The Farewell Tour

President and Sister Beckstrand leave at the end of the month, but we will still have a lot of interaction with them before then. This past week, however, their last zone conferences were held, so we helped with the farewell bash. Last week they traveled to the south of the country, so other senior couples assisted them; this week it was our turn.

Besides excellent training, they made certain it was a memorable send off. Sister Beckstrand assigned us to make props for the photo booth, and posters for the walls. Sister Beckstrand made the large banner welcoming everyone to the conference and centerpieces for the tables. The theme was Minions and we were assigned to change anything that referenced Despicable to read Incredible.

The Assistants help Sister Beckstrand set
up the photo booth

Sister B and Elder Jensen

President B with Elder and Sister Hales

Some of our posters

My kind of exercise

My favorite poster

Elder Clouse with his Minion identity 

Sister Clouse with hers. Enlarge to read the name tags.

Clouses and Hales. The Hales are now
taking over the office responsibilities
that have been done so well by the
Clouses. Clouses leave this month.

Everyone loved the chocolate fountain.

Sister Young with Beckstrands

The elders and President with some of the props we made.

The sisters with some of our props

Our district at the photo booth. Because
we are losing more missionaries
than are coming in, several of these
are transferring this week. At least
one area will be closed and the zone
divided and absorbed into 2 other zones.

The office elders, and former office elders
with their hero, Elder Clouse.

In case you are wondering, they are
spelling POE (Proselyting Office Elders)

Senior sisters with Sister Beckstrand

The senior missionary couples from the north zones with the
Beckstrands. Hales, Clouses, Hurlbuts, Johnsons, us, Beckstrands, & Pettits

The Beckstrands still have a very full month of traveling and conducting interviews. While they are anxious to be home with family (read grandchildren) they are anything but trunky. They are definitely finishing strong. Baptism dates set, sacrament meeting attendance by investigators, and investigators being actively taught are at an all-time high. Sister Beckstrand analyses reports and makes recommendations at all our mission office meetings and is a positive force at conferences and interviews. President Beckstrand has a way of motivating with love and expectation that pulls the best out of every missionary. We are proud to serve with such a dynamic couple.

Olivia is never happier than when she has garden dirt under her fingernails and scratches from rose thorns on her arms. She was in heaven this week.  The sisters in Väster Haninge are responsible for keeping up appearances in the little garden behind their apartment. They had done some cleaning and pruning, but were in over their heads, so they asked for help. We were only available when they were gone, otherwise they would have helped. I repaired the gate and dug out dandelions while Olivia turned the flower beds and pruned the roses. We filled the back of the van with the garden waste and took it to the återvinning (the dump where such trash is allowed), only to discover that it closed early that day, so we had to wait until morning. The car smelled like fresh, but close to rotting greenery all the next day.

With the weeds pulled and the vines
trimmed back you can now see the
hedgehog.

The gate is almost plumb and the hinge
reattached, now it's almost usable. 

"Why can't we remember to take 'before'
pictures?" Olivia raking up vines and rose
bush trimmings.

Filling the back of the van with the garden trash.

Saturday, we went with a group from the ward to help a member clean and prepare his yard for the coming year. Brother Näslund is a former member of the bishopric and is married to Evelyn. Evelyn is from the Philippines and, despite the fact that they are married, she is pregnant, and he is a doctor with a rural practice/clinic that is vital in the area, she has been deported. He went with her back to her home, but recently came back to manage his clinic until he has to close it. They have a modest home (by US standards) and a large lot. They had felled a couple of trees and started to cut them up for firewood, started to build a new garage, and had just finished a woodshed, when they had to leave. We went out to help finish some of the projects. He had hoped for 8 people and 16 showed up. It was heavy work, but very fulfilling and, in fact, fun!

I moved rocks to a pile, piled the cut logs into a trailer and hauled them to the woodshed. I also stacked the split pieces in the shed. Later, I helped put tar paper on the new garage roof. Olivia piled wood at first, left there to help paint the shed with primer and then, you guessed it, she found some roses that were in desperate need of pruning and a flower bed needing to be weeded.

High Priest Group Leader
Kurt Hedin carried the logs
to the splitter. Odd (pronounced
Ode) our octogenarian friend ran
the splitter and Olivia stacked.

Olivia with one of the two rows she stacked

Kurt and Odd at the splitter

Elder Malone and I stacked
wood later.

Sisters Young and Hatch helped Olivia
paint the woodshed with primer.

Brother Näslund, Peter (YSA engaged to
Julia in our ward) and I helped put tar
paper on the new garage roof.

The group at the lunch table. Sisters Hatch, & Young, Odd, Tore,
Mikael,Jonas, Julia, Peter, Kurt, Björn (Näslund) Elder Roylance,
Pontus, Elder Malone. Brother and Sister Hammar left early.

Olivia's vain attempt at a selfie with the
group. Nice eyes, hon.

Sunday was the last day in Uppsala for Elder Malone and Sister Hatch. Both of them are being transferred to Lund (pronounced looned) in the very south of Sweden. This will be the last transfer for Sister Hatch before she returns home. Elder Malone is a humble missionary who is anxious to teach and testify. We have seen a good deal of growth in him this past several weeks. Sister Hatch has been an outstanding STL. She has a command of the language like few other missionaries. She translates as fast as someone speaks. She is so kind and humble that she immediately gains the trust of whomever she teaches, including other sister missionaries. We have huge respect for both of these dedicated missionaries.

Elder Malone with the
suit Olivia tailored for him.

Sister Hatch

Elders Roylance and Malone

Sisters Hatch and Young

Elder Malone with our friend Elsa

Sister Hatch and Elsa

Some time ago we got and email from a young woman, Stefanie Larsson, who had been in Uppsala University and who had attended church with us. We have pictures of her from our Thanksgiving post when she came with the missionaries to help us celebrate. She had registered to run the Stockholm Marathon and wondered if we might know of a place for her and three childhood friends to stay for a few days. We arranged for them to stay in an empty apartment in downtown Stockholm and invited them to Sunday dinner, which she gladly accepted.

On Sunday she and her friends were supposed to get off the train at 5:30, but just before I was to leave to pick them up we got a text that they had missed the train and would not be here until 6:30. Dinner went back into the oven while we waited. At 6:30, I went to the train station...no one there. I texted. They had arrived, but I could not see them. It turned out that they had taken the train to Uppsala - she had forgotten that we live in Upplands Väsby, 30+ miles away. They had gone too far. The next train from Uppsala to Upplands Väsby would not arrive until 7:56. Dinner is back in the oven again. I was there at 7:56, but no one else was. I texted. No answer. I waited. Finally, at 8:15 they came bouncing to the van. It seems that not long after they left Uppsala, the train in front of them hit a moose. Rather than get out of the train and remove the moose, the trains reversed back to Uppsala and came to Upplands Väsby on a different track. I guess the Moose Removal Union members don't work on Sundays.

Still, it was a nice meal as Olivia's meals always are (see my tummy in photos above for proof) and the company was entertaining, enlightening and fun.

Us with Ali, our friend Stefanie, Emily, and Olivia (yes, another one)

Just to catch you up on the weather, as I am sure you are anxious to know, it has been kind of a cold spring/summer, so far. Still, it is light until almost 11:00 PM, so everything is growing. The lilacs are everywhere and so beautifully fragrant. The problem for many is the pollen. For weeks, now, when we go out to the car in the morning it is covered with yellow pollen, not just a dusting, but maybe 1/8th inch thick. It is on the sidewalks and roads; the trees and roofs. We looked out the kitchen window a week or so ago and thought we were seeing thousands of bugs, then thought it too many and decided it must be a fine mist, but it turned out to be pollen. When the rain came again, the pollen washed off and pooled in low spots on the parking lots and driveways. Hay fever sufferers were very happy to see rain, again.

Rapeseed fields are in full bloom. The
photos hardly do it justice. Awe inspiring.

Beautiful yellow fields are everywhere

A small sample of the pollen being washed along the driveway

Typical of pollen pooling in low spots in the
church parking lot.

The beauty of this place is evident everywhere we go. From the flowering trees, to the flowering shrubs and yellow fields stretching for kilometers along the roads we travel.

This is the time to visit Sweden. In July the tourists are like locusts, we understand, but June is beautiful and not so crowded. We look forward to Cedric, Sarah and the children coming to visit in less than 2 weeks.

Thanks to all for your support and love. We wish you the best and pray for you.