7/12/25
Throughout this past week we have seen the tender mercies of the Lord abundantly in our lives. Each day has come and gone with another reminder from our Heavenly Father that He is aware of us, that He loves us, and that He is guiding and blessing us. In a 2005 conference talk Elder Bednar said, “the Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindness, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ.” I hope, as you read this week’s post, you will look back on your week and be able to see the tender mercies of the Lord in your life. They are there if we are willing to see them!
At the beginning of the week we were still in Akureyri for our Sunday church meetings. The Akureyri branch is small. We arrived early to support our missionaries as they prepared for the meetings. I was sitting while the elders were preparing the sacrament and this is what I saw:
. . . one tray on the sacrament table with one piece of bread. All of my life, before our mission, I have lived in big wards. Even when we lived in interior Alaska for nine years we had a big ward. There were always many trays needed to pass the sacrament to all of the people attending the meetings. But here, on the top of the planet, in a meeting with just a few saints, there was one tray and one piece of bread. I was struck by the beauty of the offering of our Savior, Jesus Christ. President Nelson said, “There is no limit to the Savior’s capacity to help you. His incomprehensible suffering in Gethsemane and on Calvary was for you! His infinite Atonement is for you!” The blessings of the atonement of Jesus Christ are for you and for me and for everyone. I love this gentle reminder given me by the Holy Ghost as we prepared for sacrament meeting.
The branch president in Akureyri is Elder Morel, one of our young missionaries. He had received a call from the church office building in Utah informing him that Elder Matthew Holland and his wife, Paige, would be attending the church meetings in Akureyri on this day. The elders were excited to meet a General Authority and they eagerly awaited their arrival!
The Holland’s were on vacation doing a trip around Iceland and we felt the hand of the Lord in our lives putting us in these church meetings on this particular Sunday. We aren’t in Akureyri often! It’s not a coincidence, it’s a tender mercy. The Holland’s were very kind and took time to greet and visit with all of the members, visitors, and missionaries before joining us for sacrament meeting.
During the second hour, instead of having Sunday School, Todd asked the Holland’s if they would share some thoughts with us and maybe answer some questions. It was so special to hear them both teach and testify of God’s goodness and the miracles in their lives. Elder Holland told stories about working closely with President Nelson. He also shared stories about growing up as the son of President Jeffrey Holland. What would it be like to have an apostle as your dad?! Every one of us who participated in this meeting felt a great outpouring of the Holy Ghost. We were lifted and blessed by this tender mercy of the Lord. This might be one of the highlights of my mission.
After church the Holland’s visited and took pictures with everyone. They are gracious and kind and I want to be more like them.
Below, L-R: Elder Morel, Elder Moyer, Elder & Sister Holland, Elder Fischbeck, Elder O’Barr
Members of the Akureyri branch: L-R, Birgir Agnarsson, Elspa Olsen, Karítas Pálsdóttir, Jónína Ketilsdóttir, The Holland’s, Jackline Nafula
After this amazing experience we drove home to Reykjavik. Our weekend trip was incredible and tiring. 🙂
Another tender mercy this week was a new washing machine. That is probably in a different category than spending time with a General Authority and his wonderful wife. But, a working washing machine is a blessing! I’m very grateful for its arrival.
We had a morning waffle meeting with our zone leaders, Elder Nehren & Elder Nielsen. With zone conference and transfers coming up there is a lot to plan and discuss. These elders work hard and we enjoyed sharing waffles while we went over their plans.
And, Elder Moyer got his Icelandic driver’s license! Now that we understand the process of getting an Icelandic driver’s license, it’s much more manageable. The elders have to do quite a bit of study and work to pass the tests, but so far they are doing a great job. We appreciate the effort they are putting into it and it’s fun to see them succeed in this task.
Todd and I got to spend some time with our friends in the Selfoss branch discussing building changes and work that needs to be done. These are good people who are working hard to build the kingdom of God in Iceland. As we met together we could see the hand of the Lord in helping with some of the projects that are happening in the Selfoss branch.
This week’s blog is definitely showing how much variety there is in our mission responsibilities. There are all sorts of different things we get to do! Not only were we with the Selfoss leaders looking at building issues, but we also got to go chair shopping with the zone leaders. One of the young missionary apartments needs some new chairs. Todd and I know what we would choose but we wanted the input of the young guys. These boys were happy to join us at Ikea and try out the chairs. At another store Todd did some more chair sampling. I think we’ve sorted out what we need?!
On Thursday we received several tender mercies. I’ll share a couple of them. Todd taught a companionship study class to the young elders. They have this class each Thursday morning and the elders attend in person or online, depending on where they are currently assigned. During the class this week Todd, and the Holy Ghost, taught about agency, the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Resurrection. He taught about the great and marvelous plan of our God to provide a Savior for us and what an amazing gift that is. The Spirit was in the class and both Todd and the elders were edified and uplifted.
On Sunday when we had spent time with Elder & Sister Holland they told us they would be in Reykjavik at the end of the week to finish their trip before going home to Utah. We hoped we might see them again before they left Iceland, but we knew they had a lot of fun things planned and we didn’t want to impose on them while they were enjoying their trip. Mid-day Thursday I got a message from Sister Holland inviting us to join them for dinner downtown in Reykjavik Thursday evening. We were honored to accept their invitation.
While we were getting ready to go to dinner I teased Todd asking if he was going to wear a suit to our dinner with a General Authority. (If you’re curious about what a General Authority is you can find out more details here.) The Denmark Copenhagen mission is considered a blue collar mission. This means that all week except for Sunday, Todd can wear dress shirts and slacks and he doesn’t need a tie on and I can wear nice pants and tops, I don’t need to be in a skirt and dress. For our dinner with the Holland’s we were both in our regular clothing. Not Sunday dress. We arrived a little bit before the Holland’s and as they walked up to the restaurant Elder Holland was in a white shirt and a tie and Sister Holland was in a dress! Maybe we should have dressed up! As soon as Elder Holland saw Todd wasn’t wearing a tie he pulled his tie off and stuck it in his bag. They didn’t know how to dress either! All four of us got a good laugh out of the wardrobe discussion.
The Holland’s made us feel so comfortable and we visited as if we have known each other for years. We shared stories about how we met and talked about our families. They were curious about the church in Iceland and the work we are doing on our mission. They told us about their service, both as mission leaders and in general leadership. We had delicious food and good company and it was lovely from start to finish. Before leaving Elder Holland invited us to join them at General Conference in October 2026 after we finish our mission. We might have to take them up on the invitation! They made us feel loved, valued, and appreciated. The entire interaction was a tender mercy. We feel as if we have true friends in the Holland’s.
Are you ready for another tender mercy?? On Friday our daughter and her husband, Kathryn & Dana Louderback, came to see us! You might be wondering just how many daughters we have . . . they keep coming to Iceland! We have four daughters and four wonderful sons-in-law. They are taking turns coming to see us and we are so thrilled each time we have a visit. There’s nothing quite like hugging our kids after nearly a year apart.
We took them on our regular “Welcome to Iceland” tour to see some sights not far from the airport and enjoy the brisk Icelandic breeze. As I’ve been told many times before, there are no good hair days in Iceland!
You better believe we stopped at the bridge between the the continents. It’s such a cool place.
The ocean waves were strong and we this beautiful rainbow came through the clouds for us.
Another favorite stop is the Seltún Geothermal Area. If you can get past the sulfur smell the boiling springs and bubbling mud pots are so cool to see.
Family is a tender mercy from the Lord, don’t you think?
We finished our week with a day trip around the Golden Circle! Maybe you’ve seen some of these places in our blog before? They are still gorgeous, even after a few visits. One of my favorite things about going back to these places so many times is watching our family see them for the first time. Iceland is spectacular and I love that they think so too!
Kerið Crater —
Faxafoss —
Gullfoss —
At Gullfoss I admired this tribute to Sigríður Tómasdóttir. In the early 1900’s her father owned the land that Gullfoss is on. Outsiders wanted to dam the ravine to use the water for a hydroelectric power plant. Through her efforts, the plan was cancelled and the waterfall was left in its spectacular glory. Sigríður Tómasdóttir is considered Iceland’s first environmentalist. (You can read more about her here.)
While we were at Gullfoss Todd and I were sitting admiring the view while Kathryn & Dana were exploring. A woman joined us on our bench and Todd started a conversation with her. Her name is Patty and she lives in New Mexico. Todd told her we are missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She’s familiar with our church and has had many interactions with members of the church throughout her life. I asked her if any of these friends has ever invited her to read the Book of Mormon and learn more about what we believe. She said that one of her good friends, Jeff, has invited her to learn more about the gospel and she hasn’t done so, but maybe she should. We invited her to reach out to Jeff when she gets home from her trip and ask him for her own copy of the Book of Mormon. She said she will see him in two weeks at their high school reunion and she will share our conversation with him and ask him for a Book of Mormon. We will never see Patty again, but I hope she will follow through with that plan! The Book of Mormon will change everybody’s life for good. If you would like a free copy of the Book of Mormon you don’t need to find Jeff in New Mexico. You can click here and request one!
Our final waterfall of the day was the glorious Brúarfoss —
As we finish up a truly lovely week we turn our hearts and gratitude to our Heavenly Father for all of the blessings and tender mercies He has given us. There were some challenges this week too, it wasn’t all perfect. But in the challenges and in the joys we saw the hand of the Lord blessing and guiding us. Have you seen Him in your life this week? Elder Bednar said, “I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are available to all of us and that the Redeemer of Israel is eager to bestow such gifts upon us.” I also know this is true. We love you and thank you for your love and support of us. You are a tender mercy in our lives.
Check out Todd’s social media pages for more pictures and videos. You can find him here:
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