In 1952 it was decided that the territory on the northern coast deserved more attention. So in June of that year, Oliver Macdonald and his wife Sally, who had come from England in 1949 to marry him, were assigned to Akureyri as special pioneers. There they encountered fierce opposition from a group of Plymouth Brethren led by the British consul in town. He had many followers, and others listened to him when he attacked the Witnesses in lectures and in articles. Though the pioneers were not used to such opposition in Reykjavík, they faced the attack fearlessly, continuing their work as usual and using every opportunity to answer the false charges. Some of the newspapers carried their replies.

Besides working the town, the pioneers also went on trips to the outlying areas, placing literature and receiving the typical hospitality but not finding much genuine interest in the Kingdom message. Brother and Sister Macdonald moved back to Reykjavík in July 1953, but before they left Akureyri, they planted seeds of truth, which were to grow later.

By the year 1957, however, the missionaries and pioneers who had worked so hard to see the truth take hold had left Iceland, mostly for health reasons.

So it was that in 1957, one special pioneer sister​—Edith Marx, who had arrived from Denmark the year before—​was left with the little congregation. Harvest workers were needed to help the group, which suddenly found itself deprived of those who had helped the new ones to learn the truth and to become strong in it. Soon, though, special pioneers would arrive from Denmark, Sweden, and Germany.