Iceland, land of fire and ice

 One of many breath taking sights.  Note the little people behind the waterfall

This habor is the life blood of Westman Island.  In 1973 a volcano errupted   The lava flow was a real threat to closing off the harbor.  The local people hosed down the flowing lava and cooled it to a stop before it closed the harbor.

The main Island is surrounded by several little islands and cliffs.  The small fishing boat gives you a sense of the outcropping  island.  The blue ocean was crystal clear.

This is a reproduction of an ancient house and adjoining barn for animals.  The house looks rather small up against Elder Jensen but inside the ground floor sits two feet lower.  Trees are rare on the Vestman Islands but vocanic rock and sod are abundant.  We enjoyed lunch inside this little home.  It was surprizingly warm inside

Elder Jensen and Sister Jensen with Pres. Andersen before what is one of three sites the early Latter-day Saints were baptized.  (the pool in the rear).  Over 200 people were baptized during the years 1858-1907 most of whom immigrated to Utah to join the Saints in Spanish Fork.  Perhaps Thorstein Petersson was baptized here.  (Great Grandfather)

On Vestman Island there is a local musuem.  One section talks extensively about those people who joined the church and immigrated to Utah.  I let out a little scream when I found this pic of my Grandmother, Jonina Petterdatter.

Near the baptism site previously noted, sits this statue memoralizing the Saints that left Iceland and immigrated to Utah.  The Statue was forged by Dennis Smith of Alpine, Utah

There she is Jonina Thorsteinsdottir (the Th looks like a P with a long stem) thats my Grandma.  Her parents
 Thorstein Peddersson and his wife Sigrued Eriksdotter are also listed on the monument.

After screaming in the musuem, the tour guide took interest in my Greatgrandparents.  He read the place where they lived and indicated it was in fact a farm.  He graciously took the whole bus load to the farm.  I was very touched.

For many generations Sheep and Fish have been the mainstay of the local diet.  Not to mention the nice warm wool.

A beautiful lake formed in an extinct volcano.  Has nice accoustics.  People gather here for opera and other concerts.

Looks like rocks with a flag huh.  Well, actually this is an ancient gathering place for the people and their leaders to form laws.  In todays world this would be called the parliment or capital hill.  Anciently it was called Ting.

The local church members wanted us to have a "real Icelandic food experience".  Yes, look closely this is a sheep head. I was dumbfounded when this dish was placed before Elder Jensen and I.   It was completely cooked with all 4 senses  in tact ( ear, nose, eye, tongue.)  We recieved instruction on how to eat it.  I tasted it, it was okay but Elder Jensen won the bravery prize, he ate the eye ball.  We prayed hard and fortunately lived to tell you of it.  Ba, Ba, Ba....

Welcome Allie Joy, thanks Jacob and Serena for our newest grandchild in November. That is three new ones since we have been on our mission.

March Bornholm 2012

Ok, so we were fooling around a little on New Years eve in Copenhagen before we headed to the Island of Bornholm. We are in the land of Vikings and warm winter coats. No we do not wear these when we are out contacting as missionaries.
This is Hammer Hus. That would mean this is an old, old, castle, I mean from 900 AD and has been the site of many battles between Danes and Swedes. It stands on a point overlooking the ocean facing Sweden. So the tribe of Dan, was here fighting with the Swedes.

By the way in,,danish mark, mens field and of course Dan is for the tribe of Dan of the 10 tribes so Denmark literally means the field of Dan. We are here trying to gather some of the lost ten tribes.

The gospel was first preached in Copenhagen in 1850 and the Book of Mormon was the second language after English that the language was published in.
Bornholm of course is an island. We on occasion get a little island fever and it is good to get of the island for a few days. This time we are on the ferry headed to Copenhagen. This ferry is the slow ferry and we took our car with on this one. It takes 5.5 hours to sail to Køge and then a 30 drive into Copenhagen. We were headed to a zone conference with our fellow missionaries to learn more from our mission president Andersen. President and Sister Andersen are the best.
Bornholm has the second largest forest in all of Denmark and it is fun to wander in the woods. It is very restoring to go for a walk and breath the fresh air and feel the soft carpet of the forest. It will even be better when spring really arrives.
There is no place like home. This is our little intimate dining table in our apartment. It is little, but warm and as they say in Denmark Hyggelig! The apartment consists of two rooms, a bathroom, and long skinny kitchen with our little table. The whole apartment would fit in our bedroom at home in Alpine. It sure makes it easy to clean quickly when you do not have much space to dirty up.
Danes are absolutely amazed when they come to Bornholm. The reason is the rocks. They do not have rocks on the others parts of Denmark and no waterfalls. This was at a place called Ekko Dalen which means echo valley and yes it did have an echo and a fairly high waterfall. We happened to be driving by the area and thought we would take a look.
The young women of the Rønne Branch and their leader. The girls are sisters and their mother is from Idaho, so of course they speak excellent English. A bonus for the leader. They love Sister Jensen and she loves them and loves to teach them.
Sister Jensen loves these cows. There is a herd of them, Scotish cows that are wooly to last outdoors all winter.