Hey I'll start by talking about the weather for a minute! Thats always fun! Its been absolutely WEIRD!!! All the norwegians are scratching their heads and doing a dance at the same time. We've had the warmest winter in trondheim in recorded history. Get that. 0 snow for 3 months. December...none. January. none. Febuary. STILL none. it was always like 12 degress C. It was insane. THAT felt like spring. However. Starting last thursday morning as we flew down from Tromsø, we couldn't take off because of the snow storm, and its been snowing a blizzard almost ever since then. Its been sOOO pretty. 0_O
So now we have winter. Spring is over now :)
As for what Trolls do, I think they go out and start suntanning. In the summer its too much but I think the spring is ok. Honestly for as much as trolls have to do with norway I don't know that much about what norwegians actaully say about them. I just know I've definately met some people that remind me a lot of trolss.
My week wasn't overly exciting, but it was pretty fun. Monday night we visited the mckenzie family and played a game with them that symbolizes the atonement, and had a way cool discussion with them and their kids about that. Sometimes when things are easy we don't appreiciate how fun and uplifting it is to just talk to people about who chirst is and how He can help us. So that was fun, and then we played a really fun game where you scribble somthing and then pass it around to someone else who tries to draw something out of your scribbles. It was super fun. Tuesday we spent the entire morning preparing for a meeting which by all accounts, we shouldnt have had enough time to plan for it and make it good. But it ended up being super cool and super fun. it was about norwegian, so we would play little games, translate stuff, and we showed them some clips from tarzan, cars, and surfs up in norwegian to see if they could understand everything that the people were talking about. Even for us who understand almost all of what people noramlly say, sometimes in movies its suuuuper hard to understand. I think thats because they have to talk just a little faster than normal, OR, people do go a little slower for us.
That night Jan Peder one of the recently baptized YSA took us out for chinease food and we had such a super fun time!!! He is unreal cool. He wants me to go to his wedding this summer which is in oregon which i hope im home for. Our conversation with him interestingly enough ended up being a discussion about how the gospel is true. ANd how incredible that is. It was actually one of the coolest little thoughts I've ever had. so he's way cool. Also the Backstreet boys visited trondheim that night... it was pathetic.
Wednesday was tromsø and that was also super fun. I LOVE going up and being with all the elders up there. I think thats one of my favorite things ever. AND I GOT TO GO ON SPLITS WITH ELDER GARRARD AGAIN!!! I don't think you realize how much i love him. He was the first one I trained in Bergen, and he is legit the coolest kid ever. And he helped me a ton. Interestingly enough we only had like 20 minutes and in that 20 minutes we found a lady from Bergen. :) i love gods sensse of humor sometimes. We really only stayed because we couldn't get a flight back that same day, so we ended up eating whale again... OH and i made homemade guacemole and chicken fajita's which is probably the most bomb thing i've ever made in my life. I really am becoming a quite profficient cook. :) That night there weren't enough beds so I slept in a chair, which was actually way cool because I slept by the window and as I was falling asleep, I saw a streak of green through the clouds, and almost had two bilnk twice because I thought it was a joke, but it wasn't and I fell asleep watching the norhtern lights through the cloudns. Our trip home the next day was also kinda funny befcause it reeminded me that only like 2 weeks before we had run the whooole way. I wish I had some pictures or something of where we ran. Good memories. :)
As we were waiting to take off we had these suuuper cool trucks that looked way janky come over and spray us off of all the snow build up. It was crazy. good times. We also got to see 10 f-16s take off in front of us the day before. that was cool. 7 hours later we were back in trondheim and taught elinor who continues to sing to us while we teach her. But for realsies we had a way intense teach with her, and she really started to get that we are different than the traditions she grew up with. so that was cool. We had MMK with our super cool mmk leader benjamin weggerson, and on friday we had Elder Whitmer on besøk with us because his companions had left him for Ålesund. We taught this suuuper cool guy who I had made lunch for before named Trond and He is sooo cool. He really wants to come back to church and we commited him to taking all the missionary lesssons which was way cool. ANd on saturday, after having all three appoiintments fall through, we went to visit this finnish guy who was way cool. It was just really cool that he actually has a desire to turn his life around. And I could tell that he felt very good about us coming over. We're going back over tonight which should be cool. And sunday was moves call....
Speaking of not being able to choose what you do or where you go, and just enjoying it regardless, i'm moving on Wednesday. Down back to oslo area, though in Sanvika ward. Sooo its kinda like the rich suburbs of Oslo. I will be working as one of the Assistants which could mean a whole bunch of things I don't really quite understand yet. I know that as the mission gets bigger and biger their job gets more and more complicated. So that will be something completely new. I'm not going to share a ton of my feelings regarding this right now. But if this had happened before I would have been scared out of my mind. Worried nervous, and lacking confidence I could actually do it. The last part I still have some of for sure. I don't feel like I have come near as far as I need to, though I have come far. But its not in the worst way. I still feel like I have just as far to go as when I started, still things to improve, still ways to become more obedient, more christlike, better, more commited, you name it. But I recieved a really special blessing yesterday. And I just feel good about everything :) Sometimes it takes faith to work miracles you can see. other times it takes faith to work miracles you can't see, or no miracle at all. To trust that it was gods will not to have a miracle. But that He is waiting for something else. The whole feeling I got is: 'youve come far, and you've done great, but I need you to just focus on the now and give it every ounce of love and energy you've got' :) I miss you all. So much. That is getting worse, though not distracting, still very real.
Anyways, I learned a ton of way cool things at church, and Ben came up to me and gave me his AP tips :) How to just use the priesthood and love and serve and leave everything else behind. :) Or i guess we just kinda talked about it together. Life is super fun. to top it off we went to the mckenzie's and got ambushed by 3 of their kids in a snowball fight. I think they won :) I slipped and fell and hurt my leg :)
ANd I think I've talked your ear off now :) I hope you know that I've given up on my journal writing because I always tell you more anyways. I still have other little journals I keep of other things but this is about all i got in other terms. :) MOm I love you ot death. I'm also excited for the 8 hour train ride from Trondheim to Oslo... yeay... Actualy itll be really pretty. I can't wait for you gusy to see some of my pictures :)
loves!
Christopher Elder Whetten
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