By Kim
The Scandinavian Young Adult councils are part of the
“Nordic Institute Council”. It is comprised of Sweden, Finland, Norway and
Denmark. The Nordic Council holds an event each month for the Young Single Adults ~
February was “Valentines” in Göteborg just 3 hours north of us. We were very
interested in attending since we will be hosting a similar event in our stake
in April. Several Senior Couples from
around the mission joined us to help with preparing and serving the food :)
Hvitfedlska High School
(a.k.a. 'Hogwarts' according to some participants.)
The event was housed in a
very old high school. Originally established in 1647, the current structure was built in 1917. We were in charge of check in and had everyone’s name
listed alphabetically by 1st name. We verified they were paid and
collected 250 krowns (about $30) if they had not; then verified if they were staying at the
school or had made other arraignments and attached a wristband to their arms.
We then directed the boys to the second floor and the girls to the 3rd.
They were sleeping in classrooms and each had brought their own sleeping bags
and mats, some had brought mattress’s! There were about 25 from our Stake and
even those that I haven’t gotten to know very well were excited to see us. They
came around the table and gave us a hug and told us their adventures of getting
to Göteborg (some in cars but most by bus and train).
Some of our friends from Lund.
They event began with a
PJ party / dance and we served Pizza at 10 pm. Swedish Pizza is
different than American… the crust is very thin – more like a cracker, they use
very little cheese on pizza and it is not uncommon to find french-fries on
them.
We left just after the
pizza was served because we needed to be back at 6:30 in the morning. We were
staying in the cutest hotel called the Hotel Mölndals Bro. (I wish we had
gotten to spend more time there!)
The lights on the facade of the hotel
were programmed to change colors.
Here you can see it shifting from yellow (on the right)
to blue (on the left).
We loved the sense of European comfort in the room.
Note the chocolate heart on the pillow.
The view of Fässbergs Church from the hotel.
Bright and early the next
morning we headed back to the high school. We had another couple riding with us
for the weekend, Elder and Sister Robinson are Records Preservation
missionaries and don’t have a car. They spend about 40 hours a week in the
basement of the Swedish National Archives in Stockholm photographing records.
Kim and Sister Robinson in front of the hotel.
Breakfast was bread and
butter, ham, cheese and tomatoes. Once this was set out we started prepping for
the taco lunch! I diced soooooo many tomatoes that my fingers looked like
prunes! Later when my YA committee was going through the line I said, “no diced
tomatoes’ at our event”! They said, “But sister Hurlbut we love tomatoes!” When
I explained I had spent over an hour dicing tomatoes they said, “Look! We eat
lots of tomatoes!” as they scooped them on their taco’s. I have a great group
of YA’s. :O)
The taco lunch was what
you would expect: flour tortillas, taco meat, cheese and veggies. Oh what I
wouldn’t give for some cheddar cheese!!!! I am surrounded by all this wonderful
cheese and we have been sampling it all! But I miss my cheddar!
Kim and the Hawleys ready to serve breakfast.
Phillip bringing order to the taco bar.
Saturday night's formal dinner and dance
in full swing.
President Beckstrand (our
mission pres.) and his wife have been touring south Sweden doing specialized
zone training and agreed to do a workshop on marriage. We heard it was
wonderful. They also stayed through Sunday’s testimony meeting which was an
incredible experience.
The testimony meeting took place in the school's auditorium.
Every other seat back folds down
to become a desktop for the seat behind it.
You can see the organ pipes to the right of the windows.
250 Young adults, 6
countries (including England and Germany) 3 days. It was a pretty great
experience. Every day we drove past Lisaberg, a local amusement park, and the city's cultural center which surrounds a fountain featuring a large statue of Poseidon, but we never did any
sight-seeing… too busy and too tired.
In 1976 Phillip served four months in Göteborg.
He felt a burst of happiness every time we
drove past this familiar sight.
After handing out sack lunches, helping with cleanup and seeing that everyone was on their way, we made our drive home and arrived after 7 pm on
Sunday.
The event we host in
April is called "Create." We are
excited! And just a little bit nervous, but we have an enthusiastic committee
of young single adults who are taking the lead.…. Love you all
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:
The school's complex included several buildings.
Check out the ornamental arch leading up to this one.
There is a picnic bench on top of the
rock outcropping to the right of the building.
Detail of the arch.
The two of us at the main entrance.
The exterior of the heavy wooden main entrance doors
are covered metal adding beauty as well as extra weight.
When Phillip first tried to exit through them he thought
they were locked. But then a little slip of a girl
came along and shoved it open for him.
You can see the year "1917" at the top of the image.
Vasa Church
as seen from the east wing of the school.
Detail of the West wing of the school
We did get snow on Friday night,
but it had melted away by Sunday afternoon .
The view of the west wing from
a window in the auditorium.
BONUS FEATURE:
Kim has been beautifying our apartment with houseplants, the most stunning of which are a pair of amaryllis. This is what she started with.
And this is the first flowering.
The plan is to include a new photo of the progressive growth with each post so that you can enjoy them with us.
We love you! We miss you! Thank you for posting!
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