2/1/25
I could pretend I’m sad that January is over. But I am not! January is known for being a long, cold, dark, hard month. It lived up to its reputation for us this year and we’re now ready to move on to February! There were blessings in the hard things this month, but they are easier to see in hindsight. So now let’s get down to those blessings . . .
We know many of you have been praying for our daughter over the past week as she has experienced a serious health challenge. She is a blessing in our lives and our family has been blessed this past week through your faithful prayers. A week ago she had surgery and we thought she would be quickly returning home to her husband and children. Well, there was an unfortunate incident at the end of her surgery that resulted in a serious complication. Her pain levels were through the roof, her recovery was slowed, and she spent several more days in the hospital.
When she finally felt well enough to call us we were relieved to know she will be okay and to hear about the challenges she has faced. One very inspiring thing she told us was that she was sharing the gospel from her hospital bed. When those who were caring for her asked who was with her children she said her mother-in-law had come to town to care for her family. Then she would share that her parents are in Iceland serving as missionaries for The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints. This started several conversations and led to some questions our daughter could answer. She also testified that she could feel the prayers being said for her. She is a woman of faith and kept her focus on our Savior. She was able to go home on Wednesday and while she still has some recovering to do, she is happy to be with her family and in her own bed. 🙂
We’ve had loads of snow this week. The first several days of the week brought big storms with big snowflakes and lots of piles of snow all around town. It is gorgeous! On Sunday Elder Fischbeck and Elder O’Barr cleared the sidewalk at the church, just a small part of the shoveling opportunities for these boys.
There are amazing things to see in our little church building in Reykjavik. I mean, how can you concentrate during meetings when you have these views?!
Todd and I spent loads of time this week working on some mission business for President Davidson. We have zone conference next week and there were some things we needed to get sorted out before President Davidson is in town. During this process we made two trips to the District Commissioner’s office and had help from the nicest employee who was very patient with my questions. We also had two trips to the bank. We only had to go to the bank twice because the Holy Ghost told Todd to bring his passport with us the first time and I said, “Why would we need your passport?” so we left it home. Guess what? We needed his passport. That’s why there were two trips to the bank. 😉 In the bank parking lot we found snow piles taller than us!
There were lots of emails, web-searching, and texting involved in this work, but we got it done. We also felt the Holy Ghost guiding and inspiring us to know what to do, where to go, and what questions to ask. Doors are being opened for us as we work through this assignment. When we needed a break from all the administrative work we went for a drive to the ocean, as we like to do! It was a sunny day between storms and we enjoyed the snow and the ocean.
We drove to Bessastaðir where the president of Iceland lives. This site holds historical significance in Iceland and the current president, Halla Tómasdóttir, lives here. The setting is beautiful, just a short drive outside of Reykjavik.
We drove further around the Alftanes peninsula and found the Fisherman’s Village Resort. You can stay here if you’d like to, when you come visit us! It’s right on the tip of the peninsula and the setting is gorgeous. It’s probably not always as cold as today, but no guarantees!
We had our Iceland North District council meeting by zoom this week. It’s so fun to work with these young elders. They are great leaders and doing terrific work! They continue to receive loads of referrals from people who are interested in learning from them. Often, people will do referrals for their friends as a joke. Then the elders will call or text the person referred and that person has no idea why they are being called by missionaries! But, occasionally these people are willing to listen and learn too. The church is growing in Iceland, thanks to the efforts these elders and the local members are putting in.
L-R: Elder Peliesse, Elder O’Barr, President & Sister Richardson, Elder Geertsen, Elder Young, Sister & Elder Tolley, Elder Morales, and Elder Nehren (on the bus with Elder Morales.)
These two answered five referrals on the bus. On another day Elder Peliesse & Elder O’Barr answered 11 referrals! We’ve been told that over 50% of the people who are learning about the church today are from social media referrals. What a terrific way to share the gospel.
Elder Young and Elder Geertsen are serving in Akureyri. Elder Young shared a wonderful teaching experience they had and I’d love for you to hear it too. It is an audio file that’s about 2 minutes long. If you can’t access it in the email version of the blog, click on the title of the blog above and it will take you to the website where you can hear Elder Young’s experience. These elders are inspiring!
Something super amazing that happened this week involved the sun. On the day of our missionary district council meeting, right around noon, the sun was shining in through our windows. You might think this isn’t exciting, but it is! There is a hill right outside our apartment and for about the last two months the sun has not gotten high enough to peek over the hill and literally shine into our windows. Today it did! It was so bright we had to close the blinds mid day! We were excited to see it.
While there was a break in the storms mid-week, bad weather was forecast for the second half of the week and through the weekend. Before the new storm came in we took an evening drive to Selfoss to do some visits and share some cookies. The drive, with all the fresh snow and the setting sun, was gorgeous. Todd was so excited to see fresh snow machine tracks over the mountain pass. They reminded him of great days on his snow machine in Alaska! I mean, look at this!
This view looks down on a small town called Hveragerði. We have several friends who live here and I love the feel of the town. It’s charming, cozy, and lovely. And the people are pretty nice too!
Just as it was forecast, the weather turned on Thursday bringing in warmer temperatures and lots of moisture in the form of sleet, snow, & rain – depending on the minute. There was a yellow warning across the country for the rest of the week, those 50 mph wind gusts can cause problems on slick roads. We spent more time at home working on mission work, lesson prep, administrative duties, etc. and enjoying the weather from inside, instead of outside!
Todd went out into the storm Thursday evening to teach a companion study class with the young elders. He brought Elder Moyer and Elder Mijares home with him to have waffles with us. Before they got here for dinner they stopped by their apartment to change out of soaking clothes. Their day of bus riding and walking in the sleet had soaked them through. When they were dry we filled them up with waffles and Todd took them home for the night.
On Friday we had plans to go to Keflavik and have dinner with some friends from church. But that pesky yellow warning wasn’t letting up. Missionaries are encouraged to stay off the roads during weather warnings so we had to cancel our plans, especially because an hour drive each way during a wind storm is dangerous. And, the weather has really warmed up so all that snow from the start of the week was melting and there was standing water, slush, and snow all over the roads. Before the storm picked up in the afternoon we did a couple of errands in town and a small bit of exploring downtown. Todd keeps finding new places for us to explore in the city. We stopped for a few minutes right at the edge of the water along the old harbor in Reykjavik and went for a quick, windy walk.
The hill below is an architectural art installation called Þúfa. You can learn more about it here. We couldn’t climb it today because of the ice and snow, but we look forward to doing so some day. We will need to come visit again in the summer when this place is green! Right now it feels like all of Iceland is gray, white, or black!
And check out this street art! I think it’s fantastic. There is graffiti art all over in the city and it’s so interesting to see. This one reminds me of our granddaughters! This little girl is so cute!
By Saturday, the snow from the start of the week was nearly completely melted. Warm weather and a lot of rain took the snow away and showed us a little bit of green. The weather in Iceland is never boring! This is the view out of our living room window, just a couple of days apart:
Saturday was terrific. We had a great day to start our February. We went downtown to an organ concert at Hallgrimskirkja. Eyþór Wechner was the organist. He is the 1st counselor in the Akureyri branch presidency and a professional organist. We sat right up front so we could watch him peddle. It was pretty amazing.
A few of the other missionaries made it to support Brother Wechner. It was great to be there together to minister and be ministered to!
Of course we did a couple more cookie drop offs on Saturday afternoon. It wasn’t near as adventurous without trudging through the snow, but it’s always nice to give someone cookies and a “Thank You” or cookies and a “Hello! It’s nice to meet you!” Chocolate helps make friends, don’t you think?
Saturday our mission president and his wife, President & Sister Davidson, came to town for a few days. We’re excited to have them here and look forward to working with them in person for the next few days. We hosted them and Elder & Sister Allen for dinner and a visit before jumping into meetings for the next several days. It’s always nice to get together and visit with these good people. Below: Todd, Pamela, Elder & Sister Allen, Sister & President Davidson.
As we begin a new month in the mission field we are happy to move forward with our faith in Jesus Christ. January was hard. February will probably be hard too! But there is joy to be found in the hard things and happiness to be found in the mess. The other day I told my mom that some of our plans were cancelled because of the wind storm so we had to stay in more than we’d planned. Her reply was, “Sometimes the winds in life are a gift!!” I appreciate her perspective. Ether 6:5 says, “And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind.” We have furious wind in Iceland! And, January, felt like a furious wind in every way. But we know the Lord is with us in the wind and He’s helping us make our way back to Him. There just may be some tossing upon the waves, wading through the slush, running through the rain, and trekking through the snow on our way there! Let’s get there together. 🙂 See you next week, friends.
Go to Todd’s social media for more pictures and videos. You can find him here: