Nye Leiligheten (the new apartment!)

A gorgeous "sunset" on the fjord

Hei alle!

Thank you thank you thank you ALL for the continued birthday wishes!! I have absolutely loved receiving emails and wonderful letters and even a sweetawesome package filled with a never-ending supply of candycanes in it! I will do my best to respond to all of the wonderful wishes thoroughly and sufficiently - though it may take a few P-Days! Ahh I love you all.

Whaaat?

My birthday carrot cake! (carrot cake isn't so bad!)

News flash: we're getting  an apartment! I mean, a new apartment! As of this Wednesday the first, our new address is:

71 Sørlandsveien

8624 Mo i Rana

Norway

I'll make sure to check the previous address for extra mail or other things that may arrive there - so no worries if you sent it to that address!

My birthday with Torstein

As for this week it's been a huge series of ups, a couple downs, and being way tired by the end of it all. Remember: tiredness is a sign of a good missionary! Let me tell you that it is an absolutely remarkable and touching experience when an investigator solidly bears testimony to you that he knows God lives, the Book of Mormon is God's word, Joseph Smith was God's prophet who restored the truth, and that the Holy Ghost watched over and protected him. "Eg vet at Den Hellige Ånd pass på meg" (I know that the Holy Ghost watches over me) will always resonate in Elder Farnsworth and I's ears. It is the best experience in the whole entire world - especially after such dark times in the past - and makes every hardship worth it. When an investigator knows from God (not just us) that this is truly His church and His plan for us, and that His love is specifically and personally real to each and every one of us - that makes the coldest, darkest day burn with angelic flame. I love being a missionary.

Our new apartment! (second floor!)

Another experience this past week was that when all of our investigators left for the weekend, we felt the harsh reality of what life is like without investigators :P. But we still had a good day! There is no shame in a full day of finding. One neat experience was when we went out to bonk we really specifically asked for guidance as to where we should go. "How does stjerneveien sound?" asked Farnsworth. "That sounds really good." I reply. On our way there . . . I feel really strongly to go try the building on the right (on Langmoheia). Hmm. Strange. As we tried the first door: she told us to come back at a later time. Sweet! The second door: also told us to come back! The third door: a teenage kid opened the door slightly ajar while talking on the phone. We of course offered the Book of Mormon, and he motioned for the book. He snatched it out of my hand and immediately shut the door. Hahaha!! Fourth door: we received a specific return appointment! What a blessing indeed! The Lord is always willing to bless us - all it takes is asking, and then working for it :).

It is awesome to hear all of my friends out on missions and working their tails off! As the blood of Ephraim, missionary work courses through our veins - it is the destiny and lifeblood of our existence! No other work will bring greater joy. And if I did feel greater joy I think I may become consumed. 2 Nephi 4:21. Mosiah 5:2-4. Missionary work rocks.

I love you all, and hope to continue hearing from you all. Invite someone to church! It'll bring you true joy :D.

-Eldste Bryce Thomas Johnson

Our district meetings every week over the phone (at times painful)

A missionary apartment. Fruit, vegetables, deodorant, hair gel, and cereal all on the same table.

Nordlys!! (Northern Lights!!)

yeah it's cold here sometimes!

Hallo alle!!

Where to begin? I have so many awesome things that happened this past week!!

First off, thank you Sorce family and Aunt Barbara for the cards :). Thank you Aunt Janae, Dru & fam, Mr. Cunningham, Carissa (God knows how to bless us in the very most bestest way indeed :D), and anyone else I happened to forget for the emails! Mom, thank you for the two packages: the voice recorder has improved my Norsk DRASTICALLY within just a few days!! And yes, I realize I very much DO have an accent.Oi. I cannot express how happy I am to have a voice recorder!! Rocky Mountain Chocolate is the third best thing you could have sent me!(first being your apple pie, and second being your homemade bread :P). I love you all so much! -my birthday has been absolutely astonishingly extraordinarily fabulous!!

NOT! (family tradition button)

And it also turns out since I was born at 5:19 pm on January 23rd, that makes my birthday in Norway actually the 24th at 2:19 am! Oh technicalities :P

Yesterday we saw the Northern Lights for the first time!! Oh they were fabulous! Hopefully you all can see the pictures I took! Very green here in Norway - and beautiful!! Streaks of color splashed across the sky.

Nordlys!

Nordlys in the graveyard!!

It's a huge blessing to all of us who have been in the dark for so long! I am expecting we'll see the sun for the first time this week after 11 awesome weeks of no sun :). haha!

Sliding down the streets all day really 
makes our legs sore!

OK story time! This past week, we have recognized just how securely Elder Farnsworth and I are in God's hands. Precarious-looking at times, yet still extremely well taken care of :). Specialized Training was held in Trondheim this past week - and usually our flight is just a hop, skip and a jump down to Trondheim. Once we landed, Elder Farnsworth and I booked it out of the plane and walked into the airport looking for the airport bus. "Hmm, this place looks rather different than usual." We thought. "Maybe because it was a small plane, we landed a little ways off from the bigger planes." after 10 minutes of walking around . . . . OH NO. We sprint back into the airport and ask the security "Unnskyld, hvor er vi??" (Excue me, where are we?) "Brønnøysund." Ahhh!!! We book it through security, and most gratefully for some providential reason, our plane was still there, 15 minutes later. Of course, we walked in, faces bright bright red, and the flight attendant greeted us most kindly "Velkommen tilbake!" Hahaha. I immediately turned to Elder Farnsworth: "the moment the plane lands, we run from this plane immediately." Oi it was incredibly embarrassing!! But then! On our way back I really really really wanted a Sesam's kebab (one of the best kebabs in Norway). With 1 hour, 10 minutes to get to the airport (and a 45 minute bus ride TO the airport), we popped into the Sesam's kebab stand. "Sju minutter" (7 minutes) I thought the man said. After waiting there for what felt like a really long time . . . and watching 3 airport busses go by . . . I realized he actually said "Sjue minutter" (20 minutes). GAH. The moment we got those kebabs, we ran to the bus stop and the first airport bus totally blew right past us. Didn't even slow down! We're totally going to miss our flight! The very next bus we wave down like madmen, and snarf down the kebab back in the bus. We ran through security (shoes off and on and all!), Elder Farnsworth ran through the Trondheim airport with stockinged feet! And as we ran to our gate, the last person checked their ticket to go on the plane. We made it not a minute too early, neither a minute too late. Oh my goodness. Far too much stress for one day - yet how wonderful it was that we made it :).

Another great story this past week was this wonderful woman who, when we shared Joseph Smith's story, responded "Yeah! And what did Joseph Smith ask Jesus??" "And then what did Jesus say??" "Oh that's so exciting! I simply MUST read the Book of Mormon!" She is nothing less than a gift from God. Really, she is so willing to learn, it's wonderful! Sadly though, we didn't have a Swedish Book of Mormon with us. We ordered one immediately, and we'll see how that goes!!

We made a rockin' pizza with our investigator!

A fantastic piece of news this week is that we're getting a new apartment on the first of February!! No more cigarette smoke, holes in roofs, frequent power outages, breath-seeing in our apartment, ice cold shower floors, or loud neighbors! Woohoo! We'll still be in sentrum, very close to the city, so it'll be amazing!! We cannot adequately express how grateful we are for a new, absolutely fabulous apartment (which we checked out this past week!). It is such a gift!!

Dad, just so you know, you would thrive in a couples' mission! Seeing what the couple missionaries do here in Norway, I can totally see you doing the same. And I know you would love it too! I really look forward to serving when I'm old!

Other than that, I need to go celebrate with some people! I love each and every one of you. I am so grateful for the relationships that I have - they are simply gifts from my loving Father in Heaven.

Take care! Til next week!

-Eldste Bryce Thomas Johnson

Farnsworth and I eat and work out like KINGS!!

Comment by Mom Johnson- This picture looks disgusting.  I am not sure why Elder Johnson thinks this is food for a king. I think that is broccoli on the left and purple brains on the right. ;-)

"Fresk som en fesk!"

Hei alle!

"Fresk som en fesk" is a northern-Norwegian expression that means feelin' great and refreshed! In Bokmål (aka, the clearest, book form of Norwegian), they'd say "Frisk som en fisk!" Gotta love the dialects here :). There was a really nice man from Narvik (way north!) we bonked into who wasn't interested to listen to our message, but he let us warm up in his apartment. Super nice fellow! For some reason our conversation stumbled upon fishing and the deliciousness of fish. To make a short story shorter, we found ourselves outside his door with a good chunk of delicious, boneless, newly frozen fish at no charge! Oh boy was it balicious. Elder Farnsworth and I know how to throw things together!

Speaking of which, Elder Farnsworth joined me up here in Mo i Rana last week!

This is Farnsworth and I!

We came in the same MTC group, so this is quite the experience for the both of us. He is rockin' - chill, fun-loving, and together we can throw delicious dishes together in a heartbeat.

Delicious cabbage/meat soup!

I'll definitely miss Elder Olsen though - good luck in Drammen ol' buddy! One thing I've definitely learned from Elder Farnsworth thus far is the power of prayer. Storytime!:

A few weeks back we ran into a Romanian woman who wanted a copy of the Book of Mormon. She was without a number (of course), and instead we received her address, which ended up being all the way out in Båsmo (quite far from Mo). With just an address, and a rough estimate of bus routes, we made it to Båsmo on a quest to find that lady! Feeling rather hopeless once we got off the bus, Elder Farnsworth immediately suggested we hold a prayer. Now feeling hopeful we set off in an arbitrary direction! After asking 4 different very nice people, we found our heading! Then, through someone pulling out a phone, using google maps, a cozy neighborhood trail, and checking mailbox addresses on the way - we made it to the woman's home! Score!! But, of course, the moment we bonked upon the door, she awkwardly drove up the driveway. Why does that always happen to missionaries?? She was very pleasant and gracious in receiving the book. Prayer of thanks, and of safely returning home. Afterward, we found our way to the bus stop with a few moments to spare. We got a waffle at the ski resort just up the street.

Snow resort in Båsmo!

Snowboarding nostalgia hit me like a brick wall. Elder Farnsworth too. Oh we were unprepared!

Me and the resort :P

Once the bus finally came, it turned out that our return ticket had expired (within 10 minutes, of course). We were stuck in the middle of nowhere, without sufficient cash to pay the bus man! He was extremely kind and let us ride. Prayer of thanks once again - we were in the hands of the Lord that whole trip :).

As for other cool stories this week . . . all I have is that yesterday we walked all the way out to Selfors (45 min. walk) for more houses to bonk, and found a man who told us to come back! Yeeah! Needless to say, our pants were soaked by the end. It dumped snow on us this week!

That car's covered!

I can see the sun! . . .'s effect on the mountains.

And why it's raining right now in northern Norway, in the middle of January is the greatest question of the year (thus far). However we're extremely grateful it isn't -20 degrees outside anymore :).

I love you all! By the way, who are these 9 beautiful and amazing children on the back of our Christmas card?? I'm going to be floored once I visit Lara's family again - I can't wait!! The Gospel is true - because it works! It transforms us almost imperceptibly throughout our lives :).

Kjør på! (drive on!)

-Eldste Bryce Thomas Johnson

Greatest Fear: Accomplished!‏

Hey everybody!

I cut my own hair!! Oh man was I scared to do it. Haha. It doesn't look too terrible. But one of our investigators told me I missed a spot. Boy did I miss a spot! - Bahaha.

Elder Crookshank (Mr. Cunningham!) sent me a simply wonderful letter this past week with the question "how have you changed most on your mission so far?" In order to answer this question, I thought I should do so on my email so he gets the answer sooner than later, and also share my answer with everyone else! I think I have changed the most in my perception of everything. My perspectives have changed drastically. I have learned that you can only do so much until you reach a limit (whether physically, spiritually, emotionally or mentally). And on a mission you're able to exercise those limits until you are miraculously able to accept them, and even at times go beyond those limits (through the Atonement of Christ). Cold, for example, is a very big mind-game. I have found myself both extremely joyous in the cold, and also rather miserable in the cold. What's the difference? Perspective. Another thing I've learned is to love others unconditionally. It's difficult here, but loving others is the only way out of it! From General Conference talk "Missionaries are a Treasure of the Church" I learned that love is the absolute most important thing a missionary can share with others. And if that's the most important thing to share: I can do that. I've learned how to have fun while everything around you looks dark (literally, as well!). There is no better way to lift your spirits than to tell a hilarious story from your past. (Thank you Garrett for our valuable stash of hysterical stories :P, you've kept us alive here!). But besides all of this I have very much learned how to deal with a LOT of imperfection. Whether in ourselves, others, apartments, the world, etc, there is a lot of imperfection. Yet through the Lord Jesus Christ are we able to overcome these imperfections and bask in joy and love! So to answer your question, Elder Crookshank, I don't exactly know if you'll recognize me when I come back: I can't see myself from the outside in! However, I can see myself from the inside out - and my inside has changed quite a bit. I'm sure yours has as well, I have no doubt! "How long can rushing water remain impure?"

Hopefully that made sense. We don't have very much time left, but I do want to say that I am extremely grateful for this past General Conference. I am able to read it when I eat, and it sure picks me up! I hope I'll remember these talks for the rest of my life.

No, no northern lights yet, despite the fact that I set my alarm for the middle of the night to check and see! I love you all so much; I feel your prayers. Stand strong on the foundation of Christ!

-Eldste Bryce Thomas Johnsonq

 

Bryce and his new companion Elder Farnsworth when they were in the MTC‏

Godt Nytt År!‏

 It's actually a clear day! Hurry, take a picture!

Hei alle!

Norwegians celebrate their New Year very much like Americans celebrate the 4th of July: tons and tons of fireworks! It was really neat for a while, until we had to go to bed trying to sleep through the ambience of exploding substances the rest of the evening. Really neat experience though! Isn't it also comforting to know that if the world ends this year, by timezone (as prophesied by that one guy), that your missionary in Norway will get the brunt of it firsthand?? Hehe.

As for this week, needless to say, holidays are tough times for missionaries who don't have many places to go :). But on the other hand, we're also at times filled to the brim with such exceeding and exquisite joy that we wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the whole entire world! Oi, what a roller coaster! I suppose that's all a part of enduring to the end: being solidly faithful through both the lowest of lows and most extreme of highs (by the Spirit, mind you!).

I would like to express my gratitude for all of you faithful members of the church who continue to love and serve one another and are steadfastly attending church! Us as missionaries adore you and appreciate you more than we can comfortably express. I suppose we're slightly biased, however, since other missionaries don't have the same experiences that we do, here in Mo i Rana. But if they could, they would appreciate and love you beyond expression! You are all so blessed, and are indeed a blessing to the community you are in!

Mo i Rana is coming out of the ashes now, after the holidays, so we are ready to dig deep and hard into the snow this week! One of the best things about working here in Mo i Rana is the time we have to improve our storytelling skills. Stories can make the hardest of difficult days a breeze. Another great thing about Mo i Rana is that we met someone who actually challenges our beliefs! I was very surprised not very many people challenge our belief here in Norway, but we did meet someone! And it has been a simply wonderful experience teaching, directly from the scriptures, why we believe what we believe. It builds my testimony all the more that us missionaries are trained in our lessons (Restoration, Plan of Salvation, Gospel of Christ and Commandments) and in love, and the rest of study is up to you and the Spirit. The Lord gives us so much freedom and abilities to choose in that which we study and learn to best apply the doctrine to the individuals we meet. I love it.

I know this work is God's work. Joseph Smith was God's prophet on the earth, just as Adam, Abraham and Moses of ancient time, and today we have Thomas S. Monson who leads this Church as Christ would if He were on the earth. What a blessing it is that we have that knowledge. I love you all so very much - continue being awesome!

-Eldste Bryce Thomas Johnson

 coooold!