Festinord 2017

Festinord was held in Eskilstuna, Sweden this year. It is the largest YSA event in Europe. The conference is always held in a Scandinavian country, because it is here where the conference began. It was supposed to be held in Norway last year and in Sweden this year, but apparently Sweden started the event and last year was the 50th anniversary, so it was in Sweden last year as well as this year. Norway will host it next year. The count was around 760 young people registered as of the first day. Several more trickled in as the event went on, so we likely exceeded 800 before it was over.

Festinord organizers arranged for the attendees to sleep in the classrooms of the high school where most of the activities took place. We have attended other smaller events and the same is true all over the country. People just bring their sleeping bags and air mattresses and find a place on the floor. There are shower facilities and restrooms on the campuses as well as the cafeteria, assembly rooms and gymnasiums. Other facilities were also rented and pressed into service for the event.

We were not able to attend the workshops and devotionals except for one given by Bruce C. and Marie K. Hafen. Elder Hafen has been a personal hero since my student days at BYU. I have read many of his articles, talks and have recently downloaded his "Heart" series. We were not disappointed to say the least.

They spoke of the problem of bridging the gap between the ideal and the real to find the area of growth. We start with a black and white frame of mind as children. When we are faced with certain realities such as tragedy, a historical incident with which we have a problem, skeptics who assail us with their own spin on doctrine, personal weaknesses with which we have trouble, or whatever the reality may be, the simplicity we loved as children and into the teen years is suddenly challenged. Skepticism can give us a broader perspective, but it can also cause us to reject the childhood ideal. If we trust God and work through the issue we can find a higher, more realistic ideal. He quoted Oliver Wendell Holmes :
    "I would not give a fig for simplicity on this side of complexity, but I would give my life for simplicity on the other side of complexity."

As part of their current assignment, they attend a sacrament meeting at the Utah State Prison. At one testimony meeting a woman made the observation that as a child she loved to jump up and go to the stand where she would say something like, "I love my mom and dad. I know the Gospel is true. I know Jesus loves me and died for my sins." Today she says that her testimony consists of the same words, but her experience has driven them to be much deeper and more meaningful.

We were involved with registering people for various activities such as the Dragon Boat Race, kayaking, obstacle course, sports such as volleyball, men's or women's soccer, softball (not American style - very different), paintball, and several more. We spent much of our other days managing the kayaking.

The wristbands needed to have a little
metal disk with the theme embossed sewn
on to it.

In front of the signup booth where people eventually
came to register for activities

Over 20 countries were represented. At the opening ceremony
each country had its own slide with pictures of most of the
participants from that country

Iceland won a huge soccer tournament, so they not
only got a slide but a volcano welcome. It is a cheer
with which I was not previously acquainted.

The cool T shirts marked the helpers so participants could find
us and ask questions. Behind us is the Eskilstuna river and the
Dom Kyrka with its twin towers.

Never give up was the theme of the conference

Us with new friends from the Danish
Mission. Elder and Sister Vest are from
Spanish Fork, UT and are friends of my
brother's family.

The senior couples from Sweden who came
to help. Mitchels, Pettits, and us. Missing
are Halls, Johnsons, and the Watsons.

The crew for the Gammal Dragons. We were in the Dragon
Boat Race. We raced against three other boats. It wasn't
entirely fair because they sounded the starting horn
while the other boats were still in motion. We still
would have come in 3rd, but not by such a huge margin.
Gammal means old. We would probably have been
better named "Old and Draggin' " The Blockers, Mitchells,
Vests, Yates, Swensons, Shurtlifs, and us.

We got a visit from Sisters Young and Otterson
to whom we brought a toaster. They are serving
in Eskilstuna. Sister Young had been in
Uppsala until the last transfer.

The Girls Gang from Denmark came
prepared with T shirts on which were
the name of the team on the front
and their names on the back. They placed
3rd in the final round.

Every team had 12 paddlers and a
drummer. The helmsman was
provided by the boat owners

The champions!

A random team

In paintball, you are out if you
are hit and the ball actually
bursts. He was glad he wore
the goggles and face mask!

Got it in the chest

She skied to the South Pole all alone
taking 38.5 days  and setting a  world record
for a woman solo skiing  to the pole. Most
people who get to the pole catch a plane out.
She skied out with the assistance of a kite!

Her name is Johanna Davidsson. She is not a member, but her
message was inspiring as it wove into our conference theme:
Never Give UP

We spent many hours manning the
kayak activity. These are sisters
form Germany. They are 6'1" tall,
and quite pretty, bright and happy.

She tipped her kayak over; he laughed
and teased her, so she swam over and
capsized his kayak.

A beautiful stretch of the river for kayaking

The Thursday night bash included all
kinds of activities including a dance,
mechanical bull, photo booth, etc.
Participants were encouraged to come
in costume. One of our recently
returned missionaries, Elder
Päärka brought blind brothers from
his branch in Finland, so he and the other helper came
with dark glasses and white canes. 

One of the more creative costumes

Another world record (as far as anyone
knows). This inflatable obstacle course
covered about 220 meters. One of the
girls finished it in less than 2.5 minutes

From the windows, friends cheered and
encouraged the participants

Elder Päärka helped one of the blind boys
through the course

I think he drug as much as encouraged him 

Finished and in good time!

Members of the TV and newspaper
media were everywhere. Here they
interview the other blind young man and
his helper.

The final night gala. This is outside the
hall and by the merry-go-round. The
senior couples from Sweden:
Mitchells, us, Johnsons, Watsons,
and Pettits. Halls are missing, again

Sister Berlyn Davis recently returned from her mission in
Sweden and came back to be here for this conference. Here
she stands with the senior missionaries she had known.

Elder Aaron Pfost also came back. He told us
earlier that it felt weird being with girls. He got
over it. He actually had a date for the final dance.
Louise is from Denmark and just got her call to
a mission in Switzerland/Austria

 He was a superb missionary

 Us with the crown princess and her husband. Cardboard cutout, but it was kind of fun.

Everything was in English because it is the universal language these days. The live band was excellent, not only with the quality of the music, but in getting everyone involved. We were in the balcony with a lot of the young single adults. By the time we left, the balcony only had senior couples. Everyone else was on the floor dancing.

The last day was Saturday. They cleaned their rooms, packed their clothes and sleeping bags and went to a testimony meeting. They held three, so more could bear their testimonies. At 1:00 the event ended. They picked up a sack lunch and stormed the train and bus stations and headed home. Unfortunately, we were needed in the kitchen to make and pack the lunches, so we didn't get to go the the testimony meetings. Still, it was good to be of service.

The Swedish contingent of the kitchen crew. Sister Carlson is the stake president's wife
and was in charge of the food for the entire week. She was so proud that everyone was
fed, there was food left over and she came in $10K under budget.

We did manage to squeeze in other activities during the week. Here we peeked in the Fors Kyrka.

The Fors Kyrka (First
Church) was near where
we were running the
kayaks

A rune stone is part of
the wall in the church

Another rune in the wall

I also celebrated my 70th birthday. President and Sister Youngberg had donuts at the mission office meeting, which we attended at the beginning of the day Monday, before traveling to Eskilstuna. The office staff insisted on singing Ja, må hon leva, the Swedish birthday song. When we got to our first meeting at Festinord, someone mentioned it and the Swedish staff sang it again. Then in the evening, all the senior couples from Sweden (including the Hales, who couldn't work at the conference because of their responsibilities at the office, but made the trip just for the fun of being there) met in the hotel cafeteria. where Olivia had made a special pie/cobbler which we ate with ice cream and the birthday song was heard again. It was a little embarrassing, but fun all the same.

We ate at the Wild Western Burgers restaurant

Then went to the hotel for our little party. Olivia took the picture.
Mitchels, Watsons, Johnsons, Pettits, and Halls

Once again, I get alcohol
as a missionary! I bit off
the top, dumped out the
liqueur and ate the
chocolate. The rest of the
box was excellent chocolate. 

The first time I had tasted alcohol was 50 years ago as a missionary when a nice couple we had taught offered us a chocolate. It kind of burned going down, so we figured out it was liqueur filled. The Watsons gave me a box of Anthon Berg chocolates and one of them was a liqueur filled. A funny coincidence. I don' t know if giving candy to a man of advanced years is a good idea, but I do love chocolate.

We came home and immediately started laundry. The machines here take over two hours per load, so we (meaning Olivia) wasted no time. Tomorrow, we leave for Skåne where we will be cleaning an apartment to turn it back to the landlord. We will inspect the Malmö zone's apartments while we are there, as there are no other senior couples serving in the south. We will stay for 10 or more days, so we will miss attending our ward in Uppsala.

Today, as we entered the church building, one of the older men asked me if I would assist him in administering the sacrament. I have passed the sacrament several times, but I assumed everyone knew I don't speak the language, so I have never been asked to bless the sacrament. I have wanted to, but hoped they would give me a week to practice. Of course, I accepted and read over the words for the first time at the table. I think it came out alright. I did get several favorable comments, so I was happy about that.  I came home and printed off the prayers, so I can be prepared a little better the next time.

We were deeply saddened to hear of the tragic accident that took the life of Matt Bolingbroke the day before he was to enter the MTC. Our hearts go out to our dear friends and our prayers are for comfort and relief from the deep grief they must be feeling.

Likewise, we were saddened to hear of the accident that took the life of Olivia's cousin, Jeff Dahl and seriously injured his wife Karen. We pray for their children, grandchildren and siblings at this time of sorrow. We know he will be greatly missed in Wells and Starr Valley.

Next week I will be sending the blog from Lund where we will be staying for the next several days. We love and miss you all.

Well, That was a Mess! Good Stuff, too, Though.

Perhaps I am just easily offended, but it bothers me, actually borderline offends me, when someone calls young single adults, youth, kids, boys, girls (less so this), etc. They are quite capable of accepting challenging callings and doing them well. This is especially true of missionaries. They are doing work daily that would try the faith, patience, confidence and courage of most who are more mature in age and experience. Yet, they do it joyfully and well for 6.5 days a week. They are adults and deserve to be thought of as such.

Except sometimes.

In the last few weeks (2 this week), we have inspected a few apartments in areas that are being closed, at least temporarily and found a couple of them quite cluttered, but worse, they had left food that was rotting and growing mold. They had not even taken out the trash. After inspecting one bad one this week, Olivia said to me, "I don't care about your feeling that they are men doing men's work, the missionaries who lived in this apartment are KIDS!" It's like they have no mothers; yet, I don't think we have any orphans currently serving.

We also spent 3 days moving elders into a new apartment (as I mentioned in the last blog) and then cleaning the apartment they left. In that case there was less in the way of trash and perishable food items, but things left behind and accumulated grime that had to be cleaned up. That sort of thing happens in any home, so we were not as troubled. Besides, it was nice to finally get the elders moved in to the new apartment in Södertälje.

Elders  Fawsett and Dean in their new apartment.
They have named it "The Loft". It is probably
the smallest apartment in the mission, but it is
nice and they seem to appreciate it.

We did have the help of the Assistants and POEs in moving the freezer and refrigerator out of the old apartment, because the one in their apartment had died. They host a lot of other missionaries during zone conferences and transfers, so they needed the replacements.

Can't leave yet, we
found ripe cherries!

Moving helpers: Elders Craun, Stapley, Benson doing his
Marlon Brando/James Dean/Paul Newman impression, and Jämsä

This week was the week for transfers. New missionaries coming in and seasoned missionaries going home. We had 15 new missionaries and 20 returning missionaries, this transfer. Thus, the need for closing some areas, at least temporarily.

This time the events were quite emotional, for some reason. As we were waiting for the new arrivals, a couple from Utah approached us to tell us the missionaries were coming off the plane. They introduced themselves as Elder Duke's parents. He is being released and they came to pick up him up. We were so happy to meet them, because we could report that their son was an especially dutiful, happy missionary. That always brings a lump to the throat.

Among the new missionaries was Mary Grace Johnson, who is a close friend of Olivia's grand niece, Deseret Johnson. Desi had emailed us that Sister Johnson was coming some months ago, so we have anticipated meeting her. Sister Johnson already has a reputation that has spread around the mission, because as she waited in line at the Forex to exchange money, she started a conversation in Swedish with a man in the airport and gave him a pass-along card. Later that day as she and the other missionaries waited for their turn to apply for their registration at Migration, she started a conversation with a man and his mother, again in Swedish.

Sister Johnson and others coming into the airport

On the left are missionaries from the office staff. Beginning at the
flag are the new missionaries: Elders Gordon, Winkle, Buckley,
Jackson, Lee, Waters, Simmons, Lewis,  and Grover.
Sisters Hopkins, Oehler, Cook, Hickman, Johnson, and Woodman.
This is President and Sister Youngberg's first group. They had
met at the MTC

Sister Johnson contacting at Migration

The new sisters at Lake Mälaren with the City Hall behind them.
Sisters Johnson, Hopkins, Oehler, Hickman, Cook & Woodman

Arriving Elders Lee, Simmons, Grover, Buckley, Lewis,  Gordon, Waters, Jackson, and Winkle

Sister Johnson with the Youngbergs

Sister Johnson couldn't ask for a better
trainer than Sister Gow.

Elder Simmons being trained by Elder Beveridge
who was trained by Elder Benson

 A couple of 3 generation pictures - trainers with
the elders who trained them.

Elder Buckley being trained by Elder Black
who was trained by Elder Olson

The only picture of the departing missionaries was this one. For some reason, Olivia (my official photographer) was so caught up in the emotions of the day that she failed to take any pictures.

Elder Olson is going home
to Provo. He was a great
leader as well as an
exemplary missionary.

In the group were all the sisters who entered Sweden with Elder Benson who is currently serving as an Assistant to the President. He lost the battle of controlling his emotions, so he put on his dark glasses and I gave him a tissue as he said his good-byes.  Leaving were Sisters Anderson, Hatch McClatchie, Pullins, Moffat; Elders Baquedano, Blattman, Cragun, Duke, Gergetz, Goffe, Kendall, Lohmeier, Mecham, Muirhead, Nelson, Olson, Swenson and Williams.

We worked in some degree or another with all the sisters and most of the elders during the last 10 months. We were sad to see them go, but confident of their commitment to the Gospel of Christ and of their abilities to make a difference in the wards and stakes where they will spend the rest of their lives.


Friday, we were asked to assist Elder and Sister Pettit who have the assignment as Self Reliance missionaries. They presented a PowerPoint lesson on TIPPs for Teens (Time, Intensity, Partner, Problem Solving - surprisingly the words are very similar in Swedish) to a group of youth from several cities in Norrland. We used some of our initiative games to supplement their presentation reinforcing the principles of unity, leadership, creative thinking, dealing with time, etc.  It was great fun to use these games again. It has been awhile, but they still make the points.

This group of youth came from several cities to participate in temple baptisms and stay a week. It takes between 6 and 10 hours (depending on the city from whence they came) to come to the temple, so they stay as long as possible. Unfortunately, the young women didn't stay for our meeting, but the young men enjoyed it and learned from it, I observed.

There is a way, I promise

That's not it

Norrland District leaders,
President and Sister
Kronberg, thinking
outside the box

These guys broke the string
and thought they had found
the solution. Nope.

Elder and Sister Pettit

Today we welcomed Elder Harrell and Sister Argyle to our Uppsala Ward. Sister Argyle was an exchange student there three years ago, so it was a nice homecoming for her. Both bore their testimonies at the request of the bishop and both have excellent Swedish. They will do a great job and we are excited for them.

We are looking forward to the coming week. It is the week of Festinord, which is the largest gathering of young single adults in Europe. We will let you know how it goes next Sunday.