I recently returned from a weeklong vacation to Sweden, April 20-28. Although it was a bit tiring at times, it was a great experience. It was awesome to see my friends at LifeStyleTV — the Nybos, Pedleys, and Ramonts — as well as my friend Ellen in Stockholm. And I also made some new friends whom I hope to see again some day.

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My flight departed on Sunday, April 20. It was a long flight, but mostly uneventful. I traveled from a regional airport in Marion on a small plane (18 seats or so), to St. Louis where I caught a larger plane (an MD-80, I think) to Atlanta, where I caught an even larger plane (a 767 I think) to Copenhagen. I managed to sleep quite a bit, and this seemed to help me adjust to the time zone change, which was 7 hours.

Flying over Denmark was quite interesting. Looking down I could see all these little farms, bunched together in oddly-angled shapes, not like the large one-mile square tiles you may see in the western U.S., but not too different perhaps than the smaller farms in New England. Denmark and Sweden are both covered in farmland.

My flight arrived in Copenhagen the next morning, Monday, April 21. Theresa Nybo was there to meet me at the airport. She had brought her dog Max along, and this was my first time meeting him. He is a big fluffy white dog (there is a picture of him below). After a little shopping in Malmö, we were on our way to LifeStyleTV.

I have several longtime friends working at LifeStyleTV: Claus and Theresa Nybo, Daniel and Antonella Pedley, and Richard and Roxana Ramont. It was great to see all of them again. It was also neat to see their facilities — which are extremely modest compared to what we have at 3ABN. Still, what they do with what they have is quite amazing.

Daniel at his workstation:

Claus:

The LifeStyleTV master control:

Their cool OS X based server rack:

Dan and Jennica:

Torleif:

Huldah:

Andrea:

Max — always ready to play:

The guys’ “dorm” — where I stayed:

My room:

A couple times a day I walked this 10-15 minute journey from the dorm to the LifeStyleTV center (the Nybos’ home):

On Tuesday I worked in the Nybos’ garden, mulching the berry bushes and other things. I miss the garden I had at my previous residence, so it was a fine way to spend the morning. Later I went with a group to a place called the Hallesberg Stones. These are statues and carved stones created in the 1800s by a Swedish farmer. One set of stones contains writing and pictures related to the Bible, including Old Testament chronology, the Fall, and prophetic symbols with interpretations. LifeStyleTV was planning to use these as a springboard for doctrinal presentations.

The badly eroded mountain of sculpture at the Hallesberg farm:

This stone depicts Bible chronology:

This one depicts the Fall:

This one shows the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension:

This one is full of prophetic symbols — the Lamb on Mount Zion, the King on the white horse, the woman riding the beast — along with dates and explanations:

A stone face:

On Wednesday I led morning worship for the group, in which I talked about how God has led all types of people into the unity of the Adventist message, and how that unity in the truth is so important for a ministry such as LifeStyleTV. Later Theresa took me to look at a castle in the area. Later I helped prepare lunch (tofu squares with tartar sauce), which I didn’t get to eat. Instead, I had lunch with the Pedleys. Their children are so cute!

A Swedish castle — this one remains a private residence:

The Pedleys:

Thursday I flew to Stockholm, where I met up with my good friend Ellen. That evening we visited the Vasa Museum, where a large warship that was raised from where it sank, is on display. It was really fascinating. Later we walked around the downtown area called Gamla Stan, ate out at a Korean restaurant, and had some sorbet and oat-based “ice cream” for dessert. On the way back we stopped by the Royal Palace. I spent the night at the church headquarters, in an apartment shared by a new friend, Ronnie.

A church in Stockholm:

The warship at the Vasa Museum (photo: Ellen Kim):

Ellen:

One of the many canals in Stockholm — it’s built on a series of islands (photo: Ellen Kim):

Ellen and me:

A street:

Moi (photo: Ellen Kim):

On Friday Ellen and I visited some shops in the morning, and then I was on my way back to Malmö. But the bus that was taking me to the airport kept crashing! Computer crashing, that is. The monitors were locked in an endless cycle of Windows XP booting and crashing with an error message. Tsk, tsk. If only they had Mac OS X.

Windows XP: Where do you want to go today?

Back in Malmö, I enjoyed a tasty haystack lunch at the church. Then I joined other workers from LifeStyleTV handing out fliers in the community, inviting them to an upcoming event with Louis Torres. Later, back at the Nybos’ home, we had a tasty fruit smoothie supper. And then we discussed Bible verses related to baptism, which Claus was gathering for his sermon the next day in Malmö.

Saturday morning found us at the Malmö church. The program was good. Theresa interpreted the sermon in English for several of us. After the very nice fellowship lunch, I joined the Ramonts and Pedleys for a walk in the park with their families and some friends. Later, back at LifeStyleTV, we had a birthday supper for Andrea, and then played a fun game, “Four on the Couch,” that I had never played before (the guys won, haha!).

On Sunday the Nybos took me for a little drive to the beach. On the way we saw a sheepdog herding competition. It was quite fascinating to watch. The dogs did such a good job, but the sheep were just a little too stubborn. We had a great time at the beach. The Nybos’ dog Max met some new friends. It was a beautiful beach, with white sand. There were swans out swimming on the water.

Sheepdog competition (the dog is crouched to the right of the sheep pen):

Another Swedish castle:

I thought this was funny — the “Badhotell” (it actually translates to the “bath hotel” — it’s near the beach):

Claus and Theresa, with Max:

The beach is lined with these concrete bunkers from WWII:

White sand:

A creek flowing into the ocean:

Flowers at the beach:

Later I traveled with some of the other workers at LifeStyleTV back to Malmö. Jonathan, Jennica, and Huldah gave me a tour around the city. In the evening a couple of us watched a David Asscherick training video that had been taped at the Bible Institute in Norway. This was my last full day in Sweden.

Banner at the church advertising the meetings with Louis Torres:

Jonathan, Jennica, and Huldah enjoying their falafels:

The Turning Tower in Malmö:

This is a small dam in a park area; the small black things are faucets — quite clever:

On Monday I took a bus, and then a train, which took me to the airport in Copenhagen. With the benefit of the reverse time zone changes, I arrived home the same day, at around 9:00 pm. It was great to be home again!