Sunday, March 24, 2019

Missionary Week #27


Missionary Week #27  - March 18, 2019 ~ March 24, 2019

Hello Everyone, we hope you have had a great week.  We were busy and had a great week.  Last week I failed to mention that on Sunday the 17th we hit our 6 month “anniversary” of our mission!  We have one year left!  Those 6 months went fast – so I hope it slows down just a tad so we can get to see more places and do some more things. 


Monday – We walked to work in the Rain!  We even needed the umbrella.  We worked, had lunch and when I got back from lunch my computer was full, so it quit capturing.  

Free Space too low to capture

I was able to do a little genealogy until we could get a hold of our supervisor in Germany and he was able to delete a few files from December to get me 19% free.  We can’t delete our files until we get confirmation that Germany or Salt Lake has the files and we don’t have to do anything over (Re-work).  If everything is good they will tell us to delete them.  Germany – who looks at our Quality is about 3 weeks behind us so we’re having to keep more on our computers.  Anyway, all is well and I was back to capturing after about an hour.  We were able to go grocery shopping tonight and re-stock. 

Tuesday – Went to work, had a normal work day and back home. 

Wednesday – We went to Zone Conference in Gubbängen – it’s the Stake Center.  We have been there for Stake Conference, and to see Savannah Stevenson concert.  It was a smaller group – I think only one Zone was there, the other zones met on Tuesday.  It was a great meeting as usual – the young Elder’s and Sister’s are so willing to share their ideas and they have very good presentations on what they’ve been assigned.  Today’s topic was how to work together not against each other in planning their days – in doing all of the work that they do.  It was fun to be a part of.  We had lunch with them and stayed a little while longer for the meeting in the chapel and then we left for the Mission Office.  We had to pick up some items to take with us to Orebro tomorrow.  We stopped in at the “PostNord” = Post Office.  No where close to us this time it was in Jarfalla (North east).  They had tried to deliver a package to the Mission Office and they were gone at the time they tried to deliver – so you get an email that tells you where they have the package and how long they will keep it for you – about 2 weeks before they send it back.  We finally found the right building and got the package.  We got our hair cut by a lady in our ward at her home.  She is the Relief Society President and her husband is the 1st Counselor in the Bishopric in our Ward.  We had to stop for dinner – and there was a McDonalds right by the turn off for her house so we stopped in.  It taste’s good but the bun’s fall apart real easy – so it’s always messy!  We got home and got a Marco Polo of our daughter Janell – trying to get to South Carolina with her husband for Spring Break – they were on their 3rd or 4th flight from Hawaii!  They travel on buddy passes.  They made it finally and it looked windy but beautiful – pictures of light houses and ocean!

Thursday – We drove to Orebro – which is 2 hours away from us.  We do apartment checks for the Elders and Sisters there.  It was a very pretty drive – lots of trees and then there are pretty farm areas.  We were a little early for the checks so we made sure we could find both apartments and where we might be able to park and then we found a church St. Olaus Petri - a Lutheran church - it was completed in 1912 - but was in planning for 30 years prior.  Olaus Petri and his brother Laurentius - Olaus was born in 1493 here in Orebro. They were disciples of Martin Luther. It had a little cemetery there that we walked through too.  There were recent burials - so they still use it but a lot of the stones said "Family Grave" so we are going to have to inquire about that - maybe they just stack them?  



After we walked through cemetery and church then we went to lunch.  We chose “Rio”.  We had to pay for parking, and the lady at the cash register didn’t speak English – she yelled into the back for a man to come out and help us.  He spoke a little English.  They had a lunch menu on a tv screen, he pointed and said “First one is Meat. Second one is Fish, Last one is Chicken.”  That was easy!  So we ordered and they pointed to a little salad bar that came with the meal.  It was good food – we don’t know what language they were speaking but it all worked out! 


Front Doors




Looking towards front doors - organ
Looking to the front
After that, we headed for the Sister’s apartment and waited for them – they texted that they would be late so we parked in their apartment parking lot and waited until they got there by bus.  The apartment was fine and very nice, things were in working order and John was able to fix their bikes – the brakes were not working right and he showed them how to tighten them so they can do it themselves the next time they get loose.  They were thrilled.  Then on we went to the Elder’s apartment.  We were so happy to see Elder Clark – and Elder Barney.  Elder Clark was in our Jacobsberg Ward when we first got here – he got transferred out of our ward right before Christmas.  Their apartment checked out fine and we headed home.  We filled the car up and got it washed because it was so filthy after the road trip. 

Friday -  We went back to work and we were there before 7am.  We got our shuttles sent off to Germany and had lunch at 1pm.  About 3pm Elder Johnson – one of our Senior Couples who is over the Young Single Adults – came by for a tour – Sister Johnson couldn’t make it, but he wanted to see the archive before they go home in a couple of weeks.  So, we gave him a tour of what we knew – showed him some of the old books and photographs and our work stations and how we work.  We worked until about 4:30 and came home.  Had our date night – Laundry!

Saturday – March 24th – It’s one of our granddaughters Jacy’s 14th birthday today.  She went to a cake decorating class and made her own Unicorn Cake for her birthday – it turned out beautiful!  We stayed home today – after our busy week of being gone. 

Sunday – We took the train to church today – and it was beautiful weather – the Sun was shinning, and it was pretty warm in the upper 40’s.  There were a lot of people at church today so when the weather is good more people will venture out!  

This afternoon we heard police sirens and noticed that they were right by our apartment!  We had front row seats to the aftermath of an accident.  There was a motorcycle on it’s side and 2 other cars stopped, one with the hood up.  The police were here, ambulance crew and they send out this big truck with the sign on the back that has the arrow to show people to move over to the other lanes.  It took them about 2 hours to get everything cleaned up – it wasn’t a bad accident – all we could gather was one car must have stalled and the light turned green and everybody started going but the blue car and so the biker must’ve just laid it down – but it didn’t look like much damage at all.  They did take the motorcyclist in the ambulance, but they didn’t have their lights and sirens on.  2 tow trucks came to pick up the motorcycle and the car. 



Notice Blue car with the hood up - Yellow Ambulance - the other cars are
traffic - still flying by!





Black car also involved - but left a little while later


Police discussing - and being video taped by partner -lots of female police

That’s it for this week – again that went so fast!  It was fun to get out of work and fun to get back to work and our routine!  We look forward to next week too – we will be attending the Family Home Evening at the Young Singles Adults Activity center next Friday and will probably be doing that for about 8 weeks.  The Johnson’s are leaving, and they haven’t found Senior Missionaries to take it over so the Stake will have to fill that calling. We are down one couple also at the archive – so anyone thinking about going on a Mission – Come to Sweden!












Have a great week and dare we say “Happy Spring” ????  We love and miss you and think of you often!


Moving the motorcycle to the sidewalk The big yellow truck has
the arrow sign on the back.
John & Linda Richardson





Sunday, March 17, 2019

Missionary Week #26 - March 11, 2019 - March 17, 2019


Missionary Week #26     March 11, 2019 – March 17, 2019

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  We haven’t seen much in the way of celebrations for the Irish here in Sweden!

We hope that your week has been a great one!  Our week went fast again, how about you!?

Monday – We went to work at 7 and as we got off the elevator from the train the sun was in our eyes! It was a little chilly today at -7C which is about 19*F.  We are still working on the Military cards.  We left for home a little after 4.  We got some Marco Polo’s from Jennifer they went with Jaylen’s Family to Petrified Forest and Painted Desert today – It’s “Spring Break” back home, and it was a little windy, but they were having fun and it was great to see them. Jon’s family was going to join them but one of their girls was sick so they didn’t go.  We also got to Duo – video chat- with Jon and JT.  They were at lunch taking a break from work. It is always so good to see and hear from the kids.

Tuesday – We got a Marco Polo from Justin and telling us that his daughter Rylee is on a field trip to Costa Rica!  She turns 18 today!  So, we want to wish her a Happy Birthday and we can’t wait to hear how the trip went.  She is a Senior this year.  Work was a normal day.

Wednesday – We woke up to SNOW!  It was a wet snow/rain.  At lunch we headed out to find a dry cleaners and on our way back we stopped for lunch at an Indian Restaurant.  It was a lunch buffet and we really liked it. We worked until 4pm and the snow was gone and it was just wet.  Got a Marco Polo from Jenn telling us that it had been windy all night and in the morning she looked out and they had SNOW!  We told her it blew in from us! 

Thursday – We went to work and left at 4 – we walked to downtown Stockholm and walked around the stores.  We wanted to have dinner at La Netta – a MEXICAN FOOD restaurant that the Sister Missionaries told us about.  We found it and it was good.  They served tacos!  They really looked more like Quesadillas but close enough!  We were headed to our Family Home Evening with a couple of Senior Couples at the Mission Office.  We were in charge of the lesson and treats and it just so happened that on the corner of the street by La Netta’s was a Muffin Bakery!  So, we stopped in and got some to take with us.  Walked to T-Central to catch the train, and then a bus to the Office.  The evening was so fun.  Our lesson was on preparing ourselves for General Conference.  We exchanged ideas and listened to a snippet of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s April 2011 talk in Conference on Ensign to the Nation.  It was such a good talk and he tells us that if they (General Authorities) teach with the Spirit and we listen with the Spirit we will hear what we need.  We gratefully, got a ride from the Ashby’s to the train station and made it home by 9:45.

Friday – Yesterday, my computer had 2% free space left on it and it wouldn’t let me transfer my work for the week – but this morning I tried it and it worked!  That was a good thing!  We are always surprised when all of a sudden, it’s Friday!  We had our date night Laundry, and all is well.  I took a picture of the scheduling contraption in the laundry room just for you.  Notice the Day of the week is across the top “DATUM” and then the times are down the left side and you put your “lock” in your choice.

Laundry Scheduler

Saturday – We were able to go to the Temple today. Our Ward was having a Temple Day and it was very busy!  Afterwards we found the Distribution center and then went to lunch.  We got Marco Polo’s from Jennifer and the boys had a wrestling match in St. Johns today.  We got to see Bridger and Bo and got a picture of Edwin too.  They are so fun to watch.   

Sunday – We woke up to rain!  Went to church and when we came out it was still raining.  This afternoon the Sun was shinning, and we could see blue sky!  You just never know! 
We hope that you have had a great week and looking forward to next week!

John & Linda

Sunday, March 10, 2019

Missionary Week #25


Missionary Week #25   March 4, 2019 – March 10, 2019

Hello everyone!  Another week that went by so fast!  The weather here is crazy!  But I guess you all are having crazy weather in the States.  I loved the Facebook post that said “Welcome to AZ! Winter is at 6am, Spring starts at 10am. Summer is at 2pm and Fall is around 4:30ish.  Dress accordingly!” 

Monday – We were at work by 7. We had a normal day of work – capturing images of the Military cards and the days seems to go fast.  Sunday, it snowed all day.  Today it was rain! We were able to Marco Polo to Jon & Jaylen.  Jon was getting his 5th wheel ready for a trip this weekend and Jaylen was sending us pictures of an Osprey flying over our house as he was washing his car!  Our daughters sent Marco Polos about our dear friend Terry Haws passing away today.  All our kids had a “Haws” friend in school.  All of them! That encompasses a 15-year spread! Great family and our prayers go out for them.  For Family Home Evening we watched a RootsTech video about Saroo Brierley.  He was a 5yr old boy born in India and he and his brother went to the train station and got separated and he couldn’t find his way back home, he ended up being adopted by a couple from Australia and he still wanted to find out where his family was.  It was about that journey of finding his family again.  Almost hard to believe but it happened!  There was a movie called Lion that was made about his life.  I don’t remember seeing it but would like to.  You can go watch this video if you’d like 

Tuesday – Went to work a little later this morning and for lunch we walked to a pizza place real close to the archive “Nina’s”  It was tasty, Kebab salad.  And we were back to work within our 30 minutes that we like to take. 

Wednesday –  We had a normal day at work – and at home we got a sweet Marco Polo from Jon and his two youngest children.  Saying hello to Grampa and Grampa!  Yep that’s how they said it. Jon would correct them and say Gramma and Grampa and they then would say Hello Gramma and Gramma!  We laughed so hard. 

Thursday – Normal day at work, John fixes our lunch everyday, today was a new mix.  Nutela, peanut butter with raisins and dried cranberries!  I loved it – you’ll need to try it! 

Friday – On our way to work, we ride the train and have to use an elevator to take us up to the street level to walk to work.  Today it took us up and the door opened up about 5”.  After pushing a few more buttons it finally worked and we were able to jump out fast!  We worked until 3pm and left to go pick up our I.D. Cards – This was our last step in being able to stay here for over a one year period.  I have to say when they (the tax office) give you an appointment time – they are right on.  It’s sad that in the states – a 10:30 appointment really means you’ll be seen when we call you back!   We were able to talk to Janell, she was off work today and more Marco Polos’ from Jon.  We are pretty excited for JT who is headed to the Terminator Tournament in Prescott Valley.  He had to weigh in tonight and all the matches start on Saturday.  It snowed today.

Watching JT's scores from Terminator
Saturday – Relaxing Saturday – tonight we went out to eat – down the street - at Texas Longhorn.  They look a lot like Texas Roadhouse – good food and we walked home in the Rain! We got a Duo video call from Jaylen and Blaire -and family- they are living in our house and they get all our mail – so we have to go through it all and they are good to take care of everything at our house, inside and out!  We were able to watch JT on trackwrestling.com for several of his matches – it was very exciting – He was in the 115 lb. weight class and Under 15yrs old.  He did wonderful – and we watched until it was over here at 1:10am Sunday morning!  (5pm in AZ) He came in 6th place.  We are waiting to hear his thoughts on the day but wow what a great day! We were sad that the camera was not working on the last two matches of the day, but we were able to watch as the scores came up on screen. 

Sunday – We went on the train to church today because the Senior couple that we share the car with had their son and daughter visiting this week – and there’s only room for 4 in the car!  It was good weather it said 50* however it didn’t feel like 50* in AZ.  But the Sun was shining!  
We hope that your week has been a great one, that you are healthy, and are enjoying your family wherever you are!  We love you and think of you often.  We want to wish Keith, my other nephew – a Happy Birthday that was on March 6th! 

John & Linda Richardson


Sunday, March 3, 2019

Missionary Week #24 February 25 - March 2, 2019


Missionary Week #24    February 25 - March 2, 2019

We started off our week with beautiful weather – still a bit chilly, it’s in the low 30s*F. It is lighter day by day.  Last week you saw the picture of the sunrise at work.  The sun is now coming up while we are on our way to work.  If there are clouds (which there usually are) it can be a real pretty sight. 

Monday – We were at work by 7ish and worked until 12:30pm.  We needed to get ink for the printer and copy paper and a few other office supplies, so we walked into town a little and found the Office Depot!  They had everything we needed but the ink!  So we ordered it and the man said it would be in on Wednesday.  We found an Indian restaurant close by and had Chicken Sambroal?  It had 2 chili peppers by the name on the menu- so we thought we might be ok!  It was pretty good.  It was hot – our noses ran – so it had to be good! Back to work and then home at 4pm.   We went for groceries tonight because we were out of a lot of things!

Tuesday – Normal day at work – we came home had a quick dinner and headed to the Mission Office for our Senior Couple’s Family Home Evening Group.  This was our first meeting and we had 3 couples there.  The rest were busy getting new missionaries settled in and missionaries leaving ready to go home!  Anyway, we had a great time getting to know each other a little better – and a good lesson on Self Reliance.  We played a game and had Gelato for dessert, and we will meet again next month! 

Wednesday -  We left real early and made it to work before 7!  John walked over to get the ink from Office Depot – but it hadn’t come in!  So he walked around some more and found what we needed.  At lunch it’s been fun to look out the big windows of the cafeteria and see all of the happenings and the SUN!  There was a “Baby parade” – not really but there were 3 sets of 2 baby carriages – (they look like the old baby carriage) Mom’s out walking with friends all in a line!


2 washers one dryer
Big Hanging Dryer

Thursday – We had a normal day at work – and came home and we lost our Friday Night slot this week for laundry – so we had to do laundry tonight.  We have the slot for next Friday already set so we’ll be back on schedule.  (I miss my kitchen and my laundry room)

Friday – We had a good morning at work and downloaded our files to send to Germany.  We left about noon, we had to go to the immigration office for our appointment to get an I.D. Card.  We thought our appointment was at 1:30 so we gave us some extra time to get there – walking – train- more walking.  Then we looked at the email and it said it was at 2:30!  So we decided we’d go to lunch first!  We wanted to try Lily’s Café that we saw on our last trip – because we have a granddaughter named Lily.  But when we got there it said it was under renovation and should be open in November!  We’ll try then!  We had passed an Ethiopian Restaurant and it was close, so we went there.  We’ve never been to or seen an Ethiopian restaurant so this was a new experience.  They had a lunch buffet that had 5-6 covered serving trays with 2 skillets in each of different food – and a label on the table of what it was……in Swedish.  OR you could order Lasagna!  We chose the buffet!  

Ethiopian Lunch Buffet
They had a “tortilla” like spongy bread (brown-gray) that people would put on the plate to put the rest of the food on, so we followed.  We took a spoonful of everything that was offered.  We were surprised, it wasn’t spicy hot or curry, it was pretty bland but it did have flavor.  Lots of vegetables, I recognized spinach, potatoes, carrots, green beans and one pan had some meat – not sure what it was but there was a bone in it.  We were able to eat and rested in a warm place until it was time to go for our appointment.  We got to the office and tried to sign in but we were 7 minutes too early! You could only sign in 30 min. before your scheduled time – so we waited to sign in at the kiosk.  Then we waited for our number to be up on the board – but it was a smooth operation – we were at the booth with the employee and it was 2:30!  We had to show our credentials and ID’s and Person number that we got and today they took our picture and measured our height.  Now we wait 2 weeks and the cards will come in and we will have to go to that office and pick them up. 

Saturday – We stayed in and enjoyed the morning – and then in the afternoon we went to Jarfalla – where the Sister Missionaries from our ward live.  We met Sister Adams that just got transferred in to our ward – she will leave for home next transfer in 6 weeks. We have to check the apartments of 6 sets of Missionaries.  We check for things in each room, anything broken, or not working, they have a Shelter in place food box that we check for outdated items and then they have to replace those items. Check the fire and Co2 alarm and fire extinguisher to make sure they are in working order, are they warm and safe basically.  We had fun talking to them and doing the check.  When we got home we got to watch Marco Polo’s of our 4yr old twins and 6yr old son of Jennifer and JT (Jon’s son) was refereeing!  So cute to see each of them try their hardest!  Wrestling is quite the sport!  The things they have to learn are all tough lessons – winning but not being too full of yourself – losing but not such a poor loser – being a good sport – your fighting for your team but it’s only you out there!  Not to mention the starvation factor (not at 4-6yr old stage).  Your body is worn out after a few matches but you have to keep going and the matches get tougher as you go because your wrestling the winners! 

Sunday – We woke up to SNOW!  Went to Church and met our other new missionary Elder Olson.  We had a good group in the English-speaking Sunday School.  We met Sister Adams after church and asked how her first day was and she said – well I only need to learn Spanish, Mandarin and Russian and I should be Good!  Haha. I love our ward!

Swedish Language for this week is:   Months
Januari
Februari
Mars
April
Maj – the j usually sounds like a y
Juni
Juli
Augusti
September
Oktober
November
December

We wish you a Happy March!  We have 2 granddaughters that have birthdays this month and my Brother and Sister-in-law are Celebrating their 57th  Wedding Anniversary today!  Happy Anniversary Barry & Eileen!  Their son Jeff is also celebrating his birthday!  Happy Birthday Jeff! 
We hope you all have a wonderful week!   Love you, John & Linda

 And remember our blog is at;



Our FINAL Week! Missionary Week #78

Missionary Week 78            March 9, 2020 ~ March 15, 2020 It’s about time I finished telling you about our last week in Sweden!  ...