What’s that smell?

10/20/24

Hello, Friends! We’ve had some fun this week! Come with us for a (maybe not so quick) review of our missionary work in Iceland. 

We had the opportunity to join Elder Pollock and Elder Nielsen as they taught our new friend Doris. Doris is a lovely woman who has been in Iceland for about a year. She’s from Ghana and over the past decade has lived in Italy, Holland, Italy again, and now Iceland. She is currently waiting for the government to grant her residency along with her 9 year old son named Perfect. Doris loves God and she is a woman of faith. Over the past 12 years Doris has had three children die from a rare genetic disorder. Her first baby died at 9 months old. Then she had Perfect and he was, and is, a healthy boy. Her second baby died at 6 months old and her third baby died at two months old. All of these babies had the same genetic condition that ended their lives prematurely and brought Doris an untold amount of grief. She is looking for solace from God and she is learning that He loves her, He is aware of her grief and her babies, and He loves them too. It was so inspiring to hear Doris share her prayers of faith and her concerns as she is struggling to handle the challenges in her life. The missionaries shared their testimonies with her. They shared that the authority of God is here on the earth today in His church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They gave her a Book of Mormon and invited her to read it and come to church again this Sunday. They are teaching her about God’s plan of happiness. It was so wonderful to be part of this lesson and to feel Doris’s love for God. 

If you would like to learn more about the plan of happiness, check out this video for a short explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9iYqKk00Bc 

This picture is from the General Conference potluck where we shared a meal with Doris & Perfect. They came to conference and then again to church the next Sunday. It is exciting to walk with Doris in her journey of faith and hope. She is planning to get baptized next month!

We had a lunch date this week with Elder Morel and Elder Morales. These elders are serving in Selfoss, about a 45 minute drive from Reykjavik. They were in the city for an appointment and we met them at the church for an amazing lunch of Costco lasagna! We enjoyed getting to know them as they do their work here in Iceland. Fun fact: both of these elders are native Spanish speakers and they were called to preach the gospel in Iceland speaking Spanish and Icelandic. And they are speaking both! I think that is amazing. They are doing great work!

After our lunch date Todd and I had a couple of hours until we had an evening meeting. We’d had a busy week without much time for sightseeing so we took advantage of a few hours to see some new sights south of Reykjavik. Todd is a very happy driver and explorer. He enjoys finding new places for us to go and he’s very observant about what is around us that we should stop to see.

Our first stop was at an outdoor fish drying ground. We came upon it unexpectedly and were excited to go check it out. Until we smelled it. Trust me, these fish are not dry yet! The ground was squishy with mud and fish droppings, but Todd was very happy to go exploring! Apparently the fish heads are dried and sent to Africa as an Icelandic export.

And don’t miss this video tour of the fish drying stacks. You better believe the smell came back into the car with my companion. 🙂

We drove through some beautiful mountains after leaving the fish heads behind. It was breathtaking. We came upon lake Kleifarvatn and, wow, what a gorgeous spot. The lake is huge, with cliffs as well as black sand beaches. We loved spending some time there. Todd desperately wished for a motorcycle to ride through these beautiful places.

Not much further south we came to Seltún Geothermal Area. This thermal area is in the middle of the mid-Atlantic ridge. It is so beautiful! There is a boardwalk that weaves through bubbling pools of hot mud and hot springs. And, we enjoyed another pungent smell – that sulfur, rotten egg smell that comes out of these hot pots! Wow! It was even stronger than the drying fish heads! Honestly, it brought back some memories of getting home perms when I was little. My mom would regularly give me and my sisters home perms and that ammonia smell would burn your eyes and curl your hair! Walking around these hot pots brought back curly, smelly hair memories.

This is a 360 video. Use your finger or mouse to move the picture around and get another view of the hot pots:

Our next stop was at Strandarkirkja, a Lutheran church right on the south coast. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous setting. The signs said a church has been on that same spot since at least 1200 AD. The cemetery was peaceful, the waves were crashing nearby, and we were the only ones there to enjoy this gem of a stop. I wonder if I could pay attention in church if I had this view just outside the window?!

Just a few steps from the church and we were at the water’s edge. A legend says that an angel has guided sailors safely to land in a sheltered cove near where the church is standing. Those sailors built the church in tribute to their safe landing. The shores here are volcanic rock and dangerous.

All over the city there are public parks with these big trampolines built into the ground. They look amazing and we have seen people (children) playing on them. When we left our meeting to drive home, at the end of a wonderful day, we pulled into a park and ran up to have a quick jump! It was higher than I expected and pretty hilarious! For two old people, a few jumps was plenty! I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe! We made it up and down safely and drove home laughing all the way. It was a terrific day!

In addition to our meetings and some sight seeing, I’ve started taking driving lessons! Well, actually, just getting brave enough (with Todd’s encouragement) to try driving in Iceland. The drivers here are aggressive. (That’s code for “I’m taking too long to change lanes and I’m being too polite when I drive.”) There are roundabouts everywhere, which are just another chance to not panic while driving! The other day I got us to Costco and back only causing Todd mild panic. I even managed to back into our parking space in the apartment garage! I think most of the time I will leave the driving to him. But, I don’t want to be afraid to drive here and I may, occasionally, have a need to be behind the wheel. No cars were damaged in my efforts to drive this week!

• Meetings with the young elders — below is our branch missionary coordination meeting – just one of our meetings this week.

• Meetings with the senior missionaries (that occasionally take place in fun restaurants – Elder & Sister Allen know all the good spots to eat!)

• Making plans for upcoming meetings (yes, there are a lot of meetings)
• Emails, zoom, and video chats
• Catching up with our kids and grandkids – so grateful for video chats!
• Hitting our one month mark since starting our mission. 
• Todd, talking to everyone he sees trying to share the gospel. He is a very social American that these Icelanders aren’t sure how to take!

As a final note to this post, check out Todd’s tribute to toilet paper. . . let’s just say it’s something he’s really missing from America! 

Remember to go to Todd’s Facebook page for so many pictures! More than you ever thought you needed, but you actually do! We’ll see you next week with who knows what to report! 

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561154456959