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

I Have A New Companion, Elder Rial

May 30, 2016

Hello Everyone!

Well this week has been jampacked with a lot of different things. To begin, I hit my 11 month mark this last week. That was SOOOOO weird. Norway is home to me. I can't imagine being anywhere else. I feel like I've always been in Norway, but at the same time, I feel as if I just got here. I was having this discussion with another missionary about reaching the halfway point in a mission. At around the halfway point, you feel as though you finally know what you're doing. You can speak the language without too much of a problem. You feel as though you just finally figured it out. Then you realize that you don't know anything. You realize that there is so much more you need to learn and do and become. It's a very strange point, but it's quite humbling. It's a point where you can look back and see all of the progress you've made. I see how I'm a changed person. I'm a better person now than before I board the plan to leave home. I can look forward and see my potential for growth in the year to come. It's really cool to me. Weird, but great regardless.

Elder Tangen left for a city called Mo i Rana this week. So I dropped him off at the train station and waited with some missionaries in Oslo to get my new companion! Needless to say, I picked up Elder Rial (my new companion) from the train station and brought him back. Elder Rial was just barely in Mo i Rana, so him and Elder Tangen switched. That was a pretty ironic haha! Elder Rial actually started his mission here in Sandvika, so he'll most likely be finishing it here too. If I'm lucky I'll end up as Elder Rial's last companion! haha

This week we spent a lot of time visiting different members. I just am amazed more and more how awesome they are. Everyone here is just so kind and helpful and just incredible people. I don't think that there really is any other way to describe it. I just know that I can't do it justice in attempting to explain it.

In church yesterday we talked about the parable of the sower. Because it's so long I won't send it in an email, but I encourage all of you to read it.  There were a few things that really impacted me. I do believe though that the biggest thing that I took away from it was the impact that the sower had on the harvest. The sower went everywhere, sowing seeds (hence his job description). But along the way, seeds feel wherever he went, regardless of whether he intended it or not. Ideally he would cast seeds on good soil, places where the seeds would have a chance to grow, but that isn't always the case. Seeds fell wherever he went. I believe that is the same for us. We have an effect wherever we go. Our "seeds" in life is the impact we have on others by our example. We leave an impression wherever we go. All of us are sowers in life. We just try to sow the best seeds we can. Hopefully it's a good example we leave for others. There comes at times when those seeds of our examples fall in good "soil". They leave an impression for others and it changes their lives. Everything we do has potential to influence others' lives for the good or the bad. It's up to us to do our best to make it for the better.

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

Sincerely,

Elder Mickelson