The Lord's Supper

A couple weeks ago we had the Lord’s Supper at church. We were not at the Skotselv church because of plans to go up to Fredhiem (the health treatment part of the foundation in a town 30 min away). The church wasn’t planning on having so many guest, they knew we were coming but then several other visitors who were on holiday came through as well. We had a beautiful full service.
I’ve always enjoyed the renewing of my covenant with God during those services. I have so many special memories connected with that service. I remember my first time that I took the bread and juice, I remember as a child staying back during the foot washing service and hearing a children’s story, I remember being at the Student Missions retreat and sharing the service with my fellow first time SMs. I also remember the Sabbath where the real meaning finally hit me, that Jesus gave up so much for me. I remember last year at GCA walking upfront as an Elder in the church to help read and pass out the flat bread and juice.
So many memories tied to that service. I wonder what it will be like the first Sabbath we are all in Heaven and Jesus gathers all of us together and we listen to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit not read the scripture but tell us the scripture because it was so real to them. I can’t wait to partake of that memory. Can you imagine the emotion that we will feel when Jesus takes a drink of the wine? He is waiting to partake of it until we can be with him. Oye, I can’t wait. Come Lord Jesus come!

another day another kroner

Phew, I am tired! Another day is done, they seem to be speeding past! We had staff meeting, Family meeting, I picked up someone from the bus station, worked on some paper work and finally got home in time to clean my flat. Tonight we filmed another Cooking with Sonya & friends. It took awhile, but it's supposed to. We laughed and giggled and worked on our English skills :O)
We baked apple pie, Sonya style. I'll let you know how it tastes tomorrow!
Tomorrow I get to go to the police station and get started getting my personal number so I can have insurance, a bank account and finally be allowed to play with Erin and Bjorn Age Vik! (that way if I brake my arm I will be able to get it fixed) It makes sense really ;O)
This weekend I went for a Sabbath hike with some friends. I was able to talk about lots of exciting things, everything from Andrew Peterson to Three Cups of Tea. It was a fairly easy hike. A piece of cake compared to Besseggan! But most things are after that. It was 25 km round trip (16ish miles). I wasn't to tired after it. I really do think that after all this hiking here I will be able to climb most anything.
I was also able to talk to my bud Andrea on skype. Boy that thing is great. Who would have thought that Back to the Future II would be true? Remember the part where the old Marty McFly get's home and his boss calls him on the TV phone? When I was a kid I thought that was soo cool and so never going to REALLY happen. But it did! I've used it to talk to my family and friends. Bless those creators for bridging the gap of miles and miles.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. I love it when I hear from you as well (yes that also means you friends who are local, I like it when you respond to my stories that you find funny. I also am glad that I am able to remind you of what it was like when you first came here.)
Take care all and brush your teeth.
Sonya of Norway.

Homesick

I’m not often sick for home. I was cured of that as a child when I spent the night at my bestfriend, Dana’s house. I was homesick and she had me sit in the homesick chair as we played with the animal dolls from the 80’s. It was great I was cured for life. However I do sometimes wish people could be here with me or I had certain items of comfort, but never to the point of no return.

A week ago or so I was wishing I could have my camp padres here in Skotselv with me though. I think it was all the outdoors and the crazy adventures in it that made me miss them. We were at a river that reminded me so much of the river Merced that flows behind Wawona and I remembered the great falls that were just the right temperature of cool. Then when I looked around at the river in Skotslev I though how different things would be if they were there. Princess and I would be talking on a rock or Scott leading us on a crazy trail by the river. Beth and I contemplating the world, Anthony and Chelsea and I planning some crazy party, Or I would have been dragging my bedding down to the river to camp out. I would do it now but I am to lonely for the rest of my Indian village to go.

Then I went trappeasing through the mountain ridge last week. I thought frequently of my friends from camp and wished they could have been there. I could only imagine all of us on a day off climbing that crazy thing. I guess now I could climb Half Dome and not have a problem. I was using skills I had gotten from living in Yosemite National Park all summer. For a lot of the trip I had to blow my nose and was using my outdoor skills. When I was free climbing up the giant rock face I thought of Derek, Jessie and Ryan going climbing and wished they could have been here to enjoy it with me. I was able to go long distances because of that hike Allie and I took to the big trees.

So perhaps I shouldn’t be homesick because I have so many memories and skills from camp. I do however know what would help with the longing for camp. . . if they came to me!

(I’ll pay for your lodging and food if you can come!!!)

Besseggen Ridge, Jotunheimen, Norway.

Almost one week ago I was preparing myself for a nice little mountain hike. Little did I know that it was going to be of epic proportions. On Thursday morning, 10th of September I awoke at a very early hour, 4 am (okay I’ll be honest I was supposed to get up at 4 but it was cold I and my bed was warm so I got up around 4:15 :O). I dressed in my best hiking gear; which was my smartwool long sleeve shirt, smartwool socks, my tennies, jeans and topped it off with my purple Camp Wawona staff shirt. Of course I took along my Georgia Cumberland Academy hoodie and the fleece that Erin is letting me borrow till my new jackets come in. I was ready to go.

After a four-hour drive to the Besseggen ridge we all unloaded out of the two vans and were ready for our epic adventure!!
We had to take the ferry across the lake so we wouldn’t haveto walk in and out in one day (that’s a long journey). The ferry ride over was exciting but WAY TOO COLD. The wind was blowing and we weren’t used to such chill, we huddled together on the front of the boat like penguins. Of course we could have gone inside but really who wants to miss out on the excitement of the out doors?
Once we docked we gathered for prayer and headed up and over to cross what we thought would be a nice little hike. On my way up to the first ridge I got so hot I took off all my jackets and hat, but once arrive up high realized the cold would turn me into a popsicle. The view was amazing from up there.Eventually we got to a point where we could see water on both sides, but the water on one side was blue and on the other it was a beautiful green-blue, as if it were warm waters from the tropics. But don’t be fooled it was cold.
We were able to play in some snow that hadn’t melted from the ‘summer’ and we sat and had our lunch. Little did we realize that we weren’t even HALF was done yet. We still had the mother lode to climb. After lunch we continued onward and upward towards Besseggen ridge. Then we saw her and we all slowly realized that we had to climb her, Then we realized we actually had to CLIMB her, not hike up her or stroll up her but CLIMB the rocks with our hands as well as stepping with our feet! And it kept going up and up, we could see very VERY small people climbing along the top of her and we all balked at the idea of us going up there. But as we all knew inside we couldn’t go back and we couldn’t go around so we decided to go up and over. Always up and over.
Up and over.
Up and over.
Up and over.
Then we were at the long awaited and fought for top. You could see forever from up there, the sky was crisp and clear. The rocks were no longer so big but small. We had made it. The only down side was just that, the down side. We started our journey down the mountain. It was much less jolly, we had seen the beauty and now we were seeing . . . gravel, pebbles and some rocks. Gone was the beauty of the mountains with their snow and the lakes with their magic colours. It looked like Texas-flat without trees. I also decided if I put blinders on and looked down it looked just like the gravel road between my flat and the school building. Onward we trekked until we thought we were just about there, we could see the parking lot and had been able to see it for a long time. We come around the bend and there was a fence (the first one all day) and it held a sign that told us to go around that mini mountain. I thought I would muntiny from my legs and feet but I didn’t, I went around and down.


At last our 8 hour journey had come to an end. I loved it, I would go back and hope to camp out there eventually. The group arrived safe and sound but boy were we pooped. The beauty was amazing and most of the way up I kept thinking how amazing the God I serve is.

Start of the hike looking over at the lake.


The path down the mountain.


Looking back at the lake at the end of a long day.


Red ferns cover the field.


The ridge behind us is what we had to climb. . . yup that's right way up there. 1,743 meters or 5,718.5039 feet.

Almost nearly perfectly content.

Tonight was great. I finally have my own kitchen and now I finally have my own food to cook. I went shopping yesterday (which will have to wait till the next story to tell about those adventures) and bought a few staple items. Included in those things was an avocado which I was given. I decided tonight to check that avocado for ripeness and found it to be the perfect time for it to be devoured. Then that's what I decided to do, I cut it up and put it on a plate. Then I realized I had nothing else to put on it. . . until it hit me like a speeding train, "I have onions I can put with it." Then I realized I can also put some of my diced tomatoes with it to to make a salsa. After mixing it all up and being ready to eat I realized something else. . . who would want to eat it just like this by itself. Here's where it gets really exciting. I got out my flour and salt and baking powder, mixed it in a bowl and made tortillas. It was fantastic. I haven't felt this self reliant in a long time. I felt as though all my training from Southern Village (SAU half-way homes ;O), Tchad and Honduras are coming together. I have proof that I have learned so much from those years. After I made my five mini tortillas I sat down and had a tasty little meal made from scratch (minus the tomatoes) and eaten by a self reliant girl. I should have taken a picture of it all before I ate it but it was good and I was enjoying it to much!

BUT WAIT, IT GETS BETTER!

After my supper my friends came over to help me bake some blueberry muffins, which turned out to be more of a blueberry loaf bunt cake muffin. We laughed and experimented. As my good friend Esther/Sarah and I realized, cooking is meant to be fun and a little bit off the wall. The results of putting us all together in my kitchen was fun, we all helped in some manner to put the ingredients together. Whether is was helping convert the temperature or mashing the banana or just offering moral support it was a team effort. To sum it up best I would recomend that you watch the following video. . .

my date.

I am taking a moment to sit down and write. As I sit here I am waiting for my date to be ready. Yup, I’ve been here for two weeks. Two weeks of intense learning curve for my job. I’ve struggled to understand WHAT IN THE WORLD I’m supposed to do. I’ve tried to grasp and put into practice the things I have learned at my various jobs and from my various classes. But as it always is when you start a new job –it’s rough. I’ve decided I will work here for the rest of my life so this date better be a keeper. This way I will never have to learn a new job, ahh, it would be so much better than having to be the new person who doesn’t understand anything about their job. All these stressors are what lead up to tonight and my date, did I mention that my date is HOT. I didn’t think so, might just be the hottest date I’ve ever had.

You might be wondering how this date came about, well let me tell you. I needed to get out and stretch my legs and let my mind relax. So a walk is what I decided on. I, being an extrovert, didn’t exactly want to go by myself because I didn’t want to end up thinking about work my entire walk. So I asked my friend Tzveta if she wanted to go with me and my other friend Anja came also. We started off on our walk and saw such beautiful things. It had been raining all day and the mountains were “smoky” like our Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. The fog was thick and it was as if we were in another world. We could see to the edge of the un harvested wheat field, un harvested due to the exorbient amounts of rain we’ve had this last month. The trees were topped off with misty fog and the paths were wet with the recent rain. We took a little road up the mountain a bit and it turned into an unpaved drive with the two ruts for the tires, that lead to someone’s house. At the quaint house we turned and went up the path that lead to the Forrest, un daunted by the wet path we journeyed onward. The woods were so magical in it’s beauty. As my friend Zoran would say, “It’s so romantic” and it truly was. The rocks were gently covered with moss and the shiny rain. The trees were glittering from the wet rain that had gently fallen. I was captivated by it’s beauty at every bend and turn in the road. I couldn’t get enough of it. I had to stop many times to soak it all in. It was like every storybook had described, it was like every magical movie come to life. It was difficult to not let my imagination go wild. All to soon we were back on the main road that leads to the school and our journey would quickly be over. As we started back on that road the sky cleared and the sun popped out for a few minutes to clear away all the fog that had captivated my imagination moments before. We looked back up at the mountains and saw how clear it had become. The journey that we had taken was especially for us, it was a gift from God, a glimpse into another world, had we been any later we would have missed it. I was so lucky to be able to share it with my new friends. We soon found ourselves back at the school, which is where my date comes in . . . Tzveta had gone shopping earlier in the day and gotten some treats, which included cookies and dried fruit. . . .which at the end of the walk she gave to me. . . which had dates in it. . . which I have taken home and put in hot water . . . and now I’m waiting for. So you see, it might not be Sven come to steal me away after all but instead it is a simple hot date meant to make you smile :o)