Transitions

By Phillip

Sorry for such a long silence at this site, but the following will clarify the reason for that.

Early in May we received word from President Beckstrand that there might be a change in our mission assignment in the near future. He was sensitive enough to ask how we would feel about that. We assured him that we were prepared to serve where we were needed. The subject didn’t come up again for another month.

Twice a year, the Senior couple missionaries gather for a Senior Retreat.  It is a nice opportunity to meet with missionaries of our own age, share war stories, old and new, and recharge our batteries. We also get to see areas of Sweden that we wouldn’t normally be exposed to.  This year’s June retreat took us to Gotland, an island off the coast of south east Sweden.

You notice that there are two islands there.  You’ll also notice the two large lakes in western Sweden that almost mirror the shape of the islands. Swedish folklore tells of a grouchy troll who, in his ire, scooped out a sizeable chunk of earth and tossed it into the Baltic Sea. Not satisfied, he scooped out a smaller portion of earth and lobbed it in the same direction creating Öland, the smaller of the two islands. Considering that Gotland is approximately the size of the Phoenix Metro area you can see that we are talking about a very large troll.

Gotland, is a visitor’s paradise. Those who seek summer vacationing find beaches, forests and open countryside. Gotland also has an amusement park and narrow winding city streets rivaling anything I’ve seen on any Mediterranean island. (Granted, the only Mediterranean isles I’ve ever seen have been in the movies).

Geologists flock to Gotland to see its abundant limestone monoliths towering over the hills and shores. 

It is also an archeological mecca for historians, boasting a medieval walled city, Viking graves, buried pirate treasure and church ruins.

In order to reduce the cost of the ferry for our trip to Gotland we left half of the cars back in Stockholm. Kim and I were assigned to ride with President Beckstrand and his wife. As we headed to Nynashamn to meet the ferry, the President told us that our experience on the retreat would probably be different than any of the other couples.  He asked us to be attentive to the people and places we visited because I would be replacing Äldste Madden who had been serving here as the Branch President for the past eighteen months.

Much of the time we spent on Gotland was with the Maddens who were glad to share with us the status of the branch in Visby, the main city and port of Gotland. The Maddens, for those of you with connections to Hood River, come from White Salmon, Washington.

The retreat ended on Sunday with the Fast and Testimony meeting at the Visby Branch.  Here we had a chance to meet some the church members. Out of nearly 60,000 inhabitants on the island [in the summer] less than 50 are latter-day Saints and only half of them attend regularly. (this includes 2 too sick to really come, 2 Elders and 2 Senior missionaries). But we made every effort to get to know a little about all who were there before leaving the island.

From the time we returned to the mainland our focus was split between preparing to relocate to what missionaries call, “The Rock” and tying up the loose ends of our service in Lund. This included making visits to every missionary apartment in the Malmö Stake to finalize apartment inspections and installing new Smoke detectors in each residence (14 total). Sometimes, coordinating our travel with the missionaries’ busy schedules was a little bumpy, but we got it done. Still the list of things to complete was so predominant that blogging fell to the wayside.

There were several members in Lund who wanted to invite us into their homes before we left, and at the last minute I was asked to perform a farewell number at the quarterly music event held in the Lund Ward. I sang “No Ordinary man.” by Janice Kapp Perry.

The move to Gotland required two trips.  Unlike the young missionaries who are used to moving every couple of months or so and are ready to travel light, Senior Missionaries tend to put down roots and collect stuff. (At least that’s what we did.) However, the two trips did help facilitate some of our apartment visits.  It also allowed us to slip in a visit to Kalmar Castle, site of the signing of the Kalmar Union in 1397.

On Sunday, June 26, Elder Madden was released as the president of the Visby Branch, and I was sustained and set apart to take his place.  My first act was to catch a boat to the mainland and head back to Lund for our second load of baggage.

This also kept us out the Madden’s way as they moved out of the apartment.  The apartment is really a miracle in and of itself.  The Madden’s were on the verge of being transferred to Växjö. because the contract on their original apartment ran out, without them being able to find a replacement. Rumor has it that housing on Gotland has a 14 month waiting list. But, at the last minute a member of the Stake presidency found a very nice, newly renovated apartment. This was also a move from a third floor apartment to a ground floor location – a blessing for us, as well any other feeble senior couples who follow us.

As I said we live on the ground floor. The carport on the far side of the building has stairs that go up to the second floor. It is as nice as the apartment in Lund and we cannot believe how blessed we are to be assigned to the two best apartments in the mission.  Maybe it’s compensation for some of the 

… shall we say ‘dodgy’ apartments I had to live during my first mission.

On our third trip to the island (counting the retreat), we were seated at the front of the forward lounge which gave us a prime view of our approach to Visby.  Despite all my apprehension of this new responsibility, I felt a sense of coming into the right place for us to serve at this time. 

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Here are some more shots of Kalmar. The first two are some of my favorites portraying the majesty of the castle.  This is no ruin.

Here is the throne room. 

Here is a view of the courtyard...

...followed a panoramic view of it (making it look much larger than it really is.)

Kim wanted to get a shot of this seal found above the main entrance.

Knowing that photos are more interesting with people in them, she had me pose below it on the drawbridge.

I took a pose looking off to the left where I could contemplate the moat and the Kalmar Straits beyond. Note the nice clouds.

But when she finally snapped the photo with the best glimpse of the seal it included an unexpected element.

Elder Hurlbut: Girl watcher.

You must admit it is a good clear shot of the seal.

FLORAL UPDATE:

This red Amarillis was purchased at the same time as the white one, but bloomed later.