Activities and Great Experiences

Some of you might wonder what we do on our mission here in Norway.  From some of the stunning photos of our travels, you might think it is just sightseeing.  The truth is, no matter where we go in Norway, it is always spectacular scenery.  (That might change come winter with rain, snow, sleet and Sunrise at about 10:00am and Sunset about 3:00pm!)

We have the opportunity to spend time with college-aged students in their twenties; preparing meals and treats for activities and religious study classes.  We spend time with the full-time younger missionaries as they teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people who are seeking relief from a confusing world.  We serve with other members of the Church of Jesus Christ in the local church group.  We even have provided service in the community and shared our testimonies of Christ with other religious groups.  It seems that we are more busy than we can keep up with other things (like this blog!).  We love to serve; we love the Norwegian people; and we love being together.  We miss hugging our kids and grandkids, but are so thankful for FaceTime!

The troubling storms of today can quickly pass by if we continue to look for the good.

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This lovely lady from Hong Kong made us a special in-house
dinner, even though she caters mostly to take out. She
also gave Kirt a chopsticks lesson.  We talked about religion and
left as friends to meet up again.  Great food!

Charles survived the war in Rwanda and escaped to Tanzania,

then to Uganda, and finally landed in Norway as a political 

asylum refugee with his family. He had been first introduced 

to the Church of Jesus Christ by missionaries in Africa, and 

knew it was where he wanted to be. But there and then later in 

Norway, he lost track of the missionaries. Then in July, he came to 

Sunday services and announced to the missionaries that he planned

to be baptized. He had a dream where missionaries in white shirts

brought him a message and he felt it was right.  After being taught all

what is part of the Doctrine of Christ, he was baptized.  He must walk 

one hour to a bus stop, and then take a bus for 1 hour or a train that is

more costly, and then walk from the bus stop or train station to church. 

He leaves his house at about 7:00am to make all the connections to be

to church by 11:00am. 

Every week for the past 4 years, the missionaries have shared music at the local Care Center for the aged. Some
sing along with us, but they are all so glad when we come and we spend time greeting them.  (They are there, but not seen in the photo :)

This week when we were in Oslo, we got the opportunity to be outside on the street with these other missionaries to greet all the theater-goers attending the musical "The Book of Mormon.  We passed out about 250 copies of the Book of Mormon as the people flooded out to go home.  Each copy of the book included a card that said, "The book is always better."  (see below) It was interesting to see the reaction as people came out and now saw real missionaries after seeing the actors.  One woman told me that she was very impressed that we were there smiling and inviting them to read the Book of Mormon, knowing that inside the actors had just spent hours ridiculing and mocking what we do and believe. She took a copy and said she wanted to read more about it. It was a great experience.

"The book is always better" says the quote on the card,
which is placed in all copies of the Book of Mormon passed out.