Fall Has Arrived

September started off with a weekend visit from our counterparts in Denmark, Todd and Tara Hansen.  They came to Iceland to see the country and where we worked in the archives.  We had a good time comparing notes about the work of preserving records.  We certainly enjoyed getting to know them better and to be their tour guides for the Saturday they were here.    Once more, we drove the Golden Circle with lunch at our favorite place to have all you can eat soup and bread.  We ate some of the bread that had been baked in the hot, hot ground outside the restaurant. We took them to church with us on Sunday and had them for dinner afterwards.  It was a great visit and we hope to visit them in Denmark before we go home!  

Bread baking in the hot sand by the lake.  One actually being dug up! 
Takes 24 hours until done!!

More bread baking under the sand.  They place a rock on top of the mound so it won't be stepped on and it can be found again.

Tara and Todd Hansen
Serving in Denmark, Copenhagen Mission

Top of the volcano on the Golden Circle Loop.

September then brought the return of a missionary from the Selfoss Branch.  He is the son of our branch president.  Bjarki served in the Nevada Las Vegas Mission!

The Branch had a welcome home for Bjarki with refreshments!  When we hear the word "refreshments" we think of punch and cookies.  Their idea of refreshments .....hot dogs, onion rings, calamari rings, salads, cheese, crackers, fruit, cookies, pies and cakes.  

Unfortunately, we had eaten dinner before going to the party!
Didn't slow Al down much but I stuck to just trying the fruit.

Some of the many, many fumerols that we see on our drive to and from church.

Beautiful rainbow - our pictures never seem to do these beauties justice!

Another rainbow - we have had a LOT of rain lately. 
Nice to see a little sunshine with the rain for these beautiful sights.

HUGE APPLES!
The archive buys fresh fruit twice a week for all who work there! 
At the price of fruit - that is a very generous offering.

One of the books we imaged - homemade out of sheep skin!
Book dates from 1809-1833 (court records).

"Heating up" a neighborhood driveway!

Small fishing village not far from Reykjavik.
Our first nice weekend in nearly a month - so, we took the short drive on Saturday!

Boats in the harbor!

In front of some old fish drying racks!

Two lighthouses - this is the active one.

Loved these little wooden trolls by the front door.

Picture of the drying racks in days long past.

Smaller of the two lighthouses - this is the original one!

View from the top of the other lighthouse.

The mountain you can barely see in the background is Snaefellsjokull.

Looking back towards Akranes. 
This old fishing village of about 6700 people was first settled in the 9th century.
Akranes sits out on a peninsula

At the top!

Memorial to a shipwreck in 1905.....had the names of the men who died.
Most of the men were in their 20s and there was one teenager listed.
Very sad!

Abandoned fishing boat.

Made to fish for herring.

We enjoy taking pictures of all of the churches.  Every community, even as small as only one farmhouse, has a small chapel close by.
In the country, they are usually painted white with a red roof.

Children playing in the Akranes town square on a statue of a fisherman.

Fall colors with one of the last cruise ships of the season sitting in port.

It is hard to believe that September is nearly at a close.  These days, weeks and months are truly flying by.  We only have about 8 months left here in Iceland.  

Next weekend, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints will have its semi-annual General Conference.  We will have the privilege of hearing the Lord's will for us delivered through the mouth of His prophet, President Russell M. Nelson. 
President Nelson is a world-renowned heart surgeon who helped develop the first artificial heart-lung machine.  He then used it to perform the first open-heart surgery in Utah!
He is a wonderful man - a great man of God. 
I invite everyone to tune in to the BYU Channel to hear inspiring messages and uplifting music.

We are part of the Denmark, Copenhagen mission and our missionaries are called "The Frozen Chosen"!   There are only four Icelandic speaking missionaries here, at this time, but they are doing a great job and lead the entire mission in baptisms. 
 We feed them, chauffeur them and work with them whenever we are needed.We love supporting these young men in their efforts as they serve the Lord!

We look forward to October and whatever the month brings our way.
We are healthy and thriving and working hard and taking every opportunity to learn more about this beautiful island that we are living on!

May God bless you and keep you until we meet again!