On Monday, July 26, about half of the Young Single Adults in the Goteborg Stake boarded a bus for the first leg of a trip that would eventually land us in Lohra, Finland, for a week of fun and friendship.  The bus held 55 people and with Robert and I and another couple from our ward it was full to capacity.  The trip started for us on the second day of our time here in Goteborg.  We attended a meeting called ‘Institute Advisory Council’ after a very long day of Zone Conference.  We were sitting trying to get our bearings when something called Festi-Nord was mentioned.  The Stake President said, “And of course the Andersons will go.”  Our Mission President cleared his throat and said, “Well…. “   As they discussed the finer points of the arrangement, we sat wondering what in the world is Festi-Nord?   We finally heard the Mission President say, “It will take a few days to receive permission from the area authority.  I’ll have to get back with you.”  The youth were ecstatic that we were going (maybe) and proceeded to tell us how fabulous the trip would be and how fantastic Festi-Nord is and we’d just love it.  4 days later we got a call from Stockholm: we were going to Finland.   No one seemed to know exactly what we needed to take or what our responsibilities would be, but they were all certain we’d just love it.  On Thursday, July 22, we finally found out there is a Festi-Nord web site and we looked at it.  We needed our own mattress and sleeping bags, pillows and towels, soap and clothes.  We made a few phone calls and that was right, but we’d have our own room, not to worry.  Saturday was preparation day so we spent the whole day running from one store to another looking for a decent blow up mattress (preferably 2 twins) and sleeping bags.  We only knew where these stores were thanks to several of the young adults at the center writing the names on a paper and showing us on our map where to drive to find them.  By Saturday night we had purchased all we thought we needed (Don’t even ask the total price!) and were exhausted.  We found our two biggest suitcases and stuffed everything in and figured we were ready.   The bus left at 8am Monday and we were on board!

The young adults were on top of the clouds as we traveled to Stockholm (7 hours) and were dropped off at the wharf were the ferries loaded for the crossing of the Baltic.  Tracy, one of the YSA in charge of us all, went somewhere and got everyone a boarding pass with the key to their room.  We walked up the gang plank with about 1000 other people and were on our way to Finland! We  found our stateroom, marveled at how small it was (but delighted in the large window that looked out onto the sea), and decided to walk around and check out the ship.  At 5pm the ferry set sail.  3 hours later we were finally in the Baltic!  The east side of Stockholm is a maze of islands, large and small, that the ship maneuvered through going at a snail’s pace.  As I looked at a map of the area I realized we were actually going north and just a little east.  The Swedes call this the archipelago. They are very proud of it:  many of the islands are inhabited (of course the only way on and off is by boat), they are all covered with trees and huge rocks.  The homes are mostly summer homes.  We even saw a few smaller islands with only one house on them.  Imagine owning your own island!  At times during the trip 3 other ferries were visible in front of us and 1 or 2 behind us.  Just as the sun was setting we passed the last island and were finally in the open sea.

After eating some supper and wandering through the duty-free shop (and buying some Panda licorice and some mini Bounty bars!) we retired to bed.  The ship had picked up speed and there was nothing to see but miles of empty sea in every direction.  I think that several of the YSA never went to bed and several others slept in the hall or on deck.  Sometime in the night the ship stopped at a large island just off the west coast of Finland for about 15 minutes.  At 9:50am we were docked in Helsinki and departing (or deshipping or unboarding or whatever getting off a boat is called.)  We boarded another bus and drove north and east out of Helsinki to our destination — Lohra, Finland.  Helsinki was a colorless, drab place (at least what we saw of it) looking very “cold-war”ish.  In fact one of the large buildings we passed as we were leaving the dock area had a sickle and crescent moon carved into its outer facade.  This is as close as I’ve ever been to the old USSR and it was a little unnerving.  Finland itself was beautiful with trees and greenery and rolling hills.  The town where Festi-Nord was held was right beside a huge lake surrounded by trees and cottages — a real resort community, if there is such a thing 400k south of the arctic circle!

We had a bit of a struggle finding a place for us to sleep — we had been told we would have our own room (as had 3 other couples) but the organizers thought all couples should split up and stay with their YSA’s.  We finally located a room (the only room) in the school that wasn’t being used for anything and all 8 of us put our blow-up mattresses in it and camped for a week.  The first afternoon was the beginning rounds of the soccer tournament.  Several of the chaperons (only for want of an actual term that defined our status) walked into town for some lunch.  We decided on a place (because it was fairly cool and had a restroom) and tried to order.  The man behind the counter spoke only Finnish and we spoke only Swedish, Danish, or English.  We were getting no place when another customer noticed our problem and came to our rescue.  It still wasn’t perfect because as couples we ordered 1 meal but the fellow didn’t quite get it and brought us both the same thing.  We had to leave a good portion of a wonderful lunch because it was too much.  In spite of the many seeming troubles we had a great time at Festi-Nord getting to know the young adults and enjoying the other missionary couples and the town of Lohra.

These are the two schools that were used as boys’ dorm and girls’ dorm for the week.  We stayed in the large white one, the girls’ dorm.  All the meals were served here.  The morning institute class was here; the evening dances were here; most of the activities were here.

A run down of what went on:  Every night a dance; every morning at 8 was institute taught by a brother who was an institute teacher by trade, retired, had been mission president in Finland, was now on a mission to the Finnish temple;  Tuesday was arrive , get settled, and have the first several rounds of the soccer tournament;  Wednesday was the Amazing Festi-Nord Race – all the YSA were divided into 20 teams, they had to follow a map all down beside the lake and finish 15 amazing tasks (it took most of the day and was really fun but everyone including the adult helpers were exhausted when it was over.);  Thursday was filled with spiritual classes capped in the afternoon by 3 amazingly awesome testimony meetings (divided up by age groups);  Friday morning was a Mormon Helping Hands service project all throughout the town followed by an afternoon of secular classes (massage, ‘meet the parents’, and my personal favorite ‘why God wants you on Face Book’); Saturday was the finals of the soccer tournament (I am pleased to report that Sweden won!!) and heading home totally tired and filled to capacity with wonderful memories.  The following pictures are just a potpourri of what went on.

We can’t believe we’ve been to Finland, especially for such a wonderful experience.  These youth are amazing.  They love the chance to meet all together — there are so few of them in any one place.  They came from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland.  There were 500 of them.  And they were well behaved, respectful, kind to everyone, and having a wonderful time.  Next year Festi-Nord is in Sweden, near Stockholm and everyone questioned said they hoped there would be an activity at the temple (not more dances, more fun, but a temple trip!).  We love our mission!!!

We have been in Goteborg (pronounced ‘Yoot-a-bory’) here on the west coast of Sweden for a month now.  It is a beautiful city and a beautiful country.  Many things stand out in my mind that I especially like.

Many people of all ages walk and ride bikes — not for exercise but to get from place to place.  From the windows of the Center we can watch them go down the Vasagatan — the road in front of the center.  In the middle of the road is a special lane for walkers and bike riders.  It is wider than either of the other two lanes — which are shared by buses, trams and cars! — and is complete with lines and arrows for organized travel.  We have seen little people who still have the training wheels on their bikes,  college-age youth who zoom by on racing type bikes, workers who are wearing suits and ties, women in skirts (very short), and gray haired people slowly pedaling who knows where.  Walkers include families, youth on their way to the park, lovers on their way to one of the many night clubs in the area, shoppers with several bags of goodies, and grandparents trying to keep up with their grandchildren.  The walking and biking lanes are everywhere.  There is even one that goes from out by our apartment into town.  Many of the YSA ride in to the activities and to work.

Trams and buses go everywhere at all times and are usually filled to capacity, with many riders standing in the aisles.  the YSA say that if you miss your tram another will be by in 10 minutes.  It is very difficult to get a drivers license in Sweden and many of the youth do not have one.  Licenses are expensive and you have to be at least  18 to get one.  The trams wait for no one and the buses have special lanes on the larger roads.  We have both a tram stop and a bus stop near our apartment and there are always people waiting at both.  When you ask someone how to get someplace they answer “take sparvagn __ and get off at ______.”  (pronounced ‘sporvahn’ and meaning tram)

The place is GREEN.  Trees grow everywhere and the lawns are always green and every balcony on every apartments has flower pots full of blooming flowers (except ours!).  Wild flowers grow beside the roads.  The bushes grow like weeds.  When they mow they go around any flower growing in the lawn (even dandelions).  I have been told that it is against the law to water the lawn — and I’ve never seen a sprinkler.  It’s OK to water the flowers but not the bushes.

This is the cleanest big city I’ve ever seen.  Rarely have I seen a piece of litter.  Yards are free of clutter and full of bushes and flowers.  Garbage cans are inside little buildings or special rooms of big buildings.  There are even several construction sites in our neighborhood that are totally picked up all the time.  There are small litter bins on the roads that every one uses as they walk by.

Several things I’m not quite sure about:

Walkers and bikers are everywhere — in the road, beside the road.  You never know when one will decide to leave the sidewalk and cross the street.  Driving is a constant worry for bikers and walkers.

Grocery stores do not give you a bag to carry away your purchases.  You either have to bring several from home or pay for what you need.

The place is GREEN.  Because every other day it rains.  Not a quick cloud up and dump then go away rain but a be cloudy all day and alternately drizzle, pour buckets, drizzle, pour buckets all day or all night.  Then on the not rainy days it is hot with 98% humidity!

The round-abouts are huge and the cars whiz around them like race cars.  If you aren’t in the correct lane you go around again until you can work your way into the correct lane.  Dad and I sing “one more time around Picadilly circus”  quite often!

I’m sure as we live here longer we will find other things we love about the place, and I hope some of the things I’m not sure about will become things I like.

Our mission in Sweden consists of being at and helping to run a Center for Young Single Adults (YSA’s).  Elder L Tom Perry was given an assignment by President Hinkley and part of the revelation that Elder Perry received to help him fulfill that assignment was the establishment of these centers throughout Europe.  The center is a meshing of institute and a gathering place where YSA’s can fellowship and visit and meet other YSA’s and feel the spirit in their lives.  One of the main activities at the center is missionary work.  As a consequence, missionaries are assigned to each center and the center is used by them as a place to teach discussions and to have their investigators meet members their own age.  Most centers are in a town where there are many young people gathered — where there is a college or a university.

Our center here in Goteborg, Sweden,  is in just such a town.  Goteborg has between 500,000 and 750,000 residents (depending on which suburbs you count and which you don’t.)  It also has 3 very large universities.  Goteborg University is located in several large , old buildings around what is called Centrum (the center of town.)   A couple of these buildings are a stone’s throw from our center.

Here is the building where our Center is located.  We are on the third floor (one of the windows is open.)  The story I was told is that it used to be the residence of a man who made tons of money during the war manufacturing ball bearings, or some such thing, and selling them to everyone, the allies and the Germans alike.  How the church got it I have no idea, although 2 of the boys who attend here claim their dad was one of the locals who helped the church get the place.

This is the door through which we have to drive to get to our parking place.  I thought it was funny that our car came with a parking place, but it is very important as the parking on the street is either non existent or VERY expensive.  We fold in the mirrors and Robert just roars on through — after I have entered the secret code that allows us to open the doors.

Here is our little car, JLO, in her parking place.  It is actually an inner courtyard and there are four parking places, all reserved, plus several bicycles and often a motorcycle.  Somehow Robert has to turn the car around so we can go out frontwards,  some days more of a chore than others. (It depends on how many of the other cars are there.)  The small door in front of JLO is the garbage door.  And please don’t ask because I have no clue how the garbage gets taken from this inner court .

Above are the stairs from the ground level into the building.  Yes they are marble. The doors just swing open without any latches.  Once inside you turn right and find the stairway up and the lift (hiss in Swedish.) We always take the stairs — its good for us! — and the stairs, and the stairs.  They circle around the shaft for the hiss, and we go up to the third floor.  The windows have stained glass panels in them and the offices we pass on the way up are filled with doctors who have planters filled with plants on their landings.

Finally, we are at the center!!  This door also has a code.  I’d say it was a secret but every YSA that uses the center knows both the code for the downstairs big doors and for this door.  The rest of the pictures are of the inside of this wonderful facility.  It is very large and very nice and the YSA’s try to keep it that way by taking their shoes off when they come in and by cleaning

and taking care of everything.  I think they know how fortunate they are to have this place.  Many of the other centers throughout Europe are just a designated room in a church building.  There are 4 other centers in Sweden and none of them are anywhere near this nice; even though the one in Stockholm is not in a church building, it still doesn’t quite measure up to this.

As you can see, this is an amazing place.  We also have a large classroom, a medium size meeting room, and a small meeting room

plus    several bathrooms and large closets.  The billiard room is to the right of the lounge, through the double door.  A room with a ping-pong table is to the left through the double doors.  The whole affair is L-shaped with the entry way and the lounge where the 2 legs come together. Because it is a corner of the building every room has large windows that offer a fun view of the street and the people going by.   As well, they open to let the cool breeze blow through.  Different buildings of the University of Goteborg are all around us, dormitories as well as classrooms.

I hope this gives you an idea of where we spend our days.  The Center is on a very busy street with trams, buses, cars, walkers and bikers going up and down from morning to night.  It is 2 blocks from The Avenue, a major street of  restaurants and shops and museums.  At one end of the Avenue is the museum of art with a large statue of Poseidon and at the other end is a large sailing ship that has been made into a very nice restaurant.  There are also parks and the library and the opera house and theaters scattered here and there along the Avenue.

Our new little home is great!  It’s on the third floor of a very nice apartment building at the end of the street.  There is a code that must be entered before the front door will open.  Then its up three flights of stairs to our own front door.  The key is a regular castle key.  Once inside the apartment is functional and nice:  an entry, a bathroom to the left, a living room straight ahead, a bedroom ahead and a little to the right, and a kitchen to the right.  The living room has a nice little balcony where we can sit and enjoy the sun and the fresh air.  There is also a planter to hang on the railing, but I have found no plants to put in it.  (I will keep looking!)  The floors are all bare, in the typically Swedish fashion — either oak flooring or tile with area rugs scattered here and there.  All the rooms have big windows that open to the fresh air (no screens, but suprizingly few flies.)  There is no laundry room.  The bathroom is strange.  There is no shower stall or tub.  The far end of the room is cordoned off with the shower curtain and there is a drain in the floor about as big as a saucer.  Amazingly, the water doesn’t splash all over at all — it flows down the drain and stays behind the curtain. It took a lot of getting used to!

All the apartments in our part of the building share one laundry that is in the basement.  A special key gets us through all the doors to the laundry room.

There is a board on the wall beside the door where one signs up for a three hour block in which to do the washing.  There are two washers and two driers, one normal and one that is a big closet with bars where you hang things that you don’t want to tumble dry.  None of the appliances requires any money.  Next door to the laundry room is a “mangling room.”  I didn’t recognize any of the machines in this room.  When questioning some of the young adults here at the center about a “mangling room”  they assured me it was for ironing clothes.  It contains a huge thing with rollers that apparently rolls items like table clothes and pillow cases and trousers to stretch and smooth them.  When I explained what mangling means in English, they understood my confusion.

We already consider Kondesorgatan 23, apt. 3021 as home and love to get there at the end of the day.

Around us are many more apartment buildings.  Each morning we go for a walk passed them all.  The outsides are different colors but they are all the same height and about the same style.  There could be as many as 2000 apartments in them!  The walk takes us about 20 minutes so it must be about 1 mile.  The Swedish people love nature and each building has flowers and grass and a minimum of pavement.  (When they mow the grass, they do not mow anyplace where flowers are growing in the lawn — even if the flowers are dandelions!)  And any rocks that are naturally in the landscape (we are talking big rocks.  Apparently the whole country is a giant rock island with soil on top.) are just left there.  One building that we pass each morning has imported a few fake rocks that are molded to look like sleeping ducks!  They are about 4 feet long and 2 1/2 to 3 feet tall and very interesting.

Our place is very conveniently located.  The access to the road we take to the center is just at the end of our complex and there is a large mall and grocery store just a kilometer in the other direction.  We can finally get to either place (center or stores) without our liahona.  Our community is actually called Vastra Frolunda, with two dots above the first a.  (West Frolunda)  But Goteborg is very much like Salt Lake with all the little communities around it having their own names but still being referred to as Salt Lake.

Our stake is probably as big as Utah County, with 7 wards and 2 branches.  Our ward building isn’t far from our apartment.  It takes about 5 minutes driving through residential streets that are windy and just about one car wide.  Everyone is amazed that little Genola with 1100 residents has 3 wards.  Well over 1,000,000 people live in the Goteborg stake.

Hope this gives you a small picture of where we live and what this place is like.  Next time — the center!

Add New

These are a couple of pictures of our apartment complex and our kitchen.  I just uploaded a couple this time.

 

 

We thought it would never happen, but we are finally in Sweden!  On Monday, June 7, Mission Travel called to tell us they had our visas and on Wednesday, June 9, we were on our way.  What a hectic day and 1/2 that was.  Packing 2 years worth of stuff, waiting for Fed-Ex to deliver our passports, trying to finish up all those things we hadn’t quite gotten done.  We left Genola about 5pm Tuesday afternoon to spend the night in Salt Lake as we had to be to the airport by 6:30am Wednesday.  We had a great dinner with the local family members before retiring and hardly slept a wink trying to remember if we had packed this and why did we pack that and are we bringing too much or should we have brought more.

A shuttle took us to the airport, we whizzed through security and waited 2 hours for the plane to New York.  We landed at JFK International in a rain storm a little after 3 New York time  and waited 4 hours for our flight to Sweden. At least that was the plan.  At 8pm the plane arrived, we boarded about 8:30 and sat for 2 hours in the plane waiting our turn to take off.  Because of the storm, one of the runways had been closed and everyone was crowding onto the remaining runways.  It wasn’t a huge jet, just a normal fly across the country one, and was totally full, with its requisite crying baby and rambunctious children.  Try as we might we couldn’t sleep much.  How does one sleep in an airplane, anyway?  We landed in Sweden (!!!) about 11:30 am and stood in the check your passport line for over an hour.

President and Sister Anderson were there to greet us and bring us to the mission home, with a short stop at the mission office to sign some papers.  We took a short (2 hour) nap then walked to the nearby Vik (pronounced veek) for a picnic supper.  A vik is an inlet from the sea that looks very much like a lake.  The mission home is in an upscale neighborhood where the homes are larger with beautiful large yards and narrow roads for cars, walkers and bikers. (we’ll post some pictures soon.)  Everyone’s yard is “natural” — grass with flowers growing in it that they mow around (even the dandylions!) and if you are lucky enough to have a rock in your yard you leave it alone!  It’s about 9pm now and we’ve been told it won’t get dark until 11 and then will be light again about 2.  I’m not staying up to see if its true.  We’re here!  We’re here!

Well, here we sit in Genola — two missionaries without a mission!  We finished our training at the MTC on Wednesday and came home that night.  Mission travel informs us that they got word from the Swedish Consul that he will start looking at the visa requests in June.  We don’t know if that means June 1 or June 30 or which day in between.  Our mission office in Sweden says the people in Sweden have told them that a case worker has been assigned to our request and that usually means things will speed up.  The sad part is, all the young missionaries left for Sweden May 24, right on schedule.  I guess as a senior couple we pose more of a threat or a risk or something. 

We are using the time to get our suitcases packed and at the proper weight and to finish up some of the things that need to be done around the house.  We couldn’t stand the fact that we weren’t going to have a garden this summer so Robert planted 12 tomato plants Friday morning.  And we are putting the cannas in the ground today.  Other than that we are at our rope’s end.  I suppose we could tract Genola, but I’m certain the full time missionaries would be upset at our horning in on their territory.  Our lives are so thrilling I am not going to post again until we leave.

We have completed our week of missionary training at the Provo MTC and what a week it has been.  On Monday we registered and got our name tags in the morning.  That afternoon we were welcomed by the MTC Presidency and the Buchanans — the couple who can answer any question and know just about everything.  They are wonderful (a word I will over use in this entry) and totally amazing (another word I will over use) — always happy and friendly and loving.  We eat in the cafeteria with the young missionaries. What a treat! (the food and the missionaries!)  Tuesday started the real thing,  in class by 8 with only a short break for lunch and finished about 5 pm in time to join the young missionaries for dinner.  The returned missionaries who are teaching us are trying to get us to simplify what we know about the restoration and the plan of salvation (not an easy task.)  Try to tell someone in less than 5 minutes the 8 important facts about the restoration, bearing testimony of each thing you say as well as each point your companion makes.  Tuesday afternoon we met and gave a first discussion to a non-member (actually a member pretending to be a non-member.)   I was scared wit-less.  However, we did it and we didn’t get stoned or run out of town on a rail.  It was an amazing experience.  I would recommend that everyone get a Preach My Gospel book and read it.  What a wonderful tool the apostles have given us for the spreading of the gospel.  After reporting our triumph and eating dinner there was a devotional for everyone.  The young missionaries sang the prelude music.  I have never heard hymns sung with such fervor.  Then a member of the Seventy spoke to us about the Book of Mormon.  The spirit in this place is amazing, always present and always bearing down.  At the end of Tuesday, and every other day we have been here, I am totally exhausted,  mind and body.  I don’t know how the General Authorities live 24/7 like this.  Maybe you can get used to it, I don’t know.  Wednesday was another full day.  We had a second discussion with a ‘non-member’ in the afternoon and I wasn’t quite as wit-less.  After dinner, we had language training (Swedish, of course.)  Our trainer took us to meet the 10 elders who are leaving for Sweden May 24.  They were totally awesome.  We bore our testimonies to them at the end of our time together — in Swedish!!  They were very polite and complimented us on our Swedish skills, which are practically non-existent.  Thursday was another full day of learning, teaching, being over-whelmed with the spirit, and language.  Friday was a repeat, except that at the end of the Friday night session of language tutoring all the couples who are learning foreign languages had a testimony meeting together.  We each bore our testimonies in our own foreign language.  What a powerful and wonderful meeting!  There were Swedish, Danish, German, Mandarin, Albanian, and whatever they speak in Singapore.  I have had 2 full days to try to recover and am still absolutely exhausted.  I am so grateful to be a missionary, to be here in the MTC learning how to be an effective tool for our Father.  The gospel is true.  The Book of Mormon was translated from sacred plates by the Prophet Joseph Smith.  We can return to live with our Father in Heaven again by obeying the principles and ordinances of the restored gospel.  Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer.  I love you all, Mom

Missionary “Farewell” Talk

We appreciate the bishopric giving us this opportunity to tell all of you “Heyda, ha det bra,” which literally means “good-bye, have it good” in Swedish but which really means “until we meet again.” Brother Lundell has asked that I share with you a little of what I have learned in the process of preparation for this event. What is there to learn? You get your call, buy some new clothes, and head out to preach. What is there in that to learn? I submit that the list of what I have learned is too long to even attempt. So I have picked 3 items that I hope will be of interest and may be a help to each of you as you prepare to serve a mission.

The first lesson I learned during this process is the application of Eienstein’s theory of relativity to my life. President Laker forwarded our papers to Salt Lake about January 22. What seemed like 2 months later, on February 10, our call arrived in the mail. Those 3 weeks were the longest 3 weeks of my life, next to waiting for an overdue baby to decide on his arrival day. By week 2, I was certain the Lord didn’t want us and that the missionary committee was trying to figure out a gentle way to say “thanks, but no thanks.” In fact, I gave up waiting and flew to St. Louis to visit Robby and his family. Of course the day after I left town the letter arrived. We opened it over the phone. When Robert said Stockholm, Sweden, I almost said “OK, stop kidding around, where are we really going?” When he read that we enter the MTC on May 17, I said, “what are we supposed to do for 3 months?” Well, 2 weeks later, May 17 is here. Those were the fastest 3 months ever. I don’t know if that is what Eienstein had in mind when he talked about time moving fast or slow depending on where you’re standing, but it sure happened in my life.

The second lesson I learned is you sure can collect a lot of stuff in 40 years of family life. We’ve been getting our home ready for Katie and her family to live in while we’re gone. I’ve made trips to DI and have filled over a dozen of those big plastic containers, not counting boxes and the closet. Of course its all good stuff and can’t be thrown away. My advice would be – start sorting through stuff a couple of years before you think you might be going, and don’t get really attached to anything. 3 months has not been long enough to get everything done. If Katie has a yard sale and tries to sell my stuff, please don’t buy anything. I may need it someday.

The 3^rd lesson I learned was the hardest one of all. One day several weeks ago as I was filling boxes it suddenly hit me – what in the world am I doing? Why am I going off to some foreign country where they speak a language I don’t understand and cannot speak? This is absolutely the craziest thing I have ever done in my entire life. Do you know that Sweden is in the same latitudes as Alaska? In the winter they only have 4 hours of sunlight a day, and in the summer it never gets dark! And I’ve been told they eat pickled fish. I started right then to make a list of all the reasons I absolutely could not go. Topping the list was 18 grandchildren. How can I possibly leave them with their parents and no grandma? Then came 7 children. How can I leave trusting they will raise those 18 grand children correctly, without me to help? Then of course my parents need me. And all my wonderful friends. And this great ward. And what about my rock garden, and all those books I want to read? Oh, my list went on and on. For days I cried every time I even thought of leaving. I was getting so miserable I realized something had to be done. I decided to look at the missionaries in the scriptures – Ammon and his brothers, Alma the Younger, Paul. But I’m certain none of them left their grand children. And they enjoyed all the adventures every young boy dreams of – camping in the wilderness, playing with Indians, sailing ships and ship wrecks, traipsing all over the known world, riding horses and hiking. It was better than an outing to the Havisupi! But I can’t think about Paul without remembering his words to Timothy as he faced the end of his mortal ministry. “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” Brothers and Sisters, I want to be able to say that. I want to be like Ammon and his brothers when they met Alma on their way back to Zarahemla. “They had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God… they had given themselves to much prayer and fasting… and when they taught they taught with power….” And I want to be like Alma the Younger, never tiring of preaching the gospel for he knew that nothing save the preaching of the word of God and pure testimony could turn men from their evil ways.

Brothers and Sisters, I say to you as Paul said to the Romans: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” The spirit has made me fully aware that my list of reasons for not going was in fact a partial list of the reasons I have to go. Because of the gospel of Christ, my life is full of more blessings – more exceedingly wonderful blessings – than I ever thought possible: 18 beautiful grandchildren, 7 wonderful children and their loving spouses, my totally supportive parents, great friends, a fantastic ward, plus a marvelous world full of wonders and the senses to enjoy it. But if I were bereaved of all those blessings, I would still have the most wonderful blessing of all – a sure testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ; a testimony of Christ as my savior and redeemer; of His amazing and incomprehensible atonement for each of us and for everyone, everywhere; a testimony that I am a daughter of God and the sure knowledge that I love Him and desire to serve Him with my every breath. I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve a mission in Sweden with my best friend and eternal companion. I feel I must stand before you as Brigham Young and Heber Kimball stood in the back of the wagon that was taking them from their families to serve missions in England. In their weakness they stood, facing their families, and shouted “Hoorah for Israel! Hoorah for Israel!” Heyda, ha det bra.