Spring Sunday

                                 Marjaniemi Beach, Baltic Sea,  a few K's from the Church

It was sunny, 60 degrees.  Down by the beach AFTER church.  We were over dressed for sauna or swimming.  We just took pictures!  There were people playing at the beach and taking a Sunday sauna. 

One lone house out on the island.

Wayne is the one without the wig, 

Karla is the one without the red tie!

 

Williamson, Fullers, Londons, Thornocks

Veli Williamson being saved  by Veli London!

The Ojalas

One of our favorite missionary couples is the Ojalas, Ritva and Matti.  They are Finnish and this was their 3rd Temple mission.  They were here for 6 or so months this time.  One other time was 3 months and I don't know about the 3rd.  Anyway, just really fine people and lots of fun.  Well, they left the end of March and there was a nice, big party thrown in their honor because they have been so many times (and are so awesome).  They live in Mikkeli.  The end of January the Londons, the Williamsons, and the Ojalas motored up there on a Sunday morning.  We spoke in their branch and then stayed over till Monday.  Beautiful area, all white with snow at that time and very beautiful.  Their church building was really nice too.  The Finnish chapels have all light colored wood inside.   Most all the chapels have ceiling to floor windows so it is nice and light in the chapel.  They are all so well constructed and well taken care of so they age really well. 
Anyway, back to the party for Matti and Ritva.  The Finnish women always do such nice dinners and everything looks so good and somethings are even spectacular.  Well, I thought the dessert they served was awesome.   Meringue cakes!  Yes, meringue cakes.  You use a lot of egg whites and make the meringue and then put it in the pan you want....bottom and up the sides.  Bake it very low for about 2 hours!  Depending how dry you make it is how long it will keep....several days is good.  (A make ahead dessert).   Take it out of the pan and fill it with pudding and then fruit and then ice cream on top with whipping cream.  You actually can do it like you want, but that is what the ones we had were like.
For the main course we had crepes.  The Vorimos, Pertti and Kirsti, have a crepe maker that does 6 at a time!.  So, President Vorimo started about 40 minutes before we started and had plenty of crepes for all by 6 p.m.   Everyone started out with 3 on their plate.  There was a meat topping and/or a vegetable topping and then lots of fruit or sweet toppings.  Yummy.   Then they assembled the dessert!
      A fun night for all!

.Matti, Ritva and their daughter Annina.

In front of the Haaga Ward on the Ojalas last Sunday as missionaries.
Roger & Janice Fuller, Slava Kondratjev, Warren Thornock, Sisko Stenfors, Wayne & Karla Williamson, Ritva & Matti Ojala, Jon & Donna Kay Carpenter, Rick & Lynne London.

Sunday doings

We have gone from winter to spring!  All the snow is gone in the fields out our window. I miss the skiers around the track but now there are walkers with their well behaved dogs and skaters with their ski polls.  People still wear coats, gloves, and scarves, but not the Americans.  We are hardy, or foolish.  In fact, today we awoke to the sounds of metal scraping asphalt.  The parking lot and road to the temple were being swept and vacummed  and power washed to get rid of all the little rocks that have been dumped on the roads and sidewalks for months.  Yeah.  Quite a process and  much needed. 

Yesterday, Sunday, April 22, 2012, we went to Tampere to stake conference.  It is about 2 hours away and 160  kilometers.   Conference was held in the Tampere Talo downtown, Annie was playing at night, and the seating was very nice.  President Haikkola was one of the speakers and our own Finnish temple missionary, Jukka Lehtimäki, translated for the visiting area authority 70,  Elder  Gassatti from Italy.  He gave his talk in English, which is not his native language and it was translated into Finnish.  A very interesting thing.  Pres. Haikkola talked about the temples and families and how being in a family is the best preparation for the hereafter.  AND, we need to decided to receive EVERYTHING  Heavenly Father has for us. 

Starting at the left:  The Londons, Haikkolas, Thornocks, Fullers,  Karla and Wayne and Sisko Stenfors.  Taken at the Tampere Talo.

We, all of us but the Haikkolas,  then motored to Orivesi to visit with Pekka and Anna-Karina Roto.  He is a counselor in the temple presidency. (They had spoken in the Saturday night meeting at the conference. Sorry we didn't hear their talks but they gave us 'in a nutshell' versions).  It was a delightful time in their very lovely, country, home.  On a lake, with a sauna,  a very old barn and a hundred year old house, remodled and updated.  Very nice.  We had a delicous lunch and then the men did the dishes while we received the tour of the home. 

 

On Sunday, April 15, 2012 we motored to Hyvinkää to attend the ward there and then go over to the home of the Byskovs!  We, the Fullers, Londons and the Williamsons,  had a very wonderful time with them.  The men were to give a little family home evening lesson about the Priesthood as Jon, the oldest son, turns 12 in June.  So we brought dinner, hamburgers to grill and all the trimmings and then some.  It was great to see an 11 year old down 3 hamburgers, and a 4 year old only have the bun and a few chips on his plate!  Amazing how kids are the same the world over no matter the language!  It was such a nice day with their family.  All their names are only 3 letters:   Uif, Anu, Ida, Jon, Jan, and young Noa.  Speaking of language,  the father is Danish and Anu, the mother, is Finnish.  So they speak both of the those languages in the home and Swedish because they start out in a Swedish school.  Ida, the 13 11/12 year old (now it's only 1 week until she turns 14), is going to go to English school but she already speaks very good English.  Little Noa and I had some moments of high 5's and smiles and laughs but no words that either of us understood.

 

There are so many fine people here in Finland.  And we are lucky enough to visit some of them in their homes and in their own areas.  Nice to get to know them in the Temple and very nice to go out and see them in their own towns and cities and be amazed at how regular so many of them come to the temple, even though they have to travel long distances. 

SNOW

Last Tuesday, February 27, 2012, it snowed in Espoo ALL day.  ALL DAY!  A beautiful, peaceful,  morning till night snow.  The next morning I was looking out our window.  There was a child, 9 -11 age group,  walking on the 'path' that had been there the day before.  It's a path on the side of our building.  He was really struggling.....one foot in....sinks a foot or so.....lift out and other foot sinks in.  He made it to the bridge and across.  No better on the other side.  Takes a few labored steps and then falls forward on his knees and starts to crawl!  He crawled all the way to the path that meets this one.  Pulling his bag and just crawled and did much better on his knees than he had done on his feet!  It's a fair distance to crawl.  The other path is out where the tower is and trees along it.  Then he rose up, turned left and continued on his way, walking like nothing had happened,  on a better traveled path!  so funny to watch. 

The little bridge is on the left where the boy started crawling and he went out to where the electrical tower is.

This picture is of the snow plow the church bought!  The temple missionaries (MEN) would give anything to drive it.  The driver is a member from Estonia, hired by the church to know what he is doing.  

  This is our parking lot he is clearing out from the last snow day.  Notice the blue parking sign in the snow.  

Here is the snow on the way to the main doors where we live. 

The Temple

Way up North

The trip north brought some 'fun' roads!   This is in Rovaniemi.  We stayed in what amounted to a youth hostel, (a lot of youth from France were there)  down on the right where the 2 big trucks are parked.  It was such beautiful winter weather.  You really were glad you had 'long johns' on.   We visited Santa's Village, several times.  We went back and then back to buy more postcards and Santa stamps etc etc.  Took our pictures on the Arctic Circle and saw the reindeer.  What more do you want?? 

We ate at the world's most northern McDONALDS!!!  wahoo! 

 

 We left Rovaniemi and went to Sweden!  Just over the border.  But we enjoyed our Swedish vacation.  No stamp in our passport because it also is an EU country.  We got out at the round about in the middle of town and took pictures of the 3 ice sculptures there.  Wayne talked to a woman going by on her kick sled.  (There is a picture of Grandmother Mae Johnson on her kick sled in the family histories)   We saw some children in Rovaniemi using them to go to school.  

 On to the Snow Castle.   COLD.  That's the word that totally fits.  VERY COLD.  A 'fine dining' area with ice tables and a sheet of plastic for the table top.  The stools were tree trunks covered with fur.  The bedrooms all had ice beds covered in fur.    The place is booked up all the time.  A fun place but VERY  COLD

That night we stayed in Oulu.  We all participated in a Temple Fireside.  The Fuller's spoke and the rest of us introduced ourselves and spoke a few words about the temple.  It is amazing to visit these branches and recognize a few people everywhere you go as members you have visited with in the temple.  Love it.  

The next day we drove to Seinäjoki.  We stopped in Larsmo/Pietarsaari on the way!!  This is where my Grandfather Johnson designed and built the 1st chapel in Finland!  It is now a private home.  We took pictures and the owner came out and wanted to know what Americans were doing there.  Wayne told him and he went to his garage and showed the original church sign he had found inside the house when he bought it.  It was very awesome to see this bit of family and church history.

Later when we went to the current church building there were the pulpit and pump organ original to the Larsmo chapel!!  My grandfather was height impaired so that pulpit probably fit very well.  There were a lot of words spoken from that piece of wood.  (They were in the classroom area). 

 The Branch President, Leif Back, met us and took us to the spot where Finland had been dedicated by Ezra T. Benson, in 1946, for teaching the Gospel.  It wasn't just a walk through the forest and up a small incline.  Pres. Back went earlier and stomped a narrow trail for us...then he even had boots in his car for everyone!!  There is a plaque but we will have to go back when there is no snow to read the words.   It was so interesting to be there.  The reason that spot was chosen is because it was the highest spot in the area.  There are many Swedish people in this area of Finland so at this Branch everything is done in Swedish and Finnish.  Even the name on the building is in both languages.  Swedish is an official second language in Finland.  All street signs, throughout the country, are in Finnish and then underneath in Swedish.  The Johnson ancestors are from this area...can't wait to go back in the months with no snow and visit some cemeteries and city registers.  

 We did another  temple fireside and renewed some acquaintances and made new ones.  This branch president invited the press to the fireside.  The reporter who came was more interested in Mitt Romney than the temple.  But we weren't.  Had a very nice time.  The video made for the temple open house in 2006 was shown at both firesides.  Grandmother and Grandfather Johnson were even in the video in a picture taken of the first missionary group in Finland!  (It also is in the Johnson histories!) 

This branch  rents a building that used to be a bank.  It has a sauna (which everyone was quick to point out is only used for a storage room) and the most amazing room, in all of the world wide church, for the LIBRARY!!   The VAULT!!! hahaha Now it is not just a key but a combination.  So funny. 

 This picture is of Hämeenlinna Castle.  It was begun in the 13th and 14th centuries as a Swedish forttress.  It was most recently used as a women's prison.  Currently it is a park and tourist site.   There is also a military museum there which houses canons from several wars.

 

This the beautiful Tampere Finland Orthodox Russian Church.  We could not go inside because there was a funeral in progress.

We had a great 

  time on our 6 day trip with 8 people in a 9 passenger van!  

From this picture you can see that we are entering the sunset of our lives.

Sunset at 4:46 p.m.  

Rovaniemi, Finland

Stockmann

Stockmann's is the main department store in downtown Helsinki.  The goods are nice, but the prices are usually very high.  The pricing structure did not seem to bother the Russians.  The place was packed with bargain hunters.

Russians at Helsinki market (tori) square.

It was cold, but the weather did not stop all these Russians from trying to find a deal at the market (tori).  January 7 is the Eastern Orthodox day of Christmas.