Burnt Goat, Julmust, and Road Trips

Today is Andra Advent, the day on which you would light the second candle and read Isaiah 35:1-10 (Be strong, fear not Behold your God will come...and save you.) James 5:7-11 (Be patient...unto the coming of the Lord... Behold, we count them happy which endure),  and Matthew 13:31-34 (the parables of the mustard seed and comparing the Kingdom of Heaven to leaven). I should have mentioned that last week the scriptural references for the Första Advent were Micah 4:1-4 (the mountain of the Lord's house), Romans 15:4-7 (That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God...Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.") and Luke 21:25-36 (Signs of the second coming of Christ).

We love many of the traditions for Christmas here in Sweden. It seemed to me when serving my first mission in Scotland over 50 years ago that Christmas was just something to get out of the way so they could celebrate the New Year. Here, they can hardly wait for Jul (Yule). Christmas trees and lights started going up in October, since they don't have a Thanksgiving to get in the way.  There are special Christmas cookies called pepparkakor - a type of thin, crispy gingerbread made with ginger, cinnamon, cloves and other spices (I'm hooked), julmust (yule moost) a soda saved to sell during the Jul season - smells like medicine, but we like it, glögg an alcohol free (ours is, promise) mulled wine-like drink that is heavy with cloves, and lights in every window. The window lights are typically either a heavy paper star with lights in the center or a terraced candelabra.
  

The center of Stockholm has decorations littering the streets and shop windows. The merchants in Gamla Stan (old town) set up special booths to sell specialty Christmas items. We are going with the other Senior Couples in a couple of weeks to sample their wares.

One of the Christmas traditions is that Julbocken (the Christmas goat) delivers the gifts on Christmas Eve. Now it is Santa Claus, but they still have straw images of the julbock in all sizes, usually tree decoration sizes. However, in Gävle every year they produce a huge julbock about 40 feet high. It is a grand undertaking, but every year, despite the town's best efforts, someone burns it down. This year it was announced that the straw would be soaked in a fire retardant so it cannot be burned. We thought about going last week when it was unveiled, but the weather was miserable, so we didn't go. It is supposed to be up until Christmas Eve, so we had time.

 We shouldn't have put it off. I don't know who or why or how, but someone found a way to burn it down the very night it was put up. This is a picture taken by one of the missionaries in the area.

Click on this picture and you will see the burned out skeleton of this year's julbock.

We traveled over 1,000 kilometers this week, but carved out time while in Gävle to see julbocken, but we were a week too late. Very sad.

We typically start our week with an office meeting at the mission president's home. These are report and training meetings. President and Sister Beckstrand are inspired leaders. With his emphasis on working whenever and wherever you might find yourself and boldly challenging for baptism has led to  record baptism dates being set and exceeding the baptism goals for the year, already.

[In front of the mission home in Stockholm]

We usually try to give the missionaries enough advanced notice of  our coming that they have a preparation day to clean and be ready for us, so in four days we traveled to 17 apartments to perform inspections. The mission supplies approved items that will be used in the kitchen, study area and other rooms in the apartments, so if something is missing or broken, we replace or repair it. Our little Ford Transit van is usually stuffed to the ceiling with those things. On our way back the van is stuffed with things that need to be tossed, recycled or donated. Departing missionaries leave things they can't fit into their bags, or no longer want and it tends to accumulate and take up room. I now have some work shirts, work ties, a very nice coat and a perfect jacket. There are also some well-dressed refugees thanks to our departing missionaries.

This week we met with hard-working, dedicated missionaries. They seem to have attitudes of faith and a desire to share the good word of the Gospel. We are continually impressed with the caliber of young person we meet.

[People have been living in apartments for centuries in this country. We typically find our missionaries in these kinds of apartments. Some are more modern than others. Finding parking on these crowed streets is always a challenge.]

Our original assignment was going to be working with the young single adults (YSA), so we bought lots of new clothes and I gave away all my old white shirts. Just a couple of weeks before we left, the assignment changed to what we are now doing. I find myself under tables and beds repairing something or other. I am often on the floor drilling a hole somewhere or putting an IKEA item together. Hardly a place for new shirts, so I needed to replace the old shirts I gave away with old shirts someone else gave away.

Today, we had an amazing testimony meeting. People here are commonly well traveled and many have immigrated to Sweden. One sister is a returned missionary who came here from Chile. She is married to a Swedish man. She told of her father being imprisoned during the Allende years and the family having to fend for itself without the bread winner at home. Following his return, the family found the missionaries and joined the Church. Another testimony came from a man who is one of the most educated I have ever known. He joined the Church in 1982 and testified of his gratitude for the Book of Mormon's teachings about the purpose of the Atonement of Christ. There was no time between testimonies at all. It was one after another all meeting long.

Our Gospel Essentials class was packed today. It is taught in English as there are some who are investigating the Church from other countries and do not yet speak Swedish. The teacher is a law student who served a mission in Russia, but also speaks excellent English. He taught about the need, purpose, manner and authority for baptism. There are two young women in the missionaries' teaching pool who are in need of just making the commitment and not worrying about the consequences. Usually, the fears are less than the actual results. Olivia and I were able to talk to them separately and give a little encouragement.

We may not have told you that our house in Sparks has sold. It is in escrow where it could remain until the end of April. In the meantime, the new residents are living in it and paying rent until it closes. If you get a chance, it would be nice to follow the example of Darlene Svetz who has gone up and welcomed them into the neighborhood and invited them to the ward Christmas party. By all accounts, they are very nice people and receptive to new friends.

That's it for this week. We love and miss you all and wish all the blessings of the Gospel of Christ in your coming week.