Train Adventure, Island Home and Damsels in Distress

We finally scheduled it and just did it. We have been threatening to take the commuter train for many months, but never had the need or the desire to learn the ropes alone. The Smiths take the train to their work every day and have taken it several other places, as well, so they agreed to be our guides. Olivia and her senior sister friends all talked about it at a little birthday gathering and settled on Saturday morning. We weren't quite sure how to purchase tickets; otherwise it looks much like the train and bus system of any other large metropolis. You have to buy a card, then load it at your station. It all has to be done with a credit or debit card, not cash. We see very little cash being used here and no checks. No one would know how to fill out a check. And don't try to deposit cash in a bank. There are only a few in town that would know how to accept a deposit.  It is as close to a cashless society as a country can get. Quite convenient, actually.

Elder Smith on the train

The group (minus Olivia) at the central
station

Olivia at the bottom level
at the central station. 

Central station is called T Central. We often pick up or drop off
missionaries here, but we have never had the opportunity of
going inside. We finally made it. In front Elder & Sister Pettit.
Behind Sister and Elder Donohoo, Elder and Sister Smith.

Some of the art in the station

The "ring" where the missionaries meet on
transfer day

Olivia at the ring

The ring from below

It was a fun outing, and informative. Just down one alley from T Central is the YSA Center, another has a great Chinese buffet, and walking down one alley we saw a poster informing us that Sissel is coming to Stockholm for a Christmas Concert in November. We have already purchased tickets. FYI she is a Norwegian singer with a most ethereal soprano voice. She has won an Emmy and was nominated for two others following her performances with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It will be Olivia's early birthday present.

I do stray off topic, at times, don't I? Sorry, but I thought you would like to know about Sissel.

We have spent some time on the island of Lidingö this week. We assisted the Donohoos in settling in their apartment, there. It was quite an adventure for them as they drove their car for the first time. As you have become aware if you have read these blogs, driving here is a multitasking experience. Add to the confusion of all the signs, intersections, roundabouts, and stop lights, a GPS that is trying to make sure you get a scenic adventure while getting to your destination. For a 70+ year-old it can make for a wild ride. We remembered how it was for us, so we led the way for them. It was a good thing we did, because at the end of the trip, the GPS assumed they went on a different street and told them to turn right, when they needed to turn left. At any rate, they did just fine after the first time. They even drove without assistance to the Smiths for the train ride and to the birthday party.

Elder Pettit turned 70 this week and Sister Pettit invited us all to share in the party. The Pettits also live on Lidingö, but several kilometers from the Donohoos. Happy 71st year to our good friend and fellow missionary. This couple travel several times more than we do because they are Self Reliance missionaries for all of Scandinavia. They travel to Finland, Norway and Denmark as well as Sweden, so it is always an event when we can include them in our fun outings.

We got news that the YSA missionaries, Elder and Sister Hall, are losing their apartment, but at the same time we discovered that a retired couple in Täby, not far from the mission office, had an apartment for rent that would be suitable for sister missionaries. The Täby sisters live in a large apartment that would be suitable for a senior couple, so we went to look at the new place. It is not an apartment, per se, but more like a tiny house. The sleeping area is a loft which is about 4 feet from floor to ceiling at the highest point. The Täby sisters happened to be there when we went over and they were excited about the place. We discussed how to make it work and, since the president had given us authority, we accepted it on his behalf. Now we just need to be sure the other apartment has parking available for the Halls.

Part way through the week we got a distress call from the Västerhaninge sisters that they had lost power to their kitchen appliances, some of their lights, and their washer/dryer. We encouraged them not to open the fridge, or freezer to keep the food from spoiling and as soon as we could, we went over to see what we could do. We called the landlady who lives several hours away in Umeå who first questioned whether we had paid the utility bill. When Sister Gill explained that only part of the electricity was out the landlady said she would send someone to come and check it out.

The man she sent is an older man who apparently lives alone and is a frequent visitor. The sisters have to tell him that he cannot come into their apartment and they cannot come into his, but he keeps trying. Because we were there, he was able to come in. He basically did the same things I had already done and decided it was not just a tripped breaker switch. He called the emergency number and wanted to wait in the apartment for them to show up.

The sisters had a dinner appointment for which they were going to be late, so they were finally able to persuade him to just phone them when the repairman was on his way (but not before he had shown us all the photos in his wallet). I did not expect anything to happen until Monday because it was late Friday evening when the call was made. Surprisingly, they actually did show up that night and were able to restore power, except for the washer/dryer which sparked and fizzled, so they are still without that appliance. Now we understand that the landlady may expect the Church to replace it.

Checking the same breaker switches
I had already checked

Two excellent missionaries. Sisters Gill and Johnson are off
to their dinner appointment. 

With all the adventures of the week we were also able to take a little break and to take advantage of a perfect fall day. We took a walk around the field just down from our apartment and then walked into the woods on the other side of the field. I think Olivia is starting to think reality is not all it's cracked up to be, because she was intent on finding a certain kind of mushroom that is known for its hallucinogenic properties. Elder and Sister Mitchell told us they had seen these particular mushrooms in the forests in Örnskoldsvik, so she was anxious to find them here.

This little book captured Olivia's imagination.
The mushrooms are red with white spots. They are
worn as hats by the little people in this clever
children's book. There are mushrooms like
this, but, as they said in the 70s, they are a trip!

 We did see several kinds of mushrooms, even some that were quite red, but none with spots. It was a very relaxing couple of hours; inspiring, as well.

They grow big marshmallows in this country!

A pond in the meadow where we walk.

Pond and straw from the field of grain.

Olivia became homesick for NV when
she saw this stack of  bales

Small and brown

and gray

and growing out of a dead tree

Almost red. These are just a
few of the mushrooms we
photographed that morning

Finally a red one, but no spots

Fat top

Fat trunk

The interior of the forest. The rocks are covered with mosses of all descriptions, ferns and shrubs cover the ground and grow from the cracks in the rocks. It is a magical place.

Parking is always a challenge, so when we arrived at an apartment that we are cleaning, we were curious to see parking available everywhere. Then we noticed the sign

Torsdag 9-14

which means no parking on Thursdays between the hours of 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM; just the hours we needed to be there. We ended up parking on the next street over, which has a stairway up to the street we needed to be on. In other words, the street where we had to park is way downhill from the street where we needed to be. Still, we were glad that there was a stairway up, until we got to the apartment building door and remembered that we had left the keys in the car. Got my stair stepper workout that day.

While she was washing windows, Olivia noticed that a huge tanker truck came through with a set of spray nozzles on the front, washing down the street. It was followed by a smaller tractor that cleaned off the sidewalks and bike paths. Those were followed by a small sweeper tractor. It was nice to see that there was a reason for parking inconvenience.

A hidden hydrant fills the tank. The business behind provides
off street parking for two of its employees.

Spraying off the bike path

The street sweeper

Spraying off the sidewalk. Unfortunately,
the tanker truck went by too fast to get a
good picture of it.

It is sometimes quite interesting to compare what we find normal and what others take for granted. I had not considered why the streets were so clean until now. I assumed that it is because the people here are very conscientious about how they dispose of waste. That is not entirely logical, because we see smokers (a lot of them; and a lot of snus users) who just toss the butt (or pouch), and there is graffiti everywhere. Now we know better how the streets stay so clean.

We also got to attend a missionary lesson with our dear friend, Elsa whose comments and thoughts are always insightful. The current missionaries, Elders Harrell and Strong are knowledgeable and capable, so it was a meaningful discussion.

It was also a good day in church, today. Tim Conley is a returned missionary, having served in Russia and currently serves as the Ward Mission Leader. His lesson today was about God, the Father. He focused on how we form successful relationships in this life and compared them with how we form a relationship with God in similar ways.

Elsa, was there along with Michael, a Chinese man who is also investigating the Church. Michael (I am sure it is a substitute for a complicated Chinese name) is a brilliant young man in his 30s. He works for Stockholm Lan (basically a county) as a chemical engineer. He just finished and was awarded his PhD in that field. He reads the Book of Mormon in Chinese, but mostly communicates in English. He is also learning Swedish, of course.

He loves the things he is learning from the missionaries in Uppsala, and has attended church for the past 3 weeks. It is always rewarding to become acquainted with people who see the positive difference the Gospel of Christ can make in their lives.

We are sorry we didn't have pictures of all the events of the week to break up the long paragraphs. We love you all and love what we are doing. Next week we pass our year mark, which means we are on the downhill path. There is still much to do, so we don't focus on that, yet. Just a milestone. 

Until next week hej då!