Greetings, (Hilsen,)
Well, winter came October 9. We woke up to snow
and it snowed until Oct. 12! Sometimes it was heavy and
blizzard like conditions, other times it was gentle with big flakes. You might say we get lake effect big time here being at sea level and living on an island. During that three day period, there were moments of hail, sleet, thunder lightning, and rain.
People here go about their life with a business as usual attitude. The young Elders had put on our snow tires just days before the snow hit. We were prepared! People
still walk, ride bikes and, of course, cross country ski in
these conditions. We came prepared with winter clothes and boots so we just continued our schedule. We try to go for a two mile hike every other day. We went in these conditions and it was great. According to the members, these conditions will be around until the first of May. The
days without sunshine begin around Nov. 21 until Jan. 21.
I can hardly wait! Ug.
We enjoyed general conference and saw the sessions
live both Saturday and Sunday but we were watching at
6:00pm and 10:00 pm at night. One of our members works at a high school right downtown and got permission for us
to use the school. We were able to see it on a big screen. It was awesome. We would look out the window at the
panoramic view of the city on the fjord with its glimmering lights and a beautiful skyline. It will be a memory I will not
forget. We all loved every speaker for on each day. We especially enjoyed President Eyrings talk on taking the time to write a journal moment at the end of each day to recognize the hand of God in our lives everyday. Many daily miracles may not seem like miracles if we don’t stop and pay attention to them. It is amazing how much our Father in Heavenly loves us and gives us opportunities to
serve him as we go about our daily routine. He puts people in our paths and we need to be prepared to reach out in love to them. We had several investigators that watched conference with us. We had Home Evening the next night
And shared our individual thoughts on the various talks.
Some of the investigators have been investigating for over a year. They are actively involved with us and then they just drop off for awhile. Our investigators are mostly young adults. We have a new investigator who spent last year as a foreign exchange student in the home of Mormons in southern Nevada. She went to church with them every week and was involved in all the Young Women activities. She is back in Tromsø for her last year of high
school. Her father is not involved with any church but her
mother is strong Catholic and can’t understand why she could never get her daughter to attend church with her but went to church all last year and is now going to our small branch here in Tromsø. She told her mom that she felt a cold feeling in the Catholic church but feels a warm feeling in the Mormon church. Who knows where this is headed? We can only pray and love her and continue to teach her.
We have Institute every Thursday night. We usually always have young adult investigators come to Institute. In
fact, we are told that we have the second most well attended Institute in all of Norway. I have been alternating teaching it with a student from southern Norway who is up here going to the University. I work hard to prepare a lesson that will help the Investigators fill the spirit. We had a Institute bowling party a couple of weeks ago that was really fun!
One thing that has really impressed us since being here is Sunday closures. There are no malls opened, no
grocery stores or businesses. Even downtown where all the cruise ships dock and most of the action is, it is very quiet on Sunday. We don’t know if the people actually all attend church services but it is a different day than the rest of the week.
They have roundabouts here instead of intersections
and that takes some getting used to. Once you are in the roundabout you have to yield to cars coming from your left. Sometimes when side streets enter the thru street the thru street yield to them. We are still confused as to when this is done and when it isn’t necessary. Pedestrians
always have the right of way whether they are in a cross-
or not. Needless to say, driving can be an adventure!
When the church makes the move to downtown which must be done by the first of the year, we are hoping the new location will make coming to church for members and others much easier because of the bus service that is more convenient to the new location. The buses do run on Sunday although the schedule is more limited. We will be on the first floor of a building and on the next floor are offices where a group of international leaders are working on getting the bid for the Winter Olympics here in Tromø
in 2018.
We keep very busy taking care of the needs of the branch and preparing for the Sunday meetings and branch
activities. We have a Halloween party planned for next Saturday night at the branch. We have encouraged members to bring extended family and friends.
Thinking about you, Love, Elder & Sister Humphrey
Monday, 22 October 2007
Friday, 19 October 2007
Last post of photo's for today.
The Domkirke, or head cathedral, in downtown Tromsø. This building was constructed in the 1800's.
This is the Norwegian stroller, a baby buggy. Mothers bundle up their babies and take them out almost every day to get fresh air.
An apartment building in Tromsø. Many people, including us, live in apartments. We will show our apartment building later.
Looking south-south-west from Tromsø island. The tall plant to the left is a weed called the Tromsø palm. The people here think they are neat.
Part of the Tromsø heritage museum buildings. Notice the main farm house to the left and the stabø, or store house, to the right. The sod roof was to keep the inside cool during the summer. It is built on risers to keep it off of the ground to keep the varmin out. This is where the food was stored.
Downtown Tromsø.
The Polaria building in Tromsø. It is an arctic museum and an oceanarium for the only captive bearded seals in the world.
Close up of the Polaria.
Another view of the Polaria.
Sister Humphrey standing next to the car we drive, A VW Polo. The houses in the background are typical Norwegian houses. Usually one family lives on each floor. So two or three families live in each house.Even more photo's
On the way from Tromsø to Mortonhals, to visit the Peterson family, members of our branch. Mortonhals is about 60 km. from Tromsø, via a ferry.
The Peterson family. Left to right: Christine, age 14, Maria (fiancee to Mark), Alexander, 11, and Mark.
Christine Peterson. Alley, this is your pen pal. All of these photo's were taken on Aug 27, 2007.
Looking from downtown Tromsø towards the mainland. The white building is the Ishav Cathedral for the Norwegian Luthern State Church.
A telephoto of the same church building.More Photo's
In our apartment eating dinner. Elder Michael Isaaksen, Åse Svendsen Lil Kristoffersen, Sister Humphrey, Linda Bennet, Elder Ben Olson (left to right).
Same day, just a better view of Åse and Lil. They and Linda are members of our branch.
A picture of our branch meeting house. We have to move by Jan.
Looking from the south north west side of Tromsø island towards Kvaløye, a large island just west of Tromsø, connected by a bridge.
Again looking from Tromsø south south west.
Thursday, 18 October 2007
First news ever!
Hei alle sammen! Hi everyone. Dave and Maxine Humphrey here in Tromsø, Norway. We are serving a senior couple mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Some of you may call our church the Mormon Church. But we arrived here in Norway on the 14th of August and in Tromsø since the 16th of August. When we arrived the sun set about 930 pm and came up around 430 am. Now it comes up shortly after 8am and goes down just before 5pm. We loose eight minutes of light a day. By Nov. 21st we will no longer see the sun until January 31st. But we will make up for it next summer when the sun will not set between May 30th and July 15th. We want to post several pictures on our blog for you to see what it is like up here and then we will send out a monthly update on our activities. Look forward to you comments and suggestions. Had det godt! (Be good!) Dave and Maxine.
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