Wow! What A Hectic Week!

Me by our apartment

January 23, 2016

Hello Everyone!

Wow! What a hectic week! But such a good one at that. We started out the week on Monday with a way fun activity as a district. Elder Hoopes had gotten the game Bananagrams for Christmas, so we decided to play that as a district. TONS of fun. It was the party edition, so all of a sudden you had to start doing crazy things like only playing with one hand, standing on one leg, or setting the banana case that the tiles go in on top of your head. It was a very silly game, but a lot of fun.

All of us at Zone Leader Training

We had Zone Conference here in Drammen this week (sadly didn't get to travel very far to it, just across to the other side of the river). The day before we were getting different things set in place for it, and out of nowhere we get this call from a member of the church here, letting us know that basically all of the busses had stopped running... It had been raining all day, but it was still cold enough that the rain froze on the ground, and the entire city became just a giant sheet of ice. To put it simply, it became one huge ice skating rink, suddenly with a bunch of cars on the roads. A bunch of accidents happened. Luckily we were taking the busses so we didn't have to worry about driving, we just needed to worry about the busses running still (which they eventually did).

Oslo

That night we had walked over to a house for a lesson, and we were walking up the driveway, which was still a sheet of ice, and it took us about a minute to walk a few feet. One step forward, two slides back.

Oslo

We had Zone Conference, which was blast. I still love getting to see everyone. I realized that I had known most of them for a really long time, and that I had been in the same city with almost half of them at one point or another. It was really enjoyable. Right afterwards, I headed off to Oslo for splits with Elder Bleggi (we came to Norway at the same time). It was great being with him. We got to teach a few different people and it was loads of fun. We were at the mission office which is the same place as the young adult center there in Oslo, and they had seminary that evening, so I walked into the room, and saw several different people I knew, some from here in Drammen, but also some that I knew from other wards I had been in. It was great getting to catch up real quick with friends there.

It was a great week. Really fast-paced, but very enjoyable. I hope you all have a great week. Take care!

Sincerely,

Elder Mickelson

Alma 37:37 "Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day."

This Week Has Been Crazy Busy!

Zone Leader Conference

October 24, 2016

Hey everyone!

This week has been crazy busy! It's been such a blast though all at the same time.

Monday night we flew out from Bodø headed to Trondheim for a Zone Leader Training. Anyways, we had a bit of an incident when we flew in. Normally we just take the train from the airport in Trondheim to get to the middle of the city where the missionaries live.

We bought our tickets there after getting out of the airport and we sit down to wait for the train. About 5 minutes before it was supposed to come we walked out onto the platform to be ready and not miss it. An announcement comes over the speakers. (paraphrased) "the train headed towards Trondheim has been delayed for one hour".

Let me make this point, the train was supposed to be arriving at 9:30PM. We now were delayed for another hour. We sat down, and we checked the board about 20 minutes later. There was a local train that would be stopping soon. Lucky for us, it was headed in the right direction! So it pulled up and we hopped on. So instead of getting in at the apartment at like 10, it was a bit after 10:30 that we were able to make it in.

The conference was really good and I learned a lot. Ironically enough, the train we wanted to take on the way BACK to the airport was delayed TOO! We barely made it through security in time. We ran up to the gate about 1 minute before people got let onto the plane. It was a really close call.

Later in the week I bought Elder Dawes his first kebab. It's a tradition that the trainer buys the trainee their first kebab. So we found a local one and picked him up one. Luckily, no kebab regret.

This week we spent a little time out at a cemetery taking pictures of grave sites to upload onto findagrave.com It was pretty cool trying to decipher was was originally engraved because the names weathered pretty bad and it was near impossible to read, BUT WE GOT IT!

Elder Dawes with his first kebab

We made some rolls for some members here in Bodø too. We spent an evening delivering them, and we couldn't find a house so we ended up walking in the same circle like three times trying to find it (it was dark, and you couldn't see too well) and after a few hours we gave up and went home. We went and finished delivering the next day. Needless to say, we missed the road by one block... Well, you live and you learn. The rolls weren't too bad either. But we did get some apple cake at one house fresh out of the oven. WOW! Seriously some incredible cake. It was really good. So in one sense, it was good we couldn't find the houses we were looking for because it all worked out in the end.

Today we did get to go to the Airplane Museum here in Bodø. It had a bunch of military planes from WW1 and WW2 there and some more modern ones. It was pretty great to see how much of a difference aircraft made in the wars. Way fun history we learned today!

Aircraft Museum

A thought I had earlier this week when I was studying the scriptures was how God hears our prayers, and He does all He cans to assist us. It doesn't always happen in the time frame or manner we'd like it to be in, but it works out for the best as long as we do our best to turn to Him.

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

Sincerely,

Elder Mickelson

A soldier with skis to be faster

Beware the blast from behind the jet engine

In the case of an emergency, please read the following to eject with your seat out of the plane.

A little stuffed goat with painted horns as representing

the mascot for some soldiers back in the war

A way cool poster

A huge bomb that's roughly translated to

"Make your city safe"

From the air traffic control tower

Everything Felt Very Scattered This Week

A street in a city called Mo i Rana has my name on it!!!

August 1, 2016

Hello everyone!

Man, what a crazy week, hmmmm, well, where to begin?

Well, everything felt very scattered this week, but in the end, it all worked out. Our week was filled with the normal, everyday activities, talking to people on the street, knocking doors, etc. Aside from that though, we flew up to Tromsø for Zone Leader Training. That was really fun. Normally, we would fly down to Trondheim for it, but they split the training so half went to Trondheim and the other half (us) flew to Tromsø.

View from our airport gate to fly to Tromsø

I have been to Tromsø several times already. That was while I was living in Alta. So I hadn't been back there for about 8-9 months or so. It was pretty great to go back there and visit the city. There were a bunch of other missionaries that were in Tromsø that I got to see and it was great to catch up with them.

At ZLT, the meeting was centered around the importance of the Holy Ghost in missionary work. It led me to think a lot about how important it is for us to be focusing on true conversion to Christ. The Spirit plays a large role in how we become more converted to the Lord. It is necessary for us to help others feel the Spirit to help them come closer to Christ. I think that too often when we as people begin to discuss religion or beliefs, it just turns to philosophy/ethics (nothing wrong with philosophy or ethics) and we forget what we really are talking about. We forget at times that we are talking about God and His plan for us, his plan that helps us come closer to Him, find more happiness in our lives, and live a more purpose-filled life. I think when we focus on what the doctrine of Christ is, that is when we can have a greater relationship with Him.

Caution, 

watch for hedgehogs haha I can't wait to see 

a hedgehog walking around Bodø. 

They exist in Norway I guess, 

just haven't seen one yet here.

In other news, it totally looked like I got punched in the face this week. I totally woke up one morning, and I blinked, and it was then that I realized I was going to be getting a stye eye, totally sucks to have, but ya, it basically just turned into a gnarly black eye, but it looks MUCH better now, nearly unnoticeable.

Other than that, there's not too much else that's new. I'd like to end with a thought that I've had these last few days.

There is a saying along the lines of "church is not a showplace for saints, but a hospital for sinners".

Perfect people don't need church. But no one is perfect. All of us have our faults, our trials, our struggles. It doesn't matter where we are at spiritually, or temporally, we all need church. It is there that will help strengthen us spiritually, and where we will find spiritual healing we need. When we feel like we shouldn't go to church, that is when we dearly need to go. It does more good than I think we will ever really realize.

I hope that we don't take church attendance for granted, there's a lot we can learn and it helps us grow.

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

Sincerely,

Elder Mickelson

Zone picture at Zone Conference

Showing off my black eye!

This Week We Celebrated Easter

Elder Mickelson and Elder Kemp

March 29, 2016

Hello everyone!

This week we celebrated Påske (Easter). It went really well. We weren't able to work as much this week because of it being Easter weekend. One great opportunity that we did have because of it, was that we were able to think more about Christ and what he means for us personally. Obviously we can do that all year long, but when times like Christmas and Easter come around, it helps all of us ponder more about Christ than we normally do. It has been very interesting seeing other people's thoughts on Christ and Easter.

For me, Easter was a great time to take a step back and just spend some extra time reflecting on the life of Christ and his Atonement for all of us. I definitely believe that one of the focuses that Easter brings is Christ's Atonement. Because of Christ's Atonement, all of us will be resurrected when Christ comes again. We all will be resurrected with perfect bodies. But that is only just one part of Christ's Atonement. We will also be able to be cleansed from our sins if we accept Christ's Atonement through sincere repentance and turn to Christ. Through that, we will be able to become better people, obviously not overnight, but with time.

I really like this scripture, I probably have shared it before, but considering it's Easter, it's definitely appropriate.

John 3:16-17

Another picture of me

"16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."

We had Zone Leader Training in Drammen this past week. So we went there for the conference and I learned a lot. Much of the focus that we had was centered around why we do what we do as missionaries. In other words, why do we as missionaries go out to share our message with those we come in contact with? It really comes down to our testimonies. We know that this message is true, that it has blessed not only our lives, but others' lives, and we know that it can bless everyone else's' also. It was a great conference to help remind us why we decided to come share such a beautiful message with the world.

We were very lucky this week, and because of the Easter season, we had some very delicious dinners. We had been over to some different members' homes for dinner and the food was definitely better than anything I could make, so that made me quite happy! This week has been full of fun, and now it's getting back into the swing of things.

I hope you all had a great Easter and I hope you all have a great week! Bye!

Sincerely,

Eldste Mickelson

Zone Leader Training In Oslo This Last Week

The Fredrikstad State Church

January 18, 2016

Dear Family & Friends,

We had Zone Leader Training in Oslo this last week. It was a lot of fun! I got to see some of the guys from my MTC group, and I got to visit with everyone. We spent a lot of time talking about family history and how we can better be inviting others to do their family history work. It helped me realize how much we can learn about those that came before us, and the impact they made on why we are here.

We had an awesome experience this week. We were preparing for a lesson that we had. We weren't quite sure what we wanted to teach, so we decided that praying about it wasn't a bad idea at all. So with prayer and study, we both just felt a clarity on what this person needed to be taught. When the day of the lesson came around, we showed up, and throughout the lesson, the Spirit could be felt so strong. Hopefully, more progress will come because of it, but our testimony of receiving guidance by the Holy Ghost was strengthened because of it.

The river by our house with the sunrise and fog.

Norwegian driver's license! I'm now signed up to be taking my driving test in a couple months. Hopefully I get it, because that would be one of the coolest things to get, my very own, foreign driver's license. I'll just need to keep practicing. It's definitely interesting to see how it goes. As for now, I will just be waiting for the day to show up so I can take it!

I've thought about a part of the scriptures a lot lately. At the end of St John (ST John 21:, the resurrected Christ speaks to his apostle Simon:

" 15 ¶So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep."

There are many things which we have the opportunity to do. We have many opportunities to serve others. I believe that we should take some time and think about what Christ told Simon to do. What can we do to feed Christ's sheep? What can we do to lift another? What can we do for others to show our love for not only them, but for Christ? I believe that if we think about it, we will think of something that we can do for others.

By the way, transfers is this week, I'll be staying with my companion Elder Mitchell here in Fredrikstad for another transfer! Really excited for this transfer!

Love,

Elder Mickelson

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Elder Mitchell and I (with Elder Arveseth photobombing) next to our Bishop's Christmas tree we got to help decorate after some REALLY amazing food.

December 21, 2015

Dear Family & Friends,

Merry Christmas everyone!  So I figured I'd start out and explain a little bit about Christmas here in Norway. I guess it'd be awkward for me to randomly explain in July, so I figured now would be a good time.

Christmas in Norway is practically better than sliced bread, which by the way, you slice your own bread at the stores. When you buy a loaf of bread, it's uncut. So there's a bread slicer at the store where you set the loaf inside of it and it comes out sliced. So because of being in Norway, I now understand why we can compare things to sliced bread. But, Christmas. Christmas in the United States lasts for two days, the 24th and 25th of December, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. In Norway, Christmas lasts for four days, December 23rd - December 26. The first day is Lillejulaften (Little Christmas Eve). The second is Julaften (Christmas Eve). The Third is Første juledag (First Christmas Day). The last is Andre juledag (Second Christmas Day).

Part of me feels that they have four days of Christmas so they can celebrate more... Part of me wouldn't actually be surprised. I think it's a genius idea. Who doesn't want Christmas twice as much? I think that all of us ought to begin celebrating Christmas for four days. Norwegians definitely figured out Christmas!

This week was incredible! We were SUPER busy With traveling and appointments and meetings. But, it made for a fantastic week! I want to share one experience we had this week. Elder Mitchell and I were preparing what to teach before we had our appointment. We didn't really know what to teach beforehand, but we just said a prayer and asked for the guidance that we would need to know the needs of those we'd teach. Afterwards, we both felt prompted to teach the same principle. When we finished the lesson, we both just knew that it was exactly what they needed. We had both just felt guided in what to say and what to teach. We just followed the impressions that we felt. Everything just worked perfectly. I don't really know how else to explain it. This week I learned the importance of just following promptings that we feel in our lives. When we do that, everything just works out how it's supposed to.

This last week we had a Zone Conference. We were able to take the train to Oslo and have our Zone Leader Training. It was really amazing to get to see some familiar faces from missionaries that used to serve way up North, and then also to be able to meet new people. It was a TON of fun.

I got to visit the King's Palace and a Christmas market. We got to see a bunch of other sites along the way!

Our Barbershop Quartet... well, quartet, staged in a barbershop

There was a Christmas fireside/talent show after the conference. The Fredrikstad Elders (us) and the Sister missionaries in Sarpsborg (the town next to Fredrikstad) got together for this Christmas program and did a barbershop quartet of Frosty the Snowman! It was fantastic. Well, not our singing, but it was entertaining! We had so much fun and everyone had a lot of laughs.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas! Have an amazing Christmas week everybody!

Love,

Elder Mickelson