Halvor Halvorsen was a ship captain sailing in and out of the fjords, up and down the beautiful Norway western seaboard. [His wife and children lived in the north in Namsos] As his family grew [to 8 children], he longed to be with them, acquired a telegraph station in northern Norway, where he could work on land, and have his family with him, but he took seriously ill in the north, and died. Before his death, in a touching letter to his family he wrote his memories about his parents and siblings, and then these heart felt words to his children.
“And now, I am leaving you all to God. May He put his protecting hand around us, and guide us to the place that He has set aside for us. Let no one ever threaten or persuade you to go against your conscience, for this will sooner or later come back to you with added interest. Think of your father, and remember, that if any of you should commit any kind of a crime, I will be watching you, and so will our Heavenly Father who had everything recorded that you have done in this world. Be kind and helpful to each other and to your mother, for all your happiness in this world will depend on this. Let the bigger ones help the smaller ones, and do not forget that you are all your father’s children, and it would hurt me deeply on the other side of the grave, if any of my children should leave their God, and start going in the wrong road. Be aware of these things, dear children, and protect the memory of your father, who never was able to commit anything real bad or evil, But I am deeply sorry to say that I have all to often sinned against my God and His commandments. This I must, in all humility, ask God to forgive me in His unending grace, Amen. This is my will to you, I have no money to leave you. I received little or nothing myself. But if you will do what is right, you will have riches enough, believe you me. All happiness and joy in this world does not depend on money, and even much less after death. Do not be hypocrites, give your opinion honest and frankly to everyone. This will not make you rich. But I have always felt a contempt for these creeping beings, and they are to be looked down upon, as far as I have any knowledge of the world.”
(by Kenneth Hardman, 2018, based on “Our Gulbrandsen Ancestry,” by Jana Greenhalgh, and the ‘Will’ of Halvor Halvorsen in, “The Hansen and Gulbrandsen Family History – Ancestors & Descendants of Edna Violet Gulbrandsen & Harvey Ralph Hansen,” compiled by: Jana Greenhalgh, Dona Losee, Ray Hansen) #AncestorClips
With all hopes of emigration from Norway to Zion, Ole’s father died leaving a widow and nine children. Fighting despair with faith, the whole family was gathered in the Rocky Mountains within six years. During his youth in Utah, Ole worked as a laborer, miner, hotel mechanic, then railroad foreman. In 1899, he married Halvorine Halvorsen, also of Norway. Nine years later, on a Saturday night, a knock came at their home. Ole excused himself from the dinner table, then returned and invited Halvorine to join the conversation with the Bishop. “All children listened at the door.” Ole had received a call to serve a mission in Norway. “After some discussion, Halvorine said, ‘Ole, accept this calling. I am sure the Lord will provide. If it hadn’t been for the missionaries, we wouldn’t be here today…’ Ole quit his job [and] mortgaged the home,” but funds were scarce. How could he go, an associate asked? Ole said, “The call has come to me… God will open up ways…” Ole fulfilled his mission, returned as a fine leader. In numerous church positions he enjoyed a “rich portion of the Holy Spirit of God.” He and his counselors “awakened and brought into activity many of the men who had become inactive.” As a mechanic, he could “fix anything.” Ole became Temple foreman, and chief engineer for church buildings in Salt Lake City. The Presiding Bishopric of the church said, “Ole was the ‘guardian angel’ of all the Church buildings…” “As you look at the Temple, as you go through the ins and outs of these buildings, you see [Ole’s] fingerprints everywhere…I glory in the steadfastness of this man…”
AncestorClips 