Missionary Week #10

Missionary Week #10  - Nov 19, 2018 – Nov 25, 2018

Happy Thanksgiving Week – Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, and really gave some thought to what you’re Thankful for!  We came home after work and fixed a meat loaf in the shape of a turkey!  It turned out pretty good, with mashed potatoes and mandarin oranges!  No pie, no stuffing, No Turkey, No Rainbow Jello but we got to see the ones who made it at home!  It was a different Thanksgiving for us since Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Sweden.  (However they did pick up on our Black Friday Holiday!!!)  We are grateful for our Family and Friends!  We are grateful to be on a Mission in Sweden and that we have a roof over our heads and food to eat.  We have been blessed in so many ways.  We are grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ. 

I enjoyed not having the hustle and bustle of getting food ready for a whole week for one day.  But I also missed it!  It is a chore to shop and prepare and hope everything turns out all right = edible.  But there is also a measure of love in each dish that is prepared, that I did miss.  Then the biggest thing that was missing this week was getting to see our Children and Grandchildren.  It is a full house when we all get together, but it is a joy to see.   I hope that all of you got to spend time with your loved ones and had a safe holiday. 

Our week was filled with work!  Monday we were capturing big thick books, but later on Monday we were told to change to the Military Records.  So for the rest of the week it was pretty smooth sailing.  They are flat cards with info on each person.  On Friday we worked until 11am and left for some shopping in downtown Stockholm.  It snowed this morning so we thought we better get serious about getting clothes for the cold.  Scarfs, gloves, hats etc.  Then this afternoon we left to go help with the Young Single Adults group activity (ages 18 -30)that is held once a year called “Soul Night” . They rent out a high school and we had to move tables and chairs so the kids could sleep on the floors in class rooms, stock up all the bathrooms with paper products and get the kids all registered in.  We helped for about 2 hours and then we headed for our Ward in Jacobsberg to sit in on a lesson for a man who speaks English with our young Elders.  We were on our train headed there when we got a text message that the man said he couldn’t make it.  So we were able to get off our train and find the right train to take us home.  The Swede’s transportation system is amazing!! You just have to know what you are looking for! 

Our weekend was full of volunteering at the Soul Night – we were there Saturday morning from 9-2.  We were assigned to sit at the information desk……with not much information – but we got good at finding out who did have the answers that the kids needed!!! They had workshops like, Dance, Choir, Motivational Speakers and they could also go to the Temple which was only two train stops away.  Then on Sunday we headed out again and got there in time for their church services.  We helped in the cafeteria making sack lunches for everyone to take with them on their way to where ever they were headed.  It sounded like the majority of the kids loved it and look forward to coming again next year.  These kids were from the Scandinavian countries, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark and then they open up the tickets to the world, so we had kids from Spain, Chile, Mexico, Germany, France and I’m sure more from South America.  Total was about 300.  It was a lot of fun to watch them all.  Side note: They all speak English.  So, some speak Spanish and English, some speak Swedish and English so most of the meetings/classes/workshops/Church services were held in 

English because everyone spoke it!!!!  Good for us!  So glad we were able to help. 

We hope you are having a wonderful Fall Season and enjoying the beauty around you.  Stay Warm and know we are thinking of you.   Elder & Sister Richardson