Beauty, Fun, and Work!

Before I start the week, I have inserted the video from last week of Terry running the Scanner at the Archives, that I couldn't figure out how to insert and work.  I THINK, it will work, let's cross our fingers.

MONDAY, MARCH 28
Monday was a National Holiday here in Iceland, the 2nd Day of Easter. So, our fifth and final day off from work. The young missionaries wanted to take a drive out to the Thingvellir National Park, which is where the first Parliament of Iceland had their general assembly in 930. Wow, that was a long time ago. The Parliament continued to meet here until 1798. This is a place held in high esteem of Icelanders.

Below are a few snapshots of the morning walk. . . if you would like to see more about this awesome place you can go to the link www.thingvelir.is which is in English. 

 It was windy and COLD...Brrrrr

 What a beautiful walk and Icelandic flag whipping in the wind

 Terry stopped for a long time and just looked at this view. When I asked him what he was looking at, he just said 'WOW, if the earth ever shakes here, I hope nobody is hiking on that day because this is all going to come tumbling down'. Don't let the beautiful blue sky fool you, IT WAS COLD!

 This is the first waterfall we ran in to, it was pretty but there is a not so nice story about it. In the 'olden days', when men did wrong, their heads were chopped off. Women, however, did not get their heads chopped off. They were put in a bag with rocks, tied off, and pushed in the deep pool of water right behind us. YIKES! Poor ladies and gents too...... 

 This is Elder and Sister Michaelsen, they are quickly becoming some of our best friends here. They are from Missouri, so easy going yet hard workers, and always serve with a smile.

 This is the BIG waterfall, at the end of the walk. It was absolutely beautiful and the area was protected from the wind. The sunshine felt nice. The young missionaries loved their time together, you can tell by their big smiles.

 The big waterfall and us . . . and the young Missionaries posing for their mothers :)  Yes Moms, you all did a wonderful job of teaching and raising your sons. They are hard workers and love to serve Heavenly Father's children.

In the afternoon we were invited to attend a second day of Easter dinner in the city of Hveragerdi, at an very special home filled with people we love very much. The picture below is the first view of the farming community, Hveragerdi, as you come over the pass. It's very beautiful.

 The man in the green shirt, is Bardur Gunnarsson. He is the father of three beautiful daughters who each lived in our home at one time or another the past 20 years. The handsome young Icelander is Andri, the partner of Hanna, Bardur's oldest daughter. Andri is the owner of Icelandic horses and invited Terry to come spend a Saturday with him and take a ride. Terry is excited to take him up on his offer.

 This is Silja, the youngest of the daughters. When she was in our home, she was always so shy to speak English and always depended on her sister, Kiddy, to talk for her. Now she is a TOTAL chatter box, speaking English so well. When I told her I was so happy she would talk to me now, she said, well she had to learn English. She married a cute guy from Sweden, who doesn't speak Icelandic. She doesn't speak Sweedish, but they both knew English. So, they speak English to each other and the children are learning this language too. He only speaks Sweedish to their three children. She only speaks Icelandic to their three children. So, needless to say, their children are completely fluently in three languages. AMAZING!

 This is the picture of the entire gang. It was loud, crazy, and we LOVED every minute of our four hour visit. It felt like home. Our hearts are still happy a week later. 

 Thank you Bardur and Pearla for inviting us in to your home and your hearts. We love you all.

On the way home, heading back to Reykjavik, the sunset was JUST BEAUTIFUL!

TUESDAY, MARCH 29

 After the long holiday our fridge and cupboards were bare. So, off to one of our favorite grocery stores we went after work. The name of the store is BONUS. We couldn't figure out for a few weeks why any grocery store would have a 'pig' as their logo. Then someone told us, look close, the pig is a piggy bank. AHHH, it means if you buy your groceries here you will have money left over to put in your piggy bank - BONUS :)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30

 Yup, it's Wednesday evening, that means Icelandic lessons at the church. As we came around the corner and I saw the church, I asked Terry to stop for a minute so I could take a picture of our cute little church. It was built and dedicated in 2000, so 16 years ago. When our son, Tyler, lived here, the second floor of an old office building was where church was held. I'm so grateful there is a nice church here in Iceland to attend and serve the good people of Iceland.

 Ha, I'm so clever. I figured out by a simple click of the button on my phone, I could make the picture of the church turn in to what looked like a sketch or drawing. Kind of fun.

THURSDAY, MARCH 31

 Believe it or not, I didn't take a single picture on this day. 

FRIDAY, APRIL 1
Benedikt Jonsson 

 Meet Benedikt Jonsson, our supervisor and Project Manager of the image capturing task at the Archive. He is SO KIND, speaks perfect English (he got a college degree in Scotland), is patient in our learning, and we love working with him and feel grateful to be teamed up with him.

On Friday he brought us a gift, a book that he wrote in 1999 in honor and memory of his wonderful grandmother. He was raised by his grandparents on a family farm and has treasured memories of those days. His mother was one of his grandparents 14 children. The book he gave us is in Iceland, but is filled with pictures. Benedikt captured in his book the life and family of days past, to the present day of 1999.

Benedikt also created a website two years ago that is full of pictures of the beautiful farm and area where he was raised. The words are in Icelandic, but when you have time, I encourage you to click on the link and just browse around. I promise, you will LOVE what you see.
www.haukadalur.gagnvegir.is  

 The work day ended and we decided to treat ourselves to our favorite, Icelandic Fish and Chips. On the drive there, I said 'Terry, look at the building, it looks crooked'. Ha, there is some pretty fancy architecture here in Reykjavik.

Last but not least, Friday night was ended with a beautiful rainbow. This is the first rainbow we've seen since arriving. I was wondering if they had the here, duh, of course they do. You can also see the sign point to Bauhaus. This is Iceland's version of Home Depot. Yup, this isn't Cabela's but it's definitely one of Terry's favorite place to visit. 

SATURDAY, APRIL 2
No pictures this day . . . wow, two days in one week.

We did our weekly shopping early and then headed to our nice little yellow church. We met many members of the Reykjavik Branch and watched the Women's Conference and the first session of General Conference. 


SUNDAY, APRIL 3
Terry went to the church at 8:30 and watched the Priesthood Session that happened Saturday evening, he was gone almost three hours. Believe it or not, this is the first time since February 1 that we have been separated. I turned on some church music, cooked some things for a pot luck dinner at church, and got ready to be picked up and head also to the church to spend the next six hours with brothers and sisters, watching two sessions of General Conference. 

 This is just a few of the Reykjavik and Selfoss Branch members. Darn it, we didn't think to get a picture until most everyone had left. Selfoss is about a 45 minute drive in to the Reykjavik church. They have a tradition to come together, watch Conference, have the pot luck, and enjoy each other's company. It was a wonderful day.

This cute young lady is Aslaug. She lives in Selfoss, but use to live in Reykjavik when our son Tyler, lived here. We have met a few times over the past 20 years. When she saw me today, she immediately came to me, with a smile, and then a hug, and said 'it's so nice to see you'. Oh, she warmed my heart to the core. Then she immediately asked how Tyler was and if I had a picture of him. Of course, what mother doesn't have a picture of her children. When I pulled the picture up, she looked at it, and then a smile came across her face and she 'yes, that's who I remember'. 

Now we're home, just the two of us, watching the final session of General Conference all by ourselves. We don't have a television, but we do have a laptop, a projector, and a little Bose speaker. So, ha....we created our own BIG SCREEN. We are use to having our family around us this day, so it feels a little different. However, our hearts our happy, we know we are where we are supposed to be, and we're so grateful to hear the words of wisdom today in the company of so many good people of Iceland.


We're excited for tomorrow. The camera operation we were trained on in Utah in February has arrived at the Archive and will be set up tomorrow. Yippie! Now, pray for us that we'll remember how to operate it and we'll be successful in capturing many more images that will be used for others to complete their family tree.

It's April, we only have 10 months to complete much work before it's time to return home. Time is passing quickly.

God bless and have a wonderful week!

Terry and Lil