12/7/24
December began with some real winter weather here in Iceland. On Monday we had a yellow warning across west and south Iceland. A yellow warning signals snow, strong winds, and sleet. It was an adventure! We’ve been in cold, icy weather for a couple of weeks and this storm brought in a lot of variety! The wind was blowing so hard it looked like it was snowing sideways. The picture above is our bedroom window at about 5:00 in the afternoon. The ice crystals are beautiful and they are plastered to the window by the strong winds. Just in case you are wondering, sunrise today (Dec. 7) was at 11:02 am and sunset was at 3:36 pm. We have two weeks until winter solstice and then we will begin gaining sunlight again! The days are short.
Of course we went to the church for institute during the blizzard and Todd’s Alaskan driving skills did their job to help us manage the roads safely. We had a wonderful class about faith in Jesus Christ and we discussed Ether 12.
You can read this inspiring chapter here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/ether/12?lang=eng
It was great to see the effort several of the YSA students made to come to class in a blizzard. It was also very inspiring to hear their testimonies. So many of the class members have joined the church as adults and their faith in Jesus Christ is inspiring. They were rewarded for their efforts with a spiritually uplifting lesson and a yummy dinner.
The next day we wanted to get out for a walk and give the ice cleats a try. I’m glad we had them! The blizzard had blown through but our apartment complex was like an ice skating rink!
Our mission president and his wife, President & Sister Davidson, were in town this week for zone conference. We enjoyed dinner with them, the Allen’s, and the Tolley’s. We appreciate the effort all these good people make to help the mission run smoothly in Iceland. (Todd’s looking cute in this picture! He had already taken a bite when I decided to do a group pic! 🙂 ) Starting with me and going clockwise: Todd, Steven Tolley, Tammy Tolley, Lisea Allen, Tracy Allen, Judy Davidson, Jamie Davidson. A lot of good people and good food!
The December Iceland Zone Conference was a great success. We have new zone leaders and they planned a terrific, uplifting day. We spent the morning at the church with President and Sister Davidson and our zone, being taught by the zone leaders and the district leaders. Todd and I were both able to teach. I shared a message about Jacob 5 and the branch the Lord planted in the poor spot of ground. You can read about it here, especially verses 17-22: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/jacob/5?lang=eng And Todd taught about the importance of believing in and looking for miracles and the need for pure testimony in teaching. He shared a great story about a courageous young missionary who testified of Joseph Smith. You can read the story here — find footnote 10 and read the few paragraphs after it: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-of-presidents-of-the-church-thomas-s-monson/chapter-8-the-call-for-courage?lang=eng
I loved seeing President and Sister Davidson teaching their missionaries. They talked about obedience and authority. They shared their love for these elders. They also talked about the physical distance between them – in Denmark – and these missionaries they love who are in Iceland, about 1700 miles away. President Davidson expressed his love for Todd and his appreciation at having a counselor who is here, in Iceland, with the elders. At the conclusion of their teaching, President Davidson set Todd apart as the 1st counselor in the Denmark Copenhagen Mission Presidency. He invited all of the elders in the zone to join in giving the blessing. It was amazing! It was such a spiritual highlight and tender mercy for both of us. I loved it. There were 15 men with their hands on Todd’s head while President Davidson blessed him and set him apart. We hope the 12 young missionaries who participated in this blessing will always remember the sweet experience we shared together.
Back row: Elder Young, Elder Nielsen, Elder O’Barr, Elder Pélissié, Elder Nehren, Elder Morales, Elder Fischbeck, Elder Geertsen, Elder Mijares, Elder Moyer, Elder Morel, Elder Benzley
Front row: Elder & Sister Tolley, Sister & President Davidson, Sister & Elder Allen, & Sister & President Richardson
After meetings and lunch the zone went downtown to Hallgrimskirkja. We’ve been to this big cathedral before, but most of the boys haven’t been up the bell tower. It was a great outing.
There was also an impromptu ice skating activity. No bones were broken in the making of this video. 🙂
If zone conference wasn’t enough for one day, Todd also began an adult religion class that our branch requested. Once a month he will teach basic gospel principles for anyone who is interested in attending. This is how the first class started out:
But eventually we had a few people attend. Three members of our branch presidency attended. And another man, who is a friend of the church, happened to be driving by the building and saw the lights on. He stopped in to see what was happening and stayed for class. Todd taught them the gospel principle in 1 Nephi 17:3 (if we keep the commandments, God will strengthen, provide, and bless us) and he taught them how to link scriptures in the gospel library app. It was a good class! The Spirit was there. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/17?lang=eng
On Friday we drove from Reykjavik to Akureyri. Akureyri is on the north coast of Iceland, about 250 miles from Reykjavik. It was a cold day, not too snowy and not too windy. Iceland is beautiful and the drive was gorgeous.
On the way to Akureyri we made a stop at Sauðárkrókur. It is a beautiful little town tucked along the north coast where a member of the church lives. His name is Tarisai Ken Chirikadzi. He was born in Zimbabwe. He moved to the US when he was 17 and lived there for several decades. He married a woman from Iceland and they now live in Sauðárkrókur. Ken is in the Akureyri branch and it is about a 90 minute drive for him to attend in person. He was very kind and made us feel welcome in his home.
With the short daylight hours it was dark when we got to Akureyri. And I was so excited to see the stoplight hearts! Have you heard of them? All of the red stoplights in town are hearts. I love it! Look at this!
In last June’s Friend magazine, Sister Wright shared an article about these lights. You can read it here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/friend/2024/06/21-smile-with-your-heart?lang=eng
We already love Akureyri!
We spent Saturday on the road east of Akureyri. It was snowy and windy and an adventure! We found our way to Mavis Afriyie’s home in Reykjahlíð. It is about an hour and a half drive east of Akureyri. Mavis is from Ghana and she has lived in Iceland for four years. Her husband and two young adult daughters live in Reykjavik, 6 hours away. And she has two younger daughters who still live in Ghana with her mother. Mavis and her family joined the church in 2020 and, in groups, they have moved to Iceland for work and educational reasons. Right now she is living far from her family in order to work and help support them. She is physically separated from her family, from the church, and from a lot of other conveniences. She is a lovely hostess and was happy to welcome us to her home. We will try and connect with her when she is in Reykjavik for Christmas with her family.
On our way back to Akureyri we saw this beautiful church as well as lots of roads that looked like this:
Pretty much everything was white, gray, or black today. Until we made a stop at Goðafoss. The water here added a touch of glacier blue. Beautiful. Wow, can Iceland do waterfalls!!! There weren’t any crowds, but there was a lot of ice and snow, and a lot of water! What a spectacular sight! This picture is the lower falls:
The following is a 360 video. Use your mouse or finger to move the picture around in the video.
And this is the upper falls:
We have had a fantastic week. Thank you for joining us on our adventures! We are so grateful the Lord has blessed us with the opportunity to serve Him in Iceland. As we meet His children here and we work to support His young missionaries, we feel His love for them and for us and for you. There are sacrifices that may feel heavy at times, and the learning curve can seem steep, but the joy that comes from our Heavenly Father to us and all His children brings us great peace.
Check out Todd’s social media pages for more pictures and videos:
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