Missionary Week 67 Correction! Not week 66

Missionary Week 67 – December 23, 2019 ~ December 29, 2019

At the palace 

We had a wonderful week!  We didn’t have to go in to work until Friday!  We’ve had fun shopping days and a day trip to Sigtuna and around.  We hope your Christmas Week was special and memorable.

Monday – We slept in! Made our shopping lists and headed out to Gamla Stan.  Today was the last day of the Christmas Market in the square.  These cute barn red shacks with all kinds of things are lined up in 4-5 rows and they include things like;  Food – sausages of all kinds – i.e. reindeer, moose etc., food to eat while you are there, then hand made items, ornaments, fresh wreaths and mistletoe, candles, hats, scarfs, gloves and slippers, iron works, jewelry, soaps, textiles,  etc.   It is fun to walk around and see what they have.   Then we went through the souvenir shops. 

Then we came home and had a video call with Blaire and Jaylen, then a Marco Polo of Jenn on a roof taking lunch to Matt who was working on a new roof.  Later tonight we ran to the grocery store to get things for the salad we need to take to our Christmas Eve lunch with the Ashby’s.  What a fun day.

Tuesday – Woke up and got started on the Broccoli salad and made 2 batches of cookies and headed to Lidingö to the Ashby’s for lunch.  We had a great time and we were home by 3pm.  Looking forward to talking with the kids tomorrow.

Wednesday – Merry Christmas Everyone!  It was a nice relaxing day.  We had breakfast and opened some packages that Janell had brought over from the other kids and her & Joshua.  I did some more Family History research and then we watched Christmas movies all day.  We were able to catch Jenn & Matt and children, Jon & Rachel and family, Jaylen & Blaire and family, Janell & Joshua. Marco Polo’s from Justin and Jody’s families.  I was able to talk to my brother Barry after a few glitches with the phone!  We got another call from Jennifer’s youngest, Porter – who is 2 ½ yrs. old, when he saw it was us he grabbed his mom’s phone and said “Come See” and took us on a run through the house to show us his brothers fire trucks that Gunner got for Christmas! He’s so funny.  

So good to see all the kids in their new Christmas Pajamas and busy squealing!  We hope you had a wonderful time with your family too! We are so grateful for our Savior’s life and example for us to follow. 

Thursday – We had breakfast and at 10am when the stores open, we hit the 50% sales!  Not a lot of stores were open, but we found a few!

Then we drove up to Sigtuna, it’s about an hour away.  We’ve been there before with Janell, we didn’t get to see the St. Maria Church when we were there, today we stopped and walked around and in it.  It really is old!  There is the church that is standing and cemetery and then ruins of another part of the church. 

 Here is a little history from Wikipedia:

 St. Mary's Church, Sigtuna

 The church was built by the Dominican order as their convent church, and construction began in the 1230s. The church was inaugurated in 1247, but was probably not finished until 1255, when Jarler, Archbishop of Uppsala, was entombed in the church.^[1] [2]

The Dominicans had tried to establish a presence in the city earlier, but had not succeeded.^[3] The church was built as part of a larger monastic complex. Of this convent nothing remains today; it was closed during the Reformation and the bricks used as building materials, e.g. at Svartsjö Palace and Venngarn Castle. The church is the only medieval church in Sigtuna to have survived the Reformation; the city has an additional three medieval      church ruins.^[1]

Close up of the arch by the door

Metal Nativity

 During the 1280s, the church was expanded and partly remade. No major alterations were then made of the church until a renovation in 1904-05. The church was again renovated and upgrade between 1966-1971 under the direction of architects Bengt Romares (1902–1968) and Jerk Alton.^[1][4]

Roserberg Palace

Then we walked around Sigtuna, this time it was cold but not raining!  It is a quiet little town and very beautiful.  The stores were all closed until after the first of the year – so we will have to go back to take of some shopping that we needed there.

Creche close up

Then as we traveled back towards home, we took a different route and we like taking the back roads and seeing the house’s and fields.  We stopped by Roserberg Slott – a palace not inhabited but during summer months they have guided tours.  We found a place to eat (most were closed) in Kungsangen and we watched it start to snow!  It was a light dusting and really pretty. 

The Palace Stables Plaque

  Palace Stables 

We came home and got ready to go to the Club House – at the Mission Office for Family Home Evening with the Senior Couples.  It was a great evening.  The Quist’s were in charge and he read a cute story about a “Super Grampa” it’s a true story of an old man who wanted to ride his bike in a 1,000-mile Tour of Sweden bike race.  We will be looking for that book to take home with us!   Here is a link if you’d like to know more about the story!

                                                                              https://roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com/steelgrandpa/

The message was don't go home from your mission and sit in your rocking chair - be active!  

Friday – We had to get up and go to work today!  It was really hard for me; I didn’t even hear the alarm!  Work went well, we had lunch and could see light clouds and a bit of sun was shining.  We left at 3pm to get home to do our laundry from 4-7.  You have no idea how laundry schedule’s run your life when you can only do laundry once a week! 

 

Hard Rock Cafe - Stockholm

Saturday – We had breakfast and rode the train into Stockholm to look for maps, books and Hard Rock Café!  We did all that was on the list – however, I was disappointed to not find an older map of Sweden from the 1880’s of Southern Sweden – they had some neat posters but I need one that shows me where these old towns were  that aren’t there anymore.  I will have to look elsewhere.  We got to eat at the Hard Rock Café and it was not busy and they had great food and friendly staff. 

Tonight, we were getting Marco Polo’s from the kids having our Family Christmas get together.  They went sledding down by Sunrise and back to Jon and Rachel’s for Games and Gift exchanges.  Looked like fun.  So great to see everyone and we will be back home for next Christmas! 

Sunday – We went to Church today – The Quist’s spoke in church, with an interpreter to translate into Swedish.  They did a fantastic job.  Church was only one hour today – but back to regular schedule next week.  We are so happy to be in our Jakobsberg Ward here. 

We wish our dear friends Artie & DeAnn Baker a Wonderful Welcome Home! They are returning from their Mission in San Francisco/Oakland.   They are speaking in their Ward in Eagar, AZ today.  Wish we could be there!  We know if the roads are clear some of our kids will be!

We will be off work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week and work on Thursday and Friday.  We hope you all will have a Safe and Happy New Year.  Hug your family and have a great week.  We are looking forward to the New Year, as we finish out our Mission here in Sweden and head home. 

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

Missionary Week 66

Missionary Week 66 – December 16, 2019 – December 22, 2019

We had another fast week!  They just seem to fly by.  We had a good week at work and are ready for our Christmas break next week.

Monday – We were up early and decided to go to work when we were ready, so we got there about 20 minutes till 7:00 am.  We are generally getting 1 box done, but today we got new boxes and they are almost all cards – so it will go faster again.

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY to BLAIRE.  We were able to catch her and sing Happy Birthday to her.  She got a new refrigerator for her birthday!   Thanks to our old refrigerator refusing to work anymore! 

We got a Marco Polo from Jonathan at the Christmas Music Concert for Evanna.  Jennifer sent Marco Polo’s from Salt Lake City, where she was at her Mission Reunion.  Rachel sent us a Marco Polo from Avonlea- because her birthday is coming up this week and she wanted to tell us she gets to go to the Elementary School next year because she will be turning 5!

 

Tuesday – We got 2 boxes done today.  Marco Polo’s from Jaylen and Matt, from Bridger and Edwin’s Christmas Music Programs.  They sing such cute songs, traditional and then some fun ones that they have such cute actions to go with the song.  So fun to see them.

Wednesday – We went to work with the umbrella out!  It is getting a little cooler and there is a slight breeze that makes it feel even colder.

 

Thursday – HAPPY BIRTHDAY to AVONLEA!  We sent a video call message to her.  It’s hard with our time difference to catch the kids when we are awake and when they are awake! 

Jennifer sent us a Marco Polo from Lily’s Music program and it was wonderful too! 

Friday – We went to work; it was foggy all day – we saw it when we went to work and at lunch and when we came home.  We sent our shuttles out, next week we only work one day so we won’t be sending them out next week.  We left for home at 2pm.  We had laundry tonight.  We also got to chat with Jody tonight.  It was great to get caught up! 

We got an email from the Travel Office and we have our itinerary for going home already!  We will be flying to London and then a straight shot to Phoenix on March 17^th!  3 Months Left!  Hard to believe.

 

Christmas Tree & Fog at Skansen

One entrance to Skansen

Saturday – We were awakened by some machine at 4:20 in the morning.  We thought it was outside, but it turns out it was in the basement of our building.  Not nice on a Saturday!  We had breakfast and then headed back to Skansen.  Their Christmas market is ending this weekend and we wanted to pick up a few more things.  We also had a Saffron bun on the way out of the park. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TATUM!  She turns 17 this year.  

We had a nice day and got a Marco Polo of JT wrestling in Marana!  We were worn out watching him, but he ended up pinning the two matches we saw.   We also got to see Lily's piano recital, it sounded beautiful.  

Sunday – We went to church today; it was only one hour.  We had 3 different speakers and 2 musical numbers.  Then everyone stayed for awhile and chatted and wished everyone Merry Christmas. 

We are all decorated for Christmas and we are going to enjoy some time off from “work”. 

We hope that everyone has a wonderful week of your favorite Christmas traditions.  We will miss our traditions of going to look at lights around town on Christmas Eve, and listening to John’s Father tell us the Christmas Story as told by Luke. We hope we will get some Marco Polo’s from all the kids telling us about their Christmas.

We are so grateful for our Family and Friends. We love hearing the music programs and seeing our children and grandchildren having fun. So, from our House to Yours, we Wish you a Very Merry Christmas.  Stay Safe and Warm.

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

Missionary Week 65

 Missionary Week 65 – December 9, 2019 – December 15, 2019

This has been a pretty busy week!  This will be a quick update.

We have had rain almost every day.  Work has been going fine, we are still in boxes that take a day to do one box.  It’s all good.  

We were able to go together with our Senior Couples to see the St. Lucia program on Friday – December 13.  That’s St. Lucia Day.  It was a different choir than last year – still spectacular and in the church with fantastic acoustics.

Our family in Arizona was able to attend the funeral of Rod Seagle in Mesa.  They sent us Marco Polo’s of some of the graveside services.  We also got some beautiful pictures of the Baker’s and Richardson’s at the church – Our group took up the whole side of the chapel!  What beautiful faces!  We were so sad to not be able to be there.  We also got to video call with Jody at the luncheon afterwards.  We got to see and talk to several of our kids and Baker kids and Artie & DeAnn and Sandy.   It sounded like a beautiful ceremony for our dear friend Rod. 

We were able to talk to our granddaughter Lily on her birthday on the 13^th of December.  She got her ears pierced and she picked 2 of her cousins, Lucy and Alyvia to go with her and 1 friend from school.  They went for ice cream after the ear piercing.  So good to see them all.

We were able to go to our Ward Christmas party on Saturday afternoon.  We had a good turnout and Santa even stopped by and read the children a story and they got a little present from Santa. 

We hope you are having a great Christmas Season, making memories with your family. 

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

Missionary Week 64

Missionary Week 64 –December 2, 2019 –December 8, 2019

This has been a pretty wild week.  We’ve had some pretty high HIGHS and some pretty Low LOWS!  We are fine, we love our Mission but there are times when we wish we could be at Home with our Loved Ones!  Hug your family Today!

Monday – Cold between 21*to 23* this morning heading to work – no rain or snow.  We are both getting about 1 box a day completed at work.  We got to talk to Nelly on a video call this morning. She was trying to help a friend get her car started. 

Mission Pres & Wife playing a piano
duet of Christmas Music. They are
fantastic!

Tuesday – DEC 3^rd: HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our Daughter-in-law LARISSA!  We hope you had a wonderful birthday!

We got to sleep in a few more minutes today, had breakfast and headed to Zone Conference in Handen today.  It was a great day, we found out that 2 of our Elders were mugged at knife point recently.  Scary situation – but they complied with all the muggers (3) requests and were not injured.  The bad guys wanted all of their credit cards and one of them took them and got money out, they asked for their phones and when they saw they were Samsung phones – they said they didn’t want them!  The boys got to a grocery store and called the Mission President and he and his wife went and got the boys and took them to the police.  There hasn’t been a mugging for over 100 years in our Mission. 

It was our Christmas party at Zone Conference so after lunch we got to watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” and ate popcorn!  When we were all cleaning up, we found Elder Fuller for the first time here in Sweden.  We were in the MTC together and he and Elder Olson got here several weeks after us. He has been North and South, this is the first time he's been in the Stockholm area.   Then an Elder came running over and said, “I heard you guys were from St. Johns!”  “My brother lives there!”  He was Elder Nosker – and yes, we know his brother – they are even in our ward!  Small world!!!  We got a picture with him and sent it to our daughter Jennifer to get to Leroy & Kate Nosker-Tanner! 

We got Marco Polo’s from Jennifer & Porter, Jonathan & Titus – JT was wrestling his first High School matches in Winslow.  He had 3 matches and won all 3 – 2 with pins. Great Job JT!

Wednesday – Back to work today.  We found out that some of the cards we are doing don’t have to be redacted or (marked private) so we have been re-checking our last box to be in compliance. 

Tonight, I did some Family History – still working to find out which Johanna Nilsson is OURS!

I looked on the Stadsarkivet website – (where we work) they have a data base of anyone that lived in the Stockholm area – where they were living, who was living with them in their household, birthdate and where they were born.  I started looking into every page of Johanna Maria Nilsson – and found that her address was at Östermalmsgatan 15 & 19 – I’ve seen both of those addresses on “Nana” Elvira Ashburn’s records!  So, I still want to show it to my Family History Consultant Sister Westerlund – but I’m pretty sure we’ve nailed it.  Johanna Maria was 30 years old at that time and lived at the right address, as Elvira’s birth record states. 

She has 9 brothers and sisters.  It appears she did marry a Viktor Emanuel Edberg and had at least 4 children with him.  Edit Maria Victoria in 1892, Adolf Fredrik Emanuel in 1894, Viktor Ejnar in 1898 and Agnes Linnea in 1900.  That research will have to continue!  Pretty Exciting! 

Thursday – We were up early, normal day at work, we left at 4 but I did stop at the desk and asked an attendant to verify what I was seeing on the website – and she said yes the addresses were where they were living within that parish – which was Hedvig Eleanora. 

Tonight at 8:13pm John and I were both on computers – I was looking at Johanna’s records and the power went out!  First time since we’ve been here that we’ve had that happen.  The streetlights were out too, and I don’t think the Swede’s know how to do a 4-way stop!  We took several pictures – of near misses but we heard no crashes!  We went to bed and saw the light come back on about 2 ½ hrs later.  The building across the street was not affected. 

Had Marco’s from Matt & his Dad Martin, they are visiting from Iowa. 

Friday – We were so happy we got Marco Polo’s from Jenn who was at the Ward Christmas Party – we saw her kids and Jaylen’s family at the party, talking to Santa and in the Nativity Play.  Lily played Mary this year.

It was raining going to work, we left at 3 to get home to do Laundry at 4pm. 

Saturday – We fixed breakfast, cleaned a little, went grocery shopping and went to a Secondhand store.  Wish I had found them earlier! 

Then we headed out to Stenhamra for a wrestling match that Brother Mitchell from our Ward coaches.  It was very interesting.  All sports are Club Sports here – nothing from Schools.  The girls wrestle Free-Style and boys Greco Roman.  Brother Mitchell’s team has won the last 2 years and if they win today, they get to keep the Big Trophy.  We noticed a lot of teams from Sweden and one team from Finland and one from Estonia!  (The saddest match I saw- was a boy who was already crying when he got into the middle to meet his opponent, his head was down – no confidence at all.  He lost – I wish someone could have told him – that there is a chance – but you have to try!)

We got more Marco’s from Jon at Avery’s volleyball games in Snowflake.  So fun to watch.

Sunday – We went to church; it was raining when we left.  Good day at church. We learned that Brother Mitchell's Team did Win and were able to take the Big Trophy Home.

We have some sad news from our Friends in the Valley Rod & Sandy Seagle.  Rod has been diagnosed with ALS or “Lou Gehrig” disease.  He has been bed ridden for a little while and is now in his last days.  We would ask for prayers of Peace and Comfort for them at this time.  We Love You Seagles!

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

Missionary Week 63 - Happy Thanksgiving!

Missionary Week 63 – November 25, 2019 – December 1, 2019

It has been a great week – again!  As we close out November and bring in December the weather is changing a bit more. Sweden is a beautiful country – Summer and Winter!

Tree outside our kitchen - White

Monday – There was no rain this morning – and roads are dry.  I couldn’t work today because the camera is broke, so I was able to do more genealogy – I worked on Carl Johan Karlsson’s brothers and sisters.  I was able to find birth records and followed each one of them – still have more to do, but I found that his youngest sister, Hilda Augusta, who was a favorite Aunt to my Grandmother – lived in Örebro. (Where we were last week)  I have not found a record where Augusta Elisabeth – Carl’s Mother was living with them – but I haven’t found all the records yet.  Pretty suspicious though. 

At lunch we had fun chatting with the Quist’s and the Salls.  After work we went shopping for groceries and a couple other stores looking at Christmas decorations. 

My new camera

Tuesday – It was a little misty this morning.  I couldn’t work until after David, our supervisor got here with my new camera.  John went to get a pizza for us for lunch and we met everyone up in the lunchroom.  We left at 4pm and went to the Mission Office for our Family Home Evening with the other Senior Couples at 7pm.  The Nielsen’s gave the lesson on Christmas traditions in Sweden. It was so interesting.  For treats we had hot cocoa and a Swedish bread that Sister Nielsen made. 

Wednesday – Went to work with the umbrella!  Had a good day at work.  Sister Sall’s light hasn’t worked well at all and the new one came in today, so we were both able to work today!  Our other Supervisor, Sven, came in this morning and took us all to lunch at Jensens’ Beef House – they have great food.

We talked with Jody and the kids today – they were at the Love Kitchen doing service!  It was so great to see them. Had a call from Jaylen and got to catch up with him.  It’s crazy to think that tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  

Thursday – HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  We used the umbrella again going to work!  I finally finished the military box I started last week!  We left at 4pm today and came home and started cooking our Turkey breast!  We had mashed potatoes and carrots, celery and onion.  OH, and the cranberry sauce from the American Store. 

What's Thanksgiving without Football
OK it's only highlights of an old game -
but it's Football!

Carving of the Turkey!

We were able to talk to Janell, she called to wish us a Happy Thanksgiving.  They were going to take the missionaries to lunch today at the Korean BBQ.  Jennifer sent a Marco Polo from Jon’s house with all the kids meeting together for Thanksgiving.  We heard from Jody and her family.  It’s been raining all night, and we can even hear it hitting the windows! 

Our parking lot at the apartment

Friday – This morning the rain has turned into Snow!  It’s a little colder.  We were able to get the shuttles off and went to lunch early because we were leaving at 2pm.  Laundry at 4.  Turkey sandwiches tonight – the best. 

 

Storra Mossen station at 6:30am

Saturday – We worked on the computer in the morning and watched the temperature climb ever so slowly!  Then we took the train to Kungstragarden and walked to the Royal Stables where they were having a Christmas Market.  Some booths were outside and there was more set up in the arena and other rooms around the stables.  It was fun to see all the crafts, food and Christmas decorations. They also had the Blacksmith shop open!  It was nice and warm in there!   Then we went to the movies and saw “Le Mans – 66”.  It was fantastic. 

Tools of the trade

Inside the Blacksmith Shop

Sunday – Today we went to church and Sunday School – This was the first week that John led the Sunday School Class. It was a great lesson – and it’s so nice when people participate in class – so many neat stories, quotes and experiences that are shared.  We are refreshed and ready for another week!

We hope that you have a great week!  Stay Happy and Safe!  Enjoy this December and remember the reason for the Season!

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

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