What a week!!  It started with a really good family night. The elders gave a lesson on revelation and how we get it. Then we played ‘I have never,’ which was a hoot. We were having zone conference the next morning, so several sets of elders were in town to spend the night. The zone leaders split up with one of the sets that were here. The one took the car and at nearly 10 still wasn’t back to get the other two. So we had to give them a ride home. Elder Bloomfield said he knew a shortcut to his apartment. Well it may have been shorter but it wasn’t quicker.  The Gothia Cup was having its opening ceremony that night and the stadium was emptying just as we got to the corner of the stadium and the road to the train station. We waited through 3 red lights because the people crossing the street wouldn’t stop when their light turned red. Finally a car in the lane next to us had had enough and inched its way into the crowd. That gave them a hint and the rest of us were able to go. Anyway, we didn’t get home until 11pm! The Gothia Cup is a huge soccer tournament for youth from around the world that just ended today. They play in every available soccer stadium in the city. Thursday America was playing Norway in the downtown stadium but we don’t know who won.
Tuesday was zone conference. On Sunday evening I found out via a voice message (because we had left our phone in the car on Saturday and didn’t get it out until Sunday evening) that I was supposed to speak in the conference. The message gave me the topic so I laid awake in bed most of Sunday night writing my talk in my head. Monday just before FHE Dad called President Newell for something, he asked to speak to me, and gave me what I thought was a completely new topic!! Then FHE, then take the elders home then get to bed about midnight and spend most of that night awake trying to prepare a new talk. Tuesday morning I was up and showered and figured I had about 45 minutes to fine tune my talk when we get a call from the zone leaders (at 8:45) can we be to the airport by 9:10 to help pick up the president and the assistants? Well, Dad hadn’t showered yet, and the airport is 30 minutes from our house on a good day, but we got there by 9:20. There went my fine tune the talk time. We got everyone to the center for the conference by about 10:10. The elders had done their best to set up the center for the conference but of course didn’t know where the tables were stored, where the pitchers or glasses were kept, and a number of other little details. They did their best but the center looked like it had been ransacked. Of course, my part on the program was after the opening prayer so I totally relied on the spirit and gave a portion of each of the talks I had in my head, praying that somehow they would make sense. Dad said they did, and I only went over my time by about 3 minutes. (of course that doesn’t say that I was only supposed to talk for 3 to 5 minutes in the first place!) President Newell talked too long, his wife talked too long, lunch was better than an hour late, while everyone else was eating lunch, President Newell took all the missionaries’ shoes and lined them up perfectly in the hall.   We had planned to go out to dinner with the couple from the Jönköping center but didn’t get to because of the lateness of the interviews and the unknown fact that we were supposed to drive them to the train station for a 7:30 train to Halmstad.  What a day! To top it off perfectly, we got on the wrong road leaving the station and ended up driving around in a circle for 20 minutes trying to be in the correct lane to make the turn to get us home. (Dad to me: I think we’ve seen this area before. Me to Dad: we have but I can’t figure out the stupid GPS!) We hadn’t eaten since 1, it was 9, and I was ready to collapse. We had pancakes for supper and went right to bed. I hope to never repeat a day like that again. If I hadn’t been so tired I think I could have spent the night crying!
Wednesday was summer institute and we had a real crowd – they spilled over into the pool room there were so many. A counselor in the Stake Presidency spoke about his job. He is a police negotiator for terrorism, kidnappings, etc. I didn’t understand the Swedish so I just stayed in the kitchen getting the treat ready. We had zucchini brownies and a fresh fruit compote. Everyone like it. Thursday was slow and Friday was chill. They learned to do the Lindy Hop. I used Saturday to recuperate, laying in bed for over half the day. Tomorrow we leave for Fest-I-Nord for the week. I would like to say it will be a relaxing time, but it won’t. We are part of the crew of helpers that goes from before breakfast till after the last one is finished dancing. Most of the kids from the center are going. In spite of the long hours it should be a good time.
Our weather has been strange as well. A day of sun then every other day cloudy and rainy. A couple of days even had huge thunderstorms that roared across most of the country, knocking down trees and knocking out the power. Right now it is only 60, our high of the day.
There was a horrible happening in Norway Friday. A fellow set off a bomb in a busy place killing about 7 people, then went to a place where a group like the Young Republicans was having a meeting, opened fire on them, and killed at least 80! Oslo, the rest of Norway, and all of Sweden is in total shock. They showed a picture of him in yesterday’s paper and he looked to be in his 30’s and very average, not with a shaved head or anything. It has probably been on your news and you know more than we do because of the language barrier.
You are always in our thoughts and prayers. We’d love to hear from you whenever you can take a few minutes to drop us a note.
All our love, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Nikki and Robert