see green, red, white, blue, purple. It was so cool to see them dancing across the sky.

Here's some pictures of the Northern Lights and the first snow that I saw up here in Norway.

Love,

Elder Mickelson

So This Has Been Quite The Week!

October 5, 2015

Dear Family & Friends,

So this has been quite the week! We've been doing a bunch of service throughout the week. We got to work some more on the garage we had helped with earlier. We also got to help with building a little carport.

I ended up finally buying a winter coat. It was definitely a necessary purchase. It's been getting a lot colder up here. It really does feel like Wyoming lol. We got our first snow here. It just so happened to be while we were on a hike! Super awesome! But ya, we are getting our snow tires put onto our car so it'll be just fine.

So we had General Conference these last couple days. It was really wonderful to get to hear from the Apostles. Three new ones were called and I think that was super cool. It'll be strange having a few different ones. I do think that it is so wonderful though to see how Christ's church functions, that it doesn't just end, but that it still continues today.

So I have only seen a few of the conference sessions because of the time difference, but we are going to be watching the last couple over the next few days. So next week I'll fill you in with which were my favorites. Oh! So for those that are wondering, we ended up watching conference over the internet. We just watched it on the computer so that was pretty great.

Sorry for not any pictures this week. I'll get some sent next week!

So for a random thought, I can't remember if I've shared this yet or not, but I got to eat some reindeer heart. It tastes pretty awesome. Oh, and some dried fish, so both are really awesome. They taste interesting, but they still are awesome!

Have an awesome week everyone!

Love,

Elder Mickelson

I Went To Hell And Back Again!

September 28, 2015

Dear Family & Friends,

This was a REALLY awesome week. We went to Trondheim this week for Zone Conference. Right outside of the airport going into Trondheim is this little town called Hell. It's pretty hilarious in my opinion lol.

Zone Conference went great. We talked about working with the members. And we talked about how we can best work them. It takes work on both sides, members and missionaries, to hasten the work of the Lord.

I got to see some of the Elders from my MTC group and it was was fun to catch up with them and visit. They are so awesome.

On our way back to Alta we stopped in Tromsø for the afternoon for splits. We were with Elder Gingrich and Killpack. Tromsø is a really fun little city. We met some people on the streets. One we had a pretty cool conversation about how we can better our lives.

This week has been super fun but flew by with the conference and splits. So this week will be a blast!

Love,

Elder Mickelson

This Week Has Been Really Eventful!

September 21, 2015

Dear Family & Friends,

So when Norway got invaded by the Nazis during WW2, they built a bunch of bunkers all over the place. So I've seen a couple ran down, crumbled bunkers so far. This week we came across one that wasn't fallen apart yet, so that was really cool. It wasn't too big, but it was still fun nonetheless.

We got to do a bunch of service this week, which was really awesome. We got invited to help paint a barn. It was really fun. I managed to not get too much paint on myself haha. Right by the barn was a ram... and we managed to get some pretty legit pictures with it. It was super fun haha. And it was pretty epic.

Well when we got done, we were told by the guy we painted the barn for, if we wanted to help someone else the next day, so we said yes (obviously, missionaries are always looking for service to do for others). Well we find out that we get to demolish some of a garage/workshop and then rebuild some of it. Not to mention rebuilding included raising the roof another meter haha. All part of the adventure.

Being missionaries, people are always curious as to why we are in Norway, how long we've been here, and what we actually do. So the Gospel always gets brought up. We don't always need to share a lot about our beliefs, but we can always share a little something that helps others and ourselves feel the Spirit so we all can draw closer to Christ.

Love,

Elder Mickelson

This Week Has Been Really Cool.

September 14, 2015

Dear Family & Friends,

This week has been really cool. We got to teach a really cool guy this week. He's younger but is really interested in religion. So it was really an amazing experience to get to talk with him. He said we could come back another time, so we will visit him again and teach him more.

Our seagull friend we saved!

Wednesday we were in our room studying and heard a bunch of noise coming from the roof. After a bit I looked out the window and a seagull was hanging upside down from the corner of our roof. We went out there and pulled up a ladder and moved the gutter on the roof that was keeping its foot caught there. So we got to be heroes for a seagull this week haha.

Me under the Northern Lights

That same night, and every night since, we've been seeing the Northern Lights. I freaked out when I first saw them. They were really strong the first night. It was so cool to see them dancing around the sky. That first night we got to see a bunch of different colors and they were really active. So it's been such an amazing experience. I'm just so excited to get to keep seeing them.

We had our transfers call yesterday and both Elder Cheney and I are staying here in Alta for the next 6 weeks! It's going to be fun!

We tried making cookies Saturday for a member in our branch that has helped us a ton. They started as cookies... and then turned into a brownie-like mix when we added the melted chocolate...and then seemed like a mix between a brownie and cake after baking it. I guess it turned out really good though. So that's a perk for us haha.

So I didn't explain the Polar Bear Club very well when I wrote about joining the Club. So pretty much there is this museum for the Polar Bear Club in Hammerfest. So if you want to be a member, you go through the museum and see the history of Polar Bears and hunting of Arctic animals in the Hammerfest area. Well they made this Club to help preserve polar bears. It was really interesting to learn about it all. But I ended up getting a certificate and a card saying I'm a member, and I ended up getting a little polar bear pin with it too. It's pretty cool haha.

So one quick thing about some of the food in Norway. Reindeer. You can buy reindeer sticks (similar to beef jerky) in Norway as easily as you buy beef jerky in the U.S. It tastes really good. It's pretty similar to elk, a little fattier tasting though (well the reindeer sticks at least).

Have a good week!

Love,

Elder Mickelson

This Week Has Been Super Fun!

September 7, 2015 

Dear Family & Friends,

This week has been super fun! Elder Cheney and I taught a bit about the church at the high school here. We went Wednesday and Friday. Linnea went with us and did most of the talking (which makes it easier for me). We answered questions they had so it was really fun to go do.

Thursday we had the chance to go to Hammerfest (the furthest North city in the world) and we visited the members there. They are such amazing members here in Norway. They are awesome! I am now a member of the "Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society" also known as "Isbjørnklubben" (Polar Bear Club).

We might have a new investigator! I'm really hoping that our lesson goes awesome!

We went on two short hikes today. It's been really nice up here in Alta. So the area was gorgeous today!

Here's a picture from one of my hikes today.

Love,

Elder Mickelson

This Week Was Really Good!

August 31, 2015

Dear Family & Friends,

A view from an area around Alta

Picture of Bergen

Picture at Bergen

This week was really good. I had the opportunity to fly to Bergen for a mission conference. We flew down there Wednesday. So we had a group pday on Wednesday so I went and got to go explore a bit of Bergen. It's such a cool city. There's so much life there and it's really fun to explore! 

That night we went on splits. I went with Elder Arnold. He's really a cool missionary. He serves in Bergen so he got to take me around to try and contact members and less active members. It was a great experience to go with him on splits. 

Bergen Zone Conference
with Elder and Sister Johnson

Thursday was our conference. Elder Johnsen, our area Seventy, spoke to us for the conference. It was really cool. One question that was asked to him was "how can we change ourselves to be better". If we focus on ourselves we can't grow. So what I came to understand better is that if we want to be able to change ourselves to be better, we do that best by loving and serving others.

Alta Branch Meal

President Hill and Sister Hill came up to Alta and Hammerfest (our branch) and visited after the conference. It was cool to have them up here with us because they came to church with us. After church our branch had lunch together. Its was fantastic. There was some lapskaus and grøt and boller. All of which is delicious.

The panorama is a view from an area around Alta, and the other two are pictures while I was in Bergen.

Love,

Elder Mickelson

These missionaries are all serving above the Arctic Circle!

Missionaries have lived in the upstairs of this house
for many, many, years!  Sister Kristensen and her son
have been great to the missionaries.

Elder Cheney and Elder Mickelson

Lunch with President & Sister Hill

So This Has Been A Cool Week!

A view from Borras Vestre from a week ago.

August 25, 2015

Dear Family & Friends,

Me with some horses behind the house.

Hey! So this has been a cool week. We've been trying to find some more people to teach, which has been a bit of a challenge, although it's been really good. We have a referral that we hopefully which we should be teaching soon. We also got to go talk with a lady. She let us in, but she mostly just likes to talk, but that's ok. I believe she'll open up a bit more and more every time we talk with her. She might come to church which is super exciting. We also taught another older lady a little of the Plan of Salvation. We teach her again in about a week, so that's super exciting. She likes having us over (I'm guessing so, she lets us come back ha-ha).

A view from Halide, an old northern lights
observatory that was burned by the
Germans in WW2, they're restoring it
some more now.

We went on two hikes this week with Johan. We get to go over the lessons again now that he's baptized. So we have the discussions on the top of the mountains, so that's been really cool.

Today we went to Nordkapp. It's the most northern part of Norway (excluding Svalbard). It was super cool. It was really foggy but it was still super awesome. It's pretty amazing to be able to be so far north.

This week we have a Zone-Mission Conference in Bergen. I'm super excited. Our area Seventy will be there. I'm excited to be going there. I'll be in Bergen for a couple days.

So to answer some common questions I guess that people would like to know,

1. We have a car for our area (it's great to have one).

2. No, our mission doesn't have ipads, but we might sometime while I'm here in Norway.

3. We have around 70 missionaries in my mission.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask!

Thanks for all of your love, support, and prayers.

Have a great week!

Elder Mickelson

Out by the river near our house.

Me with some sheep on our way down from Haldde.

A view of me at Nordkapp.

It's Been Awesome Here In Alta!

Elder Mickelson at Borras Vestre

August 17, 2015

Hi Family & Friends,

Hey! It's been awesome here in Alta! There have been so many cool experiences!. I went on a hike to a couple mountain tops here and it was soooooo amazing!

While on splits in Storekorsnes

We had splits with Elder Hoopes and Elder Gingrich, the Tromsø Elders, on Thursday. It was so cool. We drove to a couple small towns about an hour away. The view was spectacular! We found out that most people there work with fishing, so most people weren't home. It was still nice to talk to the people we did see.

We've had some really cool experiences this week. We have come across a few people that were busy, but they want us to go back to visit them. A couple people came to us to be taught, which is really strange because most people don't do that here. But I definitely am seeing how things are falling into place for them to be taught the Gospel. It is so wonderful to see people desire to hear the Christ's Gospel. I'm so excited to be teaching them and help them come closer to Christ.

We hiked Skoddevarre!

This week will be super busy. We've been going through our area book to find people that would still want to hear our message, and it has been so wonderful to see all of the blessings that have been occurring. I can't wait to see how it all turns out! Little by little the Lord prepares people to hear His word. It'll be an awesome week!

Love,

Elder Mickelson

I Made It To Norway Finally!

My first companion Elder Cheney

August 10, 2015

Hey Family & Friends!

I made it to Norway finally. I got delayed on Monday so we didn't leave until Wednesday. I got to the mission home in Oslo with all of my bags so that was really awesome. A really cool thing happened at the airport. A Norwegian lady with a couple young kids walked up to me randomly while we were waiting for our bags. Many Norwegians don't approach random people and start talking with them, especially with missionaries. She just started asking a few questions she had about the church. She had seen Meet the Mormons and had many questions about the church. So I got her name and phone number and gave it to the Sister missionaries in Oslo. They teach her and her family tomorrow so it is really exciting.

At the mission home the next morning I met my trainer Elder Cheney from Las Vegas. He's really cool and has been helping me a lot with learning Norwegian. We flew from Oslo to Alta and it is so amazing up here.

My first baptism Johan in the fjord

Saturday, we had a baptism here. Johan got baptized in the fjord and it was such a spectacular experience.  He is such an amazing member.

As far as the language goes, I actually can kind of understand what people are saying. It's not as bad as it was in 'The Best Two Years'. In Alta, they speak a lot slower, which I appreciate... A LOT. They speak around my pace of speech. So that is really nice.

The branch here is very small. We had 16 in church yesterday, but they are so amazing. They are so nice and awesome.

My first Kebab!

I got my first kebab here in Alta (it's tradition that your trainer buys you your first one. so, lucky me) I loved it, and they taste fantastic! I'll include a picture of me with my kebab.

I got to go knock on my first house, that was scary, but really cool. No one let us in but that's ok. Just keep on trying. It's been an awesome week and I'm excited to be a missionary here!

Love,

Elder Mickelson