1/25/25
Hello Friends! I am happy to report that Todd and I are both healthy and back on our feet! This month has given us a run for our money with illness, and we appreciate your prayers and support so very much. As this week has gone by the lingering symptoms have come to an end. My energy and motivation have returned and we are back to work. Good health is a blessing that I typically take for granted. This week, I am so aware of the blessing of a healthy body and mind and so grateful for Heavenly Father’s blessings we have received throughout this recent illness.
Another thing that is wonderful about this week is the sunlight. We are just over a month past winter solstice. A month ago we had about four hours and nine minutes of daylight a day. Today we have six hours and twenty five minutes of daylight! In the last month we have gained over two hours of light and it will continue to accelerate each day. While we are still having cloudy days, rainy days, snowy days, & windy days, it is lighter and we can tell the difference. Is it too early to say that summer is coming?! 😉 Probably! Here is the view out of our bedroom windows this morning:
So, with health and sunlight on our side, here are some of the things we did this week:
As usual, we started with Institute/YSA night. Todd taught an inspiring institute lesson about Joseph Smith and the First Vision. We had two friends there, six students, six young missionaries, and four old missionaries! Below is a short video that we showed in class about the First Vision. It is so moving. I hope you’ll watch it! We discussed with the students the things Joseph Smith learned from his experience and how we can implement those lessons in our lives.
We spent some time doing cookie/ministering drop off visits. Our church units here are very small with only a few people who are actively working to keep the branches running. We wanted to reach out to some of those people and thank them for their sacrifices and efforts. We drove north to our friends Björg & Ólafur’s home. Björg is our branch relief society president and Ólafur is a counselor in the branch presidency. Their son Matthí and his wife Shirah and their family live on the same property. Matthí is the elder’s quorum president and Shirah is the primary president in our branch. This family does a lot of work for the church in Iceland! They live about an hour north of Reykjavik in a lovely spot right on the ocean. We had a blue sky day to make the drive for a cookie drop off and visit. They were so welcoming and we enjoyed visiting with all four of them about the needs in the branch and how we can support their family. Here are some of the views we saw along the way:
We had a delicious picnic lunch of sandwiches in the car by the seaside! Todd will love this picture. 🙂
Later the evening we did a few more visits to other members of our branch leadership. We saw Emily Larbie and her darling kids for a quick hello. Her husband is our branch president and she is a counselor in the relief society presidency. We dropped cookies off at the wrong door for our friend Stephan who is the Sunday School president. When he didn’t answer the door we left them for him and sent him a picture. He replied saying “This isn’t my door”! He went and found his cookies. 🙂
And, we did another drop off to our friend Gerhard and his nephew Jakob who lives with him. Gerhard is a counselor in the branch presidency and Jakob is a counselor in the district presidency. We enjoyed our visits and sharing chocolate crinkles. There are good people in Iceland doing good things.
We attended our Missionary District Council on Wednesday. The boys are doing great work in their areas. One of our district goals is to have all referrals replied to within 24 hours. The boys are making this goal and it is leading them to more opportunities to share the goodness of the gospel. Each district council meeting includes teaching from our district leader, goal reviews, language training, friend updates, and more. Below Elder O’Barr (left) and Elder Pelissie.
Elder Geertsen & Elder Young as well as Elder & Sister Tolley in Akureyri:
I spent some time one afternoon with our friend Johanna Carlsen. She is a lovely member of our branch who is learning how to do her family history. Johanna is working on going to the temple and taking her family names to be baptized for them. We prepared her parents and several of her grandparent’s names so she can take them to the temple. We also had a great discussion about baptism for the dead and how Johanna can provide her mother and other family members with the same opportunities and blessings that she has as a result of baptism. It was wonderful! If you would like to learn more about what we believe about baptism for the dead, click here.
We went for a chilly walk along Elliðaárvogur one afternoon. It is an inlet near our home with views along the city and out into the bay. We are really blessed to be living in this beautiful place.
While I am better physically, I still had some struggles feeling with low this week. I always wonder if I should write about these times in our posts, but it is a very real part of our mission that I don’t want to ignore. Also, it is unrealistic to think that missions are all waterfalls and sweeping views. They are also hard and often put us in situations that give us greater opportunities to place our faith in Jesus Christ and lean on Him.
Mid-week we had news that one of our daughters is dealing with some serious health challenges. There is something about being so far away and completely helpless when it comes to our children that, sometimes, makes me so sad. I’m not there to help our daughter. I’m not there to help with the grandchildren. I’m not there to ease the burden on our son-in-law. And there’s nothing I can do for them but pray to Heavenly Father, cry, cry some more, and move forward with faith in Christ and hope that He will bless our family. Our sweet son-in-law said, “I know we are being blessed by your faithfulness as missionaries.” What I want is for our children to be blessed with perfect lives and zero problems! I know that is not the way life works, and I appreciate our children’s faith in Christ and support of us. But, it is still hard to have to watch our children suffer and not be able to help. I wonder if that will ever get easier? This is one of the many ways we are leaning upon our Heavenly Father while we are away from our family. I know our whole family is growing in ways that would not be possible without this separation. But that growth hurts sometimes.
Even feeling sad, we moved forward with the work we are here to do. Thursday afternoon and we went to volunteer at Hertex for a bit. We’ve become friends with Alexandra and her staff there after previous volunteer experiences. We just walk in and they will put us to work. This week they had us sorting through craft donations, grouping similar items together, and prepping them for the sales floor. I love sewing and it was fun and interesting to sort through donated yarn, cross-stitch, needlepoint, knitting, and other sewing and craft projects. It was also a little sad to see some projects that had gotten so far along but never finished and then donated. Hopefully someone else will find these partially finished projects and give them a new life.
After spending Friday morning on our computers dealing with mission business we needed to get out of the apartment and see something. We left, not even knowing where we were headed. But we went to a part of the island south of Reykjavik, Hafnarfjörður, where we haven’t spent much time. We drove along the coast enjoying the views and the boats that are docked there.
And then we saw this! There were at least three whales playing in the inlet. I don’t know what kind of whales these were, but it looked like two adults and a baby, swimming, feeding, and playing together. It was so fun to see!
And, of course, there is a gorgeous church right on the coast here. Garðakirkja has views out to sea and a beautiful cemetery that goes nearly down to the water.
All of these sights are only a few miles away from our church building where we spend a lot of time. It’s nice to know there is so much wild nature and raw beauty just around almost every corner in Iceland.
At the end of the week our daughter had an unexpected, but needed, surgery. The surgery will, hopefully, bless her life starting right now. Over the last several years I have been given many, many opportunities to watch our children suffer. It is a tutoring experience I would rather skip, but instead I cry and pray while our lovely girls and their families have to struggle through some very difficult circumstances. Until now, we’ve been physically closer to them and able to actively help during these trying times. Now, we’re thousands of miles away. There is no way for me to physically help and that increases the sorrow on my end.
Our girls have wonderful support systems. They have supportive, capable, loving husbands. They have in-law families who will do anything for them. They have ward families and ministering families who are caring for them. My brain knows all of this. But still, I want to be there to comfort, help, love, and lift them. Sometimes I wonder why we would leave everything and everyone we love, travel across the world, and serve a mission. And then I remember . . . it’s all for our Savior. Our love of our Savior Jesus Christ makes the separation bearable. He is the one comforting us. He is the one comforting our children. He is the one who makes all the sacrifice, tears, challenges, hardships, and joys worth it. We love Him!
Yes, missions are hard and sad and scary and exhausting. But they are also a sign to our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ that we will do as we are asked to do and go where we are called to go. I am forever grateful for the people who have stepped into our shoes to offer the physical support our children need. In a 2004 conference talk, President Nelson talked about the blessing of senior missions. One couple he quoted said, “Good people replaced our parenting functions better than we.” Now, we are seeing this in action in our children’s lives. If you know our family at all you’ll know that if we waited for everyone’s lives to be calm before serving a mission we would never be able to go. There is always some sort of serious drama! In that same talk President Nelson said, “No senior missionary finds it convenient to leave.” If you are wondering if a senior mission is right for you I would say, yes, it is. Ask your companion about it, ask Heavenly Father about it, and then move forward in faith that you will be supported and uplifted throughout your chance to serve.
In the middle of all the baking, administrative work, meetings, classes to teach and attend, emails, dinners, phone calls, homesickness, and more, there is great joy in serving our Savior as full-time missionaries. Quoting President Nelson again, “They loved their families not one whit less, but they also loved the Lord and wanted to serve Him.” This is how we feel. We know this is God’s work. We know He supports us and our family. And we know God will prevail over all the hard things in the world. We both testify of this in the name our our Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
And with that — we’ll see you next week. I wonder what will happen between now and then! Check out Todd’s social media for more pictures and videos. Thanks for coming with us as we serve!
Comments
5 responses to “Back On Our Feet!”
I am so happy to hear that you are feeling better. I also feel the “homesickness” in waves. This week I received a wonderful video from my daughter that made me cry. It was a fun and sweet compilation of the past year with her little family as the twins grew from 6 to 18 months old. I miss my family so much and my time with them. But, we feel good about our decision to serve. It was the right time for us. I also feel very grateful for the technology that allows us to stay in touch. That is a huge blessing!
I’m glad to hear your grandbabies are thriving! I am also very grateful for technology and that we can see and talk with our family so often. And, I’m glad you’re serving now too. If you weren’t, we wouldn’t have you in our lives! You are a blessing to us.
Pamela, I don’t think I would have kept reading your posts if you only presented a senior mission (or any time in life) as all sunshine and waterfalls. I appreciate you sharing your feelings honestly because it lets me know you understand how I feel when I am distressed I can’t be close enough to help my children. And, sometimes, even if they are nearby, the only help we can give is to pray to Heavenly Father for them. I absolutely love the rooflines in Hafnarfjörður! And the church there is beautiful! I love you, my friend!
I’m so glad to hear from you, Lynn! Friendship is the best. Thank you for reading along. Maybe you and your girls should come visit us. 😉
Sister Richardson, thank you so much for your blog. I’m truly enjoying reading it and understand so well how you feel. Having our kids struggle and not being able to do anything cause we’re far is the worst. Thank you so much for being there for our missionaries.