It's Downhill, Now

This week was the start of a series of zone conferences. Starting on Tuesday and Wednesday with the Stockholm and Stockholm South zones, in that order, the Youngbergs, the Assistants and the POEs went into full swing. We assisted with the first two. Then they took the show on the road to Norrland where they held a conference in Umeå (oo'-mee.o). We didn't have to travel for that one, because the Mitchells are still in Örnskoldsvik (urn'-sholds-veek), so they could travel there to assist with the food, set up and participate in the conference.

We were involved with all of that. We had hoped to keep the conference in one location, so we could leave the tables and chairs set up, but there was a mix up and the venue had to change, so we had to set up and take down twice. Still, we had lots of help, so it was not a big issue.

It is always fun to see the friends we have made over the last year. The young missionaries are always so excited to see us and share their stories. Just as fun is to hear them talk with one another. Because transfers occur between conferences, they get to catch us with missionaries they have not seen for months, in some cases.

The table settings were Olivia's idea. Fruit bowls instead of
flowers meant easy cleanup. The fruit went into backpacks!

Stockholm Zone pictures. Here we sat with  (clockwise) Elders
Jämsä, Bringhurst, Sisters Woodman, Eriksson,
Otterson, Manning, Christensen,Elders Cluff, Benson,
Sisters Wagner, Heaps, Dargon, Sidwell, Cole, Pickett, and Neilsen

Elders Lee, Barney, Elder and Sister Hales, Elder and Sister Smith,
Sister and Elder Donohoo, Elder Craun

Elders Winkle, Simmons, Beveridge, Hartin, Helms, Oleveson,
Strong, Liljenquist, Gordon, Carter, Pres. and Sister Youngberg,
Elders Harper and Steele

After the meal, Sister Y handed out Marabou chocolate bars to
those who had birthdays since the past zone conference. That
was followed by "Ja, må han leva" birthday song and then
someone calls for a four-fold cheer for the birthday children.
That duty fell to Elder Benson this week.

Sisters Manning , Christensen, Otterson and Dargon found the
left-over fruit bowls.

Stockholm South Zone pictures. Here are Elder Dean, Sisters
Gill, Gow, Matwaychuk, Kunzler, Johnson, Wagner Petersen,
Butler

Pres. and Sister Y, Elders Ashford, Anthon, Jämsä, Sirrine, Wilkinson,
Sisters Young, Hill, Elders Schultz and Strong

Elder and Sister Pettit (across), me, Elders Domino, Tingey, Jackson,
Benson, Warnick, Elder and Sister Johnson, Sister and Elder Hales,
Elders Bentson, Malone, Wilson, Petersen, and Waters

Sister and Elder Hall

Did I say "over the last year"? Yep! We arrived in the MTC on the 12th of September and arrived in Sweden on the 20th. We have officially passed both year marks, and in August we passed our year-to-go mark. You noticed in the last post that Elsa and her friends gave us a gift, telling us, "You don't turn one-year old every year!" I have a feeling that the second year will go even faster than the first one did. The first couple of months went by like cold molasses with everything being so different and trying to get along with road signs in code (Swedish), roundabouts, parking challenges, apartments in areas impossible to find, confused GPS, wicked weather on the roads, and the like. The last few months hardly arrived before they were over, it seemed.

Much of the zone conference messages from President and Sister Youngberg centered around the instruction received at the Mission Presidents' seminar in Portugal the previous week. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland spoke and offered training. Interestingly, he focused on the Fall of Adam, then wrapped it up with the Atonement of Christ. One thing he said, according to the president, had to do with the multitude of scriptures that command us to open our mouths. He went to the description of the First Vision and pointed out that when Satan attempted to forestall the restoration he "...had such and astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak." Today there are many influences that tend to create fear or concern, so as to bind our tongues, perhaps with the effect that the work of the restored gospel is slowed.

Following the zone conferences we cleaned an apartment that we were preparing for a senior couple. Happily, we had lots of good help.

Sister Pettit cleaning the oven

Sister Hales packed up all the
proselyting materials

Elder Hales dismantled two
bunkbeds

With the help of Elder Pettit

Sister Pettit lives dangerously

All the lights needed to
be replaced with higher
wattage bulbs

Before we knew it, we
could clean the floors

Marking the items that needed
to be hauled away

Elder and Sister Hall came over
after working at the YSA center

Hauling the last items out of the apartment.
We came back later to haul some of the large
items that would not fit in the first load.
We were so grateful to these nice people. It
would have taken us several days to accomplish
what we did in just a few hours with good help!

From cleaning this apartment, we went to the new Täby sisters' apartment and installed blinds, smoke and CO detectors, more furniture, bathroom fixtures, and generally made it habitable. Sorry, no new photos of that exercise. Still a few things left to do there, but they won't move in until after next weeks.

Nice Sunday today. Olivia got to accompany the singing in RS and I got to just be an observer in Priesthood meeting. There were some very good talks and lessons. I think I appreciated the Sacrament more today than I have for a long time. It is always a sacred time for me, but today I seemed especially close to the Savior. As I listened to the talks and lessons, I added to my list of sacred memories. I am happy I started that exercise. It has bolstered my faith and testimony.

Thanks to all who read these ramblings. If nothing else (and hope it is more), this will be a good journal of this amazing time. We love our assignment, the people, and our mission.

Olivia took this photo of Elsa today.
We are privileged to call her our friend.

Two Out, One added.

It is a beautiful time of the year in this part of Sweden. The leaves are starting to change; many of the trees look like some of the girls who color a piece of their hair, except that the trees actually look attractive. The air is crisp and the sun is starting to be low in the sky. The days are perfect for physical labor. Even when it rains, the storms seem to be short-lived so we can continue our work and enjoy our time here.

We finally finished our work on the Stockholm apartment I wrote about in the last couple of posts. We will kind of miss working at that apartment because the street scenes below have been so interesting. With the school nearby, we have seen children with their teachers going to some outing or another. The little old lady across the street seems to hardly be able to walk, but she slowly pushes her walker and greets the neighbors on the street all of whom seem to know and love her. This time a truck came by to fill the SAND boxes in anticipation of the slippery streets that will shortly make themselves known. While the work of cleaning an apartment is tedious, this has been a nice distraction.

Children on their way to a field trip of some kind. They
stopped across the street just long enough to get a photo.

The truck that came by to fill the SAND
boxes

Having finished that apartment, we were on to another one; this time in Gävle (yev'-la), a city north of Uppsala.

On our way to Gävle, we arranged to inspect the apartments where the Uppsala missionaries live, as it is on our way there. For the most part they were acceptable, as we were sure they would be, since we see these missionaries every week, at least. We finished at just before noon, so we took them all to lunch at Max, Sweden's best hamburger fast food restaurant. We also arranged to inspect the Gävle elders' apartment, before taking them with us to help with the cleaning and then treating them to dinner.

Sister Anderson invited
Elder Strong to look
more closely at an area
that needed attention :-)

Elders Harrell and Strong help
carry things down to the van after
the apartment inspection

Sisters Manning and Christensen met
us at Max after their inspection and
street contacting in downtown Uppsala

Elders Steele and Harper are enjoying
having a door on their cupboard. I replaced
the hinges, so the door could go back on.
Some people are easily entertained ;-)

We are technically in the Gävle District, but we have never had the opportunity to attend a district meeting because they are on Thursday and we are seldom in the area. The missionaries in the district call this apartment the "dungeon" because it is a basement with almost no sunlight from very small windows.

It was interesting to talk to the landlord about how we obtained this apartment. He told us that many years ago a missionary returned home and after corresponding with a certain Swedish girl, brought her to Utah and married her. Years later the couple returned to Sweden as senior missionaries, perhaps with the same responsibilities as we have, because they asked him to finish the basement into an apartment and rent it to the Church. It turns out that the Swedish "girl" is the landlord's aunt. The landlord is planning to take his wife on a surprise visit to America for her 50th birthday so she can meet his cousins and see the US.

We kind of expected the worst when we came to clean because we went there after the elders left several weeks ago and found that they had left food waste in a paper bag on the counter with mold so mature it could almost crawl away on its own. There was also a lot of clutter and open food containers in the kitchen and living areas.

In fact, however, they had done a good job for the most part. The floors were clean, and the surfaces had been wiped down. It was not bad to get in for the deep cleaning. Luckily, we were able to enlist the assistance of the Gävle missionaries, Elders Harper and Steele, for a few hours each day. We stayed the night in the apartment, but because of their help, we were able to finish and not spend a second night there.

Someone had left an
old portable typewriter
so I got to show Elder
Harper how to type
when there is no power

My first assignment was the study area.

Note the interesting desk chairs. 

As we cleaned a room, the items were brought to the living room/
eating area, where we sorted, donated, or tossed them. This room
was the last to be cleaned.

Elders Steele and Harper won't need
proselyting materials for a while. A
lot were left here. We were very
thankful for their help. It saved us
an extra day.

Sometimes it is a nice break for the missionaries to serve by helping us. They are still young and don't see dirt and clutter as clearly as Olivia or even me, but they are generally a happy lot and we love to be around them

The Stockholm elders and the Assistants to the President helped us prepare a new apartment for the Täby (Te'-bee) sisters. It is less of an apartment than it is a tiny house. We had to be quite creative in furnishing it and making every square centimeter count. The Assistants have been anxious to assist in the projects for a couple of weeks, now, so we were happy to have their help. The Stockholm elders were recruited by the Assistants, and were also good workers. Luckily, no one else was invited, because there would not have been room for any more. We needed Karen Allen's expertise!

In the back are the Assistants, Elders Benson and Jämsä. In front
are the Stockholm elders, Helm and Olaveson. Olivia fixed lunch
for everyone, which always makes young people happy.

IKEA desks can be tricky,
but Elder Olaveson got it
right the first time.

Elder Helm and I were
relegated to the loft to
assemble the dressers.

We are not laying down
on the job. The ceiling
is about 2" above my head.
The sisters will be on their
knees a lot as they get ready
for bed.

Elders Benson and Jämsä
put the wardrobe together
and had to cut a hole for
the electrical outlet so it
would be snug to the wall

One door is a full-length mirror.
There is no wall space for one, so
again, we improvised. Thanks IKEA!

The finished product!

Elder Helm finished before me

Part way through I managed to split
one of the cross members, so I had to
glue and clamp it, which slowed my
progress. At least that is my excuse.

I insisted that Olivia be in a picture, so Elder Olaveson took it
just before the elders had to leave. They had to get ready to be
outside the Book of Mormon Musical to hand out the real item.
"You've seen the play, but the book is always better." 

After pictures: Living room/study area

From the stairs to the loft

From the stairs into the loft

The kitchen

As we entered the chapel, today, The 2nd Counselor in the bishopric asked if I would give a brief testimony in Sacrament Meeting. Of course, I agreed and I could tell that it relieved his concern. I guess the person who had been asked had not shown up. All through the prayer, opening hymn and sacrament I searched my mind and prayed for inspiration about what I could say. I then remembered an experience I had recently that I had written about in my study journal back on July 10.

Alma and Amulek are starting their ministry and in doing so they recount to the people all the extraordinary manifestations they have either received or have been taught about in the scriptures. I started a list that day of the numerous spiritual blessings in my life when I was especially inspired, blessed, healed, provided blessings, received direction, was in the right place at a time when someone needed my insight, and other gifts of the Spirit.

President Kimball pointed out in a talk many years ago that one of the recurring messages in the Book of Mormon is that we should "remember" those things. They are so easy to forget. I recalled to the congregation some of the things I have on my list and noted that the list is currently almost 2 pages long at this point. I recommended that as they receive promptings, serve someone, or have other spiritual experiences that they record them, so they remember. I felt that my talk was prompted by the Holy Ghost and was happy to be an instrument.

After our meetings, we had two very special experiences. Our friend Elsa and her friends in the ward, Peter and Julia (a young married couple) and Tim (our ward mission leader) had purchased a trivet made of brass in the shape and outline of Sweden, Norway and Finland. They presented it to us as a one-year anniversary gift. This week will end our first year in Sweden. I am quite sure it was Elsa's idea as she is always so thoughtful. We were quite surprised and very touched by the gesture.

The beautiful trivet. It will be worth
leaving other things behind in order
to make room to bring this home with us.

The second special experience was that we had been invited to go to the Burmans for dinner, but not only did we get to go there, we got to celebrate a birthday. Anna is our very talented Primary president. She is a perfect teacher of primary-age children and a woman of spiritual insight. It was fun getting to know her better.

Once again, we were treated to a wonderful meal and an especially good cheese cake made from scratch. Sister Burman was disappointed, but the rest of us were not. I think everyone had seconds. Their son, Kristoffer, again favored us with his musical abilities on his new Yamaha keyboard. I have written about "Stoffer" a couple of times before. Each time we visit, his talent and skills amaze us.

Brother  Burman is proud of his wife's
creation.

Anna is the honored guest and
tradition requires her to get the first
piece. She tells us that if it goes on
the plate on its side it is good luck
because it means you won't get
married that year. Hmmm

Sister Burman with her masterpiece.

Another evidence of fall is that the deer are back. Many of the fields have been plowed and planted. The green sprouts are just beginning to show and the deer are already eating them. We are told that the farmers do not intend to harvest a crop from this planting. Instead, it is intended to return nitrogen to the soil as the winter kills the crop and the plants decay into the soil.

The apples and pears are ripening and many are falling to the ground, so we see deer in the neighborhood taking advantage.

This little buck didn't seem to care that
we stopped just a few meters from him
to take pictures. He is eating the fruit
that has fallen to the ground just around
the block from our house.

We appreciate everyone who reads this blog and even those who don't. We appreciate all you do to build and strengthen others and we also appreciate your prayers on our behalf. We hope your week is wonderful.