3/14/26
Hello, Friends! We hope you are enjoying a lovely spring. We’ve had pretty mellow week. We know our next couple of weeks are going to be super busy so we tried to enjoy a calm week before our schedules get busy again. As usual, this week started with Sunday, so let’s start there with our weekly recap.
We were scheduled to spend Sunday in Selfoss working with their branch. The drive over was snowy and foggy and at one point we were behind this horse trailer. For some reason this just makes me smile! I think it’s quite charming and looks like a lovely winter postcard.
Last week during our second hour we had class in front of the baptismal font. This week in Selfoss we had our Relief Society lesson in front of a drum set, keyboard, and a guitar. There are many instruments in this shared space. We discussed President Eyring’s conference talk “Proved and Strengthened in Christ”. (You can read it here.) While our church buildings in Iceland are different from those in the United States, it is so wonderful to meet with saints and learn the gospel and sense the music of the Spirit around us!
Below you will see some of the sisters in the Selfoss branch. L-R: Agnes Mbabazi, Camila Yissennydóttir, Yissenny Hernandez, & Valla Knútsdóttir
Todd had extra meetings in Selfoss Sunday and we were so glad to be invited to join their branch for a potluck meal and visiting. We appreciate the saints all over Iceland and their willingness to love us.
As long as we have lived here we’ve had some problems with the backsplash in our kitchen. There was a seam in the material that was positioned directly behind the sink, you can see it in the picture below.
The silicone has long worn away and it is impossible to keep water off that spot. Because of this the material was breaking down and flaking away. About a year ago we had reported this to the landlord who said they would fix it, but we hadn’t heard anything about it again.
On Monday evening we got a notice that Tuesday morning our backsplash was being replaced! It was a fun surprise. We cleared out the kitchen and sat back to watch the magic happen. It made for an interesting day and a new friend! Darri showed up with his fellow carpenter and they proceeded to pull off the old covering.
I was in the other room when I heard a “Wow!” I came out to see what had happened and they explained to us that they were surprised to see these big holes in the wall. The apartment is built out of concrete and I’ve always wondered how they did the wiring and plumbing. It turns out, they chisel into the concrete to add in those things. Darri explained that usually, after they add the electrical & plumbing, they cement around everything to have it covered and smooth. In the picture below you can see that some of it has cement covering it and some was just covered up with the backsplash! Which is fine, it does the same job. It is interesting to see!
They did a good job getting the replacement in. It’s not quite the same color as the countertop so now we’re a bit two toned, but it is not cracked and flaking off, which is a great improvement!
Later in the afternoon we realized that the light switch and outlet next to the cabinets and one of the outlets in the middle of the backsplash had stopped working. Todd texted our new friend and he was back over quickly to assess the problem. In the morning they had accidently broken some wires, severing the circuit. He had it fixed in no time. Then he and Todd spent some time comparing maps and discussing places we need to go visit! Todd invited him and his girlfriend to come to church on Sunday and learn more about what we believe. It turns out that Darri lives just down the street from our Reykjavik chapel and he drives by it everyday on his way to work! We were grateful for his friendly nature and good work. It made for an interesting day.
As the week goes on I’m realizing this really won’t be a very exciting post for you to read! The backsplash might just be the highpoint! We spent a lot of the week doing this:
And, of course, zoom meetings! Below left: the Iceland North missionary district. Right: Sister Larsen & Sister Eatchel (two of lovely girls from our last emotional resilience class) teaching a mission wide meeting. AI helped make us into cartoons! Do you like how the technology portrays Todd and me?!
We did get outside for a walk one afternoon in the cold sunshine. We cannot get tired of these views.
I spent time working on some fun details for our Relief Society birthday party next week. I’m really looking forward to it! The 1st & 2nd branch relief society sisters are attending together. I’m not sure how many women to expect, I’m hoping for 15 but I think that’s pretty ambitious. You’ll have to tune in to next week’s post for a report about how it goes, but I am having fun planning it!
One evening Todd had an appointment with Brother Herrera in the 2nd branch. They live about an hour outside of Reykjavik and we thought we’d be stopping by their home for a quick visit so Todd could take care of his business and we could share cookies with them. They invited us in and were so happy we came to visit. They made dinner for us and we spent almost two hours getting to know them. It was wonderful! Anderson & Alexa only speak a little bit of English so their son, Santhiago, translated for us throughout the evening.
The Herrera family joined the church in 2023 in Spain. They told us that as soon as they heard about eternal families they knew this was the church they wanted to be part of. They have lived in Iceland for about a year and are working to be ready to go to the temple and be sealed as a family. They are lovely and they were very kind to minister to us.
Below you will see Todd & me with Anderson, Alexa, Santhiago, & Giorgia.
Later that night, long after I was asleep, Todd went out to do some aurora viewing. It’s getting light enough in the evenings now that the aurora is only visible later and later. On this night Todd found her peeking through the clouds and got these beautiful pictures just down the street from our home.
To finish our week we took an afternoon field trip to Lake Kleifarvatn. We love going here. It’s a short drive outside the city and the views are incredible. I needed some time out of the house and it was a good choice for the afternoon. The lake has ice along the shoreline and one end of it is a big ice sheet. It was a cold, calm day and perfect to enjoy the winter scenery.
Just down the road from Lake Kleifarvatn is the Seltún Geothermal Area. We love this place too. There are mud pots and steam vents and hot springs. There’s a great boardwalk going through the area. It’s just super cool. But hot too. 🙂
Below are some pictures Todd took of Seltún from the drone.
This picture is a boiling mud pot! It looks like it’s frozen, but it is boiling!
And, we finished this week with this good looking pizza. 🙂
We’re grateful we’ve had a calm week and time to get a lot of work done in preparation for a busier week ahead. And we’re thankful for you! It amazes us that you have stuck with us, following along with our mission for all of this time! Thank you for your love, support, and prayers. Come back next week to see if we survive all the busy things in store for us! Next week’s calendar looks a lot different from this week. Hopefully it will be great! We’ll find out together when we see you then.
Check out Todd’s social media pages for more pictures and videos. You can find him here:
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