On November 14, we started our journey to move from Byske up north down to Växjö in the south.  The first night we stopped in Sundsvall and stayed with Eva-Lotte Nedergård.  She had a nice dinner prepared for us when we arrived and had fixed us a nice breakfast in the morning before she left for work.  The next day, November 15, we continued our journey to Stockholm to attend a couple's conference.  The pictures are of some of the couples that attended the conference.  The top picture (sorry it is fuzzy but it was jiggily) is when we were traveling on the tunnelbanna (train) in to the central station to meet other couples and go to lunch.  l to r  Äldste Marriott, Syster Marriott (yes they are related to the hotel Marriotts), Syster Erickson, Äldste Erickson.  The middle picture is l to r  Syster Johanson, Äldste Johanson (he came over with Dick at the same time on their first missions).

The picture to the right is taken in the mission home and is of Äldste and Syster Bybee.  We just traded places with them.  They are now living in Byske and we are living in Växjö where they had been serving for about a month.  They will be working with the Luleå and Skellefteå branches.  He speaks french and there is a need for french in the Luleå area. They do not speak swedish.

 When people from the district or mission came to visit or for special occasions, the Relief Society would put together a luncheon and we would usually all gather together upstairs and eat and visit.  However, this time Ivar decided he would stay and so we moved the luncheon downstairs to the classroom.  l to r  Fern Girdlestone, Birgit Carlsson Håkan Palm, Gunvor Söderholm.  Håkan Palm is the 2nd counselor in the mission presidency.  He was visiting with us that Sunday and spoke.  We had picked him up on Saturday from the airport and Dick and he went to try to visit members.  We then hosted him for dinner, staying in our apartment, and breakfast.

l to r  Ivar's assistant, Gabriella, Ivar Nilsson, and Fern Girdlestone

l to r  President Solbakk, Jorun Solbakk, Ulla Ehnmark

 

l to r  Ulla Ehnmark, me, Rosita's friend Jessica, Rosita Karlman

 These are just a few pictures of members and missionaries when we served in Skellefteå.  This picture is of Rosita and Bengt Karlman.  We visited with them many times and encouraged them to come to church.  When we left Rosita had accepted a position as a teacher in Sunday School/Relief Society and was attending regularly.  We still hope that Bengt will start coming.

These were elders in our district.  Top:  Elder Hinkson and Elder Day.  Middle:  Elder Saldutti.  Bottom:  Elder Ross

 

Left:  Elder Ricker.  Elder Ricker crocheted a nice hat and gave to me when he left.  I thought it was so thoughtful and nice of him.  I sent the hat to Oksana for Christmas.  I thought she would look cute in it.                        Right:  Elder Hinkson

 

Here is a picture of l to r Birgit Carlsson and Fern Girldlestone.  We have many fond memories of the time spent with these faithful sister. 

 This is a pretty scene from one of the places that we would walk in Byske.  This is when spring finally arrived--June.

 

These are scenes from the center of town.  You see beautiful flowers all through the town.  They are so happy when summer finally comes and they LOVE flowers, just like I do.

 On May 3, 2012, we were invited by President Newell to fly down to Stockholm to attend a Zone Leaders Council.  After the meeting, we were able to see a few sights before being taken to an apartment to spend the night.  We happened on this restaurant and thought we would take a picture of it since we have a daughter, Tiffany.



This is the mission office.  The building is shared with a pizza place.



These are views from the apartment we stayed in.  It was on the 8th floor.

This is the front of the mission home, office, and chapel known by all as Svartensgatan 3 when Dick was on his first mission.  It is no longer owned by the church.  It is on the historical register for Sweden.

 Pat, Melanie, Dick, and I took a walk to the little resort located on the Gulf of Bothnia.
This view is looking one direction down the beach and the picture below is looking the other direction.

Dick and I first walked to here in the spring when there was still snow on the ground.

You can't see but they have a water slide here and a place to camp.  There are a couple of cafes and a little "snack shack! and a miniature golf place.

A sad postcript to my post of yesterday.  We received today a note from Sten Boström's brother, Allan, that Sten passed away on December 7.  He was taking a walk and fell after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage and passed away after a few minutes.  I am sure he is thrilled to be reunited with his Greta that he missed so much.  We will have to see about getting their temple work done in a year.