Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Trondheim,One Of The Sweetest Experiences On My Mission-Drammen Week Seventy Six

Well we have a conference this week in Oslo so we have shortened email time today with pday getting switched to Thursday. I'll try to get as much down as possible though! Here we go.

Bailin Out
So it is definitely true that all good things must come to an end. Trondheim was one of the sweetest experiences of my mission. A 4 month time period that I am extremely grateful for. Leaving that area and a lot of good missionaries was definitely the hardest time I have had leaving an area on my entire mission. It was like a dream come true getting to serve there again. Luckily I have been blessed to live a new dream serving with Elders Nielson and Naumu in Drammen.
Overlooking Trondheim

A Nice Dinner out for the missionaries

Gluten Free Pizza???

Beautiful Moon

Elder Shanklin and Sister Hartley

Elder Shanklin and some Trondheim friends

Elder Shanklin and Tore

Elder Shanklin and friend


Peace out!!  Elder Shanklin and Sister Nielson

Drømmen in Drammen!
So we are actually chillin around (by chillin I mean doing missionary work) in Drammen these days in a tripanionship. For at least 6 weeks the worlds tallest companionship will be in Drammen Norway. All of us measure in at over 6' 4". You can imagine how the people feel when we come knocking on their door. One guy Elder Nielson and I stopped this week thought we were the police. He didn't understand Norwegian so he started pulling out verification to be living here and we just laughed. Eventually we started giving him random compliments in Norwegian while smiling and he had no idea. We run these streets. I could seriously go off for days about the things that have happened. With two areas combined into one and some really good missionaries before us, we have TONS to do. Seriously an unreal amount of stuff. We need our car back out of the workshop because the bus system is too poor to get us the places we need to be. If you're going to pray for anything it should be that the dumb thing starts working again! We have 3 baptismal dates right now and are trying to keep track of everyone. We don't want people slipping through. One of our baptismal dates had a 50" roaring virtual fireplace accompanied with apple cider and chocolates when we showed up. I know, it's hard to imagine why I would miss Trondheim haha. Along with all that madness we recieved a pretty good amount of snow on Friday night. It was coming down Saturday morning when we helped a less active member to move. I'm not sure at this point if I should start a new paragraph but I'm just going to keep rolling. Elder Naumu still eats a ton. He keeps Elder Nielson and I in line though with eating because I think if it was up to us we probably just wouldn't eat dinner everynight. I never thought that it was possible to be so busy as a missionary in Norway but we seriously are cranking along. In respect to that, planning has never been so serious either. We have to plan super well or things won't work out. It's crazy. Overall Drammen is just a dream. If God was going to make me leave Trondheim I am glad it was to come to Drammen. This is definitely the next best thing. We'll see if it can be better! But really, the ward is super on top of things. I've recieved more rides and eaten more dinners and taught with more members than ever before on my mission. And it's week 1. I feel like a lot of good things are going to keep coming if we give 100%. The Lord is definitely backing us on this one.
Elder Shanklin, Elder Nielson and Elder Naumu enjoying some sparkling cider

Elder Shanklin and Elder Nielson


Planning time

Until Next Time
Sorry for that long rambled mess of nothingness. Things are definitely going well here in Drammen. No complaints coming from this guy. Hoping that Papa Shanklin had a stellar birthday this past week! Mom always takes care of us so I'm sure he did! Time is battling us so we have to work super hard. I'm really grateful for the many things I learned in Trondheim. The thing I appreciated most of all from this past transfer was the ability to see past my weaknesses. I always was under the impression that certain consequences and weaknesses would be with me forever but in Trondheim I realized how God and Jesus Christ could make it possible for me to share the burdens I have. It was a great learning experience and I am extremely grateful!
Elder Shanklin playing in the snow


Clear Eyes

Full Heart

Elder Shanklin

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