Wow! Packed Week!

Rainbow clouds/iridescent clouds (I saw them, it's a real thing. Google it if you don't believe me. My picture didn't even come close to truly capturing it though.) I took these pictures on the train ride to Mo i Rana

September 26, 2016

Hello Everyone!

Wow! Packed week! I don't even know where to start. I guess I can begin with the beginning of it all. Early this week we took the train down to Mo i Rana for splits. I cannot begin to express how incredible the sights were. It's about a three hour train ride, but holy cow, that is the prettiest landscape I've seen in Norway yet. It's a train ride that winds along the edge of Fjords, climbs up unbelievable mountains, and comes down betweens hills winding along a river. Words can't describe the trip. (I did get some pictures, although they don't do it justice)

Elder McIntire (in Mo i Rana) while we were on splits

Well we got into Mo i Rana that night and the Elders were kind enough (actually quite kind) and made us an AWESOME salmon dinner. Haha perks of Norway, casually just getting salmon when you want some.

Havman (the famous Mo 

i Rana statue in the sea)

We had splits and it was way cool. We had met some way awesome people while knocking on some doors. It was a lot of fun spending the day with them.

We got back from Mo i Rana on Thursday, and right as we got home, Elder Arnold from Narvik showed up in Bodø because he his companion had to fly down South for a visa appointment. So, Elder Arnold got to be with us for a couple days. That was really good having him here to help with missionary work.

Yesterday we found out that Elder Stephens will be getting moved. He'll be leaving Bodø, but I'll get to stay and be getting a new companion. It'll be exciting! Sad to see him leave as it always is, but it'll be good. We've had blast these last few months and now he'll be moving on to his next area!

A picture with me and the statue which has been nicknamed the consecrated missionary. (the statue isn't of a missionary though, just throwing that out there. I know he's dressed like one but he isn't)

After everyone had left, it had come to Saturday, which was the beginning of mission conference here. So all of the congregations in Northern Norway had a conference here in Bodø. There were so many people at the church meetings Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, we had a family history meeting and that was really cool because the member who gave the presentation went into a lot deeper of detail on how to more effectively to do family history. It was just a really great conference overall.

A wonderful talk was held yesterday in church about service. I'd like to share some of the points that were shared yesterday that really struck me.

-To serve others with all of our hearts is the most selfless thing we can do.

-We should ask ourselves, "What are my intentions with what I do?" Are we kind to others because we really want the best for them? Or do we just try to be good people so others can just see what we do?

-To serve others from our heart, we must think of others first.

Selfless service is how we find ourselves serving others with no ulterior motives. That is when we find ourselves truly happy because we are enriching someone else's life and doing it because we care about them.

In the Book of Mormon, in Mosiah 2:17, it says, "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

It is my testimony for all of you that if we really want to serve God, it is by serving others. In the Bible in Matthew 25:34-40 it says,

" 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

Serving God goes beyond loving Him, but rather it is deeper. When we are serving and loving and helping His children, all of those around us, that is when we are serving God. A person cannot be truly happy and at peace in a state of selfishness and greed, but they can be when selfless and charitable.

We don't have to look far or long to find someone who needs a helping hand, or a friend, or someone to talk to. Many times in our own lives, knowingly or unknowingly, we are that person who needs the help, or needs a friend, or needs someone to listen. So why should we turn our shoulder to those who need it, if we also at times need the same help.

I remember an experience I had several years ago when I had just began driving. Winter had come around and that is all fun in of itself. But, there is one downside with ice, it makes it extremely slick. I was driving on a dirt road, covered in ice, had turned a corner, and my truck began to turn sideways. Without any to do, and moments later, I found myself and my truck stuck on the side of the road. Stuck in the snow and on a downhill slope I tried backing up, trying to have my tires grip something to help me get back on the road. When the tires kept spinning I tried sticking branches under the tires to gain some traction. It helped, but not enough. I was stuck. Couldn't go anywhere. No matter what I tried I couldn't move it. Stuck with nowhere to go, I hoped that someone would drive by that had a tow rope or something. After waiting and still attempting to get out on my own, a couple of guys that I went to school with came by on some fourwheelers, saw that I was clearly stuck, and offered to help. They rode down in front of the truck and they both began to push me out with the front of their fourwheelers while I drove in reverse. With their help, I got back onto the road really quickly. It was an act of service that only took a couple of minutes, but helped more than they would know. Something as simple as offering some help made the world of a difference. They could have rode past, but they didn't, because they understood helping others. They didn't expect anything out of it. They helped because they wanted to help. They saw someone in need and did what they could to help. Something that all of us should do.

I hope we all find our opportunities to help others. Even the little things we do for others can make a big change and help them.

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

Sincerely,

Elder Mickelson

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