New Places and New Faces

In Goteborg we had met some young people who were visiting from a town a few hours away, and then by random chance we met their father at the District convention, and he invited us to come and stay for a few days. We didn’t want to miss the opportunity to make new friends, so off we went. We caught a bus to Orebro, the nearest city, and then another bus to Mariestad. The bus took 2 hours and was crowded at hot, but we survived. Christer, from the convention, met us at the bus station and drove us back to his house for spaghetti lunch. We talked for a little bit, and then it was decided we should do something. After a few calls we were out in the car again, on the way to an equestrian escapade. The car was a 5 seater, but we were 6 in total, so Christer and Anna sat in the front, and Eric, Eveline, Johan, and I sardined(yes that’s a verb) in the backseat for a nice 45 minute ride. The horses are an Icelandic breed, a little smaller but very strong. We brushed the horses, saddled up, got our helmets (If you’re cool like me you can wear the riding helmet backwards. –Eric) and protective vests, and rode off into the sunset. Well, the woods anyway. Eveline, the experienced rider, took the lead, Johan and Eric followed. Anna and I were stuck behind Christer’s horse, who had decided he was going to have the day off. We rode all over, trotting and running, and finally called it quits an hour and a half later. I was a little sore afterwards, but it was a blast. We stopped for ice cream on the way back, and went home for supper. We walked out to the harbor in the evening and got the grand tour of the town. (The father and mother went to Gilead when they were younger and got sent to a small poverty-stricken country in Africa. 85% were illiterate he said. But the people they would talk to really appreciated the pictures in the literature. But because of health reasons they moved back to Sweden. Their son Johan is 16 and is going to study to be a pastry maker. And the daughter Eveline is 14. She is very talented in music and singing. She and Anna would play the piano and sing different Kingdom songs or other songs and that was very nice to listen to. The whole family is very spiritual and fun, so these next few days are probably some of my favorite of the summer. –Eric)