We Eat Whale For Thanksgiving, Right?

Whale, homemade rolls, mashed potatoes, veggies, and some julebrus (Christmas soda)

November 28, 2016

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone,

Us with our Thanksgiving

This week was packed full of delicious food and great company. On Thursday, Thanksgiving, Elder Dawes and I made up a pretty simple, but great dinner! It was a bit of a flashback to last year's Thanksgiving. Whale, mashed potatoes, and some good vegetables.

Me with my food

Hmmm... how can I explain what whale tastes like? Hmmm... Well whale doesn't really taste like beef, or chicken. I've heard it tastes like seal. But I don't know. I haven't tried seal yet. I guess I would say whale tastes like a mix of fish and beef. Yes, more like fishy beef.

The next day, Friday, we had a Branch Thanksgiving dinner. A nice potluck with turkey, stuffing, potatoes, vegetables, etc. It was great. Maybe one day I can cook as good of food as the food that I've eaten while in here.

The Narvik missionaries came down to Bodø for splits this week too. Elders Arnold and Mckell came and visited. It was great having them over.

Elder Dawes and I with our winter coats and shorts

It's been raining/snowing/hailing/freezing the slush since Thanksgiving. So the street has gotten REALLY slick. We were walking down the sidewalk and we hit a pretty smooth spot, and I look to my side, and before I know it, Elder Dawes' feet slipped out from underneath him and he hit the ground. Well, to say the least, the first fall of the year! I guess we'll see who falls next!

The city's tree

Yesterday was the first Sunday in Advent. Advent marks the beginning of the Christmas season here. In Norway, they have a pretty fun tradition each Sunday of Advent. They light a candle each Sunday of Advent and sing a short song each time.

By the way, you should all check out mormon.org and look at the Light the World project. It's a series of little ideas we can do each day to help someone else. Christmas time is a great time for us to think of ways we can help those around us.

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

Have a great week!

Sincerely,

Elder Mickelson

A "tree" of Christmas lights.

The Weather Cleared Up

Bodø Sunset

November 21, 2016

Hi Everyone!

After having not seen the sun for a week *cough cough* thanks clouds, the weather cleared up and I saw the sun rising/setting at the same time. I do have to say, it's been really nice here because we still don't have snow, it hasn't been too bitter cold, and the sun still rises every day. So I'm grateful for that.

Speaking of gratitude, this week is Thanksgiving! It's not really a Norwegian holiday, although there are a few people who do celebrate it. We are celebrating it still! I hope we all take a little time to think about how much we have and take that time to appreciate it. It's easy to take some things in life for granted, but it's the little things in life (in addition to the big) that make life so wonderful!

We were walking around this week, talking to different people, and we started talking with a man from Oslo. I recognized his dialect really easily and asked where he was from down there. Well, after the conversation, I turned to Elder Dawes and asked him how much he understood of the conversation. He said that the guy's dialect was really hard to follow. Laughingly, I told him that what he was saying was closest to the Norwegian he learned in the MTC. We both had a pretty good laugh about it.

Now, I hope the No-Christmas-Music-Before-Thanksgiving Mob doesn't get together against me anytime soon. This week a few of us from the church got together and sang a bunch of Norwegian Christmas songs. It was so much fun getting to sing some new ones, and sing some classics that I remember from last year. By the way, if you all want a cool Norwegian Christmas song to listen to, Nordnorsk Julesalme. It's a beautiful northern Norwegian Christmas song!

A few days ago, the Norwegian Navy docked in Bodø and was out and about. Now, I have to say this. It was SOOO fun having them around! They had a tug of war competition with just a bunch of guys from the Navy against different random people from Bodø. It was so fun to watch Navy vs. Bodø. I guess the Navy has a tradition of holding tug of war competitions with the different cities they stop at. Such a great thing in my opinion.

Funny story to end this week's email. This is another flashback to a couple months ago. Back when Elder Dawes had first gotten here, and was hit pretty hard with jet lag, it made him a bit tired. Tired enough that once he was saying a prayer... and the poor guy was so tuckered out, he fell asleep... midsentence haha. It was really hilarious to see. Luckily, the jet lag didn't last very long, but it was funny while it happened.

I hope you all have a great week!

Sincerely,

Elder Mickelson

"Think to thank" -Thomas S. Monson

Happy Thanksgiving this week!

My Fun Adventures This Last Week Started On Monday

Elder Dawes and I by the bridge. The wind was like 20 mph 

(not an exaggeration) at the top when we went over.

Hey Everyone!

Me by the river of death, 

I mean Saltstraumen.

My fun adventures this last week started on Monday. If you were to look up on the internet the world's strongest whirlpool on the internet, you'd get what's called Saltstraumen. It's on the other side of the fjord from Bodø. So we took the bus out there to go. Getting dropped off right before the bridge, we started walking down towards the channel. So the water going through it shifts directions according to the tide, and it creates these giant whirlpools which can get to be like 10 meters in diameter. The water can get going like 25ish miles per hour roughly, Crazy giant whirlpools! Anyways, we went down, took some pictures, and then hiked over the bridge on to the other side, got more pictures, and then walked back. Much to our surprise, we actually managed to not have to walk home and got a bus coming headed back home.

The Bridge

Our toaster didn't work this week. So after fiddling with it for a bit (just trying to keep pushing the button down with toast inside) and realized that it was just the outlet. So I we then walked to a different outlet and it toasted just fine. It was then that we realized half of the lights/outlets in the house weren't working either. Off to the breaker box we went! So when I think of a breaker box, I imagine a box with switches inside. WRONG! Not ours! It's basically bunch of ceramic casings. And the guide on the side for which one went to each circuit was not very clear and hard to follow. I found out that unscrewing all of them and screwing them back in didn't actually work. Thanks any tech advisers ever. Unplugging it and plugging it back in didn't work. So later that night I was talking with the Branch President and found out that those ceramic things, had replaceable fuses in them, so we just had to find the popped fuse and luckily had some replacements there too. Thankfully, we had light that night.

We were out talking to people a few days ago and after talking to this guy for a bit, I realized that what he was saying didn't sound like Norwegian. Come to find out, he was visiting from Denmark. And despite the jokes of not being able to understand Danish, I actually managed to carry a conversation while knowing what he said back. That was quite the experience. Me speaking Norwegian. The other guy Danish. And following it all. Good conversation!

To end this week's email, I'd like to take a flashback to about a month and a half ago. Before Elder Dawes got here to Norway, and knowing he'd be coming here, I decided that while at the beginning of his mission, he should have a very Norwegian experience. And what a better way than food! So I decided to make him some stereotypical Norwegian food for his first week. Potatoes. Fiskekaker (fish cakes). And kjøttkaker (meat cakes). This is primarily what was common food back in the days when a lot of people were more poor. And that's mostly what we had. From that Wednesday until Sunday night, cereal for breakfast, and combinations of potatoes, meat cakes, and fish cakes for the other meals. Don't worry, it didn't taste bad, it just starts to wear on you after a few days. By Friday, Elder Dawes pulled out a cookbook from home (with great recipes by the way) suggesting we could have some of those maybe the next week or in the future or something. Then on Saturday, he asked if I usually bought the same food every week, and I said yes. Normally, I tend to buy the same food each week (just not that week). On Sunday, he asked the same question, same response. Well, when planning for what to buy the next day at the grocery store he started making a list. So I told him we'd need some oil, butter, cereal, milk, bread (the normal everyday stuff that you'd normally have in most places in the world). So he says, "And kjøttkaker (meat cakes) too?" I turned to him and said, "What if I told you we don't eat this normally?" He then looked really confused, and I continued and said, "This is Norway. We live in a first world country. We eat normal food here!" Needless to say, he wasn't happy with me for having us eat the same food over and over again (don't worry, there was gravy too so that was good). But despite being not pleased with me, he was still sooooooo relieved to not be eating that much again! We ate much better after that.

By the way! While walking past a café Saturday, they were playing the radio outside and all of a sudden we start hearing English. American commercials. They were playing an American radio station! I died laughing because I hadn't heard commercials for appliance stores in a long time. It was just funny having some commercial going for like Home Depot or something.

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

Sincerely,

Elder Mickelson

“We can say we believe in Christ as we believe in the sun at noon day, not that we can see it, but that by it, we can see everything else”. -C.S. Lewis

Looking at Bodø from Saltstraumen's bridge

Big whirlpools 

Saltstraumen whirlpools plus mountains

A "Shocking" Experience

November 7, 2016

Hello Everyone!

Wow. This week. Where to even begin. Well, I think this week's email would be great to start off with one of the most shocking experiences I've had yet. Well, maybe electrifying is a more appropriate way to describe it.

We were changing light bulbs in our apartment because about half of them were burned out and needed replacing. There's like no need for them in the Summer because it's sunny 24/7, but with Winter rolling around and it getting dark by 3:00 pm, and in the dead of Winter there is no snow, you start to realize really quickly which bulbs ought to be working.

We had this one light which should have been dangling from the ceiling, but it had fallen months ago, breaking the bulb, and the cord came down with it. I'd consider it as more of a free-range light. Anyways, with buying new lights, and taking the liberty to fix this one, I replaced the bulb, plugged it in and it worked! Now we just need to get it connected to the ceiling. So I unscrewed the light bulb, and while moving the light bulb and the socket to a different spot, I managed to stick my finger in the socket.

It doesn't take a genius to know that touching the metal inside a socket while plugged in will certainly shock you! Some people have to just do it once to learn their lesson. *cough* *cough* *me*

I know understand why people getting shocked with a taser fall to the ground, because it hurts and that's the first thing you do. Fall. So, I hit the ground, drop the bulb and the socket, and I just start running throughout the room, into the hallway, yelling and a screaming, words a flying. I nearly was swearing in two different languages! It didn't feel too good to say the least. I got by the door and had nowhere to run so I checked my vitals, realized I was still breathing, could feel my entire body, and in being electrocuted, I didn't poop my pants. I'd call that a success!

That's one way to wake someone up. I sure felt a little bit more energetic through the rest of the day!

This week we also were extremely busy delivering some newsletters around for the branch. And, with any great trip, comes a great story.

Us walking home after the
school bus wouldn't pick us up.

To say the least, in Norway, everyone lives far away from each other. And we decided to bus out to an area, and work from the farthest family out, in towards the city. We had all of the bus times and everything down, all in place. Ya, come to find out, some buses listed that you can supposedly ride, are school buses. People not students can't really ride school buses. So after waiting for the bus which never came, and realizing it was getting dark, and cold, we had no other option than to start walking. Three miles later (an hour walk) we reached bus stop we needed to catch our way home. I guess what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

The Trondheim missionaries got to stay with us one night this week while in transit to Narvik. I guess when there isn't too many flights going somewhere so small, it makes connecting flights more difficult. So they got to stay for a night.

For those who like the Northern lights, it went crazy one night this week. While getting into bed, I looked out the window, and there was nothing. I adjusted my dyne (I think it's called a duvet in the states) for 5 seconds, got into bed, and looked out the window. And there's was this GIANT green thing in the sky dancing around. It proceeded to do that for like a half hour. Always a good time.

Northern lights on the night 

it went crazy dancing.

Moves call was yesterday and I'll be staying in Bodø for another transfer! I was really excited to stay. I love it here and everyone here is so wonderful!

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week. Keep on keepin on!

Sincerely,

Elder Mickelson

"I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants." -Mosiah 4:26

Let's all take care of those around us!

We slow cooked a pork roast for 24 hours and made some 

pulled pork out of it with some homemade barbecue sauce. 

Needless to say, some of the best food I've made yet on my mission!

Happy Halloween!

Creepy teddy bear in a cemetery in Narvik

October 31, 2016

Hello Everyone!

Happy Halloween! Even here in Norway, Halloween is a thing. It's becoming more popular as the years go by (so I'm told anyways. I haven't lived here long enough to quite say) but people still get dressed up and some go trick or treating! We delivered in our pant today and bought a Bad Limes soda and Lefse to celebrate Halloween. Lefse is like a potato tortilla with cinnamon butter on the inside. It's really delicious :D Elder Dawes picked himself up some smågodt (just small candies) for Halloween too. So we are having a good time celebrating with that. I know it's not a bucket full of goodies, but hey, Norwegian chocolate is better (and I've got some of that back home :D).

A small creek running through
the cemetery with the
creepy teddy bear.

Last Monday, we flew up to Narvik for splits. It was good getting to spend some time up there, enjoying the Northern lights, with good company, in a cozy little city.

Let me attempt to paint this picture for you all. Feel free to just go look it up online. That will do it more justice. The Narvik Airport is no doubt, the smallest airport I've ever been to. Imagine your local gas station. That's the terminal. Everything is practically in the same room. Actually it is all in the same room. IT'S SO COOL! haha Now, because it's just this local airport, everyone shows up early because you just live a couple minutes away. And there's only like 10 people on the average flight. So we show up early, because I'd hate to miss the last flight of the night leaving Narvik and try explaining that one. But we get there. And everyone shows up early too. Our flight is supposed to leave at like 8PM. But everyone is there at about 7:30. So we all board and we are in the air a half hour in advance! We landed in Bodø at about 8:10, 10 minutes after we were supposed to have taken off.

One great perk about flying with Widerøe, aside from their planes being prop planes, is that you get free chocolate on the flights!!! It's the best. :D haha

Other notable things, yesterday, Elder Dawes gave his first talk. It was on Family History, and it went pretty good. I'm pretty sure positive he made some people cry. But that's alright :)

Yesterday we had daylight savings. The sun now goes down at 3:30PM. So that's weird. Mørketid is on its way!!! Bring it on!

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week! Take care and enjoy your Halloween!

"Whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions." -Alma 36:3

Sincerely,

Elder Mickelson

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