Christmas Call Home

Google Hang out worked Great.  First Christmas Call Home - 1 down 1 to go! 

God Jul from Norway

December 2017 Zone Conference

God Jul from President and Sister Hill

MTC friends

Thanksgiving Weekend 2017

Maybe should have worn long pants and a long sleeved shirt

Made brownies to contribute to Thanksgiving dinner

Hill Family Tradition  - Dice game

Sad face because this team lost

Thanksgiving dinner with the Hills and some of their grandchildren

One big table for us all to sit at

Dinner at the Mission home

Everyone is in sweats and a sweatshirt and Easton and comp are in shorts and a t shirt

Turkey bowl 2017

Christmas Mission Letter from President and Sister Hill

Dear Parents of Norway Oslo Missionaries,                                                   December 2017

            Greetings from Oslo! Winter is here, the temperatures are dropping, and we have experienced significant snowfall in recent weeks. Christmas is magical in Norway, and a perfect time to reach out to provide an update on our Mission.                                      

            The most obvious thing to report is that our Mission is very young. For the first time since the change in age for Missionary service in 2012, a large group of Sisters and Elders departed this summer at around the same time. The net result was that well over half of our missionaries have been in Norway for less than five months.  This has presented us with some challenges, but also many blessings. The young missionaries bring great enthusiasm and desire to work, and our more senior missionaries have been stretched with new responsibilities. The result has been very positive, and we are already reaping benefits from this transition. Thank you for preparing such wonderful missionaries!

            Our current assigned “complement“ in Norway is eighty missionaries. The “complement” refers to the target number of missionaries the Church anticipates assigning to our Mission.  This number assumes twenty-eight Sisters and fifty-two Elders. Currently we have seventy-eight missionaries, which will increase to eighty-two in February. Since our arrival in 2015, our numbers have fluctuated between a peak of ninety-two and a brief low this summer of sixty-eight. Given our membership and number of units, this is a very reasonable complement. Sister Hill and I are grateful that this number allows us to create individual relationships with our missionaries and get to know them well. We consider that a great blessing.

            In addition, we are blessed to have seven senior couples serving in our Mission. In the past year, we have been joined by Elder and Sister Robinson who are the office couple from Orem, Utah; Elder and Sister Cook from American Fork, Utah who are assigned to Kristiansand; Elder and Sister Jenson from Provo, Utah assigned to Bergen; and Elder and Sister Bergquist from Weiser, Idaho, who are assigned to Oslo. We love and appreciate these wonderful couples, as do your daughters and sons. They contribute greatly to our Mission.

            As you may be aware, this has been a challenging year for us with regards to convert baptisms. Historically, Nordic Missions record around one-half baptism per missionary per year. While there have been some peaks and valleys, this is about average. This year, we will come in under that number, having been at or above that target in the past two years.

            In recent weeks, we have seen an uptick in the number of baptisms and the number of individuals who have been committed to baptism. As a result, we feel momentum is growing and we expect an increase in convert baptisms n 2018. Please remember our missionaries and our Mission in your prayers as we work to find those who are prepared to hear our Message.

            Helping our missionaries to continue to have the “faith to find” is a central focus of our efforts. We emphasize exact obedience, daily preparation both physically and spiritually, “joyful” diligence, and an emphasis on finding the “one.” At our recent Christmas Zone Conference, we challenged the missionaries to examine themselves and identify one or two areas they could focus on to become more effective and obedient missionaries. We also emphasized that the Lord would help them to identify those areas and accomplish their goals. While missionary service is challenging, we have found that our missionaries experience remarkable growth as they consecrate all their efforts on their missionary assignment. As Elder Holland has stated, the change that occurs in our faithful missionaries is truly the “Miracle of a Mission.”

            Thank you for your love and support, both of your missionary and our Mission. We know you pray for us and our wonderful Norwegian saints, and those prayers make a difference. Norway is a remarkable country, and a joyful place to serve. We are grateful to you for raising magnificent sons and daughters who are prepared, willing, and worthy to serve a full-time mission. They are the joy of our lives, and touch us daily with their goodness and willingness to humbly do their best to fulfil their callings.

            We wish for each of you a peaceful, joyful Christmas, remembering our Savior and His great love and sacrifice for us. We bear testimony that He lives, and that He heads our Church. It is an honor to serve as the Mission President and wife in Norway, blessed to serve together with our outstanding missionaries.

            We look forward to a wonderful 2018!

            Love,

            President and Sister Hill

            Norway Oslo Mission

December 11, 2017

Hello everyone!

This week was full of great experiences.  

This will be short but we had our Christmas Conferences this week.  It was a ton of fun to see all of the missionaries from up North!  

I got to do the Book or Mormon Musical twice this week.  Every time I do it, it is a different experience and so much fun.  For example, some people this week came out of the doors and begged to get pictures with me and they made sure my tag was showing, well 5 seconds later this lady comes up to me and drills me for a solid 10 min.  She asked questions I was so lost in trying to answer in Norwegian, and then I answered in English and she still thought I was so stupid.  She wasn't happy that every missionary says the same thing.  What do you expect? The message is going to always be the same.  I testified and then she kissed me twice on the cheek and said "you are beautiful, but you need to Wake Up" I thought it was so funny.  I laugh about it every time I think about it.  

 This is how many Mormons Bok we hand out each night at the Book of Mormon Musical.

On Saturday we had a street stand for Light the World.  It was a ton of fun.  I was super stupid and only wore a sweater and a rain jacket as it was super cold.  It was way fun having some conversations with people.  I asked a guy a question in Norwegian and he responded saying, "sorry I don't speak English"  I was confused as I just asked him in Norwegian.

Sundays are so great here in Norway. Being around the members here is something I will cherish forever.  I love being here and love doing missionary work.  

We see the sun so little and it usually only gets this high in the sky.  

Christmas is going to be crazy.  We have a dinner Christmas Eve and they already told us that we will be eating lutefisk for dinner so that should be interesting.  The worst part of the week this week is yesterday some people from Portugal were visiting. I didn't know this until after church but I went up and started talking with this man.  Little do I remember that it is the same guy that I had dinner with at his house in Portugal.  Once I started explaining why I was there for HEFY he picked up on it instantly but it took me a while to realize it.  It's because he has the opposite people from his family there.  It is a family of 7 I think and the 4 that where there, he was the only one that was there when I was there.  He seemed pretty offended.  It was not fun.  But absolutely crazy that it happened.  

Oslo is really cool during Christmas time.  They have a ton of Christmas lights and all of the food is really good.  The only problem is that people here just think that because Christmas is two weeks away, they can't meet with us now even though it is a normal week! 

Eldste Egan

December 4, 2017

Kjære alle sammen!

This week was another week full of honestly just fun things.  It all started with the Turkey Bowl last Monday.  It was super fun to have all of the missionaries that are in Oslo and some other cities around come and play a game of flag football.  It was hard to find a field that wasn't pure ice but it was a ton of fun.

And now I am having trouble remembering what happened this week again.  As a missionary you have troubles remembering what happened the day before.  

Being in Oslo is so much fun.  Last Saturday was one of the most fun days of the mission again for me.  We took our studies in the morning and then we headed into Sentrum where we had a street stand set up. The problem was that it was below freezing but somehow raining.   So when the rain hits the ground it just becomes ice.  We were singing carols trying to talk to people.  The weather made it difficult but we will do it again next Saturday.  

Only did the musical once this week, this should be normal.  But Saturday's musical was the most fun one I have been a part of.  We had a plan to have 4 missionaries there with 3 members.  2 minutes before the Musical gets out, everyone bails on us so it is just my companion and I trying to give out 200 Mormons Bok.  People this night where just amazed/thought it was so funny that we were there. They all just started coming up to us and asking for books.  We couldn't keep up for the short amount of time but with my comp and I, we got out about 125 books.  

And I may and may not have been locked in our apartment bathroom for an hour yesterday.  It was not my fault though.  

I hope you all have another amazing week!

Ha det bra

-- 

Eldste Egan