Dark Days are Behind Us

 These are some of the pictures Olivia took as we drove home from church today at between 2:45 and 3:00 PM. The days are definitely getting longer. Now the sun comes up at 8:40 AM and sets at 3:10 PM. On December 21 the sun came up at 8:45 and set at 2:50. She took the pictures because we seldom see the sun, let alone a sunset and today it was exceptionally dramatic.

We had a nice Sacrament Meeting today. It was Fast Sunday, so we heard a number of testimonies. Surprisingly few mentioned the death of President Thomas S. Monson. That of itself is a testimony.

We do not concern ourselves in the Church with what kind of jockeying for position is going on behind the scenes because the transition takes place very smoothly. We will always have a president/prophet. Until the next prophet is set apart, the Quorum of the 12 Apostles serve as head of the Church, the president of the quorum presides. He becomes the next president of the Church unless he declines, which has not happened since the Church was restored.

Taken from the website www.lds.org 

President Monson is loved here in Sweden as he is all over the world. In the Gubbängen chapel are photographs of him at the time the temple was dedicated. The royal family attended the open house and the pictures show him meeting them and presenting them with their genealogy.

Of course, his and Sister Monson's ancestors are from here, as well. He had visited here on at least three occasions and wrote in the mission home guest book. Here is one of his entries made November 27, 1973.

What a truly delightful experience to be with you in beautiful Stockholm. I feel as though
I have returned to my homeland when I appreciate that it was here  my ancestors and those
of my wife first heard the glorious truths of the Gospel. Thank you so much for your genuine
friendship and hospitality. I look forward to a time when I can return to Sweden.
Thomas S. Monson

It was kind of a fun day, too, because our Ward Mission Leader was absent. Usually, when he can't be there for some reason, he calls one of the sets of missionaries and asks them to take over the class. Today, he didn't, so the young missionaries asked me to do it. We only had one visitor, so it was us, the other missionaries, Evelyn who is back from The Philippines,  and Julia, who likes to come and practice her already fine English. As usual, I took too long and had to cut the lesson short.

This was transfer week and we lost Elder Harrell, who has been here for several months. He is an excellent missionary and we will miss him very much. He is now in Norrköping, near Sebastian's hometown. Sebastian was baptized a few weeks ago, but is a student, so he is back home for the time being. Elder Harrell made sure he was attending church services and this week arranged to see him in church. He never stops caring - the sign of a dedicated man.

Elder Harrell with Sebastian and Elder Grover

We received Elder Carlson who bore his testimony in church today and told of his ancestors who joined the Church in Sweden and immigrated to the US. We have had him in our home when he was laboring in Jakobsberg, near where we live. It was he and his companion that we rescued after the terrorist event in Stockholm last April. We were able to give them a ride home when all transportation systems were locked down and they were in Märsta, several kilometers from their apartment. Since then he has served as a district leader and trainer. He will be a great addition to the ward in Uppsala.

Elder Carlson last November when we
visited his  apartment in Kristianstad

We got seven new missionaries from the MTC this week; all sisters.
In preparing for them, Elder Hales and I took a bunk bed, a desk and bedding to the sisters' apartment in Stockholm, and took out a bed that was replaced by the bunk bed. The apartment will now have four sisters staying there for a couple of transfers, when a number of sisters will be going home. Unfortunately, Olivia was not there to take pictures. Maybe it was not that unfortunate because we had to make so many treks up and down 70+ stairs in a very narrow circular stairway, carrying heavy objects, so we were not that presentable. I was very grateful he offered to come, as it would have been very difficult with just Olivia and me.

Sisters Nilsson, Anderson, Adams, Keogh (from Dundee, Scotland),
Pesci, Judd, and Kenworthy with Pres. and Sister Youngberg

The new sisters met their trainers and had a traditional Swedish
meal together. The APs and POEs helped move them around
and carry their luggage.

The YSA missionaries, Elder and Sister Hall, hosted the lunch

We have been praying and fasting for the last several months for apartments. With the housing shortage and a predisposition against renting to institutions, it has been a real challenge. We are currently looking for 7 new apartments and have not until this week found any. 

We were finally informed by a member of the Skövde Branch that an apartment might be available there. Normally, we would drive down and inspect it ourselves, but with the current need, we looked at the photos of the inside and asked the local missionaries to look at it for us. They were good salesmen and we were able to obtain it on Friday, before it was rented out to students on Saturday. Pres. Youngberg wants to move the Donohoos, a senior couple, to the branch where their strength and abilities are sorely needed. They will likely go there the first week of March.

We have now received word of three more apartments that are willing for us to inspect for the possibility of moving missionaries into them even before they lose their current apartments. We are very happy at the prospect, so we keep praying for more.

The rest of the week we were busy repairing and taking needed items to various apartments. Clothes dryers here are not vented to the outside. Instead, the water is extracted and either collected in a receptacle to be dumped out after each use, or sent through a hose into a drain. 

The dryer in the Västerhaninge sisters' apartment had been leaking for some time. Elder Pettit mentioned it and after the Pettits left for home, Elder Bell looked at it and determined that it needed a repairman. I called a repair facility that specialized in Electrolux and gave them the needed information. They informed me that the machine was so old that parts were unavailable. Not prepared to haggle with the landlord about getting a new one, I decided to look at it myself. I was preparing to remove the back of the machine when Olivia noticed that a hose was detached from the drain in the back. We reattached it and the machine is fine, now.

We had to replace a special type of hinge on the vanity/medicine cabinet, and the flush mechanism on the toilet. We (Olivia) got to know the sisters there quite well while I worked in the bathroom.

I seldom remove my coat, these days. We
tend to go in and out of places, so
 often I don't bother.

It took some time to figure out this
flush system

 The Handen and Hägersten elders needed things taken away from their apartments that had been left by departing missionaries. We also needed to bring items to them and assist in installing and repairing other items.

The door to the balcony leaked cold
air. They had been shoving a
towel against it. I stapled weather
stripping in back and front.Not
perfect, but better.

We replaced  arm rests on their study chairs and reattached
boards to their box springs/beds. Elder Strong (who first
served in Uppsala) and Elder Lee.

Notice the Christmas tree in the back. Christmas decorations stay up until January 13, after which it is bad luck to have them up. We are having a party in the ward to take down the decorations on the 13th. Christmas is celebrated until the 13th day of Christmas, January 6th, which is also a holiday. Today, like last week, we still sang Christmas songs in Church.

So, for the most part, this was a back-to-work week. We like that. We get to be with the young missionaries, we get to perform more one-on-one service, and we certainly get our exercise. 

Whatever your New Year's resolutions, we hope you are enjoying the winter days and the promises of God through his prophets, ancient and modern.