Discipleship Week

Ok so not only are we in one of the most beautiful places in the world, we are also with some amazing people from throughout Europe. Last friday we had some of our International friends come for the start of our Discipleship week. We had two guys and a young women come from Latvia, two women and a man from Norway, and 2 women, a man, and a couple from the UK. We were also supposed to have 5 people from Belarus come, but due to the government problems they were not able to come :(!
But this week so far has been so fun as each country has been able to share their culture with all the rest of us. Last night was American night and we had a grillfest (that's the Norwegian term for BBQ) and then played Ipod Idol, which we renamed Elvhiem (the hostle we are staying at) Idol! It was pretty funny seeing people sing their hearts out with no tone what so ever (actually very horrible sounding, usually), me being the absolute worst. Cayley was a judge and was, as always, brutally honest, which was really so so funny!
Along with all of this sharing cultures, we have also been able to pray as a big group a lot and I cannot tell you how cool it is to hear the Latvian and Norwegian and British and American languages and accents while we are praying. It is a pretty neat picture of what it will be like in Heaven, when it is every tongue, tribe, and nation!
We were also able to hike a few mountains, one to a huge HUGE waterfall and the other, this big old mountain that you can see across the fjord from our home. And we went to see the oldest church in Norway, WOW!!! Pretty dang cool.
Tonight we are having a taco bar and then playing soccer and volleyball with the local kids. Please pray as we interact that God's name would be known! There are just simply not very many believers here at all...
We end our Discipleship week on Friday and then in a week (July 4th) we leave for Latvia to do the Bible/English camp. I will for sure write before that, but then will most likely not be able to write again until I am back to Skjolden on July 17th.

We love you so so much and miss you. Thanks for keeping updated on our lives. We really appreciate your care and prayer.


P.S. Kyle send me that dang Coldplay CD. Adam said it was amazing too, PLEASE!! :)

The Longest Fjord in the World

On Monday morning we got on a ferry that would take us from Bergen to Skjolden (pronounced Sholden). It was a beautiful and wonderful ride as we went through so many fjords. Also a lot of fun getting to spend 4 hours together on the ferry playing games and just relating to each other. (In fact, there was a beautiful young Norwegian man on the ferry that Cayley and Kelsey thought would be fun to talk to about me and tell him to say hi to me :) oh those girls!) We got off the ferry and took a few buses to our final destination, SKJOLDEN! It is a small small town of 200ish people. So beautiful and at the end of the longest and largest fjord in the world. I cannot even explain to you how beautiful it is. Where we are staying is a youth hostel co-owned by Darrel and Annette (our leaders) called Elvheim. It is right next to a big river that is wonderful to listen to at night (that is for you, dad). That night we were able to play soccer with a couple of the local kids. Cayley loved it and I didn't play (hurt achilles, you know). It was so fun to be able to play on this beautiful grass with real Norwegians :)! Also since we have been here there has been a club started. It is called the 20-20 club. This means 20 verses memorized by the end of the summer and 20 jumps in the fjord. Now here is the catch, the fjord is FREEZING! But it is breathtaking and exhillerating at the very same time. We were also able to clean up and garden Edvin's (a big Nav guy, I think, in Norway) house yesterday.
We have been able to spend a lot of time in the Word, studying Galatians together, and listening to each other's testimonies. It is really such a restful time with God so far. Tomorrow about 20 international students from Latvia, Norway, Belarus, and Britian will join us for our Discipleship Week. OH and Cayley has been able to set up her hammock and take naps in it, WHAT A BLESSING!!

Please be praying for:
Our time in the Word and in Galatians as a team, that God would continue to open up our minds to what He desires us to learn.
The International students coming, that they would get here safely and we would really be able to connect with them.
The Norwegians here in Skjolden would be open to relationships with us, but more importantly to a relationship with Jesus.

Thank you all for your prayers. Cayley and I love you all very much!

Oh Dear Bergen

Here we are after a 26 hour train ride from the northern town of Bodø to Bergen. MAN it was long, but God got us through. This town is a wonderful place. The people are beautiful and friendly. I am currently at our Norwegian friend's house, his name is Olav. Anyway today we went on a hike up this mountain which overlooked the whole town, beautiful. Then it started really raining and we had to get down as soon as possible, which was a feat because it was SOOO rocky! Last night we met a lot of the Bergen Navigators at their last meeting of the year, they are amazing people and so smart, so many doctors and nurses.
Well I gotta go, but keep on praying for us as we spend the weekend here and then take a boat through the fjords to Skjolden for our international program to start on Monday morning.
Love you all! Oh and mom, dad, and Kyley, Cayley wanted me to give a special shout out to you guys and say she loves you (I do too, a lot)

The Lofoten Islands...

We got to Bodø just a few hours ago on ferry and went immediately to try and find either a youth hostle or a hotel. Turned out we were coming up empty on everything, all the hotels were booked and there were no youth hostles. So we decided to pray and guess what God found us a much cheaper than anything we could have found in a hotel and a nice, roomy enough space for all 5 of us. We are all exhausted and have just taken showers for the first time since last wednesday!
This week at the Islands was unbelievable. The first night I was not wanting to be there at all, and was almost angry that I decided to come on this excursion. But we found a camping spot finally at about midnight our first night in the middle of this lake on a penninsula in the middle of a town. But after that night we got on a bus and walked and hiked for about 2 or 3 hours to get to this secluded beach where we spent the next two nights. It was surreal, the most beautiful beach, with green green grass and sheep and huge mountains all around us. This beach, Kvalvika is deamed the most romantic beach in Europe on the 2nd most beautiful islands in the world. God was so good to have helped us find that. It was a relaxing couple of days and we even got to see the midnight sun, weird.
After a couple days, we decided to walk 10 km to the next town, Ramberg, and get another camping spot near this other beach. It was a good idea we left that day because the next morning it was so windy and started raining and we were already planning on going on a bus back to the town in which the ferry comes to, Moskenes. So we set up camp and started walking in the rain, trying to hitchhike to the next town, Reine, to get dinner. Much to our dismay, after an hour of walking, the restuarant was closed and my achellis tendon felt like it was going to tear. So Kelsey and I got a ride with a German couple back to town and waited for the others.
The last night was a bit of a nightmare, with TONS AND TONS of wind and rain. I didn't sleep the whole night, it was interesting. It sounded like there was a hurricane outside our tent. But to make a very long story a little longer, we got on the ferry at 6am and braved the rough seas, got sea sick and made it here to report back to you!

Please be praying for us as we get on the train tomorrow to make our way to Bergen to meet the rest of our team. And please pray for my achellis (spelling, I know), it is in a ton of pain. Thanks, I love you all!! Cayley also sends her love...

WOWSER!!!

So the last two days have been insane. After I left you all yesterday we rode a bus downtown with 5 BIG bags of luggage that we had to put in a locker for our friend Patrick to pick up and take with him to the place we are staying the majority of the time in Norway. Let me just tell you...everything here is SOOOO expensive, including but not limited to: luggage lockers, food, and transportation. But alas when in Rome (or Oslo), huh? Well we were exhausted and spent the whole day roaming around downtown with nothing to eat and barely any water. I was dead to say the least. But we finally got some bread and peanut butter and a little water and refreshed ourselves. We also took a delightful nap in this grassy park in the city and went to an old fortress that overlooked the water, it was pretty cool. At about 10:30 or so that night we got home and it was still very light and very warm, quite the summer night if you ask me :)!

We woke up this morning in the mid morning kinda of after noon and began our day by riding the bus again downtown (with less luggage this time). We stopped on our way to get some substance into our stomachs. Some like to call it IKEA Swedish food, we call it the best meal we had for the last 2 days and will have for the next week! As we got downtown we met up with our friend and summer teammate, Patrick (the one picking up the bags) and we went to town. We got a 24 hour unlimited transportation pass and took the train to the Oslo ski jump that they use in the olympics and then took a ferry over to this little town where we were trying to go to museums that were closed :( sad, but it was a fun trip over there.

Anyway it has been interesting and tiring and truthfully I am ready to see more of Norway, which is good because at 6am we are off to the Lofoten Islands. Please pray for us as we go, that we will have enough nutrients to survive and energy to have fun and rest to...rest! If you are at all interested, Google Lofoten Isands, Norway and you will get to see the beautiful place we are going to! Love you all!! Hope to write in a week or so!

We're Here!!!

So we just got into Oslo, Norway and are staying with the Norwegian national Navigator staff right outside of Oslo. It is so so green here and the people are amazing so far. We are getting ready now to go into downtown Oslo. The plane ride was crazy and long. We were delayed so many times just sitting in the plane waiting for them to fix different problems, but alas we got here. Well I better be going, we're off to town!
Oh here are some Norwegian letters from this Norwegian keyboard: øØæÆ (enjoy)