week of September 13th

We have certainly had some cool and rainy weather for the past week. It has rained almost every day and some days very hard! But the air is clean and fresh and everything is beautiful.
This week we had a missionary couple from Denmark come to the temple. Elder and Sister John Larsen are from Delta, Utah and he was on his mission as a young elder the same time as Chuck. We had seen them at church in Copenhagen when we went to church with Bettina. It was great to visit with them again. They only have a week until they are released from their mission in the mission office in Denmark.
The Goteborg Stake has been here this week and it has been wonderful to see people that we have met before and have come to love. The temple has been very busy this week. There were five young people (missionaries) who came for the first time and we had several double sessions.
I made cinnamon rolls so we could take them with us on our trip to the island of Gotland. We were invited a couple of weeks ago to attend the branch and talk. BUT, the city of Visby is a 30 min car ride to catch the ferry and then a 3-3 ½ hour ferry ride on the Baltic Sea to the island of Gotland. We left Friday night on the 8:00 p.m. ferry. The ferry was very crowded as it was Friday night and the sea was a little rough. We went with Bruno and Harriett Klarin (he is a member of the high council).

The apartment house we stayed in was built in 1793. The island of Gotland was ruled in the past by both Germany and Denmark before it became part of Sweden. It has an old wall around the main city of Visby; most of which is still standing. If there had not been any cars, and the people were dressed in old clothes you would think you had been in a time machine and gone back in time.
Saturday it was rainy so we took our sightseeing in the car. We saw a church in Lärbro that was built in the 1200’s. While we were there we met two couples from Denmark. After talking to them for a while they asked why dad had been in Denmark. When dad told them it was on a mission for the church he then asked them what they knew about the church. They replied polygamy!
We took a small ferry to the island of Fårö (sheep island). The wool from here is grey, very well known, and expensive. We saw Rack Cliffs (big towering rocks) along a beach on the Baltic Sea. It was unbelievable how hard the wind was blowing.

On the northeastern tip of the island we saw a light house and walked along the beach. We saw a large open pit limestone mine in the town of Slite on the island of Gotland.
Sunday we talked in church along with the Stake President. It is a small branch of 15-20 people and it was a good experience. BUT, it does not get any easier to give my talk in Swedish! After church we did some walking around in the within the walls of Visby and it was so interesting. We also saw the St. Maria Domkyrka church. Then we enjoyed a dinner at the apartment.
Monday morning we again set out to walk the old town and its magnificent wall and streets. We walked around for almost 4 ½ hours and enjoyed seeing everything.

We climbed up to the top of one of the corner towers, saw many ruins of old churches and walked along the Baltic Sea. We spend 2 hours in the Gotland museum. Our feet were very tired after walking on cobblestones for that long.
We then cleaned the apartment, packed the car, and went to Max, a well known Swedish hamburger place for lunch before we caught the ferry and returned home. This time the ferry was only 1/3 to ½ full and it was nice to travel in the light and see the beautiful sea. Wow what a great trip we had.
Now you can see why this email is late! We hope this message finds you well and happy and knowing how much you are loved.

The Old Town of Visby

View from Our Apartment