Orientation and Departing July 2009 Group and beyond

Aledander Androsovic from the Czech Republic attends Täby Ward with us.

Elders Langston, Jackson, Adamson and Edmunds show hospitality to Alexander at the Mission Office. He is an elder and branch secretary back home.

Limerick: We took the day just as it came--

Orienting and checking out was the game.

We tried to make time go smooth,

Any gliches we'd soothe.

Then, Alex showed up from the Ukraine.

A cot was offered on the deck.

He told us he's a wandering Czech

Joined the Church in the Ukraine

With his testimony, he'll remain;

And, hoping his trip won't be a wreck! --Syster Amy Johnson

Elders enjoy last surströmmming party at the Mission Office yard. Alpeter is determined to eat it before he goes home. It was a smelly situation and brought all the mosquitoes from miles around to our property. Yuck!

Friday Lunch photo shoot with the regulars and guests. It was a great time and beautiful day.

Newly arrived elders come to the office for orientation. We have a seasoned violin player who will bring the spirit of beautiful music to the Swedish people. They will love it.
Limerick: There is more new blood in the mission

They've come with great ambition.

Fifteen in all,

Have heeded the call

What a wonderful, welcome addition.

But, when missionaries come to Sweden,

And live in this Garden of Eden;

A group must depart,

And take with them our heart.

The effort they gave is unbeaten! --Syster Amy Johnson

The memorial of the missionaries in the daisy garden. We will miss this incredible group. They have worked so hard and accomplished so much.

Thursday, July 16th was super busy for the Mission Office. We oriented 15 new missionaries and sent them on their way to various locations throughout Sweden. Then, we checked out the departing 10 elders and 5 sisters and prepared them to either fly home on Friday, or meet their parents for a few days touring in Sweden. Elder Alpeter from the Office went home after a grueling few weeks as AP. He was very tired. The last official act at the Office was to make a marker for my daisy garden with the names of the elders leaving. He wants to see it again when he comes back in 30 years. We'll have to put it in the attic if it is to survive. After we thought it couldn't be any crazier here, a Czech member showed up here wanting some help. He didn't have a place to stay, so we accomodated him by putting a cot on the deck. He slept there for three nights and said it was great. We then found a Russian speaking member in another part of Stockholm to take him in for the rest of his trip. He wants to apply to study here. Alexander was very nice and wanted to be near the missionaries. We took him to Church on Sunday. What a wild week. After Friday lunch, our group of 19 read our limericks and had some great laughs. It was especially fun to have some guests from the USA. (Elder Zach Jensen's parents and Elder Winston Larson's parents and brother). Our couple from Jonköping (Varr and Bernice Nelson) were also with us. It was a beautiful day and wonderful Hawaiian haystacks served on the deck. We are ready for a little quieter week, but something else always comes up. We are doing the best we can.

4th of July in Sweden

Elder & Sister Johnson love the big American flag, thanks to Elders Drake and Adamson.

Even though we were at the Office, we still remembered to celebrate our country and how much we love the USA. We ended the day with a barbeque at the Mission Home with former missionary guests from Utah and their families (Jacobsons, Birkelands), along with fun couples and missionaries. The weather even allowed us to eat outside on the patio. We were all missing our local celebrations at home, but we did the best we could. What a beautiful 4th of July!

Gotland, Sweden

Loading and unloading cars, horses, humans and dogs on the large 1500 passenger ships. They carry several hundred cars, trucks and trailers.

A beautiful day to be on the water. We loved the sunshine.

Walking the inner city streets of Visby was beautiful and educational.

Visby is called "the city of roses." But, we found that the countryside had a problem with poppies in their grain fields. We thought they were beautiful, anyway.

More Viking grave sights. They are formed to represent a viking ship.

On the southern tip of the island we find a rock formation called Hoburgen. Rock formation shows an old man's face and nose....just like the two gamla Elders (Herrey & Johnson) in the forground!

Typical old farm yard with thatched grass roofs. Still in operation.

Old Viking grave in the background. About 400 such graves have been located on Gotland.

Äldste Johnson standing next to the first LDS church in Gotland...we are told 1861.

A functioning Swedish Church in the background.

Inside the Visby wall near shops and on cobblestone streets.

Syster Johnson with the Visby Wall in the background. The wall is nearly two miles around.

At least 96 old, very old, Swedish churches can be found on the island. This old Gothic Church is found in Visby's inner city. Gotland's largest city, Visby, is surrounded by a large rock wall which is about 30 feet high, complete with entrances and corners....and old churches and all the typical cobblestone roads and shops.

Gotland, the island of the Goths, was our latest mission 36 hour assignment. The island is in the middle of the Baltic Sea a 3 1/2 ferry ride SE of Stockholm. It is just over 3,000 square miles which is smaller than Box Elder County.

Sunny Sweden

One of our Syster missionaries (Vicky Lewis) had a birthday, so we celebrated in the best way. The yard is mowed and flowers are planted. We love to be outdoors when we can.

Our Norrland Trip

Norrland was a trip to treasure.
We went for work and pleasure.
The sun at midnight,
Was broad as daylight.
While driving we watched for reindeer

Not a cloud in the sky. This is amazing for Sweden. The sunshine is so welcome.

A midnight photo shot out of our hotel room window. What a view!

Pelle and Anna Ingvarson family in Umeå. (Simon, 12; Lovisa, 6; Matilda, 9) We heard that Anna a Pelle just had their 40th birthdays last winter. Of course, Syster and Äldste Johnson aren't telling how old they are!

Wiktoria and Peter Heintz enjoy a little sunshine after church with us in Luleå. Swedes don't let their sunshine go unused.

It seemed like a dream to be at this spot on the planet at this very special time.

This photo was taken at midnight on Friday night. The sun did not set. It was starting to rise again.

We did the traditional activity of picking wildflowers on the summer solstice.

Beautiful Swedish church in Jokkmokk. Every community has its own unique church style.

We stopped at the Arctic Circle line for a photo or two.

We combined Mission assignments with pleasure and visiting of old friends and making new ones. After inspecting the Sundsvall sisters apartment, we drove to Örnskoldsvik to visit elders living in a former LDS chapel. They had lots of space. Then, on to Umeå where Zone leaders Jensen and Castillo were ready and prepared with a nice clean apartment. After a good night's rest in the Profil Hotel in Umeå, we drove to Jokmokk and crossed the Arctic Circle line. After finding the town nearly deserted because the population was out in nature for the sommersdagafton, we drove on the Gällivare to meet up with former Täby Ward members, Peter and Wiktoria Heintz. We enjoyed two nights of their wonderful hospitality and went to a mountain near the city to see the "midnight sun" at the summer solstice. It was spectacular! The next day we drove to Kiruna, stopped at the place of the Ice Hotel (no ice this time of year), and checked out a 400 year old church, a loppis and the huge open-pit mines. Now that the surface ore is almost depleted, the digging goes underground, causing the homes to sink. Some of the communities are being totally moved, homes and all to safer, stable ground.

Sunday was a wonderful church day in Luleå with the Heintz and checking the elders apartment. We found all well there, and were even treated to a special musical number by Elders Kroff (piano) and Hanes (violin). Young Woman Agnes was the chorister, and kept up with the beat. Äldste Johnson was asked to bear his testimony. (in Swedish, of course!)

Our next stop was with Anna (former foreign exchange student) and Pelle Ingvarsson for dinner in Umeå. Their three children were delightful. It was hard to leave them, but the distance was too far to wait another day to make it to Stockholm by Monday afternoon. We did spend one more night in a hotel near a bridge that looked like the Golden Gate. The drive was beautiful and spectacular with lakes, farms, trees and reindeer. It was almost too much to take in all at once.

We loved it all! And, there was hardly a cloud in the sky and the weather was warm. We escaped being bitten by the "migs," which made the experience even better. The little beasts were pretty thick. We'll never forget the special time in Norrland.

Monte and Lisa come to Sweden!

Monte and Lisa enjoy the Stockholm island cruise on the Cinderella I.

The classic photo on the Mission Office porch steps.

On the top at the Katarina Hiss shows the Stockholm skyline in the background.

Svartensgatan 3 where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made big advances in Missionary work. Elder Johnson served his mission out of this building, as well as Grandpa Clarence when he was Mission President. Great memories!

Walking the grounds of Gripsholm Castle in the rain. The beauty was worth the effort.

We were so happy that Monte & Lisa and her parents could spend a 36 hour stay with us in Stockholm. They were impressed with the beauty of the countryside, Stockholm harbor, Svartensgatan 3 (old LDS Mission Home and chapel), Gamla Stan, and a evening cruise through the islands. We loved having them. The stay was way too short, but will have many great memories to share. We walked in the rain, saw a castle and took them to the VASA museum. The food on the cruise gave them a taste of Swedish cuisine. We miss them.

Summer 2009 Couples Conference

Front: Steven & Linda Wright, Sally Anne & Pres. Larry Anderson, Hildegard & Knut Rade
Back: Liz & Stephen Rosevear, Steven & Amy Johnson, Bernice & Varr Nelson, Delia & Roger Larson, Willy & Gerd Herrey, Dennis & Doris Daniels, Vicky & Rex Lewis.

Rex Lewis and Steven Johnson are the winners of the duvet cover contest--Fastest to change the cover!

This drawing was used on the wooden butter spoons. It depicts how the Swedes (daisy) look to the sun as soon as it comes back in the spring in full view. People run outside and put their faces to the sun to get more vitamin D. We are hoping they will all "look to the Son" so the missionary work can be more successful here.

On June 12-15, all the couples in the Swedish Mission gathered at the Mission Home in Danderyd for fun, training and food. We were on the planning committee and made some of the main dishes for the meals. Also, Sister Johnson put together little "take home" bags of pull-apart bread, jam, spoon and Swedish butter knife, painted and individualized with the couples' initials. We were happy to have two sisters come from the Regional office in Germany (Hanson and companion) with a presentation of how to teach Young Single Adults how to make a working plan for activities. Sister Hanson was a "Terry" and we found out that she is a distant cousin from the Otis Terry line. Saturday, we took these two sisters to Gamla Stan, and they loved it.

Täby Ward Home Food Storage Night

Relief Society President, Gunilla Carlsson, made a main protein dish out of wheat, served with lingon and red beets. Yummy. Veronica Karlsson is using a strong blender to chop the wheat. She is going to try making bread from her home storage wheat supply. Relief Society is the same in the Church all over the world!

Thank you Marita Möller for the photo from her IPhone.

New Baby Boy Johnson born in Ogden, Utah

Alex loves her baby brother, Zack. (7 lbs 8 oz. - 20 inches)

We are thrilled to share photos of the happy Nate and Gina Johnson family, which now includes Alexandria and Zackary. The photos were taken by our talented photographer, Julie Johnson. Our grandchildren now include nine boys and nine girls. What special 18 children they are to us! We love and miss them while we are in Sweden on our Mission. Congratulations, Nate & Gina!

Opera downtown Stockholm

We were happy to support Ingemar in attending the performance of La Rondine by Puccini. Even though it was an "amatuer" cast, they sounded like pros to us. It was fun to meet up with other members, Gunilla Carlsson and Gunnel Petersson, that were also there to see the show. The diversion from the Office was nice.

Private Swedish lakeside barbeque place

The horse barns in Sweden are amazingly big. Each horse has an individual stall. They go out to graze in the day and are back in the stall at night.

These trotting horses are huge compared with our Arabian and Arabian crosses. They don't appear to enjoy strangers in their living space.

The reflection was perfect when we visited the small lake in Riala.

Ward member, Anne Rosenlund, poses at the picnic spot we are considering for the Couples' conference.

We are exploring places for the Couples' Conference barbeque. Out in Riala about 45 minutes from Täby, Anne Rosenlund has arranged for a quiet place by a small lake with geese and birds and quiet water for the seniors to get the feel of Swedish countryside. We hope to put everything together and go with the flow in the great outdoors. We also came upon a nice horse barn and the winning trotter race horse, Cruton. The winnings so far have been over a half a million Swedish crowns. Taking a photo with the animal was a challenge because everytime we tried, he put his head in the corner of the stall. Shy, I guess.

Young Ambassadors take Scandinavia by storm

The Church set up a Family Home Evening booth at the International Family Day. It was a great way to promote the Church and the Family. Wonderful day!

Our favorite quartet. Sounded just like the 50's and 60's music we love.

The energy that was shown on stage was amazing. How do they keep up the pace?

Syster Vicky Lewis and Syster Linda Wright join us at the Mormon Helping Hands booth where baby blankets were being donated for new mothers in Africa.

International Family Day was celebrated at Kungsgårdsgatan on a bright, sunny day in Stockholm. Young Amabassadors took the outdoor stage. That evening was the big performance.

Who would have thought that we would see the BYU Young Ambassadors at the Universitetet in Stockholm SWEDEN! We took Markus Leo and his brother Alexander as our guests. What a wonderful way to promote the Church!