and the Sami, the French Admiralty invited Laestadius to participate in the La Recherche Expedition to Samiland of 1838–40. As an expedition member, Laestadius served as field guide for the islands and the interior of Northern Norway and Sweden, studying both plant life and the culture of the Sami inhabitants. During the expedition, Laestadius at the request of the organizers began his manuscript. Eventually published for the first time more than 150 years later Fragments of Lappish Mythology provides a snapshot of Sami traditional religious beliefs that by the 1830s were passing into history due to the Church of Sweden's Christianization mandate in full swing at that time. However, Laestadius did not finish the manuscript until long afterward, and the completed work was lost for many years. Due to these and other reasons, the manuscript was not published until 1997, over 150 years after the expedition. For his participation in the La Recherche Expedition, Laestadius was awarded the Medal of Honor of the Legion of Honor of France after 1841. He was the first Scandinavian to receive this honor. Languages spoken Laestadius's mother tongues were Southern Sami from his mother and Swedish, the language of his childhood home, from his father. Laestadius also spoke Pite Sami. After a year in Karesuando, Laestadius spoke Finnish and Northern Sami as well. He usually held his services in Finnish since it was the most widespread language in the area, but on occasion also preached in the Northern Sami and Swedish languages. Family deaths and personal illnesses After the death of his older half-brother and financial support, Carl Erik, when Lars Levi was only a teenager, Laestadius mourned the deaths of his mother in 1824, his dad in 1832, and his younger brother Petrus in 1841. At least two of Laestadius's own sons predeceased him as well (d.1839, 1861). Around 1833 Laestadius suffered from an ailment which the doctors first thought was pneumonia. He recovered. In the 1840s, Laestadius suffered from severe typhoid fever and later tuberculosis. Towards the end of his life, Laestadius experienced "impending blindness" and contracted a cholera-like illness. Books authored Fragments of Lappish Mythology (1997) The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness (A Periodical Published in the Years 1852-1854) [Hardcover] (in original Swedish, Ens ropandes röst i öknen 1852-1854) Literature Gustaf Dahlbäck, Den gamla och nya människan i Lars Levi Læstadius teologi, 1949 Lilly Anne Østtveit Elgvin, Lars Levi