Bønn (Prayer)

 Our ferry on the way to district meeting

  On the ferry - that's our bus :):)

Hei!

Tate (Cousin)

First off, I heard a little bird whisper to me that Tate has his mission call. Is that true? Since when? Where in the world is he going (literally)? Why hasn't anyone decided to inform me regarding this asap?! If I heard by mistake, my bad :).

Second off, how pleasant it was to see Ken Ken in the background of General Conference Saturday afternoon session! I hope all is well with you, buddy!

Well as for this week, things are definitely coming along here in Haugesund. With the addition of bikes to our missionary tools, we've been able to be 

Bikes! (Thanks Dad for the plastic bag idea!)

much more efficient and effective in our efforts. Efficiency is something I am obsessed with - quite possibly slightly obsessive compulsive. They are an excellent addition to this area, and we are extremely extremely grateful :). Just don't ask for the price tag.

This week's spiritual experiences have much to do with prayer. 

A less-active we've been working with  said that she "finally felt that warm, peaceful feeling again" after saying a prayer aloud, alone, for her first time. Praying aloud is a unique way to show your faith, focus and humility to God. An example of which is found when Joseph Smith prayed aloud for his first time in a grove of trees (JSH 1:14). 

Another less active cancelled one of our appointments because her son had a bunch of rambunctious friends over. Upon our return the next day, his friends were still over, so we decided to teach them all instead! We gathered the whole house around the Book of Mormon, busted out some pictures of Enos from the church, and told the story of Enos. The boys listened intently, and responded in the sweetest, and most intent manner. I wish teaching adults was that special of an experience all the time. "So what do you do when you feel sad?" "Pray!" "What do you do when you need help?" "Pray!" Very good. One of the boys was even Buddhist - and you could tell he had some spiritual connection as well. That was a neat experience.

An email I received from my best friend in China included a story regarding a boy who is frustrated with his prayers, isn't receiving answers and has thereby "given up" on God. I desire to speak to that boy, as well as to all who are having difficulties with prayer right now.

A sign outside of a Christian church read "We know what you want. What does God want?" Naturally, talking comes much more easily to each of us than listening does. This is particularly true when it comes to prayer. How many times have we prayed at night, quickly muttered some repeated phrases and hit our pillows at night without even a thought about who we are actually communicating with, or what we are actually saying? Is it possible that we are posing the wrong problems and questions to Him, that are not in our eternal best interest? Is that the reason why God seemingly "never answers our prayers"? I know that when God answers us, He doesn't "waste" His answer on one who won't (aka does not desire to, or even attempt to) listen.

Second, prayer takes a great deal of personal meditation and inner-stillness in order to hold your heart and mind tender and cultivated to receive an answer. Stress, music, and other noises can interfere with our personal receptors to receive an answer. Be still for once. 

Third, prayer isn't entirely active, nor is it entirely passive. It is a stance that must be achieved at the extremities of your active efforts to dig and find the will of the Lord, as well as hold yourself completely passive to any possible influences you may receive.

Fourth, read and ponder the scriptures - they open the way to revelation. They are an effective tool to remove your thoughts from the worldly "noise". Consider fasting.

"Indeed, I have come to suspect that faith is sometimes developed in the true Christian in spite of, rather than because of,immediate answers to prayer—at least to that type of prayer which we are all too prone to offer, that which admonishes God to do our bidding, that which reduces his role to that of a cosmic servant." - please read all of http://www.lds.org/ensign/1976/01/before-praying?lang=eng

I am not perfect at praying, not even close. I believe it is entirely impossible to hold a perfect prayer - because it is so individual and intimate. And so, through humble searching, and a great deal of patience, I have found access to a large reservoir of peace through the gift of prayer.

"As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are His children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7:7–11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings."

Prayer is work. And prayer works.

-Eldste Bryce Thomas Johnson

A comet? We were surprised to see this thing in the sky. It looked nothing like a plane when it was closer . . . 

Watching conference!

:)

Cookies we made for General Conference :) mmm.

Tom Påske (Empty Easter)

Smågodt! Another Norwegian Easter
Tradition of assorted candies in a paper bag.

Kvikk Lunsj - the Norwegian equivalent (or rather, improvement) of the US Kit Kat. A Norwegian Easter tradition that I adore.

Kjære alle sammen!

Empty easter sounds a lot like empty nester. That's not the idea I'm trying to convey at all, really. Just the fact that out on the street right now - the "busiest" time of day - there's not a soul in sight. Welcome to the Norwegian Easter tradition! Honestly, it's more empty now than it was during the Christmas season.

Avaldsnes Church

I don't blame the Norwegians at all, however. Especially because apparently this is the best weather Western Norway has had for this long since 1951. We're not complaining! It is simply stunning weather - brightly sunny, hardly a cloud in the sky and a nice brisk breeze. Oh I love it here. Recently on our long bus and ferry trips to faraway places, gazing at the fleeting Norwegian landscapes has captured my mind and heart in a nostalgic vice.  

 "Heyy all the sheepies ran away."

The sheepies that ran away . . . .

One of those trips actually brings me to one of our coolest stories this week! Cleaning up the area book is always a fascinating experience. You can get the best experiences, and the worst experiences going through it. Regardless, it's always worth it. We called up a previous investigator and he said he would love to have us over to help him "cast out the demons in my apartment". Uhh . . . figuratively or literally? Upon discussion with Elder Schulz, and our Mission President, we felt it was a good idea and see if we could make it a positive experience. Hold a blessing upon the home, hold a prayer - what could go wrong? Upon arrival, a few hours out of Haugesund, we met him and walked into his "apartment". It actually turned out to be a mental institution, and clear signs of mental instability showed in our previous investigator's behaviors right off the bat. Note to all missionaries: please update your records thoroughly. Stumbling into these situations aren't always this pleasant. Well anyway, we got to know him, evaluated how we could help him, held a simple prayer and got out of there. We felt that we did what we could, and the comforting influence of the Spirit was present, so we felt satisfied. Upon waiting at the bus stop, however, we were unsure if there was even a bus available for our return trip. A nervous trickling on our backs began forming because we knew that it was Easter - all bus routes are completely out of wack for the whole week. We called members, prayed and hoped for a bus to come our way. One member called us back and assured us that bus from a different company would be passing by, so we would make it home. Huge sigh of relief - we were going to make it to church the next day.

The story doesn't end there, though! Elder Schulz and I still felt a little bit "off" after that whole experience. As if there was something "more" to do in the area. Once the bus arrived, it was packed with people, so we filed in and crammed in the back of the bus. Just as we left the station, Elder Schulz turns to me and says "hey, isn't that the preaching humanist who stopped us a few weeks back?" "oh yeah!!" He was sitting there in the back of the bus. Elder Schulz sat next to another young man, who wanted more "religious enlightenment" in his life, and I sat next to our friend, the preaching humanist. This was clearly the purpose behind our entire visit the entire time!

E., the preaching humanist, ended up sparking conversation with us regarding evolution, the existence of the soul before and after death, judgment day and evidence for the existence of God. Most of these questions were actually very simply answered through the restored truths of the Plan of Salvation. He seemed quite satisfied with the answers to those questions, so then he went directly to the existence of God. "How do you know He exists?" "I prayed and asked Him. He also answers my questions and relieves my worries and concerns." "Did He talk to you?" "No, normally He communicates to me through my feelings." 

The accusations that then ensued, much like unto Korihor's argument that these feelings are the "effect[s] of a frenzied mind" (Alma 30:16), began to barrage my mind and directly attack my testimony. His reasoning was that I wanted an answer so much that I "answered myself" through a self-inflicted chemical reaction in my brain and heart. I then began to share a story with him that I have used frequently on my mission with regards to gaining answers to prayer:

When I was in college before my mission, I had a lot of time before I would go and serve my mission. Due to this large amount of time, it was necessary that I pick which major, or direction I would take in order to obtain my degree shortly after returning home. I made it a matter of prayer, because if anyone knew which direction I should go and study for a future career and family, God did. From previous experiences and church situations, I knew that God would only answer me if I had put in my part by "studying it out" (D&C 9:8) and asking (James 1:5). By the process of elimination, then, I began finding different majors, considering them, and asking God if that major was the one I should pursue. It began with the sciences, and there was no divine response. It continued into mathematics, and there was no response. And so it continued through psychology, linguistics, history, so on and so forth with absolutely no answer from God. Pretty soon, by the 7th or 8th attempt in asking God what I should do, I got no answer once again, and I became very frustrated. I knew that God answered prayers, so then why didn't He? My career and future family was something of great importance to me, why didn't God help me?? After a few thoughts along that vein, I took a step back in my frustrated prayer. "Father, does it really matter which one I pick? Or should I go ahead and pick one, and you will see to it that things will work out?" Suddenly a very warm feeling entered into my heart and mind - to a degree at which I had never experienced before. It was clearly from an outer source - for I had not felt such a direct confirmation in this manner before. 

After turning to E. I queried "so why didn't I "answer myself" those first 7 or 8 times? I really wanted an answer. Very much so. It was a determining factor for my entire future. Clearly God had more in store for me, I was just asking Him the wrong question the whole time." 

He responded in a humble, genuine manner, and the Spirit was very strong in our little bus. He accepted a Book of Mormon, to read for "educational purposes", but I know there's more waiting for E. God loves him so much, He set two 19-21 year old boys with name tags on a long-lost bus trip to a flunk of an appointment in the middle of nowhere in order to find him.

God answers prayers - and I am a living witness of that truth.

-Eldste Bryce Thomas Johnson

If you were wondering why we didn't include pictures of our
apartment before -
honestly there isn't much to take a picture of!

Viking attire.

 Mulan, anyone??

 "Viking" brand soon to hit local stores everywhere . . . .

"Mary's Needle" - legend has it that once this needle finally touches the wall of the church,
 it's the end of the world. Well! Let's hurry things up a bit! :P

Our living room/my desk in the early morning!

God Påske! (Happy Easter!)

 Haugesund after nightfall

Hallo!

Elder Schulz and I read in the white handbook this morning, as per tradition, but this time we replaced all of the "you"s with "ye"s and "your"s with "yon"s. Olden day English has never seemed so hysterical in my life.

This week rocked! Last P-day, we had dinner over at K.'s home (who was previously baptized in Stavanger, but is originally from and currently lives in Haugesund). We had a very pleasant time discussing his life, our missionary work and his personal efforts with missionary opportunities. New converts are on fire when it comes to desire to share the gospel! It was very inspiring and uplifting talking with him. For our spiritual thought, he ended up sharing his conversion story, which I'll try to paraphrase as best I can:

K. had been meeting with us for a good number of weeks by now, reading and praying, but not really showing a whole lot of progress. Once we got to the commandments, the Word of Wisdom caught his attention due to his habits of drinking alcohol socially and coffee nearly every morning. K., up to this point, had been suffering from insomnia, as well as some stomach pains for a few years now. Once we shared the Word of Wisdom, he was a little hesitant to try it. "Just try it for a week and see what happens" we encouraged him. A few days later, his work had a little "get-away" where alcohol and coffee was abundant and free of cost. He had nearly forgotten his commitment to hold the Word of Wisdom when right before he left his hotel room, he received a text. "Hey K.! How's it been going this week holding the Word of Wisdom so far?? - Elder Levine and Elder Johnson" In response: "It's been going fine so far - but now I'm off to a work party where there'll be free coffee and alcohol. I'll do my best to hold out - thanks for the reminder!" A few days later we met with him, and he hadn't broken the Word of Wisdom yet. Strangely to him, after a week, it made him feel a lot better than he had before. After two and a half weeks straight of holding the Word of Wisdom, his stomach pains, as well as insomnia had both miraculously disappeared! With such a powerful experience, K. began testifying to us of the divine law of the Word of Wisdom and how Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet in our day. Soon, K. will be married to J. in Stavanger, and they're both looking forward to marriage in the temple and deciding where they'll finally settle down - Haugesund or Stavanger. Very exciting!

One really neat thing about serving in Haugesund is that we take the "Hurtigbåt", or ferry, every week for district meetings down in Stavanger. 5 am boat rides are slightly miserable, but it's definitely worth actually seeing your district face to face (unlike the North). Elder Holden came back to Haugesund with me for splits. He arrived in Elder Schulz's group, so it was cool to see how another new missionary has handled the mission! In companionship study we read Preach my Gospel chapter 9's "Teach when you Find, Find when you Teach", which helped us refocus our methods of contacting and bonking. That night we went from door to door testifying of the truthfulness of Joseph Smith's call to be a prophet - and of God's love for us today through a prophet. Rarely has bonking ever felt so inspiring, despite what others might consider a return home with a "low-result" number-wise. We felt amazing.

Our Mission President has recently encouraged the missionaries to dig their roots deep into the Norwegian culture, and even recommended that we read some Norwegian fairytales. You don't have to tell us twice! Elder Schulz and I have made it a nightly tradition from 10:15-10:25 to read a Norwegian fairytale before bed. Trolls, billy goats, hags, princes, princesses, talking cursed polar bears, giants and rolling talking pancakes have been garnishing our dreams at night ever since. It's fascinating to imagine these characters in the local forests, mountains, bridges and waterfalls in our area. I feel like I am a part of the culture now - it's awesome!

 Prim and proper!

As well earlier this week, Elder Schulz and I took a bus up to the city Stord where a member family lives. Places I would want to live in Norway are 1) Stavanger 2) Bergen 3) Stord. This place was beautifully quaint - with a western-Norwegian feel. I loved it! The family hasn't come to church for a long time now, primarily due to lack of transportational means. The two boys there, in the early teens, really hit it off well with us. You know, from the beginning of your mission you always wonder what different things up to that point in your life has prepared you for your mission. These kids love to jump on the trampoline, do martial arts and play piano. If I could name the top three things I did as a kid, they were those exact three things. Needless to say, we got along extremely well and had a blast showing off/getting to know each other :P. The other hilarious thing was that they were begging their Mom, "Mom, please can we go to church! You promised we would go this year - please Mom!!" We were very excited to meet this family. We'll see how these go with them these upcoming busy weeks.

"Why yes, I do have the captain in me, thank you!"

Speaking of which, it's Easter! Happy Easter everybody. Hope you enjoy the pictures from our hike this morning. Yes, the yellow pants are in commemoration of Easter. Apparently pastelles aren't the color of Easter here in Norway - just yellow.

How blessed we are to know the true reason for the celebration of Easter - the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God be thanked for His Son Jesus Christ, and His triumph over the mortal predicaments of both sin and death.

God Påske!

-Eldste Bryce Thomas Johnson

p.s. Don't ever play Clue with people who don't speak your language, or know how to play the game. It just plain doesn't work.

 No snow, but tons of ice!

Vitnesbyrd. (Testimony.)

Elder Schulz and I :)

Heisann!

Whew - there isn't much to say this week other than we are filling our planners with appointments with all of our members to establish deep roots in the area, and when their schedules don't match with ours, we go knock on doors! The snow and wind have been strong, but we love every minute of it :)

This week we had zone conference in Stavanger on Saturday. It was such a blast to spend the night at the Stavanger apartment with 14 of us missionaries - talk about a packed apartment!! Gratefully, the Stavanger church had 4 showers for us all to pack in and out of.

A special walk around Stavanger - oh I love that place!!

As for spiritual experiences this week:

Zone conference was very good and inspiring, with a good balance between working on skills and also personal testimony and faith. Though I didn't feel all that much refreshed near the closing of the meeting. I thirsted and hungered for more spiritual nourishment. By inspiration, instead of holding a closing hymn as was common, two companionships performed a quartet. That song touched my heart immensely, and I was able to write down a few last lines of revelation in my notebook in order to have a stronger faith and better plan for the coming months. It brought a healing to my troubled spirit that words and discussion could not reach. Music is an extremely powerful tool for spiritual nourishment and enrichment. Just being there for that experience made the whole zone conference worth it for me. I know that my Heavenly Father switched that song just for me. "For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads." - Doctrine and Covenants 25:12
 

Another experience that touched me this week was the importance of bearing testimony. We may not all recognize how important the bearing of a testimony is. I know that for me, I lost sight of how important testimony bearing is to investigators, members and most especially my own testimony. As our living prophet, President Thomas S. Monson put it "Regarding one's testimony, remember, that which one willingly shares he keeps, while that which he selfishly keeps he loses . . . . Teach and testify. There is no better combination." (Preach My Gospel pg. 198). I realized that I did not bear my testimony often enough in many aspects. So I decided to study the missionary lessons anew, and gain a refreshed testimony of every point. I know that God is my loving Heavenly Father. I know that through spiritual confirmation by the Holy Ghost, as well as through personal experiences in my past. God will not leave us helpless in this life, nor in the life to come. He is always willing to pick us up, brush us off, and/or send a person your way to help build you up. Due to this testimony, I also know that God loves every person upon this entire planet. That is a love that I cannot now understand, but my faith allows me to believe in it. And that belief is delicious to me.

-Eldste Bryce Thomas Johnson

Some pics found in an underpass on the way to a member's home :)

"Follow the dream, not the stream!" :)

Alice in Wonderland! Mario Kart!

For you spanish-speakers out there, this is a banana-cream spread for bread. Ewww. :P

Vinger! (Wings!)

 Haugesund 

Heisann!!

Oh me oh my where to begin?! I guess I'll start off by answering tons of questions from my parents:

• Training is awesome. After a year and a half of very "old" companions, it is a HUGE surprise, and breath of fresh air, to have a new missionary bearing fiery testimony to you every 5-10 minutes through everyday conversation. I've completely forgotten so many things about the transition to Norway:
  How incredibly cool it is that we now speak in a different language. How awesome it is that we're talking with real people, instead of MTC investigators. How obsessed we were before the mission to drink in every last thing about the Norwegian culture. The list goes on and on! To put it honestly: I need Elder Schulz just as much, if not more, than he needs me. The Lord's blessings indeed.
• Our apartment is really nice. Nicer than Tromsø, actually. 2 bedroom, and good sized kitchen and eating room. Though, due to the Norwegian tradition of not tearing down old homes, we have 0 insulation and heaters going constantly and it's STILL cold. Brr. Good thing we're going to be hitting summertime pretty soon. And (for Dad) the Mission Office couple finds the apartments for us, and sends us missionaries out to inspect and choose them. Our apartment in Haugesund has been the same apartment for over 8 years now. I'm surprised it's in such good shape! Only, covered in old missionary clothes that we're cleaning up as we go.
• The Branch here in Haugesund has been itching to receive missionaries for the past 9 months. We are desperately needed, and loved here in the branch. It's a wonderful feeling. There's primary classes to be taught, talks to be given, testimonies to be born, pianos to be played, knees to steady and hands to lift. So far, our plan for the area is to meet all of the active membership within 1 week, and all of the less-active membership within 3-4 weeks, while finding investigators on the way. We feel inspired to do so, so the Lord is on our side :D
• There are so many things that just so happened to line up perfectly here in Haugesund that the work just plain feels delicious. I love it!

Elder Schulz is my trainee! A fiery trainee, at that, from the Ogden area. As President Evans said "Well, at the very least you both have very musical backgrounds to keep you both unified", but our similarities go much further beyond that. He plays the oboe and piano, and can sing very well. We begin companionship study with a hymn every day :). We get overtones like crazy, it's cool!! We're similar in musical and choices in other media. We're very similar in our perspectives of how to work an area and build relationships. As well, he's very motivated to learn the language, which just makes my heart grin with joy! He's keeping me nice and toasty with his work ethic and testimony, and I'm loving every second of it.

-Eldste Bryce Thomas Johnson


p.s. no pics from Haugesund yet! We haven't stopped for breath quite yet . . . . :]

R. who we met back in November. Love that guy!

AJ who just received the Aaronic Priesthood and doing wonderfully!

Chi. who's stuck with us for so long! 

And our favorite smiley A. :D

Haugesund.

Any resemblance??

We seriously need to invest in one of these in America.

"Mine damer og herrer!" (as the SAS Widerøe airplane recording goes)

Last week sometime Elder Badger announced: "Whoa! It's moves next week!" What?? We just barely got together . . . but it really has been the whole of our 6 weeks together. It has flown by way too quickly, I feel. From devastating full darkness at 2 pm, now light until about 6 pm, you can certainly tell times have changed here in Tromsø. I have learned so much from this area:

I know that the Lord has a plan for an area, despite all forces working against it. As well, the Lord at times works an area in a different way than what is usually expected. Here in Tromsø, we've seen a lot of changes in the branch as we've gone through, edited, cleaned and updated the member list. This proved very useful as many inactive members are now active, and a few have received the priesthood and are progressing toward receiving the Melchizedek priesthood, and receiving patriarchal blessings! As well, P. was a huge "drop-in" miracle that the Lord simply placed in our path. We have so very much to be grateful for!

 If only you could see how small we were compared to that mountain.

As times were rough during the winter, Elder Badger and I also received many opportunities to be "Branch President" for the day, leading meetings, holding impromptu talks, and so forth just to hold the branch together on a Sunday. Now we have approximately 14 people attending church per week, AND the prospects of spring and summer looking our way for happier people and clearer roads for greater attendance on the horizon. On top of that, Elder Earl (from the Sandnes/Stavanger/Haugesund days) will be replacing me here in Tromsø - so the momentum here will not lose a beat. I'm very excited to see the future of Tromsø!!

Speaking of Haugesund, I received a call from President that Haugesund will be opening. That area has been closed for roughly 9-10 months now, so my new missionary Elder Schulz and I get the privilege of opening up Haugesund!! Due to being closed for so long, the members in Haugesund are now simply spring-loaded, itching and ready for missionary work to explode in that area. With excited members and a new missionary's fiery faith, I just hope I don't get in the way of all this good stuff happening!

Indescribable.

To be honest, I feel rather overwhelmed and slightly inadequate with the circumstances before me. But, such was the same when Moses lead the children of Israel to the coasts of the Red Sea. Such was the same when Joseph Smith prayed, and was suddenly seized upon by some unknown being. Such was the same when Elder Farnsworth and I found ourselves in a freezing apartment of Mo i Rana, both only 4 months out. The moment of rescue and deliverance always comes when all seems to black out and nothing but a sliver of hope, a desperate cry for help, remains. 

The solution, of course, is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith that He overcame sin and death. Faith that He can help you and me this very moment in our individual weaknesses and insecurities. Faith that He can heal you of previous transgressions, deep or shallow. Faith that when two 18-21 year old boys hit the streets of Haugesund, angels will be round about us, bearing us up. Faith that can only be bestowed upon humble, willing instruments in His hands.

"dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." - Ether 12:6

I'm praying for wings this transfer.

-Eldste Bryce Thomas Johnson

Off the Gryllefjord coast :)

"What do you think'll happen when the ocean disappears and we have to carry the boats!" in Northern dialect. Mmm.