Til hamingju með afmælið!

11/2/24

As has become a pattern on our mission, our week started out with a lot of good food! On Sunday we went to church in the Selfoss branch and were greeted with love and open arms. The saints in Iceland are so welcoming! We enjoyed their church meetings, Todd got the chance to bear his testimony in Icelandic, and we were invited to a lovely lunch after church at Gummi and Valla’s home. Gummi is the district president here in Iceland. (His full name is Guðmundur Sigurðsson, but he goes by Gummi.) He is a professional tour guide and runs his own business. Would you like to book with him for your visit to Iceland?! Check out his website here: https://www.gtice.is/

He and his wife are kind and loving people. They have a beautiful home and we enjoyed a delicious meal with them and several friends from the Selfoss branch. In this picture you can see Gummi, on the left, then Valla. Next is Áslaug & Bragi, the Selfoss branch president and his wife. Then comes Greta, Bettina, and me. We had a wonderful time!

We couldn’t stay long to visit, unfortunately, because we had a missionary dinner that evening. Every other fast Sunday we get a turn to feed 10 of the 12 elders serving in Iceland. (The other two are 5 hours away, making it a bit inconvenient for them to come for dinner!) We had a chili dinner at the church with these wonderful elders. They are terrific men and working hard to bring the gospel to the people in Iceland. We had fast Sunday a week early because of a district conference next weekend.

And, if this isn’t enough for one Sunday, we made it home in time to zoom in and watch our Oregon ward’s primary program. This was extra special because all of our grandchildren are in this ward and three of them participated in the program. It was so wonderful to see James, Clark, and Noelle sing and speak! It actually made me pretty homesick and, while I loved watching them and our other amazing primary children, there were some tears — from me, not the grandkids! (Excuse the blurry grandchild photo of my laptop screen. Clark & James are on the front row and Noelle is standing behind them.)

Monday was my birthday! How many people get to turn 50 on their mission?! Yep, you read that right! I am now a seasoned adult and qualified to be a senior missionary, since I have aged up into a new decade. Don’t you agree?! I had a nice video chat with each of our kids and my mom. We did a little bit of shopping and prep for the evening institute/FHE night. And, of course, I did some cooking in preparation for more eating that was coming up. We had a mini party with the missionaries and YSA members at institute and enjoyed a Costco birthday cake together with a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday”! Do I finally look old enough for this calling? At least I’m no longer 49! 😉 (Happy birthday in Icelandic is “Til hamingju með afmælið!”

We’ve finally gotten to meet the Akureyri missionaries, Elder Young and Elder Nehren. As well as the Akureyri senior couple, Elder & Sister Tolley. Sister Tolley greeted us with handmade slippers she knitted! They are in town for the week for zone conference and district conference. Akureyri is 388 km north of Reykjavik and takes about 5 hours to drive. Considering the weather here and all the driving the Tolley’s have to do, I know they are brave senior missionaries! Sister Tolley told us she knits while Elder Tolley drives them where they need to go.

Over the weekend Todd felt a cold coming on and by Tuesday morning he was decently sick and needed a couple of sick days. Unfortunately that meant he had to stay home for our first mission zone conference.

I spent the day at the church with the Iceland zone and experienced several firsts – my first time driving alone in Iceland – my first zone conference – my first time driving alone back home in Iceland! Fortunately, they were all good experiences and being solo for a day boosted my confidence in my ability to get around town on my own if and when I need to.

The zone conference was uplifting and inspiring. President and Sister Davidson taught over zoom. They will be in Iceland this weekend for the district conference and couldn’t come to stay for the full week. President Davidson taught about the blessings of daily scripture study and the importance of searching the scriptures verses just reading them. One thing he taught that I loved concerned the story of the widow in 1 Kings 17:8-16. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/ot/1-kgs/17?lang=eng

The widow was out of food for her and her son. Yet, she obeyed the prophet and served with an attitude of abundance and was blessed with food to last as long as needed. She was fed through her attitude of abundance, faith, and obedience. When we read and study our scriptures with an attitude of abundance – looking for what we will gain from our study – we will never run out of things to learn from the Spirit through the word of God. I love this. “Gospel study is one of the most rewarding kinds of spiritual work you can do.” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/preach-my-gospel-2023/04-chapter-2?lang=eng

Sister Davidson taught about the Christlike attribute of humility and how we can, and should, seek this spiritual gift. Humility will help us be better missionaries, better spouses, better people, and better in every way. Several other elders taught and we learned a lot throughout the day.

Todd participated in the conference through zoom. We’re grateful for the technology that allowed the Davidson’s and Elder Richardson to join us, even if not in person.

Yes, there was time in the kitchen at zone conference! Sister Allen & Sister Tolley are amazing women and it was fun to spend the day working with them and feeding the 5,000. I mean the Iceland zone. 🙂

I was pretty lonely in our first zone photo! Hopefully he’ll be with me in the next one.

Because Todd was sick we had a pretty mellow mid-week. He took his rest days and I got caught up on some chores and work at home. I took my first solo walk one afternoon and was glad for a chance to be outside. Just about 20 minutes from our apartment is a little waterfall called Sjávarfoss. The funny thing is that this lovely little waterfall is located under the freeway! It’s right by where we get on the freeway and we’ve driven by it so many times already. We’ve admired it from afar and I finally got to walk over to it and enjoy it, and the freeway traffic, up close and personal. It’s lovely. I also walked down to the ocean just behind our apartment. I love this place.

On Friday, our mission president & his wife, President and Sister Davidson, came from Denmark to Iceland for our district conference weekend. Todd and I have only met them over zoom and we were so happy to get to spend some time with these good people. By Friday Todd was feeling pretty good and we went to dinner Friday evening with the Davidson’s, the Allen’s, & the Tolley’s. It was good to eat and visit before beginning a weekend of meetings. Todd & me, President & Sister Davidson, Elder & Sister Allen, and Sister & Elder Tolley.

And . . . more food! Charred cod and fish soup. Delicious!

Saturday was spent in meetings with the Davidson’s and working to prepare for more eating over the weekend. 😉 We had our Saturday afternoon conference meeting and loved hearing from the district leaders. Todd & I both got to speak. Todd taught about the importance of the handbook and I gave a digital tour of the gospel library. President Davidson talked about “The Future of The Church in Iceland and the Denmark Copenhagen Mission”. He discussed the need for each member in Iceland to be the strength of the church here. The theme for our conference is Unity, Tolerance, and Love.

We were able to get a picture of the entire Iceland district at the conference. Isn’t this a great looking group?! What a team to be on!

This week was, in some ways calmer because we needed a couple of sick days. But in other ways it was more exciting because we had a birthday and three days of conferences! While only one waterfall made its appearance, we were amazed at the beauty of the people in Iceland, the Spirit that is here, and the efforts that are being made to help the Church to grow and thrive in this area. The wind may blow, the snow may fall, and the rain will come, but the warm hearts of the lovely Icelandic people will be strong and true.