Bikes, Vaxholm, Temple and Olivia Gets Down and Dirty

Except for an interesting trip to Vaxholm, it has been a week of service with the Jakobsberg sisters at the beginning and the end. Olivia managed to get garden soil under her fingernails and we celebrated Mothers' Day in Sweden.

We were treated so well by the Sportson bicycle shop in Barkaby that we decided to use the Sportson in Enebyberg (where the mission office is located) to get the last bike in the office garage repaired. It was not the same experience. We were told that we had to call and make an appointment and that the earliest they could possibly get to it was the end of June. We went back to Barkaby and got it done in a day. We have become friends with the head of the repair shop inside the bike store there. He loves to see us and for some reason gives us priority.

So, the Jakobsberg sisters got their bikes first thing Tuesday morning.  They required new tires and a gear shift tune up as well as the brake repair on one of them.

Same sisters as last week, but this time
with repaired bikes

 

Sister Wagner

Sister Wilson, who was happy to get the
bike back. Sister Wagner runs every morning
and Sister Wilson can only keep up by
riding the bike with her.

The Clouses and an Elder Jenson, Assistant to the President are leaving for home soon, so they arranged a trip to Vaxholm. Vaxholm is a fortress on its own island and in a strategic location to protect Stockholm because it is in what was the main water route into the city. It was established in 1544 by King Gustav Vasa and was successful in 1612 in repelling the Danes and again in 1719 to protect it from invading Russians. Most of what is there now was built in the 19th Century. It was a lengthy, methodical construction that was intended to withstand the cannons of the day, but by the time it was constructed, weaponry had become so much more sophisticated and powerful that it was already obsolete. It is said that the great Prussian Field Marshall, von Moltke only smiled twice in his life. Once when his mother-in-law died and again when he saw the Vaxholm fortress.

Near the entrance

Please, Elder Clouse,
I need a restroom!

Elder Clouse making sure
the last man standing
doesn't give up the fort.

The fortress has been, until very recently, used as offices and training for the armed services. It is basically a large museum today. In summer, it has a restaurant and a bed and breakfast on the campus.

On top of the fortress

Elder Craun in the
Last man standing enclosure.
It can be closed with a man
and his weapon inside. Slots
can be opened to shoot out at
whomever has invaded. Of
course, you can't care much for
your hearing. Ears take a
beating inside it.

All the missionaries on the ledge at the top:
Elders Stapley, Craun, Jämsä, Jensen, Pack and
Sisters Gill and Sidwell

Sisters Gill and Sidwell

An aging cutter. The white
dot above is a nesting seagull.
Enlarge the picture for a better view.

Walking between the outside
wall and the fortress wall.

Sister Anderson with the
grape shot.

View of the archipelago from the top of the fortress. 

Elder and Sister Clouse

The Elders on the anti-
aircraft gun.

Sisters, too

Sisters on the big gun

Elders on the great cannon.
Notice who is standing on the end!

The mission office needed some serious upgrading on the outside, according to Olivia. She and Sister Clouse have been discussing the fact for several weeks. The weather was finally nice enough that we were quite sure the last freeze was past, so we went to a local nursery and bought a couple of shrubs and several varieties of flowers and plants. I think the result was very pleasing; Sister Clouse was ecstatic. I helped with some of it, but there were things that needed my attention other than the planting, so the lion's share was done by Olivia.

Getting started with one
of the pots

Dug out the weeds and
some bulbs and planted
dwarf juniper shrubs

She replanted the bulbs, then tied the stems
in an overhand knot so they keep their
strength come next Spring.

Olivia with some of her handiwork - beautiful! The plants aren't
bad, either.

We helped with the temple trip for the departing elders and sister this week. The temple is closed for the next two weeks, so they had to come to Stockholm earlier than usual for their final temple experience.  Usually they go to the temple the same week that they catch the plane home. These don't leave until next week. We listen to the ceremony in Swedish until we get to parts that require our participation, then we put the headphones on to make sure we are doing it right. Now I can sleep in the temple in two languages! Progress.

The departing elders and sister. This is also the last group President
and Sister Beckstrand will accompany. They leave the last day
of June. Not sure why the pictures came out so hazy that day.

After the temple, the president treated us all to a lunch at the
Chop Chop restaurant. Think Panda Express. From left around
the table to the right: Elders Pfost, Weaver, Rowley, Sister Wilson,
Elders Walton, Murri, Jensen, Chugg, Payne, Adams, Cox and Groberg

Following the lunch we whisked them off to the Täby chapel where they spent the rest of the afternoon and evening being trained by Elder and Sister Pettit. As I have mentioned before, the Pettits' mission is Self Reliance. They travel the Nordic countries training local leaders in how to conduct the courses. For the past several transfers, they have instructed the departing missionaries in how to use the skills they have gained here to succeed in life, education, business or career, and in continuing to serve others. It is valuable training and well received by the missionaries.

This time they asked us to begin sitting in so that when they leave in October, we can be ready to take the responsibility at least as to the departing missionaries. 

Taking the vocational strengths survey

The Pettits with their very engaged class

We ended the week with a nice afternoon at the Pettits' apartment where we grilled some chicken and had a nice meal to celebrate Sister Clouse's 27th birthday. Not sure how they authorized her to serve a mission at that age, but I am quite certain she is incapable of lying, so I take her at her word.

Sister Clouse, birthday girl. Ja må hon leva uti hundrade år!

We had invited the Jakobsberg sisters to dinner and asked them to bring someone with whom they are working. We picked them up at the train station with a newly baptized young man and spent a wonderful Sunday afternoon with them.

Marouane is an immigrant from Morocco. He came to Sweden because it was easier than immigrating to the US, where he would have preferred to go. He told us he just wanted to get out of Morocco to leave Islam. He felt like a prisoner there. He has a brother here, so he was able to come to Sweden. He applied to remain in Sweden, but when he put on his application that he wanted to leave Islam, his application was read by a Muslim employee at the migration office, so his application was denied. He was advised to appeal, so three months later he was able to appear before a judge who was sympathetic to his reason for staying. 

In the meantime, he was advised by a friend to attend church in an LDS ward, here. He did and loved it. He met the missionaries and began taking the lessons. He has been active in the ward and in the Institute ever since. He speaks Arabic, French and English and now that he is able to get a personnummer he can take Swedish lessons.  He is a very good member missionary, but cannot tell his family or Moroccan friends of his conversion because it is still very dangerous.

We know that the Jakobsberg sisters have been in our blog the past several weeks, but it is coincidental. We had them in the car the night of the terrorist attack in Stockholm, along with the Jakobsberg elders and promised them a dinner. We had the elders a couple of weeks ago; now it was the sisters' turn. It was an excellent meal and a good discussion. They left us with a message and a challenge to bear our testimonies next week about the importance of families. We both accepted; and so did Marouane.

The mandatory photo under the viking ship in our meadow

The sisters wanted a picture of them
skipping down a trail leading to the
woods.

Sister Wagner, Marouane, Sister Wilson, Olivia and Me in my new suspenders.
Thanks, Sarah Anderson for sending them.

Today was Mothers' Day in Sweden, so the men sang a primary song for the Relief Society sisters and served them cake and roses. Olivia was among the last to leave, because I found the bishop's wife doing dishes, so I took over. As a result, Olivia got 3 roses, because there were several left over.

We love and miss you all. We hope your Memorial Day celebrations are filled with family and grateful memories of those who made the ultimate sacrifice. They need not have been military. Many have paid the price for our freedoms including the freedom of religion who did not serve in the military. God bless you all.

When a New Couple Arrives...

Things are a little different with the arrival of a new couple from the arrival of young missionaries. We still have the welcome at the airport with the mission president and his wife, the Clouses, the office elders, the assistants to the president and us. That, however, is where the similarities end. Sometimes, there is no place for the couple to go until the couple they are replacing have left. Such was the case when we arrived. It is also true of the arrival of Äldsta och Syster Johnson.

The Johnsons are from Draper, Utah, having recently moved from Sandy, Utah. They are in their early 60s having been able to retire early from a bank where he worked for 35 years. They have been to Sweden a few times on vacation. Elder Johnson's parents are Swedish and he served his mission here in the mid-1970s. They will be replacing Elder and Sister Hurlbut on the island of Gotland, where we were last week. In fact, Elder Johnson and Elder Hurlbut were companions for a brief time in the 70s, here in Stockholm. The Hurlbuts have arranged to stay at a branch member's home, but were not able to do so until Saturday. In the mean time, the Johnsons stayed in the guest facilities below the mission office from Tuesday until Saturday. We took them to the ferry Saturday morning and helped them board. Today, Sunday, Elder Hurlbut was released as branch president and Elder Johnson was sustained to take his place.

We were the hosts for most of the Johnsons' travels this week, taking them to migration so they are legally in Sweden, helping them find their way through a grocery store and showing them some of the hazards of driving here.  We were also able to take them to a few places of interest. 

At one point we went with them to the temple in Stockholm. Elder Johnson was able to understand the session all in Swedish. He has retained a lot of his language skills, which is pretty impressive. We have had sun, but not much heat until this week. Now we had a couple of days of warmth in a row, so Olivia's newly planted flowers are starting to grow and fill up the space around them.

The Stockholm Temple
The mound of stones is
a burial spot from the
Viking era.

The flowers Olivia and
the missionaries planted
are starting to grow

The Clouses love this Indian Restaurant.
It has become tradition to go there after
a temple session. Elder Clouse, Sister
Johnson, Olivia, me, Elder Johnson,
Sister Clouse.

While we were at the temple we met four young women, a man and wife, and one other man from Flagstaff, Arizona who were with a combined choral group consisting of an acapella chorus from Northern Arizona University and a Master Choir which is a community choral ensemble  touring Sweden, Latvia, and Estonia. They invited us to attend their concert which was happening that evening. We had planned a little dinner/reception for the Johnson to meet the other senior couples, so we arranged to have the dinner earlier in order to attend the concert. We are so happy we did. The music was absolutely beautiful. Some of it was exceptionally difficult, but the young people had memorized all the pieces and performed it flawlessly. They were joined by the church choir for one number and then, at the end, performed a Swedish hymn as an encore. We were all thrilled with the performance.

It turned out that only the Smiths were
able to join the Clouses and us for the
dinner/reception.

In front of Sofia Kyrkan

Sofia Kyrkan where the concert
was held. An old church, but the
interior is all 19th, 20th and 21st
centuries.

The NAU choir. The young women 2nd from the left, front row,
last on the right, front row and 2nd from right top row we met in
the temple.

The day we had planned to take the Johnsons to the old part of Stockholm (Gamla Stan), it was pouring rain, so we took them to Uppsala to look through the Dom Kyrka about which I have written so much. Elder Johnson's family come from Eskilstuna, so the historical areas are quite meaningful to him. We also took them to the Gamla Kyrka which is the older church in Uppsala. It is here that Anders Celsius is buried. We were not able to see his headstone because it is actually inside the church and a funeral was being held there at the time.

Celsius developed the Celsius temperature scale that those my age and older used to call centigrade. It is interesting that his scale is just the reverse of the scale that today bears his name. On his scale, 0 was the boiling point of water and 100 was freezing. Just the opposite of today.

Those my age and older are singing Peggy Lee's song Fever, right now..."...chicks were meant to give you fever, be it Fahrenheit or centigrade." Admit it. If not, you ain't got no culture.

Johnsons at the amazing Dom Kyrka

Inside the Dom Kyrka a wax figure
entitled "The return of Mary". It is
a depiction of a peasant woman.

Johnsons outside the Gamla Kyrka of Uppsala

The entrance is to the right. Just inside is the grave of
Anders Celsius.

Yes, we actually did some work, as well this week. We took the Johnsons to watch as we inspected the elders' apartment on the island of Lidingö. It was in great shape. The missionaries were on splits with the zone leaders, so we only saw Elder Hatch and Elder Goffe. Elder Hatch is training a new missionary, Elder Fortuna. Elder Goffe had lived in that apartment prior to the last transfer. There is an interesting story about Elder Goffe. A new, young missionary had been in that apartment with Elder Swenson (now also a zone leader) and had grown very close, perhaps a little dependent on him. When it came time for transfers, Elder Swenson was certain he would be transferred out for a new assignment. His companion was concerned, almost to anxiety. Elder Swenson suggested that they pray about it. At the conclusion of the prayer, Elder Swenson said to his companion, "Your new companion is Elder Goffe, and you will love him." When transfers were announced that is exactly what happened. The new missionary is now in a different area and is doing exceptionally well. Tender mercies.

We forgot to take pictures, but thought you would like to meet Elders Goffe and Swenson

We also picked up a couple of bikes to take to the shop for a tune up and some small repairs. It was the Jakobsberg sisters, again. It seems that we have been there a lot over the past month or so. They are close by, so it is no bother for us.

Sisters Wilson and Wagner. The Smiths attend their ward and
tell us that these two sisters are constantly teaching, committing
and baptizing. The ward loves them. We are always happy to serve them.

We love hearing from those of you who take the time to read this blog. I include some detail that may not matter to you, but this is also my journal. Olivia keeps a written one separate from this, so we have a pretty good record of our comings and goings. We wish you a wonderful week. Hej då!

Gratis På Mors Dag

The Mothers' Day greeting is either, "Gratis på mors dag," or "Glad mors dag." Congratulations on Mothers' Day or Happy Mothers' Day. Most words we capitalize, they do not and they never use an apostrophe to show possession because when the letter "s" is used it is almost always to show possessive form. Plural words end in "r" or sometimes "n."

In any case we hope you moms, grandmothers and future mothers had as nice a day as Olivia had. All four missionaries serving in Uppsala gave her cards with wonderful, heartfelt sentiments and an elder in Malmö even called her because she had been so kind when he lost the keys to his apartment and we had to relocate him and his companion until we could get a locksmith out to their apartment. She also got a little heart-shaped paper colored with red marker from Nandia, her little Mongolian friend to whom she gave a scripture case for her baptism. All the kids called, attempted to call or sent a gift card, so the day was quite complete.

Mothers' Day here is not for another couple of weeks, so she will get a double dose this month. Fathers' Day is in November and no one seems to care, so it passed by last year without our even noticing it.

What a busy week! We were able to help some of the missionaries whose apartments needed attention in one way or another and we ended the week in Gotland. The mission president asked the Clouses to take us to the island of Gotland before they go home and this was the best week for them. We have wanted to see the apartments on the island where the senior couple and the elders live, so this was a good opportunity for us.

Summer is rumored to be on its way which means very little darkness. Some of the apartments don't have blackout blinds or curtains, so we have been installing them. It's hard to be in bed by 10:00 when it still looks like 6:00 outside.

Elders Nielsen and Williams.
They would not have to wait a
billion years for something to
crawl out of the drain I cleaned!

Sisters Wilson and Wagner with their
blackout blind. We also exchanged an
old, beat up bed for a better one.

Elders Dean and Scott who got rid of their
old office chair which was stuffed in next
to the sisters' old bed. We got them a new one and cleaned out their closet. We contributed lots to the recycle dump that day!

Gotland (goat' lawnd) is situated off the east coast of Sweden and has been inhabited for thousands of years. It gets its name from the fact that the island has long been a refuge for wild goats that have long since been domesticated. We saw no goats, but lots of sheep in our travels. Gotland has been a major trading post for the inhabitants of the island as well as those who simply went there from their countries to trade and return. In Medieval times it was inhabited by Germans and was part of Sweden or Denmark, whichever had the most successful army at the time. It was also inhabited by the Vikings who brought treasure from all over the isles of Britain and the countries of Europe. Their hoards of treasure was incalculable. What is now known in the local museums and the Sweden Historical Museum in Stockholm would be worth millions of dollars just as precious metals. With the historical value, it would be impossible to calculate. Who knows how much more was possessed, but not now available?

To get to Gotland it is necessary to take a ferry ride of about 3 hours each way. We rode in the Clouse's car because it is smaller and cost less because it took up less room.

The ramp into the belly of the ferry

Our ferry, Destination Gotland

On the sun deck of the ferry. The wind was cold even though the sun was shining.  We could have used more warm clothing. We are on the Baltic Sea, here.

The major city on the island is Visby. The old city is surrounded by a wall that was built in the mid 14th century and reinforced, added to, reconstructed, and rebuilt in various places over the centuries that followed. It is amazing to think that by the time Columbus sailed to the Americas, some of these structures were already old and crumbling.

A section of the wall in the center of the
city.

The main gate today is still
in use. A road large enough
for cars goes through it.

Another main gate still in use.

Along the wall are towers.
This one is built from the
ground up. Others are "hanging"
i.e. built onto the wall.

The Visby Dom Kyrka as seen from the wall.

One of the few towers visitors are allowed to go into.

A reinforced tower on the seaward side.
The holes are expanded to allow for cannons.

There are paths on the inside and on the outside of the wall.
This is inside, next to the botanical gardens.

This was once a major entry as
it enters from the port to what was
an open-air market and shops.

The Powder Tower is older
than the wall by 100+ years.
It was later incorporated into
the wall. It is so named because
in the 18th century it was a gun 
powder magazine. Later it was a
Jail. The wall terminates here today.

These concrete goats are everywhere that the city does not want cars to drive. Some places have several to also keep out mopeds and motorcycles. 

There are over 100 churches on the small island, most are still standing and still in use. We only visited the Visby Dom Kyrka, Stenkyrka, and Fårö. A dom kyrka (dome shirka) is the cathedral for the diocese and is usually massive and ornate. This one is both, though not as ornate inside as others we have visited. However, the stone images on the outside of the church are magnificent. Inside is artwork from the 12th and 13th centuries as well as the 18th century. The contrast is stark. The earlier pieces, both paint and wood carvings are almost childlike. The later pieces are much more representational. All are very European. 

The Dom Kyrka from the old town square.
Behind the buildings on the right is the
wall of the old city. Note the heavy
German influence in the architecture.

The massive Dom Kyrka

Stone carving of St. Mary and
babe.

St. Anne, the mother of Mary.

One of the many gargoyles 

Bas relief around one of the columns

Ancient wooden sculpture, painted and guilded.

Probably 12th century depiction
of Adam and Eve's expulsion from
the Garden of Eden

The organ built in 1599 is in the final stages
of being restored. A recital is scheduled later
this Spring.

The alter piece is carved and painted wood
sculpture of the Last Supper. To the sides
are the apostles who wrote the Gospels
and named angels such as Gabriel and
Michael.

A short distance from the Dom Kyrka is the Stora Torget (stora toryet meaning the stone tower). It is not a tower, but the ruins of a beautiful, monumental church. There are still gravestone markers, a baptismal font and some other original items, but mostly just the skeleton. The skill that went into these old buildings is amazing to me. It is all done by hand and yet the workmanship is not only beautiful, but absolutely precise.

From the outside

Inside

The speck at the end is Olivia with her hands outstretched.
Gives some perspective

By the baptismal font

The Stenkyrka (sten'-shirka meaning stone church) was built in the 12th century and has the oldest grave site in Gotland. Most of the churches in the northern part of the island are very similar in architecture. This one has a baptismal font for sprinkling babies from the 12th century. There are murals that are almost impossible to make out from the 13th and 14th centuries. The pulpit and pew paintings are from the 17th century.

Outside the Stenkyrka from different perspectives.

The organ and paintings in front of it.

Pews with paintings on the sides. It is
hard to see, but the walls have ancient
murals that are mostly faded.

Closer view of pews

Alter piece is classic 14th century.

Sister Clouse is preaching
about something of which I
don't wish to repent, it seems!

Some of the less faded murals

The arches are a work of art

Arches and murals

The sheep are horned and in need of shearing. This is just outside of the church.

Fårö Kyrka

North of the island of Gotland is a smaller island known as Fårö (fore'-uh). The Fårö kyrka was built during the 13th century, but fell into ruin. It was reconstructed in 1858 when a number of older structures were restored. It boasts of having the grave of the movie producer/director Ingmar Bergman and his 7th wife, Ingrid (not to be confused with the movie actress from Sweden who was also Ingrid Bergman). There is a Bergman museum across the street, but we didn't go inside it. The church also has art from different centuries, most notable are paintings, one from 1618 (close to the actual event) and the other from 1767(when the first one was discovered) depicting the tale of 15 seal hunters who were crossing the ice when it broke away. Three were able to jump off and went to a nearby village. The other 12 were rescued two weeks later in the archipelago of Stockholm. They apparently lived on the meat and blubber of the seals and water from the ice upon which they were floating.

 

This is the 1618 painting and narrative of the 15 seal hunters. 

Throughout the Gotland churches there
are nautical depictions, such a angels
with anchors or other beings with boats
or sails. This has a ship in the middle
hanging from the ceiling. 

Ingmar Bergman's grave

The island of Fårö is best known for its rock formations. They are called chalk, though they look like the formations you might see around Pyramid Lake or Mono Lake. 

The most famous rock formation. To us
it looks like a dog peering over its left
shoulder.

Many of the formations are in layers 

Look closely and you can find fossils
of shells and maybe snails or coral in
the limestone. This is a fossil collector's
dreamland. 

This is called the virgin rock or sacrifice. The legend is
that the king's daughter fell in love with a peasant. The king
had the girl put on the top of the rock. Then he told the lad that if he
could carry his daughter from the top of the rock safely to the bottom
he could marry her. Part way down an arrow pierced the young man's
head and they both fell to their death. The arrow was from the king's bow.

This little island is also known for quaint fishing villages that are vacant until summer. We loved visiting this and one other on the island.

This little shop was open and featured
fresh salmon, shrimp and albacore as
well as smoked fish and shrimp. We
bought bottled water.

Olivia and Sister Clouse in a boat that
has seen better days

A farm house and out buildings with
thatched roofs.

Quaint little fishing village.

With the sea reflecting on the glass, the windows looked almost like
impressionist paintings

Back on the main island we enjoyed the sunset at the Högklint, a cliff where there is a ledge called Getsvelten (starving goat). The sunset was almost pastel as the wind died and the sunlight filtered through the clouds which reflected the obscured rays off the ocean.  The ledge is so named because goats would jump down onto the ledge to get to the lush grass, but couldn't get back up, so they starved to death.

Of course, photos don't do it justice

At the edge of the Högklint

The pastel colors were beautiful

Get the picture?

More sunset. The banisters lead to the Getsvelten

I am walking on the Getsvelten

More of the Getsvelten

I think this was taken on the Navajo
Reservation. Not sure how it got here. 

More beauty. Sunset's nice, too.

When the sun fell below the clouds.

In Visby we met with the senior couple there and looked over their apartment so we have an idea of what it is like. Very nice, by the way. We also visited the elders and brought them some bedding. While there, I repaired a light fixture. Later we took them to lunch and then to an ice cream shop that boasts over 300 flavors (alert: the Rocky Road has marshmallows, but not nuts. Try the cherry!).

In the apartment with Elders Cluff and Schultz

I didn't have my tool kit, so I had to repair it with a toothpick

With the elders and Clouses in front of the ice cream shop

So you can get the name when you go there.

Not sure how the owners get in and out.

Windows are decorated along the narrow streets
for visitors to enjoy

Typical narrow street in Gotland

Long post; full week. Thanks to all of you for your friendship and testimony - especially those who made it all the way to the end of the blog 😊.