Week of June 21st

Happy Birthday to Chuck (22nd) and Bode (26th)
Monday we finished our trip and went to see the Läckö Castle.
It began to be built in 1298 by the Bishop of Skara as a stronghold for control of the ships going in and out of Stockholm. Gustav Vasa was the first royalty to own it. It went through many owners. When the royal families would move from one castle to another, during the summer, they would take with them all the furniture, wall coverings, dishes and etc. It took 300 people to work for them to run the castle and to move them. The chapel was small but elegant and I really liked it. It is still used today for weddings and the blessings of children.
We went to Brother and Sister Berggren’s home for Strawberry Torte (cake).
She was so excited to have us come to her house. We used the torte as Chuck’s birthday cake and Sister Berggren got him an easy chair to sit in and we sang happy birthday to him in English and Swedish! She also took us to this field close by her house to see some very rare wild orchids growing. They were beautiful. We then had our 3 ½ hour ride back home. It was a great long weekend.
Stockholm South Stake had ‘a week at the temple’ this week. The temple was only open Tue, Wed and Thurs because of the Swedish Mid Summer holiday. The stake had it all organized with the wards to have the temple open from 8:00am to midnight. They had to furnish all the shift leaders and workers for each session. Tuesday we were assigned to be in the temple from 17.00 to midnight. Wednesday from 11.00 to 18.00 and Thursday we were there from 9.00 to 18.00. It was a very interesting week!
Mid Summer is a big national event here. There are many places to go to join in the activities but our stake was going to a nearby National Park. We, (Evensen’s, Söderquists and us) fixed picnic lunches and went to enjoy the day.
It was a blue sky and perfect for their traditional activities. They decorate this big pole with flowers and greenery and then dance around the pole. All ages participate and have a great time, including the young Mormon missionaries. There were some people dressed in the traditional costume for this area and the girls made wreaths of flowers to wear around their heads. Part of the tradition of the holiday is to eat Sill (raw Herring)! The Klarin’s invited the American couples over for this part of the tradition. It was not that bad if you ate it with a bite of potato, sour cream and chives!! They also had many other good things to eat and ended with a delicious Strawberry Torte that Brother Klarin made. It was a wonderful eventful day!!
On Saturday we took the train and went into Stockholm but our thoughts were at home with Bode and Tyson being baptized. We are proud of their choice to become members of the church. We saw the changing of the guards at the palace and walked around Gamla Stan.
We saw the place where Carl Larsson was born and ate lunch at the Formosa, a Chinese café. We walked slowly back through Gamla Stan to the train station eating an ice cream cone on the way. It was a great day for people watching and the town was really full of tourists.
We have been watching a lot of the World Cup Soccer matches. Sad that the Americans lost in overtime and are now out.
Sunday I gave my talk and testimony in our ward Sacrament Meeting. Yes, I did it in Swedish and the people were very complimentary and appreciative of me speaking their language. I was more nervous this week but hey, I did it!!!
We are reading the series of books The Work and the Glory. There are nine books in the series and Chuck has read 1, 2, and 3. I am just about finished with volume 2.
Well, that is it for another week. Thanks for your thought, prayers, support and emails and packages. We do love all of you and consider you as blessings in our lives.

Week of June 14th

The weather has been warmer and we have been enjoying our walks through the town and through the woods. On Monday we took a walk with President and Sister Evensen and the Söderquists and we walked for over two hours. Oh Sweden is beautiful and the wild flowers are just unbelievable. Now there are Lupines blooming everywhere.
We have watched a lot of the World Cup Soccer games. The horn blowing is very annoying to us, so sometimes we watch on mute! We have seen some great soccer and some not so great officials!
The Relief Society (Hjälpföreningen) had a barbeque and we had a great time. The weather was about 58 degrees but we wrapped up in blankets and stayed outside. We had a nice lesson on self-esteem. There is a myth here that sisters in Salt Lake do not have to work to help with finances! Some think we have perfect families with no money problems, no problems with children, and that all is peaceful! BUSTED!!!! They had many questions and comments.
Our Swedish classes are canceled until fall so we now have Swedish Culture classes. Brother Söderquist did the first class on ‘Birger Jarl’ (1210-1266) the founder of Stockholm. It was very interesting and hard to comprehend how long ago he lived.
This week there was no visiting group so the sessions were small but we still had all the sessions. We had two sisters come for the first time. One sister was Spanish and the other sister was from Norway (87 years old). It was a very sweet experience to witness their happiness in coming to the temple.
There is a couple, Bror and Syster Lundquist, who come to the temple regularly and they grew up in Denmark.
In talking to them we found out that Syster Lundquist was from Nakskov, Denmark. This is one of the towns Chuck served in on his mission. Syster Lundquist said that her grandmother (mormor) had missionaries living in her house. This week she brought her scrapbooks to show Chuck. One night after dinner we met with them to compare pictures. Chuck took the computer down and we discovered it was the same house and the same lady! It was a very exciting time for both of them to see people and places of their pasts. Another tender mercy!
Saturday, early morning, we left for a ‘see Sweden’ trip in a van.
Our home teacher, Bruno Klarin, was the tour guide. After driving for 4 ½ hours we got on a canal boat and traveled up the Göta Canal. The trip took 4 hours but we could walk around so the time passed quickly; we even got a wonderful smoked salmon lunch served on the boat. The scenery was
beautiful, rain and all, and going through the lock system was very interesting.
We went to an old church (Husaby) which was first built in the 11th century. Even today this church still has Sunday services. We saw the baptismal place of King Olof Skötkonung in 1008 by the English missionary Sigfrid. King Olof was the first Christian King in Sweden. We saw some rock carvings that are dated back to 1000 BC.
We stayed at Hällekis Vandrarhem in Falkängen. A charming little place with little shops and our rooms were like a bed and breakfast. We had to take our own sheets, pillowcases, and towels and we had to clean our rooms before we left. It did have a TV and at night we were able to see the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel. It was really a big event and the whole country was very supportive in every way. There were over one million people in downtown Stockholm hoping to get to see the Royal Couple. We had seen her when we went into Stockholm to see the King’s birthday celebration.
Sunday morning we drove into Shövde and all the American couples talked in church! We had each had our talks translated by Sister Klarin and had practiced a lot. It was a scary but good experience. After church the ward had a lunch and we got to enjoy visiting with the people plus eat good food. It was good to see those faithful members that attend the temple.
We then went to the Varnhem Abbey which was built around 1150 and was badly damaged by a fire in 1234.
The church was consecrated in 1260 as the largest church in Sweden at that time. Birger Jarl’s grave is in this Abbey. Brother Söderquist also has relatives who serve at this awesome church. We got to meet them. This abbey is still used today as the Varnhem’s parish and receives about 70,000 visitors a year.
Later we walked up one of the mountains in Sweden. There was a lookout tower at the top and the view of Lake Vänern and the valley was very beautiful.
The trip will be continued next week!!
Our testimony of the gospel grows daily, in and out of the temple. We are so grateful for the beautiful land of Sweden, the opportunity we have to see it and the wonderful people we are meeting and love.

Week of June 7th

Happy Birthday Cole! The big 10
On Monday, after our chores, we went with Söderquists by train and then bus to a cute little harbor town called Dalarö.
It was something out of a movie as to the cute little houses, a couple of old big hotels, a fun little harbor area with a diner, 7-11 type store, plus sail boats and other ships. There is a ferry boat that comes and picks up people in cars and takes them to the other little islands close by. It was a sunny day but the wind was really blowing. We had a great couple of hours just walking up and down the narrow streets and paths leading to the homes and over looks. We did buy an ice cream before we left. We had a fun day.
This week we have had a group here in the temple from Latvia. There were about 15-20 people but just a few temple workers. SO, most of the sessions were in Latvian. They had three sisters who came for the first time. One little old lady (88) had just been released from the hospital and everyone said she should stay home but she said “I will not, I am going.” She never missed a session on any day and Saturday she even came with four other sisters to get one more session in before catching the train to the airport. She was so cute and knew two English words, 1) Thank you and 2) bye – bye. Whenever you did anything for her she would kiss you on the cheek and say thank you, thank you; then she would wave and say bye-bye when she left at the end of the day. One day I was in ‘init’ for two hours straight helping the Latvians with their names. Most of them understood a little English, others none. We did not communicate with words buy by the spirit. They are such plain and humble people. On Thursday night we went and bought a bunch of fruit for them just to eat and enjoy.
We had a sister from Argentina and her finance come for the first time. I was asked to help her and what an awesome experience. They were married by Pres. Oscarson right after the session and Dad and I got to go and share that experience too.
One day we had 6 Americans come to the temple. A couple from Fresno, California who had come to buy a car; a sister and her brother, from Pleasant Grove, who came to see where their dad lived as a little boy and 2 ladies (one from Provo the other from California) who were on a cruise. It was great to have them and they enjoyed the temple.
Friday night was our night at the Young Adult Center in Stockholm. So we had to catch the train by 4:40 (16:40). When we got there the missionaries were waiting for one girl to come and then have a lesson with two oriental girls. They seemed very interested. The Young Adults were to go swimming but the weather was bad so they canceled it. There were six beautiful young girls who came and we talked to them for awhile and then they decided to go bowling. So, we caught the train and came home.
Saturday was very busy. We had several groups come to do baptisms, a man who came for the first time and a wedding. The 10:00 session had to be split into two because of the number of patrons. It was a great day and we were at the temple for about 9 hours.
We have been watching a lot of World Cup Soccer and we hate the sound that those horns make. It sounds like a bunch of bees.
Again thanks for your love, concern and support and may God bless you this week and always. We love you. We love Sweden and the people here.

Week of May 31st

Happy Anniversary to us (44) and Stacie and Bryan (7)
President Oscarson has done a lot of research on the towns where my Swedish relatives came from and the churches where they were baptized (as a baby). On June 2nd we left our apartment at 7:00 AM and did not get home until Midnight. We traveled north about 3 ½ to 4 hours. First stop was in Svardsjö where we found the church where Eric Jansson Nyman (3rd g-grandfather) was on the parish record.
Next, we went to the community of Bengtsheden where I had 4 generations of my family live. Next was the Church in Sundborn where the people from Bengtsheden attended church: Eric Johan Ersson (4th g-grandfather), Eric Jansson (5th g-grandfather), Johan Olsson (6th g-grandfather) and more. Found the homestead of Anders Nyman (2nd g-g) and Sarah Carlsson Quarnstrom in Råstbery and our last stop was in Falun where we found the church that Bror Anders Nyman (1st g-g) was on the parish record.
It was a glorious trip and one filled with sweet feelings and emotions. So grateful for this opportunity to visit these places and feel of their spirits there.
We went to the home of Carl Larsson, a very famous Swedish artist and he was married to an artist named Karin. It was a very interesting little house with lots of little rooms and the tour guide was very enthusiastic in his presentation. Every apartment in the building has one of his painting hanging in it.
June 6th is Sweden’s National Day and we sang the Swedish National Song in church. It was also President Oscarson’s birthday and then on the 10th is President Syvänen’s birthday. So we had a birthday party with desert pot luck and it was wonderful. We had a great time. There was the Presidency and their wives and three of the American couples at this party. We left being very stuffed with sweets!
We enjoyed Skyping Brent and Kris on Sunday. We are so grateful for the modern miracle of Skype.
This week at the temple there was not a large visiting group so we worked together to do the ordinances. We had a mother and dad and their daughter, just off her mission in Romania, come. They are from Idaho Falls and she also had relatives from Sweden that they were going to try to find. We had to have two sessions at the same time because of so many patrons, wonderful! There was a family who came to have their deceased son baptized and one young man came and did the baptism for his father.
All these were sweet and tendermoments in the House of the Lord. We got our new temple recommends from our temple President.
Chuck finished reading the first book of the Work and the Glory and has started on the 2nd. I am now reading the first book.
Thanks for all your emails and cards for our Wedding Anniversary on the 3rd. It really adds to our work to receive emails, letters and cards. Thanks for your support.
Svardsjo Baptismal Font
Bengtsheden
Sundborn Church