Humphrey Highlights

More Tokyo plus grandpa

2012-01-18T20:42:00.001+01:00

Japan again

2012-01-18T20:29:00.002+01:00

We took a harbor tour on this boat.

Brett with grandma

Brett with grandpa.

More Japan

2012-01-18T20:10:00.002+01:00

At Disneyland

Tokyo LDS Temple

Humphrey's at the Temple

Mt. Fuji seen from Brett

and Bonnie's apartment building.

Rachael and Sage

2012-01-18T19:56:00.003+01:00

Rachael and grandma

Brett feeding Rachael

Rachael asleep while we shopped

Sage on a Tokyo
side street.

Rachael in her crib. Two days after we came home she learned to stand up on her own.

2012-01-18T04:53:00.000+01:00

2012-01-18T04:31:00.001+01:00

2012-01-18T01:16:00.000+01:00

2011-09-11T05:45:00.002+02:00

Rylee with Roxie and their new dog Welcome to Rylee's room

Trevor is taller than grandpa!

Spending time with Christian

All thr Eden children and Amy

Gabe's wife of six months!

2011-09-11T05:33:00.002+02:00

Sara coaching her girls in soccer Davin's first year of soccer

Showing off fake nails

Dressing up at Clair's in Park City

All aboard the Heber Creeper!

2011-09-11T05:19:00.002+02:00

Cascade Falls with Brett's family

Headed to the outlet mall in Park City

Jeremy Ranch with Sara's family

On their way to the pool at Jeremy

Ranch

Bunkbeds for climbing

2011-09-11T05:10:00.002+02:00

Scary but loving it! Oops, where did Davin go?

King of Bunker Hill

Good times for all!

I see you!

2011-09-11T04:32:00.002+02:00

Park City fun! The Alpine Slide

Miniture golfing with three grandsons

Lots of fun times had here

Two happy granddaughters!

2011-09-11T03:48:00.002+02:00

Naegle Family Reunion summer of 2011

Erma and her children

Annual Shakespearen time in Cedar City with friends

Three of our goodlooking children

2011-09-11T03:32:00.002+02:00

Grease at Tuacahn Bryce Canyon

Baby Rachel at her blessing

The proud parents!

All Dave's syblings at the
Rock Church

2011-09-11T03:12:00.002+02:00

Dave at our garden spot!

Humphrey Family Reunion in June at the college ranch.

Cemetary in Cedar City

Twins at the mall in St. George!

Spring of 2011

2011-09-11T02:33:00.003+02:00

A tradition, going to Cedar City on the Memorial Day weekend to decorate grandparents Naegle and Humphrey graves with all of Maxine's siblings and their spouses. (Bill & Carol, Norm & Loleen, Roy & Erma, Juanita, Dave & Maxine)

Wayne and Annette, two of our friends, came from Bountiful to visit us in May. Dave and Wayne played some golf and then we drove to Las Vegas and saw Donny and Marie.

Carter and his eight year old birthday cake.

After the baptism with Jeff's family, us, and the Romney's.

Carter's baptism date in March with his two grandma's.

2011-05-03T04:46:00.001+02:00

2011-05-03T04:41:00.000+02:00

2011-05-03T04:32:00.001+02:00

2011-05-03T04:02:00.001+02:00

Panama Cruise Part VXV11

2011-01-04T06:34:00.002+01:00

Panama Cruise Part VXV1

2011-01-04T06:29:00.001+01:00

Panama Cruise Part VXV

2011-01-04T06:23:00.002+01:00

Panama Cruise Part 1VX

2011-01-04T06:21:00.001+01:00

Panama Cruise Part VX111

2011-01-04T06:15:00.001+01:00

Panama Cruise Part VX11

2011-01-04T05:59:00.004+01:00

Panama Cruise Part V1X

2011-01-04T05:45:00.002+01:00

Panama Cruise Part VX

2011-01-04T05:33:00.002+01:00

Panama Cruise Part VX1

2011-01-04T05:18:00.002+01:00

Panama Cruise Part VX1

2011-01-04T04:54:00.002+01:00

Panama Cruise Part V111

2011-01-04T04:48:00.001+01:00

Panama Cruise Part V11

2011-01-04T04:42:00.001+01:00

Panama Cruise Part V1

2011-01-04T04:32:00.001+01:00

Panama Cruise Part V

2011-01-04T04:22:00.001+01:00

Panama Cruise Part IV

2011-01-04T04:15:00.002+01:00

Norwegian Cruise Liner III

2011-01-04T04:04:00.002+01:00

Cruise to the Panama Canal Part II

2011-01-04T03:15:00.000+01:00

Cruise to the Panama Canal

2011-01-04T02:52:00.000+01:00

Jory 's Homecoming, Mission Reunion and Christian's Birthday

2011-01-04T02:40:00.003+01:00

2010-07-10T18:37:00.006+02:00

Grand-children enjoying a game of spoons in the family room.

Fun in the back yard!

Two days were spent at Lagoon, one with Sara and children and then bounceback with Hunter, Lizzie, Madeline, Morgan and Grandpa.

Ten grand-children (Paxton is missing, prob-ably skateboarding).

We had our 50 year high school reunion on the 5th of July. Maxine and three of her friends, Loraine, Joyce and Barbara.

More Montana and the zoo

2010-07-10T17:59:00.004+02:00

We spent five days with Jeff and Dori and family in Montana. Sara and Jeff Nagrant and family went with us. We spent an afternoon at Lake Komo.

Jeff brought his four wheeler to the lake and we went for a spin up the mountain road. Maxine wouldn't let Dave go faster than two miles per hour.

On the far end of the lake is a beaut-iful water-fall, pictured here

The grand-children enjoyed picking the pocket of grandma's apron. Grandma enjoyed letting them do it.

When we came home from Mon-tana we brought Hunter and Lizzie with us. While they were in Utah we went to the zoo one day with Sara and her children and Heidi and her children.

Graduation and Montana

2010-07-10T02:18:00.004+02:00

Eric, Amy and the grad-uate at a family gath-ering after graduation.

Jaden had three sets of grand-parents come to cele-brate this special day with him. We all took turns having pictures taken with him.

Grandma with her grandkids!

Visiting in the back-yard of Eric's house after a delicious lunch!

Getting ready to go out on Jeff's boat at lake Komo in Montana. This lake is very near Jeff's home.

Moving and Eric

2010-07-10T01:50:00.005+02:00

Here is our new home in the St. George area. We are really enjoying it.

Loading up the truck to get ready to move. These are the best helpers.

Thirty eight years of things getting fit into one truck and our car.

After we un-loaded all of our things into our home we drove the next day to Las Vegas and watched Jaden graduate from high school. We were in a large arena and a picture of two graduates was shown on a jumbo-tron.

Eric and Amy at the grad-uation

Edens, Humphreys and Nagrants

2010-05-25T02:40:00.003+02:00

Sage and Joseph eating Choco- late cake, (sort of). It is made of ingredients that are gluten free.

Heidi, Nina, Christ- ian and Brand- on arrived the last week of April. Brandon had to leave two days later to fly to Detroit and then Isreal. Here are three of our children and two of their spouses with Dave.

And here with Maxine.

Christ- ian is such a happy boy, in spite of all he has to go through. Thanks for the smile Christian.

Grandchildren

2010-05-25T02:14:00.003+02:00

Tending Made- line, Morgan, Davin, Sage and Joseph. Sage and Joseph came for a visit from Japan for a couple of weeks in April.

Sage and Joseph on a tramp- oline for the first time ever. They loved it!

Dave, Jeff and Hunter just as they were leaving to go to the Conference Center for the Priesthood session of General Conference.

Satur- day morn- ing, before confer- ence, we had an Easter egg hunt in the back yard. The Easter Bunney put money in some of the plastic eggs. Here the grand kids and their parents are looking at what they found. Some of them became rich.

Jeff helping Cody, followed by Hunter and Morgan looking for Easter Eggs.

Jeff Humphrey and Nagrant families

2010-05-25T01:58:00.003+02:00

Grand- pa on an outing with Carter, Jake and Cody Max while their mom and dad went to a session of General Conference.

Jeff, Dori, Hunter and Lizzie on their way to Saturday morning G. C. session.

We tended the M & M twins and Davin overnight and they put on a show for us. These are their costumes.

Morgan's piano teacher said that for their spring recital they had to play a duet. She asked if her sister, Madeline could play her violen with her as a duet. They did a great job.

Even more NYC

2010-05-24T23:28:00.003+02:00

Entr- ance to Ellis Island main hall.

One of the displays in the Ellis Island main hall. From certain locations the display is a collage of individuals who have gone through Ellis Island, from another location it is an American flag.

Us at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

If you go back to entries made in our blog while we were in Norway you can see the area where the copper for this statue was mined and shipped to France.

Maxine on the ferry to Liberty Island and Ellis Island with NYC in the background.

Maxine on the ferry with the Statue of Liberty in the background.

More NYC

2010-05-24T23:08:00.003+02:00

While in NYC we went to a broad- way play, "Wicked." It was fantastic.

Dave on the obser- vation deck of the Rocke- feller center. The Empire State building is to the left of him.

Ground zero of the twin towers. There is a lot of construction going on right now.

This is where we stayed in NYC, the Man- hatten Club.

What you can see on the streets of New York. He wanted money to take his picture but I sneaked one in with out his being aware I was taking it.

New York City

2010-05-24T22:56:00.003+02:00

Went to New York City the first part of March. While on a bus tour of the city passed the Manhatten Temple. The building is owned by the church and there are three or four wards that meet here as well.

This view shows the entire building, with the Angel Moroni on top.

Maxine at Times Square in NYC.

Dave in NYC.

Times Square. Lots of buildings. Not what we are used to.

2010-05-24T22:25:00.003+02:00

Just inside the door of the new Church History Library are some friezes and plaques made by my mothers father, Torlief S. Knaphus. They can be seen above the windows behind the chairs and to the right of the doorway.

This is a close up of the friezes.

A close up of the plaques. They are the same as the ones on the base of the Palmyra Angel Moroni statue, which he made for the church.

Playing games with Jeff's family when we were up there in March.

Hunter with his grand- parents after church.

Family

2010-05-24T20:37:00.003+02:00

Hunter played basket- ball during the winter and was a very good defensive player and rebounder.

Lizzie also played basket- ball and Jeff was her coach. She was an intense player.

Bonnie came in Feb- ruary with Sage and Joseph. It was fun and great to have them here.

We went to Mon- tana to see Hunter become a Deacon in March. Playing their favorite game, "Spoons".

The day Made- line and Morgan turned eleven, February 10, 2010.

Christmas, Making Smores in the fireplace and Dave

2010-02-02T00:20:00.002+01:00

Dave had a right knee replacement on the 29th of December. He had the use of a machine that bent his knee and straitened it out. Here he is using the machine and keeping warm under his "U" cover.

When we made the Smores, Davin said he did not like to eat them so he wouldn't make any. But he wanted to watch and be close by while we did it.

Maxine and Morgan making their smores.

We had the Nagrant children over one night to make smores, roasting the marshmellows in the fireplace. Here is Madeline burning hers.

Gabe came home from Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo. for the Christmas holidays. He was home for almost three weeks. On the Sunday before Christmas he and the Nagrant children were dressed up in their Sunday best to go to Christmas services. We did have a white Christmas this year.

More Thanksgiving and fun days after

2010-02-02T00:05:00.002+01:00

At Kangaroo Zoo Jake and Cody have fun on some of the slides.

Hunter, Liz, Madeline and Morgan on the larger slides at Kangaroo Zoo. The tree families went here the day after Thanksgiving.

Four boys waiting to go somewhere where they could have fun. Carter, Jake, Cody and Davin.
Now if this is not a lot of mischief waiting to happen I don't know what is.

On Thanksgiving day, after eating a big feast, what is better than to get together as a family and play board games?

The Thanksgiving table with other family members shown, Madeline, Jeff and Sara.

Thanksgiving Day with Humphrey's and Nagrant's

2010-02-01T23:50:00.003+01:00

The four youngest boys, Carter, Jake, Cody and Davin had a table of their own and thought that that was the neatest thing. Of course mom's had to supervise often.

And the adults and older children sat at the big table, where turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, dressing, cranberry sause, rolls and other goodies were served.

Before Thanksgiving dinner the men and young boys had the football game on TV.

After breakfast Lizzie played with her doll and toys while she waited for Madeline and Morgan.

Thanksgiving morning at breakfast, Carter, Jake and Lizzie.

2010-02-01T21:36:00.002+01:00

Met Jeff, Dori and their children in mid-November at Chilli's resturant for lunch. They had come down from Montana for a quick trip. Jeff's mission president is dying of cancer and not expected to live much longer, so there was a special missionary reunion. They had to return home the next day and only had time to have lunch with us.

Dori, Jake and Hunter at Chilli's.

Sara was a bridesmaid for Holly Beecher at her wedding. This is the dress she wore. Beautiful woman!

At the reception of Holly's wedding Davin and his best friend, Cambell, danced together.

Thanksgiving morning. Jake, Lizzie and Cody Max having breakfast.

2009-11-06T06:59:00.003+01:00

Davin was a Pirate for Halloween and enjoyed going trick and treating.

Madeline and Morgan are ready to take off for an evening of fun!

Counting and sorting the loot afterwards. They always share their Almond Joys with me.

Gabe with Davin and the twins after church.

2009-11-06T04:00:00.002+01:00

We went out to lunch after Gabe's graduation on Friday morning, Oct. 23. He was surprised with a delicious piece of cake!

Mom and son. Heidi was a proud mother.

We were all proud of him. He looked good and was a "changed"

person.

Nice picture of mother and son.

When we first arrived we went down to the bay and looked at all the beautiful ships.

2009-11-06T03:04:00.002+01:00

Playing with Davin's train at our house the night we roasted hot dogs in the fireplace.

This was our last get together before Brett's family returned to Japan. Bonnie and the kids had been here for six weeks. Brett came for the last two weeks.

Nice picture by Eric's new truck.

Famous Dave's is becoming the place to go to dinner when we visit Eric in Las Vegas. Heidi was with us as we were traveling to San Diego for Gab's graduation from Marine Boot Camp.

Had fun visiting with Eric's family.

2009-11-06T02:50:00.002+01:00

Brett swinging Sage at Dinosaur Park in Ogden.

Joseph perched a top one of the many dinosaurs.

Having fun with all the dinosaurs in the park.

Riding the Heber Creeper with Brett and the boys. Bonnie was in Dallas, Texas at a convention.

Just before we boarded.

2009-11-06T02:40:00.002+01:00

In September, Joseph turned two so we had a birthday celebration at McDonald's. We opened presents and had cup cakes with our meal. We all had a good time.

Grandpa and Sage eating.

We took all the grandkids that were around to the circus. We are waiting for it to start.

Just before we went into the circus which was at the Energy Solutions Center formally the Delta Center.

Morgan dressing up in sill clothes.

2009-11-06T02:15:00.002+01:00

The annual Naegle Christmas party has been changed to the Fall party. We were in charge this first year of the change. It was a hit! We had a great time playing relay races.

You can see the many that were there! At this table was mostly my brother's family.

Lee came for the first time in a long time. His little girls had fun

playing with other little girls. We had one water relay and the children especially enjoyed that one.

Bonnie and the boys came over from Japan and spent the whole month of September. This is a Labor Day barbecue we had with all the family that was around.

More pictures of that day. The kids all had so much fun!

2009-08-12T18:50:00.002+02:00

July 24th we had a party at Sara's house. Using her firepit, we roasted hot dogs.

Enjoyed spending time together just relaxing and goofing off.

The children enjoyed breaking a Pinate. They all took turns working on it. I think Trevor was the one that finally broke it.

Rylee and Trevor wanted to do the Pick my Pocket apron everyday. They enjoyed on the days I put money in it.

Back at Mueller Park having fun hiking and exploring.

2009-08-12T18:38:00.002+02:00

Grandpa surrounded by grandchildren and loving it!

We took Rylee and Trevor to Mueller Park hiking one day. It is beautiful up there and so close to home. We had a good time

We spent time in the hot tub.

My favorite picture at the park. Only grandchildren were allowed in this picture.

Rylee had been told that I made wonderful sugar cookies and could we make some. Well guess what, they are alot of work but I found a place that makes excellent soft sugar cookies so I bought a bunch of them for Rylee. Sorry Eric I guess I am lazy in my old age.

2009-08-12T18:27:00.002+02:00

I took random pictures of the family eating and visiting at the park.

Rylee enjoyed meeting more cousins. I think Lizzie enjoys having some girl cousins to hang out with.

Introducing Hunter and Trevor who are both 11. Trevor is only a couple of months older then Hunter. It was fun to have them in the same picture. We wish they lived closer to one another and could spend more time together.

Hunter had just finished dancing for us. He did a break dance at the reunion he had just gone to so we insisted he show it to us. He looked pretty cool!

KFC is great for family gatherings and the watermelon tasted good because it was a very hot day. Gabe was with us for a couple of weeks before he entered the miltary. We are glad he joined us for the picnic to see Jeff and his family.

2009-08-12T18:15:00.002+02:00

They were fearless and went on about every ride once. They liked the water rides so they could cool off.

We also did a day at Cherry Hills but grandma forgot her camera. Imagine that? We had fun at Cherry Hills also. Trevor and Rylee love the water and swimming.

Jeff and Dori were returning to Montana after a family reunion on Dori's side of the family. We met them at the Bountiful Park. We had lunch, visited, and the children played for a couple of hours before they continued traveling home. It was great to have 11 of our 19 grandchildren together for a visit.

Waiting for dinner at Lagoon.

They did this ride several times. Trevor would have stayed there all day.

2009-08-12T17:59:00.002+02:00

We were excited to have Rylee and Trevor come from Las Vegas to stay with us for a week. We are at Lagoon with Madeline and Morgan. They had a great day!

More pictures of our day at Lagoon.

Aren't brothers fun? Trevor was surrounded by women. I think he enjoyed himself. He won a weasel playing games on the midway which he loved!

Back in Cedar with our friends. We go down to the Shakesperean Festival every year with this group. We have a great time. Eric and Amy met us in Cedar and we brought their children back with us. We had a nice visit and had to have Fish and Chips at Brad's Place. He bought grandpa's business and the Fish and Chips is almost as good as grandpa's.

Another beautiful picture of the scenery up Cedar Mountain.

2009-08-12T17:38:00.002+02:00

We enjoyed a few days in Cedar City in July and went up Cedar Mountain and enjoyed the beautiful area where we lived and had many memories of dating as teenagers and graduating from Cedar High School.

Our Mission President came home in July and we went up to Logan to his homecoming. It was a wonderful day sharing time with them and some of the Elders we had served with.

We went to Logan with the Roberds, a couple that served with us in Norway. They live in Alpine and we enjoy still seeing and associating with them.

A group of the missionaries that attended the homecoming in Logan.

Allie was here with us for a couple of weeks after her family returned to Israel. We celebrated her 17th birthday by having ice cream cake and going to her favorite place to eat out: Cafe Rio!

2009-07-09T00:53:00.002+02:00

Happy Fourth of July! Nine of our grandchildren having fun while we prepared for a barbecue and fireworks. We had some of our own to light off but we were also positioned between two organized fireworks displays. It was a fun day and evening with a parade, games, food etc.

The Humphrey Reunion. This is with Dave's brothers and sisters. We have it every two years. Part of the activities was the Amazing Race Humphrey style. We went all over Salt Lake finding clues and taking pictures of where we were to see who were the winners. The places we went and the things we did were all related to family history. It was really fun, especially when our group WON.

Dave's brothers and sisters. He is the second oldest one in his family. His sister Ruth came to Norway to visit us while we were on our mission.

Gabriel, our grandson, turned 19 in June and here he is with his
birthday cake.

We took Paxton (15) Allie (17) and Nina (12) to the temple to do family names for a member of our Haugesund branch. They did the baptisms and confirmations. We had a wonderful day!

2009-07-09T00:27:00.002+02:00

On May 17, we had Alex and her family over to dinner. We had Norwegian food. It was nice to have them come to our house and meet some of our family.

The Norwegian community in Salt Lake City always have a celebration around May 17 to honor their Norwegian heritage. We took some of our grandchildren and went this year. Notice the sign highlighting Tromsø. We had to get a picture.

We go to Cedar City every Memorial Day Weekend and put flowers on the graves of our parents. We spend the weekend with my sisters and brother. Here we all are at the grave of my dear parents. Dave's parents are buried very close to mine so we decorate all the graves. I have one sister who has died but the rest of us are still enjoying this annual get together. Believe it or not I'm old but I am the youngest in my family.

A sign showing Haugesund. We served in Haugesund and Tromsø

so we had to take pictures of both at the May 17 party. We also got to purchase and eat Norwegian chocolate. Wow, we do miss it! There was a sign for each of the 29 counties in Norway.

Another picture showing the fun festivities. There were games for the children and alot of Norwegian Bunads. However, the rest of us dressed the American way

of celebrating our national holiday. CASUAL!

2009-07-09T00:09:00.002+02:00

We were so excited to actually participate in the teaches of Alex Garcia who we had taught the missionary lessons to in Haugesund. She came back home without being baptized but did get baptized on April 25 here in our area. We had kept in contact with her and she invited us to be there for her reteaches and to participate in the baptism.

We are with Alex's family the day of her baptism. Her younger brother also got baptized a month before Alex. We went to his baptism also. Their grandparents lived in our Haugesund branch. We know how happy they are about the baptism of their grandchildren. We are too!

We went down to Las Vegas right after Easter to visit our son and his family. We went out to dinner at Famous Dave's Barbecue. It was yummy!

The grandchildren: Jayden, Trevor and Rylee chose the place to eat. It is one of the family favorites. We had a great visit with them.

Enjoying the hot tub in our backyard. The grandchildren like it as much as the adults.

2009-07-08T23:46:00.002+02:00

Happy Easter! We had several grandchildren around on Easter weekend. On Saturday, we had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard! We put dollar bills in plastic eggs with some candies and they loved that!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Grandpa has had a silly Leprechaun hat for quite sometime. He enjoyed sharing the moment with his grandson, Christian.

Sage, our grandson who lives in Tokyo, was here to see us when we got home. We took him and his brother to a new place called Kangaroo Land that had opened while we were gone.

Hard to see brother Joseph. However, he was having a ball bouncing in all the different areas at Kangaroo Land. Joseph will be two in September. He was born shortly after we left on our mission.

After we had been home only a few weeks, we flew to Montana to tend five grandchildren while our son Jeff and his wife went on a cruise. As you can see, grandpa was enjoying himself with Jake and Cody Max. Cody was born the day we arrived in Norway!

2009-07-08T23:29:00.002+02:00

Soon after we got home, we attended the Open House of the Draper Temple with family members. Our son-in-law Jeff had his mother visiting from Detroit. She enjoyed attending the Open House with us.

Two daughters and two daughter-in-laws at the dinner following our Homecoming. They make for a pretty picture!

Aunt Marie and her sons brought a cake with the Norwegian flag. It was great! We had alot of friends and family come to welcome us home. We were overwhelmed by their support and the love we felt from everyone.

Our son that lives in Montana came down for the Homecoming event. He has his hands full! He and his wife came over to Norway to see us. It was very special to have them with us in Norway.

Norway to Utah

2009-07-08T23:06:00.002+02:00

We had a five hour layover in Chicago. During that time we met a sister who was headed to the MTC in Provo. She was from England and guess where she was going to be serving, NORWAY! Also, another sister was just returning to Utah after having served her mission in Madagascar. We traveled the rest of the way home together. It was great!

We left Stavanger by train and traveled to Drammen where we were picked up by this couple. Elder Humphrey baptized her when he was a young missionary. Her name is Gerd Pedersen.

Salt Lake airport upon our arrival. We were greeted by two of our daughters and three of our granddaughters. They had made a very festive welcome home sign!

The train station in Stavanger. We drove our car from Haugesund to Stavanger and then gave our car to the Elders and boarded the train to continue our trek home. A picture at the station shows us with four Elders that we had grown to love and a couple from Stavanger that Elder Humphrey knew from his first mission. Sister Peterson was a young girl when he served the first time in Norway.

Nothing could be sweeter then two baptisms

2009-02-01T16:37:00.002+01:00

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

2009-02-01T16:20:00.003+01:00

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

2009-02-01T16:01:00.002+01:00

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

2009-02-01T15:43:00.002+01:00

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.

2009-02-01T15:30:00.000+01:00

Winter in Knaphus and Ruth's Visit

2009-02-01T15:16:00.002+01:00

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.

2008-12-27T13:13:00.003+01:00

Sister Wvarvik is our Branch Relief Society President. She had us to dinner on Christmas Day. We had Lukte Fisk which I had hoped to avoid while in Norway. It is a common dish at Christmas time. It is fish that has spend hours in lie and then drying out before it is served. Actually, it was not that bad. We then had a wonderful cheese cake which she is holding. It was nice being in her home with her family.

I had to show off the slippers I knit for Elder Humphrey for Christmas. I have learned to knit with five needles at the same time. I am making another pair so hopefully I will continue knitting Norwegian style when I get home.

Dinner at the Wvarvik home. She also served salmon in case we could not tolerate Lukte Fisk. All of us tried it even Elder Reese and Elder Lange.

Christmas Eve we were in the home of the Steinsvik family. The Norwegian people open all their presents on Christmas Eve. We also had a very good Christmas Eve dinner. Everyone dresses up in Sunday best for Christmas Eve activities.

At the Zone Christmas party I had to have another picture with me and the Tromsø missionaries. We served with Elder Issacson from Logan and Elder Hotst from Denmark. Elder Holst was with us for four months and helped me make it through mørketiden.

(the period of two months without the sun). It is great to see the growth in these and other missionaries during the time they are on their missions.

More Christmas Parties

2008-12-27T12:52:00.003+01:00

President and Sister Poulsen at the Zone Christmas party in Stavanger. We ate, played games, had a program and exchange gifts. It was great fun!

The Elders serving here in Haugesund with us, Elder Reese and Elder Lange along with Emily Thompson who was visiting our branch from America. We enjoyed visiting with her. She served a mission in Germany.

It is cold and frosty here but the grass stays green all winter. It is amazing. We get wind, rain but very little snow on the west coast of Norway. After spending last winter in the far north we are not minding the change.

Sister Mjøs and one of the two sons we hope to baptize on Jan. 24. They are busy in the kitchen helping to clean up after our branch Christmas party.

2008-12-27T12:35:00.002+01:00

Santa Claus surprised us with a visit and treats for all the children
They were excited and followed him all around as he cheered member young and old.

Lots of visiting and enjoying the warmth of the season. People were moving from table to table having a great time being together

Sister Humphrey with Santa Claus who happens to be our landlord.

His wife died three years ago of cancer. She was a favorite in the branch and loved having the missionaries live in her home. She is greatly missed by the branch. Thor is a great landlord and joins us on Monday night for Home Evening.

Lars Steinsvik is a little old to be pleading for goodies from Santa but the children loved watching him plead for some treats. We all enjoyed his enthusiasm at the arrival of Santa. Santa is called julenissen in Norway.

Elder Humphrey won the chocolate candy when he found an almond in his rice pudding. The children were so hoping they would get the almond. They like their Branch President so I think it was ok that he got it if none of them were lucky enough to get it.

Branch Christmas Party,Zone Christmas Party

2008-12-26T18:13:00.001+01:00

Everyone having fun visiting, eating and anticipating the arrival of Santa Claus. Our landlord, and his grandchildren. Brother Rustad taking pictures.

Annie Steinsvik, Ellen Eliza Steinsvik, Kari Ssteinvik, and Eric Gorde are enjoying the traditional Norwegian food and Julebrus. This is a drink that is available in all the stores at Christmas time.

Sister Humphrey, Kari Ssteinvik, Heather Pettersen and Marianna Hiltunen working in the kitchen getting the food ready to serve. They took a moment out to pose for a picture.

The female missionaries at the Zone Conference Christmas party in Stavanger. Sister Humphrey, Sister Crowther, Sister Poulsen, and Sister Engebretsen. Sister Engebretsen just arrived in the mission field at the first of December.

Elder Humphrey singing a solo at the Zone Conference Party. He sang, In Quiet Grove which is one of his favorite songs. He did a great job.

December 2008

2008-12-26T17:53:00.002+01:00

Elder Reese and Elder Lange arrived to be with us in Haugesund. We picked them up at the bus stop and fed them dinner. We then cleared the table and begin doing missionary work with them. We showed them the area book and investigators we presently have and potential other investigators. We were so happy to have them come and join us in Haugesun.

The Young Women and leaders decorated the branch Christmas tree. We bought new decoration for the tree this year. They made it look very festive.

Activity night (Enrichment night) for Relief Society we wrapped DVD's of the Christmas story and Christmas songs by the Mormon Tabernacle Choire to pass out to family, friends, co-workers and people we meet on the street to wish them a MerryChristmas and Happy New Year.

A church in Stavanger that we went in while in Stavanger for District Meeting. It was very ornately decorated and had many interesting paintings, and scluptures for us to see.

The Stavanger District meeting we went to. Usually, we just have a conference call. However, because Elder Humphrey needed to practice a song he would be singing at Zone Conference/Christmas party we went to Stavanger so he could practice with Elder Tessen who plays the piano. Our District Leader is Elder Holst who served with us in Tromsø.

Thanksgiving dinner and Relief Society

2008-11-28T23:58:00.007+01:00

We were invited to a Thanksgiving Day dinner at the Branch in Bergen, Norways second largest city that is three hours north of us. We accepted the invitation. This is one of the largest branches in the mission and they went all out to make this a special occasion. There were ten turkey's that members roasted and we had all of the trimmings, including two kinds of cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes. However there was no pumpkin pie. Elder Humphrey didn't miss that, as he doesn't like it anyway.

Sister Lewis, one of the sister missionaries in Bergen putting one of the turkey's on the table. The young missionaries did and extra amount of service helping get the feast ready and then cleaning up afterwards. Elder Humphrey served in Bergen as a young missionary and he was able to visit with some of the old time members that remembered him.

On the trip between Haugesund and Bergen you have to cross a fjord on a ferry boat. Trucks, busses and cars drive onto the ferry. This is from the upper area where people go to get something to eat, read or just relax while on the ferry. Notice the trucks and cars below. We had just left the dock and were on our way out to the main channel. This ride on the ferry takes about forty minutes.
Our Relief Society has begun holding monthly activity or Enrichment nights. These are the sisters that came to the last one in November. They learned how to make fancy open faced sandwiches and finished up knitting things that they started in the October meeting.

A picture of the fancy open faced sandwiches (smørbrød) that were made that night. Of course after they were made they had to be eaten, with some soup and a nice drink of punch. Elder Humphrey is glad that there were a few left over that Sister Humphrey could take home with her.

Zone Conference, Bømlo, and Snow

2008-11-28T23:23:00.003+01:00

On the 19th of November we held our monthly Zone Conference in Stavanger. We will be having a moves day on the fourth of December so this was the last time many of us will see each other in Norway. So we took a group photo, and thanks to photo shop, everyone is smiling and looking great. Thanks Elder Holst (seen on the far left). We are next to Elder Holst and President and Sister Poulsen are on the far right.

Elder Hess' mother crotcheted wreath Christmas decorations for each missionary in Norway. We received them at our Zone Conference. This is Elder Hess holding up one of the ornements. He is a great Elder. We are very appreciative of these.

Dado (on the far right) was baptized in Oslo last May. He is a refugee from Ethiopia. He lives on an island that is a little over an hour north of Haugesund, named Bømlo. The Norwegian government assigns refugee's to live in different cities all over Norway so that they can intigrate into the Norwegian life style easier and so that there are not large enclaves of them in any one area. They are assigned to take Norwegian language classes in their assigned areas. Dado lives in a building that houses several emigrants. We went to visit him recently to see if we could help him get to church meetings more often and he had four of his friends that live in the same building as he does listen to us tell about our church. Tedla (who is also from Ethiopia) is just to the left of Dado and has listened to us a couple of time since and came to church with Dado two Sunday's ago. The young man on the far left is from Iran and the one next to him is from Syria.

When Dado and Tedla came to church we had a linger longer luncheon after our meetings. After the luncheon they helped clean up and we took their picture helping do the dishes. Both are married and have families they had to leave behind in Ehiopia.
We received a snow storm a week ago (about the 17th of November) and we had six inches on the ground. Then it turned very cold for the next three days and nothing melted. Glad we had our winter tires on our car. But it has since warmed up and it rained for two days straight. Now all of the snow is gone. Much different than in Tromsø last year.

Missionary work and scenery

2008-11-28T22:52:00.003+01:00

Our oldest grandson, Jory entered the MTC in October and has now arrived in the El Salvador/Belize Mission. We are so proud of him that we had to include a picture of him and his mother, our daughter Heidi, here in our blog. He will be there for two years and we have seen a growth in him just during the time he has been a missionary.

This is Trym. He is eight years old. His mother, Anette is a member of our church but his father is not. He has told us he wants to be baptized and so has his brother. We are teaching them and hope that they can be baptized before we return home. He is demonstrating his skill playing the violin. He has been taking lessons for three months and he played Silent Night for us. An exceptional boy.
This is Ellen Elisa, who comes to our apartment every Wednesday for two to three hours for seminary. Sister Humphrey is her teacher. Elder Olsson is one of our Zone Leaders and Elder Dillion Jensen is an Assistant to the President. Elder Jensen served the first six months of his mission in Haugesund and was in our zone and wanted to visit us (really he wanted to visit Haugesund and the people he knew here).

About a mile from our home is a walk way that goes around a very beautiful lake. At the end of the walkway is this view of Haugesund and the North Sea. We try to walk on this walk way two or three times a week. But since the weather has turned a little colder and rainy we have slowed down on our excercise program.
This is also a view of Skudeneshavn seen from a bridge that goes from the main land of the city to a small island just south of the downtown area.

Skudeneshavn

2008-11-28T22:26:00.003+01:00

Just outside of Haugesund is a large island named Karmøy. It is about 45 km long. At the extreme souther tip is an old city named Skuneneshavn. This is a photo of some of the houses at the outskirts of the city with the north sea behind it. We went to this town to find a member who has not come to church for several years. We did talk to her, but she did not want us to come into her home or to have any personal contact with her. So we looked over the whole town and did a little sight seeing while there.

At the entrance to the childrens park this old sailing ship mast head is protecting the entrance way. It is from a ship that sailed in the 1860's.

On one of the streets in Skudeneshavn. Notice how narrow the street and the house are. And the house is two stories on the end closest to us and it goes down to one story at the other end of the house. I thought this a very interesting house.

Just outside of Skudenes is this lovely sandy beach. Of course in November we had the beach to ourselves and it was way to cold to even put our feet in the water but the beach and the clouds made for a very beautiful picture.

A view of the harbor and the downtown area of Skudeneshaven.

Mission and Zone Conferences

2008-10-28T21:22:00.003+01:00

On the 25th and 26th of October we had a Mission Conference-south in Stavanger. In Norway we have one Stake (a group of smaller geographical groups of members) in the Oslo and surrounding cities. The rest of the country is in the Mission jurisdiction and is divided in the north and south area because of distances. We have a mission conference twice a year. This conference was presided over by an Area Seventy, Elder Steven Kerr. His son, Elder Benjamin Kerr is our District Leader and serves in Stavanger. This is a picture of father and son. This was a very spiritual and worth while conference.

At the Zone Conference and Mission Conference we met two of the elders we had worked with in the Tromsø area, Elder Isaacsen and Elder Holst. Two great elders. It is good to see them again.

The Mission Conference was for members from all of the cities in our zone plus another branch. Between meetings there were meals served. This shows the missionaries taking money for the meals. The young man standing to the right in this photo ws a native Norwegian who just returned a couple of months ago from serving a mission for our church in Salt Lake City, Utah. He had a wonderful experience and was very successful. He spoke durning the Sunday meeting for all of the members. He gave an excellent talk.

This is Elder Humphrey, Sister Sarah Crowther, and a member of our branch in Haugesund, Dado Emana. She knew Dado in Oslo where he was baptized in May. He has since moved to Bømlo, an island about an hour and a half drive north of Haugesund. His goal is to some day return to his native country, Eithopia, and do missionary work. He is very excited about the gospel.

Us with Sister Sara Crowther. Sister Crowther is a granddaughter of a couple, Brother and Sister Duane Crowther, that we worked with in the Bountiful Temple. She came to Norway about three months after we did, but has been working in the Oslo area and this weekend was the first time we met her.

People and fall scenery

2008-10-28T20:45:00.003+01:00

Every month we travel to the city of Stavanger, about fifty miles (78 km.) south of Haugesund to attend Zone conference. Elders and Sisters from Bergen, Haugesund (us), Stavanger, Kristiandsand, and Arendal come together with the mission president and his wife for training. This is just before the conference started. Sister Poulsen always brings banana bread for people to eat before the conference begins. Yum.

The week before zone conference, Elders Kerr and Phillips baptized a couple from Ghana. They invited us to attend and we went to the baptism. A very spiritual experience. They are friends of a man that he baptized a month before.

We took a trip about 40 km out of Haugesund to visit people and took several photos of the fall colors. This is a well with a plant covered roof that has turned because of the fall weather. Overlooking Grindefjord.

Looking out the window of our apartment at some of the bushes that are changing colors. By the time you read this the leaves have all fallen off of several of the trees and bushes in this photo.

Another view outside of our apartment. The colors didn't show up as well in the photo as they really were this day. The mountain side behind the big apartment buildings was bright red, as were several of the trees in front of these buildings.

2008-10-28T20:37:00.000+01:00

More people in Norway

2008-10-28T20:20:00.003+01:00

Elders Kerr and Phillips came from Stavanger to work with us one day and we went to the home of Anette Mjøs. Her children are Kristoffer (10), Tryn (8) and Nora (13). Her husband was at a school meeting this night. A fantastic family.

The same day we ate middag (mid-day meal, or lunch) at the home of Sister Ingebjørg Warvik. Then after eating the young missionaries and Elder Humphrey worked on covering a former doorway with a piece of press board. It was supposed to take two hours, but with our planning, goofing up and off (see the last photo in this post) it took us almost four hours. But it got done.

The "Linger Longer" we hold once a month after the block of meetings.

More people at our "Linger Longer." This is a very popular event.

Elder Kerr playing hockey with one of the scrap boards we cut out to cover sister Warviks door way. Of course it was just a diversion to all of the hard work he and Elder Phillips had been doing.

People we know in Norway

2008-10-28T13:31:00.002+01:00

Bjarne and Anne Marit Strand. His grandmother and my grandfather on my mothers side were brother and sister. He is a few years younger than us, lives in a small town about 7 km. from us. They are very nice and remember many of our reletives who have visited them and who they have visited. We hope to visit with them many more times while here.

Elbe Blank, Ingebjørg Warvik and Kari Steinsvik at a Relief Society activity night. It was held in our apartment. The sisters learned how to knit house slippers for cold winter nights.

The four elders who are currently serving in Stavanger, the fourth largest city in Norway and the oil capital of Norway. L - R: Benjamin Kerr from Scotland, Phillip Olsson from Sweden, Andrew Phillips from Sandy, Utah, and Troy Tessum from Lindon, Utah. They are great missionaries and wonderful to work with. This picture was taken when we went to Stavanger to see general conference live via satalite. This was a wonderful experience in and of itself.

Laila Pettersen and Karl Petter Pettersen making pizza for the missionaries at zone conference. They live in the Stavanger area. She was a young girl of nine or ten when I was on my mission in Norway as a young man. She lived in Bergen with her parents and the whole family had been baptized about three or four months before I came to Bergen. They lived in the area I was assigned and we visited them often. They are a great couple and very active in the church.

The Whitesides. He works for an American oil company and has been in Norway for about five years. We stayed at their home during the weekend of general conference. He has been serving as first councelor in the branch presidency and she served as Missions Young Womens president and early morning seminar teacher. We just learned that he has been reasigned back to the United States, after living in Europe for almost ten years.

Sister Skoie, Kristiansand, and fall

2008-09-27T17:08:00.002+02:00

President Poulsen gave us permission to travel from our city about a five hour drive south to a town named Mandal, which is the southern most city in Norway, to visit a lady that Elder Humphrey and his companion, Larry Pulsipher, baptized in 1962 while on his first mission to Norway. We called Sister Asbjørg S. Skoie and made an apointment to visit here. The drive was through very spetacular scenery. We arrived and had a very nice visit. This is Elder Humphrey and Sister Skoie in her home.
She served us a very nice meal of Får-i-kål, or lamb and cabbage. This is an authentic Norwegian meal served often in the fall. Sister Skoie sitting at the table just before we began eating. She has a wonderful home which she keeps exceptionally clean, considering that she is legally blind. She is 87 years old and very active for her age. It was a joy to visit with her and renew our friendship.
During this trip it rained. Not just a light drizzel, but very hard and for a long time. We went walking during part of our time. Sister Humphrey in front of a park in Kristiansand.
One of the old buildings in Kristiansand.
This is in the area where Elder Humphrey's grandfather, Torlief Knaphus was born and raised. He was named for the area he was born in, which is Knaphus. It is in the Vats area, Vindafjord Kommune, Rogaland county. Behind the trees and down in a little valley is a lake. Grandpa Knaphus painted several pictures of the lake, the mountains and other beautiful scenery in this area.

Buildings and boys

2008-09-27T16:49:00.002+02:00

When we went to see Sister Skoie we stayed over night in a neighboring city, Kristiansand. Both this city and the city that she lives in are on the extreme southern coast of Norway. Kristiansand has some elegently painted buildings in the downtown area. This is one of them.
And another. Both of these building were probably built in the late 1800's.
A former bank has been turned into a McDonalds in Kristiansand. We thought it looked so elegent that we had to take a picture of it. It looks like what we thought was a Wall Street institution.
Speaking of McDonalds, we took two of the boys in our Primary to Mcdonalds because it was their birthday's that week. Johannes Hiltunen turned 5 and Lars Henrik Steinsvik turned 7. They had a ball and so did we. We don't go to McDonalds very often. Not because we wouldn't like the taste of the food, but because it costs about twenty dollars for a happy meal. So you can see it is expensive, as is everything in Norway.
The main church in Kristiansand, or as the Norwegians say, Dome kirke.

Meetings and the beginnings of Fall

2008-09-27T16:28:00.004+02:00

Once a month we hold Zone conference with the mission president and all of the missionaries from Arendal, Kristiansand, Stavanger Haugesund and Bergen. It is held in the church in Stavanger. Here is Elder and Sister Roberds who work in Bergen (backs to camera, President Lynn Poulsen and his wife Ardeth, and Sister Humphrey.
Lunch break at the zone conference. L- R: Eldter Hunsaker, Elder Murray, Sister Lewis and Sister Adams, all of whom have been working in Bergen.
Some of the Elders at the zone conference.
We also hold district meetings once a week with the four elders from Stavanger and us. We usually do this on a conference call between them and us. But this week we went to Stavanger on our way home from meeting with Sister Skoie (see posting above). Here we see Elder Ben Kerr, Elder Brett Jessen, Elder Michael Guttierez and Elder Humphrey.
Fall is on its way. If southern Norway is like northern Norway it won't last long. It is beautiful. We passed these bushes on our two mile walk. We try to walk often but we don't do it as often as we should. If we went at least as often as we eat at others homes we wouldn't be gaining weight, but alas we don't.

People in Haugesund

2008-09-27T15:54:00.004+02:00

The second Enrichment meeting held in our branch since we have been here. Shown here are (l-r): Heather Pettersen, Ingebjørg Warvik (Relief Society President) and Kari Steinsvik (daughter of Heather Pettersen). This meeting was held in the home of Reidun Solmunde, a member of our branch.
Home evening held in the apartment of Sigmund A. A. Breivik. Shown are (clockwise from top) Heather Pettersen, Sister Humphrey, Valeriy Nyfantov (from Russia), Gunnar Rustad and Sigmund Breivik (with back to camera).
Me with Thor Tollaksen, our landlord. He owns the home we live in. We live on the second floor, and he has the first floor. His wife passed away about three years ago and he has not done much to the interior since she died. He has a second home about twenty minutes south of Haugesund that over looks an arm of the ocean. He lives in this second home ninty five percent of the time. This home is on the top of the hill with a garden, enclosed on two sides patio with a fire place, two cottages next to the fjord for his children and grandchildren and many other ammenities. His boat is docked at his property.
A couple that at the present time live in our branch, Pierre Magre and his wife, Irene. They are from France. She is a doctor and she works in Bergen, so they are moving there in November. He is retired and works two to three hours a day on geneology.
After a "Linger Longer" at the church we of course have to do dishes. L - r: Valeriy Nyfantov, Dado Emana, Kari Steinsvik, Elder Humphrey.

People and places.

2008-09-27T10:27:00.004+02:00

At the end of August we went to Bergen, the second largest city in Norway which is a three hour drive north of us. The branch there was celebrating 150 years of the church being in that city. Elder Erich W. Kopischke, of the Seventy, spoke at the meeting we went to. This photo is, front, l - r: President Lynn J. Poulsen, Norwegian Mission President, Elder Kopischke, Elder Sterre, Area Seventy. We are standing behind them.
While in Bergen we did a little sight seeing. This is overlooking the port area with a cruise ship at the dock. We met several people who were on the cruise. One couple was from Knoxville, TN.
Two members of our branch here in Haugesund. Ellen Elisa Steinsvik is 15, going on twenty, and one of our two young women in the branch. Her grandmother, Heather Pettersen, the Young Womens President, is on the right.
This is one of the fjords in our area with a mist cloud against the mountains. We were on our way to a zone conference when this photo was taken.
A beautiful view of part of Sognefjord with majestic mountains surounding it.

Street Display and Seminary

2008-08-26T18:49:00.004+02:00

On August 22, 2008 we set up a street display on one of the busiest corners in Haugesund. We invited the four young missionaries from Stavanger to come to Haugesund and work with us on the display. This was during a film festival held anually here. This is one of our investigators Lizbeth who came to see us at the display and Elder Olsson talking to a man about our church.
Here is Elder Olsson again talking to a different man and in the background Elder Guitierez talking to another person.
Sister Humphrey had to show that she did more than just take pictures. She also got an orange drink for her efforts.
The old missionary, Elder Humphrey, setting up the pamphlets and pictures so the display would be ready when the young missionaries arrived.
In our branch we have one person who is the age to take Seminary classes (religion classes for youth between the ages of 14 and 18). We have a member who has a daughter who is a member of another faith who we are trying to get to take seminary. Sister Humphrey teaches the class to the one member, Ellen Elisa in our apartment one day a week.

Zone Conference and Stavanger

2008-08-26T18:22:00.004+02:00

Once a month we are invited to a zone conference for all of the missionaries in the South Zone, comprising the cities of Arendal, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Haugesund and Bergen. The mission president, his wife and sixteen missionaries come together and have an all day meeting. It is great to feel the spirit of the young missionaries, the other senior couple, the Robards serving in Bergen, and President and Sister Poulsen. Here one of the young elders, Elder Holst from Danmark, who served with us in Tromsø and helped us set up this blog, is helping myself and Elder Robards with our computer problems during the lunch break. It is great to have some one with a little know how about computers.
From left to right: Elder Jonathan Lange and Elder Tyler Alexander, both serving in Kristiansand, and Elder Jacob Reese, serving in Arendal.
After the zone conference was over Sister Humphrey and I stayed in Stavanger for a meeting for all Seminary teachers that was held in the church building. It lasted until 9 pm and we did not want to drive the two hour drive back home so we stayed overnight in Stavanger. The next morning, before driving home we went downtown to see what Stavanger looked like. This is the downtown harbor area with an old church in the backgroud.
A section of Stavanger has been preserved just as it was two or three hundred years ago, with very narrow cobblestone streets and houses built right up to the edge of the street and very close together. This is a picture of "Gammel Stavanger" (old Stavanger).
In most of the cities that have hills in them and on most roadways going from city to city there are tunnels. We recently read that there are close to one thousand tunnels in Norway. The longest is 24 kilometers (15 miles) long. Many go under fjords. To drive from Haugesund to Bergen one must drive through a tunnel that goes 264 meters (about 2500 feet) under sea level. Notice that there is a house built right on top of this tunnel which is almost in the downtown area of Stavanger.