Sugar Beets and Toilet Seats

This week finds us in the south of Sweden, again. There are various names for the areas of the south, but this particular area is known as Skåne (sko'-nah), as I have mentioned in past posts. We are staying in the empty apartment in Lund (loond) for the last time. We met with the landlord this evening and arranged to return the place to him, so we have to clean it out and clean it up before we leave to return to Stockholm on Friday or Saturday. It is a huge apartment full of items purchased and left here by senior couples for a few years, so it will be no easy task.

Before I write about the past week, I should mention that today is Fathers' Day in Sweden, so Olivia fixed me a very nice meal and I wore my Tavan's kids' tie. It got lots of comments and compliments. The pictures were taken back when these kids were just cute. Now, of course, they are handsome and beautiful. Our sacrament meeting was the Primary program. It was very sweet and even inspiring. Afterward, the children handed out treats for the men in the congregation. Olivia has hidden mine. I'll find it tomorrow 😏.

Click to enlarge. Not that this part of me needs
to be enlarged more than it already is, but that
way you can see the pictures on the tie.

This week we assisted with the zone conference and have been inspecting the apartments in the Malmö (mall'-mah) zone. They are quite distant from each other, so we are only able to see about three each day. The missionaries were all ready to see us and had (with maybe one exception) cleaned the apartment in anticipation of our arrival.

On our way to Lund, we stopped to visit the sisters in Jönköping (yen'-shipping) to drop off a whiteboard. To our happy surprise, the Kelleys were there to conduct an apartment check. Elder and Sister Kelley are the senior couple in Göteborg (yeta'-bory), so they do the apartment inspections in that zone.

It's always better to look up! Watching
for the light to flash on the smoke
detector. It's still in good shape.

Mirror selfie: Sisters Mendenhall
and DeMordaunt with us and
Elder and Sister Kelley. I hope
the sisters didn't break the mirror.
I'm not concerned about bad luck,
I just don't want to explain to the
landlord and have to replace it.

We got to sit in on more of the zone conference this time, it was the time when missionaries bore their testimonies in Swedish, but Elder Peterson interpreted for us. We also got to hear some of the President's remarks.

We set up the tables with an autumn theme, again.

President Matsson is a counselor in the misson
presidency. He related how, when he and his twin
brother were serving in the same mission, Elder
Gordon B. Hinckley promised them that there would
be a 2nd harvest in Sweden.

He has since served as a bishop twice and as a stake
president. President Hinckley visited Sweden, recognized
him and reiterated the promise, but reminded him that we
have no control over the Lord's time. He then told of receiving
the impression that before the harvest there would be a time
of cleansing when the strong would have to withstand the buffeting of the adversary.

Sisters Capuccio and Trotter. Next picture has Sisters
Neilsen, Botchway, and Woodman

Some of the sisters looking through clothing items from
the "missionary barrel". We collect clothing and other
items left in the apartments, then give the missionaries
the first chance at them. After that they go to the
second hand stores.

The second harvest has been a theme of President Monson's, as well. We have seen it quoted in lots of publications in the mission, as well as the ward buildings. I personally see the beginnings, as more adversity is creeping into the lives and homes of our members. Adversity always precedes a spiritual event. We are privileged to see the faith and faithfulness of this special group of young saints in this land, who seem to be prepared for whatever may come. I am sure it is the same all over the world where these faithful young people serve.

Our first inspections were in the cities of Halmstad and Helsingborg (hel'-sing-bory). You may recall from previous posts that this part of the country is covered with farmland. Along the way we saw harvesting going on. The grain is already in, but now root crops can be harvested.

We saw several of these piles along the way. At first we
thought they were potatoes.

But on closer inspection, we are pretty sure they
are sugar beets, a common crop in this part
of the country.

Elder Craun has been a POE until the
last transfer. Now he is training a new
missionary, Elder Allred. This day
they were on splits, so we didn't get
to see Elder Allred. Elder Hawkins (R)
the zone leader was here, instead.

This is the first of three toilet seats I got to replace. They were kind
enough to have cleaned the toilet as well as they could before I
got down and dirty with it. Still kind of gross, though.
Sisters Botchway and Woodman.

Elder Berlin (R) is training Elder Bird. We
brought them lamps and more bedding as
they are getting cold at night.

Elder Bird is quite a musician. He bought this accordion 

at a second hand store and taught himself how to play it.

We got in a hurry and forgot to take a picture of Sisters Capuccio and Neilsen, but they are in the picture of the missionary barrel above.

The next areas were Kristianstad (I have mentioned the strange pronunciation of this city before, i.e. kur-hwhan'-stod) and Karlskrona.

In Kristianstad,  Elder Carlson has a perpetual happy attitude
that is, no doubt, appreciated by Elder Simmons,
whom he is training.

Elder Oldham is being trained by Elder Dawson,
also in Kristianstad

The fearless Elder Stapley who served
as a POE and a district leader at the
same time is now training Elder
Wayment in Karlskrona

It's a great responsibility to train someone
how to clean a toaster, but I'm up to it.

Another toilet seat installed in Karlskrona. Sister Trotter (R) is now
training Sister Bingham.

Demonstrating a soft-close toilet seat.
No, the throne is not possessed. I
had to place a lamp next to me
because the bathroom light isn't
working.

We had time to eat dinner with this group at the Stars and Stripes
restaurant. We ate American fare and listened to music by the
Beach Boys, Cyndi Lauper, and other luminaries. Fun!

We finished the week in Malmö. The missionaries were invited to a special stake leadership meeting in the morning, so we had to inspect the apartments in the afternoon. That gave us time to visit the Malmöhus Slott (castle) which is located in the center of the city of Malmö. It has been a citadel, then expanded by the Danish king to serve as a fortress. For many years it served as a prison that included an executioner. Today it houses an aquarium, a natural history museum, and several art museums.

Olivia on the bridge over the moat near the entrance of the castle.
With the wind, it was bitter cold.

There were several interesting portraits
in the area preserved as a castle. This is
Gistav Vasa who has more images in
Sweden than any other king.

Mary, Queen of Scots

And her son King James I of England,
but also James VI of Scotland. Royalty of
Great Britain played into all the intrigue
of the time. This is the James of the version
of the bible we still use.

The great hall houses the portraits and busts of the royalty and
nobility as well as some very ancient antiques.

Including this table

And this bed. It is small because the educated people of the day
slept in a sitting position to avoid mixing the chemicals of the
upper body with those of the lower. Only rabble slept in a
reclined position.

These pieces actually have dates impressed
on them 1646

1640

1643

The castle actually had an indoor
privy

And I saw lots of privies on this trip

Some of the prison implements. This shackled the neck,
chest, wrists and ankles. Executions were by beheading
the last being in the 1940s.

On a lighter note, the zone leaders,
Elders Peterson and Hawkins had
an excellent apartment despite its
having been used as a hostel for
elders who came in for the zone
conference just days before.

Elders Anthon and Radford (another accomplished
musician). They are in the apartment we cleaned
and prepared the last time we were in this area. 

The Malmö sisters have been sleeping
on beds without mattresses. We
brought them new ones

Sisters Hansen and Hunter decorating a Christmas tree with mini lights,
homemade snowflake ornaments and little tomte in front. Sis. Hansen
found these when she cleared the extra clothes out of the closet for us
to haul away. You can't start celebrating Christmas too early.

The bible says "Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall." It is true. I have prided myself in being able to lift heavy objects and sticking them into the van or setting up heavy tables and carrying four chairs at a time while other less hardy soles were not so blessed. For some reason, beginning Wednesday and progressively getting worse, my back has rebelled. I have been walking like an old man and even letting sisters carry the heavy stuff. Pride and destruction. I need to be more humble or a fall is next, obviously. I received an inspired blessing from Elders Hawkins and Peterson today and I feel like I am on the mend.

We hope your week is wonderful and your lives are blessed. We love and miss you all!