Christmas morning at the Office

Äldstes Ashworth, Dawson, Spjut, & Lewis with Syster & Äldste Johnson Christmas morning.

Are these mugs big enough for your hot chocolate, Elders? Thanks for the Dalarna hästar!

At this Swedish Christmas time,

It turned out to be sublime.

The members were great,

Way too much food we ate,

And now goals we start to climb.

The music here was beyond compare

The talents the Swedes did share.

From Tompte to Lucia

The Christ Child, Joseph and Maria,

Our hearts were touched with care.

The packages delivered from home and abroad,

Came carefully wrapped from our American sod.

The calls we made to home,

Were all done on the phone;

Now, we're ready to press forward for God.

--Syster Johnson

Merry Christmas to All!

Marita Möller dresses in her native Finnish Christmas dress for the Sunday service at Church. It was a beautiful, festive day with music and traditional Swedish food of clementines, ham, risgrynsgröt, bread and cheese after the meeting.

Äldste Johnson is very excited about the Jul Tompte coming on Christmas Eve. Syster Johnson keeps warm in her new, wool birthday scarf.

Christmas Eve in Sweden

Hultgrens opened up all their gifts on Christmas Eve after the traditional Swedish meal. They are stalwarts in our Täby Ward. The boys love video games and anything electronic, plus fantasy books.

Elders Wright, Johnson and Pearson anticipate the wonderful Christmas spread.

Systers Johnson, Wright and Pearson set a perfect Christmas dinner for Christmas Eve. Then, we were invited to Family Hultgrens for the evening.

New drain around foundation of Mission Office

After several years of foundation neglect, a large drain trench now encircles much of the mission office building. The project was very similar to field drains we have constructed in Honeyville. First we dig a 4-5 foot deep trench next to the building....then a perforated plastic pipe at the bottom covered with a special fabric that prevents mud and dirt from entering the pipe. The trench is then filled with crushed granite. Now, instead of constant rain water entering the porous walls of the basement portion of the building, it simply enters the large city drains, and the basement level of the office is dry and more functional. Next summer, asphalt will be layed to give a more attractive and useable driveway and parking lot.

Five Sister Missionaries go home for Christmas.

Sisters (lft) Fazio (Moscow, Idaho), Taylor (Orem, UT), Bensige (Stockholm, Sweden), (rt) Pollastro (Price, UT), Shurtleff (Ogden, UT) and Sister Johnson pause for a last good-by at the Mission Office.

Christmas traditions in Sweden

We were invited to Sister Rosenlund's for her special, traditional Christmas dinner. A few neighbors and the home teachers came. Our two office secretaries, Äldste Lewis from Pennsylvania and Äldste Dawson from West Jordan made the trip "over the river and through the woods to Anne's house we go." Her home is in a beautiful wooded area 40 miles from the Mission Office. We laughed, ate and sang Christmas caroles.

Syster Johnson has birthday party!

The birthday festivities began at Zone Conference on Friday, Dec. 19th and continued through December 20. We enjoyed being with the missionaries and couples and members for the birthday-Christmas traditions. Presents were a fun necklace from the couples and a beautiful, warm wool scarf from Äldste Johnson.

Mission Open House 6 Dec and Couples Conference 11-13 Dec 2008

The Mission Home was a buzz with activity as President and Sister Anderson hosted an Open House for neighbors, friends and members. The Sister missionaries (Taylor & Hassell) helped keep the serving table stocked, while Caj-Aage Johansson (author) explained the history of the Sweden Mission Book, "Steg i Tro." Elder Johnson helped escort visitors through the lovely, decorated home and Sister Johnson helped with food and entertaining. Else Mari came from our neighborhood and enjoyed it very much. There was singing by the missionaries and Täby Ward members, Wesemeyers (Mama and Papa Tomtas). The evening couldn't have been lovlier.

The Sweden Stockholm Mission Couple's conference at the Mission Home was a full agenda. We had testimonies, scripture study and delicious meals together. Our excursions in the rain to downtown Stockholm and the Temple (private session just for our group) were wonderful, as well. We have 8 couples from the USA, 1 from Germany and our newest couple, native Swedes (Herreys), are on their second mission. They are teaching us the language and customs. It was fun to learn the dancing activity that is performed around the Christmas tree in Swedish homes. The food was a typical Swedish Christmas dinner. The highlight was seeing "My Fair Lady" in Swedish at the Oscars Opera House downtown Stockholm. Even Pippi Longstocking is honored there. We were all so worn out from trying to pack 6 days of a conference into 3, and after sending our out-of-towners back to Göteborg, Malmö and Skövde, we took some well-deserved naps.

Big week with New Missionaries and Departing Elders

December 4th- After preparing for our Office orientation, with the help of President and Sister Anderson and office elders, we enjoyed the excitement of new "blood" in the mission. We are charged up and ready to go again for another round. We have six new sisters and three new elders.

Täby Ward Christmas Party

December 6 was a Night of Music at the Täby Ward. The musical talent in our small ward was amazing. The office elders (Spjut, Dawson, Lewis, & Ashworth on guitar) and couples (Johnsons and Wrights) participated, as well. Santa Lucia and our local Mom & Pop Swedish Santas (Nina and Richard Wesemeyer) were stand-outs with their old, traditional songs and instruments, as well as others. Ingemar Gleissman gave us a wonderful tenor rendition of "A Babe like You," written by John Denver. Yes, we have a want-to-be cowboy in Sweden, too! It was a night to put us all in the Christmas spirit.

Thanksgiving in Sweden

Office Elders (Lewis, Hartman, Glenn, Spjut and Ashworth) enjoy the big meal.

A Thanksgiving tree was decorated with leaves of "thankfulness" by the missionaries. We made turkey dressing, pumpkin pie and apple pie for the wonderful event at Täby Chapel. Everyone brought something to add to the delicious turkey dinner. We had 34 in attendance. Next Thanksgiving, we'll be home with our family!

Syster Johnson's watercolor attempts

It has been a fun diversion from the office. Painting is a new activity for Syster Johnson. Sweden is full of beautiful flowers and scenery. She only hopes to improve as time passes!

Uppsala Ward has Orient Night

The fireside was given by Brother Rosén from Gävle Ward. (bright blue tie in group photo at end of the table) He shared experiences he had in Thailand, Nepal, Hong Kong and India. Then, we ate special food prepared by members covering recipes from each country. Elders White and Fusselman ate their fill! Elder and Sister Thunell made their special sweet and sour pork. Yummy.

Sweden Snow is here!

What? The snow tires aren't on the van? It's a busy Saturday morning at the Mission Office. Winter is really here! Naturally, the snowblower is a piece of junk...out the door it goes and back to four good snowshovels!

Financial Help

Elena Flores came from England LDS Support to review church and Swedish financial computer programs. She also completed a minor audit of our office strategies with our MOS (missionary support) programs and financial reports. She was helpful and informative. The weather was wintery; however, she enjoyed viewing Stockholm from the Katarina Hissen and ate with us at the Outreach Center. We had great meals and some good laughs. Her visit lasted four days. She joined the Church in Italy, went on a mission to England, and loves working for the Church.

Gustaf Johnson roots near Lödöse, Sweden

Great Grandpa Gustaf Johnson and his brother, Olof Peter, left Sweden in 1884 after joining the church and serving short-term missions in the Göteborg area. The family farm is a favorite of ours to visit, especially since a distant cousin, Gunnar Gustafsson still lives there. He welcomes us warmly each time. This visit was in August 2008. The church in Vallby Västra is where Johannes Swensson (Gustaf's father) and many family members are buried. It is a special, sacred place for the Johnson family to visit. The group photo is of distant cousins, Tage and Gunnar, with Steven and others.

Stake Conference Weekend

The Sweden Stockholm Stake's conference was held in Gubbängen and at the Lecture Hall at the Stockholm University. We enjoyed hearing from the Stake Presidency as well as others. The theme of the conference was Member Missionary work. The missionaries are having great success in teaching with the members. Each companionship is challenged to do 15 teaches a week, and many are exceeding that number. The lecture hall was not completely full, but it was a good attendance. We were thrilled to know many of the members in the various wards as we have traveled and spoken in the wards. The photos were taken before, as members and investigators were coming in, and after the conference. Syster Johnson is standing with Elders Golightly and Patchett serving in the Märsta Branch. When we exited the building, snow was falling; our first snow of the season.