Breakfast in Bed

Well at least that was the plan, but she never lets me do it. Today is Eileen's birthday so I got up early and had Eggs Benedict, fresh sliced pears and fruit juice already for her when she got up.

The first photo was the sunrise at 10:15 this morning. The second photo is Eileen after the potluck at Church telling me to take pictures of everyone else but not her. The rest of the photos are from the potluck or at least of those that were still there. Eileen fixed everything she was taking last night so I do not have to worry about making any more meals today. Sister Koyle even made her two Birthday cakes we had at Zone Conference yesterday and she sent the leftovers home with us.

On the way to Church, Eileen said "Let's make sure we take pictures during the potluck". As usual we didn't and I remembered when the potluck was basically over except for the final dishes. I wanted a picture of her on her birthday and she kept telling me not to take pictures of her so I finally said - got to do this since it is your birthday and then everyone sang Happy Birthday in Icelandic.

Zone Conference

We started our Icelandic Zone Conference last night with the arrival of President Olauson from Denmark. All the missionaries, President Olauson and his counselor in Iceland gathered for dinner. Today we gathered for great training and instruction. The current Assistant to the President, Elder Smith was thanked for his great service and released. Elder DeCelle was called as the new Assistant to the President. We also had transfers this conference with all the Elders assigned new companions and new areas. We have two new Elders in Selfoss - Elder Ellsworth and Elder Christensen.

Goodbye to Christmas 2009

Tonight Rick had a meeting at church I wasn´t involved in so I stayed home until 19:50 when I left to go across the bridge to see the Jól lads return home for this year. For 12 days before Christmas the lads all come one a day to scare the kids and give them potatoes in their shoes if they have been naughty, and little gifts if they have been good. Footwear seems to be the theme in a lot of countries at Christmas time, stockings hung by the chimney, shoes outside doors, shoes in the windows, interesting! The day after Christmas the lads start to go back to the mountain where they live with their mother Gríla and her 3rd husband, (she ate the other two when a famine occurred in Iceland in the 1600s).

Gríla was there tonight down by the Library. The boys (I love the way they are called boys since they are over 300 years old, but they still live with their Mom so maybe they are just little boys) all assembled across the street from the library and lit a big bonfire. They then took torches and lit them off of the bonfire and did a little dance then walked in a circle before going out onto the street to dance around the round about. They followed a truck that carried trolls, fairy's and little people (these are the children of Eve that she hid from God when he came to visit because they were not clean.) On their way back down the street past the library, people got behind each lad and walked with him until there were probably 100 people or more walking down the street. They then all headed down to the high school where there is a huge bonfire waiting and they will sing songs and dance, then put out their torches and that is the official end of Christmas in Iceland. I wonder if that is how the 12 days of Christmas started???

The fireworks pictures are from our apartment and have been going off every night for at least a week. I always miss the big displays looking for the camera.

I went teaching with the Elders this afternoon which is always fun to do even when I don´t understand Icelandic. The lady was very open but she has a pick and choose religion. She picks what she likes best from all religions and lives that way. As the Elders said she has a behavioral religion. When we left I thanked her for letting us teach her the true Gospel of Jesus Christ as we always enjoy sharing it with good people.

I then took the Elders to their next appointment and since it was close to a store where we buy detergent I stopped as we are out of it and stain remover. The detergent was about the same price as always and so was the stain remover although very expensive at $8 for 750 ml. The surprise was to find a display of the same stain remover packed in two with the words 2 for 1. The price however was $12. I asked one of the workers why when it says 2 for 1 it was not $8 and he said we have to price it the way we are told. I then noted a 500 ml bottle of the same stain remover on another shelf for $9. Interesting pricing! Next I notice the hand soap we bought earlier this summer. Then a 4 pack without olive oil sold for $4 and a 4 pack with olive oil for $1.50 (same manufacture and everything else except for the olive oil). We bought several packs but should have bought the store out as the price today was $6 with or without olive oil. Interesting pricing to say the least - just wish I had bought all they had back at $1.50.

Dog Sledding - Wouldn´t You Expect Snow!

Last week we had the opportunity to go dog sledding. We thought why not - this is Iceland and they have Greenland Huskies so it should be great fun. You certainly would expect that in Iceland in the winter when you go dog sledding it would be on snow, but no it was in a wheeled cart over the lava which is just about everywhere in Iceland. The dogs were quite amazing as they are very big and have beautiful coats. I asked the handler how they keep them so clean and he said the dogs do it themselves because they are outside in the rain and snow all the time.

One new site for us was the wreckage of a World War II US Navy plane. The pilot thought best to land on the beach as the fuel gauge suddenly showed empty. He crashed instead and then discovered the fuel gauge had quit working and there was still plenty of fuel to get to the airbase. Not sure why it has been left there since WWII but the kids enjoyed exploring it.

The End of Christmas - Eileen´s Style

Christmas in Iceland begins 13 days before Christmas Day with the arrival of the first Yule Lad. It then continues for 13 days after Christmas as each Yule Lad leaves one at a time just as they arrived. But that is not the case in our home!

For the Elders, New Years Day was deep cleaning day according to our Mission President. For Eileen (as I am sure the kids remember) it also means putting Christmas away too. So now I sit in what seems a very naked apartment. Not only did I have to pack up all of Christmas for the Ashby's to use next year, Eileen took down all the pictures and drawings we have been collecting on the wall for the past 15+ months. I also had to put away my Christmas present from Lisa and David. It was a beautiful day as you can see in the picture of the Space Needle and the sunset - a great way to start the New Year. We also enjoyed brunch with the Elders. It wasn´t too exciting as it was just Eggs Benedict this time but it is always good to have the Elders in our home.

Have a Great Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Happy New Year From Iceland

It has been another great year for us and we are especially grateful for our family and friends throughout the world. We will never forget the many wonderful people we have met and served in Romania and Iceland. What a blessing it has been to serve in these two countries with these wonderful people. As Lisa mentioned in her post there is both joy and pain (or maybe a better word is sadness) to be remembered this past year. Serving the Lord in Iceland has been a blessing and being able to share it with Lisa, David, Gunnar and Qatar in June, Amanda in July and Gabbi in October was also great fun and happy times. There is always great joy as we see people accept Jesus Christ and be baptized and change their lives. The sadness of course comes from seeing and hearing the rejection Jesus Christ and His Gospel receives every day. Another sadness we are experiencing right now is having Steven and Micah and their 6 children (one of which we have not even been able to hold) move from our hometown to places unknown as he begins his training for the US Foreign Service.

Now for those who read our blog just to see the pictures I will add some of the Icelandic New Years celebration. The missionaries had to be off the streets by 5 PM so we gathered at the Church in Reykjavík to enjoy the evening before taking them out to see the bonfire and fireworks (all approved by the Mission President). We made many of our traditional Christmas and New Years treats and others brought goodies so we ate lots of good food. One Elder wanted to watch Mr Kruger's Christmas and another It is a Wonderful Life so we enjoyed those two movies and then played a white elephant gift game. In between we went to one of the many bonfires and saw several others as we went to watch fireworks at a members home. I wasn´t taking any pictures as we had so many from last year but now wish I had as the smoke had not started to block the show as you will see in the ones I did take at midnight. Then after finishing the game and cleaning up the building we went out for the main event of the evening. Eileen and I were the only missionaries that were here last New Years Eve and even though we kept telling them what to expect we kept hearing from many of them no one would believe this without seeing it. Since all the fireworks are purchased and shot off by individuals we did not expect to see much much this year because the price doubled from last year due to the crises. I don´t think the financial crises slowed them down much even though we were not able to see as much this year. The problem this year was no wind to blow away the smoke and by 11:30 you would not see downtown Reykjavík from the hill we were on due to all the smoke. You could sure hear them though and in the distance see the faint reminder they were going off all over the area just like last year. It was probably more fun for us to watch all the missionaries than actually watching the fireworks. Elder and Sister Koyle were as amazed as the young elders.

We wish all of you a Happy and Prosperous New Year!