Originally emailed Sunday, May 21, 2017
Dear Family and Friends,
Spring has FINALLY arrived, and it seemed to happen almost overnight. Thursday I looked out the window and gave a groan at the brown across the street. The next morning it was green! The trees have all leafed out, forsythias are in bloom and flowers are peeking out everywhere. The row of birch trees I see out my window are almost like weeping willows and their feathery green is a soft spring welcome. I guess everything just grows 24/7 now because there is sunlight virtually all the time. If it wasn't that way, I don't think people could have lived here--to grown food and survive! I sort of wish we were going to stay here through the summer. Everyone says the Norrland summer is the most beautiful part of Sweden; however, we will be going to Stockholm in 8 days--probably for the rest of our mission.
Monday, our P-day, we returned to the Skuleskogen National Park, this time with the elders. We had been there several weeks ago when there was still too much snow to hike to the main feature-- a "slot canyon" of sorts. The elders were thrilled to see the sights, hike, take pictures, and have a picnic. It's fun to share with them because they appreciate it so much. John has the best pictures, so check out his Facebook. I included just the plank picture. Amazingly, this park has a plank walkway for about half of the 4 mile round trip hike mostly through flat land that could be marshy or as a protection for plants. We breezed up the mountain in about half the time we expected. The other half of the hike is very rocky terrain, which at one point even required scrambling to the summit, but it was a beautiful adventure in every aspect, including the weather. In addition to the "slot" there is a huge "field of rocks," right in the middle of the forest that runs for at least 1/2 kilometer, and a nearly 360 view of the archipelago from the summit. This is our favorite park so far.
I took the sunset picture out our kitchen window at about 10:30 one night. A couple nights later, at 2:45 AM I was up using the bathroom and too tired to take a picture, but I couldn't help notice the yellow sky with bright pink stratospheric clouds--sunrise! Thank goodness for the black curtains in our bedroom!
The third picture is of the traditional game of kubb (pronounced koob). We took the picture during set up and forgot to take another while we were playing. We were having too much fun! It is a simple game made from pine. (What else in this spruce-forested land?) It has a "king" set in the center and 4-5 small round posts about 8-10 inches long, set at equal distance from each other on opposite sides of the king. Teams stand behind the post and, taking turns, toss a 18" wooden rod at the opposite post. When one is knocked down it is tossed into the center and the opposing team has to knock it down before they can try to knock down the others at the further distance. Obviously, the goal is to knock down all the posts first and then knock down the king, The king is knocked down by tossing the rod backwards between a player's legs. Great fun, and any age could play. Another Swedish tradition to bring home!
Sister Beckstrand gave another great talk today (it was our branch conference). I know that I'm quoting her a lot, but she is a good speaker, she tells memorable stories with catchy one-liners, and she speaks in English--that's why I remember her talks so well! Anyway, this one was on service--"Becoming a Giver," and she used this line: "Stop looking in the mirror and start looking out the window." Great advice, don't you think? I've had a bit of a humbling experience recently. Granted, we are having a wonderful time here, but sometimes we need something more to do. One day the elders asked us if we would go with them to help a disabled widow. It turned out that she had just been "replaced" in her apartment after repairs had been made to the entire apartment building after a fire 4 months before. Everything had been "bagged" and taken out of the apartment after the fire, and it had just been "dropped" back in. She needed help getting things sorted, placed in appropriate rooms and into storage. We worked for a couple hours and she asked if I could come back. She thought I was nice, she didn't need the men to sit and go through the boxes, but another woman could do that. I didn't want to--we couldn't communicate very well and I felt awkward. I also felt like she was just using us--she has two daughters, 18 and 21, who could/should help her. But I knew that service was a good thing, so I told her I would return the next week. I returned a couple more times since then, each time a little less reluctantly, and as I left this week saying a permanent good-bye, I realized that I was happier for having served her. I asked if I could take her picture as I left, and she cocked her head and flashed a smile, then thanked me for all the help and offered me a hug. It felt good to have used some of my empty time in a constructive way. I know I've written about service before, but isn't that one of the best ways to make this world a better place, to help us do the Lord's work, and to lift our own spirits?
Thanks for all your support, prayers, letters--the service you render us.
Love,
Mom/Dad, Grandma/Grandpa, Linda/John
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