4/5/25
Hello there! Welcome to another addition of the Richardson Missions! Settle in and join us with our work this week in Iceland. It’s a pretty great place to be!
Coming up on April 13th we are having a missionary Easter concert. It is going to be a very nice program with the elders singing several Easter hymns and other members of the district participating in musical numbers. We’re looking forward to it! After church last Sunday the elders stayed for a music practice. Elder Nielsen is singing two solos, O Savior Thou Who Wears a Crown & Hail the Day that Sees Him Rise. (His voice is amazing.) We have a quintet of elders (including Todd) singing The Miracle. The full missionary choir is singing Gethsemane & I Stand All Amazed. And, the three branches here in the south are also each contributing a musical number; one in Icelandic, one in Spanish, and one piano solo. It was fun to go through the songs and get a feel for how the concert is going to go! After our practice we had a pot-luck break-the-fast dinner. Most of the elders know how to cook and everyone brought something yummy to share!
The concert will be available over zoom so that people all over Iceland (or anywhere) can watch. If you’d like to watch you can join at this link: https://tinyurl.com/32ujucyh . It starts at 6 pm Iceland time on April 13th. You’re on your own to figure out what time that is where you are! But I’m afraid you’ll miss the cookies and mingling after the concert. 🙂
Sunday was very stormy. There was rain, snow, sleet, thunder, lightening, hail . . . it was exciting! A while ago Todd bought me a weather station that we put out on our deck. I LOVE watching the wind speed. It’s ridiculous, I know, but it is so interesting to see just how fast the wind can blow. Monday morning I checked the updates and we’d hit a daily wind max of almost 40 mph! Amazing. The rain count isn’t accurate for our station because of it’s location partly under our upstairs neighbor’s deck. But the wind is what matters! Look at it go! (In case you are wondering, as I type this sentence the wind is blowing .89 mph. Not quite as exciting, but still good to know, don’t you think?!)
Monday morning, in the wind, we went with two of our elders to drive Elder & Sister Allen to the airport for their flight home. They completed their 18 month mission and were headed home to their family in Utah. We wish them well! Iceland blew them off on their way and they made it home late Monday night.
Not long after we’d returned from the airport run we got a call that two of our elders had locked themselves out of their apartment. 🙂 The Allen’s had extra keys to every vehicle and apartment (because of their assignment as the Iceland office couple). Fortunately, they had passed on the box of keys and we were able to go to the rescue. In a few days our new Iceland office couple, The Mogenhan’s, arrive. During this week we’ve been on double duty and we’ve all managed to survive! But we’ll be glad when they are here.
As usual, at the start of the week there was a lot of cooking. For Sunday’s potluck I made chicken salad sandwiches (without the grapes, in case you’re wondering), and for the Institute meal I made ham & cheese sliders. I guess I’m in the mood for sandwiches right now? One thing’s for sure — there were dishes to be done!
I got some fun mail this week too! My pen pal, Anna, sent me a small gift. It had a letter from her, a Resurrection/Easter decoration, a pressed daffodil, and some Easter magnets that she and her sister Ellie painted for me. It was so fun to open up those surprises! I don’t have any Easter decorations so these were welcome. And there are no daffodils growing here yet and I love flowers, especially Oregon flowers. It was very sweet. Thank you, Anna! And Ellie! (And Mandi — Anna’s mom & our postmaster! 😉 )
Throughout this week we have had exceptionally high and low tides. There is a spot right on the inlet where we live that showed the super high tide late one evening and then a very low tide the next morning. Todd got pictures of both tides. If you look at the pictures below it shows the same boat launch during both tides.
Quick note about this week’s volcanic eruption. Yes! The Sundhnúkur volcano erupted on Tuesday, April 1st for about six hours. That’s it! At first we wondered if the headlines announcing the eruption were an April Fool’s joke! They were not, it was actually erupting. But it only sent up lava for six hours and then stopped. I’m in a few Iceland geology groups on line and all the “experts” have no idea what is going on with our volcano. Depending on who you ask, there will be a huge eruption soon . . . there will be no more eruptions ever . . . there will be a small eruption eventually . . . you get the picture. Who knows what will happen?! But it is always exciting to know we live on a such a dynamic island that is always growing and changing. And, that we are not in danger from these eruptions.
There was no where for us to go to see this little eruption, but there are plenty of great videos and pictures online. You can see a great drone video below — not taken by Todd! — but it gives you a beautiful view of what our April Fool’s eruption was like. The town you see in the background is called Grindavik. It has been effected by these eruptions for the last year and a half.
Mid week we tackled a project that has been on my to-do list since we got here six months ago. In the basement of our building we have a big storage room. It’s been full of all kinds of stuff that has been here for who knows how long. Senior missionaries have lived in this apartment for ages and things have been collecting down there. We have definitely added to the collection! I love getting rid of things, cleaning, and organizing, so this was a happy couple of hours for me. Check out my before and after to see what made me so happy. (Todd teases that my idea of a clean room is an empty room. He’s not wrong!)
Thursday was busy and great. I started off by making some bread. I used to bake bread all the time and I haven’t baked bread, regularly, for years. Just recently I made a batch and remembered why I love to bake it. It’s so easy to make, it’s delicious, and it makes wonderful gifts. I had a ministering visit planned and wanted to take my friend a loaf of fresh bread. And, I ate the heel off the other loaf right after I got them out of the oven. By the time we’d left for the day we’d eaten half of our loaf! Yum! I can’t find matching loaf pans in our kitchen so they aren’t the same shape! But they are equally delicious. I think there is a lot more bread baking in my future.
We met Elder Young & Elder Nielsen at the church Thursday morning so they could meet with Valur Arnarson, the driving instructor we are using for the missionaries. For some time I have been working with him through text and email to help the boys prepare for and pass their written driving exams. Now that several of them have passed those tests, they have driving lessons with Valur until he knows they are ready to pass the driving test. Each boy has a 45 minute driving lesson with him, so they got 90 minutes of driving instruction between them. They will have a second lesson in a couple of weeks and then take, and hopefully pass, their driving test.
Elder Benzley & Elder Mijares also passed their written driving tests this week so they will be driving with Valur soon. We’re so glad these boys are making progress with the driver’s license process. Check out those “We passed!” smiles! 🙂
Thursday afternoon Todd and I went to Keflavik. It is about a 45 minute drive south of Reykjavik. We had fish & chips for lunch and it was pretty yummy! A perk of living on an island . . . there’s good seafood here!
We have a sister we minister to who lives in Keflavik named Elizabeth. She had a baby about six weeks ago and I was excited to go visit her for the afternoon. Todd went exploring along the coast while I visited with Elizabeth and Alex. We both enjoyed our afternoon activities.
Before heading back to the city we picked up Elder Nehren & Elder Morales from the airport, which is near Keflavik. They had been in Denmark for a couple of days at young mission leader meetings. They are terrific missionaries and we are so happy to work with them.
Friday was a great day and I want to tell you all about it! We got off to an amazing start because Todd made me French toast for breakfast and it was delicious. This is what retirement/senior missionary mornings can look like! A fabulous husband/companion making yummy food that we eat together in our pjs! Amazing.
We had some ministering planned for the morning and made it to our friend’s home, about an hours drive north of us. We had a good visit with them and we’re glad we went. It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed the drive and the company.
After our visit we decided to take the long way home and see what we could find. The long way was gorgeous and it yielded all sorts of interesting discoveries, such as this church, Reynivallakirkja.
There are lovely churches all over Iceland. Every time we see one Todd will ask if I want to stop. Yes. I always want to stop and see the church. This church had so much peace and solitude. It was locked and we couldn’t go inside, but the entire setting was peaceful and calm. The cemetery was also peaceful and it made me happy to think of those who are resting there. They will one day be resurrected and reunited to join our Savior when He comes again.
Near the church is a bust of Halldor Jonsson, a reverend and composer who lived from 1873-1953. He was the priest in this church for over 50 years and he “composed well over three hundred songs and hymns”. You can learn more about him here.
We continued our drive around the inlet, headed towards Fossarétt, a waterfall we’ve been to before in the winter when it was almost completely iced over. We pulled into the parking lot with a few other cars, glad to see the ice was gone and looking forward to exploring. While we were getting into our heavy coats, a woman from the group of cars walked over to us and asked if we were in the church. She had seen our missionary badges and they are also members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were excited to meet missionaries in Iceland and we were excited to meet them!
They are the Nicotra family from Milan, Italy. We met mom & dad, Antonina & Renato, who were here with three of their sons & those son’s wives. They have two other sons with families who couldn’t come with them on their trip to Iceland. Their family has been in the church for three generations and Renato’s father was one of the first men to join the church in Milan. They are pioneers! They were so nice and it was very fun to visit with them. We hope they can see the northern lights while they are in Iceland and, just maybe we’ll look them up some day if we go to Milan!
Here we have Todd & I with Valentina & Mattia, Claudia & Mirko, Antonina & Renato, Francesca & Fabio. It was so great to meet you! Faithful saints are everywhere. 🙂
When we finished visiting and they went on their way we enjoyed Fossarétt.
At this waterfall there are remains of a Viking village called Fossárrétt hin yngri. It is so interesting to imagine what life was like for people who once lived here. They picked a gorgeous spot.
We finished our waterfall drive at Þórufoss. It is fantastic, plummeting into a large canyon with several other small waterfalls as well.
While we did more some actual work Friday after we got home from our outing, it was definitely a stand out day for ministering and waterfalls. Who doesn’t want a day that starts with French toast and works its way through God’s children and His beautiful world to end up home with even more work to do?! This mission is a gift to serve together for Him.
While Saturday wasn’t quite as visually spectacular as Friday, we did end the week on a high note. General Conference weekend is always a blessing in our lives. Because of the time difference, the first session of conference doesn’t begin until 4 pm. So we had the day Saturday to get some work and errands done before conference. During our errands we made a stop at the mall and came across a “Young Entrepreneurs’ Product Fair” happening this weekend. 600 students from 16 different high schools have done projects to develop sustainable products and businesses that they then offer for sale at the fair. At the end of the fair the products and businesses are judged and prizes are given out.
We had no idea what was going on with all of these students and booths so Todd asked some young men to explain to us. They explained the basis of the event and then told us about their product, a sustainable decorative candle. They designed the small jar for the candle and then there are wax beads you pour around a wick to burn. When the wax is gone, you use their refillable wax beads to reuse your jar, instead of buying a new candle in a new jar. While we weren’t in the market to spend $20.00 on a candle, we wanted to support their business and thank them for explaining to us what they were doing. Their business is called Perluljós, and I left them a google review! I hope they do well in their future as entrepreneurs. Below Todd is with Axel & Paul.
We finished our day and week watching General Conference. We watched the Saturday morning session at our church with the elders and some other members from 4-6 pm. This blog will be posted before we watch the Saturday afternoon session from our apartment from 8-10 pm. Then bed! We will watch Saturday evening as well as both Sunday sessions on Sunday.
So here we say goodbye after another wonderful week in Iceland. It is a privilege to serve the Lord in this place and in His way. We love Him and we love His church. We are honored to be missionaries. We miss our family too, so here’s love to you, sweet girls (and husbands, and children!). 😉 See you all next week.
Check out Todd’s social media pages for more photos and videos! Have fun! We are!
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