How Great Shall Be Your Joy

Bjarki Bragason will be 11 in September. We first met him and his mother when we arrived in the Selfoss Branch last year. Because they live out in the country it is difficult for them to come to Church every Sunday. Once a month we have been going out to visit and teach both of them. Last month Bjarki decided he would like to have the missionary lessons so he could be baptized today. Bjarki has a very sweet spirit and it was fun to be involved in the teaching even though he and his mother speak very little English. The missionaries do the teaching and we enjoy the Spirit.

19th Grandchild - 8th Granddaughter

May 14 is another special day for us with the arrival of Eliza (middle name later) at 11:36 AM in Austin Minnesota. She is the 6th child for Steven and Micah and our 19th grandchild. We now have 8 granddaughters and 11 grandsons. Eliza was born 8 lb 1.5 oz and 19 in long. As you can see she is another beautiful daughter of Our Heavenly Father and ours to enjoy now.

Beauty Amongst Desolation

Today we drove many kilometers through nothing but barren volcanic rock to arrive at this beautiful oasis. The video doesn't do it justice mainly because there wasn't any sun to highlight it and it is still awaking from it´s winter sleep. Also the wind was blowing at near gale force. At one point I even got knocked over by the wind as I tried to maneuver to take a picture.

Organ Recital

Last night we attended an organ recital at the Hallgímskirkju which is the State Cathedral of Iceland. The recital was for two students of the Listaháskóli Íslands (Iceland Academy of Arts). One of the students Eyþór Franzson Wechner has become friends with several of the YSA in the branch. So the activity for the YSA Family Home Evening was first the recital followed by a lesson and then refreshments. This young man is 18 and it was a treat for all who attended to hear his recital and then to enjoy his company at FHE.

New Opportunities

May 4 and 5 we had visitors from the Church Education System. Brother Eckehard Jensen from Germany and Brother Jens Andersen from Denmark (CES Coordinators) came to help Iceland further develop their Seminary, Institute and YSA programs. Not knowing why, we had become the channel of communication between these men and the Icelandic members. At our first meeting they talk to us like we had some responsibility for the program. Sensing our questioning looks, Brother Jensen told us our mission president had assigned us the responsibility to coordinate the Seminary and Institute program for Iceland. So now we know. We held meetings with the Icelandic teachers and YSA leaders Monday afternoon and again Tuesday evening. During our time together Tuesday we showed them a little of Iceland as we discussed how we can help the CES program here in Iceland.

How Great Shall Be Your Joy

Missionary work in Iceland is referred to as slow. To put that in perspective there has not been a baptism in the Selfoss Branch since July 2007 until April 18 while we were at Grandpa's funeral. Because Unndis speaks English as her native language (she was born and raised in the USA) we were asked to teach her along with our full-time Elders. In the beginning there was definitely more of an interest in one particular Elder, but because of good members who fellowshipped her and her desire to be apart of all the activities she grew to want to know why everyone was like they were and what it was that she was feeling. She attended every Church meeting and YW's meetings and Seminary for 3+ months and when she decided she wanted to be baptized her mother said No (she is 17). We encouraged her to just keep living the Gospel and her mother would see the difference it was making in her life and let her be baptised. It worked and after attending all General Conference Sessions her mother said she could be baptized. She is now one of our great member missionaries. We were then also blessed to have our second baptism on April 23. Isak is a single man in his 30's. He read the entire Bible and Book of Mormon in English even though his native language is Icelandic. Again the members fellowshipped and participated in the teaching so that he too felt the Spirit and wanted to be baptized once he could give up smoking. It is exciting to see how the Spirit touches the hearts of these good people and they desire to enjoy all the blessings of the Gospel.

Silver Lining

We spent two weeks in Gilroy California for Grandpa Connett's funeral and to help Grandma make the transition from 63 years with Grandpa to being alone. While it was a sad time it was also a good time to be with family. All of the children, grandchildren and some great-grandchildren made it for the funeral and it was a very special time. One special part was the opportunity for us as well as Grandma Connett to see our two granddaughters that were born after we left on our mission to Iceland. Roxie and Lily are both beautiful little girls and we enjoyed our time with them.