Our trip to Dalarna

The Borlänge Ward Chapel is a large, beautiful building, built in the mid '80's. We are happy the elders are busy with investigators and members to help the ward grow.

Syster Johnson, Ann and Ingemar Åkerström, Äldste Johnson in front of the Borlange Chapel.

View of collapsed section of Falu Copper mine from the top. Collapse occured on Midsommarhelgen 1687. No one was injured or killed. Everyone was celebrating the midsummer holiday....elsewhere.

Ready to enter the mine with a good group of English-speaking tourists.

Inside the mine we found cold, damp and dark conditions. We can't imagine working there 10-12 hours a day under back-breaking conditions. Children as young as 10 began their profession working in the mine....and often worked in the tunnels mining ore until they died.

Carl Larsson painted a Welcome greeting at his door for all visitors to read upon entering the home. Direct English translation: Be welcome dear you (or my dear), to Carl Larsson and his wife.

The Carl Larsson home was built in sections. Some rooms were even moved in from other older homes in the area. He believed in using what was still good and even took apart tile stoves that had dates on them reaching back into the 1700's. His decendents continue to use the home, even though guided tours are provided daily in several languages.

Cowboy, Äldste Johnson, gazes at the huge horse in Darlana.

This was our first glimpse of what Darlana would be like. We love their colorful artsy horses.

Our short get-away to the central part of Sweden was a beautiful, relaxing weekend. After a busy Friday, we left the Office for a 2-night stay in Falun at the First Hotel Grand. Saturday (23 Aug) was spent at the Carl Larsson home. He (1853-1919) is one of Sweden's most famous artists, who lived in the 1800's. His work is mostly depicting home and farm life in rural Sweden. He had several children and they are shown in his paintings, along with his very talented wife who did art in textiles and designed her own furniture. Amy enjoyed the guided tour because English was spoken. We have several prints to bring home. The afternoon was spent deep in one of the world's largest and oldest (1300 years)copper mines. The Falu Copper mine is actually older than the Swedish nation. It has attracted visitors from around the world for hundreds of years. We were told that today 'Stora Kopparberget' is a World Heritage attraction.

The area is also the home of the famous "dala hästar," the colorful wooden, orange/red tole painted horses.

We donned rain capes and hard hats for the roughly two mile walk into tunnels and chambers, many of which were dug by hand hundreds of hundreds of years ago.

One of the highlights was going to church in the Borlänge Ward, where we met faithful, older members (Ingemar & Ann Åkerström) who joined the Church in the early '50's and remembered Grandfather Clarence and Grandmother Annie, Ilogene and Lyda and others. Then in 1984, Neil Bergstrom was here on his mission and they remembered singing with him in the special Temple dedication (1985)choir.