Well, winter has really arrived here in Sweden. We want you to know that we realize it is not nearly the winter you are having in Utah and Idaho, (maybe it is lucky we are gone), but it is winter for sure. While we are seeing that Ireland is having a mild winter again--temperature sometimes at 55 degrees---we are getting a pretty good experience of what the Irish said we would: cold temperature, snow and ice. In early November, Stockholm had the biggest storm since 1911, but by the time we arrived, we thought maybe the warning of winter in Sweden was not much to note.
However, this week we have had some quite stormy weather. We decided we really needed to wash our car one day ($18 for the cheap one!) and by afternoon we had a full-on storm. That night the windy blizzard kept us awake much of the night. It was probably just unsettling to not know what we would be facing---as we did have an appointment early the next morning. We have had some low temperatures, -19 degrees (ah yes, that is only Celsius--which is just below 0 F ---but doesn't it sound a little more like what you are getting?)
The waterway is quite icy, but the ships continue to come up and down the channel. One man told us they work to keep it open, but that he wouldn't ride a ferry or boat taxi in the winter because it is just too cold. We will probably be finding out for ourselves how cold it is, because we are starting to plan a trip to Finland via a ferry at the end of the month. It is much less expensive and we would have our car when we got there to do the traveling we need to do. We have a bit to learn about how to best do this. In good weather, it could be a great adventure, but we are not sure whether to arrange for a cabin even if the travel is all in one day.
The fog is quite interesting to watch as it moves up from the channel onto the land, and the sound of the ship fog horn is deep and low. You almost don't notice the sound at first, but then it makes us feel so blessed to be safe inside and not having to be traveling without the ability to see what is ahead. It made us reflective of how the Gospel is also a way of traveling safely through life for us. When we can't see what is ahead in our lives, we know that we have a Prophet and scriptures to help us stay away from danger and trouble. Their repeated steady voice is a comforting guide that we are grateful for.
We have come to the realization that the countryside reminds us of upstate New York. There are a lot of trees and rolling hills, and the roads are not nearly so busy as they were in Dublin. One cold morning Grandpa looked out to see a young father not be able to start his car. He went out to see if he could help, but then the Grandparents came and picked up the children, and they weren't too worried about the car since it was old. I would be fun to be able to share the gospel with a family in our apartment building, but we are not getting the perfect opportunity yet.
This week we have had a few meetings that gave us a bit more momentum with our work. One important meeting was with the Stockholm South Stake SR Committee. They were a very complete committee, and are doing what they understand is Self Reliance, but they have not seen the full Initiative. It is going to be a little harder to get them to ramp up when they feel good about what they do, than it was to get Self Reliance started in Ireland. They were very inclusive of us though, and we feel they will be able to expand their efforts when they see the many ways that SR can bless the Saints. These socialist countries have given the people a feeling of security with health support and a form of job security, but there is reason to think that with the unsteady economics beginning, especially in Finland, that it cannot last. Sweden's tax rate is 71% and an increasing number of young people think that with that high of a tax rate, they may as well let the government be their full means of support. It is interesting that, even when the government takes care of "everything," it is hard for many Swedish families to make ends meet because of all the taxes they pay.
Another meeting was with the Mission President and his wife to see if they are interested in having us start a returning missionary training program. They were very excited about it and want us to get it going right away. We had thought that since we are in the Mission Home city we could just teach one big session to the "returnees" when they come in to go home, but the President felt there was just not enough time and wants to arrange 1/2 day trainings in the working areas. We will do that for the time being and then pass the training materials on as we did when we left Ireland.
On Thursday, we met with our District downtown. It is a good group of young missionaries and they are sincere about their work. We took lunch for them for after the meeting, but it is not as easy or good as having it right near our house, but they still appreciated it. Since we were out and would need to be right by the Temple for an evening meeting, we decided to go to the Temple in the in-between hours, but we got an invitation to join the Elders for a teaching appointment because the man was looking for work and they wanted us to meet him and set up to help him. We didn't make the temple, but that is okay since it is just available for us if we don't have a lot else to do.
It was fun to have a gospel teaching time again with an investigator. When we went into his house he first asked us if he could get us a drink of juice or water. While he was out getting the drinks his roommate came into the room. To the surprise of everyone, the roommate was a man they had met on a train that very week, but had not settled on a time to meet him. So here they were, sitting in his house ready to teach his friend! He was getting ready to go to work, so he could not join the lesson, but of course a time was set up for them to meet in the next two days. It is just amazing how carefully orchestrated the work of the Lord is. In all the masses of people in Stockholm, this just could not have happened by coincidence!
At church we met another investigator who is looking for work. He is from Syria and has a lot of experience and work skills, but doesn't have great language skills. He has been looking for jobs as everyone says to, by checking the internet---with no success. We met with him for an extra hour after the block and started teaching him some Job Search skills and he was thrilled. He could readily recognize that there is significance in the method we taught him and he was so happy and grateful. The missionaries were also there and loved it too. They went home and shared the good news with others and already we are getting contacts from others who want help.
It is fun to meet new missionaries and feel their love of the Gospel. In Church we heard a great talk by one of the Elders that we think might help you older Grandchildren. He was assigned to talk about the blessing of seminary in his life. He admitted that he was not proud of what he had done with his seminary experience and how he wishes he had been better. He said he went to seminary to keep his parents happy, but now he can see how much he missed by often sleeping and playing with his phone. He is a really good missionary now, but when he finds it hard to prepare for teaching, he knows it is because he did not use his time well to gain the knowledge that would help him now and later in his life. Knowledge is one thing that no one can give us. It is one of the parts of agency. We have to get it for ourselves and build continuously to have the strength that becomes an armor of protection for us. Even now on our mission we know we have to keep studying, and we encourage you as teenagers to use your time and study the scriptures and gospel everyday.
Looking ahead, we are excited about traveling north this week to Sundsvall, Sweden to meet with the President of the District there. His District is 57% of the geography of Sweden. We hope to be able to find one of Dedee Dalebout's Swedish relatives on the way, depending on the weather, etc. We also are traveling to Norway this week for a meeting there. We decided not to drive because the 10 day forecast was not good and we don't know what to expect with the roads for our first time. It is about an 8 hour drive, but a much shorter flight. Still we will have to stay overnight. In all, as we said, we are picking up momentum, and hope that we can make a difference as we learn more and share what we have learned so far.
We groan with you Grandchildren as you have to go back to school after such a fun Christmas vacation. We loved hearing of all the fun things you did during the holidays. The holidays are very big with the Swedish. They have repeated reasons to celebrate and still had one more holiday last Friday. January 6 is called Three Kings Day and school doesn't start until after that. We called one SR specialist this week to check on a time to meet with their stake and she said the holidays are not over until Monday Jan 9th. Wow! Well, we know getting back to school or work is hard whenever it happens, so keep smiling and stay healthy! We love each of you and hope you will write when you have a little time.
We still feel so blessed to be on this mission. This is an interesting experience for us to "start over" in a sense, but it makes us realize even more that the Gospel is true everywhere. As in Ireland, we are meeting some wonderful, devoted saints who are staying true to their beliefs in spite of their challenges. We are so anxious to be the Lord's instruments in helping people be their best and lay claim to the privileges that are in store for them.
We send much love and warm hugs!
Love Grandpa and Grandma,
Dad and Mom,
Lynne and Lanette
Aldste and Syster
The winter view out of our window. This is our "Lego Village" with the train. Can you see it?
Another view from our window. The ferries continually come to and from the channels (out of sight) at the top of the picture and go up the channel to the right.
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