Norges Arbeidernes Dag (Norwegian Labor Day!)

Location of Mo i Rana. 

Near the Arctic Circle-

The Arctic Circle is the invisible circle of latitude on the earth's surface at 66°33' north, marking the southern limit of the area where the sun does not rise on the winter solstice or set on the summer solstice - a geographic ring crowning the globe. It is approximately 1,650 miles from the North Pole. Scientists say the Arctic Circle "wanders". Click that last link to find out more!

The Arctic Circle is also the outermost parallel circle counted from the North Pole where we cannot see the sun rise over the horizon in the winter solstice. This phenomena is called polarnight, or midwinter darkness, and occurs around December 21.

Hallo!

Elder Farnsworth and I were extremely surprised last Tuesday when ALL of the shops were closed, and we were without people to find! After a few hours, we had Norwegian flags over everything, a live band, a huge crowd bustling in the city, and many old, delicious cars driving around! Porsche 911s, Stingray Corvettes, Dodge Chargers, Chevelle SS, 1940 Chevy pickup, etc etc. Farnsworth just helped me with the names - haha! So that was a little rain on our parade of finding - but a neat day nonetheless. I just wish I took pictures!

 

Our member took us to Svartisen - but it was closed :(

It has been way cold this past week - it's snowed twice, and the wind just won't stop blowing. But if there is one thing Satan can't do - it is hindering the Spirit while on the street. It is always edifying and personally cleansing to share the Book of Mormon with people. Frustrating and tiring? You bet your life! Worth it? Well, have you seen the Lord bless your life? The Lord, through a missionary, contacted my great great grandparents and shared the Restored Gospel with them. Because of that - hundreds, thousands, millions then eternities of lives are changed because of that missionary. If I can just find one person - one person! - to be a faithful, life-long convert to the Gospel of Jesus Christ - all of my efforts will have been worth it.

Our church activity on Wednesdays have been pretty cool too. We've had the opportunity to see some old old seminary videos - man I love these things! Spiritual Crocodiles, The Mediator - I love how the Church keeps up with technology in order to better create personal spiritual experiences to the people of the world. Even to today we have General Conference, Mormon Messages, and mormon.org filled with wonderful, uplifting messages about how the Lord can personally bless your life. Ahh - the Gospel rocks!

Bodø (the other city in my district) has had two baptisms this past week - and I absolutely love the reactions of these new converts. "I just feel like a huge weight is lifted! I feel light and happy." 

- that is evidence of sin's burden being lifted by our Savior Jesus Christ. This IS Christ's true gospel - administered, proved and supported by HIS authority. The restored priesthood of God directly given to Joseph Smith by the hands of Peter, James and John, as well as John the Baptist. Isn't it wonderful??

Recently I've reflected on how incredibly blessed we are in this church - especially in California and Utah. We have opportunities such as Especially For Youth, Education Week, Seminary, Institute, Church Activities and BYU Classes all aimed at opening up the scriptures and personally applying the truths of the gospel to our lives. My life has forever been changed by these things.

We've made a goal to see the Lord's hand in our everyday life. One big one I've realized is that I can understand the Northern Norwegian dialect really really well now. After 6 months, I should have it down - but it is still a miracle to see how the Lord can shape and use our minds to bring forth the word! Our members really help too. "Eg hæl ikkje" directly transcribes to "I heel not" which translates to "I can't manage it." Whodathunk?? There's some American dialect for ya as well :P

The Lord IS preparing the minds and the hearts of the people to receive the message of the Restored Gospel. As Alma says - there are angels going about RIGHT NOW among the people preparing them!! (Alma 13:24). We've just got a load of unprepared people to file through in order to find the prepared.

Keep 'em comin'!!

-Eldste Bryce Thomas Johnson

Svartiskongen! (The Black Ice King) - do you behold those legit shades and grimace!?!

P.S. happy birfday on the tenth, guuuuurl ;)

Real Norwegian Food - White fish (torsk) with butter and cream and potatoes. Baha.