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