6/15/25
Hello, everyone! Welcome to the next edition of, what is happening on the Richardson’s mission?! There’s something to be said for senior missions — they are not boring. While some things stay the same throughout the weeks there is always variety and it makes it so fun. And, my companion is wonderful and he helps keep things interesting, even if I’m crying some of the time. (Don’t worry. As I type this there have been no tears yet this week. Give me a day or two and that will change. 😉 )
We finished last week exhausted after Friday’s zone conference and Saturday’s day trip to the Westman Islands missionary celebration. It was all wonderful but we were exhausted. So, Sunday morning we were still tired when we got up early to take our friends and fellow senior missionaries, Steve & Tammy Tolley, to the airport. They had completed their two year mission in Iceland, serving in Akureyri for the duration, and it was time for them to go home. They are good people who did good work. They set an example of love and service that we admire. We are happy they get to rejoin their family and we hope for all the best for them as they settle back into their lives at home.
Sunday continued to be busy with our church meetings and responsibilities. We had some fun visitors in our sacrament meeting. Brother & Sister Wolthuis from Sweet Home, Oregon, were just beginning a trip around Iceland. Sister Wolthuis is an early morning seminary teacher in Oregon and for years Todd was her seminary coordinator and they worked together. It was a fun surprise to have visitors who actually know us from “before” we were President & Sister Richardson! (Hi, Sister Wolthuis!)
After church on Sunday we participated in the baptism of Victoria Adigwue. Victoria and her family moved to Iceland from Africa a few years ago. She has been learning from the elders for several months and she and her two daughters, Rejoice & Regina, have been coming to church regularly. Sometimes her husband joins her as well. She bore her testimony and said she is so happy for the family she has found in the church and that she knows Jesus led her to His true church. Elder Nehren baptized Victoria, and he and Elder Nielsen, along with several other elders, taught her.
Our mission president was still in town Sunday, doing interviews with the elders. We had dinner with him and his family before joining him for an evening meeting with the district presidency and Bettina. It was another long, fulfilling day.
Monday was a solid recovery day from several days of heavy work. How did I use my recovery day? I cleaned the bathroom & floors in our apartment, did several loads of laundry, and made dinner for our YSA night! Maybe not napping on the beach, but it still felt good to get the house straightened up and organized. And, of course, enjoy watching our group play ping pong and games after their lasagna dinner and a lesson.
On Tuesday I was able to donate blood for the first time in Iceland. I’m so happy about that! And, as a first time donor in Iceland, I got this little commemorative pin.
The bulk of our Tuesday was spent at the kitchen table doing administration work. We did our Westman Island blog post, we prepared an outline for a district training meeting Todd and I are doing next Sunday evening, we worked on missionary details . . . Just like it felt good on Monday to clean up the house, it was nice to have Tuesday to organize our work. These catch up days are vital.
Tuesday evening we went downtown to meet two of my mom’s friends who are in Iceland. They are just beginning a cruise that will take them around Iceland and to other places in Scandinavia. Joy & Bill Wingo are lovely people. They were very interested to hear about our mission experiences. And we were very interested to hear about their many years of mission and church service throughout their lives. They have devoted themselves to lives of service in the kingdom of God and we admire them. It was a fun visit and, they brought Dove dark chocolate from America! That made the visit even sweeter. 🙂
Mid-week our daughter Erika & her husband Bridger came back to Reykjavik from their camping trip around the south coast of Iceland. They had a wonderful time, saw beautiful places, and enjoyed the nice weather we’d had for several days. I love the map on the side of their rented camper. Isn’t it cute? They also brought home a bunch of laundry. 🙂 We’re glad to have a few more days with them before they have to go back to the states.
While the kids are still with us we juggled our mission work with some fun and sight-seeing. On Thursday afternoon, when meetings were finished, we grabbed another vanilla snúður because they are delicious! And then we headed to Perlan, a fantastic museum in Reykjavik.
Perlan is an interactive nature museum. It has an ice cave and glacier exhibit, a northern lights show, a volcano show, etc. You can learn all about plate tectonics and how Iceland is shaped and changed by nature. It’s a really great place to spend some time.
Friday’s weather was wonderful! We were over 60 degrees F, the sun was shining, and we didn’t have any set meetings. We took the day to drive the Golden Circle with Erika & Bridger. (You can read all about the Golden Circle here.)
We planned our favorite stops, packed a bunch of sandwiches, and got on the road early. We had such a beautiful day together. Here is some of what we saw:
Þórufoss —
Lovely flowers, everywhere —
Can you find Todd?
Brúarfoss —
Geyser —
Gullfoss —
Brúarhlöð —
Faxafoss —
Kerið Crater —
It was such an incredible day. We have other children coming to visit us over the next several weeks and we will be repeating our Golden Circle day with them. You’ll see more of these beautiful places in the future, just with different kids in the selfies! We’re so happy to be able to show off the beauties of Iceland to our children.
Saturday was our last full day with Erika & Bridger. We went to the flea market downtown to do some shopping. When we were there a few weeks ago I was visiting with a woman named Mariana Hernandez who makes art out of felted Icelandic wool. Her work is beautiful and you can see more of it on her Instagram feed here. I have been thinking so much about her work that I messaged her and asked her to make me one of her summer flower sheep. We picked my little sheep up at the market and she is now happy in our home! Erika bought a felted lamb to take home to Oregon with her so we now have an Icelandic felted wool mother and baby sheep to commemorate her visit.
Todd gave Mariana our missionary pass-along card and invited her to join us for church this Sunday. John 10:27 says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me”. Maybe Mariana is one of His sheep! We’ll watch for her to join us as we worship together on Sunday.
Enjoying our “last supper” together for a while! 🙁
Last summer, while we were preparing to move to Iceland and serve our mission, our girls started talking about when they would come to visit us while we are here. Who wouldn’t want to sleep on an air mattress in our little apartment?! It was fun then to look forward to their visits and, throughout the winter, it brought me joy knowing we’d see some of our family in the summer.
Now, our first visitors are about to go home after a two week dream trip to Iceland, and I’m wondering where the time has gone! Last year, thinking of summer 2025 visits felt like an eternity away. And now, here we are, finished with one visit and preparing for the next one. Time is flying by, and our mission is flying by. Next summer we will be anticipating going home. Right now, that seems very far away. But I have a feeling that the next year will go by just as quickly as the past one has.
In just a couple of days we will hit our nine month mark for our mission. Nine months! That’s the length of a pregnancy! 🙂 As we reflect on the past nine months we are filled with peace. We can see the hand of the Lord as He helps and guides us through the assignments we are given and challenges we face.
The Lord has promised great blessings to those who choose to serve missions. There are many ways to serve Him and we feel blessed to be able to serve as MLS missionaries in Iceland at this time. One great blessing we have found is the simple joy that comes from working together. Erika & Bridger asked Todd what the best part of the mission has been so far. His answer was, “Being together 24 hours a day!” Recently I had a conversation with a sister who couldn’t imagine serving a senior mission with her husband. She thought they would kill each other if they had to spend so much time together. This made me sad for her! We do occasionally do things separately, but we also genuinely enjoy being together and working together. It is a pleasure to serve together. Let’s hope the next nine months will see us grow even closer to each other and closer to the Lord.
Speaking of senior missionaries Elder Rasband said, “I . . . promise that as you serve, you will feel the love of the Lord in your life, you will know Him, He will know you, and “how great shall be your joy.” Your dedicated service to Jesus Christ will inspire and bless your family, your grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. “Peace, and love [will] be multiplied” in their lives for years to come. I promise.” We feel these promises in our lives.
Check out Todd’s social media pages for more photos and videos. You can find him here:
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