Sunday, February 26, 2017

A Week with Sickie

After staying in bed all of Saturday, Sunday and most of Monday, Olivia was finally up to going out. We were able to attend the office meeting and get some things organized in the office storage area.

We had received an email from a landlord that the "Board" was complaining about the condition of the fence and gate on the patio of one of our sisters' apartments, so we combined a trip out to Väster Hanige with a number of other things we needed to do and went out there. It is the little community where the temple is located and is about 50 minutes from our apartment. Between here and there were some apartments that required our attention, so we made calls along the way.

First, we had to arrange with Sisters Wilson and Shin in Jakogsberg to take out a chest of drawers and if they would wait for us, we would take them to their district meeting. We barely made it on time, but we managed to get them to their meeting only 3 minutes late. Their apartment is in a nice home just a few miles from Rinkeby, where the riots took place. They were completely unaware of the riots and had talked about going into Rinkeby to visit some less active members there. That is no longer on their to do list.
[Sister Shin and Sister Wilson. We are relying on old pictures, here. We were in too big a hurry to take pictures of the event. Ask President Trump for pictures of the riot. :-)]

We put an office chair together and took it to Elder Nielsen a district leader in Handen who used to be a proselyting office elder, retrieved his broken chair and hauled it off to the recycle dump.

Finally, we went to the Väster Hanige apartment where we reviewed the problem with the fence. It was a problem with a broken trellis panel, which we replaced, but the landlord wasn't exactly honest with us and hoped we would think our responsibility extended to digging up the posts, straightening them and pouring concrete to make the repair permanent. It kind of brought out the lawyer in me, so I kindly, but firmly emailed him back to inform him that structural issues were a landlord responsibility. We haven't heard back, so I don't know where it stands at the moment.
[Before][After.] [Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of Sister Hale even though she came out to talk to us in stocking feet and a 20 MPH wind.]

Back in December we got a card from the Clouses telling us that our gift from them would be a lunch at the Kaknästornet restaurant. The Kaknästornet is a TV tower at the top of which is a restaurant. We finally had a time when our calendars matched, so we went with them to the top of the tower. The food is excellent there and the views are breath taking. We went up another couple of floors to the little bar where there were fewer people and walked around the entire tower looking at the city, various islands and the fields where horses were being frisky. There was fresh snow, so they were playful - or maybe they know Spring is on its way. One got so carried away, that is slipped and fell.

Afterward, we took a little car tour of the parks and lakes that are nearby. Even though it was a cloudy and blustery day, it was still beautiful. We will go back when the weather is a little more cooperative.
[Kaknästornet TV tower (stock photo). The gold windows are the restaurant and bar/viewing areas]


[Swans and ducks in the park below the tower.]

We had thought to attend the temple earlier in the week, but Olivia was having coughing fits and she didn't want that to happen in the temple, so we waited until Friday. She did fine, except she began to feel achy again and her head ache returned.

Then, on Saturday afternoon, Olivia's flu returned with a vengeance and the rest of that day was not too productive. Other than a little shopping, she stayed down and I did some chores. We did go to church today, but she only made it through Sacrament meeting. It was Fast Sunday, and I did bare testimony this time. We have hesitated because we don't speak the language (poor excuse, everyone at least understands English) and because it is usually a very popular meeting and you have to be fleet to get to the front (again, a poor excuse), so it felt good to finally just do it.

Short post this week. We were both saddened and somewhat relieved at the news of the death of Sister Cheryl Robinson. We know it has been a very difficult several months for her and her family, but we remember her with great fondness. She was the picture of grace and long suffering. She was among the most Christ-like people we have known. We pray for her family, whom we love, as well.

We hope the coming week is wonderful for all of you.

Monday, February 20, 2017

You Say Gothenburg, I Say Göteborg

Göteborg (pronounced yut'-ta-bory) is the only city in Sweden I have heard of that has a separate English name. People here use the names Gothenburg and Göteborg interchangeably, maybe because they know we speak English, I'm not sure. Why we call a certain country Germany, they call it Deutschland and Swedes call it Tyskland, or Sweden vs Sverige or any number of other examples, I have never understood. I can see why Göteborg has an English equivalent as no one knows how to pronounce the ö, but why not call it Goteborg? I digress even before I start.

We have spent most of the last two weeks in Göteborg, thus the title of this post. We did have other matters to attend to prior to traveling to Sweden's southwest that involved finally finishing the tree house apartment (see prior post) and turning it over to the landlord. Glad to see the last of it.

I made no post last week because we were in a city not far from Göteborg called Alingsås where the Young Single Adult (YSA) conference was held. We left on Friday morning, but were not required to be there until late that evening, so we did a little site seeing.

The route we took was along the E4 freeway and Olivia had done some research. Not far off the freeway is the city of Vadstena which has a good deal of history related to it. We only had time to visit the castle which is one of the best preserved in the country. It has a moat surrounding it and part is used today as a land archive, where, I suppose, land records are preserved. Like most of the sites in Sweden, it is really only open for visitors from May to September. We need to go back as the first Bridgittine monastery built in 1350 is still being used today as a hotel. Santa Bridgitte was a type of prophetess who wielded much power with her abilities to bless, curse and to see into the future. A fascinating character.
[Selfie from the shore of one of the largest lakes in the country. A lion guards the bridge. The bridge across the moat is permanent, not a draw bridge.] 


[The castle from various angles.]




[You may have guessed that it was a bitterly cold day with a sharp wind]




[A close-up of the gate. Olivia in front of the entrance and me on the bridge overlooking the moat.]

We continued along a road that would eventually take us to the largest rune known to exist. It is called the Rök Rune (pronounced rock, but it means ellipsoid shaped stone). It dates back to the 9th century and was written in the most ancient script that contains code that no one, even those who claim to be able to read rune can interpret. It is thought that the writer was familiar not only with two or three rune alphabets, but also a code that, perhaps, contains magic and was intended not to be interpreted. There are lots of rune stones all over this country, as you have seen in prior posts, but nothing like this one. It has inscriptions on all sides except the bottom, which was meant to be buried. 

[Farms, fields, local ski resort, and a windmill along the road. Note the window at the top of the barn. They are like that all over the south of Sweden. We had not noticed that anywhere else.]

 The town also has an ancient glass artist shop. The owner is fourth generation and his son, who now does most of the work is the fifth generation. The pieces we saw were beautiful. We were not supposed to take pictures, so you will have to take my word for it. I had to take a phone call while Olivia continued her conversation with the owner. When I returned, she told me that he did glass engraving. I asked the same question that you are no doubt asking, "You mean etching?" No, engraving. The glass in one of the churches is about an inch thick and of the finest glass. He then carves into the glass. He showed us pictures of beautiful engravings of Mary, and some of Sweden's flora and fauna. There were some items I would have loved to buy, but did not for two reasons: 1. we would have to find a way to get it home and 2. they were priced at about $600 to $700. We did buy a piece for about $40.
[It was Valentine's day (almost), after all. She deserved it!]







[The rune from various angles. The church was built in the 13th century, a wall torn down and turned into a granary and storage facility for hay, then restored in the 18th century. It is just behind the rune. Click on the pictures for a close-up view.]

Then, on to Alingsås where we checked into our room at the hotel and found our way to the school where the YSA event was taking place. We still had a little time so we found a Turkish restaurant and had a nice meal of things I could not pronounce or guess what they were, but it was probably lamb and vegetables along with something I did recognize - French fries. It was all very good.

At the school, we were immediately put to work making pizzas. They had kits with cold dough and a small bottle of sauce. We pressed out the dough with our fingers, applied the sauce and added such things as cheese, meats, pineapple, etc. The school had 20 or more ovens for the cooking classes and we used them all. Part way through, however, the breaker flipped and we lost half our ovens. Security was called to restore the power. In the meantime, we moved the baking to the other half and continued. We prepared close to 80 pizzas for the crowd of about 240. We could have prepared more and they would have eaten them. This was not dinner, it was a midnight snack. Young people can eat. A lot.

Because they had us working so late, we didn't have to show up for Saturday until time to assist for the evening meal. It was a catered event, so we just had to set out the dishes and utensils and keep the lines moving. Of course, we had to make sure the garbage was properly sorted. After the dishes and clean up we made sure that everything was otherwise in order. We went into the school where the young folks were preparing for the dance. It was a Great Gatsby theme and the costumes, especially the dresses and makeup were a lot of fun. One young woman approached Elder Swenson and me saying that she needed a blessing, but that she was prompted to have one of the young men offer it instead of a couple of geezers (not exactly her words, but we got the message). I loaned my oil to a couple of young men from England, one of whom recently returned from serving his mission here and they did an excellent job.

Sunday morning we were there early, to prepare breakfast and sack lunches. I helped put out the breakfast food which included lots of cereal and muesli upon which they poured milk, yogurt, or buttermilk (seriously). There was also a variety of juices which included orange, apple and rose hip juice, some breads, cheese, and much more. Olivia helped pack sack lunches for all 240 attendees. There were special meals for gluten and lactose intolerant, vegan and those allergic to certain fruits.

Following the meal we cleaned up the lunch area and got to the sacrament meeting just as it started. The meeting was presided over by a member of the stake presidency. It was a testimony meeting and, as is often the case, there was not enough time for everyone who wanted to participate. Attending it made all the work worth it.

 Elder and Sister Watson, advised the YSA Council in Göteborg for the event. Sister Watson is a tireless worker, but she came down with a case of the flu and was so weak, he had to take her home, so we and the others proceeded without them. There were several people from the Göteborg stake who helped and knew what to do, so we were grateful for them. We also worked with many of our senior couple friends. The Pettits who were traveling on to Malmö after the event, made themselves available. The Halls who are the YSA couple from Stockholm and the Mitchells who came up from Malmö were also pressed into service. We met the couple who are responsible for the YSA programs for all of western Europe, including Scandinavia, and much of eastern Europe, Elder and Sister Swenson. It turns out that they are from Salem, Utah and know my brother Rudy and his family. We had a wonderful visit with them. 

[L to R: Pettits, Mitchells, Swensons, us at MAX Burgers on Saturday. The Halls were at the conference registration desk.]

[The Swensons with us. Rudy's family will recognize them. We loved getting to know them.]

[The conference ended Sunday with a testimony meeting. As is usually the case, there was not adequate time for everyone who wanted to bear testimony. It was a gratifying experience.]


[The Watsons had invited us all for Sunday dinner, but with her being sick, these four Sisters,on Saturday, made a menu and went to the store so we could still have our dinner. The Mitchells, who stayed in the empty apartment in Väster Förlunda (vester furloonda), which is nearby, invited us over and we still had a wonderful meal. Halls were also missing as they were driving back with the van of the YSAs from Stockholm.]

Monday the real work began. We met Elder Watson at the apartment in Kållered (coal'-ah-red) where we would be moving the elders who are vacating their apartment in Kungsbacka. We went over all that needed to be done and once again called the apartment company about getting parking for the missionaries. We spent the rest of the day and the next cleaning the apartment and repairing what needed our attention. Elder Watson, by this time had contracted the flu and was out of commission. 

We then moved the elders into the apartment and started taking things out of the Kungsbacka apartment. It was a bit confusing because the information sheet said that everything in the apartment belonged to the mission, but Elder Watson identified only a few items that were actually moved into the apartment, the rest being there when the missionaries arrived one year ago.  We breathed a sigh of relief that we only had to store a few items, but when we got back to the apartment (we stayed in the Västra Förlunda apartment after the Mitchells left), I emailed the former apartment couple who are now back in Utah and asked for an explanation. They explained that when the former residents moved, the mission paid them an amount to purchase everything they left behind! Now we had to find more storage space and move everything out.

I rented a large van from the local OKQ8 gas station and Elder Watson, who recovered much faster than his wife, drove the trusty Ford van. Elder Watson was a genius at packing the van and storage units. We called the sisters who are serving in Väster Frölunda and found that their storage space was almost empty, so between theirs and the elders' storage in Kållered we had barely enough space to store everything.
[This is much bigger than it looks. It held the two couches, kitchen table, chairs, coffee tables, boxes and boxes of dishes, pots and pans, etc. etc. By a miracle we got them all into the sisters' storage space.]

The elders, Elder Watson and I loaded and unloaded the big van and the Ford and the sisters helped Olivia deep clean the apartment. They were all hard workers and looked for opportunities to serve without complaining; in fact, the opposite. They were cheerful about it.

[Not sure what, but I am repairing something in the apartment]

[After moving the elders in, we took them to Burger King. Elder Roylance and Elder Liljenquist (he likes the Swedish pronunciation lil'-yen-kveest)]

[The cleaning and moving crew at the Kungsbacka apartment. Olivia, Sister Heaps, Sister Olsen, me, Elder Watson, Elder Wilson (Elder Liljenquist was on splits with Elder Wilson's companion) and Elder Roylance whose long arms make him the selfie master.]

By this time, Olivia came down with the flu. She asked for a blessing and thus had strength to assist the sisters with the cleaning. She was still not feeling good, but well enough to accompany me to meet with the elders in Halmstad who took us to an apartment we may be interested in renting if they open the area for sisters, there.

[Olivia and Elder Porter in the prospective apartment]






[Elder Porter and Elder Groberg in Halmstad]

[Exhausted and sick at the end of the day]

Friday morning we returned the keys to Elder Watson and headed home by way of Örebro (ur'-a-bro) where we stopped, delivered two desks and two chairs to the sisters there. They were still in boxes, so we assisted the sisters in putting them together. 
[We worked on one desk while Sister Pickett and Sister Christoffersen put the other one together. They did two chairs and most of the desk while we worked on one desk. We did assist with the final touches and repairing a couple of things that were done wrong. We had done them wrong on ours, so we knew what to fix.]

Finally, we were on our way home. We arrived Friday evening and I tried to do whatever I could so Olivia could rest, but she still had to fetch and carry a little. We were so happy to be back to our little apartment, in familiar surroundings, eating in our own kitchen and sleeping in our own bed.

Saturday, Olivia stayed in bed except to get up for meals and to watch a Poirot episode with me. I did all the laundry, ironing, prepared the meals, did the dishes, washed the car and filled it with gas, and went to the office where I could drop off all the cleaning, painting, and packing supplies and picked up some items for the elders in Uppsala. I do not want to be a housewife - ever!

Sunday, I went to church alone while she stayed home and slept. Much to her dismay, she still was not well enough to accept an invitation to have dinner with the Clouses, Beckstrands and some young men who had served their missions here and returned for a visit.  Today, she is much recovered, but is still not at the top of her game. We are taking it easy. We need it. I am still doing the kitchen chores, primarily because I want her touching nothing!

We hope all is well with you. We love the opportunity to serve these young missionaries and lighten the load of the mission president. It is satisfying work - and it is work.

Please keep in touch.

Sunday, February 5, 2017

Where is Mary Poppins When You Need Her?

For those who asked about the hat I bought here it is. Don't be jealous. Serve a mission and you can have one, too!


This was transfer week and the week we began moving missionaries out of apartments we are losing and into new apartments. Both are time demanding, but fulfilling.

We lost Elder Bringhurst and Sister Wilson from our ward in Uppsala. Sister Wilson has been there since before we arrived and Elder Bringhurst was in the group at the MTC with us who arrived a few days after we arrived. He was replaced by Elder Malone from Chandler, AZ who also came out with us, so this is his first transfer. Sister Hatch came to replace Sister Wilson. We had met her a few times when we inspected her apartment. The sisters in Uppsala are Sister Leader Trainers (STLs), so it is an honor to serve here. Sister Hatch seems to be ready for the challenge.

[Elder Bringhurst's and Sister Wilson's last Sunday in the Uppsala Ward. They will be missed.]

Monday was our P day for the most part as we tried to finish laundry from the Norrland trip. I say tried, because wash cycles are between 2 and 2.5 hours long. It seems that this is because so little water is used in the process. Whoever convinced Swedes that they need to conserve water should be selling snowballs to Eskimos. Still, it works and the clothes come out quite clean. We don't have a dryer, so we just hang out our clothes in the living room with a specially made clothes rack. In a way it is a blessing as the dryer cycles are similar in length. The dryers are not vented, but displace the moisture, so a tray has to be emptied after the drying cycle. It is amazing technology, really.

We learned at our previous office meeting that a new president has been called, but it had not yet been announced, so we didn't know who it was to be. This last meeting, on Monday, we learned that it is Michael Youngberg who is presently from Orem, UT. He and his wife just moved there from Ketchikan, AK where he recently served as a stake president. He served his mission here in Sweden and it looks like he has kept up his language skills. We sort of stalked him in FB and noticed that some people are communicating with him in Swedish. They will no doubt be wonderful people. We will be here with them longer than any other couple. Most will be going home either just before or with the current president, others will leave a month or two after he and his wife arrive. We will be here for over a year with them.

Again, we assisted with the incoming missionaries, meeting them at the airport and helping them get to the cars and to get their baggage to the bag van. We weren't needed for transportation, this time as the mission van is out of the shop. That opened the day for us to meet the missionaries at the new apartment to get an idea of what they will need. It is an apartment that used to house missionaries, but has not been used for the last year. 
 [We took a load of bedding out of the apartment to wash so it can be used by the incoming missionaries]

The following day we assisted with the luncheon for the incoming missionaries and were present when they received their area assignments and met their trainer companions. It is always an exciting moment, so all work in the kitchen stops for those few moments so we can watch.

Later, that evening we assisted with the dinner and testimony meeting for the departing missionaries. We sit at an adjoining table where we can listen to these missionaries who were MTC buddies and are now finished with their missions. The war stories and the comparisons of members and investigators they have known is always fun to hear. The testimony meeting is always a powerful setting. What is interesting to me is that these are men (no women in this group) who have done the job of men, who have worked and have struggled through difficult situations that few men of my acquaintance have had to endure, yet when they talk about their futures they are not sure what they want to be when they grow up. Hopefully, this will be a launching pad for greater things to come. We have great confidence in this group. We know most of them quite well.

Then came Thursday and we tried to channel Mary Poppins to no avail. Apparently, it is an unwritten rule that all missionary apartments must be on the top floor of an apartment building unless there is an elevator large enough for furniture. In the latter case it is on the first floor. We moved the elders from the top floor of the "treehouse" apartment to the top floor of the new apartment. That meant up and down stairs carrying furniture, boxes full of dishes, clothes, bedding etc., etc.  
[It is called the treehouse because someone put a tree trunk with branches in the entry where they hang coats, and it is as high as the tree tops.]
[Of course, if there is a challenge, 18-20 year-olds must take it. This little balcony is just for viewing the park and letting in the air, but they had to go out and close the window behind them, didn't they? Luckily, the bolts held and no one fell to their deaths]









[Our moving crew: We recruited the POEs because they still had the huge bag van to move luggage from the airport to the mission home and from the mission home to the train station for the incoming missionaries. They would use it again to assist the departing missionaries to the airport. In the meantime, it was ours to move the beds, sofa, chairs, etc. The missionaries being moved recruited another set of missionaries from the area, as well. I can't imagine this task without the help of strong young men. Pictured are Elder Christly (POE), Elder Frankman, Elder Pfost (moving out), Elder Pack (POE), Elder Hawkins (POE) Elder Cotton, and Elder Richardson (moving out)]

The end of the day we hauled some items to the new apartment, but because it was already fully appointed, the other items went to the garage at the mission office, or to a new apartment in Stockholm where we will be moving elders in at the end of the month. There we moved in some chairs and desks. Again up the stairs. There is an elevator that will allow about 2 people (three elders who cannot pass by a challenge), but no furniture. The POEs were, again, a great help.




[Moving the furniture into a very small apartment in Stockholm. Normally, the overstuffed chairs would be carried by two people, but as you saw earlier, they can be carried by one over the head, this time, however, it was carried up four flights of steep stairs. They were ready for a rest, then. By this time of the day, my knees were really complaining. They were better the next day.]

Part of the deal for letting us use the bag van was that we would take a load, mostly of pallets to the Återvinning Central. It was good because we had other things that needed to be tossed. We got pictures this time. It is not like any city dump with which we were familiar prior to coming here.

[On one side of the dump are huge bins that are labeled. The one behind us is for cardboard, behind that is gypsum, wood, metal, glass, hard plastic, etc. In front of us (not pictured) is the place for pressurized cans, and other potential extreme combustibles like kerosene, nail polish, etc. On the other side are special bins for clothing that will go to the refugees, electronics, batteries, plastic bags, paper and newspapers.]

[This is the only woman we have seen at the dump. The men who work there are not as bright as she is. She speaks English quite well (the men don't) and is very proud of her dump. She makes the point that we don't have to pay to dump because they make money with what they recycle and the combustibles are used to fuel the power plants. Note her clothes. It is dark so much of the work day that she needs to be seen, thus all the reflective stripes.]

We spent most of Friday cleaning the treehouse apartment to get it ready for turning over to the owner. As we cleaned, the owner came up to talk to us. He told us that he had sent an email asking us to renegotiate a new lease, but by that time it was too late. I wasn't too anxious to re-up as he has been a difficult landlord for some time. I had stepped out for a few minutes to get some paper towels at the store when he came in to talk to Olivia. He was surprised to find that we have 80 apartments to take care of in this country. I think he thought that we were some corner church that springs up from time to time.


[I cleaned the windows inside and out. It looks scary, but it was a nice flat surface and a relatively moderate day.]











[Olivia deep cleaned the kitchen while I deep cleaned the bathroom. Here she is finishing defrosting the freezer. She just finished degreasing the stove and oven.]










[I have discovered that if we pack a lunch, Olivia can be convinced to stop long enough to eat it. This is tuna on a delicious rye/multigrain cracker with lettuce and cheese. We are spoiled with the crackers, produce and cheese available here.]

Saturday, I made another trip to the Återvinning Central, did some shopping, got gas and washed the car while Olivia prepared dinner for our annual Burns Supper. We have wonderful friends among the other senior couples in the local area and all but one were able to come. We had also invited the Södertälje (pronounced sudder-till'-ya) Ward bishop who is from Scotland, but they couldn't arrange for a baby sitter.

Since Elder Smith served his mission in Scotland we had some fun with the dialect. He recited the "Selkirk Grace", I did the "Address to a Haggis" and the Burns tribute, Elder Hall, the toast to the lassies and Sister Clouse, the toast to the laddies. The biggest hit of the evening was the amazing food. Olivia outdid herself, once again. The neeps were sweet, the mince and tatties were a huge hit, the haggis was especially good (she even found browning bags here) and the other ladies brought the trifle, shortbread and scones. I did mix one batch of the scotch and soda (Mormon style - half creme soda and half lemon/lime juice). The Clouses even bought matching plaid shirts. Something completely against Elder Clouse's nature (or so he declares. Truth is he loved it.)


[Olivia, Sister Smith, Elder Smith, Sister Hall, Elder Hall, Elder Clouse, Sister Clouse and me. Wi' oor well-feld kytes bent like drums (in other words, we were happily full.)]
["His knife, see rustic labour's dight, an' cut ye up wi' ready slight, trenchin' yer gushin' entrals bright like ony ditch. An' then, what a glorious sight - warm, reekin', rich." Elder Hall got Elder Smith to assist with the toast to the lassies.]


[The Clouses came in plaid. Very cool, don't you agree?]

Today, we got to do some real missionary work. Our new sister missionary, Sister Hatch, got the idea to search the phone for numbers that hadn't been contacted for a while. One number was a man from Uganda who agreed to meet with them this coming Wednesday. On his own, he found his way by bus to the church and made his acquaintance with the sisters, neither of whom he had met before. In Sunday School, he was the only investigator, and the Gospel Principles teacher was absent, so the sisters taught him a shortened version of the first lesson. We got to sit in and observe two skillful missionaries do their work. Before they ended, Olivia tearfully bore testimony of the Book of Mormon. I have never, in over 44 years of knowing her, heard her talk about the Book of Mormon without shedding tears. I was able to join in and bear testimony of Joseph Smith and the Restoration. He is anxious to come back and bring his two daughters. I hope the missionaries get to meet them before they come to church next Sunday.

We love and miss you all.We are glad you are busy in good things. We pray for you and wish you the best. Or, as they say in Scotland (not Sweden, this time), "Lang may yer lum reek!"