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By Mary Richards, Church News
Claus Edvin Andersen of the Sandvika Ward in the Oslo Norway Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently finished serving as Norway’s first service missionary — where his opportunities and assignments included one of his talents: cutting and splitting wood.
Initially, Andersen was assigned to labor as a teaching missionary in the England Manchester Mission. But after a few months he fell ill and returned to Norway.
He transferred to the Nordic Service Mission Area. Together with an elder from Sweden and a sister from Finland, they became the first missionaries in the Nordic Service Mission Area — which covers Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
The purpose of a service mission is “to help others come unto Christ by serving them as the Savior would.”
In an essay he wrote for the Church’s United Kingdom site while on his mission, Andersen said, “We do our best to be worthy representatives as we carry His name in the service we do.”
Worthy young men ages 18-25 may serve a service mission for six to 24 months, and young women ages 19-29 may serve a service mission for six to 18 months, as close to full time as their capability and circumstances allow. These missionaries live at home and serve locally, and each young man or young woman is provided a customized mission experience tailored to his or her talents, skills and gifts.
Andersen spoke about that: “In our service mission, we try to find projects that the missionaries themselves have an interest in and have skills in.”
His main assignment was based in Oslo with Operasjon Ved, or Operation Wood. This charitable organization is more than 50 years old.
“Every year, Oslo municipality receives a certain amount of timber donated from Løvenskjold, which owns large forests around Oslo,” Andersen explained. “Oslo municipality provides a place to work, and volunteers who come and cut, dry and split the wood. The volunteers mostly consist of a number of retired, fit gentlemen, plus me.”
From October to March, the volunteers deliver approximately 160,000 kilograms, or 175 tons, of firewood to families or individuals who need help with heating during the winter.
Andersen said he started splitting wood in kindergarten. Over the years he developed a great interest in the work and finds great joy in it.
“It feels meaningful to be part of the long and important tradition we have in Norway of managing, refining and using the forest to sustain life in a sensible way.”
Besides helping the charitable organization, Andersen also served individuals by felling trees and splitting them into firewood for them. He served in various other ways as well, and met weekly via Zoom with his mission district. At the end of each week, the service missionaries submitted reports to their mission leaders about how their service was going.
Andersen finished two years of service in December 2023.
A particular scripture that he treasured in relation to his service as a service missionary is Mosiah 2:17 where King Benjamin taught his people about service: “And behold, I tell you these things that you may learn that when you are in the service of your fellow men, you are indeed in the service of your God.”
To learn more about the service mission program, including how to get started, resources for leaders and the role of parents, go to ChurchofJesusChrist.org/service-missionary.
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