Ill start off by answering some of your questions:
The Omega 3 pills are fantastic. I feel a lot more normal now sense Ive been taking them. I could definitely feel a difference. We dont go to work till 12 noon for the first 12 weeks. They have a new program for new missionaries called The First 12 Weeks. The intent is to train you so that you're able to train after the first 12 weeks of your mission. Part of that includes an extra hour of companionship study. So you do personal study from 8-9, language study from 9-10, and comp study from 10-noon. Then we eat lunch and go to work.. After the first 12 weeks you go back to 1 hour of comp study. I don't know how I feel about the training though. It's all the same stuff we learned in the MTC. Just all over again. We watch the same video clips, read the same Preach My Gospel passages...just repetitive. I guess it really makes more sense when you can get out and apply it for real though instead of just to another missionary in the MTC. But they have this video series called The District that we have to watch clips from. Im not kidding its like Mormon reality TV. It mind numbing to watch. It's supposed to be an unscripted documentary type series on missionary work. But the Norway mission is a LOT different than the San Diego mission (where the district is based) and some of those missionaries just make me angry to watch. They totally teach for numbers and not for people. But I guess that can be good too so that you can learn from their mistakes.
So a typical day consists of studies till noon, contacting till about 8:30pm, and back home for planing (pres wants us home by 9-9:30, and its 20 minutes to ride the bybane back to our area and another 20 minute walk home.) Sometimes we can fit in member dinners or teaches in that 8 hour block of contacting time. There are also several activities we do with the YSA several nights a week. Mondays we have FHE at 7, Fridays we have Sport, Tuesdays we have district meeting at 11 and MMK at 6. We spend a lot of time on the streets contacting in the cold and the rain.
The sun stays up for 20 hours a day during the summer, unless you're in the North. Then the sun never sets. Also in the North is where the sun never comes up in the winter time. If you're still wanting to come pick me up in 2 years then there's a good chance you'll get to see the infamous endless hours of sun. Because transfers here are 9 weeks instead of 6 the mission is 23 months. you can volunteer a 25 month if you want. But that means ill be done in Aug of 2013. That would be a perfect time to see some of Norway. But Ill leave that up in the air until the time gets closer.
My ability to understand Norsk is a ton better than my ability to speak it. But my trainer says he has notices a HUGE improvement on my fluency. Interestingly enough some of the best speakers here said it felt like 6 or 8 months before it started really coming. They just memorized and studied their brains out and one day it just clicked. Im hoping the same happens for me. i just dont want to feel like Ive wasted months of the missions time and money, though i have noticed a ton of growth in myself. So it's not been a waste for me, I just dont want others to see me as a waste.
As for the members, they are awesome. There are a lot of old people, one of them is named Brother Rasmussen. He was happy to meet me. Hes extremely passionate and outspoken about the gospel. Its great. All the members get excited when they first meet me and see i have a Scandinavian surname. They all ask 'Er de Norsk, eller Dansk?' I tell em all its Danish. Theyre always thrilled to have Scandinavian missionaries so I was well received. We have a member named Helga whos a 50 something year old guy with a crazy obsession with ties. I think hes autistic, hes definitely slow, but hes super nice. He has like 10 thousand ties, not even exaggerating. He gives all the new missionaries a tie. Theyre usually ugly, but we all wear em anyway because we appreciate them. Mine is grey with blue and red flowers on it. The YSA are solid. They come to everything and make American YSA look extremely ungrateful. Members here love the Gospel. There are a few young couples in the branch. Theyre just like American young couples. They all take great pride in the church building here. Theres someone there every day cleaning, even if theres nothing to clean. They're very proud of the building.
As far as needs, all i need is patience. Im starting to itch for gaming time and movie dates. lol, (lol is short slang for Laugh Out Loud in case you didnt know. Ive noticed Ive used it a few times) But if there is anything that i need i will let you know.
We have moves next week. This transfer flew by! I dont know yet if ill be staying in Bergen or if ill be moving to a new area. i guess we will see.
So, New Years we spent at the church. We got permission to stay up til midnight. We just played games with the YSA and ate snacks (chopped up raw vegetables, chips, sprite, eclairs) At midnight we all went out and lit sparklers. The whole city was shooting off fireworks for like 20 minutes. It was like a warzone. They were everywhere. you could look 360 degrees and see em exploding in the air all over the place. I guess New years is the only time of year when fireworks are legal to buy so they go nuts. We also saw a lot of scantily clad women on the busses and the bybane. All going to parties no doubt. Its really sad that people think they have to dress like that to be noticed, and that they dont set higher expectations for themselves. Morality is super low here. I could go up to just about anyone here, tell them Im American and looking for a good time, and they would make sure to get me to the best parties, with the best women, with all the drink or drugs i wanted, and show me their idea of a good time. That is esp true for missionaries, theyd get a kick out of that. And it would all be free. They have this idea in their head that Americans party like crazy and that its like Sodom and Gomorrah there. Theyve all seen movies like American Pie and think that is how we all are. And so they model their parties like that trying to keep up. Its pretty sad. So any chance they get to party with an American they take. Im glad that aspect of this country is a well kept secret from the US because i know that plenty of people would came here to take advantage of it. Its in seeing things like this in the world that make me extremely grateful for the gospel and all the many blessings it brings us.
That being said, i should tell you about a guy the sisters are baptizing in Feb. His name is paul. He started cleaning up his life after he met the missionaries. Hes been struggling with drugs for years. Total narco man. The first time he came to an activity he said that he was happy for us who grew up with the church, that we never had to go through the things hes been through, but felt that he would be a negative influence to the church if he started coming. When we told him we wanted him here, that he could change and find the same happiness he just up and quit his substance abuse. Hes loving it here so far, and making some HUGE changes to do this. You can almost literally see the hand of Christ molding him. His countenance has changed entirely. It's pretty incredible. Most of the YSA members here are converts of the last 2 years. Only one has been a life long member, and 2 converted in the last 5 years and have served missions. So many incredible stories to tell. Blessings like this could not come from nowhere. It's evidence to me that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that this church is true. There is no way that it could be otherwise.
Well, Im all out of things to talk about...for now. Im looking forward to next weeks letter and hope that you have a good week. i love you dad.
-Elder Scott Rasmussen-
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
December 12, 2011
Thanks for the email. It was great hearing from you. i loved your gingerbread house. Congrats on the win! So I have a bunch of new pics this week. Ill have mom send em to ya. Its a little harder to up lead them again. These comps are slow. We went to an old fortress today. Its on the harbor in the city. It was built in the 1200s. Part of it was destroyed in WW2. The Nazis had a ship in the harbor that the Norwegians blew up, but the explosion caused some damage, but they've restored what was lost. But most of whats there is the original building. Also took some pics of the city. So I hope you enjoy them.
Its been rainy again this week. We now only get 2 hours of the sun. It takes some getting used to. its dark by 3pm here. So crazy.
Don't know a whole lot to talk about. I flew to Oslo on the 6th for a conference. I've ow had a total of 10 flights while I've been here. The church dumps money into the missionaries here! I swear I have 10 missionaries in Brazil paying for just me. (you can tell that to alex Jensen hehe)
We had a Julebord (Christmas party) a the church this week. It went well. Had a TON of people show up.
Sorry to keep this so short. But other missionaries are fighting for the comp so I should log out. Enjoy the pics. love you guys
-Elder Scott Rasmussen-
Front street at night after hiking
My backyard after the storm
1800's Shopping center
Fortress (from the street)
Another building in the fortress
A bunker
Fortress side, love the windows
Another view of the side
More of the fortress
Ruins of a section destroyed in WW2 when a ship in the harbor next to it was bombed
A church across the bay from the fortress
The ramparts surrounding the fortress (look how high!)
Me with the cannons
Silly sister missionaries
A memorial to the old kings
Fortress from the North
A road in Bergen sentrum (notice the license plates here) (also see the houses on the hill)
Communism is alive and well here
St Johns Cathedral (its HUGE!!!!)
St johns Cathedral 2 (notice how dark the sky is, its 2pm!)
Bergen from the Cathedral doors (sorry so blurry)
Steeple with Crows
Its been rainy again this week. We now only get 2 hours of the sun. It takes some getting used to. its dark by 3pm here. So crazy.
Don't know a whole lot to talk about. I flew to Oslo on the 6th for a conference. I've ow had a total of 10 flights while I've been here. The church dumps money into the missionaries here! I swear I have 10 missionaries in Brazil paying for just me. (you can tell that to alex Jensen hehe)
We had a Julebord (Christmas party) a the church this week. It went well. Had a TON of people show up.
Sorry to keep this so short. But other missionaries are fighting for the comp so I should log out. Enjoy the pics. love you guys
-Elder Scott Rasmussen-
Front street at night after hiking
My backyard after the storm
1800's Shopping center
Fortress (from the street)
Another building in the fortress
A bunker
Fortress side, love the windows
Another view of the side
More of the fortress
Ruins of a section destroyed in WW2 when a ship in the harbor next to it was bombed
A church across the bay from the fortress
The ramparts surrounding the fortress (look how high!)
Me with the cannons
Silly sister missionaries
A memorial to the old kings
Fortress from the North
A road in Bergen sentrum (notice the license plates here) (also see the houses on the hill)
Communism is alive and well here
St Johns Cathedral (its HUGE!!!!)
St johns Cathedral 2 (notice how dark the sky is, its 2pm!)
Bergen from the Cathedral doors (sorry so blurry)
Steeple with Crows
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
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-
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.
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
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
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-
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
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