Vacation Trip to Lapland & Kuopio

The Temple is currently closed for 2 weeks, so all of us missionaries have time to participate in some extra-curricular activities.  We spent a week up north, driving up to Kemi with Evan and Rhea Racker, a missionary couple who are completing their 2-year mission in about 10 days, and then working our way alone back down to Helsinki over the week, by bus and train.
Kemi is in Lapland and home to Matti and Darla Helske and their 4 boys and 1 girl.  Their son Paul served in the Madrid, Spain mission with us.  It was just awesome connecting again with him and getting acquainted with his dad, Matti.  We spent 3 days with them, then south to Oulu for a day, and then on to Kuopio in the center of Finland for 3 days.  
Kuopio was my first city as a young missionary, and holds a lot of wonderful memories for me.  Following are a few pictures from our trip; hope you enjoy, and of course, as you all know, the pictures never do justice to the experience.  So take my word for it, it was magical.  Lapland was spectacular and Kuopio was better than my imagination could have wished for.

Matti Helske, holding the 5-mark note given to him in 1970 by President Orval Nelson at the Oulu District Conference.  Matti, 12 yrs. old at the time, was given the money by Pres. Nelson to start his mission fund.  He served a very successful mission later but saved this note from Pres. Nelson.  I was at the meeting in 1970 and sang, at Pres. Nelson's request, the song, "I Am A Mormon Boy"

With Matti and his son, Paul, who served with us in Madrid, Spain.  Matti lost his arm in a hunting accident about 10 years ago.  Their family are AVID outdoorsmen, and Matti hunts moose in Lapland every year.

One of Matti's businesses in Kemi.  This one makes high quality winter hats and also warehouses his very extensive gun inventory.  He's a registered gun dealer and sells high-end rifles and scopes

Inside Matti's warehouse/factory where the people are making the hats, made out of superior merino wool and gore-tex.

Hats are all finished by hand.  We saw them for sale in the shops in Rovaniemi, at the Arctic Circle (the real one, not the fast-food store).

The Kemijoki river, the largest river in Finland.  It flows out of Lapland into the Gulf of Bothnia, between Sweden and Finland. The river was like a glass mirror, and at points, over a kilometer wide.

Sight-seeing in old Kemi.  An old church from the 15th century, surrounded by a cemetery, about which Paul told us some really creepy stories.

Old wooden Lutheran church in Kemi near the river, Kemijoki.

Inside the old wooden church.  The birch wood made the most delicious smell.  We were all alone, so Vivienne and I sang a hymn.   Nice acoustics.

Another shot of the Kemijoki at sunset.  We were grilling sausages at a family member's home who lives right on the river, looking back towards the spot of the old wooden church. In the foreground the wooden steps from the family sauna into the river.

Authentic Lapland clothes on display in the museum in Rovaniemi, the largest city in Lapland, and located right on the Arctic Circle.

Taken at Santa's Village at the Arctic Circle.  The temperature was a balmy 10 degrees C.  posted behind us.

Reindeer hides for sale inside Santa's Village.

Train station at Kemi.  I love these old wooden train station buildings.  They haven't changed in nearly 50 years. 

Took the train from Kemi down to Oulu and had lunch at the wharf in this old building, called "The Pancake House". The pancakes were amazing.

The Kauppahalli, or Market Hall, in old Oulu, with the famous "little fat policeman" statue out front.

Inside the Kauppahalli.  These were the centers of commerce in the old days, especially during the winter when the outside market was cold and full of snow and ice. Little shops selling every kind of food imaginable and fish of all kinds.

Snellmaninkatu 32-A, Kuopio.  My first home as a missionary. Our room was the top floor, 3rd window from the corner to the right.  A lot of things have changed in Kuopio, but it was such a wonderful feeling to walk down this street and see this building still standing.  Sweet memories to once again stand in this place.

In Kuopio in the water tower restaurant overlooking the city, which, as is the case with many cities of Finland, is surrounded by lakes and forests.  The rotating restaurant was built in 1965, and Viv and I and Grandma Rogers ate here when we visited Finland together in 1976.

Our meal in the water tower restaurant.  My "goat's cheese" was served on a plate of wood and cost as much as Vivienne's "child" plate of chicken and potatoes with salad and tomatoes.   She definitely got the better deal

View of Kuopio from the water tower.  The clouds were passing by below us, unfortunately the glass reflection affected the quality of the picture, but like I already said, the pictures can't do justice to the scene.

The lake in the center of town.  Shot when we were walking back to our hotel from the Church after Sacrament Meeting.

The street from the hotel to the church, located just around the corner at the top of the hill.  I have many memories of riding my bike down this road in 1968.  Very fast.  I was 20 years old and invincible back then.  Fall is my favorite time in Finland.