This is Gunvor Söderstrom.  She and her sister, Birgit Carlson (shown below)
are two of the sisters that have been so good to us and are so faithful in the branch,
along with Sister Fern Girdlestone and Sister Ulla Ehnmark.  We are in their homes
to give them a home teaching message.

Here I am with a ''spark''.  Most people have these to use during the winter.  Our neighbor told us to use hers.  We are just coming back from the store.  You can stand on one runner and push with the other foot and glide along.

This is Äldste Dunn and Äldste Sanders (l to r) and a member,
Ulla Ehnmark.  This is taken upstairs in our little chapel.  Sister
Ehnmark had fixed the elders lunch after Sacrament Meeting. 
Äldste Dunn and Äldste Sanders are great missionaries!  They
work hard and are a lot of fun and so good to us.

February 16, 2012

This is a typical snow removal vehicle.  You see these everywhere--they are like ants going busily about.  This is in front of our apartment.

February 13, 2012

We are doing well here in Norrland.  We did have quite an experience a couple of weeks ago.  We started out to visit a couple on the outskirts of Skellefteå.  Of course we travel by bus, so grandpa had gotten on line and found a map that showed where their home was, which bus stop to get off at and where we had to walk to get there.  So we followed these directions carefully.  We caught the right bus, told the bus driver where we wanted to get off, got off, and started walking the way the map had showed.  We walked and walked, but never found any streets that intersected with the road like there was supposed to be.  Finally, we came back out to the road the bus traveled on, only it was about 3 blocks from where we got off.  We looked up to where the main highway was and we could see a road above it that went the direction the map had showed us to go.  So we thought maybe the bus driver had let us off at the wrong place.  So we walked up to the intersection (which  was about 2 blocks), crossed the intersection and went up to the road we had seen.  We started walking along that road, but again there were no streets which intersected with this road.  By this time we had walked a long ways and we were getting very cold.  Just then grandpa noticed a man outside, so he went over and asked him if he knew where we could find the address we were looking for.  He told us we would have to go back to the interesection with the highway and walk the opposite direction up a long hill and bla bla bla bla.  It sounded like it was quite a thing to get there.  I told grandpa we should just go back to the highway and walk down to a bus stop I had seen in the distance.  So, we decided to do that.  We had to walk along the highway and the place to walk was very narrow.  We had to walk single file, so grandpa was leading the way.  Pretty soon the place to walk got narrower and narrower and the cars were whizzing by closer and closer to us.  I got nervous and noticed a flat place next to us that was about 13 inches above where we were walking.  I decided to step up on there and see if we could walk there and get further away from the traffic.  I took about 3 or 4 steps ok and then all of a sudden my right leg sunk in up to my knee and I fell forward.  I had my big heavy purse in one hand, and a plant I was taking to the lady in my other hand and I could not move.  Of course grandpa is just walking merrily along unaware of the drama taking place behind him.  I called out and thank goodness he heard me (he doesn't always hear me).  I wouldn't have blamed him if he would have just started laughing.  But he came running back and after some effort was able to help me maneuver out of the snow.  When I told Larry about it he said, ''That sounds like the Randy scene in The Christmas Story.''  Anyway, we finally made it to the bus stop.  Grandpa took his hand out of his glove to call the couple to tell them we wouldn't be coming as we had gotten lost and were too cold to try any longer to find their place.  In just that much time, his hand got so cold he could hardly get it back in his glove.  We waited a half an hour but the bus finally came.  We got off at the stop by the church.  We have a key, so we went inside, propped our feet up on the radiator and thawed out.  We determined that we would not go to visit anyone while it is still cold unless we have had the elders take us there in daylight and follow the path of the bus and how to get there from the bus stop.

Here we are at the chapel with our feet in between the elements of the radiator trying to thaw out our feet.  Note the ''frozen'' plant I was taking to the lady.

January 28, 2012

We just returned a few hours ago from a zone conference in Sundsvall.  It was really a wonderful conference and quite an experience.  We are really being taken ''out of our comfort zone.''  We left on a bus for Umeå at 8:50 in the evening from Byske.  We arrived in Umeå around 11:30.  Then we had to walk across the street to the train station to wait for our train.  When we opened the door to the train station, we were greeted with loud rap music and several hip hop dancers dancing.  One of them, a young man originally from Russia, came over and said he had seen badges like that before and wanted to know a little more about us.  He reminded us of our grandson, Richie.  Dick talked to him quite a while.  He even showed him the 4 basic steps for the dances they do.  They were on their way to Stockholm for a competition.

We then took an ''overnight'' train going to Sundsvall at 1:15 a.m.  We arrived in Sundsvall at 8:15 a.m. and were picked up by some Elders and taken to the chapel for the conference.  In the meeting, I was called on to give my testimony.  I gave it in Swedish.  

When the conference was over at about 5:00 p.m., we had our interviews with President Newell.  Then we waited at the chapel until 9:00 p.m. when the Elders took us to the train station to take another ''overnight'' train to Umeå.  We then took a bus at 5:25 a.m. back to Byske.  We had a small compartment on the trains that had beds we could pull down, so we were able to sleep some.  However, as soon as we got home, we showered and took a fairly long nap.

This is me with Syster Jenson at the Zone Conference.  She lives in Melanie's ward in Draper.

Here we are in the snow getting our pictures taken at Zone Conference held in Sundsvall. 

January 12, 2012

This past Saturday the District President from Sundsvall invited the missionaries in to a meeting.  He went over the goals for us and some specific people that we needed to be aware of.  After the meeting, he met with Äldste Jeffs and called him to be the second counselor in the branch presidency.  The next day in Sacrament meeting his name was presented to the members.  After the Sacrament meeting, President Stegeby gave him a beautiful blessing.   The branch president is so delighted to have some help.  There is a 1st counselor, but we have never seen him in the month that we have been here.  Apparently he lives in Umeå and has other positions there, so just does something from home.

Before the Sacrament Meeting, President Stegeby came and asked me if I would play a number during the meeting.  Fortunately, I had brought some piano music, so I did play a number.  I am learning that one has to be prepared for anything and everything.  The previous Sunday I was asked just before meeting to give my testimony, which I did in Swedish.  I tried to say a few different things that I hadn't said the week before when I bore it in Fast Meeting.

After the Sacrament Meeting, we all went upstairs to enjoy a nice lunch that the Relief Society sisters had prepared.  This Thursday, I will be traveling to Skellefteå to a Relief Socity meeting.  I believe this is the first meeting they have had in a while.

January 10, 2012

We are doing well here in the little town of Byske. It is snowing here for a change (ha-ha). We have had a lot of snow in the past week. It doesn't melt. However, the little town has constant plows that are clearing the roads (they never get cleared down to the pavement--just the last layer). The sidewalks are right next to the street, so they get cleared at the same time--you can't see where the sidewalk ends and the road begins. Our first week here it was fairly mild comparatively and we didn't have snow so the places to walk were quite icy. They do put sand on, so we tried to walk on that part so we wouldn't slip and fall. Last Thursday we went out to go to the busstation to catch a bus to Skellefteå for a district conference and found ourselves walking in snow up to my knees. They hadn't cleared our courtyard yet, but once we got to the sidewalk it was ok. Yesterday we saw the sun for the first time since arriving here. We did see sunshine about 3 other days--not the actual sun as it was too low on the horizon. The sun is gradually getting higher on the horizon so we did actually see it yesterday. The sun comes up at 9:20 a.m. and sets at 2:05 p.m. now.

We have a nice apartment with plenty of space and a balcony. We are on the 2nd floor. We are the first couple missionary to live in the apartment and the mission office outfitted it very nicely for us. A few days ago, we finally were able to get on to the internet here in the apartment, but we were able to skype with Melanie and Larry on Christmas day from the chapel in Skellefteå.

There is a washing facility in the basement of another apartment building not too far from us. We reserve a time to wash by locking a little lock into the slot for the day and time we want to wash. That way no one else can wash at the same time. It works out quite well. There are 3 washers and 2 dryers and a room where you can hang things on a line and then turn a fan on.

The branch is very small. We meet in a converted two-story home in Skellefteå, a city of 71,000 people which is a 30 minute bus ride from here. The first Sunday, Christmas Day, there were about 14 in attendance, including us and the pair of young missionaries. The last 2 Sundays there have only been 8 in attendance. There are actually about 30 members on the records. So you can see we have our work cut out for us. Dick spoke impromptu on Christmas and then was asked to speak the next Sunday with 2 days notice. I have played the little organ each week, as the lady who usually plays has been away on vacation. I bore my testimony in Swedish in Fast and Testimony meeting for the first time last Sunday. Of course every one bore their testimony because of the small attendance.

We have 2 little grocery stores about 3 blocks from our apartment, so we walk there. We only can purchase as much as we can carry back. Prices are higher here than at home. They have wonderful salmon, as they catch salmon in the river nearby. They have some pork but not much beef. Beef is really expensive. We were treated to a steak dinner at a restaurant while we were in Stockholm--we had a dinner meeting with 3 other couple missionaries. That will probably be the last we have for a long time.

Routine tasks are always an adventure when doing them the first time. The money is different, weights and measures are different. Cooking has been a challenge being at sea level and different measuring utensils. But one by one we are becoming familiar and it will soon seem routine.

The main thing missionaries struggle against is general indifference among the people. They are satisfied with their lives and don't feel a need for a change. They are somewhat reserved in nature and inclined to be slow to embrace change. Dick called 2 less active male members yesterday trying to set a time when we could visit and they both brushed him off with lame excuses that brought memories from here over 50 years ago. We determined we are just going to have to drop in unannounced with a plate of cookies etc and see what happens. Who can resist our smiling faces? Right now it is too cold to be wandering trying to look for addresses in a strange city. Just walking from the busstation to the chapel, our hands and feet are almost numb. At least we know where we are going and we have a warm place to thaw out in. One day, we were actually walking in a whiteout. It reminded us of the handcart pioneers in 17 Miracles. We do, however, look forward to getting out when the weather becomes more tolerant.