Adventures of The Richardson's in Sweden!: Missionary Week #37

Missionary Week #37 Date: May 27,2019 - June 2, 2019

Happy June! Isn’t that hard to believe? We had a wonderful week, long weekend with our Senior Couples Retreat up to Dalarna. Sweden is a beautiful Green Country. Us desert rats love to see green! We still miss our beautiful desert, even though it is brown, it has a beauty all of it’s own!

Monday – We had a good day at work, at lunch we watched a helicopter hovering over the downtown area right by us – wondering what they were looking for. We worked until 4pm and headed toward the YSA Center for Home Evening or “hemafton” in Swedish. We were early so we took our time and found a little courtyard area with a lot of flowering bushes and trees and a little pond, and enjoyed the quiet there for a bit. Then we went and sat at the cute park by the Center. We were able to do a video call to Jody and we got a bonus and saw Justin and Deb & Greg at Greta’s. The Institute Teacher was at the Center tonight and put on a broadcast for the YSA Worldwide Devotional that was from Salt Lake by Elder & Sister Carl B. Cook on Marriage. Then we chatted afterward with the kids. This was our last Monday until September when school starts up again. There was a new girl there tonight that had served here Sweden and went home in 2017. She is now back and is going to Nanny for a family who will be moving in from the States. It was fun to talk to her – she was seeing a few of the kids that she was able to teach and she was so glad they were still coming to the Center. It was a smaller crowd than usual, 2 girls and 2 boys, but it was a good night. Then we went to dinner and tried out a food court that we saw last week right by the train station. As we waited for our food John noticed a table of policemen (Polis) eating. He went over and asked them if they would like to trade patches and they said they would, but they didn’t have any. Then one of them came over and he had found one and gave it to us. Jaylen – our son in St. Johns that is a policeman will send us some St Johns Police patches – he’s also getting some fire patches and we’ll do some trading with them also. It was nice of them to give it to us but we didn’t have our patch to hand over right away. John finally got him to give an address to his precinct so we can leave the SJ Patch at the precinct for him to pick up.

Tuesday – We had a normal day at work – I said good morning to one of the runners this morning and he replied, then when he came back through he said “How long have you been here? And Why are you here?” So, we talked and told him we were on a mission for our church and that was the reason we were here to capture the records to preserve them. It was a good conversation. After work we were able to run to the grocery store and stocked up for the next couple of weeks.

Wednesday – Happy Birthday to my dear husband John! It was also our Anniversary! We celebrated and got John a haircut! Then we stopped at a McDonalds and sat at “our” table and enjoyed their Spicy Chicken Avocado Sandwich! At work we were able to ship our shuttles today because we will be gone for the rest of the week. All the kids called or left Marco Polos’ for their Dad for his birthday/anniversary! We sure miss all of our family but are so thankful for the technology that was invented so we could stay close and not just send pictures but be able to do video’s and talk and see them. Thanks to our friends who also left messages for us it means a lot!

The yellow flowers are Raps - they make Canola Oil out of these.
There was just waves of these beautiful fields along the way to Falun

Thursday - We got up about 6:30 and had breakfast and headed out on our Senior Couples Spring retreat. We headed to Falun, where we met the other couples to tour the Copper Mine there and the museum. It was amazing. We had lunch in a little cafe’, it was very good and of course we split a dessert. The tour of the mine was so interesting – Here is a little history from their website http://www.falugruva.se if you use Google Chrome it should translate the page if you are interested.

“We do not know When The history of Falun Mine begins. Ore was probably broken here Already at the Viking Age. The oldest written document about the mine dates back to 1288. The document is an exchange letter confirming That Bishop Peter Elofsson in Västerås was given the right to redeem an eighth in Copper Mountain, at that time called Monastic Sjöberg. As well as King Magnus III as the Archbishop of Uppsala and another three bishops have signed the letter.

Privilege
Latvians 1347 King Magnus Eriksson's letter of privilege to the mountainmen in 1347 is a confirmation of Previously issued privileges and contains detailed information on how the work would be carried out at Copper Mountain. The document was completed in 1360 with a mining ordinance and Became the standard for the order at the mountain right up to the beginning of the 17th century.

JR looking at one of the displays in the museum

Down in the mine - this was a bucket that was hoisted up and
down with the rocks that were chipped out of the mine.
Notice the huge wood wall behind you will see this a little later

Our tour began at 1:30, our guide gave us some do’s and don’ts and we had to put on a poncho and a hard hat. And we began – we walked down stairs and into the mountain and she explained how they worked down in the mine with torches, and how they mined through the ages, and then how they progressed. I was able to take pictures as we went. The tour lasted about an hour and at our last stop she turned off all of the lights around us. Even when our eyes were adjusted it was dark. You could hear water running – it was wet and dripped on us. They worn you to wear sturdy shoes and prepare to get muddy! We did get to take an elevator back up but only 6-10 people at a time could go – we were in the last group. The guide went with each of the groups and she answered questions all the way up to the top! It was pretty amazing. We had gone through the museum when we first got there and it had a lot of interaction displays that was fun to do. After we were done looking around all of the out buildings.

This is from the out building looking through the floor grate - you can see the bucket hanging from the rope, the wooden wall is at bottom of picture

The out buildings included the water wheel on the left and it helped
the pumps in the shaft building on the right -
where the bucket was lifted up

we headed to the hotel in Borlänge. It was a Best Western and it was very nice, had a great breakfast buffet and the best of all: the bathroom floor was heated! By the way it was rainy all day and so we were wet and cold! We did take coats and used them but forgot our umbrella – The Clouse’s lent us their extra umbrella! Fun Trip so far. Then we met all the couples – and our Mission President and wife for dinner at Blackstone Restaurant. The food was delish – you got to cook your own dish! They brought out a wooden tray with a Lava Stone that they heat and bring out your dinner and you cook it to your liking! That was yummy. Then we all walked back to the hotel.

The Living Quarters side of the park at the Medieval Festival

Friday – We met the Clouse’s and Nelson’s for breakfast. It is a buffet and it was included in the price of your room. We had scrambled eggs, little hot dogs with mini-meatballs, bacon pieces, potato pancakes with jelly and breads. Then we all headed out on our own – a few went together in the Clouse’s van.

I think she was getting ready to weave!

One of the vendors

We started by stopping in Leksand and found a Medieval camp festival. The people were all in costume and had pitched their tents and stayed in them over night – with wooden beds in them! They had their living area and then the shops were altogether, and they sold their wares. Shampoo/soaps, furs, leather, food, musical instruments, hats and gloves, fabrics, candy, clothing, and leather book covers, and they had brought in wooden houses, store houses that were fun to see their construction and what they were used for. Took a lot of pictures! Even the children were dressed in period costume and running around with their toys or playing tag. Very cool to run into that.

Hats

Musical Instruments

Fur items - coats, wraps, purses

Cool Old Buildings -they are built up to keep the mice out.

Mat's Pancake house!

Mats Pancakes Buffe' - Sausages on the grill too!

Crackers and sausages + more

Musical Instruments! Pretty Cool! Wish we could have heard
somebody play them all!

Little house across the ravine close by the lake

Vidableck Tower - the gift shop is in front - the beautiful view is
Behind these buildings.

Then we headed to Rattvik and stopped at Vidableck first and Clouse’s, Bailey’s and Pres & Sis Youngberg drove in right behind us. This is just a spot up on a mountain that has a big tower (it was closed and not open for summer yet) but you could go to the viewing area and look out over Lake Siljan. It was an amazing view……more pictures! Unfortunately the gift shop was closed and the women were all anxious to shop there – Sister Youngberg said they had hand made IN SWEDEN items and at a decent cost…..alas we did not get to spend our money there.

View of Lake Siljan from Vidableck

One Brothers Factory - Grannas and the other Brothers Factory
is across the street! Family Business

Then we went on to Nusnäs where the Dala Horse’s factory is. The story goes that the horse was made as a child’s toy – but also it was a sacred animal for the Vikings. Lots of stories but the Dala horse (named from the county Dalarna) is a well known icon in Sweden – they also make pigs and chickens.

You can just walk into their buildings where they start out as wood blocks, undercoat paint and then the fine detail painting. It is an amazing process and it was fun watching each artist at work.

A little about the beginnings of the Dala Horse and each step
of the process at bottom

This is the band saw - he's cutting the horse shape - box by box!

He coats the horses with his gloved hands then dips in the bucket
at end of the drip tray - stands them up and lets them drip for awhile.

Pre-paint - base coat and a little white on top

Sanding Room - they are wearing masks - lots of wood dust flying!
There are 3 ladies in here.

These aren't the Famous Randy Lee Knives but they
are carving knives and sheaths made here.

Delightful Artist - she has a special swirl design and I asked permission
to take her picture and she said - "I'm used to it!"
She talked to us as she was working

The Finished Product the Dala Horse!

We left Nusnäs and stopped for lunch at another MAX! Then headed on to find the Viking Burial Grounds on an island. We had a map with approximate location but had to stop and ask a couple of guys and in broken English and sign language they were able to tell us to go just a bit further and turn left. We found them – they are in fields – and rocks are just piled up. There were signs (in Swedish) so we’ll have to translate from my pictures! They did have a map and they were numbered – at least 14 -15 of them are marked.

These pictures are from the Viking Burial Grounds - Rocks piled

It was a fun day, and we accomplished a lot. Came back to the hotel and watched part of women’s soccer game, a “Handball” game – looks a little like basketball – but they throw a ball that is smaller than a soccer ball around to each other and throw it into a small net goal – kind of like soccer. Never seen it before! We walked to dinner at a Chinese Buffet. The weather was beautiful all day.

Saturday – We went to breakfast and checked out of the hotel and headed for Ornässtugen. It was another cloudy day today and started raining before we got to our destination. It was built around 1503 – all wood and two stories with 2 room below – they used one as a chapel. We got there right after 10 when they were supposed to open – we saw a couple of ladies by the café. We walked around the building and down to the lake and back up to the house and noticed the sign said to get tickets at the Café’! So we went and they told us the English tour would be at 1pm but we could have headsets and go on a tour by ourselves. Then they went and asked a lady and she came out and said “well, as you see we aren’t too busy – so I will take you on a guided tour! Sweet! We walked over and she brought 2 ladies with her it was their first day on the job – it was their first day to open for the summer! So they were in training and she said they could help her. It is now a museum – has been a museum since the 18^th century! The claim to fame – other than its age – was that the King to be Gustaf Vasa took refuge in this summer home of a well to do person. I won’t go into all of the story, but it was a wonderful history lesson and tour. There was a “Bishop’s Chair” in the dining area that was even older than the building!

Bishops chair

Back of the Summer Cottage in Ornästugen

Front of the Summer Cottage

Looking at the Summer Cottage - through the tree - the house
on the right is private house

A very cool map of the routes that Gustav Wasa traveled - so the
guide would show us where he went as she told the story.

Cross bows and other weapons - rifle, swords

The Bed - that Gustaf Wasa may have slept in. It
looks really short huh? They slept sitting up in
a reclining position because in the early ages
they thought that all the water and blood you have
in your body - would make you drown
if you laid down!

Our Guide Katarina - showing us how to open the door
There was a lot of superstitions - you had to leave your weapons
outside and to prove you didn't carry a weapon you had to put your
fingers in the holes to push the door open - to the right you see the
"flying cross" - for good luck you would swipe your finger in the design

Dining Room - Quite the Story - you would eat all day!

The Ornäs Birch - they realized there
was not a true Ornäs birch left on the property
so they planted one last year!

As we were walking back one of the ladies asked John if he was a Mormon? He said yes and she just shook her head yes as if she knew…. Then later we were alone with her, she took us back to the building to see the basement rooms – and we asked her if she was a member and she said yes, she had been baptized in Goteberg – in 2012 with her husband. She said she loved hymns and would listen and practice to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Then when she went to a church in the town they moved to, a man told her, he knew she loved hymns and asked if she would like to talk to the Elders and she agreed. She is from Western Nigeria and she is in school and is now getting her Master’s in Tourism. Very interesting and sweet lady. Then we had to get one of the desserts in the café! Picture to follow! We decided to head back home so we could get some laundry done! What a fun trip and we learned so much!

YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMm

Cute little___??? Google translate gives me seal or leach - I thought
they were mice!

In the "basement" the chapel area - today you can reserve this
for a meeting or party

This is Ope and John

Sunday – Happy Birthday to Edwin! We went to church and had a good church service and Sunday school. We are recuperating from our trip and getting ready for work tomorrow! But we hear there is another holiday this week – we think we will be off work Thursday and probably Friday – we shall see!