December 5, 2011

 It was great to hear from you.  So, real quick, if you wanted to send a package to me, it would take about 10 days to get from there to hear...roughly.  So as long as you sent it before the first of January, I would get it.  Otherwise I would probably not be in the same house, or in the same city, so send them well in advance.  I cant think of anything in particulat that I would like sent to me.  Any food is good.  We eat so little here.  We get 1750 in krones a month for food (5 kroner is one USD, I havent done the math yet)  But everything here is SOOOO expensive.  Its like 12 dollars for one light bulb (the bulb in the room where we hang dry our laundry is out,  which is a problem sense its dark when we leave and dark when we get home, haha.)  We buy a lot of cheap food, but we stretch it pretty thin.  Believe it or not i am 20 pounds lighter than i was when I left home.  I went into the MTC weighing a hefty 214, and am down to 194 as of four days ago.  I could go for losing another 10, and with all the walking and little food I get its likeley to happen.  The one thing I was craving though is a summer sausage, just one.  I dont need cheese or mustard or anything fancy to go with it.  Just a summer sausage.  So maybe if you wanted to send a package you could send me one of those?
  I DID want to ask you to send me one thing though.  On the book shelf at the bottom of the stairs there is a book called Simplified Isaiah for Latter Day Saints.  Its a glossy black book with a picture of some scrolls on the cover and is about an inch thick.  I was wondering if you could mail it to me.  I know its Jeffs copy, but hes not using it, and I have one too (its just packed) in case his gets lost or ruined.  But my mission president told me itd be ok if I used it for referance.  It would definately help with my BoM studies.  Speaking of, I started the BoM again when I got here.  Im halfway through Mosiah.  Its such a good book.   Learn more every time I read it, wither about the book the gospel, or myself.  Its pretty incredible how no other books outside of scripture can do that.
   So we are going for a hike today.  Theres a mountain called Ulriken which is about a 2 hour hike.  ill take lots of pictures for you.  Theres a tram to ride back down.  So well prob just do that.
    The weather here continuesto be friendly.  We got our first snow this week.  Wasnt very deep though.  The rain took it all away the next day anyway.  Still about 3 degrees celcius.  Still dark, but its been barable.
   Theres Christmas lights, trees, decor all over the city.  Makes me a little homesick, but last year was a good Christmas.  It can last me for two years.
    So i flew out to Stavanger on Wed to go on splits.  I was there overnight.  Its a beautiful city.  There is a chuch there that has the same Christus statue in it that temple square has.  Apparently there is three in the world.  The original is in Denmark, but I got to see the one in Stavnanger, so Ive seen 2 of 3 in the world.  Pretty cool. There are a ton of old churches (built in the 11 hundreds) and winding cobblestone streets,  i wish Id have had my camera.  Ill be sure to take it next time.  Stavanger is crazy beautiful.  It sits on this gorgeous fjord you really have to see to believe.  We are flying to Oslo tomorrow for a conference.  Im sure we will be back by tomorrow night.  So that will make a total of 10 flights in the laswt month...wow.
   The branch had a baptism this week.  Not mine though.  But it was cool.  The whole family has been converting a little over the last 2 years.  Now theyre all baptized.
   We have the opportunity to skype home on Christmas, but I dont think you or mom have skype...but if thats something youre interested in let me know.  Otherwise Ill just call home.  Itll probe be sometime in the evening here, which would be morning there.  Im still not entirely sure what time itll be, but ill let you know once ive heard the word.
  Well, I gotta jet.  Cant wait to hear from you again.  Was thrilled to hear newt and romney are still doing well, and cant believe how windy it got in northern utah!  Thats nuts!  Im glad all is well and no one was hurt.
love you dad
-Elder Scott Rasmussen-

3 lakes on top of the mountain

South Bergen

An old shack bolted to a rock

A homestead built into a rock

Another view of the 3 lakes, and some companions

November 22, 2011

It was good to hear from you, as always. I don't have a WHOLE lot new to report for this week.  The senior mission couple cooked us a Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday.  We had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, jello salad, pumpkin pie, rolls, the whole shebang.  It was delish, esp cuz we dont eat a whole lot here.  It was way nice to have a taste of home though.  Who knows, maybe this time next year Ill be up in Alta and will have to eat a big mac for my thanksgiving dinner (big macs are 80 kroner, about 20 USD here) But the diner was good.  Oh, when I say we dont eat a whole lot here, we get whats called MSF, which is like our monthly finance fund.  Most of my MSF went to paying for transportation this month, so I ran out of food money real quick.  Needless to say our meals have been very small, but we get by.  Ill get reimbursed the money though.  So our monthly funds are like 1400 kroner, but 900 of that went to transportation.  but ill get 1400 next month and the 900 reimbursed on top of that.  So itll be better next month.
   I did have a neat experience the other night.  So the last friday of November is when Norway brings in the advent.  They had a Jule (yule) Konsert in the city.  So they had a stage set up, then had a childrens choir (way cute), then they had some lady sing some Jule songs. They were very pretty, had a world music sound to them.  Then they have this tradition where they light the Jule tree.  They have a giant tree in the middle of the park as well as all the other trees have lights hung n them.  They count down and then turn all the lights on.  The tree this year was set on a raft in the pond in the middle of the park (the jule konsert was in the park in the city, sorry i forgot that detail) So they lit the lights and sent the tree out on the raft.  then they all light these flare type things and another person sings more songs on the stage.  There were thousands of people holding these flares, it was incredible.  After the guys done singing they have a fireworks display.  Its about 20 mins, and the whole thing is like a grand finale in the states.  After the fireworks all the old churches ring their bells so you can hear them echoing all throughout the city.  I got  few pics of the stage, the flares, and the tree.  Ill send them in a seperate email.  But yeah, that was my adventure for the week.  I forgot to mention it was POURING rain the whole time.  I was soooo soaked afterwords. 
   I have been sick the past few days.  Had a fever, felt all achy, and have had a terrible cough.  Just a seasonal cold, but its been miserable,  i think that after another nights sleep I should feel much better.
    Alright, tats about it for this week.  We wont get to go hike today cuz its cold and rainy here and cloudy in the mountains.  Hopefully soon though.  Ill send those pics.

November 23, 2011

 Sorry that I was so abrupt yesterday.  Another companionship called us because they were at the store and their card wasnt working so we had to walk over there and pay for their stuff.  Then after we got a call from a ward member who was moving her friend in to a new place, but the moving truck couldn't fit up the road they live on so we were volenteered to go carrey everything up.  So the house sits high on a hill that has a great view of the harbour.  But the roads are really narrow and windey, a LOT like the Hollywood hills.  This family was moving here fro the states so they had a ton of crap and the moving truck was HUGE.  We ended up loading five to seven boxes in the back of a van, driving it up, unloading it, and repeating.  It took all afternoon because we had to take public transportation down and it was about 45 mins to get there.  So we didn't get our hike in.  But we did get cleared to write emails again today because of that time that we lost.
     I can't think of a whole lot of new mundane things to share this week.  Norweigians are very fond of heated bathroom floors, so our hybol has one.  Its nice in the mornings.  The showers are all detatchable so you can hold them in your hand like a wand and wash yourself that way.  The word for shower is douch here btw, lol, too funny.  Also, all the toilets have a button on top that you use to flush it.  They dont have the knob like the ones in the US.  The houses themselves here are decent quality, maybe what we would consider a 1940s house to look like.  All are small-medium by our standards.  Very cozy, but takes getting used to. 
     They have a drink here thats kind of popular.  Its called Soft.  It comes in a 1.5 liter bottle, but you dillute it with water.  So its usually 1 cup soft, 4 cups water.  Tastes a lot like cool aid actually.  It comes in different flavors.  Theyre big on recycling here too.  You can take all you bottles to any grocery store and exchange them for kroner.  Its 1 or 2 krones a bottle, which is 20-40 cents USD.  Not too bad, except one bottle of Coke here is 15 KR.  Sooo expensive. 
    Also, the ladies here.... 98% of them are gorgeous.  Its rediculous.  I didnt think it was possible for girls to be so pretty, and for there to be so many of them.  They're everywhere...and I cant do anything about it!  Ugh, lol  If I ever come back here alone I'll get myself in trouble. lol.  The fashion with most of them is wither high top sneakers, or boots, sweat/sport pants or short skirts with leggings under, a frizzy top coat and hair in a pony tail.  Most of them dress kind of the same.  With the guys regular tennis shoes, jeans, shirts, and med length shaggy hair is the norm.  But the clothes all look  like sears or mervyns quality.  Nothing HIGH high end, but definately decent.
     The city is spotted with Narco-men, just like any other city.  Drugs and alcohol are a problem here about the same as other places.  They come up to us asking for money at least twice a week. 
     The Politi (police) cars only flash blue lights.  Norweigians like it quiet, so they only actually turn on their siren if they need to get through a certain street and its crowded.  you dont hear them very much. 
     Most people here drive Audis or Smart cars, but I see more Audis than anything.  They're not cheap though.  its 100% tax on cars here.  So a 20 grand ford focus costs 40 grand here.  Most ppl buy their cars from Sweeden where they are cheeper and the tax will be lower here, but its still 100%
     So is there anything else you wnat to know?` Its a socialist country so the health care is free, but the medicine is expensive.  Most people here will avid the sikkhus if they think they can tough it out, even if they have pneumonia.
     They also still have cobbelstone streets here in sentrum (the city center)  which is really pretty to look at.  Ill send pictures.
     Well I cant think of anything else.  Cant wait to hear from you again.

The screen by the stage showing the children's choir

The stage

The tree in the pond

Everyone holding flares

November 14, 2011

So, first P Day here.  We were gonna go hiking this mountain here that overlooks the city and the coast, but 2 of our missionarys are sick, and its foggy out, so thats been postponed till next monday.

BTW, mom, I just got your email you sent off like 10 mins ago.  Its 1:30pm here which makes it 5:30am there...ugh, so crazy!

So, I cant begin to tell you how gorgeous Bergen is.  I was nervous to come here because their dialect is different, much more gutteral and hard to understand.  So the learning curb here is very steep.  I've not learned a ton more of the language yet, but were gonna be really working on it hard this week.  So ill tell you a bit about the city.  Its on teh east coast, and its the rainiest city in the world north  of the equator. Its been nice this week, just cloudy, very little rain, but foggy.  Theres a famous fiskatory on the seaside where you can sample all sorts of fish for free. I am proud to say I have tried whale.  Its only legal in Norway, Iceland and Japan.  Anywhere else it is extremely illeagal.  Its bery thick meat, and very expensive to buy.  For a slab about 7 by 7 inch block its about 300 US dollars.  It tastes like steak with a liver aftertaste.  Its pretty good! 

There is an old fortess right on the coast down fromthe fiskatory that was built in the 1200s.  There are all sorts of old cemetarys and victorian era buildings all over the city.  Theres a small area called gamlebergen (old bergen) which they have preserved.  its a bunch of old houses and shops from the middle ages that are still there.  Its like jack the Ripper status, so sic!   The houses here ae small in comparison to the states, but they work.  Oh, and dad, you can tell Hallee that the Dine is amazing.  Its like a down comferter...but its stuffed with feathers I think.  It keeps you warm in the winter, but in the summer it breathes and keeps you cool almost.  I dont know how its done, but its awsome.  Also, a lot of the streets here are cobblestone.  Public transportation is very usefull.  you buy this card for 600 kroner (about 150 bucks) and it gets you on all the busses and bybanes (like traxx) in the city for a month. 

Everyone speaks beautiful english here so its been ok.  Im really trying to speak as much Norsk as I can though.  The airports here are the nicest I have ever seen.  The stores in the mall are nicer than US stores.   The grocery stores are small and about the same as US stores.  But their food is all different.  Its all really good, but a little bland compared to US food.  Everything here is rediculously inflated too.  Its like 15 kr for a coke (like 3 bucks)

The people here are so nice!  Everyone is super friendly to you, and the members are all solid faithful people.  But contacting is a bit harder.  Out of like 100 people we contacted, only 5 stopped to listen to us, but none progressed to serious investigators.  Ill tell you more about that in a minute, but ill real fast tell you about our homes.  My companion and I live in the basement of some guys house.  We have a shower, kitchen, dining area, bedroom, washer, dry lines (hung on a ceiling) its about 900 sq ft.  its kind of old, but it works.  Its nicer than the other 2 companionships hybols.  Theirs are half the size of ours.  So each companionship has their own hybol.  Then we also have a sister companionship that live in an old castle...not fair.  But then we all have another apartment thats in the city where we can go to eat lunch and also use as a meeting place for investigators.  We can take them there off the street to talk, or use it as a meeting place for people who dont want us to come to their house.  Sense Bergen is such a big city and theres so many missionarys here the church has provided it for us.  I think its the only place in Norway where they do that. 

My comp is Elder Perry from Washington.  Hes also district leader.  Way cool guy.  hes been here a year and speaks veldi bra Norsk. Hell be a good trainer.  He enjoys playing piano and singing.  he likes country music, caming, and swimming.  We get along a LOT better than my last companion and I did. 

So out of all the people we contacted we only had one lady agree to meet with us again.  She was from Sweeden and didnt speek much Norwegian so we offered to get her a Sweedish BoM.  She agreed, this was like 4 days ago.  Last night we took a train into the city to meet her.  She actually showed up, which really surprised me.  We gave her the book and discussed the plan of salvation with her.  She really liked it, in fact she like just bout everything we had to say.  Only thing is shes a lesbian.  She was extreamly nice though, and a little intrigued by the book.  Shes also agnostic, not sure if she believes in God, or wants to believe in God.  We talked with her for about an hour.  She was very attentive, asked lots of questions, just disagreed with us on some points.  But the meet went perfect, could not have gone better.  I could write a small novel if i wrote all of the contents of that conversation.  I learned quite a bit from her.  So it was over all a good experience. 

The members here are pretty solid.  I've become pretty good friends here with a 17 yr old new convert names Jan.  he was baptised about 2 weeks ago.  Hes a metal head gamer like myself, even has long hair.  Its sweet.  Hes talking about going on a mission though, way cool.  I have also become good friends with a girl named Anna Rebecca.  Shes from Stevanger.  I guess seh approached the missionaries there on the street.  She was looking for the truth and was curious about the book they gave people.  She read th book and loved it.  But her parrents are very traditional members of the state church and threatened to disown her if she joined.  So she moved to Bergen and became active here.  She promised her mom shed wait a yr before she was baptized.  i think her mom was hoping shed give up by then, but shes just growing stronger.  She comes to every activity.. Shes more active then most members.  Its killing her that she isnt baptized, she wants it sooo bad.  But its looking like her mom is breaking down and becoming more acceptible to it,  so i guess well se what happens.  Shes been awsome to practice Norsk with. We run into her in the city sometimes, but most the time we just talk to her at the ward activities.  I swear theres one like every night here, and we are expected to be at half of them. So our days are study till noon, contact from one to 6 (ish) and ward activities at night.  I love it in this city, i wont want to leave when the time comes for me to transfer.  ...just gotta learn the bloody language now.'

So, I have a few pictures Ill be sending in seperate emails.  We can only send 5 out at a time.  Also, could one of you forward this email to Jeff and Em.  Also, you can foreward it to anyone else who is interested, uncles, aunts, grandperrents, whoever you feel would like to hear this.  Email me back if there is anything else you want to know or hear about.

One alst interesting fact.  The sun rises about 8 am, coasts low across the southern horizen and sets again about  4 pm.  The sun does NOT get very high at all.   its not too cold though...maybe 45 degrees at the lowest.  Just very wet. 

I love you guys,  Hope to hear back soon!

-Elder Scott Rasmussen-

This is the outside view of the apartment

View from house

A Stavekirken (Old state church)

Inside of and LDS chappel

Outside view of LDS church