Ja jeg elsker dette landet

There really isn't much left to say at this point. I never expected to experience what I've experienced here on my misssion and I never expected to feel the way I feel for this country and all the people that live here. What a blessing to serve, bless, teach, struggle, rejoice, and love these last two years.

I couldn't of asked for a better last sacrament meeting. A convert spoke. I got to bear my testimony. There was an awesome musical number. President and Sister Hill were visiting and spoke. And then it all ended with my favorite song, "Vi vil bringe sannhet til jord."

I've deleted the last 9 sentences I've written so I think I've run out of words.

It's been the best two years and will be on my mind for the next 50. Thanks Norway and thanks to an awesome family that got me here.

Love, 

Eldste Parkinson

Pioneers in Every Land!

Hey Everybody!

This week has been a blessing. 

We had Zone conference on Wednesday in Stavanger. My last one. Bittersweet. 

The highlight of it all was a special fireside we had last night. We called it "Pioneers in every land" and it highlighted the church's growth in Africa. We got over 60 people there (members, less actives, investigators, etc.) and it was an incredible program. My man Mike (a member here) led the meeting and talked about his conversion, mission experience, and building the church in Malawi. Tons of awesome videos and stories were shared about the first pioneers in Africa. We grow up in the church being very proud of our ancestors and the pioneers that sacrificed so much to cross the plains and establish the church in Utah. Yet, we often forget that these pioneer stories didn't stop when the church got to Utah. All over the world people continue to sacrifice everything in order to enjoy the blessings of the Gospel in their life. Here in Norway I've met so many people that have pioneer stories, both members and non-members. I was sitting between J. and B. at the fireside, listening to these stories, and realizing how real this all is to them. Getting displaced because of war, persecution, poverty. There is so much we can't understand or comprehend, but we can invite everyone to come unto Christ and partake of His restored gospel. That is the greatest gift we have to offer as Latter-Day Saints.   

The work is hastening and there is nothing more exciting.

“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”

Love, 

Eldste Parkinson 

With Brother Luke

YSA Party Photos

We'll Bring the World His Truth!

This week has been a blast! 

On Friday we had a YSA Valentine's party in the church and we were able to get several investigators to come. Good food, good games, and a way competitive limbo once again. One of our investigators had told us the night before that he wasn't going to make it and he ended up showing up anyways. When I asked him why he cam he said, "I just needed to feel the spirit again!" That right there touched me. It made me think of that Mormon message where the guy was telling his conversion story and talking about his experience at the ward picnic. It was the "straightest party" he'd ever been to and he was shocked that they "prayed over the hot dogs." Nothing quite like a Mormon party. But, he felt something special being there, a feeling which the world can't match.

The Bergen Ward is sending off another missionary this week to serve in England. It was powerful to hear her testimony and the story of her family coming from Chile and reconnecting with the church here in Norway. After her talk all the YSA and missionaries went up and sang my favorite song, "Vi vil bringe sannhet til jord." Priceless.

We got to go out hometeaching last night with an older member of the ward that lives a ways out of Bergen. 30+ years ago the missionaries banked on their door and a few months later a family of 6 was baptized. As we were driving around visiting the people on his list I was touched by how much dedication and love this man had towards the church. Being a member here in Norway is not an easy thing and these members have offered so much to remain active and fulfill their callings. You see people every Sunday in church but have no idea what they've gone through and sacrificed to be there. #Latterdaysaints

Things are going well with the missionary work. A lot of investigators continue to slowly but surely progress. The biggest challenge right now is to maintain a love and a patience with everyone despite the urgency that I may feel as the clock is ticking. The other night I was feeling a little frustrated and found great comfort in these words from Mormon:

 46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity,ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

Love has to be the motivator for what we do and that is easier said than done. Sometimes you just got to hit your knees, forget yourself, and pray really hard to be able to love and see people as Christ does.  

Love, 

Eldste Parkinson 

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL!

 JACOB 6:12

12 O be wise; what can I say more?

Love you all. Love this work.

Eldste Parkinson

A Mighty Change of Heart

Hey Family,

I was constantly reminded this week that this is not my work, it's the Lord's! There were so many experiences we had this week that confirmed for me that things are done in the Lord's timing and according to the agency of other people. It's all about how people choosing to respond to, or becoming humble enough to recognize, the spirit. And that's a process that's different for each and every person. And that's the process that will CHANGE people's hearts. 

There's this awesome Norwegian student we found a few weeks ago that we started teaching. He is this really smart computer programming major and naturally very skeptical to most of the things we teach. After the first teach I felt a little frustrated with all of his questions that he was asking and his disagreeing with so much of what we taught. But, he committed to read, pray and meet again. He came back a week later and said he hadn't really felt anything. We taught the Plan of Salvation this time, he asked tons of great, and sometimes annoying, questions throughout the lesson. It went better, though, and he even kneeled and said a prayer at the end of the lesson. This past Saturday we taught him again. We taught a lesson, much more directed by the spirit this time and he dropped this golden question. "You keep talking about the Holy Ghost. How can I feel it? How can I recognize it?" This question struck me right to the core. He said it so sincerely. He may be naturally skeptical, he may ask difficult questions. At first, I let that frustrate me, but now I love it! It was a good reminder to me that "prepared people" don't just show up asking for baptismal clothing and nodding "yes" to everything I say. "prepared people" listen and act (keep commitments). My man Ø. came to church yesterday for 3 hours and I can't wait for our next appointment

Story number two goes out to the Congolese family I've told you about before! To remind you, J. is a member and his wife is not. The whole time I've been here we've tried incredibly hard to get J. active again and start teaching them regularly, but it's been so hard! We've got in a few times and shared some messages, but then future appointments are always canceled and he hasn't been able to make it to church. It seems like 90% of the time we drop by his wife answers the door and tells us J. isn't home. I've felt bad for disturbing her so much, but we have kept trying anyways. On Thursday we dropped by and J. answered the door! We were able to go inside and share a message with them and the spirit was thicker than the ice in a Minnesota lake in the winter. After that, J. asked us to call him an hour before church to help him get up and he we said we would come knock on his door! We came by Sunday Morning, and the wife said he was at his brother's, we headed out to his brother's but the bus schedule and the blizzard prevented us from getting there before church started. After church we dropped by to see what happened and J. told us he had gotten called in to work until 4 am. But here's the miracle: he went on to tell us that his wife and him had been talking and that she wants to start investigating the church! She came out and told us that she wants to come to church and asked for chapters to read from the Book of Mormon. No idea where this will go cause that's not up to me, but I think each time we knocked on that door the spirit was working on her. Finally she's ready!

We had this guy Elder O. and I taught my first week here. He was way positive but said he needed more time. I kept seeing him on the bybane and thought it was fate, but he kept giving me the same answer. This week we got a random text from him about a crazy experience he had praying and that he wanted to meet! I'm telling you, it's the spirit. 

A. (our chinese investigator) came to church this Sunday spiffed out in a suit! He is a heavy smoker and we have yet to mention the word of wisdom to him. However, get this: completely randomly during Sacrament meeting he turned over to me and said, "I need to stop smoking!" It's the spirit!

Guess who I met on the street yesterday?? B's sister. She said we could come over sometime this week! 

There was a hurricane that came through on Friday so we got banished to our apartments/the church. It turned out to miss Bergen so that was a bit of a bummer. There has been a nice assortment of hail, snow, sleet, and rain to keep you on your toes. 

Here is a quick scripture from Alma 5:

 13 And behold, he preached the word unto your fathers,and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, andthey humbled themselves and put their trust in the trueand living God.

I know this change of heart comes from the Holy Ghost and that we never know when the Holy Ghost is working upon someone's heart, so we should never stop preaching the word!!

Love you all, 

Eldste Parkinson 

P.S these are long because they are functioning as my journal as well...

Action Packed

WOW! This has been one of the most action packed weeks of my mission! I sent Elder Osguthorpe off to Tromsø on Wednesday. We had a couple awesome last days together, and despite a lot of our plans falling through, including one man that managed to cancel three different times with us in one day, it felt fulfilling. Tromsø is lucky to have him!

3 new elders came to Bergen this week and the Bergen district is officially stacked! Elder Hoopes, Beck, and Hailes are newbees. Elder Hailes arrived from Narvik in the afternoon after a long trek and we were quite busy the rest of the week with teaching appointments. The first one was actually an interview with 4 high school students that are doing a project on Mormons. We met them at the teaching appartment and they actually filmed us answering a bunch of questions that they had prepared (Don't worry, I screened them first). They had studied us up on the internet, but at the end they mentioned how little they actually knew and how much more normal we were then they thought haha. One of them said during the interview "Are all mormons this funny?" There is so much power in our example. "Be an example of the believers." 

This weeks country of interest is...China! Last Sunday night I found a guy from mainland China that is studying here. I told him about the Book of Mormon and we ended up teaching him this past Saturday! We talked a lot about faith and read from Alma 32 together and he was getting literally blasted by the spirit (he jumped out of his chair a few times haha). We prayed with him at the end and set another appointment for Saturday. When I was confirming the appointment he told me that he didn't think we could meet, he hadn't read and didn't feel prepared. I convinced him to come anyways and it turns out he had read all the way through 1 Nephi 4. The reason he didn't want to meet was because he was so frustrated by the story of Nephi killing Laban. And when I say frustrated I mean FRUSTRATED. It had been eating him up ever since our last meeting. We tried talking it through with him and helping him understand, but it wasn't really working. We finally said, Adam you need to receive your own answer from God." With that thought in mind we watched the 20 minute restoration film and then bore some powerful testimony at the end. It was cool to witness such a dramatic change from his frustration to the calm, peacefulness of the spirit. To top it all off, he kneeled down with us at the end of the lesson and said his first prayer ever. I could see and witness that day that people need the peace and joy that the gospel brings. He ended up coming to church with us yesterday for all three hours!

A lot of our investigators are progressing right now which is exciting! B. has been a bit busy with school, but he's doing great and we had an awesome convert with us on a teach this week. Had another awesome teach with A. There were a bunch of people that we were able to teach for the first time as well and it's weird how it never get old teaching the first lesson. 2 years later and there is still nothing better than reciting the first vision. 

We have been using the senior couple (Elder and Sister Cardon) a lot on our teaches this week. They are awesome and get so excited about our investigators and are so eager to help. All the other area here in Bergen are starting to flourish as well and we are hoping to get some baptisms here in February!

We have struggled this week with this whole eating thing. Elder Hailes is as petal to the metal as I am so sometimes we just forget (I think I got that trait from Dad), but the noises coming out of my stomach remind me and everyone else in the room. Takket være Eldste Holden I've been taking protein bars with me in my backpack. I refuse to step on a scale.

I just love life. We've been blessed with a lot of experiences and I feel a lot of confidence in my testimony right now. I can feel the spirit guiding and confirming what I say in lessons. The missionary broadcast was inspiring and spot on. I feel an increased urge and responsibility to always have Christ's name on my lips as I teach, talk to and serve my brothers and sister here in Norway. 

Love, 

Eldste Parkinson

Headed to Overtime

What's up to the Parkinson fam!

The transfer comes to an end this week and....my good friend Elder Osguthorpe is going to be headed up north to Tromsø on Wednesday! He is going to kill it and it's been a blast being able to serve with him. His replacement is named Elder Hailes! He came in the same group as Osguthorpe and has spent the first 4 months of his mission up in Narvik. It's going to be exciting to work with another young stud in the mission. 6 more weeks and we're headed into OT!

We had a ZLT and interviews this week in Stavanger. Always good to see President and Sister Hill as well as the other missionaries in the zone. The meeting focused in on two important principles/commitments that we give to investigators: prayer and baptism. After the meeting I was surprised by my main man Elder Holden (AKA Christopher)! He is living in Stavanger with his wife and they are expecting a baby. It was just one year ago that he finished his mission. Crazy. Nice to talk to him, get some wisdom and a bunch of protein bars and drinks. He's the man. 

The day after ZLT we were able to apply a lot of the things we learned in a lesson we had with B. We had the Zone Leaders with us on splits so I was able to teach with Elder Gingrich! We went into the teach with the gameplan to ask a lot of inspired questions and help him overcome his concern of being baptized again. It was cool to see that the more we asked questions and listened to what he said, the more he opened up to us. It was a way powerful teach and at the end we committed him to baptism in February! We said a kneeling prayer at the end of the lesson and we asked B. to say it. The prayer was humble and sincere and after we said "amen" there was complete silence for a legit 10 minutes! The spirit was so tangible and when B. finally got up and left he looked like Joseph Smith walking out of the grove of trees. It was incredible!

The language class kicked off on Wednesday and we had about 15 people there! We were hoping for more, but you can't complain with that. 

I had a funny experience yesterday where I got on the bybane and started talking to this guy. Turns out he is from Ghana. After I sit down a bunch of other guys from Ghana start getting on, almost all of whom I already knew from previous contacts. "What's up Ernest, Moses, Gideon...!" We rode the whole way together and had a blast. They kept feeding me these deep fried things that were super good. "It's good, yeah???" Haha it was something else. Now I know when their church ends on Sundays and I committed them all to come to the language class. 

As we continue to find people from all over I can feel the reality of the Gathering of Israel. Let's find those sheep!!

Have a great week!

Love,
Eldste Parkinson 

He shall direct they paths

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).

As I was reflecting on this last week that is the scripture that came into my mind. I felt like we were directed throughout the week to be where we needed to be and find and teach those that needed us. A lot of spiritual experiences. 

Wednesday we were out having a street stand in the baltic cold temps. Lots of good gospel conversations. Sometimes street contacting is a little like american football: you have to take the right angle in order to get the tackle. I saw this guy off in the distance and took my angle at a pretty brisk speed walk. I didn't make the tackle, but I yelled out ahead of me anyways and started talking to him. Get this: turns out he was baptized into the church back in Freetown, Sierra Leone!! He hasn't had contact with the church really in Norway and I couldn't find his name on the list when I checked later.We started speaking krio and talking about fufu and he was the coolest guy! Got his number so we'll see what happens, but I felt the Lord direct my path.

My man B. from Swaziland got back from vacation on New Years and we've started teaching him again. On Friday we experienced the most ideal setting for a member present teach. We took B. with us over to a members home (the one that served his mission in Swaziland) and ate some african food and had an awesome teach. B. is really progressing and keeping his commitments which is so cool to see. We asked Bheki if he believed Joseph Smith was a prophet and after a period of silence he said a resounding "YES." The highlight of it all was watching the member bear his testimony and share his conversion story and seeing the fascination on Bs face. 

Remember that refugee dinner I told you about back before Christmas?? That was a huge mission highlight for me. I met a lot of cool people that night and there was one kid that I felt a special bond with. A 19 year old from Ethiopia. A week later, I got off the bybane and was walking along the side of it with the other missionaries and I saw him! I jumped back on with Elder O. and talked to and laughed with him for a stop before we got off again. Several days later we were headed to a 11 am appointment with a less active and he was waiting at the bybane stop. I talked to him again the whole ride and this time was able to start sharing a bit of the gospel with him and give him a pamphlet. Funny thing was that the less-active sent a message and canceled the appointments as we were on the bybane, so we turned around and headed back. Yesterday, we were able to meet up with him in our teaching apartment downtown and it went great. Really prepared kid with such a great spirit about him. 

Tons of other awesome experiences this week. We went back to that "promised land" banking area and got in with a family. We taught a first and were about to leave and walked downstairs to a table set with places for both of us to eat dinner with them! We taught Mats quite a few times this week and he's been doing awesome. He's living with his girlfriend so we're trying to help him get married! 

I want to give a shout out and thank you for the Christmas package you sent. To be honest, I kind of laughed when I saw the hand warmers because it was so warm at that time I didn't think I'd ever use them. To my surprise, though, the temps dropped well below zero this past week and it's been FREEZING. So I've been using those hand warmers in my shoes and gloves. The heating in our apartment consists of one space heater so we've been very grateful for our dynas (big comforter blanket) this week and have been studying with winter coats and gloves.

I'm grateful for the direction and meaning my life has when I follow God's commandments and seek to receive the Holy Ghost in my life on a daily basis.I'm grateful for the confirmations God gives us when we are on the right path and the patience that He for us when we stumble, diverge, or get lost. I know who I am, I know God's plan, I'll follow Him in faith :) 

Thanks for the love! I feel it! Have a blessed week !

love,

Eldste Parkinson

B., M., and Elder Osguthorpe. Notice the lack of eating utensils :)

Bergen Hike

Bergen Hike

Nyttår

Happy New Year! And more importantly, happy birthday to Harriet! 2016 has brought blue skies and sunshine the last couple days. It's also brought everybody back from vacation or the "hytte" so things are taking off. 

I think I told who lives in this student housing apartments pretty close to the church. After our first visit with him we felt pretty strongly that we needed to bank the rest of the apartment. Earlier in the week we banked a bunch of them and it went incredibly well. A bunch of young families that we got appointments with. Last night, we went back and it was magical. We were able to visit two of the try backs and then we banked a couple more doors and got let in by this 19 year-old that pretty hesitantly let us in to teach. It was kind of one of those "you've got 10 minutes to try and change my mind." The spirit was powerful during the teach and by the end he was super excited to read the Book of Mormon, come to church and meet again. We're exciting to keep working in this neighborhood. It may get translated. 

It's been exciting to make a big district focus on getting investigators to church. We figured it would be a great way to get the members excited and involved in missionary work as well as a way to help our investigators progress. To keep us accountable and excited we started something we are calling the "Bergen Bønn" (Bønn means prayer). Saturday night after planning we do a conference call as a district and announce the investigators that should be coming to church the next day. Then, somebody says a prayer naming everybody by name to show our collective faith that they will come the next day! It made church a lot more meaningful and exciting.

We are getting a language class started up next week which is going to be awesome! We've been advertising like crazy and are hoping to set a missionary language class record.

I just love the people we are working with right now. I feel so much desire for them to accept, live, and share this Gospel. Life is so much more meaningful when your time is spent worrying about other people and their needs. It really helps you to understand how God must feel about each one of His children.

Have an awesome week! 

Love,
Eldste Parkinson

Here are some pictures of the refugee dinner at the church around Christmas time.

Förstått God Jul!!

This sure was one memorable Christmas. It was one of those weeks where everything fell into place and by the end of the week you feel really, really blessed.

Christmas week kicked off on Monday night with this big refugee dinner that we hosted at the church. A member of the ward, who works a lot with refugee orphans, was in charge of the whole thing. It was very similar to the one we did in Boise. It made me realize how much I love young people. It was blast getting to know them and serve them, whether I could communicate with them or not. After the food there was a big limbo competition. I was the tallest by a good foot, but made it to the second to last round! Everybody got a kick out of big, tall, skinny Parkinson going under the beam haha.

We were in the homes of members for dinner every day after that. We got to spend Christmas eve with the Pedersen family, who are the parent to the stake president (I knew there fam pretty well in Drammen). Awesome traditional Norwegian dinner and it was cool talking to two of the coolest, most experienced members in Norway. On Christmas day we were with the legendary "missionary Grandma" named Else. She lives out on a farm and had all the missionaries over for a meal. Saturday we were with a newly wed couple. He is from Germany she is from Czek and they met each other in Norway and got married a couple weeks ago! Sunday, we were with the awesome Berg family! So cool to be with so many different people all celebrating the same hendelse.

Apart from being with some awesome members we found a lot of other cool things to do this week as a district. We went out on the streets with our umbrellas and sang a bunch of carols, ran around to bus drivers and gave them cookies (made by the sisters of course), and visited some less active members that had nobody to be with for Christmas. The week really taught me that the more you look outside of yourself and the more you look for opportunities to make somebody else have a great Christmas, the more meaningful Christmas will be for yourself.

Some awesome finding magic...ready for it??? Alright, so it was a rainy night in Bergen about a week ago. Nothing unusual yet. Elder Osguthorpe and I wanted to find a new investigator so we said a prayer, opened our umbrellas and walked out into the pouring rain. We were in this big open area and both ended up contacting two separate people. I contacted a 20 something year old woman from Poland that I ended up teaching for about 30 minutes! Elder O. talked to this 20 something year old guy from Norway that he ended up teaching for like 30 minutes. After those 30 minutes came to an end we came together and did an NFL bum touch celebration and were way excited! We ended up teaching both of them again this week and it went really well. It was cool to look back at the week and recognize that perfect timing and the fruits that came from it. 

More magic...on Tuesday this week I was on splits with Elder Crump and we found one of the coolest guys I've met on my mission. What made him so cool is that he was so easy to talk to! We started teaching him about the Book of Mormon and the restoration and he was feeling the power of the spirit. Out of nowhere he asked this soul piercing question: "How do you know this is true?" You could tell he was asking cause he really wanted to know. Man did it feel good to share my experience of reading the Book of Mormon and receiving an answer! I could feel the spirit giving me utterance and exactly what this young man needed to hear. Turns out this guys grandpa is a man named Åge who is a member and in charge of the maintenance of the church. You should of seen the smile on his face when I told him who we found. It was cool to feel that by the end of a 30 minute contact you were talking to a good friend, not just a random Norwegian that you met 30 minutes ago. To top things off this guy is a way good beat boxer and we started jamming out right there on the street to some "O Holy Night." :)

I enjoyed seeing you all on Friday! Looking good! Thanks for your love, prayers, and support!

Love, 

Eldste Parkinson 

Stavkirke near our apartment

View of Bergen

God Jul fra Bergen

God Jul!!

Christmas is just around the corner! It's odd being so wet and warm compared to Christmas last year. It hasn't snowed since I got here. 

The ward in Bergen is very musically talented. Every single Sunday they have a musical number and this Sunday was especially special. A couple opera performances during sacrament meeting and the primary put on a full scale broadway nativity performance during the Sunday School hour! 

On Thursday we flew over to Stavanger for a Zone Leader Training and a Christmas fireside. It was awesome to see President and Sister Hill once again  as well as the rest of the missionaries from the west zone. It was a very spiritual meeting and a good reminder to look outside of yourself during this season and serve others. As part of the fireside there was a talent show and the Bergen district threw together a pretty goofy musical number. Given the short notice preparation it turned out pretty nice and I think the audience got a kick out of it. I'll have to see if I can get a video of it over to you guys in some way or another. 

I think I told you that we are working with a less active/part member family from the Congo? Anyways, we had an awesome visit with them this week. We got there right as they were finishing up a big dinner get together. They invited us in and fed us TONS of food, the highlight being the fufu. Afterwards we got to teach J., his sister, wife, niece, and sister-in-law all at the same time! It's been awesome getting to know this family.

I've spent a lot of time this week studying the attributes of Christ. Both from Preach my Gospel and as I study in the New Testament. It seems like every attribute I study becomes really relevant during the day as I'm out. I've been especially trying to be patient the last couple days. I've got so much urgency for investigators/members to progress and keep commitments and there is nothing more frustrating then when they let you down, especially when they confirmed the appointment the night before, or as in one case, called to say they were on the way and changed their mind 15 minutes later. I was sitting in Priesthood on Sunday staring at my watch and the door in anticipation for our investigators to show up. As I was sitting there, stressing out, and unable to focus on the lesson I was reminded of what I had studied this week and I felt a calmness and a peace come over me. I had done what I could and things were in the Lord's hands and in His timing. It's good to be passionate and good to be saddened when disappointments come, but you cannot become discouraged and let it weaken your faith. That is the challenge of missionary work. 

There have been so many finding miracles this week! Work + the Spirit = success. I remember one day it was just pouring rain and super windy. Our appointment had fallen through and we had some time to street contact in the city. Given the weather I don't think either of us really wanted to do that...but, we did it! And 5 minutes later we were both split up standing under an awning and teaching two separate people a lesson. It's clear as the rain water in Bergen that if an appointment falls through there is somebody else that needs us. We made it a habit at the end of the day to count those miracles that came during the time periods in which appointments fell through. 

We're doing a big refugee dinner at the church tonight!  A similar kind of thing to the one we did in Boise so I'm way excited! I look forward to seeing you all on Friday! 

Love always, 

Eldste Parkinson 

Bergen District - minus photographer Elder Osguthorpe

This week has been awesome!

Where to begin...this week has been awesome! Despite me arriving two weeks ago, transfers was actually this week. We got two new members in the district: Elder Steed and Sister Leland. Elder Steed was trained in Sandvika while I was there so I know him well and love him! He graduated with 30 other people in a small town in Southern Utah, so he's a hard working small town boy. 

This week has been special. We continue to be blessed with people to find and teach. OUr investigator from Swaziland came to church again this week and we've been able to teach him several times now. Such a humble guy. And get this...there is a member in the ward from Malawi who served his mission in...Swaziland! We brought him on a teach and they have already become friends! What are the odds of that??

We did a street stand during the week and had some good success. After a lot of prayers the weather cooperated for enough time to keep the Book of Mormon's dry. It is incredibly wet in Bergen, so much so that you can NEVER leave your apartment with out an umbrella or you will regret it. 

I'm so grateful for the gift and power of the Holy Ghost. I love in the Book of Mormon when Christ asks the disciples what their greatest desire is and they respond by saying that they desire the Holy Ghost. Preach my Gospel and the scriptures say a lot about the need to have the spirit with you and the effort that is required to "receive the Holy Ghost." One of the first things I learned in Norwegian was how to ask for the spirit: "Vi ber deg om at Den Hellige Ånd må være med oss idag." There haven't been very many prayers I've said on my mission in which that sentence hasn't come out in one way or another. I feel like at this point in my mission I say the sentence with a lot more sincerity and urgency, because I know that I NEED the spirit. There have been so many moments this week where I could literally feel the guidance and direction of the Holy Ghost. So many moments where we "coincidentally" ran into investigators and members. For example, we called up this less active teenager one night and got an appointment with him! An hour later as we are getting off the bybane I see a guy staring at me and I go to talk to him and he turns out to be the same less active member I had just talked to on the phone! I know that as we live worthily and earnestly seek out the Holy Ghost in Our life we can always be where the Lord wants us to be! And there is nothing quite like that.

We are going caroling tonight! Should be fun! Nothing better than Christmas in Norway!

Love, 

Eldste Parkinson

The district and a few YSA members

All Coming Together

First full week in Bergen has come to an end and I love it here. 

Where to begin? We kicked off the Christmas initiative this week! It's extra exciting this year because we have it in Norwegian! Julen.mormon.org check it out. It's been cool to have a unique and special way to approach people wherever we are. For example: We take the Bybane (metro car thing) in and out of the city every day and have been using that as an opportunity to talk to people. All of us in the district here committed to opening our mouths each time we get on the bybane. There have been tons of miracles finding prepared people and sharing the christmas video with people on their Iphones. Sometimes you get shut down hard, but it's always worth it for those that are prepared. Elder O. had an awesome experience talking to a lady about the church and showing her the video. In the end, she grabbed his planner wrote down her number and yelled out her name as she ran off the bybane to make her stop.  

Just like Oslo, there are quite a few members on the list here. One of the first things I did when I got here was call the three less-actives on the list from Liberia. It was funny because we went to visit one of them earlier this week and he wasn't home. We gave him a call as we were leaving and he told us he was on the Bybane now and could meet at the church in 20 minutes! We ended teaching him and establishing an awesome relationship with him!! Turns out, like it always does, that he knows Benjamin's sister very well and that she works right next door to the church! The other two members were way down to meet. 

Our Norwegian investigator M. keeps making awesome progress! He's got a pretty cool story. Turns out he met missionaries over a year ago and didn't show up at the appointment he set with them. A year later, he found himself working at a grocery store right by the church and saw the missionaries walking by. Feeling bad for what had happened a year ago, he yelled out to them and said he wanted to learn more. A month later and he is eating up everything we teach him! Awesome guy. 

As a missionary in Norway we meet and teach people from all over the world. This week we found a man from a country most people have never heard of: Swaziland! We met up at a bybane stop and invited him to church. Pretty quick contact and didn't think much of it. Come Sunday, a lot of the investigators we had been counting on coming to church had bailed. I was sitting in the front bench with the young men waiting to pass the Sacrament and my brother from Swaziland strolled right in and sat down! That moment was priceless. Turns out he lives right by the church and he loved everything about it. Looking forward to teaching him!!

Another cool story. There is an inactive member on the list that we got a hold of from Congo that turns out to be a "B".  2.0. Baptized when he was 16 in Congo and almost served a mission. Ended up in Norway and lost contact with the church when he got to Bergen. We dropped by last night and taught him with his non member brother! Way cool sheep rescuing experience. We've got it set up to teach him and his non member wife each week! Families!!

I've been feeling such a high level of urgency lately. Urgency to find, teach, serve, lift, baptize people here in Bergen. All the missionary work dots seemed to be connected right now and I honestly have no other desire than to eat, sleep, and drink missionary work.

A cool scripture I liked this week from Alma 61: 9 And now, in your epistle you have censured me, but it mattereth not; I am not angry, but do rejoice in the greatness of your heart.

Not sure quite what it means to be censured, but I think we all feel like we've been censured sometimes. Whether it's getting cut off while you are driving, getting "nei takk" on the street, or (in Pahoran's case) getting called out when you didn't do anything wrong. Getting offended drives the spirit away from your life/missionary work. Keeping a positive attitude keeps the spirit in you missionary work. This one is hard for me, but if you need the spirit to teach and find you can't afford to drive it away! 

Have a great week! Sorry, I have been horrible and sending snail mail/birthday notes/Christmas gift/anything. I'll repent when I get home, but know that I love you and am thinking of you! 

Love, 

Eldste Parkinson

Bergen is a beaut!

One more picture

My family in Norway

Bergen!

Dear Fam,

It's been a crazy week of goodbyes and hellos. I arrived here safe and sound in Bergen on Friday, but before I get there...

Monday we threw together a mission turkey bowl! We got Oslo, Drammen, and Sandvika districts together and it was awesome. A frozen field and a bunch of Americans made for a pretty good memory. It's funny cause I did the exact same thing a year ago when I was serving in Kongsberg! 

We were able to meet up with a lot of members and investigators before I left. It's made me realize how close I've come to a lot of the people in Sandvika. Tuesday was especially memorable. We had two teaches set up with investigators that we were going to be teaching for the second time. The two lessons were back to back and we felt strongly that we needed to commit both of them to Baptism. One of them was a 18 year old Norwegian/Canadian hockey player and the other was a 25ish year old woman from Liberia (Yes, she knows B!). Both teaches went as smooth as we could have imagined. We taught to needs, read with them from the book of Mormon, and when the spirit was strong we committed them both to be baptized on a specific date! And...they both said yes! It was an especially cool experience with the 18 year-old because as we were teaching him at a table in the library there was a group of teenagers sitting in the background goofing off and being inappropriate. It was such a clear contrast of two different lives and it was impressive to see a young person searching for truth and answers. 

On Wednesday we had dinner with the member from Minnesota! She's the one we've done a lot of service for (pulling out roots, etc.) and it was cool to visit her and eat some WILD RICE SOUP! Didn't realize how Minnesotan that stuff is. 

We had a thanksgiving meal on Thursday with the Hills and a bunch of other missionaries. Super koselig. That evening I said a final goodbye to B. and the fam! Ate another dinner with the whole fam, bore some testimony, sang "God be with you till we meet again." It was tear-jerking and tough to say goodbye, but it was cool to reflect on all the miracles that have happened the last several months since I found him on the street that one day. I don't know what I did or what he did to lead to all these events, but I KNOW that the Holy Ghost was involved and that I know that because I have experienced hat is described in D&C 50: 22 Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoiceth together.

And to add to the sweetness, I got a call this morning that after 3 months of searching they finally recovered Benjamin's membership record number! Let's just say I started running circles around the church when Rolfson gave me the call. 

And then Bergen happened! Friday morning I headed over and joined up with my new comp Elder Osguthorpe! We've got another two elders living in our apartment: Elder Bleggi and Elder Sanchez! All three have been out less than 3 transfers making me older than all of them combined! Young missionaries are the best missionaries to be around, though, so I am way excited to be with them! There are two other elders and two sisters in the district as well. I feel so much energy, excitement, and potential in this city!!

Other things about Bergen. Bergen is the city of rain. It's been raining non stop since I've been here and I've already broke an umbrella! The ward is pretty big and eclectic like Oslo. Excited to work with a lot of less actives and to find investigators on investigators!

We've got two way cool investigators that we are working with right now. M., an incredibly prepared young Norwegian that was recently found. He keeps every committment about 4 times and keeps saying "I just want to be a good Mormon!" And we've got this other cool guy from Uganda named S. He loves the message and loves to jam out to Nearer my God to Thee with me on the piano :)

I've never felt more passion and excitement towards missionary work than I do now! There is nothing more important, nothing more meaningful, and nothing more satisfying. 

Wi gon si next week! 

Love, 

Eldste Parkinson

Sandvika District

Lysfesten - They have a big Christmas tree lighting and firework show in Bergen!

Miracles and Surprises!

HEY Parkinson fam!

It's been an awesome week loaded with miracles and surprises. I'll hit you with the biggest surprise first...I'm moving to Bergen! The transfer doesn't end for another two weeks, but I'm going to be heading over there a few weeks early. I'm way excited!! I've been here over six months now and it's going to be weird serving in a different city with a diffrerent ward and different responsibilities. At the same time, though, I don't think there's any other way I'd rather finish my mission. I'll be serving in a way young district with a young companion (been out about 9 weeks) named Elder Osguthorpe! I'm way excited to go hard for the next 3 months out there! I'll be leaving on Friday. 

This week we had Zone Conferences! Tuesday we were in Stavanger, Wednesday in Trondheim, and Friday in Oslo. Fun to see all the missionaries, old companions, etc. All the meeting were awesome. We taught a section about using time wisely and raising our vision. We talked about the path of conversion and likened it to a flight of stairs. It's a hard path, but we've got the steps in Preach my Gospel and we've got members to help walk with them and give them a booster. The whole thing really helped me understand my purpose better as a missionary and to see the big picture of conversion instead of just focusing on the step of baptism. I can't really adequately explain myself sometimes haha but studying for and presenting this really got me passionate! 

Monday night we had dinner at B's house with his mom! I forgot to mention last week the reason that his mom was there in the first place. She was supposed to be taking a flight to Liberia the Friday before, but missed her flight! It was pretty devastating actually because she lost over 10,000 kroner on the flight. As a result she was staying with B. that week trying to put together money for a new ticket. It was powerful to hear some of their stories and experiences from the war. We said bye that night and left the next morning for the airport to travel to Stavanger! Thursday night we were driving over to visit B. and as I drive into the parking lot, I kid you not, I get a call from his mom who is at the airport waiting for her flight. She thanked us for everything and asked for the address to the church in Liberia and contact information for the Mission President, members etc. so that she could visit the church while she is there! It's interesting how you can't put a price tag on the joy that comes from the restored gospel. 10,000+ kroner hurts, but there is nothing so "exquisite and sweet" as the joy she felt and I felt on the phone that night. 

We had another sheep rescuing experience this week. This one goes way back to the beginning of the mission. Do you remember R.? R. was the first man I taught a lesson to in Norway. I remember it like it was yesterday; teaching him the restoration and inviting him to be baptized while sitting in the Tromsø church. Several months after that (a little after I left) Rogers was baptized. Although, not to long after that he fell away and nobody knew what happened to him. While in Trondheim for zone conference the sisters let me know that they got a hold of R. and said that he is living in Oslo and mentioned my name! I gave him a call and was able to meet with him on Saturday with a couple Oslo missionaries. Man, and that reunion as he walked off the Tbane at National Theatret was Epic! We taught him, the spirit testified, and he was excited to be reunited with the church. Definitely a moment I won't forget. 

We found some other awesome people this week. We started teaching this man from Croatia that we found on the streets a couple weeks ago. He just came to Norway and is trying to get on his feet, but loves everything about the church! We walked to church with him and he had a great time. There was another young Norwegian/Canadian that we started teaching this week as well! He's a big hockey player and has a had a really unusual life for a Norwegian 18 year-old. As he prayed at the end you could feel his sincerity and desire to receive a confirmation from the Holy Ghost. 

Thanksgiving is this week! We had a ward dinner after church to celebrate. I got to stand up and talk a little about what thanksgiving is and what our family would do to celebrate. Although most of the focus was on food it was a good reminder of the real meaning of thanksgiving: showing gratitude. It brought back memories of going around the big table and saying things we are grateful for. That simple exercise is such a good tool for changing attitude and softening the heart. Our croatian investigator can fit all of his things in one duffel bag and yet he is still a more grateful man than I am. 

I know God blesses us when we do all that we can. I saw time and time again miracles and tender mercies that were direct results of going hard until 9:00. Sometimes you meet hurdles, sometimes it's freezing outside and you forgot your gloves, but it is always worth the pain to find the one. It's hard because we always have to show our faith first. All we see is the hurdles at first. But God says, "Prove me herewith!" He is ready to bless us!

I hope you all have a great week! 

Love,
Eldste Parkinson 

Lost Sheep Round 2

This week buzzed right by. First things first, a big shout out coming to David with the birthday this week!! 16 years young. Make it a good one!

Dear Family,

It has been an interesting week. We went up to Trondheim on Tuesday to work with Elders Corrigan and Phipps. It was a blast. A lot of awesome experiences finding prepared people. Trondheim is a cool city with tons of students from all over Norway. We focused a lot on extending bold and concise commitments. I've noticed that by committing with yes/no questions it forces people to actually commit to something instead of being wishy washy. People really struggle with committing to something that is different or foreign and helping them say "Yes" is so much better than "I'll check my schedule." It's kind of like when i say yes when someone asks me if I am going to finish my food. Any one of my companions knows that I won't leave till it's all gone :)

We have been spending time getting ready for Zone Conferences next week! We haven't really had a real zone conference for a long time. Elder Johnson visited, President Hill arrived, President Evans left, etc. A lot of "special event" meetings. It's going to be awesome to have a spiritual pump up and an opportunity to get united as a mission. 

Alright, so the miracle of the week goes once again to B. This story just keeps evolving and getting more and more awesome. First miracle event. I don't know if I mentioned this already, but B. has another daughter back in Africa and he has started telling her about the church. The other day he told us "I need the number of the mission president down there. She needs to be baptized!" So we got him some contact info and his daughter may be getting taught soon. We've been on a treasure hunt trying to get his membership information. He has a lot of different names which makes it hard. Miracle number 2: His mom is in town! She lives up in Harstad and was supposed to be taking a plane back to Liberia to visit family but missed the flight! Super sad, but as a result she is going to be at B's house until Wednesday! Turns out his mom was baptized with him back in Sierra - Leone! She was a primary teacher and started singing all the songs with us. "I am a child of God," "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam." She told us her point of view of their fleeing from war, building the church, and being forced to flee again 4 years after joining the church. I couldn't help but think of the early saints of the church being forced to flee from the temple they had just built in Kirtland. I told her to write a story about her life so I could read it :) She is making us dinner tonight and we're going to try to get her membership info over to Norway and then convince her to move down south. I've even adopted the family last name and they call me "Parkinkoon" now haha. Love that family and love finding lost sheep. 

That's it for the week! Sorry it's short. After a mild fall it's starting to get cold. Time to start bundling up :)

Love, 

Eldste Parkinson 

Some of the Saturday sport gang. I think it hit 0 degrees :)

Stake  Conference in Romerike -- Where's Waldo?

DEEP ROOTS!

HEY FAM!

It's been a great week! The weather has gotten pretty nice and I keep forgetting I am in Norway. I don't know if it was the Minnesota in me, but I was in shorts and a tee-shirt playing fotball on Saturday!

We have introduced a new key indicator into the mission called "gospel conversations" as a way to encourage us to open our mouths. A gospel conversation is basically any time you teach a principle of the gospel, share testimony, and invite to act. It's something that is achievable anywhere we are and can be done in a very short period of time! Elder Rolfson and I have been having fun with it and it's been a great way to stay accountable for how we are using our time. 

I taught a guy in French this week! He speaks no english and no Norsk so it was cool to be of use. We had a quick gospel conversation earlier in the week and then we taught him on Saturday. It was a bit rough, but the spirit definitely helped! 

We had a couple investigators that we taught this week that are really struggling to read the Book of Mormon. They love to be taught, they love to hear about things we believe in, but they won't open the Book of Mormon and read it. Rather, they both decided to read "about" the Book of Mormon from various sources on the internet. And then, of course, that leads to misunderstanding and confusion. It's interesting this "information age" that we live in. There is SO much available to us on the internet, which is an incredible resource and benefit in so many ways, But at the same time, googling Book of Mormon will probably give you more information about South Park and musicals than what is actually about: the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I have been trying to focus lately on having quality personal studies. I've been thinking lately about how my mission has taught me tons about "living" and "sharing" the gospel. I feel like half of my letters I am talking about how much of a joy it is to serve others and live God's commandments. However, I think sometimes I overlook the principle of "learning." That is, our personal understanding of the Gospel through study. I've never loved the sound of the term "deep doctrine," but it is so important that we have a deep understanding of the doctrine. Deep roots, so that when winds, hail and storms beat upon you it will have no power over you. Lately I've been going slowly and deeply through Chapter 3 of Preach my Gospel where all the doctrines that we teach are. This week was the plan of Salvation and I read this boss talk from Elder Christofferson called "Moral Agency." So good. 

I'm trying to make it so my personal study is quality each and every day. It's interesting looking back on my personal studies from before the mission and it's evident that it was more about obedience than learning. Dad, for some reason I've had the image this week of you sitting at the kitchen table studying your scriptures and eating you oatmeal as I frantically tried to get ready for Seminary in 5 minutes or less (usually forgetting a trumpet, a basketball bag, or a school assignmnent in the process). Every single morning I saw that. It's cool to recognize your love for learning and it's no wonder your roots are so deep. 

I've building up my tolerance to hot food lately. Everything B. makes has Habaneros in it, even his spaghetti and scrambled eggs. It's so good, though! And I've gone down from like 10 glasses of water a meal to about 2. My latest favorite recipes are "Pepper soup," "spinach," and "okra." There was this other kind of powdery peanutty stuff that you eat like cookie dough and then it expands in your stomach when you drink water. Not sure what it's called, but I've started packing it for when we are out and don't get breakfast/lunch. Apparently they ate it all the time during the war. We were over there on my birthday and they sang an epic rendition of "Happy Birthday." Love 'em!

Thanks for all the Birthday wishes! Erik, I hope you had an awesome 20th as well! 

Love,
Eldste Parkinson

Out with the old...

In with the new!