Christer and Karin 8/7/12

A couple of weeks ago, on a Friday, we had another wonderful experience. (It seems that our time here in Sweden has been filled with fantastic experiences with great people.) So much happened with so much to say about the people and the activities in this story that I have delayed this writing until now.

Two of the main characters in this story are Christer Österlund and his wife Karin. Karin was Jannicke's mission companion in Northern Sweden where it really gets cold. Christer was born in Northern Sweden and moved on his own to Stockholm when he was 18 after he had been baptized. He was the only one in his family to be baptized.



Christer and Karin Österlund

When he moved to Stockholm, he became an integral part of the Church's youth group. Mom was there with him for one summer before leaving for America. The group did things together on Sunday nights and Mom's parents invited him to their home.

Eventually Karin and he were married (I don't know the details, but there must be a story there also) because they were both living in Canada.) They returned to Sweden, were married, and had four children - two girls and two boys. They developed a close friendship with Erik and Anna who loved to invite them over to eat and to spend time with their children. Anna and Christer then worked together in the translation department. Christer says that he heard all the stories about Anna's daughters and their families. In fact, he recounted some of the stories to us which were pretty accurate. Christer then went back to school and became a physical therapist from which he is now retired. Karin taught school and is now retired also. She is a very accomplished musician.

Now for the present story. Christer and Karin invited Mom and I, Bengt and Inger Höglund (whom we talked about in an earlier post when we were invited to dinner at their home), and two member sisters whose husbands were working out of the country to have lunch and to spend the evening playing games with them at their home. Below is a picture of Bengt and Inger Höglund.

The Österlunds took us for lunch in a private art museum called Artipelag. It was just opened this Spring on a beautiful spot in pine trees overlooking the Baltic Sea. It was a buffet with seating outside under the trees and sculptures around. We talked and enjoyed the setting. We then went through the art museum which had the theme of Life in Points of Time (this isn't a quote, but my interpretation). The paintings and art were interesting but the greatest "art" was the current and present beautiful nature that you could see through the large floor-to-ceiling large glass windows interspersing the art. My thinking was that there can be nothing as beautiful as our own current lives that God has given us right now. And, we are so thankful for all our children, grand children, wonderful people that Mom has been able to renew relationships with here because of her parents, etc., and the marvelous temple work that we are experiencing.

We then walked along the water's edge and later went back to Christer and Karin's apartment where we had wonderful strawberry, cake, and other fantastic desserts. We played dominos and a card game with true friends. How much better can that be! I can think of some, but this rates among the top as decades of relationships were reunited.

Nynashamn and Caj-Aage 8/6/12

It is Monday, a catch up and shopping day. We have been shopping so now it is catch up.

For some time we have wanted to take the train to the end of the line that goes south past our town, Vasterhaninge. So, Saturday was a beautiful sunny day, we jumped on the train and went about 40 minutes through beautiful country (all of Sweden is beautiful country) to Nynashamn. Other than being at the end of a train line, Nynashamn is one of hundreds of towns and cities along Sweden's coast. We didn't see any beaches but it is a boating town. Some excursion boats dock there, it has a major ferry to a major island called Gottland, and there are hundreds of sailboats.

So we bought a loaf of bread, smoked salmon, marinated octupus, and marinated oysters. We then sat on the dock, ate, and watched the waves and boats. A huge ferry from Gottland came in right at us then smoothly turned, docked, and let passengers, cars, trucks, and excursion buses off. There was a huge line of the same to get on but we didn't wait to watch those. Mom has put going and staying over night in Gottland on her to-do list.

Now back to Kari's Sunday School teacher mentioned in the last post. His name is Caj-Aage Johansson. Two weeks ago a temple worker from his ward gave us detailed instructions on exactly what trains and metros to take to get to his ward. The ward is north east of Stockholm. It took us about an hour and a half to get there. He was there and was sure glade to see mom. They talked and talked even in the hallway while I was in the Sunday School class listening to Swedish. We took several pictures of him and mom together. He will always be a great influence and memory in mom's life.

He was the only Sunday School teacher that she ever had. Each year they moved up together. She says that not only was he a very good teacher, but he was so humble even though he was one of the top people in Sweden's aviation and was a consultant to Canada and other countries when he retired from Sweden. One summer, he took the Sunday School class on a ten-day bike ride on Gottland (the island mentioned above). He is now 93 (very active physically). His wife is 97 and is mentally great but not too well physically. He invited mom to his 100th anniversay. He has had (and still does have) a very great influence on mom's life. (I guess I said that twice, but the emphasis is appropriate.)