Today, August 10th, is our Preparation Day. It is also the beginning of St. Petersburg, Russia week here at the temple. Because we don't anticipate having to open the Distribution Center today, we will have a little more 'free' time to do what we want.

We had actually planned on going to the Iittala Glass Factory about an hour north of here with the Goodliffe's, another missionary couple. However, the Groberg's arrived on Saturday night, a new missionary couple. The Goodliffe's had been asked by the temple president to take them shopping this morning so we changed our plans a bit. We decided to take off for a castle, fortress on an island just off shore from Helsinki called Suomenlinna. We hopped on a bus, got a trolley to the Tori and then caught a ferry boat over to the island. That was a fun adventure just getting there. The Island is quite amazing and we highly recommend it to anyone who comes to Finland. Well worth the trip and not to expensive.

The fort was originally built by the Swedes to protect the land (Finland) from the Russians. Then the Russians took it over from the Swedes. And finally the Finns got it from the Russians when Finland got their Independence from Russia in 1917! It is quite the set-up. Bummer that our camera batteries died on us while we were there. We did manage to get a couple of pictures, which we have posted here.

We had the most 'to-die-for' salmon lunch ever (and not just because we were really hungry). It was out of this world. It was a fried salmon steak with mashed potatoes. Man, I would go back in a heartbeat just to have that meal.

So, if all goes well, the Goodliffe's and we will go to the glass factory then.

We are looking forward to another fun week with the St. Petersburg folks! Will keep you posted.