Month of Boldness

It has been really hot this weekend in Narvik. Well, at least hot for Narvik. It's been up at 90 degrees, which isn't too bad, but when you are in church clothes and walking all day, it gets to be a lot. And it would be alright, except for Norway doesn't have air conditioning! For some reason, it just doesn't exist, and the sun never goes down, so it is ALWAYS hot. We walk into our apartment every night and it is also hovering around 85 degrees, and I have no idea how to cool it down. So I just feel like I live in a furnace, which makes it slightly difficult to sleep at night, but hey, I just think cool thoughts :) 

This week we traveled to Bodø and back for splits, and it was really great to be there and see the other elders, but on the way back, our plane got delayed two hours, which made me miss a meeting, but it was okay because they gave us 20 dollars each to get some food at the airport and we got some good study time in :) I feel like I am always traveling, but it is fun.

Some other exciting news is that I found out this week that Elder Bednar is going to be coming to Norway on September 7! Cool, right? So I will get to meet him and he will speak to the missionaries, and it is pretty exciting. 

Our less-active family came to church again, and it was really good to see them there. They showed up right before I was about to bless the sacrament, but it was good to have them anyway because sacrament meeting would have been pretty empty if they weren't there. It was time to start church, and we had Elder Forsberg and I, and then one more member, and that was it. So crazy, right? Everyone is still out of town, including the branch president now, so we are in charge of running church. It is weird. But we ended up getting some visitors from down south who were vacationing up here, so it turned out to be a decent meeting after all. I have taught sunday school/ priesthood for the past several weeks, and this week I played the piano, but I had to have the pedal on my knee and move my leg up to press it against the bottom of the table (if that makes sense) because the cord was too short to reach the floor. And then I was also blessing the sacrament, so there was some awkward time after them hymn during which I prepared the sacrament, but it all went okay in the end. Church in the north :)

Kikka, Kai, and the Fransens are all still out of town. Well, I am assuming that Kikka is still gone, because she wasn't in church yesterday and we called her and she didn't answer. Kai doesn't get back until the end of July, and I am not exactly sure what the Fransens' plan is. It is definitely a little frustrating, but I am sure that it is fun for them to travel. 

Happy late 4th of July! I wasn't quite sure what to do to celebrate as a missionary, but I wanted to do something, so I landed on just buying some meet and making my own hamburgers. We didn't have a grill or anything, so I just did them on the stove, but they actually turned out pretty good, and it was good to remember all the barbecues we always had. It could have been great with some sparklers or something, but it was still a lot of fun :)  I hope you all enjoyed the celebrations, and especially the fireworks. I hope you loved the fireworks. There is something so special about gathering together to celebrate the independence which has made our lives the beautiful way they are. The freedom which allows us to worship the true and living God in the way that we choose and the opportunity which this country, born of a desire for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, allowed for the Church of Jesus Christ to be restored to the earth through the boy prophet. What an amazing opportunity we have each year to thank the courageous men who risked everything so that those who came after, their children, would have the religious freedom which means everything to us today. I love America, and I love the 4th of July.

In the Norway Oslo mission, July has been titled the month of boldness. I think it's great for missionary work, but I have been thinking a lot about what boldness really means and how it should play a role in our lives as members of the church as well. To me, being bold is having the courage to tell it how it is without a fear of the consequences or opinion of others. Boldness is being willing to follow through with the will of God without hesitation or second thought. And in the world today, we could all use a little more boldness. The standards of the world are moving steadily away from God's standards, and with that shift comes a temptation to hide our standards from the view of the world in an effort to not offend or to fit in with the crowd. But God needs members who will keep His commandments with exactness and with boldness. President Uchtdorf said that if we are bold because of love, then it can never become over-bearance, and I know that one of the best ways to help others come unto Christ is by living in a way that others will see our example and ask. They become curious about the happiness that comes into our lives and their hearts are opened to the message of the restoration. Let us all be a little more bold in our faith and live valiantly for the truth and for God. Love you all!