2/14/2026
Happy Valentine’s Day! We hope your day and your week, have been filled with love. Love for one another. Love for yourself. And, most importantly, love for and from our Savior Jesus Christ. His love is the most important love you can have in your life. John 14:15 says, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” As we keep His commandments He fills our hearts with His love. And as we live our lives in a way that allows us to feel God’s love we are more able to share His love with others. That love unifies and binds us together in Jesus Christ. Let’s make this week’s recap one about many lovely things that we were able to do throughout the week.
This is Cedrique. He and his mom Agnes live in Selfoss and they were baptized as members of the church a little more than a year ago. Cedrique turned 11 years old at the end of last year and he recently received the Aaronic priesthood and was ordained a deacon. (You can learn more about what that means here.) Cedrique is just beginning to pass the sacrament and fulfill his duties as a deacon. We went to church in Selfoss on Sunday and it was a thrill to watch him do his job, dressed smartly in a suit and tie. There are now two deacons in the Selfoss branch and we love sharing this milestone with them. Agnes shared this picture with me! She was such a happy mom to see her son doing this good thing. (Todd gave him a zipper tie to add to his tie collection. Cedrique now has two ties!)
For the first half of the week our AP’s (assistant to the president) — Elder Webecke & Elder Smith — were finishing up their visit to the missionaries in Iceland. They spent several days doing missionary work with different elders here, serving the members, and seeing the country. On Monday all of our Iceland elders needed a preparation day at home. They had lots to do to catch up from last week’s busy schedule so Todd and I spent the day with the AP’s. We wanted them to see the waterfalls on the Golden Circle while they were here and we were happy to be able to escort them around. As you know, we have driven the Golden Circle many times and we love it every time! Yes, you have seen pictures of these places before, but you can’t get tired of them, can you?! I can’t. Each stop we made I said, “I love this place!” So here is our latest day trip around the lovely Golden Circle:
Brúarfoss — Yes, it is gorgeous. Always.
Elder Smith (left) and Elder Webecke (right) pretending they are not cold. 😉
Geysir — This particular geyser is supposed to erupt about every five minutes. We waited almost 15 minutes for this one! We were rewarded with a double eruption so it was worth it!
Gullfoss on ice — spectacular!
This is the view down the canyon from the waterfall. I love this perspective.
The elders got a taste of the Icelandic wind! It was strong enough to give us a shove every now and then.
Faxafoss — another favorite.
Kerið Crater — this was our final stop on the circle. We have been here many times but we have never seen the lake frozen over. We gave the elders our ice cleats to use so they could walk around the rim safely. Todd and I enjoyed the stunning views from start of the trail.
Can you spy the elders across the rim?
It was so fun to spend the day with Elder Smith and Elder Webecke. They are just like our Iceland missionaries — men of faith who work hard to do what they’ve been called to do. (Fun side note: We brought a picnic to eat in the car. We had ten sandwiches, three bags of chips, and two bags of cookies. I ate one sandwich and the men folk took care of the rest. These missionaries know how to eat!)
I actually had some time this week to go for a walk along the inlet where we live. I love this place so much! In places along the cliffs where water seeps out through the layers of rock there are large build ups of ice that are really beautiful. In the summer these areas just look wet but in the winter they turn into unique ice displays.
Todd went for a bike ride and joined me at the ice sculptures! Along the theme of things that I love — I love him!
The eider ducks are out in force and it’s fun to watch them chase each other around on the water. The drakes have a unique call that they make to try and attract the females. They are beautiful ducks. The drakes are the black and white ones in the photo below. They have a subtle green coloring on the back of their head.
When the aurora came out that night Todd had to get the AP’s to show them this phenomenon. Many people come to Iceland and never get a chance to see the aurora. We picked them up and headed out of town for a beautiful show. It is hard to get a picture of people showing with the aurora, but it was there! We tried to get proof! 🙂
After watching for almost an hour we dropped them off where they are staying and as we were driving home the sky lit up brilliantly! We had to pull over and jump out to catch a few more minutes of this spectacular sight. We love the aurora.
Every Wednesday morning we have a meeting with the missionaries in the Iceland north district. This week Elder Nehren wasn’t able to use the computer at the church and so he needed Todd’s laptop to run the meeting. We went to the elder’s apartment and they held the meeting from their office behind the closed door while we participated from their sofa. We had a good view of the kitchen (that needs to be cleaned) and a 25 lb. bag of rice! We love the elders, they do good work and it’s fun to get calls from them when they need an extra hand. Below you’ll see Elder Nehren, on the left, and his companion Elder Jensen.
The AP’s went home to Denmark on Wednesday afternoon. We were their ride to the airport so we picked them up an hour earlier than necessary and took them to see the lava flows in and around Grindavik. We love these places and it is so fun to show them off to people. Iceland is just amazing! Any day now the volcano is expected to begin erupting again and, as long as everyone stays safe, we are looking forward to more volcanic activity in Iceland.
Old lava tube —
Newer lava flow —
The edge of town in Grindavik. This is from an eruption in early 2024. Todd took the drone up for a quick flight and got a bird’s eye perspective.
So long, Elder Smith & Elder Webecke! It was so fun to get to know them. Elder Webecke finishes his mission in two weeks and Elder Smith finishes in August at the same time that we do. What a great way to close things out — with a missionary trip to Iceland.
While we were out on the peninsula we made a stop at Giganta’s Cave. This cave is the home to a friendly Giantess. She is a popular character in children’s stories in Iceland. You can learn more about her here.
I spent several hours this week working on a presentation I am giving next week about the garments of the holy priesthood. Members of our church who receive their endowment in the temple make covenants with God and wear garments as part of those covenants. It is a blessing and a privilege to wear the garments and I am so grateful for them, my temple covenants, and the honor it is to make covenants with God. If you would like to learn more about the garments that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wear, click here.
We’ve been so busy lately and I was feeling behind in my preparation for this assignment. On Thursday I sat at the table for several hours getting it finished up, and Todd took this amazing picture of me hard at work! Hmm, I may need to work on my resting face. I promise I am not angry. 🙂 I’ll let you know how things go in next week’s post.
Next week is filled with holiday fun in Iceland. Monday is Bolludagur, or cream bun day. Who doesn’t need a day to eat cream buns?! A cream bun here is called bollur. It’s a delicious cream puff filled with, you guessed it, cream, and topped with chocolate. That is the most traditional bun, but there are all sorts of variations you can try. For days leading up to Bolludagur the cream buns are available to enjoy. Todd and I did our part and tried a traditional bun. It was super sweet and it was delicious! If you want to drool over pictures of cream buns and learn more about them click here.
I’ll finish up this post with a few more lovely things. My mom sent us a valentine that we opened this morning! It was the only physical valentine we received and I love that she always remembers us, celebrates us, and supports us. Here’s a shout out to mom’s and all they do and a special “I love you, Mom!” to my lovely mother, Noreen.
Todd and I had a valentine’s date with Helga. She is reviewing my knitting and making sure I’m moving forward, correctly, with my sweater. While I am still knitting “too tight!” I got Helga’s “It’s Okay”, which is her stamp of approval. In the picture below, Helga’s current project is the yellow sweater and mine is the green one next to hers. My pattern is there also and I love that Helga calls the pattern the recipe! I think that is adorable and I may start calling my sewing patterns recipes too. Love it!
This is where I am at with my sweater. On the right is the body of the sweater from the waist to the armpit. Now I set that aside and make two sleeves. On the left is the beginning of the cuff of a sleeve. I make two sleeves, cuff to armpit, then attach them to the body of the sweater. At that point I knit the pattern around the top, finishing at the neck! Do we think I can do this?! We will see!
Helga loves to visit with Todd too. They share pictures and stories and we enjoy hearing about her life and experiences in Iceland. Helga is a sweet and lovely part of our experience here. She is listening to the Book of Mormon in Icelandic and she sometimes says her prayers. We hope that, while she is teaching me to knit she is also feeling the Holy Ghost a little bit in her life.
A few times this week Todd got great pictures of the aurora, so we will finish up with a couple more pictures for you to enjoy. We hope you know how much we love and appreciate you. We feel your love and prayers for us and we thank you for them! We thank our Heavenly Father for the opportunity we have to serve in Iceland and for His loving care for our family while we are apart. “I know that [God] loveth His children.” 1 Nephi 11:17
Check out Todd’s social media pages for more pictures and videos. You can find him here:
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