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

Celebrating Norway's National Freedom Day

Some of us in Oslo (l-r Sis. Gagon, Sis. Horner, Eld. Jacobs, Sis. Hess, Sis. Wadley, Eld. Tangen, Eld. Killpack, me, and in the back ground not paying attention, Eld. Mitchell, and Eld. Arveseth)

May 18, 2016

Hello everyone!

Talk about patriotism! Yesterday was Syttende Mai, Norway's National Day. Everyone all over the country floods the streets to celebrate Norway and all of the freedoms that are enjoyed here.

Streets of Oslo

Elder Tangen and I got to drive into Oslo, the capital city to celebrate. We were out by the King's Palace and saw the streets get FILLED. Everyone was packed just about shoulder to shoulder and it was incredible. We watched the parades go by and we got to see King Harald V waving to everyone. It was so exciting seeing everyone out and about and having a great time.

More crowded streets from 17 Mai in Oslo

A couple of very traditional things to do on the 17th of May is to eat hot dogs and ice cream. And boy was there a lot of that! We had so much fun going around and seeing all of the sights and being around everyone. Everyone is so happy with each other and celebrating. I can't say that I've ever seen so much national pride in my life! It was just so awesome.

Elder Mickelson and Elder Gurr

After being in Oslo, a bunch of the missionaries, including us, went back to our mission president's home and had a barbecue (yes, there were hot dogs haha). We got to relax all day, sit and visit, and play some games. It definitely has been a highlight of my mission so far!

I hope all of you have a great week!

Sincerely,

Eldste Mickelson

Picture from a hike on Monday (Me, Jakob, Jonathan, Elder Rolfsen)

We Have Had Quite The Eventful Last Week!

January 25, 2016

Dear Family & Friends,

A sign of the city next to us, Sarpsborg,
that is celebrating their 1,000 year mark.
Yeah,1,000 years, that's a long time.

Warm weather is great... until it creates a slushy mess over the entire city haha!

We have had quite the eventful last week! Elder Arveseth got transferred to Oslo. We miss him, but it will only be a few weeks before we see him again at a Zone Conference. Elder McIntire came to replace Elder Arveseth. I'm still with Elder Mitchell, so that is exciting!

There was a worldwide missionary broadcast which we got to watch this last week. The focus was helping bring people to baptism. One thing that stuck out during the broadcast is that as missionaries, we "teach repentance, and baptize converts". We helped people become converted to Christ. It is after they become converted to Him, that we help them become baptized. One reason baptism is so important is that it allows us to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of hands. With that, we can have the Holy Ghost with us allows as a comfort and a guide for us in our lives.

We had a really fun experience this week. We met with an older lady this week for a lesson. She is one of the COOLEST people ever. She has practically been everywhere, seen everything, and done next to everything. Super cool lady. Anyways, we sat down to talk and she loves to talk a lot haha. But that's ok. It was really awesome to talk to her and teach her some more about the Christ's gospel. She has a desire to keep learning, so I'm really excited to see what happens!

This week's scripture comes from the Book of Ether in the Book of Mormon. In Ether 12:27 it says,

"27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

I really like this scripture because it helps me see why we have our weaknesses, why we have our trials, and why we have our struggles. They help us become humbled. It is only in humility that we can grow and learn. When we think that we have it all figured out and are perfect at it, we quit trying to progress. In humility though, and with faith, what makes us we will become our strengths.

Pictures (sorry for the lack of pictures this week):

Love,

Elder Mickelson