In the growing darkness, light is everywhere. It seems every window has either paper Swedish stars sparkling or seven-candelabras glowing. Of course tree branches glitter, apartment balconies twinkle, houses shine, and city streets gleam with tiny white lights. They literally "light the world." So, despite the atheistic attitude in Sweden, "light" prevails, lifting everyone's spirits and chasing away the darkness. I love it, and every light makes me think of Christmas!
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| This storefront window from a shop in Gamla Stan shows a variety of Swedish stars and candelabras. Although this has many candles, most only have 7, creating a distinctive inverted V-form easily discernible in windows. |
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"Moose" in a park in Stockholm.
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Tuesday we helped the "Apartment Couple" move a set of sisters out of their apartment in Örebro, about a 2 hour drive from here. We left at 8:30 am and returned 12 hours later! Packing, cleaning, and moving--we were pleased to get it done in a day! (The sisters deserve a lot of credit. They had some of the packing finished when we arrived and the apartment was in pretty clean condition, so we didn't have too much heavy cleaning to do). Actually, if the refrigerator didn't need defrosting, we could have finished sooner. (Yep, defrosting is still a necessity here, and these young missionaries have never had to do it before. To be honest, I wasn't sure how to do it either--it has been years....)
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| Apartment cleaning |
Taking a break...eating pepparkakor--a Christmas cookie.
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| Crazy plumbing here! Sharing a faucet! |
Friday we decided to treat ourselves to an outing to the Royal Stables Christmas Market. I should have taken pictures of the market booths, but I was so enthralled with all the goods I forgot! It was a lot like LARAC, with high quality handmade items. John is very disappointed that he talked himself out of a beautifully crafted Sami knife, with a minutely designed etched blade, reindeer antler hilt, and reindeer hide scabbard. There were hand loomed wool blankets, handmade felt decor, the softest curliest sheep skins from Gotland, fine jewelry, moose jerky, cloudberry jam, evergreen wreaths and much, much more. Of course, seeing the fine horses and carriages, which are still used today, was an extra delight.
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| At the Royal Stables Christmas Market |
Today we went to church with the Andersons in Uppsala, then drove to Gavle to meet the missionaries, pass out some "Light the World" pass-along cards at the well-attended Julbocken event. What's the Julbocken? It is the Christmas Goat. Yes, in the land of reindeer, ironically a goat plays the role of helping deliver Christmas gifts! (Santa is also replaced by Tomte, a gnome-like creature who can be quite mischievous.) Evidently, since the 1960s the city of Gävle has celebrated Julbocken (Yule -buck-en) by building and unveiling a huge straw goat wrapped with red ribbon. Since that first unveiling, during the night someone has sneaked in and set the goat on fire. Surrounded by a traditional pole fence and security cameras, this year an attempt is being made to find out who the culprit is who will set the goat on fire tonight. We were a little late. The celebration started at 4 and we arrived about 5, so the music entertainment was in full swing, but about 15 minutes later, we were surprised with the fabulous fireworks which glittered, popped and sparkled, welcoming the Yule Season. This big celebration with a goat may seem rather pagan, but it didn't feel that way. It was fun and just one of the Swedish Christmas traditions.
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| Julboken |
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| Fireworks, Julbocken, and crowd--Gävle |
Saturday night was our Stake Conference and Elder Alan Phillips of the Area 70 attended. In his uplifting and informative talk, he shared 3 Nephi 17: 6- 9. Putting this familiar scripture in context for us, he reminded us that Christ had been teaching the Nephites but he recognized that they didn't want him to leave. (Would we, if we had that opportunity to hear him teach us?) And in his compassion for them, he offers to have them bring their sick and afflicted to him. Elder Phillips asked us to imagine the family members running back to their homes to get their loved ones who were suffering in some way such as a crippled child or a blind parent. Then returning, they would have gathered around Christ waiting their turn, holding their child, watching as those ahead of them were being healed. (For a moment I could almost imagine what that must have felt like as they watched and waited, and I realized we, too, can be "healed" through our faith in Him.) In that scripture, the words that stand out to me is "all them that were afflicted." Isn't that each of us? May we remember during this Christmas Season that each of us has a similar opportunity to be healed of our afflictions as we remember and come unto Jesus Christ.
