Week of Firsts (Is that a word? Yes, I checked)!

MONDAY, MARCH 14


This is the FIRST time since we've been in Iceland (four weeks), that I found a pair of shoes that didn't belong to either Terry or me in our apartment. They are Morgan's, our grandson who visited for 10 days. Oh, there was a sad beat in both of our hearts when I found them under his bed. The shoes are empty but our hearts are full of memories. Good memories are treasures. We are FILLED with treasures.


I probably failed to mention last week, that I left our Icelandic mobile phone in Vestmannaeyjar last Saturday. I'm certain maybe the anticipation of riding the 'rock and rollin' ferry for almost three hours back to the mainland (Reykjavik) is why. I'm sure it has nothing to do with my age :)

So, it was our FIRST time driving around the Reykjavik area without our handy dandy phone GPS. We would look up the route on our USA phone, in our apartment, take a screen shot, and hope to get to and from. Ha, Terry did AWESOME. We got the phone back on Monday afternoon, so our new method was short lived.

Interesting to me, was the way we got our phone back. The guesthouse where we stayed simply took our phone to the little domestic airport, gave it to a pilot, and he brought it with him on the next flight in to Reykjavik Monday morning. Our trusted friend and Iceland son, Audunn, went to the domestic airport here in Reykjavik and picked it up. It didn't cost a dime, just some very kind and appreciated service from the owners of the guesthouse and Audunn. Also a little sweat on the brow while trying to be brave and 'drive on memory and faith'.

I should say the TO: address above is Rumfatalagerinn. This has become one of our favorite stores. It's kind of like a mini Bed, Bath, and Beyond. We needed to find some cookie sheets and muffin tins. Job accomplished!


TUESDAY, MARCH 15

We were told today, NO WORK at the Archives until maybe Thursday or Friday. The new computer and software upgrades are not quite ready.

The FIRST this day was Terry said, "let's go shopping".  Terry is okay with going shopping, but ONLY if we are shopping for 'something'. Not just shopping for maybe, something :) We had a fun time and picked up this . . . . almost.

This post is really for Tracie and Katie, our daughters. When we saw this electric lice comb we thought of them. No, they have never had head lice. However, they have a fear of it. We almost bought one for each of them, just to put their minds at ease.


WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16

You have to be a girl to appreciate this post. I have been having my toe nails 'hand painted' by Meg for too many years to count. Once a month, me and my sister, have a 'date'! I let my daughter, Tracie, take over my appointments. It was TOE DAY and Tracie sent me a picture of her cute toes. I sent her a picture of my HORRIBLE toes. She sent back the words, OH MOTHER and a few of those laughing faces with tears running down the cheeks. Never fear, I bought myself some polish remover and cute pink polish. The last remains of my happy toes from Meg are gone, but at least my toes are smiling, somewhat, again. Now that's a FIRST!

If I was home, this is what my toes would have been looking like. Take a peek, which one would you choose to remind you of Spring? Me and my toes miss you Meg. Even Terry told me my toes were looking pretty dull. Ha!

We had two FIRSTS today. We started taking Icelandic lessons. OH MY! Two of the young missionaries, one from the U.S. (Elder Daw) and one from Denmark (Elder Johansen), were just darling, patient, and EXCELLENT teachers. There were two other students in the class. A young woman from Slovakia and a young man from Lithuania. Maria married an Icelandic man, has a young family, and teaches piano lessons. She needs to learn how to communicate with her students. Amos owns a construction company that ties steel, he has lived here off and on for seven years. They both said they loved Iceland because it was a safe place to live. It was fun meeting them; guess we'll be seeing them every Wednesday evening :)


THURSDAY, MARCH 17

The FIRST today was seeing what a bag of Hershey's Easter candy cost in Iceland, WOWSER, $30.53 . . . um, we didn't buy it. The sun was shining through the window, so the picture isn't real clear, sorry. What it says is: 3,798 Kr for the bag of candy. This is another handy dandy app we use on our phone DAILY!

Second FIRST today, we ALMOST got our cute car creamed, twice, in the round-a-bout. Andrea, one of the cute staff members at the Archive, drew us a detailed diagram at lunch (hence the napkin) of how the round-a-bouts work. In case any of you ever drive here, the story is this: The driver on the INSIDE (red line) lane has the right of way. So if you're on the outside lane (blue dots), you have to keep an eye out for someone coming from behind you and in FRONT of you. If the red car line wants to exit the round-a-bout, they have the right of way. YIKES!!!

FRIDAY, MARCH 18

 This is the FIRST time we've seen the temperature in the almost mid 40s. WaHoooo! ALL of the snow melted with the rain and wind last weekend, the grass is starting to show green, and the leaves are starting to pop out on the tress. Spring is coming!

Meet Barney (this is what he said we should call him because his Icelandic name is too hard to say). He one of the first staff members we met at the Archives. What A Nice Guy! He has been very helpful and encouraging to us. When we FINALLY got to officially 'start work' capturing images today and Barney happened to walk by our office. I said to him, "We just finished scanning our first book" with a big smile.  A few hours later he presented us with our FIRST official Icelandic Easter Egg as a Congratulations!

I thought this was just like our Easter Eggs at home . . . NOPE, they are FILLED with goodies on the inside, and the outside chocolate is YUMMY. It is Icelandic chocolate, pure chocolate, none of that waxy pretend chocolate.

 How cute is this Easter Egg

 And the back side has an interesting little circle

 You POP the circle out, and THERE are ALL of the GOODIES!

The first goodie I pulled out (which is very traditional) is like a fortune or good wish. Can you read it? Ha, I couldn't so I sent a copy to my friend, Bjorg, and she translated it for me. It says: What you learn in your youth will last a long time. Darn it, I wish I would have learned Icelandic in my youth, then I would still have it with me, because it's been a long time since I was a youth :)

This is the final results of ALL the candy that was inside. AWESOME! I wish I could transport 23 of these yummy chocolate Easter Eggs to Utah in an instant for our grandchildren. They will just have to take our word for it, the chocolate and goodies are yummy and it was fun pulling all of the surprises out. Thank you Barney for sharing this fun Icelandic Easter Egg tradition with us and for your support and congratulations on our success. Blessings to you and your family!


SATURDAY, MARCH 19

It was our FIRST Zone Conference. What a wonderful day it was and an amazing site to hear and see 12 wonderful young men singing, sharing from their hearts, and making Iceland an even more amazing place to be. There were also three couples (including Terry and I), and our Mission President and his wife, President and Sister O'Bryant. They live in Denmark and traveled to Iceland on Friday evening, along with two young Elders, to attend the Zone Conference.

Meet cute Sister Michaelsen from Missouri. She is ADORABLE! She made a yummy lunch of homemade beef stroganoff along with homemade rolls and chocolate cake. Sister Loveland made a delicious green salad.

I was in charge of the morning snack. Terry and I decided to make homemade Banana Oatmeal Muffins. Some had chocolate chips, others had pecans, some had nothing. We also got some nice juices and a bowl of candies to boot. It ALL disappeared in five minutes or less :)

 Terry talking with Elder McConkie. Elder Robertson on the far right is from Spanish Fork :)

 Tell me, are they all not the most handsome bunch of Elders!

 Sister Loveland chatting with Elders Wight and Rodriguez

 Elder Michaelsen and Terry - SMILE!

 Elder Brady from Denmark with Elders Johansen and Daw

 Elder Loveland with Elders Pons and Geslison

 Elder Stirk, Elder Curtis from Denmark, Elder Pons

We talked about www.familysearch.org and how the records Terry and I are capturing will soon be available to 'index' and then be added to this free website. The Icelandic people and those who have ancestors of Icelandic descent, will soon be able to start creating or filling in names on their individual family tree. EXCITING!!!!

The evening ended with a wonderful dinner with President and Sister O'Bryant being the Host. The evening was beautiful, spring was a 'little' in the air, and as we walked down the streets of old - yet well kept, clean, and beautiful Reykjavik, our hearts were happy and peaceful. We know we are where we're supposed to be.

It was a week of FIRSTS and we enjoyed every single one of them, except the round-a-bout experience.

Have a blessed, happy, and peaceful week. Remember to celebrate Easter with a humble and grateful heart. Because of our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ, we all can live forever.

Bless bless,
Terry and Lil