Forest, Glass, Apartments and Växjö (bet you said it wrong)

Växjö (pronounced something like veh'-kwa) is the center of the glass making industry in this country. It is also the place where we spent most of the last week. It is about 5.5 hours south from our apartment, and in the northern part of a region known as Småland (pronounced smoa-land). It is just north of Skåne (prounced scone'-a), and some literature includes this area in Skåne. If you have ancestors from Sweden, there is a good chance that they came from a place in Skåne. Olivia's ancestors came from Malmö (pronounced Mahl'mah, not Mal'moe), Kristianstad (pronounced ker-wan'-stod, I can't tell you why it's not kristi-an'-stod. It's a Skåne thing), Lund (loond), and several other southern cities are in Skåne. For some reason, when we meet an American with Swedish ancestry, it seems they came from the south.

We traveled to Växjö to close an apartment and prepare it for the return to the owner. On the way there we made a detour to the city of Halmstad. It is there that we recently acquired an apartment which is now inhabited by sister missionaries: Sister Anderson and Sister Shin, two of the finest missionaries in the country. Prior to their moving in, the Mitchells, a senior couple serving in Lund, traveled up and made an inventory. They also made a list of the things the apartment is missing, so we brought those items with us. The elders in Halmstad were instrumental in finding the apartment and helping the Mitchells move the sisters in. We invited the elders and sisters to have dinner with us as thanks for their help.

Elder Porter, Elder Groberg, Olivia, Sister Shin, me, Sister Anderson (no relation, but we are proud to share her name)

We would have liked to have spent more time in this beautiful city with its towering cathedral, ancient streets and quaint shops, but we still had a couple of hours to go before we could settle in for the night.

We spent the first night in the apartment, which we began vacating the next morning. The apartment had been used by a senior couple, and was not in terrible condition, but it had been vacant for over a year and a half. We had no inexpensive storage except what was left in the elders' storage area, so we stored what we could there. The rest became the property of the second hand store (it's what they call thrift stores, here), because renting a storage unit would have been more expensive than buying new furniture. So they got some really nice things.

The Mitchells came up from Lund and helped us most of the day on Tuesday. We used the elders' youth and strength to take the beds, tables and some beautiful stacking chairs from the apartment to their storage space. There were some heavy items, especially the beds, so they earned their lunch. They also had to find a place to store their bicycles, which they had been storing in the couple's apartment, along with dirt and leaves that had come in with their bikes.

Elders Gentry, Harper, and Mitchell, Sister Mitchell, Olivia and me 

The couples' apartment became the storage unit for the elders' bikes. All the furniture
in the room also had to be taken out and hauled to the 2nd hand store.

The cleaning began in earnest that day with Elder Mitchell and me hauling things away and Sister Mitchell and Olivia in the kitchen. Cupboards, counter tops, and storage in the stove and above the refrigerator had to be emptied, sorted between what would come back with us, or taken by the Mitchells (they check apartments in the zone down south) to be used in other apartments and that which would go to the second hand store. That done, the stove, fridge, cupboards and windows had to be cleaned of years of grease, dirt and food particles that have been hiding. Floors, we have learned, should wait until the very last day, otherwise you end up cleaning them several times.

Do these look as evil to you as they do to us?

The elders had to leave early in the afternoon, leaving Elder Mitchell and me to move the sofa and chair as well as other heavy items, so we made a quick trip to the Biltema store which is kind of a hardware/auto parts combination and picked up a set of snow mobile dollies that we used to move furniture. The Biltema is one of those stores where you walk in and say to yourself, "There is nothing in this store I don't need!" The dollies worked great, saving our backs and the furniture which we certainly would have dropped along the way to the van.

The Mitchells stayed much longer than they initially thought they would as they don't like driving in the dark. Now that the days are about 12 hours long, they felt comfortable leaving a little later. Olivia and I continued working into the evening, checked into our hotel (?) and got some dinner.  The hotel has no office, no assistance in finding your room or anything of the sort. We received an email telling us which room was ours and the code to the key box outside the door, so we could get in. The problem  was that it was sent to us during the time that we were traveling, so we had no access to the internet and didn't see the email. We tried calling the customer service number, but no one chose to answer. Finally, in desperation we knocked on the door of a room where the light was on. It was answered by a very nice couple from Egypt. They called another number and let me talk with the representative while they talked to Olivia about the many wonderful reasons we should visit their country. They offered us (Olivia) tea and biscuits, so they got an introduction to our health code and she got an introduction to theirs (alcohol is very bad for you, they were Muslim). We could not leave their apartment without trying the delicious cookies the wife offered us. 

 

The hotel is called "Easy Livin'" and now that we know how it works, we would stay there again. Nice place, just a little different from what most of us are used to.

We needed the elders for about 15 minutes the next day to lift down the top pieces from the china cabinets and help me carry them to the van. The rest of the day and the next day were spent cleaning and repairing all we could manage. We worked into the night and all the next morning to be ready for the inspector. He came at about 2:00 PM, just as we were finishing the last of the floors. It was a very thorough inspection, at the end of which he declared that it was the best he had seen of the apartments that had been returned to his company. When Elder Mitchell had met with the company representative who wanted to inspect for damage some weeks ago, it was suggested that we hire a company to do this work. I asked him, "If you were a landlord would you  prefer to have a company who hired high school dropouts or emigrants who had never experienced a clean house or someone who had been to drill sergeants' school to clean your apartment." I have been to a mini-drill sergeants' school, but I think Olivia could teach them a thing or two about thorough cleaning!

Elder Gentry

Elder Harper

After packing the van and getting a quick bite to eat, we decided to stay another day, so we found a nice hotel for a very good price which included the evening meal and breakfast, right in the center of town. It was a Clarion Hotel, but of course the name on the building was Hotel Cardinal. The clerk with whom I spent half an hour on the phone as he guided me to the building, could not understand why I was confused. I guess Cardinal means Clarion in Swedish. OK, I'm being a little snarky, there were microscopic signs on the sidewalk that said Clarion. At any rate, once we got there and warmed up a little we had a nice meal and retired early. 

You can see the Clarion signs, right?

Before checking in, we toured the Dom Kyrka (dome shirka, in case you forgot how to pronounce it). A Dom Kyrka is the main cathedral for a diocese in the Swedish Church (Lutheran), so there are a few in the country. This on is not as large as the Dom Kyrka in Uppsala, but still impressive. The sight of twin spires on a church building is not unusual, but these are so small in circumference that they do look quite unusual. The tour guide book we use call them an ode to Pippy Longstockings. The original church has burned down several times so it is more recent a building than many of those we have visited in our travels. I think this was built most recently in the 19th century, so it still has the very thick walls covered with stucco, and inside there are ancient items such as a magnificent painting of the Last Supper. There are also modern items such as a tree of life whose branches are all colored glass. Hanging on the glass are glass figures and apples. Very modern and quite beautiful. When we went in we were the only visitors, but the organist is hired to play during the time we were there and she was masterful. 

Can you see Pippy Longstockings' legs poking up?

Beautifully crafted copper doors

The thumb goes away. This video has some of the organ music
and a panoramic view of the inside. Unfortunately, we didn't get a good
photo of the Tree of Life

The Last Supper

The organ

 

The next day we went first to one of the glass factories where glass blowing is still done for goblets and stem ware as well as beautiful pieces of art and some where beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but not in the eye of every beholder. 

Outside the campus where the glass is made and
where there is a museum and a shop.

Here they are creating a work of art by a famous glass artist, Bertil Valien.
He is not present, but depends on his assistant to supervise.

The finished pieces

Inside the glass factory

A piece he produced earlier in the week

This artist is famous for his glass boats.

Making goblets (notice when they add the
trademark swirling line right at the
beginning)

Putting the flange at the bottom of the glass

Showing us the final product. No barriers, we were free to walk all around the workers and their work stations. We were careful not to disturb them, but they were proud to let us photograph them.

Some of the art is displayed below. Here we are
in a hallway with mirrors strategically placed to
create a visual tunnel showing the glass chandelier
all the way down to infinity. Remind you of anywhere?

  

 

 

 On our way out of Växjö, we took the opportunity to view one of the few ruins in this country. Unlike our experience in Great Britain, most ancient castles and other structures are preserved; many are still used for various purposes. This is only accessible by a foot bridge, which, unfortunately is being rebuilt and was not complete, so we could only view it from the shore.

Kronoberg castle ruins

As we travel around the country we notice that there is a thriving lumber trade. Logging takes place in both the north and the south. Here we were on back roads, so we were able to stop and get a close up view of some of the operation. In the north, there are paper mills in several of the towns which give them a distinctive odor. No paper mills in this part of the country. The glass works started here in 1742 because of the availability of enough fuel to heat the furnaces to the required 2552 degrees.

It looks like a big stack, but it is a fairly common sight

The afternoon was spent back in Växjö where one ticket gets you in to three different museums. A glass museum where some of the glass you see above was photographed; the Småland Museum (another term for the local county) and the Immigration Museum. The latter is a museum depicting the immigration of Swedes from Sweden to America. It mostly shows the migration to the Midwest, but there is a mention of the Mormons as well as the Baptists. In those early days, the law specifically allowed persecution of any sect other than the Swedish Church, so it was a pretty easy decision for converts to leave the country for Utah.  There was also a significant population that moved to Texas to work on ranches.

Mormons. I think they underestimated the numbers

For our Texas relatives, did you know this?

Back home we did manage to visit another museum in Stockholm. It is built under what looks like a bridge from above, but is where during the construction of a parking lot for the parliament building, foundations and objects from Medieval Sweden were found. Unfortunately, we got no pictures, but it is a place where we will take visitors when they come, here. It is one of the better museums for both children and adults.

Last week we were asked to teach a lesson in the Gospel Principles class this week as the Ward Mission Leader would be out of town. The lessons are taught in English because some of the investigators are foreign to Sweden and English is a common language. We have had very few attending the past few weeks, but today we had several. What a wonderful feeling to teach the Gospel as a companionship. We do make a good team, in my humble opinion. 

After the lesson, the wife of a member announced that she intends to be baptized before she returns to Iran where she and her husband are both citizens. She returns from time to time for her employment, but their home is here. She has had a baptismal date before, but changed her mind. Today, she was so certain and so happy to tell us. I asked her if the political situation was safe for Christians in Iran. She sadly told me that it was extremely dangerous. You have to admire such courage. 

Long post today. We wish you all the very happiest of days this coming week. We love you and love serving the Lord on this mission.