Missionary Week 75

Missionary Week 75            February 17, 2020 ~ February 23, 2020

We’ve had a great week at work.  We are now on a trip to Gotland, which is an Island to the East of Mainland Sweden.  We took Friday off and traveled by Ferry to Visby – the major city on the Island.  We are traveling with Elder & Sister Salls. 

Monday – This day went fast, we had lunch with both couples.  Home at 4pm.

Tuesday – We’ve decided to go on a little get-away this weekend to go see Gotland Island, with the Salls.  They have been there before on a cruise of the Baltic. 

Wednesday – Going in to work, it’s getting lighter – and the sun hasn’t set at 4pm.  We see more than we have for a long time.  Today we got 3 boxes done – each!  You never know what the next box will be like.  My smallest box was 838 images.  We sure miss our family.

Thursday – Feb 20, 2020 – Colder this morning, no clouds.  Talked with Jaylen – we got to see more new things done on his house.  Saw Jennifer picking up the twins from pre-school and all their crafts from school.  We got our shuttles ready to ship and we left early today – because we had to run home and do laundry.  We leave for Visby tomorrow.

Friday – We packed, had breakfast and left before 9am to go pick up the Salls.  We drove to Nynashamn port to catch the Ferry.  We got there pretty early, and watched the Ferry come in, dock and unload Semi’s, cars and passengers.  Then we got to get on.  We left our car in the bottom bay and headed up to the 7^th floor to our assigned seats. 

We went to lunch and sat and talked for a while.  Headed back to our seats so we could watch as we came into Visby.  Really cool to see, it was a little windy, but we drove off and our hotel was really close to the port. 





It’s a cute hotel. We got unpacked and then went to walk around the city today.  Had a wonderful meal at the Bad Wolf -BBQ – Texmex restaurant.  It was so good, and the owners made it fun, they come out and talk to you and were very gracious.  We ate so much – we were miserable – happy but miserable.

Beads found in grave

Ruin Stone

Saturday – We had breakfast at 7:30am.  Then we walked around Visby – the Souvenir shops were closed, but we ended up at the Gotland Museum – which was fantastic. 

Then we went to a Crepe Shop for Lunch – Yummy – chicken and bacon and then a dessert crepe – chocolate, almonds and Ice Cream.  We shared today! 












From the Crepe Shop we walked around the wall of the City.  They claim to be the oldest walled City that is left in Sweden.  It’s an amazing wall.  It was windy and really cold, but we walked a long time. 

Inside

Outside the wall

For dinner we went back to the Bad Wolf and shared a Fried Chicken dinner, fantastic again. The Salls didn’t go with us, their daughter was having her first baby in Tucson tonight – so they wanted to stay and talk with their family.  It was a great day.

Sunday – Went to breakfast and came back to the room until time to leave for church.  Church was 5 minutes away in a building with other offices in it.  The church has the top floor, so we found them, and everyone was welcoming us there.  There was a total of 20 people there!  It’s a small branch, with 2 young missionaries and we were surprised when we saw them – It was Elder Thompson and Elder Ward that we sent pictures of last week from Zone Conference!  That branch loves Elder Thompson.  After church we came home and changed clothes and went for a drive around to the other side of the island. 

We saw awesome churches, I found a group of graves that stood out, they were dark crosses and there was a sign in three different languages and a memorial plaque on a huge rock next to them.  It read that the locals built a war hospital in Lärbro and received hundreds of former concentration camp prisoners from Europe.  They were cared for by the Red Cross between July 1945 and 29 May 1946 and those who died here during that time were laid to their final rest right here.  Their tombs are marked with crosses, which depicts their names, age and nationality.  Also, within the hedge there are 9 Jews buried.  This makes Lärbro cemetery unique in the way that people of different religions are buried together. 

We have seen a lot of Swans!

These sea stacks are not at the waters edge.

We went on to find a fishing village, Sea stacks – which are claimed to have been made by erosion by the sea, a Windmill and we ended up back in Visby at dark.  What a cool day.  I will not be able to send pictures tonight. I will add them when I get back to Bromma and I can download them and send them out and put on the Blog.  We will be here until Tuesday when we catch the Ferry back home.  So until next week – we hope you have a wonderful week and enjoy your family!

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

Missionary Week 74

Missionary Week 74     February 10, 2020 ~ February 16, 2020

We have had another great week here in Sweden. “Work” is great, we had a wonderful Zone Conference and we are trying not to get “Trunky” = Looking forward to going home too much! (We have 30 days left!)

Monday – Not raining this morning!  It was 4*C or 39.2*F.  We are finishing 1-2 boxes a day.  We heard from Blaire today, that our box we sent home made it!  Yay!  We are sending a few things by mail, so we don’t have to get another suitcase!  This was good news, since we mailed the box on January 23 and it made it by February 10^th.  Not all of our mail has made it to the States, and not everything that has been sent has made it here.

Tuesday – Off to work, no rain, good day at work. I finished a box before lunch and another one before we left at 4pm.  We got a call from Jaylen as we were getting off one of our trains – and lost him.  Got another call as we were walking home, he showed us the inside of his house – things are coming along very nicely.

 

We packed up another box and sent it home today – the wait begins.

Top left: Gunner, Bridger, Daddy Matt
Bottom Left: Lily, Porter, Mamma Jenn and Bo

Wednesday – It was 1*C = 34*F when we left.  I finished another box before lunch.  We transfer our files to the shuttles at lunch time, so we aren’t wasting time.   We ate with the Salls and the Quists.  As we went home it was misting and we could tell that it had rained.  We went to the store.  We got a cute Family Picture from Jenn and family – the kids wanted to send us one!  So glad they did! 

Elder & Sister Sabin - meeting and
greeting every single Missionary

Thursday – We didn’t have to get up at 5:30 today – we are going to Gubbängen for Zone Conference.  The new office couple was waiting in the parking lot in their car, when we got there.  No one else was there, building locked – it’s our Stake Center.  We helped carry things from their car to the front door and waited for the Missionaries to get there to open it up.  We were cold!  It was a fantastic meeting. 

The area authority from Germany was on a Mission Tour – so they are a little different than the usual Conference.  Elder Sabin and his wife met with each missionary – he had some very good messages.  We were called up to be in a “role-play” and Elder Richardson was fantastic! 

Elder Clarke

Elder Thompson

The best news was that we got to see 2 of our favorite Elders.  Elder Clarke who was in our Jakobsberg Ward when we first got there and Elder Thompson, that is from our Niece Dawnette’s ward.  He said he is going to be coming into Phoenix the same day that Jacob (Dawnette’s son) is coming home!  That is just about a week before we get home.  So, we took pictures with both of these fantastic Missionaries – because we will not see them again here in Sweden.  

This will be our last Zone Conference – the next one is scheduled later in March.  

We had so much fun with all of the Senior Couples – we all helped in the set up and serving of the lunch and the cleaning up.  (Before, one couple was assigned to help the office couple) It worked fantastically.  Elder Richardson went with Elder Torrie to get the lunch from the Coop (the grocery store that caters the food) and it was BBQ Chicken, again – (because that is the Mission Presidents favorite!) and there was BBQ Sauce spillage again!  

Elder Richardson did not get the brunt of it this time – but he will be taking his suit in to the dry cleaners again!  Elder Torrie got most of the sauce.  They talked with the guy from the store and the Sauce is going to be given to us in a separate container next time, so  that we can add when we are in the kitchen!  But FUN MEMORIES and lessons learned!

We got to talk to Jennifer and Jody today.

Friday – Happy Valentines Day!  It was -5*C this morning or 23*F.  It was cold!  John walked to the Dry Cleaners today and on his way back he saw a police car and was able to talk to them and ask if they wanted to trade a patch from St. Johns, Arizona and the officer said “Sure” and ripped it off of his shirt!  We left at 2pm to get home to do laundry.

We were able to talk to Jon today on Marco Polo – so it was a back and forth kind of chat but a great one.  They are trying to get ready for us to come home! 

Saturday – We had breakfast, while John was working on the Sunday School lesson – I made banana bread and did a little genealogy.  Then we took the train and then a tram to Skansen to go to the Gift Shop!  Well, the Gift shop was closed for the slow period (WINTER)– and will open up in May!  There was a Museum Gift Shop and we were able to get some of things we were looking for but now the hunt is on for the things that we didn’t find. 

We came back to Alvik and walked to our favorite Italian restaurant – it was 4 o’clock and it was packed!!!  It was still good food and we were glad we had a good walk home. 

Sunday – We went to church and a great Sunday School Class discussion.  We are looking forward to another great week! 

We hope you will have a wonderful week and that you are happy, healthy and energized for another week too! 

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

Missionary Week 73

Missionary Week 73 – February 3, 2020 ~ February 9, 2020

We are so amazed at the weather here in Sweden!  It’s February and there are rain showers, no snow.  The temperature is in the mid 30’s to mid 40’s.  We are not complaining – just amazed.  When we heard from our kids this week, the big news was about hitting 71mph winds -which is hurricane force. 

Stadsarkivet - City Archives, where we work

Monday – We had a great day at work.  I finished a new box in 3hr and 42 minutes.  These boxes are going a little faster.  We left at 4pm today, I noticed the Archive only had 1 patron, so I asked “Ole” to help.  I used the Roteman database on the archives database and find my grandmother living in Stockholm the year she was born – but it says she was “transferred to the annex.”  So, he looked at the records and told me he would look up a few more things for me, so I wrote down all her information and I’ll check back with later.  I have written out a timeline of her life and will be able to give that to him, the next time I see him. 

Got a Marco Polo from Jennifer showing us the 71 mph winds – lots of dust blowing, they had new baby chicks, so she had to go out in it to make sure they were all okay. 

Tuesday – It seems like we have a little more frost on the streets and grass.  We can see our breath – when we left home it was -2*C which is 28F.  We got a Marco Polo from Jaylen getting off of his night-shift.  We had a normal day at work, I finished 2 boxes today.  “Ole” wasn’t at the desk today so maybe tomorrow.

Wednesday – On our way to the train we noticed the little puddles of water are now ice.  It feels colder but it is bearable.  We all are getting through 2 boxes a day and are worried we will run out of boxes if they don’t deliver more!  I spoke to “Ole” today – he said I needed to look in the TAX records!  I tried and didn’t find them, so I’ll have to have him show me.

Elder Richardson took me to church tonight for the Relief Society meeting.  It was fun, we made Valentine cards and talked. In English mostly!  Sister Quist was there but Sister Salls was not feeling well so she stayed home.  I had started dinner, but it wasn’t ready when we left so we came home and had a late dinner. 

Thursday – On the train we sat with our “Friend” that is always on our train.  We get to the train stop where we change trains in 10 minutes.  Then we walk to the next train to catch another train to head for Rådhuset.  Then walk a couple of blocks to work.  

We heard from a Senior couple that are home now, but they reviewed our work in Germany.  He’s trying to put together a presentation of the Camera Capture Mission’s. He said everyone wants to know what they did on their mission so he decided he’ll put some pictures together and so he can show them.  He asked for some pictures from us. So, I’ve sent him what I could, and we asked for a copy when he’s done! 

Friday – It was -4 when we started out this morning.  Things outside are icy and frosty.  The sky was so pretty at the archive with the sun coming up and the blue, pink and purple clouds.  We had lunch at 11am because we will be leaving a little earlier today.  We sent off the shuttles to Germany.  

We have appointments with the Västerås and Örebro Missionaries to check their apartments tomorrow.  We got our laundry started a little early today – so we are good for another week.  We had dinner and then headed to the Mission Office to pick up items that we will take to the Jr. Missionaries that they have requested.  Anything from light bulbs, kitchen towels, bath rug etc. 

 

Saturday – We picked up the Sall’s at 8am.  We had a great day.  We went to Örebro first to the Sisters. They passed the inspection – got their bikes fixed and we were off to the Elders.  They also passed inspection.  

Then we went to Längbro Church and Cemetery so I could leave a couple of candles there for my Great-Great Grandmother and Grandfather.  She is buried there – but I don’t know exactly where so there is a pretty Wrought Iron tree to leave candles on.  We figured this is the last time we’d be in Örebro.

Then we went to Anundshög – the Viking burial ground so the Salls could see it.  We had a very tasty lunch and treats at the little café there and then walked around to see the sights.  It was cold, gloves and scarfs a must. 

Then we were a little early for the Sisters in Västerås.  They were doing fine and one of the girls was from Mesa.  We finished with the apartment check and headed for home and took the Salls home and went to get the car washed and fill up with gas.  We bought the car wash but there was too long of a line to wait for it.  We’ll go back later.

We came home and walked across the street to a new restaurant and it isn’t Pizza!  It is Jamaican!  We talked to Jon and he told us what to order. (Jerk Chicken and Rice & Beans) It was very good.  Elder Richardson asked for Bun and Cheese and the owner’s eyes got big and he said, “You Know?!”  then after he processed that he said, “we don’t but we will be getting it soon” and fist bumped John!  We will go back! 

 

Sunday – We went to Church today.  It was a great meeting.  In Relief Society we (Sister Salls, Quist and I) did not have anyone that was translating for us.  So, we read the lesson and one lady tried to help but she said, “I can’t hear anybody, so I’m not going to be any good for you.” But at least she tried!   We’ve had a great Sunday, hope you have too.

Have a great week, and Happy Valentine’s Day on Friday.  Hope you are all healthy and know that we think of you often and miss you!  Love hearing from you!  Love, John & Linda, Mom & Dad, Gramma & Grampa

Missionary Week 72

Missionary Week 72 – January 27, 2020 ~ February 2, 2020

Continued from last week – we are still on the road home.  Beautiful country, nice weather for traveling.  Even though some trees have no leaves on them they are pretty without them in their own way. 

Birch Trees

Monday – We are still in Skövde. We were up and ready for breakfast.  Had another good breakfast at the main building.  We then packed the car and took a walk around the area and gathered some moss.  I’m going to see if it will dry – and not get moldy- I’m hoping it will go good in our Christmas Village as landscaping material. 

Fire Station

On our way to Katrineholm, we found a Fire Department and Elder Richardson went in to see if he could trade a patch.  (We have Police and Fire patches from our hometown, and we have been most successful getting Fire patches.)  He came out to get his phone for pictures and didn’t come out for about 45 minutes!  They gave him the GRANDE TOUR! 

We headed on in to Katrineholm and found our Elders in good spirits and health.  They both turned 19 a day apart this last weekend!  One was packed for a transfer tomorrow.  The Apartment was in good repair and the bicycles were repaired.  They use them every day.  The Elders told us about a Fire station they go by all the time – so we went that way out of town and found it.  They were happy to give Elder Richardson a patch. 

We traveled back into Bromma and got gas and a much-needed car wash and dinner all in one stop.  Daisy’s is a “50’s” diner, they even have a Life size statue of Elvis.  Good food, the owner knew we were from the US and he was upset about the news of Kobe Bryant’s death.  This man played basketball when he was younger, and he said – we’re brothers!

At Daisy's - The Kebab on FRIES

We got home and got a Marco Polo from Jonathan and we were able to message back a couple of times to catch up.  We got a call from Jaylen and Janell and we found out that one of Jaylen’s best buddies had just lost his wife to cancer, she’s in her early 30’s with two little girls.  We are praying for the Prentice family.

Tuesday – Back to work!  It was misty again.  We got across one street and was stopped by the light in the middle of the road.  Here comes a police car from our right and the 2 lanes were lined up and not moving so the police car hops up on the bicycle/pedestrian lane – on the sidewalk and goes around all of them.  Another Transportation tidbit: People don’t have to pull over to the right like we do in the U.S. if they are stopped they point the front of the car to the right or left and move up as far as they can so the police/ambulance/fire can go down the middle – but sometimes it’s impossible so  if they can they’ll go all the way around them.  It’s the craziest thing we’ve seen. 

It was nice to get back to work.  We heard from Jaylen on his night-shift patrol.  We had lunch with the Salls and Quists and left work at 4 pm in the rain.  We needed the umbrella today!  We were able to call our friend Sandy and get caught up with her.

Kelly's Truck - Twin

Wednesday – This morning it was raining again but it’s so light you don’t feel it.  When we leave in the morning – we see the same people on the train and we also see some of the same vehicles – this truck reminds us of Kelly’s truck in Orem, this one has a bit more rust but we think of Uncle Kelly every time we see this guy.

We started a new project today – lots of cards and not many little papers – so it goes fast, but the boxes are heavy!  We went to lunch at 1 – when it is usually cleaning out but it was packed today – all 3 of us couples had to sit at a little table by ourselves.  We left at 4 pm and it seemed to be a little lighter outside than usual. 

Thursday – We stayed home this morning because we had an appointment at 8 am with a guy to inspect our ventilation in the apartment.  Luckily, we had Marco Polo’s from Jon on JT’s wrestling match at home in St. Johns!  ALSO, it was live streamed on Facebook – bonus! We watched wrestling all morning – JT’s was a long match, in fact it was the second period, and, in the end, he pinned his guy with 19 seconds left!  I learned - Don’t ever give up!  We are sad because we will miss the rest of his season, State will be right before we get back.

We went to work and worked until 5 pm to make up for some time!  We went to the Club House for our Senior Couple Family Home Evening.  The Salls’ gave a great presentation of Book of Mormon places and foods that were around at that time.  It was very interesting; they had a lot of pictures and then our “treats” were chips and salsa – using corn for chips and tomatoes and pineapple in the salsa.  Mixed nuts and Brownies and ice cream – Brownies of course are made from the cacao bean and vanilla bean is used in the ice cream!  Then our new office couple came, and he played the piano and had us all singing and requesting songs. 

 

Friday – End of January!  Off to work, got our shuttles ready to go and had lunch at 1 with the Quist’s and Salls.  Marco Polo from Janell and Joshua who are in Houston for a wedding.  We left work at 3 to be home for our 4 o’clock laundry.

 

Saturday – February 1, 2020 – We had breakfast and Elder Richardson worked on his Sunday School lesson and I cleaned – a little – and wrote out some shopping lists and things we need to do before we go home.  It rained all day, or we would’ve gone out. 

Sunday – Went to church, the SUN was out and SHINING SO BRIGHT and so many more people are out enjoying it.  We had a great Fast & Testimony meeting and Elder Richardson led a great discussion in Sunday School. 

We see a lot of tree thinning - this one
has a mushroom carved on it.  We saw
several like it on the way out of Skövde

We hope your February is a fantastic one.  We have 6 ½ weeks left.  But who’s counting!?

  

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