Uke 94: When Stavanger Is an Option

HALLA BALLA! This week was super busy!

We had zone conference in Stavanger this week so the mission President and his wife and the assistants wanted to come the day before to spend p-day with us because there is no reason to stay in Oslo if Stavanger is an option. So we went on an awesome hike as usual. It was called Ugeliåsen. It was pretty short but the trail and the view from the top were beautiful!

Zone conference the next day was really good, it felt a little weird though being my last one before I go home. We hosted a couple other Elders from Bergen the night before and that was really fun and we made Tandoori pizza and reminisced about Geir the good old days up north.

We traveled to Flekkefjord on thursday! It is really far away (closer to Kristiansand than Stavanger) but there is a member and her husband that live there who come to church in Stavanger when they can. We had some adventures on the way there. We had to switch busses in a place called Hauge i Dalane and that was really weird. We had about 30-40 mins to wait there before our next bus would come so we had a look around the town and it was just really weird. The first sketchy thing that happened was when the bus driver just pulled over on the side of the road, where there was no bus stop and told us it was the end of the route. There was nobody else in sight at first and it was dead quiet even though we were in the middle of the town. We walked around and picked up some weird vibes, and saw a dead bird, and a little girl jumping on a trampoline which was on her roof. We felt like everyone we saw was spying on us and following us. We were excited to leave, and when the bus finally showed up, it was just a big green van... not a bus. But we got on anyway with only one other man, who also seemed really strange, and then started the drive towards Flekkefjord. Luckily, the weird vibes went away as soon as we left Hauge i Dalane and the drive was super pretty! Especially Jøssingfjord! Flekkefjord was awesome too! The people we visited are some of the nicest, friendliest people I have ever met. And it was also just cool to be back in Sørlandet, which is the region where I began my mission 2 years ago. And the weather was awesome! Actually it was a little too hot (32 C) but its better than cold.

Other than that, we played beach volleyball, taught a mission prep class, and had a funeral/roastimony for my companion and I since we are both dying in 2 weeks! Me snakkes, dåkk!

We got lots of good pictures this week! Unfortunately, there is only space on this email for 3 so these are some of my favorites:

Uke 93: Having fun and working hard

Last p-day, we went on a hike with some of the young adults here in Stavanger and that was super fun! We went to Randabergfjellet which is just a small hill but it has a beautiful view of the beach and ocean in the area.

Danish Splits: We did splits this week with the Stavanger Elders, and I was with Elder Lindberg, who is from Denmark. I asked him to only speak Danish the whole time we were together and I tried to speak it the whole time too. I learned a lot! Also it was just a good splits in general and we had a fun time.

Another highlight was that Ove came to church! We have been working with him the entire time I have been here, and he came to church for the first time in over a year this week. He liked it a lot and he says he's going to keep coming. So we were really happy about that.

We have continued to be fed every single day. The streak is now at 4 weeks without buying groceries. I was amazed and a little confused by this until yesterday when we put 2 and 2 together and realized the time we started being fed so much was exactly when the sister missionaries got taken out of the area. I'm not gonna say that's the only reason we're getting fed more... but it is interesting.

Me snakkes, dåkk!

Uke 92: Becoming Norwegianly

Hei bois! It has been a good week in Rogaland! Summer has finally started and we have had a lot of good sunshine the last few days, so that's been super nice. Don't get fooled by the sun though, it's still a little chilly when it's windy. I need to get warmed up as much as Norwegianly possible before I get back home next month and it's actually hot. I am worried I might die of temperature shock in August, so yall gotta pray for me. 

We went on a little hike with some members and their friends along the coast in an area called Viste. It was a beautiful day and we had a picnic, saw an old lighthouse, some horses, a cool cave where people lived about 8000 years ago, and other rock formations. It was very koselig.

We got stranded yesterday. We took a little trip to a city called Jørpeland to try to find some specific people but the boat didn't go back when we thought it would so we ended up being stuck there for a while. Luckily it was a really nice place to be stranded so we weren't too disappointed. Eventually, we had to take a bus to another city called Tau and then eat some kebab while we waited for the ferry to take us back home. We got home a little later than usual so we got to see the sun come close to setting and that was really pretty. There were some good vibes.

Our FHE Activity yesterday was going to a beach on a little island and grilling hot dogs and playing baseball with a few young adults here in Stavanger, so that was fun.

Another cool thing: People fed us almost every day this week as well as last week so this p-day will be my 3rd consecutive p-day without buying groceries.

That's about it for this week. Snakkes, dåkk 

Uke 91: A Really Good Week

This week was filled with a ton of appointments and service and free food. There were not a lot of exciting events that happened, it was just overall a really good week. The biggest highlight was probably that Noah, one of the young men here who is one of my favorite people, got called to serve a mission in Sacramento, California, so I'm really excited for him! 

That's about all I gidde this week, so until next time, ha det bra dåkk 

Also we didn't do a hike last p-day so here's a week old picture from Preikestolen.

Uke 90: Six weeks left

HEI DÅKK!

We had a good week! We got to find out about moves on Saturday and I was very happy to find out that I will be staying here in Sandnes for the remaining 6 weeks of my mission. I have loved all of my areas but this has probably been my favorite, so I am excited to be able to finish strong in such a great place with amazing people!

We helped a friend set up for someone's wedding this week and that was really fun. We got to meet lots of new people and help out a lot. I got hit on by a gay Filipino guy which was a little weird for me, but if I ever want to take a trip to the Philippines, he said he will buy the plane ticket, so that would be cool haha.

Another highlight was Kleppe eventyr! We went to a little town called Kleppe this week to try to find some inactive members. This was my first time visiting this town so I didn't really know what to expect but it turned out to be a fun adventure. The second we hopped off the Train, we were hit with a wall of rain and something that smelled terrible. We found the first house we wanted to visit quickly without any problem (other than the fact that we were soaked) but there was nobody home so we started walking to the next one and the smell just got worse and worse over the next few minutes until we were both gagging and laughing and choking all at the same time, and we didn't know why it smelled so awful until we passed by a building and got a view of a big truck spraying a huge fountain of manuer all over the fields. When we finally got to the town center and tried to find the next house, it took a really long time and we got lost and ended up finding some other cool stuff along the way, such as an old viking burial mound/monument, and a cool park. When we finally found the house we were looking for, nobody was home... But it was worth it for the eventyr.  Now Kleppe means so much more to me than just a stinky little farming town with lots of cows!

Norway is so awesome! Yall should come visit! Me snakkes!