Scientology Helps Norwegian Businessman Translate Ideas into Action
Norwegian translations executive Trond Samstad turned a serious problem into a serious success. His profile is one of 200 “Meet a Scientologist” videos available on the Scientology website at www.scientology.org.
Scientologist Trond Samstad is intent—professionally and personally.
His “Meet a Scientologist” video on www.scientology.org was filmed in his translations agency where he and his 25 staff care for the full spectrum of clients’ needs, from writing copy for manuals, marketing and publicity to translation and foreign-language typesetting.
But while there is a serious and very practical side to the 54-year-old Norwegian, he is intensely spiritual as well.
Samstad describes his search for the meaning of life with his characteristic wry sense of humor.
“I traveled through the U.S. and South America in 1978 on a voyage to find myself—what every angry young man is supposed to do,” he says.
Asked if he succeeded in that search, he answers yes.
“That’s how I found Scientology,” he says. “On a street in Worcester, Massachusetts, a young woman told me to read Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health.”
Picking up a copy in English he started reading and kept on until he was done.
“Twenty-four hours later I put it down. It had a tremendous impact on me. If what L. Ron Hubbard wrote was true—and it certainly seemed to be true to me—here was a solution based on science, not faith, and a description of a state of being I wanted to attain,” says Samstad.
On his return to Oslo, he found a Scientology Mission and began taking services, which he says changed his life.
“I was not a pleasant person to be around. I was negative, withdrawn and very serious. I’m still pretty serious about things that matter to me, but it’s no longer my whole way of life. Taking those Scientology services made an enormous difference,” he says.
For the next 11 years Samstad held a staff position at the Church, supervising parishioners on courses and delivering Dianetics counseling. What he enjoyed most was helping people new to Scientology experience an entirely new level of self-confidence, happiness and ability.
Samstad met and married Elin while he was working at the Church. Elin became a Scientology spiritual counselor or auditor—“one who listens,” from the Latin audire, “to hear or listen.” They have two children, a daughter, 20, and son, 12.
Samstad applies what he has learned in Scientology in many aspects of his life.
“It is the reason my business is a success,” he says. “That’s where I gained the ability to communicate to my staff and clients, to stay motivated, to cope when things get tough. The administrative technology I use was developed by L. Ron Hubbard. I use Scientology to create my relationship with my wife and kids.”
“Scientology works. It is not something you believe—it is something you do. And when you do, it works. That was the breakthrough for me. It’s not a matter of faith. It’s conviction.”
The popular “Meet a Scientologist” profiles on the Church of Scientology International Video Channel at Scientology.org now total 200 broadcast-quality documentary videos featuring Scientologists from diverse locations and walks of life. The personal stories are told by Scientologists who are educators, teenagers, skydivers, a golf instructor, a hip-hop dancer, IT manager, stunt pilot, mothers, fathers, dentists, photographers, actors, musicians, fashion designers, engineers, students, business owners and more.
A digital pioneer and leader in the online religious community, in April 2008 the Church of Scientology became the first major religion to launch its own official YouTube Video Channel, which has now been viewed by millions of visitors.