Conference in Växjö

By Elder Hurlbut

Did you notice the elephant that just entered the room?

Well, as long as it is here we will address it.

“Conference in WHERE???

Växjö.

It is pronounced ‘Vek-hwa” but the ‘k’ is just barely heard.

Try it out three or four times before continuing. (especially if you are reading this to someone else.)

Now, on with the post.

The Växjö Branch of the church is one of the more remote congregations in the stake. (The Malmö  Stake is comprised of seven different congregations spread across southern Sweden.) The contact we've had with the missionaries serving there indicates that there are about a dozen Young Single Adults on the rolls, with only one of them actively participating in church. Early in the week we contact the Elders, asking if they can arrange some meetings with the less active YSA's for us when we come for their conference.

The drive takes us a little over two hours.  Emma Køster, Kim’s language tutor, told us that even the landscape in Skåne  (Southern Sweden) is more similar to the flat farmlands of Denmark, who  had rule over it for most of its history. The rest of Sweden features forested hills and mountains in contrast. The long drive to the northeast of Lund bore witness of it. We were very conscious of the change from farmland to forest.  It was very like driving out of the desert foothills of Pheonix to the forests of Flagstaff. You have to keep alert to see the change.  The highways kept us out of most of the towns but we did see an impressive monolithic add for the Lego Museum in Osby.

Our drive took us past many lakes.  As I opened up the road atlas I was surprised to the water/land ratio.  It seemed to me that the landscape had been modelled after a sponge.

In addition to the two Elder’s serving in Växjö, the branch has historically had a senior couple serving there as well.  But mission needs had transferred them to another city up north, so their apartment was available for us stay in.

Up until three or so years ago the Växjö Branch had met in a house.  They now rent a corner office/ retail space in a building in the heart of the city. Sitting through the meetings reminded me of the early days of the Cave Creek/Carefree Branch where I attended church through my adolescence.  The only difference was that while the Cave Creek Branch made do with what they had, there was obvious remodeling to the Växjö facility to give it a sense of being a church. 

Our arrival at the church created quite a buzz, when they saw our name tags.  Everyone asked expectantly if we had been assigned to Växjö to replace the Delgados who had transferred out so many months before.

I believe that the stake representation at the Branch conference equaled the Växjö numbers.  Their congregation included no one under the age of twenty.   But the meetings bore a spiritual charge.  At one meeting, Kim was asked to bear her testimony.  She bore most of it in Swedish.  She is getting very good at it.

That evening, Elders Gergetz and Murtonen took us out to meet some of the less active Young Single Adults.  There were several who were not at home and we learned that one had moved to Norway. We did have a couple of wonderful encounters with members at the door.  In each case, despite inconvenient circumstances that prevented them from letting us into their homes, we could tell that they loved the missionaries and were glad to make appointments for a later time.

In the middle of the apartment complex where most of these contacts reside was a statue that captured Syster Hurlbut’s fancy.

Can you tell which is the real Mombo?

It’s easier if you can see which one is wearing the black tag.

The next day, being P-Day the Elders had tasks throughout the morning. So we drove around a little bit.  There are three castles in the area, but the main ruin was not open for visitors until May. We’ll be back here plenty of times before we are done here.

We did stop by the Växjö Cathedral which is only a block away from the LDS Meeting House. It has a unique set of twin spires, that are actually a new addition to the building replacing the single spiral back in the 1960’s.

This stock photo gives you a better sense of the cathedral than the one we took, but our photo has the advantage of portraying the ethereal encounter I experienced...

Behind the cathedral we found an ancient rune stone During one of the many renovations the cathedral has gone through, the rune stone had been found plastered in as part of a stone wall.

Translation:

“Tyke –

Tyke Viking - erected this stone in memory of Gunnar, Grim's son

. May God help his soul."

Later that afternoon we accompanied the Elders to teach a mother and daughter who have been investigating the church.  We had met them the day before at the branch conference.  In fact, this was their first time to come to the meeting house. They were a little uncertain about what to expect. But the first person to meet them was Syster Hurlbut, who greeted them so openly that they immediately felt at home.

We stopped at a food truck for dinner. We had seen it early in the day very close to our apartment and were glad that it hadn’t moved on.  We were glad that it was still there, but Syster Hurlbut noted that there wasn’t much risk of it departing since it had four flat tires. 

Contemplating a tough decision in Växjö

After dinner, we had one more visit scheduled. This was with a young lady in her mid-twenties who had not been to church for several months.  She had been through some poor health and some poor decisions, but once again, she was so happy to have the missionaries visit.  She truly missed the Delgados. who were last assigned here.

I recognize that senior couples are needed all over the world. Here in Växjö, we could see the vacuum created by their absence. 

The Elder’s, are doing a great job here.  It’s been nice to see them in action. We appreciated the opportunities we had contribute to teaching the gospel.

We administering priesthood blessings in two of the households. I am grateful for the restoration of the necessary authority that allows us to draw down power from heaven.

Elder Gergetz is between Syster and I. Elder Murtonen from Finland, is on the end.

This photo represents our first success with a selfie-stick.

On Tuesday, our trip home took us through Kristianstad, as we had some new chairs to deliver to the Systers apartment.  This was the day before transfers, so, not wanting to complicate a crazy time for them, we made our delivery.

We then wended our weary way home looking forward to a good night’s rest.

ADDENDUM:

We spend the rest of the week preparing our talks for Sacrament Meeting in Helsingborg. We both present out thoughts in Swedish.  Syster Hurlbut gets high praise, which she deserves.

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:

A Few weeks ago we had the chance to visit The Citadel in Landskrona [the exact center of Europe]. This castle also served as a women’s prison for a while. 

Yes, That is a moat surrounding around it.

This next set is our attempt to capture a final glimpse of some of the elders we have worked with since we arrived here, three transfers ago.

The Lund Elders

The Zone Leaders  

 You can imagine some of the craziness Syster Hurlbut had to put up with…

But in the midst of it we caught …

…this quintessential picture of Sister Irene

Finally, a crazy thing happens to me.  Every now and then I reach out to pick something up and I see this…

I am always startled by this.  You see, the sweater I am wearing belongs to my brother, Jesse. Shortly before I departed to Sweden he gave it to me to keep warm.

And every time I reach out for something while wearing it. I am startled to think that Jesse might be in the room.  Even if my eye catches just a glimpse of the sleeve it recognizes it as Jesse’s and signals to my brain, “Jesse must be here.”

On my next mission.  I’m going to borrow clothing from everybody I love.

FLORAL UPDATE: