11/23/24

This week started out with a busy, wonderful Sunday. Do you remember when I told you about our friend Doris and her son Perfect who were learning from the missionaries? Well, on Sunday morning before church, Doris and Perfect were baptized by Elder Pollock and Elder Nielsen. It was so wonderful to be a part of their baptism day and to witness them make their first covenants with Heavenly Father. They are both so happy and are doing well! Perfect wanted his mom to be baptized first so he could watch and see how she did. She did great! And then, she stood at the edge of the font to watch Perfect be baptized. The Spirit was there and it was a special experience. 

After their baptism, both Doris and Perfect shared some thoughts. One thing Doris said really stood out to me. She has lived in a lot of different places and she’s gone through a lot of different hardships. At this time she stood in front of her new branch family and friends and said “Maybe the reason I’m in Iceland is to find the church and be baptized”. I love this thought and I am so happy to know Doris and to watch her journey of faith in Jesus Christ.

The baptism was just the beginning of a lovely Sunday. We attended the Reykjavik first branch sacrament meeting and enjoyed having the Icelandic speakers translated into English for us through our headsets – thanks to our young missionary translators. After sacrament meeting, Todd and I attended the Reykjavik second branch sacrament meeting and enjoyed having the Spanish speakers translated into English for us through our headsets – thanks to our young missionary translators! I’m sorry I only speak English and I am so grateful for these good people, their faith in Christ, and the missionaries who do speak English, Icelandic, and Spanish. It is good to be with the saints. (The picture below shows the handheld part of the translation device. It has an attached ear piece that allows us to hear the translator.)

After two sacrament meetings we joined the first branch potluck and visited with friends and missionaries. It was good to meet together as a branch family (although many were missing and we hope they will join us soon). We enjoyed delicious food and the wonderful Spirit that was attending our day.

We were not done yet! After the potluck we had another meeting at the church and then we made it home in time to join a mission wide zoom meeting. It was a day of meetings! The zoom meeting was a chance for all the missionaries going home this week from the Denmark Copenhagen mission to say a few words and share their testimony. Two of our missionaries, Elder Hill and Elder Pollock, were part of that group. We are happy to have spent time with these righteous men.

And that was just Sunday. 🙂

On Monday morning Todd got a call from the young elders that they were headed out on a p-day adventure and invited us to join them. I was busy with chores and cooking so I sent Todd on his way and I stayed home to do my work. This is what Todd, Elder Allen, and the boys did:

Do you remember when Todd and I took a drive through a long tunnel under the fjord Hvalfjörður ? Well, these guys decided to drive around the fjord and enjoy the sites. I’m sure Todd and I will go back sometime so I can see it. They said it was beautiful and cold with wind gusting around 30 mph.

These are the Beached Whalers at Hvalfjörður – two former whaling ships that were sabotaged and sunk in 1986. They were recovered and are now permanently beached at this site.

And, in addition to cleaning and cooking, this is what I did:

We both enjoyed our day! I was just a little bit warmer than the boys. My friend, Erica, gifted me this cute nativity set to bring to Iceland. I appreciate her and loved setting it up! I also had a great time exploring the Christmas decorations that were here, left by previous senior missionaries. It made me a little homesick, but also happy at the same time, if that makes any sense. Icelanders jump into Christmas decorations much earlier than Americans and I’m fully embracing it.

Monday ended with a great Institute class and YSA dinner. We had good attendance, a good lesson, and good food. It was another good day.

One day this week we took a short walk in the cold. The weather has taken a turn – the wet, warm weather has shifted to dry, cold weather. The high temperatures are in the 20’s F. each day and with the wind blowing it is cold! While we were out we noticed how there is ice formed under the river water. It’s beautiful and so strange to see!

On November 21st we had our 32nd wedding anniversary. In some ways it feels the time has just flown by and here we are, old senior missionaries! 🙂 I got up that morning to do some exercise and study and had all sorts of notices on my phone that the volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula had begun its newest eruption. In other words, about 20 miles away from us an eruption was happening!! (The Icelandic word for eruption is eldgos.)This area has had several eruptions over the last year or so. Do you remember when we went with the missionaries to climb around on the lava and visit Grindavik, the town evacuated for past eruptions? This is the same area. I woke Todd up, wished him a happy anniversary, and we jumped in the car to go volcano viewing!

This is a fissure volcano. Large cracks in the ground open up and release lava above ground. It is not necessarily an exploding mountain and the danger level is minimal. The town and area around it were evacuated when the volcano started erupting. And, the roads are blocked off — you can’t get close enough to it to get hurt unless you choose to ignore the current blockades and rules. We made the 30 minute drive and I was just freaking out the entire time! It was spectacular to see. We don’t know how long it will continue to erupt this time but I am sure we will do a return visit as soon as we can. God’s power is magnificent and we love getting to witness it in the physical world.

We had a wonderful anniversary. It was filled with volcano watching, good food, amazing company, and the Lord’s work. It is a privilege and honor to serve together in this way. We love the people here. They are amazing! And they live on an active volcano! What an adventure.

In honor of the eruption, we went to dinner Friday night with our fellow senior missionaries, the Allen’s & the Tolley’s, at Volcano Kebob’s! Because, why not?!

Late Friday night we took another drive down to our volcano. We needed to see how she was doing. 🙂 It just so happened the aurora was also checking on her! Facing north we could see the aurora. Facing south we were watching the eruption. You just can’t make this stuff up!

On Saturday we went to the airport (past the erupting volcano) to pick up the two new young elders who are beginning their missions serving in the Denmark Copenhagen mission, assigned to Iceland. We’re so happy to welcome Elder Geertsen and Elder Moyer here. Todd and I are no longer the newest missionaries in Iceland! We’ve made it two months and are feeling great. We are looking forward to serving with these young elders and know they will love their mission experience here.

We had Elder Mijares and Elder Moyer in our car for the ride back to Reykjavik. The road literally drives by the volcano so we had to stop for a quick picture. How many missionaries get to their mission at the same time the volcano is erupting?! So cool.

On Saturday evening we held an Iceland zone meeting. All of the Iceland missionaries were in Reykjavik for transfers. While everyone is in town we are doing things together, including having a meeting with President Richardson. Todd talked to the missionaries about: Having faith in Jesus Christ and not in outcomes, avoiding “faith destroying” attitudes and comments, utilizing faith building attitudes and comments, and moving forward with faith in Jesus Christ in our missionary work.

Here are some other thing we’ve been working on this week –

Todd: Iceland zone meeting prep, sacrament meeting talk (3 units), Institute class, Institute fireside, mission presidency meeting prep, missionary transfers, district presidency training, prepare elder’s quorum lesson, Institute training with Denmark . . .

Pamela: Relief Society presidency training meeting, primary presidency training meeting, sacrament meeting talk (3 units), Thanksgiving food prep, cookies, brownies, joining Todd when I’m part of his assignments . . .

We are safe, busy, and happy. When we were sealed in the Jordan River Temple 32 years ago we never would have dreamed that one day we would be serving the Lord in such a place as this. It is a dream come true! We love being together. We love working and serving together. And, while we miss our family very much, we love this stage of our lives. What a gift and blessing.

We’ll see you next week with reports from an Icelandic Thanksgiving feast and (probably) more volcano photos! And, honestly, who knows what else to expect. Every week is a new adventure! You can’t make this stuff up — waterfalls, volcanos, blizzards, baptisms! Isn’t it amazing?! For now, as always, go to Todd’s social media accounts for more photos and videos from our week. Thanks! See you again soon!


Comments

3 responses to “Eldgos!”

  1. Ron and Jennifer Meldau Avatar
    Ron and Jennifer Meldau

    what a jam packed week. You all are making good things happen. Of course, we thought that would happen since you were blessing lives in the first weeks of the mission in the MTC (ours!) We pray for you often.

  2. What an incredible week! The pictures are stunning. And …happy anniversary!!

  3. What an incredible week! The pictures are stunning. And …happy anniversary!!