This Land is My Land, This Land is Norrland

Our long-anticipated trip to Norrland finally happened this past week. We had sent out texts and emails weeks in advance asking what they needed to have us bring to them, but it was not until the last few days that we actually began getting serious requests for needed items. As a result, we had a van full of items to take with us. Three office chairs (still in boxes, so we could manage to carry them), bins filled with everything from frying pans to spatulas to dish cloths and everything in between were packed into the back. It was a major engineering feat to then put in our bags. There was no using the inside rear-view mirror, everything was stacked to the ceiling.

 ["I mon buy me on' they Ford vans and travel the country preachin' God's word, Mother!" Sorry for the insider reference that only our children will recognize. No one else has seen the movie Cold Comfort Farm. This Ford van is our mode of transportation. Here we are outside one of the apartments in our Norrland journey.]

 [This was taken the weekend before we left for Norrland. We discovered that the upstairs apartment at the office has a fire escape ladder that folds up to look like a downspout. I was anxious that the elders know how to use it, so I asked Elder Jensen, one of the Assistants to the President, to pull the pin, unfold it and climb down it. He was happy to comply much to the distress of Sister Clouse, who had to leave the scene. Of course he could not take time to put on a coat or shoes despite the freezing temperature. More realistic, I suppose.]

In these pictures you will notice that Olivia is wearing pants rather than a skirt. She does so at the suggestion of our mission president's wife. She explained that if we are stranded or in an accident, Olivia and Sister Clouse would be much more comfortable in pants. Also, it is not unusual that we will work on something that requires us to be on the floor or under a table, bed or plumbing. I wear a white shirt, tie and slacks, but these are work attire. We often carry off clothing left behind by missionaries who are more interested in taking home souvenirs, so I have gone through these items where I have found shirts, ties and slacks that fit and they become work attire. So crawling under a bed to repair a slat or a leg doesn't get the good clothes dirty. If my tie dips into something that came out of a drain pipe, it is of less consequence.

We expected that we would have more room in the rear as we dropped things off, but we ended up with three large garbage bags packed with clothes to bring back. Happily, we found an återvinningcentral (the garbage dump/recycling center I have mentioned in prior posts) on our way out of our last city where we could put the used clothes, so we could see out the back window for at least the last 4 hours of travel home. 

We were joined in this journey by our good friends and mentors, Elder and Sister Clouse, again. They were great help as we traveled and inspected. At times we were able to split up and catch up on our schedule by having them in one apartment and us in another.

[The Clouse's inspected Elders Rowley's and Olson's apartment (the two on either side of me) while Olivia and I inspected Elders Benson's and Beveridge's apartment. Unfortunately, Olivia took the picture, so she is absent here.]

With two more helping, we were able to have a variety of messages to leave at the end of our visits. The missionaries are thrilled to have the roles reversed and be on the receiving end of the message. Olivia taught about continuing through even when there is a temptation to quit. She used President Uchtdorf's talk in the General Women's session of the last General Conference, "Fourth Floor, Last Door." I talked about making sure our investigators have the tools to keep going when they feel alone after baptism and used the example of Lehi's Tree of Life dream where he was directed to follow a man in a white robe and then found himself alone for many hours in a mist of darkness. When we met with the zone leaders, I spoke of the pattern of leadership found in D&C 107: 85-89. Elder Clouse showed a clip from Mormon Messages about the current bush being cut down which was narrated by Elder D.Todd Christofferson' conference talk. Sister Clouse used a Mormon Message that excerpted several conference messages about avoiding discouragement.

 

[Here we are following along in D&C 107:85-89 (preside, sit in council and teach). I think many of the messages we left were due to the fact that they are just starting to get 4 hours of light. In Norrland, it has been light from 10:00 AM to about 1:00 PM. Now the sun shows itself from about 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. They all have S.A.D. (seasonal affective disorder) lights which they all call happy lights. These lights are on the breakfast tables so it seems like the sun is shining. They have wave lengths similar to the sun and stimulate the serotonin in the body.]

In most of the towns we visited, we arranged for the missionaries to join us for either breakfast or lunch, then went to their apartment for the inspection. It gave us a better opportunity to gauge how they were doing and an opportunity to know them better. 

[Here we are with Sisters Hanson and Capuccio at breakfast in Luleå, then later in their apartment. A wonderfully hard-working set of missionaries!]


Wednesday was the world-wide missionary broadcast with Elders Oaks, Anderson, and Bednar. They were joined W. Christopher Waddell of the Presiding Bishopric, Sister Bonnie Oscarson, Young Women General President, Steven B Allen, managing director of the Missionary Department and Brent Neilson of the Seventy, Executive Director of the Missionary Department, who conducted. We met the missionaries in Skellefteå at their apartment for their inspection, then went to the small chapel there for the broadcast. The brethren and Sister Oscarson spoke of so many aspects of missionary labors and then introduced the new daily schedule and the revised "key indicators." We sat where we could observe the elders as these new items were presented and discussed. We had heard from some that there was resistance at first. Here there was none. In fact, just the opposite. The revised schedule had been presented to them at their specialized zone training the previous week, but hearing it from the Missionary Committee members raised the level of commitment and enthusiasm.

[Elder Hainsworth and Elder Wilson at the Skellefteå chapel. Elder Hainsworth will be returning home in a few days. Elder Wilson was especially excited about the changes to the schedule and key indicators. He still has several months to put them into practice.]

  

[Sister Clouse and Sister Anderson discovered an old family bible in the elders' apartment. It was from 1907, so not ancient. None of the family history pages had been filled out, such as the wedding day (brollopdagar) page, but the elders who visit there have been writing their names in the genealogy (släktregister) page. It is richly illustrated.]

 Of course, as we traveled, we did a little site seeing. We stopped at the Naturkompaniet Outlet store in Örnskoldsvik to see if there was something we could afford. It is the outlet store for the Fjall Räven brand - a high-quality outdoor clothing and gear company. I got the hat I have been waiting to go on sale and Olivia got a stocking hat and some visors for our future visitors. The Clouses can't come out of that store without major purchases, so Elder Clouse complains ;).

More importantly, in Luleå there is a church built in 1492 around which had grown a Church Town over a few centuries. At a time when church attendance was mandatory by law, farm families and others who could not get to town and back in a day had a cottage in the Church Town. The Town had a council house, a store house and shops. It became the center of activity for the weekend, for special holidays, and also they brought their produce and goods to market. It was an opportunity for children to play with other children, women to share recipes and men to tell war stories. Young people often began their courtships and the infirm would spend their last days there. Of Sweden's 71 original Church Towns, only 16 are left today,  Here almost all the cottages are owned and maintained privately. There are just a few that are open to the public. They are not open in winter, so we have to go back. Luleå has the largest Church Town - 420+ cottages still remain.

 

[We are in front of the ancient church above and the visitors' center below. The Clouses are in front of the council hall. The cottages are painted with the Fallun red which has a natural preservative in the paint. The derrick holds a bucket that can be lowered into a well, which no longer exists. The bell tower has the Latin words "Deo Gloria," which means glory to God. The bell in the video was ringing for 12:00 noon, but certainly did not stop after the 12th gong! The little sled is a common sight in this little village. We could have rented one for about $2.00, but really didn't have time. Lots of history here.]

[Details inside the church and the door to enter the church. They were preparing for a funeral, but allowed us a few minutes to look around and take pictures.]

 Now, some random pictures of the trip that didn't fit elsewhere:

 [A soccer ball made from Volkswagen body parts hangs from the ceiling of a mall in Umeå]

[No trip to Norrland is complete without a stop at the cheese slicer monument. The bridge is a large expansion bridge in Höga Kusten (the High Coast). It is the 3rd largest in Scandinavia and a great attraction. The visitors' center has a hotel and a restaurant. It is impressive.]

 [Visiting the apartment in Sundsvall with Sisters McWorter and Sister Moffat (to whom we had brought a gift of knitted stockings from her former companion)]

 [Elders Goffe and Carter in Boden, the northern most city in the mission. They are the Luleå District Leaders.]

 We had quite an adventure and loved being with these faithful, hard-working young missionaries, but we are glad to be home. This coming week we have 7 new Elders coming, transfers, and 7 Elders going home. We need to move missionaries to another apartment and start cleaning the one they are currently in, to turn it back to the landlord. The rest of February is packed. We are happy to be busy, however.

We miss you all and wish you the best.

New Rules; Old Views

Much of this past week was spent in preparing for and serving at the Specialized Zone Training meetings. It was interesting to go to a different store. Martin Olssen is primarily a store for restaurant supplies, so it is useful when shopping for large numbers of people. It is like the food section of Costco, which is unusual here. There is really nothing to compare to Costco or Walmart, as it would not fit their lifestyle. So many live in apartments and walk to their shopping places that it would not work to shop in bulk for the most part. I digress.

 The zone Specialized Training meetings were held individually, unlike the Christmas zone conference where several zones met together. So we assisted with the Clouses in providing meals for three days. Even though we had the same menu for each one, I am still not tired of Sloppy Joes.

[Elder Clouse and I put out the food. I labeled the pasta salads with "med oliver" and "utan oliver" (with olives and without olives) then Elder Hawkins went a step further and labeled the Sloppy Joes as "Smutsig Joseph" (literally, dirty Joseph, but that is the word they use for sloppy). There is a lot of one upmanship around here. 😁]

   

[Some elders enjoying the luncheon. Elder Pack borrowed Olivia's apron so the Sloppy Joe didn't get on his shirt. Elder Bentson isn't so sure that's proper missionary attire. Elder Christley and Elder Hawkins are Proselyting Office Elders, so they help with the details of these events. They decided that the napkins were just too plain, so they folded them into standing fans. Both are also excellent missionaries.]

We sat in on the meetings for the Stockholm Zone so we would know what is expected of the missionaries. The more we listened to the training, which was presented primarily by the Assistants to the President, the zone leaders and the Sister Trainer Leaders, the more amazed we are at their abilities and their work ethic. Their work ethic is driven by their desire to be obedient which is driven by their testimonies and conviction to follow Christ. I do remember my days as a missionary and I recall that we did the same thing, but it amazes me to see that a generation that is thought of as privileged, spoiled and entitled is just as idealistic and driven as any other generation; maybe more so. We don't usually get to be involved in training for the  young missionaries, so this was a special time for us.

They were presented with a new, more rigorous schedule sent out by the Missionary Department. At first they wondered how they were going to be able to comply and then started throwing out ideas as to how they could make it work. Soon, they were visibly excited at the prospect of having more time available to them to meet with investigators, or to contact.  They will receive more information this Wednesday with a special broadcast from Salt Lake City.

The mission presidents have also been given a new, more rigorous schedule. The new schedule for mission presidents means that they will be doing a lot more traveling and spending much less time at home. That also means our responsibilities will likely change somewhat in order to give them the support they will need. We are looking forward to the results of these changes.

In previous blog posts, I have mentioned Elder and Sister Smith who came here after having served a mission in The Philippines. They are involved in Records Preservation. We have asked if they could give us a tour of the archives building where they spend their days. Friday, we were able to do so. They arranged for a man who has worked at the facility for over 40 years to show us around.

[Elder Smith and Sister Smith at their desks]    [Peter, our tour guide, showing some of the ancient records. This exhibit has their oldest document which is from 1358 AD. It is a contract between a farmer and a church pastor allowing him to graze his sheep on church property] 

[The senior missionaries who were able to attend the tour. Elder and Sister Smith, Elder and Sister Hall, Olivia and me, Elder and Sister Clouse]

This facility is built into a rock cliff, one of the first facilities in the world to do so. It has a double purpose - to protect from bombing (it was built near the beginning of WWII) and to provide climate control. The problem is that they are running out of room. They can't expand because there isn't any more room in the rock, They have expanded up with this library in the picture and a computer room for patrons to use. Below them is the tunnel for the train system so they can't go down. They do have a separate facility for some of the lesser records several kilometers away, but most records are kept here. 

When asked, our guide informed us that only about 1.5% of the documents are digitized. They are very grateful for the assistance of these senior couples, who donate significant time to photograph and scan the old documents. Right now the Smiths are photographing the parish records. It wasn't until 1991 that the state took over the census. Until then it was the duty of the Swedish Church (Lutheran) through the individual parishes. The Swedish Church still receives tax dollars to keep up the historical sites and other services that it has historically provided, but it is no longer the state religion. Right now the Smiths are the only couple working here, but we have had two couples in the past. If any of you know of a couple who could come and help that would be great.

 [Greta Garbo's birth record. If you have to ask who she was, ask a grandparent...or a great grandparent]

[Olivia with Sister Hall. These are examples of over 100,000 kilometers of shelves that house the records]

 [They have police records from the 1600s to present. This display is quite old. it is pictures of "Women Who Stole from Men." A serious crime, no doubt. Notice that they sat next to a mirror so they got a front and profile photo at the same time]

 [A random Viking beauty (as you can see from the necklace) I found on the internet:) The records on this shelf date from the mid 1600s]

It seems we have come to the banana belt compared to folks back home. Our weather hovers at around freezing and a little above. It is still quite cold due to the humidity, but not as much snow or bitter cold as you are receiving in Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, etc. We head north this week, so I expect we will see weather and climate that is similar to yours. They are very good at plowing snow when it falls, but especially diligent at sanding the roads because of ice. We wash the car weekly, but after a day it looks like all the other cars - rolling mud balls driving down the road with peep holes through the windshields. In fact, the gas stations have a small pump that looks like a miniature gas pump where you can fill your washer fluid tank, for a price.

We wish you all well. We are excited for our friends who are receiving answers to prayers following surgeries, illnesses and other maladies. You are in our prayers. We love and miss you all.

Back to the Future, Present and Past

This week included matters for the present, past and future.  It has been a rather relaxed week in anticipation of a couple of months that will be anything but relaxed.

As to the past, I mentioned that we went through the mission history and copied pages containing any mention of Olivia's father and her uncle. We scanned those pages this week and emailed them to her siblings and a cousin. We got back some interesting memories especially of a funeral her father conducted on behalf of a man who was not a member of the Church.

 [A close-up of the binder]

[The Book with a beautiful model]

From Drew:  "When I read the entry of May 10, 1936 about Dad speaking at the non members funeral it reminded me of the time I must've been nine or 10 years old because we had come back from Virginia and Dad and I were staying at Hotel Utah. We got on the elevator with one other man. He stared at Dad for awhile then started to talk to him.  Dad responded to him I could not understand earthier one of them. When we got to our room Dad told me that when He was on his mission He had spoke at a funeral of a man He had got to know but was not a member of the Church. The man on the elevator had attended that funeral and was so impressed with what Dad had preached that he investigated the Church and had become a member."

From Claudia: "Drew's story reminded me of what Dad said at one of the Grock's funeral (graveside service). I don't remember if it was Walt's or Wilda's or Art's, but there were a lot of people there. Dad was the speaker. He told of a funeral he talked at in Sweden, and he and his companion and the wife and son of the deceased were the only people there. He said how nice it was to have such a caring community as Starr Valley, with so many friends in attendance. He was right - Starr Valley is a cool place!"

[Anyone who has visited Starr Valley would agree with Claudia!]

From Jennifer: "Do any of you remember hearing the story of when Dad and his companion did a funeral for a man and they had to dress him and he had been sitting in a wheelchair so long his legs were bent stiff so Dad told his companion to push down on the dead guys knees and the knees went down and the dead guy sat up, face to face with the missionary. About scared him to death.

Have any of you heard that?"

[Lucky there weren't two dead guys after that!]

As to the future, we attended an extended mission office meeting that included a preview of the worldwide missionary broadcast that will take place on January 25th. Because of scheduling issues, our missionaries will get much of the information before it is officially announced. The announcement at the broadcast will make some significant changes to the missionaries' schedules and the agenda of the mission presidents. I will save the details for after the official broadcast which we will watch from a not-as-yet-determined location in Skellefteå (pronounced shell eff ' tee o). Stay tuned!

We and the Clouses met with a Church employee who supervises the facilities management for Scandinavia and much of Europe and his counterpart, a woman from Örebro (pronounced something like ur' eh bro) who is responsible for Sweden. We reviewed the needs of some of the facilities owned by the Church, but which are assigned to the mission; primarily the room below the mission office which is currently used as living quarters for short-term visitors and various meetings. Behind the living space is a good deal of storage for items we need for the missionaries and lots of really good tools.  It seems that they want to convert the living space to an apartment for senior missionaries. Probably won't happen before the end of the year, but it is a great idea. It would be ideal for us and whoever takes our place. We found them to be most accommodating and gracious. We also found them to be quite creative in determining the use of space.

We got a call at a very early hour (Sarah, "Are they even up, yet?" Cedric, "They are now!"), announcing that they had found cheap flights to Sweden for the whole family. They will have a 16 hour layover in Iceland - thus the cheap tickets, but a chance for the kids to get off the plane and run around a bit. We are thrilled, of course.They will be coming in May, but we are already making plans for things to do and places to see.

[Don't you just want to hug them? Well, the smooth-faced ones, anyway.]

As to the present, we found ourselves traveling and assisting missionaries. The missionaries in Handen have a neighbor family who bought a new sofa set and needed to get rid of their old one. It turned out that the "old" one is less than a year old and that it came with two easy chairs, as well. We will need this furniture for the new apartment in Stockholm (more on that apartment, below). They helped us load them into our little van and we stored them in the office garage until we have the time to move them (probably only the chairs as the apartment is quite small) into the new apartment.

 [Elder Mecham and Elder Johanson moving chairs] [We actually got the couch and both chairs in]

[Elder Jensen and Elder Castleton-Rudolph show up just in time to offer congratulations]

[This is a stock photo, but our van is exactly like this one, including the color. It was no small feat to get all three items into it and close the rear door afterwards]

We traveled to Eskilstuna (this time it really is pronounced like it is spelled) by way of Hägersten (pronounced hegger' sten). In Hägersten we assisted the elders in taking up a small table that we had earlier repaired as well as a clock and some appropriate pictures for their blank walls. They were anticipating a visit from the Pettits who were about to inspect the apartment, so it looked very nice. Our impression is that these elders keep it that way. Good missionaries!

[Art work being prepared for missionary apartments]

In Eskilstuna we took our extra key and entered the apartment in the absence of the sisters who were in a meeting. 

[The fabled key board with the index to the keys on the door to the safe]

With their approval, we disassembled the bunk bed we put in there just a couple of months ago and replaced it with a bed we brought for them. They no longer have three sisters living there and we needed the bunk bed for the new apartment. The design of the bunk bed is genius, but not without peril. It is very easy to drop the hardware down inside the pipes that make up the frame (the voice of experience). 

From there we went back to the apartment in Stockholm and reassembled the bed to save having to do that later. 

Some are asking what travel is like. OK, maybe not, but I thought I would let you know because it is somewhat different from the US. The maximum speed on the freeways is 120. That sounds fast, but it is in kilometers per hour, so we are only doing about 74.5 mph. Still pretty good. Most freeways close to us the speed is 80 - 100. In town it is 30 - 50. The problem for this trip was the wet roads. The snow is melting and leaving a lot of sand, salt and gravel, so we ran out of washer fluid on the way back. I have learned to keep a four liter bottle with us for that very reason.  Our weather has been alternately quite cold (exacerbated by the humidity), to snowy, to above freezing, and back again. We are hoping that the trip north will be good weather for a couple of reasons. One, we prefer to be safe and two, we hope to see the Northern Lights this time.

The Stockholm apartment is one I have mentioned before. It is owned by a member of our stake presidency. His son's family outgrew it so he wanted to rent it to the mission. We thought everything was set, but before it could be finalized, he had to run it by the association president. The president was not willing to let an organization be the renter, so they went round and round looking for a solution. Finally, they and we agreed that the first set of elders would sign the contract. What authority do the elders have to bind the Church? Very little.

The end result was good, however. The elders met with the landlord and got situated as to where to put the various trash separations and the storage units associated with the apartment. Side note: the landlord got a letter addressed to all the tenants of the building stating that someone (you know who you are) had been placing the wrong type of garbage in the inappropriate bins (and we know who you are because there are video cameras there and everywhere in the building) so straighten up or face a fine. This is the apartment where the Israeli Ambassador lives, thus the video cameras everywhere. 

We were able to not only talk to Cedric and Sarah this week, but also Jordan and Ruth who were on their anniversary cruise and to Olivia's sister, Jennifer.  It is always a thrill for us to hear from friends and family. 

We would like to know more news of our friends, but some are at least on Facebook, so we have heard of a couple of surgeries and a C section. Some shun Facebook (as we usually do), so when you have news, please let us know about it.

We love our mission and are quite happy, here. We miss all of you and wish you the best in your homes and families.