Missionary Week #36

Missionary Week #36         Date:  May 20, 2019 – May 26, 2019

We have had another great week, and we hope that you have a great and safe Memorial Day Weekend! The kids here in Sweden are still in school for another couple of weeks – but they are looking forward to their summer.

Monday – We had a good day at work, toward the end of our day, there is a young man who works there – he is a runner – he gets the books that are ordered from the reading room.  He always says Hey! (Hi) to us and has asked us for help a couple of times when he was trying to find things. He stopped today to tell us that his 6 months was up, and it was his last day and he wanted to say goodbye!  John asked him where he was headed to next and he just said he is still looking for a job!  We don’t know if he was just an intern or what kind of a system they have.  We thought it was nice of him to stop and say goodbye. 

We left work at 4pm and walked to the park by the YSA Center – it’s such a nice place to sit – there was a ton of people eating/drinking at the open air restaurant, some were sun bathing in lounge chairs and it’s on a corner so a lot of pedestrians and bike’s cut through.  It’s fun to people watch.  It was great weather.  We had a Marco Polo from one of our daughters and it was good to catch up on her family!   We went on over to the YSA Center and there was a good group again, about 10-12 kids.  The guest speaker was 16 years old, teaching how to make films!  He went through a good program with a lot of examples then he showed his “Movie” he made.  It was called  “Mission IsPossible” Instead of Impossible!  It was cute – he had his younger brother in it with a few friends.  One of the “actor’s” was there at the Center “Oliver” so it was fun to see some familiar faces.  After we left the center we walked to the train station and ate at a MAX – Sweden’s competition for McDonalds.  It was pretty good too!  They had a few things we had never heard of like “Halloumi” ! John google Translated it and it is CHEESE! The picture looks like a meat/chicken patty!   We shared a spicy chicken sandwich and fries and Fanta has a wonderful pop flavor it’s called Exotic.  I quit drinking soda/pop some time ago – but this flavor has me drinking again!  I sure hope they sell it in the US!  We loved it because we have a grandson Max, we wanted to show him that we ate at HIS Store!  When we got home we were able to do a video call to Jenn, and got to see all but Lily.  Last week of school!  Yeah!

Tuesday – We went to work and finally got an email from Germany so I could delete some files and my computer went from 2% to 24% - I know I’ll make it through the week now!  Got to chat with more of our kids today, we talked with Jaylen and heard his Millie talking! 

Wednesday – We were up early, we don’t need the alarm anymore!  It’s light by 2am and the sun is up by 4am, so we still schedule an alarm but end up cancelling it! It was a nice warm day.  The movers are still removing carts and carts of books to the new archive. We worked a normal day and when we quit at 4 and got to the station there were so many people.  We thought “Oh Great! Now What!?”  We let one go by and waited for another one and it was just as crowded so we jumped in.  We didn’t sit together but at least we finally go to sit in a seat.  Never heard why there were so many people!

Talked with Jaylen and got a Marco Polo from Rachel and JT.  He has been working on a Social Studies Project on Viet Nam.  He was able to talk to John about his experiences and was able to take in pictures and stories to school.  They had to turn in a final project and he wanted to show his Grampa how it looked. He had printed off all of John’s pictures and put in a photo book – then he had his paper written out with word lists and stories. Then it was set up kind of like a Science Project where everyone went around and looked at all the projects.  He said everyone really liked it.  AND his voice is changing!  It’s getting lower!  So many things happen even being gone just 6 months! 

Thursday -  We went to work and the trains were back to normal.  A lot happened today - JT graduated from 8^th grade in St. Johns and Rylee graduated from Highland High School.  Also, Hyrum Jones one of nieces boys graduated from that same High School too.  It was nice to get some video’s and pictures of the graduates and be apart of it even though we couldn’t be there. Congratulations Graduates!

Friday - Happy Birthday to Connor – our oldest grandson, he turned 20! We got to work and got our shuttles ready to ship to Germany and worked until 4pm.  It was a good day. Nice quiet Friday.

Saturday –  John got up and did laundry again!  We had breakfast and then went back to the Military Archives today.  The lady that helped me was really good.  I need help in translating the forms but she also answered a lot of my questions about the time and it was nice to get the extra help that I needed. 

John and I went through 3 different sets of books pertaining to my Great-Grandfather Carl Johan Karlson.  He was Soldier #9 in the 2^nd Regiment of the Royal Troopers – on horse.  I found him 3 times in one year– where he had gotten into trouble!  One was misconduct, for not turning in his buddy who was drunk on duty and Carl got 3 days arrest for that.  Another one – he was on guard duty and was found asleep when it was time for changing of the guard! He got 4 days arrest for that…the lady helping me said “It looks like he wasn’t taking things too serious”.  The last entry he was with 3 other comrades – two of which got in a fight -because of drunkenness and Carl said something he shouldn’t have to a superior and he got 3 days arrest for that…. the two who were fighting got 8 days each.  I asked about his Civil Court matter and she told me to go to the City Archives – (where we work!)  So, I’ll have to stay late after work one day and get a hold of that record! It was a cloudy day and by evening it was raining.  We ordered pizza from the little restaurant across the street!  It was pretty good – odd toppings but it was pretty good with the garlic sauce they gave us to dip!  The pizza had ham, cheese, artichoke hearts mussels, olives and shrimp!

Sunday – Happy Birthday to Jonathan!  He was my first baby, and I remember heading to the hospital in Springerville, 30 miles away – in SNOW at 2 in the morning!  Happy Mother’s Day Again!  We went to church – they had one talk on Mothers.  No singing and we found out later that our little primary practiced a song for the moms but didn’t feel comfortable enough to preform it today!  So we will look forward to that another time!  Evidently it was also Election day today….there is a ton of traffic by our apartment – it’s usually more quiet on Sundays.

Well we hope you are enjoying your Memorial Day Weekend!  We remember those that came before us and those who served in any military conflict to defend the freedoms that we enjoy now.  Thank You for Your Service!

We think of you often and miss you!  Love hearing from you!  Love, John & Linda, Mom & Dad, Gramma & Grampa

   

Missionary Week #35

Missionary Week # 35         Date:  May 13, 2019 – May 19, 2019

 Seemed like our week went fast again!  I don’t have a lot of pictures this week unfortunately!  

 Monday – We got to work a little before 7am and started to work.  Today John’s computer hit the 0% left. So, he could not capture anymore pictures.  He moved boxes, and made new title pages for the new boxes, so he stayed busy.  He even listened to a Webinar on the Viet Nam War.  After work we headed to the YSA Center.  We stopped by the Muffin Bakery [YUM] to get some muffins to take to the kids for their Home Evening Treat.  No one was at the center when we got there so we found a park around the corner and enjoyed sitting on a park bench watching all the people go by!  Then we headed back to the YSA Center and we had a really good turn out – probably 11-12 kids came for tonight’s presentation from a guest speaker “Josef” His power point was on Creativity.  Course it was all in Swedish – but the speaker would come over and fill us in on what he was having the kids do.  They had several group activities and then one with everyone involved.  It was fun watching them use their “Creativity”.  When it was all over, we started home and found a “Grillin” shop – they have hamburgers, salads, pizza etc. We ate a late dinner and then headed home.  We got a Marco Polo from Janell who is in Hawaii – we are exactly 12 hours ahead of her -so it’s easy to do the calculations for the time difference! 

Tuesday – We got to work and called Janell – because we kept missing her last night.  It was good to catch up on all the things happening in their life in Hawaii!  John still has no room on his computer – Germany is getting files ready to delete but no word from them until after lunch.  We came home and went to the grocery store for staples – milk, eggs and juice and then headed to our Family Home Evening with our 2 other senior couples.  We have a good time together – we’re all from Arizona and I think I’ve already told you there are connections with people we know, and they know.  Small World stuff.  While we were driving to the Mission Office – we saw this Lamborghini sure sounded good! 

  Wednesday – We got to work and worked hard and left for home about 4pm!  Great weather – nice and warm.  The sun sets after 8:30!  We didn’t have to do anything or go anywhere!  It was a nice change!

 Thursday – Happy Birthday to my Sister-in-law Eileen!  We were suppose to have a conference call at home from 3 people from Salt Lake City today – but we didn’t get the call.  Then we found out we were suppose to sign in to a “go-to-meeting”…. Not good communication… Hopefully we’ll hear from them next week! 

 Friday – This is our 8^th month anniversary of being on a Mission!  Hard to believe! 

We got to work early and got the shuttles ready to ship them to Germany.   The moving company that the archive has hired to move items to their new archive – have been on our floor this whole week!  They have “cages” on wheels, taller than the men, that they roll through our room and they are pretty noisy!  John helps them roll the cages in and out of the room – they have so many to move in and out that our “automatic doors” close before they can get all the cages in and out!  The movers were leaving the door open while they loaded up the cages and then bring them out.  We were freezing!  There is a lot of COLD AIR inside a mountain!  So, John is able to close the doors, so we don’t freeze! 

 Saturday - John did all the laundry  - he says he likes this schedule rather than Friday Night – so for a while we’ll keep this slot, and I agree it’s great!  We went to the Temple today and saw new sights along the way – we’ve never driven in the car – we’ve always taken the train!  It is beautiful in Sweden right now with all the shrubs and trees in blossom.  After the Temple we headed to a bakery in the little shopping center close by.  It was pretty good – they have a lot of desserts – and then they also have salads, sandwiches and more desserts!  We met 2 of the ladies from our Jackobsberg Ward and had them sit with us. It was fun to talk to them and get to know them better – they both speak English and we got to ask a lot of questions.  Then we all headed to Stake Conference and had a good meeting with one of the Area 70’s was the guest speaker.  When it was over, we took them home, so they didn’t have to walk to the train stations.  They were so happy!  When we first asked them if they’d like a ride home, they said “Oh no! That’s too much to ask!” We told them it wasn’t a problem, they continued to say no, but then the one little lady said, “But if you ask us one more time we won’t say no!” So, we asked them one more time and they thanked us and said “YES”!  

 Sunday – We went to the Sunday Meeting of Stake Conference and picked up Elder & Sister Borg on our way.  When we came out it was raining!  It’s been cloudy and cool all day!  Really feels fresh.

We are sure thinking about all of our grandchildren who are closing out their school year soon!  We have Rylee - graduating from High School!  JT is graduating from 8th grade!  Congratulations you've worked hard this year and we're very proud of you!   Have fun, and we're looking forward to all the fun things you will be doing during your Summer. 

Have a great week 

Love you, John & Linda - Gramma & Grampa - Elder & Sister Richardson

Missionary Week #34

Missionary Week # 34           Date: May 6, 2019 -May 12, 2019

Hello Everybody!  We had another great week here in Sweden!  Happy Mother’s Day to everyone in the States!  We are so thankful for all of our daughters and daughters-in-law we hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day and get spoiled by your family!  Next week is Mother’s Day in Sweden – so you can celebrate next week too! 

Monday -  We were up early and ready to go by 6:30 this morning.  So we headed to the train station and as we got to our main street John said “Oh no!  Look at that!”  So, I looked and the whole platform was jam packed with people – waiting for a train!  We could see the train coming in, it stopped, and it was there for a long time, and when it left, the platform was clear!  So all those people got on! We went on up to the platform and walked to where we usually get on and sat down.  Then over the loudspeaker came a message – in Swedish - and a girl was walking back past us and John asked her what they had said. She said, “There is a problem with the line and we all need to walk to Alvik and get busses there!” Alvik is the next stop east of us and the one we walked to the last time the trains weren’t running.  So we started walking.  We got to Alvik and found the bus stop – and we were trying to see which bus number we needed to be looking for, looking at the map and routes etc. and a bus pulls up – the driver opens the door and asks us where did we need to go – his bus was empty – we told him we needed to get downtown to the City archives – and he motions for us to get on and off we go!  He took us up the street where a bunch of people were waiting for busses and said – you can wait here for the bus that will take you downtown.  So, we thanked him and got out and waited.  After a few minutes a bus came on the opposite side of the street and everyone started running to cross the street and get on – well it filled up fast and off it went.  So, we waited some more and another bus came up and let people on, we were able to squeeze on and off we went.  He took us downtown to Fridhemsplan train station and we were able to ride the train for one stop to our stop “Rådhuset” and we got to work by 7:30!  We are now looking into other routes, so we have a backup plan for the next time this happens!  Like they say “When it works – it works really well” 

We had a good day of work and when we went home – the train was running.  YAY! This evening we had fun Marco Polo’s from Jon  - we got to see the 2 littles – Avonlea and Titus, and Jenn called she had her boys up at the airport watching a DC3 or C47 It was fueling up in St. Johns on it’s way to participate in a D-Day  75^th reenactment in France so they sent us the Marco Polo’s of it getting ready to leave and it’s take off!  So cool!  This was the same type of plane that the Candy Bomber flew when he dropped candy to the kids.  If you’d like to YouTube, “Candy Bomber” you can see the whole story!  The Candy Bomber actually flew into St. Johns several years ago and our airport manager got a picture with him that is hanging in the airport office. 

Tuesday – We had breakfast and got ready to go to Zone Conference in Gubbängen.  The Borgs’ picked us up, there was a ton of traffic here, but we finally got on our way and got to the conference.  It was a great day.  The Mission President talks to them and then several sets of companionship's take turns with topics they had picked to focus on for the training at this conference.  Our Sister’s from our ward did one set and they did great and had a lot of participation.  Then we have lunch which is so good.  Then in the afternoon we go into the chapel for more “spiritual” teachings.  There was a beautiful musical number by 2 Elder’s Clark & Bjorn, it was “A Child’s Prayer” and another Elder accompanied them on the piano.  We were home by 4!  It was a great day.

Wednesday – We were up and ready to go early again – and the trains were working so we were at work by 7.  We started work and got a Marco Polo from Jaylen who was on his night shift again and we got to catch up.  We went back to work and we finally printed off a Swedish word list off of FamilySearch.org so we could translate better!  Then tonight we had a Skype interview with a Missionary lady from Salt Lake who checks up with us on a quarterly basis to see how we are doing, what ideas we have for better training and if there are any issues that can be looked into.  The call lasted about 45 minutes.  Late tonight we got a Marco Polo from Jaylen and family they were so excited to show us the eggs that they had in the incubator were hatching!  Little chicks were falling out one after another!  So fun to hear the giggles.

Thursday -  Happy Birthday to Jody!  We finally caught up with her later tonight.  No train problems, worked all day left at 4pm. We got Marco Polo’s of Lily’s music & dance program from Jennifer.  Then we saw Alyvia’s music & dance program from Jon, Titus and Avonlea and later Jon caught Avery and Evanna practicing the piano and we got to hear and see them! 

Friday –  We were at work by 7 we didn’t get to sit by each other on the train this morning but train was working we were grateful for a seat! At 11:30 we had a visitor!  We met this young man in Salt Lake City at our training there at FamilySearch.  He is the one who takes our meta data and puts it into the Card Catalog.  He came to Sweden with his brother on vacation but wanted to stop in and see us and how we were set up.  It was a quick visit, but we were glad he came to see us and the Borgs.  We had Marco Polo’s from Jennifer and Jody and talked with Jaylen.

Swings at Grona Lund Amusement Park

Saturday – Today, the laundry got done, we had breakfast and got ready to head out sightseeing!  We went into Stockholm and caught the ferry boats – except they only ferry people – no room for cars – it’s cool because it’s all included in our passes for train/bus/boat!  So we got on in Stockholm and went all around to their different stops and then back.  It was a 2-hour trip and we saw a lot!  Of course, you don’t get a guided tour but we saw some beautiful sights.  We recommend it – there are sightseeing boats too – we may have to try one of those too.  It started to rain on the way back into Stockholm and we did get wet walking back to the train – but not bad.  We stopped for ASAP Wok again – and we thought we were ordering Pork, but we got Shrimp!  So now we know that Räkor means shrimp – duly noted.  It was still good.  It was raining harder as we walked home but we didn’t melt. 

Our Good Seats at the back but under cover!

The Vasa Museum

Inside Ferry

A crane painted like a Giraffe!

Apartments with Glass enclosed balconies
built on their own pier!

Sunday – We went to church and had a great meeting – we have translators that they hand out – and they’ve even gotten some new ones that work even better – it is so nice to have our Missionary Sister translate into English the prayers, sacrament prayers and talks.  It sure helps us rejuvenate for the next week!  One of the young mom’s from USA – but living here now for her husbands job – brought some yummy brownies to us for Mother’s Day!  It was so thoughtful. 

Statue/Waterfall at Nacka Strand 

Our Train Station at Stora Mossen taken from the ASAP Wok

We hope that you have a great new week and know that we think of you often and are always glad to hear from you! 

Love You, John & Linda, Mom & Dad, Gramma & Grampa

Remember to check out our blog  https://adventureswiththerichardsonsinsweden.blogspot.com/

Same email – but more pictures!

Missionary Week #33

Missionary Week # 33           Date: April 29, 2019 - May 5, 2019

Hello Everyone!  Another week has flown by – we had a Holiday in the middle of the week – so it feels as If we had 2 Mondays this week!  I noticed today, that I had the wrong dates on last week’s letter – it has been corrected now….I make numerous mistakes – Like when I said Beaver Ponds was near Heber!  I meant to say – near Greer!  It proves that my proof reading is not up to par!  We hope your week was wonderful!

Monday – We were up early again and headed to work – and had a normal day of work, lunch, work and leave at 4pm.  Today we headed to Kungsträdgården (you may remember where the ice rink was) to see the rows of Cherry Trees in blossom.  We should’ve gone a day or two earlier because the blossoms were falling already, but we found them and sat down on a bench and enjoyed them and all the people that were soaking up the sun!  

Cherry Trees - two rows 

We then headed to the Young Single Adult Center for Family Home Evening.  On our way we found a restaurant “Mandarin City” and had a quick dinner.  It was very good but we got turned around and headed the wrong way.  When we got to the Center they had already started and were in the middle of their lesson.  They were having a great discussion – we think- it was all in Swedish!  Then they were ready for games, we played a card game it was like “Hearts” but I couldn’t remember playing that – but anyway there was 10 hands played and they all had fun winning or not!  It’s amazing how they switch into English and back to Swedish so fast, even In the same sentence.  There were 6 kids there this week which was good to see.  And they survived with no treats – they found some hard candies that they passed around.  We all left together and we walked with Andreas and Promise to T-Central and went our different ways.  We got home at 9pm – it was still light!  Sun goes down about 8:30. 

Tuesday – We went to work and started on a new County – Uppsala.  The year is 1915 – so the boys are born around 1895.  There aren’t many medical cards, so we are going through these boxes a little faster because we don’t have to stop and straighten or mark them to be redacted.  We had lunch at 1 -it was pretty quiet.  Because tomorrow is a “Red Day” or like our Federal Holidays in the States, a lot of people went home early today.  We left at 4pm and headed home.  

Catapult - you throw a bean bag and it
shoots you a Chocolate Marshmallow
ball that you try to catch!

After dinner we headed out to find a Valborg Celebration – Pronounced Valbory - On valborgsmässo evening, they light fires and greet the spring with songs and celebration.  It has religious meaning from the past to cast out evil spirits  – but most Swede’s say it is just tradition now to get together and have bon fires in parks, and after dark it turns into a drinking party – when the kids leave.  These happen all over in the different neighborhoods.  John found one fairly close – a few train stops away from us – put on by “The Scouts” so we wanted to go see what it was like.  We walked through a neighborhood into the forest and ran into a little family who said to follow them, the wife knew where it was!  So we got to the park and it was like looking at a Scout-O-Rama at home!  We enjoyed walking around and seeing all the little stations and activities that they had.  They had a booth for cotton candy – a food area – popcorn (which in Swedish is “Popcorn”!) 

Fishing Pond

Horse Races - Family has to throw
a pine cone into pink bucket - if they
make it you can move up one square!  Horses were made from pillow cases.

Cotton Candy

I’ll probably over load the blog with pictures because it was so fun to watch.  The uniforms are a different blue and their patches are all worn on the uniform – instead of sashes.  They had an announcer that started the official start and the boys had all gathered in 2 columns with torches and they marched to the pile of wood/brush to light it.  They had their Scout Flag and the Sweden Flag in front.  There were a lot of people there.  We talked to one of the leaders and she said they followed Lord Baden Powell’s Boy Scouts.  She said there was about 400 members in this unit.  They allow boys to join from 8 years to 17years old. The bon fire roared and there was a choir set in place and they sang several songs.  

Flags at beginning of torch
procession

Scouts Torch procession

When we had seen it all we headed home and got a call from Jaylen – it was time go through our mail!  One letter was a release from our Temple Laundry calling.  So many of the letters are junk but there are a few things that are necessary!  Glad we don’t have to go through the junk mail!  Thanks Jaylen & Blaire!  The only junk mail we get is shopping flyers here!  We have been able to email with JT about his Viet Nam Social Studies project.  He writes his questions and John answers – with this prompting we are going to start to write out some of the stories that John has told us about  – but we’ll try to write it down before he forgets!  It’s a story that needs to be written.  I find in searching my ancestors – one in particular story was that the man who served in the Civil War – didn’t want to talk about it.  He was with Sherman on his “March to the Sea”  I can find paper trails and records but it would’ve meant so much more to  hear his story from his experience. 

Wednesday – Happy May Day!  We couldn’t find any May Pole’s but we hear they are around.  We were happy for a day off.  We made a shopping list but decided the stores would probably be closed – we’ll go tomorrow.  It rained on and off today and it smelled so clean and fresh.  We got a Marco Polo from Jonathan at his work at the Hair Place – their new automated machines are in and they are running! Looked fantastic.  He also works on the trains at SRP and TEP – there have not been any trains for the last month or so to SRP – so they fill in at TEP when they need. 

Thursday – Happy Birthday to Justin!  When John called him, he was stuck in Las Vegas – he had been to a meeting up there for his business and the flight home had been cancelled.  Today seemed like another Monday – but tomorrow is Friday!   We went to work with our umbrella up today!  It rained most of the day.  We made it home and watched until the traffic died down so we could go to the store.  When we went into the store it was raining – when we came out it was SNOWING!   

Friday – Up early and headed to the train – and John said “Was that a snowflake that just hit my face?”  It was!  At work we got our shuttles ready to ship.  At lunch we watched it snow in light little flurries, we worked until 4 and it was cold.   

Saturday – John got up and did all the laundry – even folding!  I made breakfast and swept up and did a little cleaning.  So after breakfast we decided to go visit Uppsala – where the boys are from, in the military cards we are capturing now.  We went to the Castle first – we found an art museum and a different type of museum – all in Swedish – it looked like a women’s suffrage movement.  We walked around the whole castle – tried every door and then went back to the museum to ask if they opened up the castle – the lady said No.  We don’t know if it isn’t open yet or if they never open it!

  

The Botanical garden across street from the castle

We headed over to a beautiful church there and went through it. It was beautiful!  The workmanship amazes me.  

From comments on the internet about this church they said
to look for the women in wax - gazing at the tomb - we found her!

Wood carving - Just amazing art work

So much prettier in life! 
The flowers are green that don't show up

Gustav III Museum

Then there was a museum right across the street from the church called the Gustav III Muesum – he was a King here – there were 3-4 levels of this museum. 

One level was about Viking – Boat graves and the things that were found in them.  

Floor map of a boat grave with drawing of what was
found where in or around the boat

Drawing of the boat grave

One was Egyptian – including a couple of mummies and sarcophagus’.  

Then there was an “Art Cabinet” which was displayed.  It had 4 sides, with many little drawers and openings – carved wood, shell amazing detail. The room was filled with the displays of all the things that was found inside the cabinet!  You can view it here:

http://www.gustavianum.uu.se/collections/art-collection/exhibitions/the-augsburg-art-cabinet/

 To see this website in English – you scroll to the bottom and pick English!  This is just one section of the website – check out the other collections here also!

 Between the Church and museum was a little park with a Rune Stone
 we have seen these in Skansen also - There was a sign explaining this one:

Rune stone with an inscription from the 11^th century AD

Holmfast had the stone erected in memory of Igulger, his father and Torbjörn.  The rune stone was found in 1910 in a corner of present-day Gamla Torget.  In the Middle Ages a Franciscan monastery was located in the area.  Many of the rune stones in the University Park were found in the same block

Sunday – We went to church and had a good Fast Sunday.  The ward seems to be getting bigger – or at least more people are coming out to church.  We had 7 people in the English Sunday School. All in all, it was a great day.  Good weather – had a chill to it but no rain or snow!

 We hope you are all feeling well and happy in your part of the world and wish you a Happy Cinco de Mayo!  We think of you all often and wish you the best!  May you have a great MAY!

Love John & Linda – Gramma & Grampa – Elder & Sister Richardson