This Is My Last Group Email Here In Norway

Getting burgers as a district

June 5, 2017

Hello Everyone!

Wow. This is my last group email here in Norway... This seriously has been the best 2 years for my life. It's been an incredible experience. Wow, I can go into that a little bit later. First off, my week.

Volleyball on pday!

I had an incredible week! Wow. What an ending. We had a great p-day last week. We played some volleyball as a district. That was tons of fun! We just relaxed and had a good day!

We had a mission conference too this week! That was really great. It was a blast! Elder Herland, an Area 70 came and visited all of the missionaries. So it was great. He shared a lot of wonderful experiences from his life and his mission. It was real funny to listen to him.

I even made up some homemade barbecue sauce too this week. That was delicious. When I first tasted it, I didn't like it, and it tasted funny. It was then that I realized it was because I had just brushed my teeth. Yuuuuuum! Minty barbecue!..... haha It turned out good after all.

Elder Decker nearly getting 

attacked by the swan

Yesterday we were out visiting a family in a town way out there. Anyways, after we left, we were waiting for the other Elders to pick us up after their appointment. Out of nowhere, it started raining, and it was some of the biggest raindrops I've seen! It was crazy. Got soaking wet, and all of a sudden we get a phone call, and the family we just visited were calling wondering if we were still out in the rain or had gotten picked up, so they had us come back to dry off real quick. Anyways, just a fun little story about being a missionary. The little blessings in life when others are looking out for you. Always appreciative of that.

I guess this is down to my closing remarks now. Maybe a mission recap. I don't really know what I want to go with. Yup, we'll go with a recap.

I started out my mission up in Alta. Got to be the furthest north missionary in the world for a bit. Saw the northern lights a lot. Saw a lot of cool sights. No polar bears though, didn't see any of those haha. Met some great people and made wonderful friends. I learned how important it was to be yourself.

Moved on down to Fredrikstad. I remember walking into church and one member welcomed me and said that he hoped I would feel at home there. And that's what it was. I was only there for a few months, but I got to know everyone, and it felt like home. I learned what it meant to love others. To really care about others and how to do that. What a loving place. Plus I got to be with Elder Mitchell and we had a blast. So can't complain any. Real good memories.

Moved on over to Sandvika. What a fun city. I had some great companions, was in a great ward, made some great friends, and had a great time.

A year ago I moved to Bodø. Got back up into the North. Picked up the northern dialect again (I've lost it since then). Went to Lofoten. Got to train a new missionary (Shoutout to Elder Dawes woohoo!). I experienced both the midnight sun and no sun 24/7 while I was there. I really got to know the members up there. Well, that's a bit easier when there's like 10 of you. But that's what made that so cool. It was really tight-knit. I learned there how to truly live what you believe. They were such incredible examples of that.

Then I moved down to Drammen. And I've been here for the last 6 months. What a wonderful place. It's so great here. Wonderful members. Way fun city. Great people. It's a little bit more redneck, and I like that. It feels more like home here. I like it a lot. I've made incredible lifelong friends here. And they're awesome. I'm so grateful for them.

This has been an incredible couple years. I've seen most of the major cities of Norway, seen the sights, eaten crazy awesome food (fell in love with Filipino food. holy cow!), made amazing friends, had wonderful experiences, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. And I'm so grateful I got to share the gospel here in Norway. I'm grateful I could come here to help people come closer to Christ. And I feel like everything I've experienced has just helped me in every way. But I think the greatest thing though at the end of the day, is that when I set aside the cool stuff, I've personally grown a lot. I'm a lot better of a person now than I was a couple years ago. I've come to understand who Christ is and what he means for me personally. My testimony in the gospel has been greatly strengthened over my time here. I'm so thankful for that.

It's been real. It's been fun. It's been real fun. Thank you all for everything! Have a great week everyone!

Ending it off with an irish poem.

"May those who love us, love us.

And those that don't love us,

May God turn their hearts.

And if He doesn't turn their hearts,

May he turn their ankles,

So we'll know them by their limping."

Bye!

Sincerely,

Elder Justin Mickelson

I'm Back In The Saddle Again!

One of my best games of bowling. A whopping 118!!! Yay for me! I also beat the 
high score at their little arcade thing at the bowling alley. Bumped it up to 111! from like 
80 or something like that up even more! Felt so proud of myself! haha

March 6, 2017

Hello Everyone!

Well, as the title suggests. I'm back in the saddle again! (Song reference anyone?) Actually, I'm still impressed I remember any music lyrics. So good for me I guess. Well, this week was a crazy awesome one, I got to go back to a land of fairy tales and the city that I know and love all so well. Sandvika! I'll talk more about that later, but it was loads of fun and got to see a ton of people I know.

This week, we went to a family's home for dinner, and then we were invited to stay with them for family home evening. They have the most adorable little kids and they're just such a blast. Anyways, it was the funnest little activity we played for it. It basically ended up being scripture charades. Now just imagine playing charades with a few little kids. It's REALLY animated and TONS of fun! I don't know, I might have almost gotten more into it than they did, but I guess that's what happens when you never really grow up huh? (It's a joke, I've kinda grown up. At least I like to think I know what I'm doing and think I'm responsible haha).

Elder Mitchell and I caught a train (Again, I feel like every week I'm taking a train somewhere, oh well, it's great!) to Sandvika for their district meeting. It was wonderful seeing them all and being a part of their meeting. Afterwards, we decided to go to this restaurant called Egon's and get their all you can eat pizza. Boy was I stuffed after eating! I think in total, the six of us downed like 3 or 4 pizzas. I know I had like 7 or 8 pieces. I guess that's what happens when you have like a bunch of younger americans, and you tell them that they can eat AS MUCH AS THEY WANT. At that point you don't just eat until you're not hungry, you eat until you're stuffed. Plus, I wanted my money's worth out of it. Restaurant's aren't too cheap in Norway! haha

A few days later I went back to Sandvika on splits. So I was with Elder Hansen. We had loads of fun! I had already gone on splits with him a couple months ago back when he was in Tønsberg, so it was a lot of fun getting to be with him again.

Being there was great. We even met one guy that had been baptized while I was serving in Sandvika, so it was wonderful getting to see him again.

I even had a chance to meet with our awesome landlords there. It had been a while since I'd seen them, so it was a blast to catch up with them and see how they were doing. They're awesome so we had a lot of fun.

Right before I came back to Drammen, we had all played soccer together. So it was us, a bunch of people from the ward, and a few other friends there. I got to see several of the youth, and reminisce on good times and try to school them in soccer. Sadly, I still get beat. I guess that's what happens when you don't grow up playing soccer a ton. Oh well, but it was great!

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

Sincerely,

Elder Mickelson

"Sometimes we can learn, study, and know, and sometimes we have to believe, trust, and hope." —M. Russell Ballard

As Usual, But Still Worth Noting, I'm Doing Great!

View from above the morning's fog

February 20, 2017

Hello Everyone!

Baked goods in the store (Bakevarer)

As usual, but still worth noting, I'm doing great. This week came and went and who knows where it flew off to. But anyways, I'm chilling here on the computer with a Jurassic World Band-Aid on my knee. I was hoping for a Hello Kitty one, but I can't complain. Anyways, I totally fell on the ice... twice... while running this morning. Scraped it up more than I would like, but oh well. Needless to say, the ice was VERY slick this morning. We had run down to this ice skating rink (in the summer it's a soccer field I think), and back. WAAAAY too much uphill, but such is life.

Epic P-Day Ping Pong

(yes, we put two tables together)

We kicked off the week with an epic game of ping pong as a district. We all got together and played ping pong in the church (there's totally just a couple tables chilling there, so we used them). Proudly, I can say I won a lot, but practically at the expense of being dizzy. We started playing to where you had to spin in a circle every time you hit the ball. It made it REALLY hard. I'm surprised I didn't fall over.

We (Elder Mitchell and I) also bought ourselves a couple train tickets, and hopped on the next train headed down to Tønsberg to be a part of their district meeting. That was really great getting to be with all of the missionaries down there. Elder Mitchell and I parted ways for the next day, he stayed in Tønsberg, and Elder Rogers (one of the missionaries in Tønsberg) came with me back to Drammen for splits.

Elder Rogers and I on splits

Splits was way fun. We spent some good time doing a bit of everything, and walked A TON uphill. I've only been to Bergen once, but it felt like I was ALWAYS walking uphill. That's what it seemed like when he was here in Drammen this last week haha. But it was way fun and it was really enjoyable. We even remembered to get a splits selfie!

A blurry picture of me (all bundled up for the cold)

Wednesday night, we were headed back into town and we got a text if we could start the seminary class before the teacher got there a few minutes later. So we said yes and went. It was really great because we had a chance to teach a little bit and share our experiences a bit at the beginning. One thing I'm very impressed while I've been in Norway is the youth within the church. They are just so awesome. They're an example to me of deciding what your standards are and living them. It was just so prevalent while we were there that evening. They'd talk about different things during the lesson, and I was just blown away by how incredible they are. For them, it seems to just click. So it was a great time.

So I do not know why, but now all of a sudden, I seem to be coming across more people with animal mounts chilling in their living rooms. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind, it just throws me off because I haven't seen too many here in Norway. But we were talking to this lady at her door, and Elder Nelson asks what was on the wall behind her. I was off to the

An emu (imagine a small ostrich)

side so I couldn't see, but I moved a little, and there was this GIANT moose head right at the back of the entryway. I've seen quite a few moose, but this head was like one of the largest I've ever seen! just chilling on the back wall. Anyways, it led to a fun little discussion, but it was just so shocking, just because I haven't seen too many while I've been here. There's a start for everything I guess.

Well I hope you all had a great week! Take care everyone!

Sincerely,

Elder Mickelson

"Seek forgiveness from those you have wronged. Forgive those who have wronged you. Forgive yourself." —C. Scott Grow

Headed over the bridge in the city (Those were some giant flags)

Me inside the Blueberry (our Opel Corsa)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Our district: Me, Elder Hoopes, Sister Dransfield, Sister Cook, Elder Johnson, Elder Jefferies

December 26, 2016

Merry Christmas everyone! Today is Second Christmas Day! or happy Boxing Day if you're into that. We're celebrating the fourth day of Christmas, and that's perfect for me!

This week was a really great. We spent a lot of time visiting people (which for me means meeting a lot of people) and getting to know them. I really enjoyed it.

Yesterday was the beloved day of Christmas!!! It was awesome. We went to this wonderful family's home for the evening and spent Christmas with them. We ate some great food, and played some games also. While I was there I Skyped my family back home and it was wonderful getting to see them and talk to them again!

On Lillejulaften (Dec 23rd), all of us missionaries got together and made a TON of cinnamon rolls (and yes, they were DELICIOUS). We made a bunch up and delivered them to a lot of people. And we did it ding-dong-ditch style (mostly because we aren't good enough at singing to try caroling). But several dozen cinnamon rolls got made, and many got to eat them so that was wonderful!

In Norway, Christmas is celebrated mainly on Christmas Eve. So all of the festivities take place on Christmas Eve. And one cool thing is that it's a big event. When everyone gets together, it's not a pajama event. Practically everyone is in their best clothes. (suits for men, dresses for women). It's just really cool to see how formal it is, because people acknowledge it as such a big day!

Elder Hoopes and I

Here's a list of typical Norwegian Christmas foods (list is variable depending on where you live)

-Ribbe: Pretty much ribs (not barbecued) with extra fat on top and loads of meat. AMAZING STUFF!

-Pinnekjøtt: Dried and salted lamb ribs. It's like steam cooked on top of sticks. It's incredible and basically just falls apart because it's so tender.

-Turkey: Classic turkey cooked up. Like a Thanksgiving turkey, just on Chrsitmas Eve.

-Christmas Ham: Pretty self-explanatory. Tender ham, for Christmas. It's always great.

-Lutefisk (or other fish): Fish jello? well not really, but that's pretty much the closest explanation. Topped off with bacon. Apparently it isn't too bad. I've never eaten it so I couldn't tell you how it is.

I hope you all have an awesome week! Take care!

Merry Christmas!

Sincerely,

Elder Mickelson

The first verse of "Joy to the World"

"Joy to the world! The Lord is come.

Let earth receive her King

Let every heart

Prepare Him room

And heaven and nature sing

And heaven and nature sing

And heaven and heaven and nature sing"

Merry Christmas!

2016 Has Rolled In With...

Elder Mitchell, Elder Christensen, Sister Lowater and I for New Year's Eve.

January 4, 2016

Dear Family & Friends,

2016 has rolled in with fireworks, celebrations, and plenty of laughs. People all around the world have begun their New Year's resolutions, many of which are sticking to them, and in a few months time, most people will have stopped for one reason or another. But that is okay! We have a desire right now to try and make our lives better. To improve. To be healthier. To be happier. Whatever the case may be, we all see that there is something greater out in the world. There is something that we can achieve. There is something greater than ourselves that we cannot even completely understand. But at the end of the day, we still recognize that we have the potential to be something better, to be a part of something greater. I hope that all of us take our resolution, realize that we can achieve it, and put our minds to it and accomplish our goals. When the going gets tough and we don't want to keep trying, when we want to give up, or when we can't find the motivation to keep progressing, I hope that we all look back at why we wanted to start in the first place. Remember what we wanted to accomplish. Remember why we knew it would be good for us. Remember how it would benefit us. And then remember that we all had faith in ourselves. We knew that we could do it. After that, keep going.

I'm hoping that was pretty inspirational. It probably was cheesy, but that's alright. It's true though. I guess we try a lot in life to better ourselves. We try to be better today than we were yesterday, and better tomorrow than we were today.

This week was incredible. I had so much fun. We got to spend a lot of time with the members here in Fredrikstad. Much of our time was spent being with the members and helping out with whatever we could.

Our fantastic dessert after the
New Year's Eve dinner
(notice the Ben & Jerry's ice cream
on the back of the island)

For New Year's Eve we got to travel to Sweden and celebrate with a family in our ward that lives there. I never thought that I would be in Sweden during my life, but things happen, and we get surprised! We had so much fun there. All of us missionaries in the ward got to go and it was just a really cool experience. We played games (I did really well at Uno and managed not to lose any friends because of it. Some feelings were hurt though by the end) and had dinner together. We had dessert afterwards, and I was extremely happy. We had Ben & Jerry's ice cream. It was delicious! It's not very easy to find in Norway, well for a low price. I found some right across the street from where I live at a gas station. Expensive, but I might be buying myself some. It's the first time I have seen in in the last 6 months.

Every New Year's at midnight, to ring in the new year, everyone lights off a bunch of fireworks. It felt like the Fourth of July, just with smaller and fewer fireworks, but still, a ton of fireworks nonetheless! It's really awesome to be surrounded in another culture to celebrate New Years. It's just really cool to see how others celebrate differently than you, but we still are celebrating for the same reason.

Yesterday, Elder Mitchell and I got to teach a small lesson during Primary class in church. We joined in for singing time with all of the little kids (super fun) and afterwards, shared our little thought. We shared how the scriptures are the word of God. We all talked about how we use both the Bible and the Book of Mormon to learn about Christ and that if we follow what we learn, we'll have better lives. I think that is a really great though. If we read the word of God, and apply it in our lives, we will not only be blessed, but we will see a change in ourselves. Over time, we will find ourselves being kinder to others, having more patience, and living a better life. We need to be reading the scriptures to know how we can be better people. It's the beginning of the new year! We can learn in the scriptures of how to live a better life this coming year!

I hope all of you have a wonderful week, a happy new year, and keep up on your resolutions! Happy New Year everyone!

Love,

Elder Mickelson

Below are some pictures from a District Meeting Training on family search on December 30, 2015.

Elder Mitchell

Elder Mickelson, Elder Mitchell, President & Sister Hill

My First Thanksgiving In Norway!

Our Thanksgiving dinner

December 2, 2015

Dear Family & Friends,

My first Thanksgiving in Norway! Well Norwegians don't celebrate Thanksgiving... I guess that's for obvious reasons, but we still celebrated it ourselves. So sadly, we didn't have turkey this year for Thanksgiving. I found out that turkeys come in boxes, not wrapped in plastic. So I didn't know I could buy one until after the fact. But that's ok! We ended up cooking up some whale instead. So we had some whale, mashed potatoes, more vegetables, some white gravy (tastes really good on whale by the way), and some rolls (well boller, but it's almost the same thing. I think it has some cinnamon in it though). To top off our feast, we bought ourselves some ice cream. This will definitely be a memorable Thanksgiving.

I got to attend my first District Meeting in person in Tromsø this week! We flew out Monday evening to Tromsø and stayed the night for splits. It was so fun. We had family home evening therein Tromsø with the senior couple and the other missionaries. It was really great to be all together for that. We had District Meeting the next morning. It was about family history. So we got to learn how we could help others start their genealogy work. I was surprised by how simple it is to help someone start their family history! We spent the rest of that day on splits with the Tromsø Elders. It was a lot of fun. We got to contact a ton of people in the streets and go knock on some houses. It was a really great time and I learned a lot more of how I can better teach people.

Alta's Christmas Tree

I will find out on Sunday whether or not I'm staying in Alta. So it's exciting! We'll see soon where I'll be for Christmas!

This week the Church came out with a great Christmas video. I really enjoyed it. The website is christmas.mormon.org It was an awesome video though. Check it out! We've been sharing the website with a lot of people on the streets and it's been working great. Christmas is definitely a time to be with families and enjoy each other's company. It also is a great time for us to think about the Savior and why we even have Christmas.

Have a great week everybody!

Love,

Elder Mickelson