8/9/25
Hello, everyone! We’ve had some fun this week with big things and small things. Let’s start off with an unbelievable P-day we had with our friends Bragi & Áslaug. Bragi is the branch president of the Selfoss branch and we love him and his wife Áslaug. For months we have waited for a good day to join them to go exploring in the highlands. There are many places that are not accessible in the winter, the roads aren’t paved and the snow takes a long time to melt. This week we finally had the chance to spend the day together and it was about 15 hours of amazing scenery, muddy roads, volcanoes, waterfalls, hiking, and terrific company.
Bragi was the best tour guide. He showed us some of the amazing hydro-power plants that are built throughout the interior of Iceland. The engineering behind these endeavors is impressive. There are lakes on top of hills that are funneled through pipes underground down to the power station and then out to canals. These canals are then dammed and become lakes on top of hills that are funneled through pipes underground down to the next power station . . . you see what I mean. Pretty impressive.
Then we made our way to the first of many waterfalls, Sigoldufoss —
Our next stop was Sigöldugljúfur, also known as the Valley of Tears. All I can say is, Wow! I’ll let the pictures and the video show you what I mean.
We continued our highland drive to Landmannalaugar. “Landmannalaugar is a stunning region in Iceland’s highlands, renowned for its vibrant, multi-colored rhyolite mountains and geothermal hot springs.” You can read more about it here. The drive was spectacular, Bragi did a great job with the rough terrain.
Before starting our hike we had a picnic lunch in a community tent at the base of the trails. There were all sorts of people there, camping, hiking, sitting in the thermal pools, and enjoying the beauty of the area.
We hiked through massive lava fields that were a result of an eruption in the 1400’s. The rock was amazing!
There’s even a mall to go shopping in! Just in case you need some ramen or some hand warmers — they’ve got you covered!
Todd & Bragi had a great time together, swapping photography tips, drone stories, and motorcycle stories. Áslaug & I loved our time together as well! We couldn’t stop laughing about how much Todd and Bragi have in common. They even dressed the same for our day!
These picture are for real. It truly is this beautiful. I can imagine this as a watercolor on our wall one day.
The drone really shows the size of the lava flow from this old eruption. It is massive.
Throughout the day Áslaug kept me fueled up with the best chocolate. She had several different varieties of dark chocolate that she continually offered. If that’s not friendship, I don’t know what is!
Our next stop was at Stútur crater, a small volcanic crater and a great place to do some more drone flying.
As the evening went on we made our way to Rauðufossar. This might be my favorite part of our day. We took a 2 km hike from the car to the waterfall. The hike was gorgeous, we were the only people there, and it felt almost sacred to see the handiwork of God surrounding us everywhere. We both loved it here and we’re so grateful for Bragi & Áslaug that they would introduce us to this special place.
By the time we got home from this amazing outing it was midnight, we’d hiked over eight miles, seen places we’ve never been before, and solidified a friendship we plan to hold dear for years. We were ministered to by Bragi & Áslaug in a lovely way and we thank them for this love just as we thank our Heavenly Father for bringing these good people into our lives.
Not all mission days can be quite so dramatic, but we can find drama in the little things too! For example, one day Elder Nehren & Elder Moyer needed a ride across town for an appointment the bus couldn’t get them to quickly enough. They dropped us a pin to where we would find them and our map brought us to the cruise ship docking platform. We wondered if the boys had decided to take a quick trip! This was an odd place for them to be teaching a lesson. It turns out they were a couple of blocks away, but it was fun to get a look at this huge ship. Maybe one day Todd and I should take a cruise?!
We had meetings this week too, as usual. It is fun to get a look at the whole mission on our weekly mission wide zoom. We won’t get to meet most of the people serving in the Denmark Copenhagen mission, but it’s fun to see them on the tiny screen.
And, the north district council zoom meeting. Our district has gotten small. Just four young elders and us for now. We’re hoping our next senior couple will arrive soon – they are waiting on their visa approvals – and, in the fall, we should get more young elders in Iceland and our district will grow. For now, the Iceland North District is Elder Morales & Elder Morel, on the left, and Elder Benzley & Elder Nielsen, on the right. They are doing good work here.
While we were at the church one day this week we checked through every translator and headset to find the ones that are working and pull out the ones that are broken. It’s not a glamorous job, but someone has to do it! 🙂
This week we made some new friends. Sarah Haughawout is moving to Iceland to do a master’s degree at the University of Iceland. Her parents came to town with her to help her get moved in and we had a great dinner appointment with them. Sarah is going to be such a strong asset to the Reykjavik branch! She’s super cute and bubbly, very smart and outgoing, and so brave. Her parents, Scott & Natalie, are great too and we enjoyed getting to know them. I hope we’ll have lots of good times with Sarah over the next year.
On Friday and Saturday we spent several hours at the church with the patriarch who is visiting for the weekend. Patriarch McQuivey and his wife and son flew to Reykjavik on Thursday. They live in Boston and sacrificed their time and efforts to spend this time with members in our district and to give them patriarchal blessings. Brother McQuivey speaks English and Spanish and gave blessings in both languages. Todd and I spent our time in the foyer of the building, welcoming those who came for their appointments and encouraging reverence. It was an honor to be part of this wonderful experience.
A patriarchal blessing is “personal scripture” to guide each of us in our lives. President Nelson talks more about these sacred blessings here. My dad was a patriarch for several years before he passed away. He gave our youngest daughter her blessing and many, many other young people their blessings. About a week after my dad passed away, I was with my mom and we were watching the April 2023 General Conference. Elder Bennett of the Seventy gave a talk about patriarchal blessings called “Your Patriarchal Blessing—Inspired Direction from Heavenly Father”. You can read the whole talk here.
In this talk Elder Bennett says, “I received spiritual strength each time I studied my patriarchal blessing . . . I wasn’t perfect. I made all sorts of mistakes . . . But my patriarchal blessing helped me and continues to help me desire to do better and be better. Frequently studying my patriarchal blessing increased my desire to withstand temptation. It helped me have the desire and courage to repent, and repentance increasingly became a joyful process.”
As mom & I listened to these words, and his whole talk, we both felt the power of patriarchal blessings in connection with the peace we were seeking at the passing of my father and mom’s eternal companion. There is peace that comes from having, reading, and following the counsel in our patriarchal blessings. Do you have one? If you do, take it out and read it again. If you don’t talk to your bishop, or the missionaries, or me, and let’s find out how to get you this special gift from our Heavenly Father. He wants to guide you through your life, fill your soul with hope and joy, and bring you closer to Him. This is one way He can do that.
At the church this weekend we had such a joyful time watching our friends and fellow saints receive their blessings. One family came with their children who are 12 & 14 years old and both of them were prepared to receive their blessings. When Patriarch McQuivey learned that neither of the parents had received their patriarchal blessings yet he had Todd do the things necessary to allow them to be able to receive theirs at the same time. This family were all blessed by this special experience. It was wonderful to witness.
We still have more time with Patriarch McQuivey on Sunday and we look forward to it. It has been a special way to end our week. The first half of the week we were in the highlands of Iceland and the second half of the week we were filled with the joy of the Spirit that brings us closer to God. God is great and He fills our lives with all sorts of beautiful things, doesn’t He?!
Thank you for joining us this week! We’ll see you back here soon. Be sure to check out Todd’s social media pages. There are so many pictures from our highland adventure and he’s got them all in his Facebook post. And these videos are on YouTube! Enjoy and we’ll see you next week.
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