Week 43 Trondheim Norway (2020 Quarantine)

Yoo wassup, it's been a good week! 
       My boy Eldste Van Slooten left and headed to Stavanger and Eldste Templeton came here and he's a homie. We've been working hard and laughing all the time which makes this quarantine thing a lot easier. (I've been in tight quarantine for over 50 days now) He's also into shoes... and if any of you know me I'm an addict so we've had some good chats about sneakers so it's been a good time. He went to Brighton High and played basketball there. Our personalities are a lot alike so we've been mobbing. We've had some good lessons this week and meetings with members. It's kinda hard to be homies with the members when you've only called them on Facebook but it's ok we do what we can. We've gotten really tight with this one less active member who's American and he's so funny! He randomly will start preaching to us and says, "you know you young bucks aren't the only ones who can teach!" Then he always opens up with the lesson "ya know Truxton I LOVE your name, it's so original and unique it's just beautiful." And I'm like thanks man, appreciate it! He's a good dude. We started talking about Come Follow Me and we showed him how to download it and he was so stoked! We read a little bit in the scriptures and then invited him to follow along with the plan the prophet has given us and he was like heck ya! Then in the end I finished with a classic scripture, John 14:27, after a little teaching session he just looked at us and started tearing up and said, "ya know guys look, I've never had a good relationship with the missionaries that have been here. They just don't connect with me and have rubbed me the wrong way but you guys really want to help me and I can tell you guys are real!" Then we said of course man we love you, your hilarious and we have a good time we only want what's best for you. Then he gave the closing prayer and started to tear up while he asked for us to be able to continue the Lords work and help others along their way. It was so cool for me to see this rough and tough dude with a ponytail and beard crying while blessing the missionaries! It was a good time, I felt the love the Lord has for him and for his missionaries, I'm so grateful the spirit was present in our lesson and it helped him out. I love being a missionary and doing his work.
          We're still finding people on Facebook and man let me tell you people are brave with some of their responses. I've been cussed out so many times by these little 14 year old kids who I thought were older but it's so funny to see these little guys go off. I guess it's the quarantined version of getting the door slammed in your face. But also you get a bunch of weirdos following you and messaging you and it's a hoot. I've got this one guy who sends me these pictures of what I thought was a carpet and I said cool man where did you get that pretty tapestry? And he responds in Arabic, so I said sorry I don't speak your language then he replies in English "that is not a carpet my brother, that is the holy Quran." And I lost it I thought it was so funny. Then this other guy keeps messaging us asking for help to smuggle him out of Iran and I said, "hey man, I can't smuggle anyone but I can help you learn about Jesus" then he went off on a rant and said, "once I get to Turkey what should I do to sneak into Norway?" He was messing with me by this time so I responded by saying, " Have you tried digging a tunnel?" He then stopped bugging me but it was a good week for sure! 
         Something I liked from my studies this week while reading some conference talks and studying about Christ's Atonement in alma 42:13. It talks about how it isn't possible for us to come back to God without a plan of redemption and that God has the power to just allow us to come back but if He did that he would cease to be God. Which means all the intelligences we are all made of would not have a creator to follow and would disperse back to where they were gathered from. I've learned like Paul said to the Corinthians in Chapter 2, there is milk and then there is the meat of the gospel and it's been cool to have the time to get into the meat. I love my mission, I'm so grateful to still be in Norway serving the Lord and I don't want to waste a minute of my time or his. 
Have a good week love you all! 

Eldste McSpadden 🤘🏽🤠

Elder Templeton and I

 It's not real warm here yet but the sun is out!!!

 (Mom, wanted pictures... here you go)

 Soak up as much sun as possible, we can still only leave our apartment during the week for 30 minutes twice a day.

 Eldste Templeton and I

 Everyone has huge dogs in Norway!

Week 42 Trondheim Norway (2020 Quarantine)

Hey Fam,

Nothing to different this week, just waiting for this thing to be done! We made some videos and posted them and shared them with different groups to find people! We've actually found a couple that we've had video lessons with which has been great. Also transfers happened and my comp Elder Van Slooten is dipping to Stavenger as the new Zone Leader and I'm staying here in Trondheim as the new District Leader. Sad I didn't get to do some real work, get to know the city and members with him but he'll kill it over there. Kids a hard worker with a strong testimony of the gospel! I arrived in this area and the next day the quarantine started so I still feel new to the area, kind of.  My new comp is a G though he played ball at Brighton High School and seems to be a real good guy, like all the missionaries here in Norway everyone gets the work done, I love it! I'm stoked to be able to work with him I just hope this thing goes away soon so we can start doing our thing again. The senior couple who's with us here are so dope and keep us going, they feed us well and make sure were doing good which has been a huge blessing! It's crazy that this is all happening and that we're stuck inside but I've got a feeling this will be over soon. The weather has been crazy lately, last week we had a snow storm and it snowed like crazy then this week it's been like in the 60's! It was nice I threw on my short sleeve shirt and went outside it was great. First time my skin has seen the sun in months, I need a little vitamin D. Everyone is going outside and doing stuff here now which makes it even more annoying that we can't. We walked by these dudes while on a walk  playing spike ball in a park and it reminded me of playing spike ball on Pounders Beach with some of the boys! So fire, I wanted to join and wreck them but we've been asked not to... yet! But we had a great lesson with one of our friends and he's loving it! He reads from the BOM and does the things we ask and it's coming to him. He said when he gets a confirmation that it's true, he'll be baptized! I know with out a doubt those who take the time to really study and open their hearts and minds to learn are the ones who come to know of it's truthfulness. Hope ya'll have a good week! 

Eldste McSpadden 

Sister Palmer, Schow, Elder Van Slooten and I

 Elder Jackson

Week 41 Trondheim Norway (2020 Quarantine)

This week was pretty good! 
    We had Easter which was an awesome time, it's been different than any other Easter I've ever had but it was great!  We got invited over by the senior couple for dinner, which by the way is one of only two couples in the entire world still serving, which was heaven sent because he made prime rib with mashed potatoes and gravy... it was insanely good. Meat here is super expensive and if you want to buy like some steaks or roast it costs just as much to buy it cooked in a restaurant so it was great to get such a meal. Our investigators are progressing pretty well and the one dude is loving it. He's been present at two online sacrament meetings, watched general conference and watched a baptism over Zoom! So he's killing it but he's Catholic so were just helping him understand the importance of Joseph Smith and he seems to be getting it. We also got some dope news... we received a call from President Tew and he said, "Hey Elders, I got a job for you two, I need you to drive down to Kristiansund and give those Elders some company on splits!"  I had been begging him to go so he discussed the rules we had to follow and let us go! We are the first missionaries in the world to go on "quarantine splits" it was a bit interesting but so fun and worth it. After driving for 3 1/2 hours we arrived in a really small city called Kristiansund.  We got there and did some online teaches with each others investigators and then found people to teach through FB. And these two Elders are really musically talented so we took a keyboard and a guitar from the church with us because we knew they'd love that! We ended up making a music video. My Uncle Nate has sent me a few videos so I could teach myself how to play the guitar and after studying them I was able to play some chords to Come Thou Fount,  it was funny! 
   The next day was P day and these Elders hadn't had their hair cut in forever so they asked me to bring my clippers. I was delighted, I fixed the mops on their head and gave them a fresh fade. After that we went fishing and I showed them how to do stuff and one of them caught a fish. It was funny, he was stoked and it made his day. We're also having a technology Zone Conference tomorrow which should be pretty interesting but exciting because any time we get to hear from President Tew it's always a pleasure.  I told Sister Tew one of my favorite parts of Zone conference is the yummy food she makes us and that we should do technology food prep so we can all eat together. She loves us so much, the next day she sent out a list of ingredients for us to buy and then after zone conference she's going to show us all what to make and we're all making our own meal but together! That made me super happy and laugh so hard! She's such a legend, I love that woman. Other than that it was a lot of messaging random people and seeing if they wanted to be interested in hearing more about the gospel and oddly enough we have found quite a few people by doing it! So I think we got it figured out but the hardest part is just not being able to go out and actually talk to them. It is what is you just have to take what you have and roll with it and that's what we're doing! In loving memory of a legend who passed away a few weeks back, I'd like to give a shout out to my boy Kenny Roger's. Just like he said, "you never count your money when your sittin at the table, they'll be time enough for countin when the dealings done!" Don't focus on the commotion that's going on right now, just focus on Christ! There will be time for going back through and seeing why this had to happen when the dealings are done. Rest easy Kenny! 🙏🏽 Have a good week! 

Good News: The YSA girl I was teaching in Alesund is getting baptized this week!!!  So happy for her, they're going to Skype me in so I can kind of be there. 

Eldste McSpadden 🤠

Easter Sunday 2020 Quarantine with Elder and Sister Jackson, Elder Van Slooten, Sister Palmer and Sister Schow

Drive to Kristiansund, obviously winter is still the season here!

First quarantine splits in the world in Kristiansund, Norway with Elder Thackery from Murray, Farnsworth from Draper and Van Slooten from LA. 

 Teaching the boys to fish, so pumped he caught one.

Week 40 Trondheim Norway (2020 Quarantine)

Heyyy what's up everybody! 

      Pretty normal week except for conference! I've been waiting for that since President Nelson announced it in the last conference. I had the opportunity to study a lot about Jospeh Smith and his experience with God the Father and His son Jesus Christ and it really strengthened my testimony. Every talk in conference was amazing and I can't wait to listen to each one of them again and continue to study them more in depth. I felt the spirit so strongly during conference and I'm grateful for a living prophet on this earth today.  We had some sweet lessons and the spirit was super strong with both of our progressing friends so that'll be cool! Nothing super exciting honestly we have tried contacting people and finding more so that's been using up most of our time. A lot of studying and working out and calling through the inactive list because there are TONS here in Trondheim. I tried to teach my comp how to cut hair... didn't turn out quite the way I thought so I'm going through quarantine with a bowl cut but it's ok no one has to see it. The difference between a good hair cut and a bad hair cut is about 7 days so I should be chilling because President Tew told us we will probably be in quarantine for a whole other transfer so that's another 6 weeks of this. But I gave my comp a fresh hair cut and he said he liked it. We've been cooking some good food and I found a cook book in our apartment so I got some new recipes I'm going to try.   Hope yall have a good week and a Happy Easter! 

Eldste McSpadden 

 We seeing the sun more and more... Trondheim, Norway.

 Creative chalk art, becoming more like the sister missionaries! Haha

 Elder Van Slooten and I

 Elder and Sister Jackson, Elder McSpadden, Van Slooten, Sister Palmer and Sister Schow

Week 39 Trondheim Norway (2020 Quarantine)

    First, I want to send a shout out to my cousin SPEEN! (Spencer) for finishing his mission in New York this past week. That kids a stud and a great example to me and the whole fam. Can't wait to get back and shred some pow with him on the sleds and get er sideways! Love ya Speen! 

       P days are pretty boring now that we can't be around people and there aren't very many areas to hike here in Trondheim, so it's mostly baking, eating and playing card games. Today we did find a spike ball net at the church and we had some fun with it! Reminded me of when me and my boys were in Hawaii ballin out on Pounders Beach. Good times! 

       Some funny things that happened this week was we got a call from one of our friends we're teaching and he's from Iran and he just went off about how he loved America and how the middle east is worse than Corona, it made me laugh! Then we were taking a walk (for our 30 minute recess) and this chick had a Clippers jersey on and my comp is from LA and he's a Lakers fan. He wanted to compliment her Jersey... but I guess the word he used doesn't mean jersey it means costume so her reaction was so funny and we couldn't stop laughing after we figured out what it meant. The last funny thing is just the senior couple here serving with us who didn't want to go home so they stayed here in Norway to finish their mission!  They are the nicest, funniest master chef cooking missionaries ever! They make us amazing food all the time and call us up and say, "Sup sport you want some grub?" And we get so hyped and head over to eat some amazing food. He also just teases and roasts me all the time, it's hilarious! Reminds me of my dad, brother and uncles. My dads favorite quote " If I don't tease ya, I don't love ya!" They're definitely helping us through these crazy times. Love them!

       This week was pretty humbling, being inside has really taught me to be more patient and to be really creative! I was doing alright studying, finding ways to work and serve and then on Sunday night I got so frustrated! I was so fed up with being inside and not being able to go out and work so I decided to read about Joseph Smith's experience in Doctrine and Covenants chapters 121-123. I began reading and Joseph is in a pretty crappy situation, he's in a freezing cold jail with no light no bathroom and was getting tortured and fed human flesh. He starts praying to God and asking how much longer this is going to go on for! Then God speaks to him, and it just hit me pretty strong this time while I was reading it! He says,

 " 7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

9 Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.

10 Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job. " 

 I felt like I was getting put in my place! He promised Jospeh Smith it was only going to be a small moment and that he would triumph over his hard times! And that his boys (friends) are backing him up and praying for him. Then He tells him he doesn't have it as bad as Job did because he lost everything and was also betrayed! I realized at that moment how blessed I am! I am in a warm apartment with food to eat and scriptures to study. I'm so blessed to have all my boys and family and friends praying for me. I received tons of messages from all my buddies who have been sent home saying, "Hey Spaddy, I love you bro and I'm praying for you!" Even tho they are the ones who were taken out of the countries they have come to love.  I then thought about my good buddy Jackson Hill when It talks about not having it as bad as Job. My stud of a friend Jackson and his family had their world rocked this past week. Among all this craziness his angel of a sister Nicole passed away unexpectedly while he has been faithfully serving the Lord in OKC. He posted a picture with a strong testimony of how God has a plan for all of us and knows his sister is in paradise right now. It really touched my heart to see my buddy, in one of the hardest times in his life, turn to the Lord in prayer and bear testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ and testify to me that he is there to help us along the way! I was definitely moved by his strong testimony and was reminded that the Lord helps us through anything we go through and that we just need to rely on him. I've tried to use the extra time I've had here in Norway wisely and I've had the chance to read and study a lot from the scriptures and other writings of the prophets. President Russell M Nelson told us to study about Joseph Smith and the First Vision, I've taken this time to really study and learn about what a great man Joseph Smith is! I've read the first volume of the Saints, started the Marvelous Work and a Wonder, and read some other books written by prophets.  And let me just say Joseph Smith went through A LOT! Everything from torture, betrayal,death of loved ones, chastisement, false accusations, massive amounts of stress and sleepless nights, hiding in the woods from murderous mobs, translating Egyptian, fighting off people who try and murder his family, being kidnapped, all his best friends turning against him and wanting to kill him, he went through it all. And there wasn't one time he denied that the Book of Mormon was made up, or that God wasn't real or that Jesus Christ wasn't the Savior and redeemer of the world. He wasn't perfect by any means and made mistakes of course but so does everyone else. But I have come to know without a single doubt in my heart that Joseph Smith was called of God and was the only man humble and willing enough to follow all of Gods commandments in order to restore this true gospel on the earth! Lay aside the fact that it was true and you can know it's true by the power of the Holy Ghost, there is no man who would go through what Joseph Smith did just to make something up. He did see God the Father and His son Jesus Christ. He knew it, God knew it and he could not deny it just like he said. And I know he did as well and I'm so grateful for the chance I get to be sharing this with other people, even if it is from my apartment through messaging random people and making videos to try and get people to talk to us. I'm sorry this was a novel but I really do know that Joseph Smith was a stud, he sacrificed it all for us to receive the blessings of exaltation. 

    This week we had some great lessons with our progressing investigators and some knitting and baking sessions, it's been awesome! The people we're teaching are actually listening to the sacrement meetings that are broadcasted as well so that's been awesome. Love you all and keep sending me emails pictures and videos they make me so happy! Keep mobbing and prepare for General Conference because its boutta get WILD! Haha I'm so stoked its going to be sweet. Have a good week! 🤘🏽

-Eldste McSpadden

Eldste Van Slooten and I

 Reminded me of my dad and brother Dillon, England London South Mission! Great examples to me.