January 22, 2013

I have no explanation for these, so... enjoy!

Lauren

January 7, 2013

Hi Momsicle!!!

It sounds like you guys had a super fun Christmas though :) Maybe not quite as crazy as mine was... My Christmas this year is going to be pretty tuff to beat anywhere in the forseable future :) It was just so much fun to have a whole bunch of people singing and dancing and playing the whole time :) SPEAKING OF WHICH! MY new years.... WAS AWESOME!!!!!! We went over to the Isaksens, which is a british woman married to a norwegian dude. THey are awesome! ANd... the coolest part is they probably have one of the best views of the entire Oslo Fjord i've ever seen. We started by drinking some wine, smoking cigars, and then we played card games. Mom, you would love Pauline Isaksen. :) She bought herself this little automatic card shuffler which she'll just sit there and use over and over again :) it was super funny. Did you guys know that you have trained me waaaay to well in card games? Well, you have. :) No one hear is anywhere near as intense as we are with them. And no one here really stands a chance. It was still fun though. We ate tons of food, I learned i'm allergic to cats, and then we watched a movie called the Nativity. Hilarious. One i¨m definately going to have to finish when I get home. (It really bothers me when you can't finish things) 

Then... THe epicness began. We went out onto their balcony with the awesome view of the entire oslo fjord... and just stood there for like a half hour. Norwegians are super into the whole fireworks thing... LIke. wow. I will never, in my lifetime, probably be able to see a Fireworks show as fantastic as the one I saw for new years this year. like for realsies, the ENTIRE fjord was lit up like Downtown Baghdad. THis is the span from Akers all the way around to Drøbak. I tried taking a video of just how awesome it was but I don't think I could capture the epicness with my camera. If I were to guess we probably heard hundreds of fireworks go off every second. All of their neightors were lighting them up all around us, and we could see all the way to central oslo literally just sparkling and booming in the distance with flashes of light. When we looked over to Sandvika (rich people) There literally was just a constant stream of lights and sound coming from the entire span of the Fjord. All in all, it was the coolest thing ever. 

In terms of the rest of this week, we saw some really cool things happen in our area, but we didn't see the amount of progress that we wanted. We still don't have anyone coming to church, or even that we can teach very regularly. But the people that we found before Christmas are still alive, just unavailable right now. So hopefully we can meet with them this week. Crossing our fingers :) I actually talked with E. Anderson about the very principle of Faith working miracles, and we agreed that faith will always work miracles, just maybe not in the way and in the time you would like. :) In terms of miracles we did meet with Kristine, a girl we found from Trondheim this week, and we taught her by going with her to walk her two little dogs :) What was cool is she actually asked us to pray with her in this little grove of trees, so we'll see if anything comes from that. We met with several families this week, and one of the families that dad is a non member and wants to take the lessons from us! Woot! There kids have way cool legos too :) When I send my pictures home you should find the coolness that they did for us :) 

OH! We had the Juletrefest this week! THis is more or less the ward christmas party, only in Norway it's waaay bigger than at home :) I played the clarient in a little ward band while all 120 people danced in circles around the christmas tree, basicallly like the Prince of Egypt small village town thingy style :) Also, we (the missionaries) performed a number called På Låven Sitter Nissen, which is the most childrens traditional norwegain song they have :) (please note, whenever you see the video of this, that it was coregraphed ... (no idea how to spell that) by me :) ) So now you all can be embarassed that you even know me! Thanks Aubrey for the skills! It's got a really funny story attachted to the song too :) one day I will explain it :) I'm going to save the music for it! Anyways, the whole shebang was super fun. We went to the spanish Family home evening which was super funny, especiallly since they had me play the piano for musical chairs. (really even in a place where people play the piano I still play a bunch). Anyways. 

It was a fun week, and somehow, I'm going to keep going. :) Go team! By the way... no I hadn't opened my stocking. ... So when I get there I'll make sure you get a picture of that... :) Wow you're weird sometimes mom :) 

Ps. I got uh... lov...... Permission! To use dropbox. So if you dad, will tell me which account to sign onto, and give me a folder, I'll just start dumping stuff. Or I can mail stuff home if you don't have space. You choose! But I have fun stuff to send home! Anyways

I love you all! Have fun in the cold! I havent even been wearing my coat the last couple days! Heh... who knew Norway would be warmer than you guys... Well have fun!

WIth Loving bubbles!

Christopher

January 1, 2013

Hi Mom!

so I'll just pretty much go from the call too :) Since I spent like 2 hours writing in my journal about my life since last sunday, it's going to be a lot easier if I just go from the phone call. :) I actually was suprised too when I thought about what we actually talked about in that phonecall... it was basically nothing that I could remember. Like.... nothing :) It was mostly just fun to see all y'alls faces and say HI! I was disapointed when E. Torgjy didn't come up and say hi :) He said he was going to come up and say somehting in Norwegain so you could actually see people communicating, and Torjesen is HILarious. LIke. He is so funny.  But That probably would have been stupid. Me speaking in Norwegain literally means like nothing to you guys. Thats ok though :) Norwegian is only the coolest language ever. ... It's no biggie. :) 

After that super fun phone call, the rest of my Christmas Night was one that i'll never forget. In fact I will remember everything about this Christmas for the rest of my life probably it was so much fun. I have some fun videos of us playing some super fun games with the british family, and we sang songs like weirdos, and played buckaroo if anyone knows what that is :) One of my most memorable things is when me and Elder Earl, (dude who plays the bagpipe and is kinda quiet but just likes to laugh, he's also a fantastic teacher) had a chocolate eating contest. Nick Ivanov, the member who you saw, told us we couldn't leave that night until we had eaten this HUGE bucket of chocolates that they had bought for their normal English Tradition. So we decided to see how fast everyone could eat them all. One like every 30 seconds. So sister pace would throw us both a piece and we'd say GO Go GO! and just pound all this chocolate. The first one to drop out lost. I'm pleased to report that me and Elder Earl made it allt he way through, and ate like 30 chocolates a piece in like 15 minutes. My emotional well being went wacko after this. like. I was probably legally drunk. We drove home at like 12:30 that night after just a super awesome super Koselig time with their family. I have some funny videos I'll have to see if I can ever get home from that day :) It was magnificent though. 

The rest of that week was Mission Conference, which was super fun. I sang in a choir for the talent show, and played a shepherd in the Nativity for our mission. I'm unbeatable at staring contests på grunn av Anderson :) Like. Bring it on. Mission Conference was cool though. I learned a lot about the culture of Norway, and how the church started here. It was way cool. It's been cool because I'm really starting to fall in love with the place. Before too long I'll never want to leave dang it :) Yes your emoticons move mom :) I just remembered I didn't answer your questions yet... AS to what the members got us... I got a lot of really nice wool socks and A Lot of food. ALOT. I have enough sugar to last me till next Christmas at least. :) No I haven't opened my stocking yet... sorry I'll get to that :) And we actually drove the mission van to their house. WE were all singing along to *through heavens eyes* the whole way there and back. Actually on the way back everyone just klunnked out :) It was funny. AS for new years, I'm not allowed to go outside after 6 o clok unless I'm at a members house. Which I will be! Woot! The Isasksens invited me over. Weird story: I taught their son at the MTC and he came back for christmas, and when he saw me we just starting talking in Norwegian. It's times like this when you realize just how far you've come :) 

Um.... Hva ellers.... We taught another hard core atheist I found at the Christmas Gatastands we did last week. It took like 2 and half hours, and we had a way funny member from Hamar named Barbara just bust in on the teach and stay with us at the end. It was way funny, and it actually helped a lot. THat's atheist #2 who admits, that he knows it just comes down to their willingness to show faith to find out if God exsists. We'll see. I hope he comes around. Agency never drives you as crazy as it does on your mission :) I took a huge ferry to an Island out in Oslo Fjord to visit a family. It was a cool boat. ALSO GUESS WHAT!!! I fear No Man! Remember how I said I hated contacting on public transportation this week? Well I also have been working on getting better, and I did it a lot over the last few days. I've talked to someone almost every single time! Most people aren't very nice though.... Unfortunatley for them I was pretty determined to have a conversation with them. :) IT catches people off guard when I ask them about the weather and not about religion. Some people just swear at me though... THats not fun. 

Anyways. This week is either going to be really awesome or it's going to be really frustrating. Either we actually get to meet with the 20 people who said after christmas or they all fall through anyway. Come on! ANyways. I love you guys so much! I forgot to add one thing to the list of things i'm doing when I get home that I gave to dad. I want to spend a night just plopped in front of your chair mom and just talk to you :) Good luck with everything! Get some sleep mom :) I'm not sure how excited I am to see what you put in my stocking... :) No. I'm excited! I love you mom!

Love,

Christopher

December 17, 2012

Kjære Alle Sammen,

K well.... Do you know what my problem is today? It's a good problem really :) It's the problem where I could write constantly for the next three hours with ease, and I still wouldn't be able to convey how I feel completely. I literally had more incredible experiences than can fit in one small email to peoples. But enough chatter. :) 

I blame my camera :) I promise my tree is DECKED with ornaments! Do you crazy people know how many you gave me? A lot. I think the poor little tree is going to cave under the weight of it all :) I'm sorry. I'll take a better picture when it's light (which by the way... I haven't seen the sun in a long time... It barely gets over the horizon covered by buildings for me :) just so I can prove how awesome it looks :) But in terms of having any artistic skill, where in the world did you get that silly idea? I actually thought about that as I was setting it up: wow, I have 0 artistic ability :) But  seriously, that little tree has filled me with a lot of joy when I needed it :) 

My package is here! The Ap's told me that they had a package for me last night and that this time they will just bring it with them the next time they come to Oslo which is at the latest tomorrow. Woot! I'm so excited. I've heard from several sources mom, that you're pretty much killing yourself making all of this wonderfullness for me :) Thank you so much! I don't even have any of it yet and it already makes me more happy than you will ever know. So, hopefully I can get all of them before Christmas, but we'll have to see :) 

Heh that's funny. I realize I've probably done the worst job of anyone in the world at describing who my companion is :) I would say he is completely the opposite of a trial for me. Actually I take that back :) He is. But that's because he pushes me to become my best. There are so many things that I have been able to acheive and do, only because I had him as a way to help me acomplish that. :) When I say he's burny and girl crazy, I wouldn't say he's any worse than myself :) It's mostly just if he smells one. It's more of a joke than anything else :) If I was to get completely serious on you, I would say be completely honest and tell you than Elder Anderson has changed me for the rest of my life. He loves my more personally and deeply than I can understand, And of every person I can or could ever think of, there was not one that could be more well hand-picked than him. The fact that he is my companion was complete revalation, and neither of us want to go anywhere. We are going through an exteremely difficult time on our missions, but despite that we are more united, and lift and strengthen each other as much as is humanly possible. The amount of progress I've made on my mission is on large part him, no matter if it's language, teaching, people, missionary work, or personal growth. Anything. We both have what the other lack, and can lift and strengthen each other. 

Anyways no I didn't get to go to the Christmas Concert... :( Sad day. I would only go if we had an investigator, and all of ours dropped off the face of the planet right before it all happened... sad. oh well. You can't win them all :) I did watch the whole Christmas Concert from like... 2007 (with sidssel) while I made cookies for dinner one night! That was fun! So I'm not completely deprived. :) K well... that's about it for answering questions. We are making hand-made candles for some of the old ladies that we visit, and I scrounged together some pretty good american Chocolate Chip Cookies for some of the families in the ward :) It's hard when Vanilla, Brown sugar, and Chocolate Chips, and Shortening, doen't exsist here. Thankfully the old senior missionary couple helped me :) 

I'm going to go crazy.... Hobbitssss... Everywhere..... Around the T-bane stasjon.... :) I want to know... Has anyone seen it yet? How good is it? Actually... Don't tell me. :) I would burn. I'll just have to wait for that. :) Also.

Does anyone realize that this is my last email home..... See everyone on the other side! 

Ok. Well I wish that I had 5 hours to write to you guys. Because basically it would take that long to write all of the incredible experiences I've had this week. Don't get me wrong. It wasn't all farts and sunshine, and there were times where if I had tripped and fallen, I probably wouldn't have gotten back up. But I would probably count this week as an early Christmas gift to me. :) I don't even know really where to start with that. Basically our week consisted of a lot of appointments falling through, us going to the completely wrong side of the fjord for an appointment, and just a bunch of other things. This being almost the entire transfer like this so far, it took a lot out of me, to keep pushing to be effective and stay positive. I will say that we were very blessed for our efforts to just keep going, and never give up. I was lead more by the spirit this week than I probably ever have been in my life. Almost every single day I knew where to go what to do and what to say. I always thought something like that wouldn't be as incredible as I think it is now. On tuesday, we felt impressed to walk up this weird little sidepath that led into a grove of trees and pretty much the middle of nowhere. But we did, and talked to the first guy we stopped for like 45 minutes. the only problem with this, is that it was about -15 degrees Celcius and all we did was stand. ow. I literally do not think I've ever had my whole body lose as much heat as it did at that time and be as cold. The Freezing Humid air literally rips through whatever it is your wearing almost instantly when you walk outside. I wasn't ever warm for like 2 days afterwords. Though we don't know why we were led to that guy, we did know that it was the spirit that led us there. He was pretty funny though :) He had us call upon the name of the Lord with him to be saved... Oh the things you do on missions :) I wish i had had that videotaped. 

Moving on later that week, we went out contacting one day on our way to the church, and literally I felt impressed not to stop people, and Anderson ended up stopping this way cool lady who we just barely met with an hour ago again. She's cool :) We went the next day to find the address that she had given us... which really wasn't an address it was just the number 15 and her name.... We didn't even have a street name, just what she had pointed at. So after trying for about 40 minutes we said a prayer and finally found the place that she had told us about. Unfortunately we had to try back again today cause she was busy but today, I just kept going through all the locked doors in her building until we found her :) She was super Koselig :) and Hyggelig Anyways. 

Later that first night we hurried after helping at the center to go out knocking. As we prayed for where to go I felt impressed to go try a potential investigator back who lived about 40 minutes away. I knew that was a lot of wasted travel time on the chance that he wasn't home again because we didn't have that much time, but I knew I needed to go there so we went. As we got to his door his lights were off and we knew he wasn't home again. I knew we were there for a reason though so we continued down the small path looking for some other houses we could knock on. Basically we found nothing, and we had spent almost all our time in just traveling. But as we walked back I turned off the path to go up to an apartment building. Now, normally we don't knock whole apt buildings because the Main door requires a code or someone to let you in, but we decided to try this one because all the doors were accessible. After humoursly watching my poor companion from arizona struggle up the slippery hill behind me refusing any help because of his stubornness, we knocked on the first door. A little boy came to the door, and we asked for his parents. When his mom came to the door, i started by talking about faith, and then for almost no reason at all, finished my sentence with: Have you heard of the book of Mormon? 

This is basically what she said: 

   Yes actually, I just read it. And I really liked the part where it talks about life after death. My faith doesn't believe in that. :) .... 

Well, have you ever seen the missionaries before or talked to us? 

   Nope she said. 

Do you know where you got the book from?

   It was a long time ago and I don't really remember. Hey I have some questions....

Basically..... She's what missionaries might call a golden investigator :) Like. I don't think I can explain just how much of a miracle this is. Of the over 1 million people in my entire area, we were led to one door that night. The only one. There is absolutely no way that we did that. Tell me where there is a person like that anywhere else. Elder Anderson said, it is probably the most prepared person he's ever met on his mission. She literally was in the middle of nowhere. She has kids... like... If that is not a miracle I don't know what is. 

Then the next day we were led to a street, and there were about 4 or 5 people right in a row. You can't pick them all but I knew exactly the one to talk to. His name is Kim, and by the end of about 20 minutes he asked if there was any way that we could meet with him again. He, is also Norwegian. and ... like wow! He asked me why I stopped him, and as prompted I basically told him I knew exactly who to talk to out of all those people. Again, Elder Anderson said probably one of the most prepared people he's met on his entire mission. (There were 2!) 

That's just the beggining. We met with a hardcore Atheist, who in reality is not atheist. :) Sorry, but Atheism doesn't exsist. But he did have a socialogical explanaition for every function in christianity and religion in general. Last time he kinda lectured us on philisophical principles. This time he still talked the most, but we led him to the point he admitted He knew  that God exsisted and that he just wasn't willing to do anything about it. Probably one of the smartest men I've ever met, knows like 8 languages, and teaches philosophy and the university, and we basically showed him that he had the knowledge, and that everything else was just him proving to himself that he didn't have to do anything about it. That is our job :) We brought him to the point that he himself could make the choice even if he wasn't willing to do that. That doesn't happen through wrote lessons 1,2,3, and 4, that happens because you listen to him and listen to the spirit. I could go on. :) But just know that The Lord is in this work.

The last while has been hard, but also extremely rewarding. I truly love being here, and I'm sooooo SUPER excited to teach the people that we just found after Christmas. Even if nothing happens. Even if everyone falls off the face of the planet again and again and again, I know that I won't give up :) I have learned humility only in the way you can learn it directly from experiences with the spirit. I have learned Diligence, patience, trust, and love. As I told Dad, for me it is not important how long that you can stay standing during the fight, it's about how many times you can pick yourself back up again. That's what endurance is. 

So that's really my Christmas Gift to all of you! :) K well it's not really mine... but anyway. :) Just know that your son, brother, cousin, grandson, nephew, friend, whoever I am to you, is having a rough go, but that he is doing what he needs to, and is loving all of it (k well, there are those times where you just lie on the ground and feel like dying... but hey :)). Also know that he loves you. A lot. And though he may not be able to write many handwritten letters to you today, he wanted to share some special things that he had seen this week. And as apparent by the length of this email, spent a considerable amount of time to tell you all of this :) I hope thats ok :) I hope you all have the most fantastically wonderful Christmas ever! Some other time when I have less important things to talk about I'll share some of the cool Norwegain Christmas traditions that I'm learning about. Really, Norway's the place to be man :) Being 'the missionary' of the family I could lecture you all on the meaning of Christmas, but I won't do that :) You already know :) You all are much smarter than me, even if you don't know it :) So just do somehting with it!

Have a superly Fantastical Christmas everyone!

Love,

Christopher

December 11, 2012

Hi Mom!!

I don't have a whole lot of time to email... In fact I have almost none, because we have to teach someone in like a half hour, so maybe I'll have to finish this email afterwords, but I really don't have a whole lot to say about this week. :) 

It's interesting for me because now, just as I am figuring out who I am as a missionary, feeling like I'm doing my very best in everything, our whole area is pretty much having to start over from scratch. I did go on splits with my DL for the first time which was pretty cool. I had one of my first frozen meals (other than the normal pizza we have regularly every P day :) Other than that there wasn't anything super exciting :) Elder Anderson started sleepwalking in the middle of the night a couple of nights ago and wakes me up and starts making fun of me for sleeping in. Then I looked at the clock and it was like 1 in the morning. I just showed him the clock and watched as his brain tried to catch up to what was going on. It was funny :) I fell asleep instantly again after that which was a blessing. Also I ate whale this morning. With Tyttebær and sour cream. On this crackerish thingy. It was actually waaaay good :) We visited a member from the phillipines (I know I spelled that wrong) and she fed us some of the best food on the planet. The dessert she fed us was this giant egg thingy that was way sweet and waaaayy weird. It was like a giant marshmallow made of just egg and milk. 

Also I went on splits with President this week :) He came out contacting with me on the street. Only problem is that he doesn't really speak Norwegian. :) It was fun though because we actually did really well, and I didn't even really stress out. It was fun though and we found some new people to teach. 

Ummm.... That's about all I got on fun things about me. We got a ton of people who wanted us over for dinner this week, so it was fun to feel loved and and super good food! To answer your question, teaching the Norwegian Intermediate class is basically me teaching about 10 people the norwegian language in english. mmmm yup :) It was slightly stressful at the beginning but it lately it was just fun. I've gotten over the whole, stress out a ton about things now :) It's also interesting to see how long all of them have been and I can still answer all of their questions. 

K. To assuade all of your fears.... YES. I GOT YOUR PACKAGE!!!! I almost died with joy! It actually helped a ton yesterday. :) It had just been a hard week and even though I was feeling down, I just listened to Christmas music, wrote some Happy things down and Decorated my christmas tree! It was so much fun. Yes it made me miss home a little. But I've been suprised lately how much I enjoy being in Norway, just as I get used to trusting in the Lord, and all the experiences he is giving me here. So basically I just loved how much everything reminded me of you guys, and just honestly made me feel loved. If your goal was to make me feel loved, goal = accomplished X 1100. Really, I can't even believe how fantastic you guys are. I was thinking I would be relatively lucky if I got one package. I know that there is another package already in Norway, the problem is is that it takes about a week to get the pakcage from the office in Sandvika to here. And for some stupid reason the Ap's just didn't bring it with them. So, for future reference, just send things to my living adress. THat way, it has the chance of getting there a week earlier, and even if I do move, You can redirect things in Norway for free, so the missionaries could just do that for me :) Just you know, for future reference. :) Anyways. I felt super loved this week. :) 

The only problem with this is that I literally don't have the time to give much back to you guys. :P After I finish emails alone, I usually only have like 3 hours after that... Basically, even if I knew what I wanted to get anyone, I don't really have the time to do so :P So. I feel bad. I'm sorry in advance that I can't do anything for you guys. I will send all the love I can, but it's just going to have to wait until I get home :) 

In terms of the Risk game I wouldn't worry about it. :) Me and E. Anderson have fallen in love with Settlers of Catan and its pretty much the best ever. It's one of those things I'll remember a lot about serving with E. Anderson. Is just how much fun we had. And the kinds of things I did to keep us focused :) It was just an Idea I had before. Also, in terms of recorders, most people just have simple ones that create MP3's that you can just send in emails. And as for the call I have no Idea. Right now our plan is to spend Christmas day with the crazy awesome British family in the ward. :) She said she could set up skype from there. In terms of when though It would definatley be earlier in the day for guys. between 8 - 12 :) Anyways. That's all I know.

Literally I love you all so much! I can't tell you how incredible it was to see all of that come from literally every single member of my family (except you aubrey and rachelle but apparently you guys will be coming soon :) In case none of my cousins get my emails or anything tell them thank you so much at the Christmas party! I'll miss you guys so much! 

With all the Kjærlighet I have to offer!

Christopher :D

P.S. Please note my winter coat in this picture. :D It was an early Christmas Present from my best friend :) so to answer your question: I'm not going to be cold this winter. It's actually quite cozy outside :D

December 4, 2012

HAllloo Mawmswchwinn!

Well, that's pretty much the end of all that nice spring weather we were having last week. New current temperature = Very cold :) But actually it's a lot better that i'm here rather than in Alta or Hamar or something. Apparently it's already a lot colder there than it is here in Oslo. It's interesting that the more the sun shines here... the colder it is. It's really quite amazing the amount of insulation that the clouds over the city give you :) 

So how is everyone who isn't frozen doing? :) I actually, as of yet, have not recieved any packages. :) But. I did call the office last week to order some stuff and they said that they had forwarded some my way :) (i honestly don't know why they didn't just have the Ap's bring it when they came down or something. It feels like that would be a lot cheaper and a lot faster to do.,..) So if you do end up sending another package, just send it straight to my apt. It will be a lot more likely to get to me that way. Also. How in the world are you coming up with the money to buy multiple packages for me and fill them with... things!?!? I'm really doing fine :) I actually had questions about this. What the heck is my budget for the next little while. Well really for my whole mission. I just really don't have any idea. cause, there are a few really cool things that I want to be able to get... :) Also you didn't answer my question!?! When is it you people want packages from me? 

Other than that it sounds like things have been slightly hecktic lately :) And exciting. :) The ward party sounds super funny. I actually honestly can't imagine where my brothers get this weird little showoffiness from :) I hated doing stuff in front of other people. Still do :) You people definatlely did not pick that up from me. THat's for sure. :) THat would also be slightly hilarious if we were able to talk to Eriks grandma. IT's interesting that you mentioned how you can see where their family comes from when you see her. That's one thing you learn very quickly about the norwegian people. They are just different. ( I would also add, that the Heras family is the most norwegian like family I've met in the US) When you ask missionaries what is most different, they always say it's mostly just the people. it can be described in a comparison between a dinner appointment between an american or british family even, with a completely norwegian family. Norwegians are really just reserved, polite, and very hard to get into, and love to chill in their little box. whereas Americans are a lot more open about friendships and trust. One thing we talk about a lot as a companionship is how to get past the Norwegian wall. One thing doesn't work. That's being a missionary. Being Chris lets me get past it though :) Because of this you literally have to do 'missionary work' in a slightly different way. Anyways. It's really hard to describe. I'll prolly get better at that as I see and experience more of the Norwegian culture. 

In terms of this week it was actually a really fun week. Also an incredible growth period for me as well. I had heard it all the time that your mission changes you and makes you better but I really never knew what parts of this to believe or not. I remember worrying before my mission if I would be able to find things in myself that I could change to become a better person. I would say now, my worry is that after 2 years I'll actually be good enough to really do anything. Somehow, the Lord took who I was before, and brought me so low in humilty I almost couldn't even look up anymore. I don't even know how he did it. I remember this week we had had a frustrating day, with 0 success, lots of rain, and lots of dissapointment. Every appointment we had no one showed up and I was trying to keep us going mostly because my companion litterally hated the world on this occasion (because of a call from the president that morning telling him he had to stop contact with his converts) it was near the end and finally we decided to take a little break and go stand on the opera house roof. I remember standing there in my dimpy little raincoat just staring out across the bay with the ships and the small lights and just for a few minutes feeling at the same time both as low and as humble as can be and yet from somewhere I also knew that in these times, where all you have left is the lord, you are the strongest. I think the point at which I came to grips with the fact that I'm supposed to be feeling like this all the time was a good one. Because then I can look and I can enjoy what I do despite the fact that everyone who promised they were coming to church doesn't come, and you literally lose contact with every single person you had. (that was a sad calling time... when 0 people answer...) I would call the feelings that I have are dissappointment, but definately not discouragement. Despite it being one of the hardest and least successful weeks yet, A you have to expect to have a bad week after you have one your best, and B: The amount of spiritual experiences that I had this week were quite a bit more than usual. They are just simple things, like praying for love, and feeling it for the people you see despite whatever reaction they give you, or a really good personal study where you learn things that you can do better.  But really. I didn't even know the meaning of the word humble before my mission. It's really quite hard to explain :) 

Did I mention that it was a fun week? :) Let me answer some questions to elaborate further:

Chris, what is the weridest thing you've eaten on your mission? 

A: Dried Reindeer Heart.... Woa. Duuuuude. 

Chris, how delicious was this dried reindeer heart?

A: It tasted like dirt. 

Chris, have you even seen a reindeer?

A: yes. yes I have :) Right by this uber legit iceskating rink in the middle of the central park :)

Chris, what do you do in the hour or so that you have for free time after nightly planning?

A: Fly the little toy helicopter I fixed around the apt. :) Also when we have E. Holligshead and E. Linge visiting (which has happened like 4 times now) we get a llttle crazier and aim it at each other and go full throttle)

Chris, I've heard rumors that you've stolen a board game from the nearby Young Adult Center. What do you have to say against such accusations?

A: It's either keep your burny, girl crazy companion (and yourself :) occupied for that short time by playing every settup of Settlers of Catan possible, or end up just being bored and letting your thoughts hate everything. I personally think it is a great way to bond with companion, and keep focused. 

Chris, how well do you feel like you were trained when you have 3 kids with british accents jumping all over you and trying to pull you apparent lack of hair out?

A: I would say I have some previous experience with dealing with crazy children who may or may not have intended to injure me.

Chris, how did you manage to gain so much weight?

A: I.... eat. :D Take that whetten genes!

Chris, what is different about a Norwegian taco?

A: Norwegians put corn and cucumbers on everything. Literally. Also they don't like spicy. At all. bunch a wimps....

Chris, What is whitewashing as defined in the code of missionaries section 9467?

A: Having 2 new missionaries come take the place of the old, rather than leaving one who actually knows what he's doing in the area :) (ps. familes don't get whitewashed. For example, I was whitewashed into a completely new area... fun stuff!) 

Chris, what is you favorite word in Norwegain?

A: Well. I will probably use Koselig... for the rest of my life :) My everyday english vocabulary is starting to blande with norwegian a lot though :) 

Chris, what exactly is your favorite thing about serving a mission thus far?

A: That is a really interesting question.... I'll get back to you on that :) 

Ok, well thank you folks, Chris will not be taking anymore questions at this time... If you want more information on the Normal Life of a Missionary in Norway  please call the toll number at the bottom of the screen, or just wait for a few more weeks, when we will be airing again on : Skype. 

Thank you all for tuning in and have a wonderful week videre! ...

Elsk,

Christopher ^_^

ps. HERE aRE SOME PICTURES!!! WOOOTT :) pps. the one trying to lick my friend Elder Godfrey is elder Anderson... Yups :) THat's my companion :D

HAllloo Mawmswchwinn!

Well, that's pretty much the end of all that nice spring weather we were having last week. New current temperature = Very cold :) But actually it's a lot better that i'm here rather than in Alta or Hamar or something. Apparently it's already a lot colder there than it is here in Oslo. It's interesting that the more the sun shines here... the colder it is. It's really quite amazing the amount of insulation that the clouds over the city give you :) 

So how is everyone who isn't frozen doing? :) I actually, as of yet, have not recieved any packages. :) But. I did call the office last week to order some stuff and they said that they had forwarded some my way :) (i honestly don't know why they didn't just have the Ap's bring it when they came down or something. It feels like that would be a lot cheaper and a lot faster to do.,..) So if you do end up sending another package, just send it straight to my apt. It will be a lot more likely to get to me that way. Also. How in the world are you coming up with the money to buy multiple packages for me and fill them with... things!?!? I'm really doing fine :) I actually had questions about this. What the heck is my budget for the next little while. Well really for my whole mission. I just really don't have any idea. cause, there are a few really cool things that I want to be able to get... :) Also you didn't answer my question!?! When is it you people want packages from me? 

Other than that it sounds like things have been slightly hecktic lately :) And exciting. :) The ward party sounds super funny. I actually honestly can't imagine where my brothers get this weird little showoffiness from :) I hated doing stuff in front of other people. Still do :) You people definatlely did not pick that up from me. THat's for sure. :) THat would also be slightly hilarious if we were able to talk to Eriks grandma. IT's interesting that you mentioned how you can see where their family comes from when you see her. That's one thing you learn very quickly about the norwegian people. They are just different. ( I would also add, that the Heras family is the most norwegian like family I've met in the US) When you ask missionaries what is most different, they always say it's mostly just the people. it can be described in a comparison between a dinner appointment between an american or british family even, with a completely norwegian family. Norwegians are really just reserved, polite, and very hard to get into, and love to chill in their little box. whereas Americans are a lot more open about friendships and trust. One thing we talk about a lot as a companionship is how to get past the Norwegian wall. One thing doesn't work. That's being a missionary. Being Chris lets me get past it though :) Because of this you literally have to do 'missionary work' in a slightly different way. Anyways. It's really hard to describe. I'll prolly get better at that as I see and experience more of the Norwegian culture. 

In terms of this week it was actually a really fun week. Also an incredible growth period for me as well. I had heard it all the time that your mission changes you and makes you better but I really never knew what parts of this to believe or not. I remember worrying before my mission if I would be able to find things in myself that I could change to become a better person. I would say now, my worry is that after 2 years I'll actually be good enough to really do anything. Somehow, the Lord took who I was before, and brought me so low in humilty I almost couldn't even look up anymore. I don't even know how he did it. I remember this week we had had a frustrating day, with 0 success, lots of rain, and lots of dissapointment. Every appointment we had no one showed up and I was trying to keep us going mostly because my companion litterally hated the world on this occasion (because of a call from the president that morning telling him he had to stop contact with his converts) it was near the end and finally we decided to take a little break and go stand on the opera house roof. I remember standing there in my dimpy little raincoat just staring out across the bay with the ships and the small lights and just for a few minutes feeling at the same time both as low and as humble as can be and yet from somewhere I also knew that in these times, where all you have left is the lord, you are the strongest. I think the point at which I came to grips with the fact that I'm supposed to be feeling like this all the time was a good one. Because then I can look and I can enjoy what I do despite the fact that everyone who promised they were coming to church doesn't come, and you literally lose contact with every single person you had. (that was a sad calling time... when 0 people answer...) I would call the feelings that I have are dissappointment, but definately not discouragement. Despite it being one of the hardest and least successful weeks yet, A you have to expect to have a bad week after you have one your best, and B: The amount of spiritual experiences that I had this week were quite a bit more than usual. They are just simple things, like praying for love, and feeling it for the people you see despite whatever reaction they give you, or a really good personal study where you learn things that you can do better.  But really. I didn't even know the meaning of the word humble before my mission. It's really quite hard to explain :) 

Did I mention that it was a fun week? :) Let me answer some questions to elaborate further:

Chris, what is the weridest thing you've eaten on your mission? 

A: Dried Reindeer Heart.... Woa. Duuuuude. 

Chris, how delicious was this dried reindeer heart?

A: It tasted like dirt. 

Chris, have you even seen a reindeer?

A: yes. yes I have :) Right by this uber legit iceskating rink in the middle of the central park :)

Chris, what do you do in the hour or so that you have for free time after nightly planning?

A: Fly the little toy helicopter I fixed around the apt. :) Also when we have E. Holligshead and E. Linge visiting (which has happened like 4 times now) we get a llttle crazier and aim it at each other and go full throttle)

Chris, I've heard rumors that you've stolen a board game from the nearby Young Adult Center. What do you have to say against such accusations?

A: It's either keep your burny, girl crazy companion (and yourself :) occupied for that short time by playing every settup of Settlers of Catan possible, or end up just being bored and letting your thoughts hate everything. I personally think it is a great way to bond with companion, and keep focused. 

Chris, how well do you feel like you were trained when you have 3 kids with british accents jumping all over you and trying to pull you apparent lack of hair out?

A: I would say I have some previous experience with dealing with crazy children who may or may not have intended to injure me.

Chris, how did you manage to gain so much weight?

A: I.... eat. :D Take that whetten genes!

Chris, what is different about a Norwegian taco?

A: Norwegians put corn and cucumbers on everything. Literally. Also they don't like spicy. At all. bunch a wimps....

Chris, What is whitewashing as defined in the code of missionaries section 9467?

A: Having 2 new missionaries come take the place of the old, rather than leaving one who actually knows what he's doing in the area :) (ps. familes don't get whitewashed. For example, I was whitewashed into a completely new area... fun stuff!) 

Chris, what is you favorite word in Norwegain?

A: Well. I will probably use Koselig... for the rest of my life :) My everyday english vocabulary is starting to blande with norwegian a lot though :) 

Chris, what exactly is your favorite thing about serving a mission thus far?

A: That is a really interesting question.... I'll get back to you on that :) 

Ok, well thank you folks, Chris will not be taking anymore questions at this time... If you want more information on the Normal Life of a Missionary in Norway  please call the toll number at the bottom of the screen, or just wait for a few more weeks, when we will be airing again on : Skype. 

Thank you all for tuning in and have a wonderful week videre! ...

Elsk,

Christopher ^_^

ps. HERE aRE SOME PICTURES!!! WOOOTT :) pps. the one trying to lick my friend Elder Godfrey is elder Anderson... Yups :) THat's my companion :D

November 26, 2012

HI Momsicle!!!

Hey! Ever'body else! Call mom momsicle! It'll be fun! 

Ok mom. Jeg gidder ikke å gjøre noe ellers.... Whats the translastion for that.... basically I can't be bothered to do anything else :) Aka i'm lazy. I hope that's good though! :) 

Business First: no I haven't gotten a package. Did you send one! Thats soo exciting! :D

I forgot a couple things for my christmas list!!! 

-a nice looking sweater. Preferably with color :) (i would get one here but they are sahuper expensive) 

-a recorder. This is more for you guys in reality. Mostly I want to be able to just send an audio file rather than writing for 9000 years.  

-erm... ooh! if you could find a very tiny version of risk. That would be awesome. I don't even know if those exsist though :) 

 

K well.... my week was.... Awesome. I don't even know why. It was just fun. Monday night I went on splits again with the same guy elder lillywhite I did at the beginning (where I got my ticket) only this time I was basically going to pirate one of the families that they are working with (because they were getting whitewashed). It was super fun. Talking to adults in norwegian is still pretty normal for me but talking to the little 12 year old kid was just fun. The Norsk tacos they fed us were also super good. They served the meat in a little um...... what would you call it... like a supsended bowl that had a little candle under it to keep it warm. It was super cool. It's also nice because I don't have to exert myself that much to understand what people are saying. So much easier. ANyways they were way cool. 

Tuesday.... oh yeah... hmm. I'll have to send some pictures next week because I forgot my cord... Sorry! I'll repent! Basically it was the last day before everyone moved, and there were some missionaries going home so we all went out and bought k babs which was really fun. That night we taught one of our progressing invs. with a member, and afterwords that member (25 year old guy with crazy hair, and.... he's so cool. THats all I can say about him) took us to a chinease resturaunt for dinner. It was really fun. I also am now the only teacher for the intermediate norwegian class. I have no Idea who's Idea it was to make me in charge of that but its not good :) Acutally its fun. I just don't feel like that great of a teacher. 

We visited Laila again this week. I don't remember if I mentioned her or not, but she is a 70 year old less active norwegian lady who is super nice, and feeds us SUPER good desserts whenever we go over. It's fun. I think in that whole 2 hour visit me and anderson said maybe... 9 sentences. She really just needs to talk. It's cool though. She wants to come back to church and eventually get to the temple. (I miss the temple so badly) We also got to move Mia this week with her family. It took like half the day but it was super fun. It was funny because Mia thinks i'm just this completely pure and innocent angel boy (that's my nickname) and she didn't want to see me have to move all of her stuff. She's so funny. Her mom also fed us a cake from what apparently is the best cake shop in Norway. I beleive. them. a lot. IT was SOOO good. Literally. I didn't think a cake could be that good. It was perfection. That's how I would describe it :D Thanksgiving actually..... hmm. I forgot about it. Turns out the couple here wasn't doing one with us, so we didn't actually have thanksgiving. I forgot about it to be honest. I didn't realize it was thanksgiving until that night. We did have spaghetti with a really cool family though. They had a little 1 year old girl who was super cute. She kept coming over and trying to attack my scriptures :) Anyways. It was fun. 

Lest everyone think I'm completly apostate and all I do is have fun at this point.... actually that's about it :) I have fun. But. In terms of success this week was one of our best. ( and worst... not our fault though :( ) We had a couple come to church yesterday who was super cool. Just to put in perspective how rare it is for couples to be baptized... just know it doesn't happen :) There has only been one couple in like... 5 years. Anyways they said they are coming to church every week and well... we'll just have to see. I don't know yet. But it would be super cool. In terms of poopieness the hard part was losing contact with Konrad. I'm pretty sure I mentioned him before. Basically he just dropped off the face of the planet. So that was really hard. But in all it was a really good week. Me and my comp. had a special fast for the things we wanted to accomplish this transfer, and it is just cool to know that you are doing what you need to be doing. I would also say I feel the prayers and the help i'm recieving in a very real way. I cannot say that I am perfect, but I am defenitely growing a changing like I need to be. 

That's about all I got for now :) It's so fun to hear about how all of you guys are doing at home! Just keep living it up, because honestly life is awesome! 

From the tall (not so skinny anymore dude...) running around Norway,

- Eldste Christopher Whetten

... No seriously. I've gained weight. I broke the 150 barrier this week! Woot! Go team not excercising!

PS. I SOLEMNLY SWEAR TO SEND PICTURES NEXT WEEK :)