Nothing could be sweeter then two baptisms

After the baptism, people assembled in the cultural hall of the Bergen branch to have punch and cookies and celebrate the wonderful event.

Sister Humphrey with Trym and Kristoppher just before they were baptized.

Elder Humphrey with the boys just before he baptized them.

What a marvelous way to end our mission with the baptism of these two brothers. We loved teaching them and spending time in their home. They will make excellent additions to the primary here in Haugesund

We gave farewell talks at our last Zone Conference. I got gold coins, chocolate of course, and gave to all the missionaries and told them they were worth their weight in gold. I found some big chocolate medals to give the president and his wife for a thank you to them for their tireless service here in Norway.

More memories of Haugesund

President Poulsen and his wife came to Haugesund to release Elder Humphrey from being the Branch President. We had a Linger Longer that day which was enjoyed by all in attendance.

Our church occupies the ground floor of this house. It is right downtown and they have been in this building for quite a few years.

The day the President came the ladies in the branch gave Sister Poulson and I Norwegian sweater which I will wear with love in my heart for these people who we have grown so close to.

Here are some of the sisters who were there when the sweaters were presented to us.

We went to dinner at Sister Elske's home just before we left. She is from the Phillippines and served delicious Phillipino food.

Special people, special times

Out of all the Elders we associated with in Norway, we spent more time with Elder Holst from Denmark. He spend four months with us in Tromsø and became part of our southern zone in August. He is our District Leader and came to visit us in Haugesund. We will miss him and the great times we have had together.

Brother Brevik came to Enrichment Night and provided us with some good Norwegian songs and folk tales. The sisters all enjoy being entertained by him.

How could we resist this one? As many of you know, we are avid Utah fans at our house. These are the Elders we are serving with us right now in Haugesund and they are both avid Utah fans also!

The boys that were just baptized on Saturday and confirmed today in church. We enjoyed going into their home to teach them each week for the last two months.

Dado was converted in Oslo but now lives an hour away from Haugesund. We have enjoyed having him becoming part of our branch.

Churches and more of Ruth's visit

Grandpa Knaphus did some painting restorations in this church. It was the church he was baptized in as in infant.

The painting behind us has distant relatives of the Knaphus family in it. Elder Humphrey's cousin was able to get a key to the church and take us on a tour.

We took Ruth to Bergen while she was here and showed her the sights of Norway's second largest city. This was taken during Christmas so Christmas decorations adorned the city.

This stave church is a site that is very popular with tourists. It is very close to our church in Bergen. We took Ruth there while we spent time with her in Bergen.

New Years Eve was spent in the home of members of the branch. We had a wonderful time eating, visiting and watching the children (supervised by their dads) let off fireworks. Ruth was with us on New Years Eve.

Winter in Knaphus and Ruth's Visit

We get very little snow in western Norway but winter can bring some very beautiful frosty scenes.

Elder Humphrey's sister spent Christmas week with us. We had a wonderful time together. We went back to the home of Elder Humphrey's third cousin so they could meet Ruth who is also their third cousin.

Ruth enjoyed seeing the Memory Marker at Knaphus.

We took her to our last Sons of Norway meeting. It was a holiday party. We said goodbye to all the friends we had made there during the last nine months of attending monthly meetings of this group.

Ruth and Elder Humphrey after church on the Sunday following Christmas. We were so glad to have her come and spend time with us.