We made it to Iceland and it's WONDERFUL!

Two Red-Eye Flights in a row!

Oh my, it's amazing how fast two people can move when they are told their flight for tomorrow has been cancelled and you must leave tonight to catch your connecting flight in NYC. YIKES! Thanks to family and friends, we made it. (However, we would NOT recommend sleeping two nights in a row on airplanes.  

The best escorts and baggage movers, our adorable three daughters.

Thank you Ashlie, Tracie, and Katie. We're so grateful for you.

Yes, these are our five joys in life who we will

miss greatly and who we are so grateful they

said "go, we will take care of Grandma".

Then there is this bunch. No words to describe

the goodness they each bring to our home.

We love each one of you so very much!

Good-Bye Utah and U.S. of A.

 This is the view we get to look at every day for the next year from our kitchen window. It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! We're not certain what we like the most: the city, the ocean, the mountains, the fjords, or the weather. It's all simply wonderful.

Hello Reykjavik, Iceland

We love our apartment on the 3rd floor, stairs and all (no elevator).  Elder and Sister Michaelsen picked us up from the Keflavik International Airport at 7 a.m. Wednesday morning, February 18th. They took us straight to our apartment and then on to shop and get our new 'home' set up. We so appreciated their help with a smile and happy heart.

We are blessed to have our own washer and dryer in the apartment.

This is our kitchen, just perfect for the two of us.
(I might add the apartment was spic and span clean
and the previous owners left lots of kitchen appliances,
dishes, pots, pans, and gadgets. YIPPIE)

 This is our living room, nice and spacious.

Notices the radiated heater under the windows.

It is so warm and cozy, we love it. No forced air,

no sound, just warmth and comfort.

Ikea to the rescue and bless the two guys who carried

the new couch, two chairs, and foot stool up all

three flights of stairs (of course Terry gave them

a nice little tip, even though tipping is not common here).

Lovely and comfortable! Good thing I'm married

to a handyman and found it no problem to unbox

and put together everything. 

Front: Laurel Koyle, Julie Hall, Catherine Cloward,

Me, Calleen Argyle, and Jerolyn Beers

Back: Patty Hanks, Karen Larsen, Beckii Bandley,

Jolene Andreason, Judy Stanton, and Cheris Losee

And thanks to these precious 'Club' friends.

These are 12 girls I've been hanging out with for

the past zillion years. We meet the second Thursday

of each month, no matter what, unless there's a

darn good reason not to show up :)  

Some of them I went to grade school with, others

of us met in middle school or high school. While some 

joined us when they moved to Spanish Fork.

They gave us a very nice gift of cash towards our

mission effort before we left. We used the monies

to set up our apartment, which will be used for

many years to come from those who serve after us.

These are our friends and neighbors, the geese flock. They

hang out by our apartment daily, pick through the snow to

find something to eat, and fly around the neighborhood.

We enjoy watching them.

Getting everything set up would have been so much harder

if we would not have had so much help from this young man. His

name is Audunn Larsson. He met our son Tyler when he served

a mission in Iceland 20 years ago. He has visited our home several

times over the years, and calls us Mom and Dad. He said having

our names printed on the mailbox and door buzzer looks like

heaven to him. Thank you for helping us get settled in, Audunn.

These two vehicles are what Audunn thinks Terry

should drive while we're here in Iceland! Ha, Terry agreed. 

They are actually what Audunn uses for tourists to ride

in while when visiting ice caves, glaciers, etc. 

We took this picture for Tyler, he said to make sure

and have a Pylsur, or an Icelandic hot dog. It was

DELICIOUS, crunch onions and all!

THE REAL REASON WE ARE HERE!

This is the logo on the big front door of the

National Archives of Iceland.

Terry at the big scanner, one of our work stations

for the next year. We're just getting started and

it's AWESOME! We were welcomed with open

arms, everyone in the office speaks English, and

we feel so grateful and humbled to part of this

great project. I feel my Icelandic ancestors near, my

heart is happy and bursting with joy for this opportunity! 

The picture of this building is across from our office where they house some

of the records as well as preserve the damaged ones. It's quite the

process and we're enjoying learning about every step along the way.

We were told there are 25 kilometers of records that

need to be scanned. Wowser, that's a lot of family history,

lots of individuals who lived in Iceland, made a difference. and 

still very important today even though their mortal body is gone (for now).

I know they are grateful they are still remembered and being recorded.

The Archive office building is very nice and

newly remodeled. This is a picture from the third

floor lunch room. The massive and beautiful

Lutheran Cathedral is a great landmark and

can be seen for our viewing pleasure every day. 

There are cranes everywhere throughout all of

Reykjavik. This is another view from the lunch room. 

One last picture of our lunch room view.  Andrea,

one of the staff members told me this is 'their mountain'.

It is nicknamed 'the Santa Clause' mountain. 

Iceland has 13 Santa Clauses and they believe

they live in this mountain. They climb down from

the mountain and bring the good children treats.

Our First Sunday at Church

 It was great meeting up with Arni, a great young man who

was about 10 years old when our son Tyler served his

mission in Iceland. He has fond memories of Tyler

and was a joy to talk to.

Then this older gentleman, Sigurjon, with his wife, son, and daughter

in law. They are wonderful Icelanders, faithful in the gospel of Jesus Christ,

and have very tender memories of Tyler. When I sent this picture to Tyler

he said "Good old Sigurjon and his wife. They would feed the missionaries

waffles, blood pudding, and blood sausage". He was grateful for their

love, friendship, and tender loving care when he was a young man

so far away from home. He was also grateful to see their smiling faces.

First Saturday Outing

We will be spending Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm at the Archives. The evenings and Saturdays are ours to visit with others, shop, and assist where needed. Today we chose to travel to Selfoss. It's a farming community about a 50 minute drive outside of Reykjavik. It was a beautiful drive and we met up with some wonderful people.

 Elder McConkie and Elder Robertson

(Elder Robertson is from our hometown of Spanish Fork)

Elder and Sister Loveland from Farmington, Utah.

They greeted us last week with a phone call to let us 

know they would be driving in to Reykjavik for a training

and would love to bring us dinner to our home. It was

great to meet them and learn about them and their family.

 Our YUMMY salmon lunch!

Great food and even better company :)

 A Picture with a Thousand Memories!

In June 1996, my father, my sister, and I traveled with 40 other Western Icelanders to Iceland for the first time. We traveled from one end of the country to the other. It was awesome to walk on the ground where our ancestors once lived. To see the views that were once theirs before they left their beautiful homes and traveled to Spanish Fork, Utah.  We stayed in many hotels and guest houses.

The picture above is of Hotel Ork, which is in the beautiful farming village of Hveragerdi, which we had to pass on our drive to Selfoss today. Twenty years ago our group of 40 Western Icelanders stayed at Hotel Ork.  Do you see the big round blue pipe? That is a waterslide. Thora Leifson Shaw, who has since passed, challenged my father to climb up the stairs and go down the slide. Much to Thora's surprise, he did just that. It was his dream for 72 years to visit the land of his forefathers. He didn't want to miss one opportunity to make a memory, try a new food, see a new sight, and see for himself what he had heard about since he was a young boy. Vina and I loved watching him, as he pressed his nose against the bus window, taking in EVERYTHING! Yes, even the waterslide. God bless you Dad, and Mother, for sharing from your hearts to our hearts what this life is all about.

Last Post
I'm so sorry for the loooong post. It took us over a week to get WiFi and a lot has happened in our first 10 days here. I promise to make shorter and sweeter posts in the future. 

In Iceland there are not many trees, so the joke is, if you get lost in the forrest, just stand up. So hence the words in the quote below regarding 'the lack and sparsity of trees'.

The quote below was on a huge billboard outside of the international airport. How fitting for these words to greet us. Family trees, this is what life is all about. Always has been and always will be. Pass the word! Bless bless (good-bye in Icelandic)

Two Weeks of Awesomeness!

We survived, in fact, we flourished!

It was a wonderful experience spending the entire first week with 80 other 'senior' missionaries and dining with 1600 young, enthusiastic, bright, loving, and happy young adults (18+ year old males and 19+ year old females).   

The second week was spent with three other missionaries (one other couple and one single sister) and our instructor. We were all asked to serve as a Record Preservation Specialist. Our small group bonded and fell in love with each other.  

Week One

We walked in the doors of the MTC and were given the badges we would wear for the next year: Systir Shepherd and Oldungur Shepherd. This translated from Icelandic reads, Sister and Elder Shepherd. Beneath our names it says, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. What an honor to wear our Elder brothers name close to our hearts as we serve his brothers and sisters, and our Heavenly Father's children.

Here we are standing at the famous MTC (Missionary Training Center) world map. We're pointing to the fabulous country of Iceland! 

This is the group of Senior Missionaries who all arrived at the MTC the same day we did. We spent the week being reminded to love, serve, and assist those in the world who needs and has even been praying for happiness, peace in their lives, and a variety of many other things.

The men are standing behind their wives. The women in the middle of each picture are single (widowed) and have chosen to spend their time loving and serving His children. It was fabulous to get to meet each of them.

It was amazing within our group to hear where they would be serving, all as volunteers, all paying their own expenses, and all HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY! Some in Salt Lake City in the Family History Genealogical Department, while others would be traveling to a location in the United States, and then others to France, Peru, New Zealand, Africa, Denmark, just to name a few. 

This is Brother Taylor, he greeted us every morning the first week. He answered ALL of our questions, loved us, and gave us confidence to go out in the world and do what we have been called to do.

Our large group was broken down in to 10 Districts (groups) with eight missionaries per group.This is the training room we spent much of our time in.

Terry was asked to be the District Leader for our group of eight. He took the position seriously and prepared to meet the needs required.

This is our District along with our morning instructor Sister Walker. She recently returned from serving an 18 month mission in Berlin, Germany. She was fantastic.  

This is another picture with some our District plus our afternoon instructors, Elder Wade and Elder Cardillvo. 

This is Elder and Sister Shumway. They came and spoke to our District the last hour on Friday. They have served 10 full-time missions. They were filled with the spirit of love, service, and sacrifice for the benefit of others. They touched our hearts for another reason, you'll see below why.

Week Two

 This is Karma Tomlinson, our AMAZING and WONDERFUL instructor the second week at the MTC. She proved to us, old people can learn new things. Not only is she an excellent teacher on the camera system we will be using to capture the images of the ancient records, she is a beautiful and precious daughter of God. We so appreciate her kindness, patience, and love she freely shared with us. 

This is the camera imaging set up we were trained on. Lights, camera, computer, and capture.  

Still smiling, after our brains were on overload. I'm so grateful Terry is by my side to assist with learning and remembering all of the details.

The second week our training consisted of just five missionaries, two couples and one adorable single sister. Elder and Sister Gardner will be serving in the archives in Montreal, Canada, Sister Larsen in the archives in Ohio, and Terry and I serving in the National Archives in Reykjavik, Iceland.   

We had the opportunity of spending one day of our training in Salt Lake City where we learned there are approximately 300 camera capturing setups throughout the world.  

We had had the opportunity to spend an hour at the Discovery Center at the Family History Center. There's an activity you can do to see 'where you come from' which details exactly what percentage your heritage is from. Just in case you can't see the image, I'm 57% American (which stems to one of my ancestors who arrived in America on the Mayflower, 39% Icelandic, 2% German, 1% Irish, and 1% United Kingdom. Terry didn't capture his image, darn it. Pretty interesting, gives you much food for thought. 

The last stop for the day was showing Elder and Sister Gardner the beautiful view of Temple Square from the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. They were in awe and so grateful for the stop. 

As we left the MTC on Friday afternoon, the sky was blue, the air was crisp, and our hearts were full. As we drove home to Spanish Fork, I captured this beautiful picture along the drive. The majestic mountain in the background is what we have grown up with. It tells us we're home, it says we're safe, it brings memories of childhood and days gone by. We'll miss home, but our hearts are content and we know we're going and doing what He wants us to do. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve Him and His children.  

 As we entered our chapel today, our Missionary Plaque was hanging in the display case (hence the glare). Really, we are really Missionaries! Words can't even touch what our hearts are feeling.

I'm on the left, my precious sister, Vina, is on the right, and in the middle is our Navajo sister, Margaret Upshaw.

Remember Brother and Sister Shumway in the earlier picture, and I said they touched our hearts in another way? This is why! As Brother Shumway shared his history of service and missionary work, he mentioned he had worked with promoting and assisting with the Indian Placement Program. He shared that of all the things he has done over the years, working with this program was his favorite. After the class, I approached Brother Shumway and told him I had a Navajo sister from the program he spoke of. He asked me her name (now keep in mind there were thousands of kids that went through this program over 50 years ago), I said Margaret Upshaw. With a big smile on his face, he said "Oh, I believe she was from Ft. Difiance, and she was from a family with a bunch of beautiful girls". WOW, I about fell over. What he said was all true and correct. I'm certain Brother Shumway must be nearing 90 years old if not already past that mark. My heart knew the words he spoke were true. He LOVED serving and caring for Heavenly Father's children. What a perfect example of Christ-like love.    

Margaret lived with our family for four years, her high school days and her first year of college. She brought to our home such joy, happiness, love, and peace. During the summer months she would return to the reservation and be with her family in Arizona. Every fall she would come 'home' to us again. Her and I were the same age, we had the same friends, and shared a bedroom. It's been almost 50 years since she came to live with us. We might not be blood related, but we're certainly one family. Our parents adored her and claimed her as one of theirs. They always loved it when she would come to Utah and visit. She just happen to be in Utah with her handsome hubby, Harry, TODAY and stopped by to say hello. 

It was the perfect ending to the past two weeks of training, preparing, and tomorrow we'll pack our bags. We leave for Iceland bright and early Tuesday morning. And again, I have butterflies and Terry says, 'piece of cake'!