Final Update

Welcome Home
April 19th could not be put off any longer and it was very emotional to say goodbye as we left the Temple in Stockholm at the end of our mission.
We made the last few changes in our luggage to keep it under 50 lbs. and Pres and Sister Oscarson drove us to the Airport.

We talked all the way and shed tears as we said good bye for 18 more months until they are released. Our luggage was OK as we checked in and we did not have to pay any extra except for having a second suitcase.

The flight to New York was long and boring and it was cloudy and we did not sit by a window. We did get lunch on our way to New York but it was only food for sale from New York to Salt Lake. I was worried about customs but it went so quickly and so smoothly that we had plenty of time to get to our connecting flight to Salt Lake.
It was a sight to behold when we came down the stairs to where the family was waiting with signs and yelling and the little grandkids running to hug us.

It was so good to see them and meet one of our new grand children, little Mia. After we gathered up our bags everyone came to our house to see our reaction to the changes at the house. We are so pleased with what they have done and we love the carpet and it is so soft to walk on. They kids worked so hard and we love them and appreciate them for everything. We handed out our gifts from Sweden and everyone seemed pleased. The grandkids have school tomorrow so they headed home to get them into bed.
About 10:15pm the doorbell rang and it was our Stake President, Charlie McQuinn. He came in and talked to us for a while and then released us from our mission. It was a feeling of emptiness but also one of thankfulness for the opportunity to serve the Lord for 18 months in the Temple in Stockholm and for all our many blessings.
The family had an open house for us on Friday, 22 April, and we enjoyed it so much. We really had a lot of friends and family come and the “goodie” table was wonderful. There were so many people that we could not talk to anyone very long and that was a little hard. Thanks again kids for working so hard on a wonderful evening of fun for us.
On Easter Sunday, 24 April, we gave our talks in church and bore our testimonies of going on a mission as a senior couple, the wonderful opportunity of serving in Stockholm, the blessings of the temple, how everything in the temple points to Christ and is our way back to live
in our Heavenly Father’s presence and what a beautiful day to contemplate all the blessings of the atonement; what Easter is all about. We had many family and friends come and the church was full, what a blessing to us.
We ate Easter dinner with most of the family and then had an Easter egg hunt for the grandkids which was fun to watch. Again thanks for the help with the food for dinner and for doing the hunt. All the decision making has made me a little up tight after not having to make any decisions for 18 months. Our days were planned and we followed the plan!
One last thanks for your love and support on our mission. Your prayers really did make a difference in our health and strength and being able to have such an awesome mission. Love you all so very much.

Week of April 18th

This has been an incredible week with lots of dinner appointments (two in one day) and trying to pack and clean out the cupboards and serve in the temple.  It was extremely hard to say good bye to so many friends.  BUT we are coming home in the morning.  It seems weird that we will leave Stockholm at 11:25a and arrive in SL at 7:15p but we also gain 8 hours in so doing.  I had intentions of writing a regular update but we spent the day in Stockholm under beautiful sunny and blue sky and then ate at Jensen’s Bofhus.  At 6:30p Sister Evensen had 22 of us to her house for birthday cakes, ice cream, pudding, jello, hot chocolate sauce and nuts and drinks.  We had a great time but I did not get my update done.  Then we finished packing our suitcases and one of mine is overweight and no chance of taking anything heavy out.  But Chuck insists that we just pay the fine and take what we need to.  I have thrown away medicines and bathrobe and socks and gloves and I just can’t think what to throw away next.  So we will pay the fine!  The Oscarson’s are coming for us at 8:30a so we can get to the airport 2 hours before our flight.  I am not nervous about the flight just my suitcase being overweight by 5 pounds.  Thanks to all of you for your love and support of us on our mission.  We are really excited to see you and hug you and shed tears together.  I will fill you in on an update when we get home but this will have to do for now.  Love you, Elder and Sister Rose, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa

Week of April 4th

Monday April 4th we caught the 5:40am train to the Central Station in Stockholm and changed trains to Märsta and then a bus to the airport. Our flight to Copenhagen left about 8:20 and we flew over for the day. The kids have heard so much about Denmark from Chuck and Brent serving their missions there they wanted to see it. We really had a fun packed day with lots of walking and walking and more walking. We stopped at the first bakery that we found and it was so good.

The bus from the airport took us to the Central Train Station and everything we were going to see was within walking distance from there. We walked past Hard Rock Café, Tivoli, and the City Hall and on to the walking Street, Strøget. We walked all the way down Strøget passed the old Royal Theater and on to Nyhavn. This is one of my favorite places in Copenhagen and we stopped to take several pictures.

Our next stop was at Amalienborg, the Royal Palace. Then we walked along the harbor and up to the Little Mermaid. Our next place was the Amerikakaj Harbor where the Kristina statue stands commemorating the many people that left Denmark and sailed to America. All the crocuses were in bloom at the Rosenborg Castle and it was beautiful. Next we climbed to the top of the Round Tower and saw what Europe looks like from up high. Just a short distance away was Our Lady’s Church where we saw all the statues of the apostles and the original Kristus Statue. Next we finally ate lunch. Kris and Ginet thought for sure we were starving them but we ate Italian food at Mama Rosa’s. After lunch we walked back down Strøget to Hard Rock Café for a few purchases. We still had some time so we walked Strøget again and went to see The Marble Church by the palace. We just sat in the church for a while since we had been doing so much walking. We next walked down Støget again but at a slower pace, had some ice cream and went back to the Central Station to catch the train to the airport. We arrived back to the guesthouse about 11:30pm very tired but we had a wonderful day.

Tuesday we slept in a little and I made cinnamon rolls for our breakfast. Kris and Ginet went to the workout room and exercised for a little while. We again caught the train and went into Stockholm one more time. We did some more shopping in Gamla Stan and also at the H & M store on the way back to the train station. The girls weighed their suitcases and they were both under the limit and we spent the rest of the evening looking at pictures on the computer and just talking.
Wednesday we caught the 6:40am train and then the bus to the airport. The lines were long, but Ginet and Kris were very calm and just moved along with the crowd and got through just fine. It was very hard to say good-bye at the security gate even if it is only two weeks until we see them again. We had a very fast paced 6 days but it was wonderful and we were so glad they came. Thanks to their families for letting them come. Later that afternoon I got my hair cut; shorter than I expected but it will grow.
When we returned to the temple on Thursday the people were glad to see us because they thought we had already gone back to America. The rest of the week we were busy at the temple. Saturday was very busy with a large group in the baptistry. I helped keep the laundry going and got clothes folded and back onto the shelves.
Sunday we went with the Evensens to Erik and Anita Lindquist’s for dinner. We followed the GPS and it took us a way that we did not recognize but we made it and had a lovely salmon dinner. Anita has so many genealogy stories to tell and she is so animated when she tells them that it is totally entertaining.
The biggest trial of the week was our computer would not work. I was so frustrated and Chuck tried everything he could think of and it still would not work. We made a couple of phone calls and tried their suggestions but it still did not work. He ran all of the diagnostic tests, which lasted for over 5 hours and they all came up OK so we felt that we had not lost any data but the computer would still not start windows. We had a small miracle and when we got up on Monday; it worked. A quick prayer of gratitude was said.
Maybe I will have one final update next week. I hope I have time. Thanks for another great month of prayers, support, letters, emails and love. See ya soon.

Week of March 28th

Our missionary mornings are becoming so precious. I am sure we will continue with our morning prayers, individual scripture reading and together reading. It gives us such a good start to the day and closeness to our Heavenly Father and to each other that you just can’t explain.
We have another sign that spring is here. The little while flowers, called ‘Snow Drops’, are blooming in the lawn. They wait to cut the lawn until the flowers are through blooming.

Our Swedish class this week was a quiz on different events in Swedish history. Our scores were not the best in the group but they were not the worst either. When we got home from class Mikaela Nilsson was waiting for me to help her in making the baby booties with the loom. While I was helping her I gave her the quiz. She is born and raised in Sweden and she did not score any higher than we did. Some of the questions were trick questions!
This update is late as we have been privileged to have Kris and Ginet spend a few days with us. I will tell you about our fast visit as we traveled through the week.
Kris and Ginet arrived on Thursday early afternoon. Wednesday night we had a hard time sleeping because we were so excited to have them come. Before we went to the airport we bought a few things at the grocery store and made their beds at the guesthouse. When we saw each other at the airport it was an emotional moment! Driving back to Västerhaninge we made a wrong turn and ended up driving around downtown Stockholm before we could find a road to get us back on the freeway.

After Kris and Ginet got their things settled in their room we put on our coats and went walking through the Viking Cemetary. It was really cold and the wind was blowing but we were able to get up close to some of the gravestones. President and Sister Oscarson had us for dinner and it was a great dinner. The potatoes that President Oscarson made were wonderful. We sat and talked for a while after dinner but the girls were very tired.
Friday morning we were able to go to the 10:00 session at the temple. We were so proud to introduce them to our friends and for them to see the beautiful Temple in Stockholm. After the session we ate lunch at the temple and they were able to meet and get to know more of our friends.

We took the train to Stockholm and began our sightseeing. We all enjoyed walking around the palace courtyard and seeing the guards marching. We went to
the Armory Museum at the palace and the girls were amazed at how old things were there. We went in the beautiful Stor Kyrka and saw St George and the Dragon. We saw Carl Larsson’s birth place, the smallest street in Sweden and many souvenir shops in Gala Stan. We ate dinner at Bruno and Harriet Klarin’s and they fixed a nice pork Danish dinner in honor of Chuck. It was very good and Chuck especially enjoyed the Danish desert.
Saturday we took the train to Stockholm and first went to see the Vasa. This big ship sank in the harbor in 1628 on its maiden voyage. The Vasa was under water for over 300 years and it was raised well preserved and nearly intact. It has been restored and is now in a temperature controlled museum. It really is very interesting to see.

We also went to the outdoor museum known as Skansen. This museum shows all the regions of Sweden in one huge park. We watched them blow glass, ate a “goody” at the bakery, walked a lot, took pictures; walked a lot, saw reindeer and other animals, old houses, churches, schools and people dressed up in native dress. We walked a lot but it was a wonderful day.
Sunday we drove up to the part of Sweden that the Nyman’s came from. The day was rainy, foggy and cold but we were grateful for the opportunity to go. When we got to Svärdsjö they were having choir practice in the old church so we sent inside and enjoyed the heavenly music. We took a few pictures (without flash) and enjoyed the beautiful church. It was raining hard but we walked around the church and looked at a few headstones. We drove to Bengtsheden and saw some old homes and buildings. Some of these buildings could have been there in the 1600’s. Six generations of Nyman’s were raised in this area. This is a beautiful area and the fog lifted just enough for the girls to see the beauty of the lake. Next we drove to Sundborn where we drove around the church where some of the Nyman’s were baptized as a baby. It was still raining so we just took pictures out the windows. It made for a long day in the car with terrible weather to drive in but we are thankful they got to see where their relatives lived before they came to America and to the Rocky Mountains.
I will tell you about the rest of their visit in next week’s update; it was great also. We have less than two weeks left here in Sweden now. It is hard to see it come to an end. We thank you all for your love, concern and support.

Week of March 21st

On our P-day we went to Sister Ingegerd Olsson’s. I call her my Swedish mom. She had some pictures of her daughter and family that live in Colorado Springs, Colorado that she wanted to show us. She used to come to the temple everyday but she seldom comes now because of medical problems that the doctors here say she is too old to help (socialized medicine). We told her we would come and see the pictures but to fix no food. But she fixed a light lunch anyway and we had just eaten breakfast. We took her some flowers and I hope we brightened her day. We will miss her.
Our Relief Society this month was entitled ‘Extreme Makeover – Home Style’. We talked about traditions and ways to have more united families. We suggested ways to enjoy working, playing and doing gospel things (FHE, scriptures, praying) together. It was a fun evening. Since the women were all going to be gone, the men got together at the President’s house for a movie night (church movies) including all the goodies. They also had a fun evening.
We have a new volunteer couple from Salt Lake that has come for 7 months to serve in the temple. He served his mission here in Sweden and she was born in Sweden. They are the Thomas’ and they live on the top floor of the guesthouse by us.
Saturday night the American couples enjoyed an evening in the home of Rolf and Annya Hägglund. She is the daughter of Syster Mejer and they fixed us a wonderful dinner and a very yummy desert. Rolf is also who we rented our guitars from. While we were there we participated in ‘Earth Hour’ and only used candles in the house. We will miss the Hägglund’s and Mejer’s when we come home.

Sunday we fed the missionaries and they were hungry. Elder Bloomfelt is from Snowflake, Arizona and Elder Marchant is from Cincinnati, Ohio and they are great missionaries. I fixed 16 chicken sour cream enchiladas and only one was left.

This week was our first week of being shift leaders. We had small groups most days so it was a challenge to be able to fill all the positions needed. But because it is the Lord’s House it all worked out.
The visiting group this week has been from Latvia and these saints always inspire us with their reverence and dedication to temple work. They are so humble and so excited to be in the temple. They bring with them so many names to be done. It was hard to tell them good bye for we don’t know if we will ever see them again.
 Sister Greve is going home to Norway. I call her my Norwegian Mom because she reminds me so much of my own mother. She has been here for 4 months. She is really a special sweetheart.

We just found out that we will talk in our home ward on Easter Sunday. Our Sacrament Meeting starts at 12:50 and we would love to see as many of you there can make it.
Thanks again for letters, emails and skype times and for all your support and love we have felt on this wonderful mission in Sweden.

Week of March 14th

Happy Birthday Brent
Sometimes the days look and smell like spring (vör) and other times it looks like winter (vinter) will hang on for a little longer. It is getting light by 5:20am and it stays light until 6:30am. We change our clocks this coming Sunday (söndag) to Daylight Savings (Sommartid böjar). We already sleep with our black blind down as it gets light so early.
We had green for St. Patrick’s Day with napkins, candy, gum, and clips sent to us by the Pratt family. Thanks, the other missionaries thought they were fun too.
We packed two big suitcases for Michael and Kristen Krus to take to America. She is the lady that used to tend Bryan when he was little. They were going to the US with two empty suitcases so they could bring more back with them. They said that they would take some of our things to Stacie and Bryan for us to that we did not have the expense of additional luggage when we travel home. We filled both suitcases. I can’t believe how much we have accumulated. They are going to Kennewick so they will unload the suitcases at Stacie’s house and she will bring them when they come to Utah. We could not send as much as we wanted to because it weighed too much. We are just grateful that we could send some home this way.
We went looking for this big American type mall called Nacka Forum. We were unable to find it but did go in the Globen City Mall and walked around. We found a flower shop and dad held out his coat so Sister Evensen could not think about buying flowers.

 Instead of eating out we came home, fixed dinner and ate with the Evensen’s.
Sunday after church we were invited to go home with Bishop Krylborn and his family for dinner. They have 4 daughters and have a great family. They all helped with preparing the food and it was a very tasty dinner. Bishop Krylborn called on me for the blessing on the food and I did it in Swedish and when I opened my eyes they looked very shocked. After dinner their daughter, Anna, conducted a Family Home Evening as one of her personal progress goals. Then their girls sang several songs for us. They sang without music or any accompaniment and they sang in perfect harmony. It was a very enjoyable evening.

This week the traveling group has been from Göteborg and we were very busy. They did not have enough for their own shift so we just had one large shift. It was so good to see so many friends again but it was very hard to say good bye as we will not see them again before we go home.
Saturday was our ward’s day in the temple. We had good attendance for the sessions and many youth came for baptisms. It turned out to be a very busy day; the kind you like in the temple.
Just four more updates and this wonderful mission will come to a close. Oh what a blessing it has been in our lives. We did find out from Bishop Robinson that we will be reporting in church on Easter Sunday. Our church is from 11:00-2:00 and we think our Sacrament Meeting is first, but the website shows it last. We will let you know for sure next week.
Thanks for your weekly emails, letters, love, support and prayers. See you soon!

Week of March 7th

Happy Birthday Drew (8)
We have been good this week with our goals, of personal scripture study, reading the Ensign together, indexing, using the exercise room and working on baby booties.
Our biggest time consumer this week was practicing our talks for Sunday. Our prayers were certainly answered as we were able to give our talks in a calm manner and they seemed to understand. One sister came up and told us that we had no idea what love we showed to the Swedish people when we would give our talks in their language. I went over my talk ten times every day for almost two weeks. It was scary but a good experience. After the meeting was over the Bishop invited us to dinner next Sunday. Chuck has been their Home Teacher while we have been here.
At Swedish class this week it was a Cultural Class. We talked about Fat Tuesday and how it relates to 40 days before Easter. Then we ate a Swedish Easter treat called Semlor. It was a fun and yummy evening.

Ingvar and Maja-Lisa Karlsson from Umeå will not be back to the temple until we have been released. On Thursday they gave us a long stemmed yellow rose and some Swedish chocolates. They have been very good friends and we have worked together as shift leaders. She speaks very little English so we communicate through the spirit and a lot of hand jesters.
Woke up Friday morning with my eyes bright red and almost swollen shut. This was the first day I have not gone to the temple our entire mission, but I could not go. I tried a cold rag on my eyes, cucumber slices on my eyes and nothing worked. Saturday morning they were just pink and not as puffy so I went to the temple. Someone suggested that it was nerves. One sister gave me some allergy pills that she takes when she is stressed because her eyes do the same.

This week has been a busy week at the temple. The visiting group has been from the Swedish Mission and there were a lot of sisters but not as many men. On Tuesday we also had a large group of saints from Finland and they had their own session. They were touring different temples. We worked late on Tuesday evening and then Chuck had the recommend desk early on Wednesday morning.
Saturday was very busy. We had double sessions at 10:00 and 12:00 plus all the other ordinances too. The baptistry was very busy. We had groups come at 9:00, 10:00, and 11:00, plus some walk—ins. It was wonderful. We did almost 700 names in the baptistry in about 4 hours. The young people are wonderful.
Again this week we had to say our final good-byes to many of our good friends and temple workers. What a blessing they have been in our lives. We do have a lot of email addresses so we can keep in contact. One friend we will not see again is Syster Rachel Björklund. She calls me her Rose Bud!

Not too many week left in Sweden and we thank you for another week of your love, concern, prayers, Skype time, emails and letters. We love you and appreciate all you do. We are grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and for all the blessings we have received on our mission