12/14/24
We began our week in Akureyri, Iceland. It is a charming little town with about 20,000 residents. Akureyri is built right along the edge of Eyjafjörður fjord and the setting is breathtakingly beautiful. On Sunday we attended the Akureyri branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The branch is small and they meet on the third floor of a building in the city center.
This Sunday there was a wind warning which can make traveling in Iceland dangerous. When there are warnings like this, some of the branch members cannot attend in person. There were 5 branch members at church in person, in addition to the missionaries who support the branch, with another 10 watching on zoom. We loved being with them and they welcomed us with open arms. I wish I spoke Icelandic so we could communicate better. But they did their best English for us and the elders translated both languages so we could talk. In the picture below please say hi to Todd & I with Jackie Nafula, Þór Árnason, Jónína Ketilsdóttir, Karítas Pálsdóttir.
These saints shared their stories about how they found and joined the church. There were miracles in their lives that brought them to Christ and we felt the Spirit when they testified to us.
Karítas was a single mother in her 30’s when the missionaries knocked on her door and asked to share a message with her. She invited them in and proceeded to smoke through their visit. While they were talking she was smoking and trying to think of a way to get them to leave. They asked if they could pray with her and she agreed. She kept smoking away while they started their prayer! During the prayer, Karítas felt strongly that she should put out her cigarette and pay attention. She was so moved that she did put out that cigarette and she never smoked another one again. She joined the church and she has been a faithful member for decades. She is a pioneer in the church in Akureyri. Church meetings were held in her home before they had a rented space to meet in.
Jónína is 79 years old. Two years ago the missionaries knocked on her door and asked her if they could share a message about Jesus Christ with her. She let them in. She listened to their message. She accepted and read the Book of Mormon. She felt of its truthfulness and she joined the church. She’s been endowed in the temple and she is a faithful member of the Akureyri branch. She comes every Sunday. The missionaries said Jónína will walk to church through a blizzard on days when others won’t come through the weather! She changed her life at 77, found the true church of God, and became a disciple of Christ.
It was wonderful to be with these inspiring members. Their stories and faithfulness uplifted us and helped us want to be better. It is a privileged to know them.
And then there is the view outside the church window. I wonder how people can focus in church when you have a view like this:
Elder Geertsen & Elder Young are currently serving in the Akureyri branch. They are working hard, the members love them, and they are bringing the gospel to the people of Akureyri.
We enjoyed a couple of hours that day visiting with Tammy & Steve Tolley. They are on a senior mission, assigned specifically to Akureyri. They have been here for a year and a half and will go home at the beginning of next summer. They are making a difference here and the people love them.
All of that was just Sunday!! On Monday we took a P-day to do some exploring. And, wow, did it pay off! We drove north along the coast to see what we could see at the top of the world. And, what did we see?? THIS!
As we drove along Eyjafjörður the views of the north Atlantic ocean grew more expansive and incredible. Iceland does not disappoint. Iceland also knows how to drill tunnels. We went through several on our drive. They cut through the mountains from one fjord to another. Some of the tunnels are one lane. As you enter the tunnel a sign tells you what lane is responsible for pulling over when another car is approaching. There are occasional pullouts and you need to be aware. It was a little unnerving, but we figured it out!
After coming out of one tunnel we came to the town of Siglufjörður. Another beautiful, small town along a fjord.
We made it to the top of Iceland – well, as far as we planned to go. It felt like we were on the top of the world. What a beautiful place! This is the view from Sauðanesviti lighthouse.
After a gorgeous drive we spent time exploring Akureyri. We love this place.
The day ended with a pizza dinner with Elder Young and Elder Geertsen. These are stellar young men and the pizza was yummy!
We did have to get back to Reykjavik after our trip to Akureyri. The Hotel Akureyri has the most elegant hotel breakfast we’ve ever had. We will miss that breakfast spread. 🙂
Following the busy weekend, we had a couple of days at home. Todd wasn’t feeling well physically and I had a couple of sad days. The holiday season is here, it is wonderful and exciting. And I’m missing our kids and grandkids. For some reason it feels like I should be adjusted to mission life after three months. But then some homesickness creeps up on me and I have a day or two of tears. There is a lot of work to do here and it can, occasionally, feel overwhelming. Combine the work load with fatigue and homesickness and it will sometimes bring me to tears. While Todd rested and I cried we took a few days to reset.
Usually I fill this blog with all of the wonderful and beautiful people and places we are experiencing on our mission. And, that is most of our experience. But we do have hard days, sick days, sad days, frustrated days. Missions are hard work and I want to share that hard work with you along with the wonderful experiences. While thinking over the hard days this week Alma 26:27 came to my mind. Ammon and his brothers were reviewing their mission and Ammon said:
“Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go. . . and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/26?lang=eng
Our problems are minimal — we are very blessed. And we are not about to turn back! We are counting on the blessings of the Lord to comfort us and help us do the work He has called us to do.
The end of the week was busy and festive. Fortunately, we were both feeling better so we could enjoy and do our work. Brother Jens Andersen came to town from Denmark. He is the seminary and institute coordinator for the church over Denmark and Iceland. He held a special YSA meeting Friday night to meet with the institute class. While we would have liked to have had a full house to greet him, we were very happy that Jakob, Siggi, & Audrius were able to come. Brother Jensen gave a wonderful lesson about righteous desires and we enjoyed the lesson and pizza with our three students and several missionaries. The Spirit was there.
On Saturday morning Brother Jensen held a meeting with the district seminary students and their families to introduce the adjustments and curriculum for seminary in 2025. The only current, active seminary students in Iceland are in the 2nd branch, which is the Spanish branch. There were four seminary students at the meeting along with their families. It was also an inspiring meeting and pizza for lunch. Elder Mijares translated between Spanish and English. We’re grateful for the missionaries and their language skills! And, it was a pleasure to see the young seminary students and their enthusiasm for the gospel.
We finished our week with a Christmas party in the 1st branch. On a typical Sunday we will have around 20 or so branch members attend meetings, with several missionaries and tourists increasing the attendance count. We had about 75 people attend the Christmas party. If only we could help all these people see the need to attend church every Sunday! Wouldn’t it be nice to have so many members actively participating to strengthen the church in Iceland?! This is one of the challenges of the church in this area. There is work to do.
There was a lot of food to enjoy, including some Icelandic dishes that were new to us. Lamb, caramelized potatoes, Appelsin (an orange drink), peas & cabbage, ham, rolls, desserts . . . delicious!
We heard a Christmas story told by Ólafur & Björg, one of the stalwart families in our branch.
And there was dancing around the Christmas tree, an Icelandic tradition.
This party was a great way to conclude the week. It helped us feel Christmasy. It helped us grow closer to the members of the branch. And it helped us feel unity and love within the Lord’s church. While this Christmas season is definitely different for us, it is a joyful, unique time in our lives. We hope you are celebrating Christmas with your families and loved ones around the world! Are you doing new traditions this year? We’d love to hear about them.
Thank you for joining us this week. We know we are here for a reason. We know God is mindful of us and our family and loved ones. Yes, there will be more joy and more tears in the future. But we will remember a favorite Christmas hymn, “Joy to the World”. It is a sweet reminder that in a world that can feel heavy and sorrowful, our Savior Jesus Christ came to bring us joy! He allows us to overcome our sins and be forgiven through His atonement. He carries our burdens with us, holds us in our sadness, feels our sorrow, and turns it into joy as we work to come unto Him. God is great. We’ll see you next week.
Check out Todd’s social media for more pictures and videos from our week:
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