Dear Good Folk of the US,
So this week was actually pretty crazy and intense. Hopefully I can gain back a few of you that may have fallen asleep during the past few letters. Anyways, here goes.
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| Sunrise in Trondheim |
College Kids
So on Tuesday a bunch of kids came to the church and we had to give a little speech about Mormonism and give them a church tour. They are all going to the US, not sure if they're staying with Mormon families or if some kid was like, "Hey ya know what'd be cool, lets go hear from the Mormons before we go across the pond." Maybe the Europeans don't have as crazy of lives as I thought. However, the experience was interesting. Norwegians do not get American humor. We would say jokingly funny things and seriously nobody laughs. In church a missionary will say something hilarious in his or her talk and only the other elders laugh. Its so weird. We had fun answering their questions though. I silenced a few people with some epic answers followed by a Nielson-Shanklin fist bump, but along that path I also managed to say we followed Satans plan by coming to earth (He meant to say "We followed Gods plan by coming to earth."). That was fun. Overall though it was a great learning experience. Kids were kids though so that was annoying (I think he forgot he is their same age!).
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| Remember those annoying college kids he just wrote about? |
Adventures of Shanklin and N
So Elder N and I get to go on little splits together every now and then when our companions have to do Zone Leader stuff. However this week was awesome. On Sunday we went on a trip up to Kristiansund together because we needed one person from each companionship back here in Trondheim. It was so fun. The people in Kristiansund don't have a place to meet (for church) so we went there to give them the sacrament and stuff. However the 4 hour drive only led to one person coming and participating. It was more than worthwhile though, it was an amazing example of leaving the 99 for the 1. He bore powerful testimony of the truth of the gospel and I felt honored to be in this young mans presence. His faith was remarkable. Many of us complain and have trouble when we have hundreds of ward members (church congregation) around us. This guy is in the middle of nowhere, by himself, with hardly any other members and he remained worthy to give a blessing to a lady in a hospital that morning. It was a great experience. We took the North Atlantic Highway home (Check it out here). Which was epic. Such a fun thing to see. We saw a jellyfish in the water. Yep, that was nice. Elder N and I had fun taking a go at our senior picture style shots of us in Norway. Hopefully you souls get the blessed opportunity to see those pictures (Momma Shank should attach some good ones). Anyways, Elder Nielson and I are just the dynamic duo so hopefully you guys will get the opportunity to hear some other fantastic stories.
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Elder N and Elder Shanklin on their way
to Kristainsund |
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| Love the smiles on their faces! |
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| Atlantic Highway |
Athiest
So I had my first encounter with a legit, like super legit athiest, this week. He was some English guy who we contacted on the street and immediately started bashing at Joseph Smith (Learn about Joseph Smith here). He was pretty much anti-mormon literature in human form. So Elder L and I went to battle. Normally I would have just told him goodbye and walked off but a really positive potential investigator just stood us up so we needed to testify a little bit. If that makes sense. Anyways it was just an interesting experience to listen to this guy talk. He literally was so full of darkness and hatred. As he spoke you could literally feel the emptiness in every word he said. He said if God appeared to him he wouldn't even believe it because he would know he was hallucinating. He wanted evidence but was so one dimensional that he wouldn't take evidence if it hit him in the face. I am reminded of the anti-Christs in the Book of Mormon. The conversation ended when I confirmed to him that he hadn't shaken our faith, that Jesus is the Christ, and that God is our loving father, and that his words hadn't even dented us. It goes to show that those who build their foundation on something solid will be able to stand against the devil and his fiery darts. I am reminded of Helaman where he challenges his sons to build their foundation on Christ. It really is true, those who build on a sandy foundation will fall.
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| Kristiansund |
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| Senior Picture redo? |
Moving Day
So Sunday was crazy. Nielson and I were on the way to Kristiansund when we joined in on the conference call where we would find out what would be happening this transfer (Every 6 weeks it is possible for Brady to move to a new place in Norway). Good news my dear people. I will be in Trondheim for at least another six weeks. Elder N and both of our companions will still be here too! So this should be a fun next six weeks. I can't believe that the first transfers have already happened. It's going by so fast and it's so hard to believe.
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| Elder Shanklin and the beautiful land of Norway |
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| Elder Shanklin and the Atlantic Highway |
Closing Remarks
So with General Conference coming up soon I am getting pretty stoked. The mission is getting crazy. I love it and am beginning to realize how quick it will go by. Two quotes that accurately describe mission time; 1-The days go by like weeks and the weeks go by like days, 2-As soon as you accept you'll be on your mission forever, it starts to end. I cannot stress enough that the mission is of the greatest importance to those young men in the church. My brothers will serve missions because if they don't ill beat them with a common sense stick until they do. But honestly, I love Norway, the people are crazy and the girls dress weird but you learn to deal with it. I love the Lord and feel extremely blessed for this opportunity I have to better myself and bring others into the truth at the same time. Shout out to my siblings who are having massive success in all their endeavors, but what can I say, they had the family hero (He is the self proclaimed family hero!) paving the way haha. Another loving shout out to my parents who I love so much. They send heartfelt letters every week that I don't have time to accurately express my love and appreciation for. They graciously and lovingly let me spend my time with this letter so that hopefully I can entertain and spiritually feed you all. I feel extremely blessed. Clear Eyes, Full Hearts.
Much Love
Elder Shanklin
P.S. Don't forget pictures mom. Love you.
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