Sister Skoie, Kristiansand, and fall

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.