December is a busy month filled with all kinds of events and activities. We celebrated by embracing some of these traditions as well as some we brought from home.
We wanted to do something for the Elders and Sisters that work so hard everyday bringing the good news of the gospel to the people of Sweden. We wanted to make a traditional Christmas dinner but it was a bit challenging. Turkey is hard to find, luckily with the information from the senior missionaries we located a turkey breast at the one and ONLY Costco in Sweden. We paid $33 USD for one breast! The rolls, sweet potatoes and green beans were an easy find but when it came to the raspberry Christmas Jello it took some looking. The jello here has far less sugar than in the states and we used pepparkaka, a mild gingerbread cookie, in place of the pretzel crust. To mix things up we had a traditional Italian Christmas Cake – Pan d’oro topped with raspberries and whipped cream. We had a couple of extra guests, Jenni and a friend who is taking the lessons.
Smörgåstårta
Skanska (the construction company building the temple),had a Christmas luncheon for all the workers. Around 50 people attended including the architecture and consultants groups. We gathered in the cultural hall at the church which is just steps away from the temple site.
Smörgåstårtå is essentially a large sandwich layered with sauces and toppings in a very decorative way. You cut it like a cake and eat it with a knife and fork.
Orson, who works for the church as a project manager over several temples visits the site every 6–8 weeks from Frankfurt, Germany. On this occasion he took the opportunity to bear his testimony of the Savior, His life and purpose. I love that Orson is so bold in expressing his beliefs.
Jul Fika
We went all out with a special holiday Fika for the workers.
Along with the Julmust we got the traditional saffron buns and brood.
Saffron buns …….
We showed the workers the Light the World 2024 video which had just been released the day earlier. We gave them advent calendars to take home and thanked them for sharing their talents in building the temple.
We’re returning home to the states for the holidays and to meet our newest grandbabe, Lucy. The workers will be gone for the holidays so we were able to take some time off. We will be back on site in the new year.