We Have Not See Much of the Sun

This picture was taken in Reykjavik on December 26 at 2:15 in the afternoon - notice how low the sun is over the horizon. We haven't seen much of the sun as is has been very cloudy plus this is as high as it gets so it often can't be seen above the buildings. The weather has been very hard to follow too. We went from shoveling snow several times a day for a week to no snow in two days of constant rain. Then when it came time to drive our 65 km trip into Reykjavik to serve a Christmas brunch to members and non-members without family (the missionaries asked us to provide a Christmas meal for them) we had a bigger surprise. Eileen cooked up a great brunch the night before and we headed off not looking at the road conditions or weather as it had been so nice. Just outside of Selfoss we hit a blizzard but it only lasted 5 minutes or so and then we could see our mountain drive ahead and it looked clear so we kept going. We made it to the top of the mountain without any trouble when the next blizzard hit. It was total white out and I was creeping along watching for the poles on the side of the highway and making sure the cars coming at us were in their lane. We came to a place where 5 cars were pulled off to the side headed toward Selfoss. Since we at times could not see the front of the car Eileen suggested maybe we should turn around. Just then I looked in the rear view mirror and could see the cars turning around to head back to Reykjavik and decided they must figure it is better the way we were going so we kept on. It was along time before we got out of the blizzard and then the road was a mess but we made it in time for our brunch. Afterward it was time to head back to Selfoss with the missionaries for a Christmas dinner we were all invited to. I check the forecast and road conditions and decided we would have to take a much longer route back which even looked chancy but turned out to be quite easy compared to the trip in. We had a great traditional Icelandic Christmas dinner with a great family that decided since the real tradition is smoked lamb but we would probably like regular lamb better had both. Since we had the traditional Icelandic Christmas dinner with another family Christmas Eve with the smoked lamb we knew she made the correct choice. On the 26th we had to take the missionaries back to Reykjavik so that is how we got to see the sun. I am also taking care of the work the couple that had to leave unexpectedly normally does, so I got caught up and sent off the weekly financial reports to the mission office before we came home Saturday. Saturday evening Eileen remembered the Branch President had called Monday and asked us to speak in Sacrament Meeting. So we spent the evening preparing talks but had to do them in English with so little time to prepare. One member translated for Eileen and another for me and all went well. We then got invited to another members home for dinner today. They have a young family so it was fun to be at their home and enjoy an all vegetable dinner that was very good. Tomorrow we are back with the missionaries to teach Auður who has January 17 baptism date and Gyða who postponed her baptism and the date needs to be reset.