5/30/26
Hello, Friends! Here we are again with another exciting week on the Richardson’s mission. It’s hard to believe we are at the end of May and ready to jump into June! The months are flying by. We’ve had a great week, here are some of the things we’ve been doing:
Todd has a great gift to tie neckties and never untie them. Todd has a tie from his young mission, that also came on this mission, has kept the same knot since 1983! When he wants to take off his tie, he loosens the knot and pulls it over his head. In all of his years teaching seminary and institute, and now as a senior missionary, he has kept this habit and he has a hanger full of tied ties, ready to wear at a moments notice. The 1983 beauty is the short one on the left. 🙂
Often our newly baptized brothers at church need a tie of their own. Todd has started picking up ties whenever we are thrift store shopping. He brings them home, cleans them up, then ties them so they are ready to go for our newest friends. They stay in a bag in the car so at church each Sunday, when someone is in need of a tie, he has one ready to go. There are always smiles when he pulls out a tie as a gift, puts it over a brother’s head, and gives him a lesson about how to loosen the knot — don’t undo it! — so it will be ready to go every Sunday. Who knows how many 40 year tie traditions are beginning this way?
While we serve as missionaries we are constantly trying to find ways to help ease the road for those new members just coming into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joining the church often requires an entire life overhaul, there are a lot of expectations and obligations. Often our newest members struggle to remain active when they realize that being a member of the church does not just mean going to church once a week. Disciples of Christ live and work in the gospel daily. Joseph Smith taught, “a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has the power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation.” If doing something small, like providing a tie for Sunday, sending a text out of love and concern, or delivering a plate of cookies helps ease the transition into a life of faith and sacrifice we feel honored to do our part.
Here is a quick shout out to our newest missionary in Iceland, Elder Denney. He was asked to bear his testimony in the 1st branch, speaking Icelandic. He did a terrific job! (As far as I can tell, considering that I do not speak Icelandic.) It is so inspiring to see these missionaries work so hard and, through the power of the Holy Ghost, adapt so quickly to speaking Icelandic. It is a difficult language and they are all doing a great job.
I’ve been missing the flowers at home throughout the month of May. In western Oregon we have incredible gardens I love to visit and wander through each spring. The flowers are more limited in Iceland and I keep a close eye on the lupines, which are growing and becoming more beautiful each week.
We had an afternoon visit with Helga this week and it is always a pleasure to spend time with her. I brought along the sweater I am knitting for Todd so she could check out my work. She is very happy with my progress and told me that Todd’s is much better than mine was! She is right! It’s amazing what a lot of practice can do. I’m almost done with the lower portion of Todd’s sweater and soon I will start making sleeves. In the picture below you can see Todd’s sweater on the table in front of us and Helga is holding a baby bonnet she has recently made. It is adorable! She thinks I will soon be making bonnets too. Maybe she is right?!
If you read our post a couple of weeks ago, Helga had sent us off to try and find Icelandic horses riding in the sea. We never did find the horses so Helga showed us pictures her friends had taken of the wonderful event that day. We’re sorry we missed it but glad for good pictures and Helga’s loving concern for us.
The first cruise ships have come into the city and you can tell that tourist season is here! There are loads of people everywhere and we are glad they are here to enjoy this incredible country. This is one of the smaller cruise ships that docks right downtown.
One of the jobs we have done throughout our mission involves managing the phone lines for the missionaries. Each time a new elder comes to Iceland we take him to Nova to get his phone and his electric ID (a government ID) set up. Nova is the funniest store; we call it the disco. 🙂 Below you’ll see Elder Denney and his trainer, Elder Jensen, doing phone business at the disco!
Elder Denney is the last new elder we will welcome to Iceland on our mission so this was the last time we will be doing this job. The Mogenhan’s joined us to learn the ropes so they can do this job after we go home. When the elders were finished and had left, we spent a few minutes visiting with Wes & Karen. Karen hadn’t been feeling well so Wes & Todd gave her a blessing. We were in a back corner in Nova (the disco) and these good, worthy men laid their hands on Karen’s head and gave her a priesthood blessing of healing and comfort. It was an unusual setting, for sure! But the Holy Ghost was there and we all felt the power of the priesthood in action at that moment. I am so grateful I got to be part of a special moment. (If you would like to learn more about blessings click here.)
Thursday morning started with an emotional resilience refresher course. This week’s lesson reviewed chapter five: Understanding Sadness and Depression. It is, obviously, a heavy topic and we appreciate the great insights the manual has for discussion. We are really enjoying this assignment and are half way through with the lessons.
After class we loaded up the car with suitcases and missionaries and took off on a road trip! Todd and I had planned to visit Akureyri and spend time with some of the branch members there. Our zone leaders, Elder Bredthauer & Elder Geertsen, came with us to spend a couple of days working with the missionaries who are currently living in Akureyri, Elder Benzley & Elder Chynoweth.
It’s a five hour drive from Reykjavik to Akureyri in good weather. We had clouds and rain but no snow or ice and we made good time. It was super fun to visit with the elders throughout the day and enjoy the beautiful scenery during the drive.
Of course we stopped to view a waterfall about half way there. Kolugljúfur waterfall is beautiful and it creates an incredible canyon full of rushing water.
Here is an interesting story about this canyon: “The gorge is named after the female giant Kola who is believed to have created the gorge. It is believed that the whole surroundings were shaped by the daily activities of the giantess such as the place she used to sleep at, where she cooked the salmon she caught from the river, etc. The folklore has it that the giantess lived on a ledge on the west side of the gorge and slept there as well. She would throw her bare hands into the river to catch a fish and eat it raw most of the time. Other times she would use the nearby Koluketill (or cauldron) kettle – a hole in the ground with boiling water – to cook her meals.”
It is so fun to visit Akureyri again! It’s been several months since Todd and I have been here and it is a lovely small town. I love the heart stoplights! I always need a picture of them. And, as Todd pointed out, they even show you which direction to drive to find love! 🙂
We got the elders settled in for their visit and got to our hotel in time to celebrate my mom’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom! We had a family zoom birthday party so we could visit as siblings and send mom our love. I am so grateful for the technology that allows us to have video calls. It is a great blessing.
Below you will see my siblings and the birthday mother! L-R, top: Paul, Jenny, Pamela — bottom: Rich, Scott, the birthday girl/Noreen, Shelley
We had planned for Friday to be a waterfall day but the weather had us unsure about our plans. Yes, it is the very end of May and we would hope for summer weather. But, when you are on the top of the planet that does not always happen! There was a yellow alert for the eastern half of the country, including Akureyri and the area we had planned to go exploring. The forecast called for up to 3″ of snow and dangerous driving.
However, Friday morning there were just a few snow flakes lingering around and we decided to see how far we could get on our adventures before the weather decided to get worse and we’re so glad we did! Headed out of town the clouds were low and the views were moody.
Aside from some slush on the road in one section, the roads were only wet and the snow stayed (mostly) away. We drove east for a couple of hours and made our way to Dettifoss, an absolutely beautiful waterfall. I mean, look at this!
We have been to Dettifoss before, last fall. That time the fog was so heavy we couldn’t actually see the waterfall! The picture below on the left is in September 2025, the picture on the right is May 2026. We’re glad we got to see it this time!
It was very windy and cold and the spray off the waterfall froze to the metal railings and the walkway. It’s beautiful!
After a walk along the river above Dettifoss you come to Selfoss, another beautiful waterfall. The river is lined with basalt columns, many of which have collapsed. I love these rock formations.
You can’t get too close to Selfoss but in the picture below, you can see the waterfall pouring over the columns further along the cliffs.
After enjoying these waterfalls we took the long way back to Akureyri along the northern coastline. The views were wonderful, the weather kept cooperating, and we loved the time together.
We finished our field trip with one final waterfall, Goðafoss, one of our very favorite waterfalls.
There are more beautiful basalt formations along this river.
Looking at these amazing natural wonders I can’t help but see the hand of God shaping the world around us. These waterfalls have taken hundreds of years to carve their way through the rocks, create canyons and waterways, and such amazing sights for us to enjoy. It is a lot of work for the water to make such a difference in the landscape! It makes me realize that Heavenly Father is doing His work in my life as well. Through our mission experiences, and through the challenges we (and our family) face, we are being changed into beautiful creations. It is amazing to step back and view our lives and our experiences and see what we are becoming. God’s work is good!
Traveling east from Akureyri (or west when returning) you can go through the Vadlaheiðar tunnel. It’s almost five miles long and it takes you through a mountain from one fjord to another. It is quite the engineering feat! It was about 30 degrees F. outside the tunnel and inside it got up to 74 degrees F!
We had such a fun day together, the snow was falling lightly back in Akureyri, and we stopped at the mall for a pizza. (That 3″ of snow never made an appearance.) As we were leaving we happened to run in to two missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! Elder Bredthauer & Elder Chynoweth were headed to teach a lesson and it was fun to see them hard at work on their exchanges. Pizza & missionaries — a great way to end a fantastic day!
We did more exploring on Saturday along the east side of Eyjafjörður. The road takes you into the Vadlaheiðar tunnel if you want to continue east, or north along the edge of the fjord to Grenivík, a small fishing village at the end of the road. On our way up the fjord we stopped to enjoy time with Icelandic sheep and horses. They are beautiful! The sheep often have twins so there are little baby sheep running and jumping around all of the fields. They are so cute!
And these horses! The wind was blowing and their manes and tails looked like they belong in a shampoo commercial. Look at how well they rock those bangs! They are gorgeous.
If I were a sheep or a horse I wouldn’t mind living with this view:
We took a detour to explore a canyon just off the main road. There was another beautiful, rushing river and Todd had a chance to take the drone up for a flight.
Grenivík is a quiet, small town. We visited the waterfront and read some information about its fishing history.
Grenivík really is the end of the road. There are a few homesteads along private roads just north of town, but there is nowhere else to go except back the way you came! As we were driving back to Akureyri it was snowing lightly and we saw steam coming up from a waterfall along the edge of the fjord. We stopped to explore and found a lovely, warm waterfall. It was just near the edge of the tunnel and I found some information saying that the waterfall is a result of water being pumped out of the tunnel to keep it dry. (If you’d like to see wild pictures and read some very interesting information about the water being pumped out of the tunnel, click here.)
According to the article, the water comes out of the tunnel at 50 degrees C. or 122 degrees F! No wonder it was steaming as it hit the cold air! Hiking along the trees near the waterfall felt like a magical fairy garden. The air is warmer right around the hot water and the lupines loved it. It was a magical place to find.
We spent a fun hour exploring downtown Akureyri. It is really a lovely little town with a lot of charm and it’s always a pleasure to visit.
We finished our day, and week’s post, with a very nice dinner and visit with Curt & Cheryl Hutchings. They are the senior missionaries assigned to work and serve in Akureyri. We love and appreciate them and know they are doing good work as they serve here.
So this is where we will leave you for this week. Coming to you live from Akureyri where the surroundings are magical, the people are kind, and the church, though small, is still true! We will attend church in the Akureyri branch tomorrow before traveling back to Reykjavik. Come back next week for some pictures with our member friends who live in this beautiful place. As usual, thank you for your love, prayers, and support! See you again soon.
For more pictures and videos, check out Todd’s social media pages. You can find him here:
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