Kære Familie, August 15, 2016
We had an interesting missionary discussion on Saturday. The young woman (one of the young adults who has been attending regularly, (although she was out-of-town all of July) has been meeting with the missionaries for some time. She participates in FHE and institute and seems to believe the principles of the gospel thoroughly—but has a few questions. She responds in class just like any of the other students and has been dubbed by our mission president as a ‘dry Mormon.’ She is very comfortable around the other young adults who love her as well. She had written out her testimony the night before our meeting on Saturday, which she read to us. She moved us all to tears with her complete and simple faith in God and Jesus Christ. She has been looking for something her whole life—she seeks light and truth and intelligence. Even more, she has felt the spirit on many occasions testifying to her that the things she has learned in our church are true.
I listened to a talk this week that referenced some scriptures from D & C 88. I particularly liked the speaker’s insights to verses 77-78: “And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom. Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things, that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand.”
The speaker asked what that scripture was not saying. It didn’t say ‘teach ye diligently that your class may be instructed more perfectly.” It said that “you may be instructed more perfectly.” Now you could argue that it is a collective you that the Lord is talking about, but it is interesting to think of it the other way. Whenever we prepare a talk or a lesson, we are definitely instructed more perfectly in theory, principle, doctrine, etc. Why do we study? Why do we read the scriptures? It helps us. We should always be teaching—teaching ourselves and learning all that is ‘expedient for [us] to understand.’
Well, on to more baking this afternoon. I shop and I bake and I do some knitting in between (on the car rides). I’m still working on Danish, too, and manage to wish there were more hours in a day. (Of course there are district meetings, stake meetings, temple service, office meetings and studying all thrown into our days.)
We are continually amazed at the strength and responsibility these young people exhibit. Sometimes we worry, but for the most part, they come through—and do so with flying colors. FHE this week was writing letters to all the missionaries serving in the stake. It was great to see the young adults participate in an activity that might not be considered ‘fun.’ Of course I had some snack/finger foods on the table to help make the experience more hyggelig (a Danish word meaning coziness, homeliness, etc.—not a good translation into English). Yes, I’m always shopping or baking…..
Med kærlighed,
Mom
Kære Familie,
I spent several hours this afternoon and tonight (Sunday) playing with Memes on both the laptop and IPad. Up until Festinord, I had never heard of a meme but one of the workshops was on creating memes to increase the church's presence on the web. I presented that idea to the YSA council as they were planning their 2-month calendar and tomorrow night we are having an FHE activity to create memes. Mark will lead and teach it (what good YSA’s we have) but today was my effort to get up to speed and learn the software the church recommends that everyone use. It was actually fun to do but very time consuming and my 2 efforts are pretty elementary with just a scripture, a picture and standard text. The one that Mark made as an example and posted on the FaceBook page is much more impressive. He said he spent a lot of time on it as well but the youth do have a natural talent with technology that we lack. [A meme is pretty much like a Mormon ad that you create yourself. The church wants to flood the internet with them at Christmas time.] I think the activity should be very interesting to see how they respond.
We attended the Roskilde Ward for the first time today. They had both a missionary homecoming and farewell and a child getting baptized after church so the chapel was full. The bishop had us sit on the stand and then introduce ourselves and bear testimony before the missionaries spoke. We both used a little Danish but I would not say mine has improved any since the first week we did that in the Gladsaxe Ward - maybe the words came a little easier and I knew what they meant but it was more or less still a memorized testimony with the MTC phrases. Every week I commit to making faster progress in my spoken prayers and testimony but it does not seem to be very measurable.
On Saturday, at 5:15, we met up with the temple president and his wife and 2 temple missionary couples and drove to Kronberg Castle to see a live Shakespeare play by a touring London company. This is the same castle we visited during our senior missionary conference a few weeks ago and saw the vignettes from Hamlet performed in different rooms of the castle. This time the performance was outside. The stage was set up in the courtyard of the castle which made for a very beautiful and interesting backdrop. The play itself was set in 1966 and had a musical hippy theme to it. It was well done but we would have liked a different theme. The music was weird and featured drums, a saxophone and several guitars. The actors were also the musicians and that part was fun as they shifted from speaking to playing. Several of them played several instruments though the night. The play was Two Gentlemen from Verona. The play has a lot of messages/notes that are passed around and they did that by making the notes a 45 rpm record that they put on a record player and then the band would play while someone sang or recited the message to the music. That part was clever but again the music was not very appealing.
A word on the weather and sun over here now. When we came it was light up to 10:30 pm. We commented on that. Already, it is now dark at 9:30. We have been surprised at how quickly the season seems to be changing. We have been waiting for summer to come and get really warm and it seems like we are headed very quickly into Fall. I think we missed summer as we were expecting it.
I guess it gets more windy and cold in Sweden than it does in Copenhagen but attending the play gave us a sense of what the winters will be like here with cold and icy winds. We will need to start shopping for some warm down coats.
The Thursday District meeting was fun because we have a set of sisters now, a new assistant and another change in a companionship. Change is always nice to break monotonies. One of the questions that came up was what to do with a young man who is willing to be baptized but his testimony of the Book of Mormon is not of real events. He believes it is an inspired book like parables but that they did not really happen. Hence, he can accept Joseph Smith as a prophet and accept the teachings of the book as being prophetic, true and important for us to follow, but he just feels that these people did not actually exist. Interesting twist on things. Some in the district were willing to baptize him under those circumstances. That makes me nervous as the BofM is so basic to our doctrine. I suggested going back and reteaching Moroni 10:4 and challenging him to sincerely pray about the divine origin of the book and the claims that underlie it. Jean suggested they also study the preface of the book and the claims of its origin. I always feel, that if someone understands how quickly it was published and how little education Joseph Smith had at the time, they would quickly realize that the book has to be an ancient record, translated by the gift of power of God. There is no other way it could have come about.
We studied PMG about the spirit and receiving revelation for all that we do. I need to pray more about our daily decisions so that we are directed by the spirit in our actions. The district set goals to continue emphasizing involving members in their lessons and that each companionship will strive to teach 11 lessons this week. (A bit less than the 20 our Houston mission had as a standard.)
Institute had a turnout of about 13 plus 2 missionaries. A little less than some weeks. It will be nice to have summer over for that reason as everyone expects attendance to at least double in September. The lesson was on Elder Cook's conference talk, See Yourself in the Temple. It was taught all in Danish, except for actually listening to a portion of the talk in English. I feel bad that we miss out on the discussion and comments from the youth. It seems like they contribute a lot but it is really hard to follow and get any sense of what they are saying. In my preparation, I tried to identify principles of the gospel that he discusses about temple and family history work. There are many of them and it is easy to see why temples are such an important part of this latter day work. I guess the biggest principle is really two tied together: our ancestors must have temple ordinances done for them and we cannot be saved without them, otherwise the whole earth will be wasted, meaning that the plan put into place for the salvation of all mankind would be frustrated and Satan would win the final war for men’s souls. We know that is not going to be the outcome.
We also had a leadership meeting with the stake Wednesday night. These young people are very capable and they have put together good plans for the weekend conference, Golden Days, that they are planning for September. They expect about 250 to come and several countries should be represented again. It is not the scale as Festinord but should be a good activity for a weekend. As we asked what we could do to help, the answer was just to come and help support it as needed, meaning I suppose the role we played at Festinord with mostly meal assistance. They are using paper plates however so no dish washing machines! My ankles get sore in these meetings as mom kicks them a lot. I think she thinks I ask too many questions, give too many suggestions or just seem too nosy. Her policy is “hands off and let them run their stake”. My policy is to “offer help and see where we can add value”. My ankles are at the cross roads of the two policies and take the bumps when they intersect. I am thinking about buying some cushioned socks as that seems to be the only solution.
Well, I guess that is it for this week. What a great mom and missionary companion Mom is. It is a pleasure to be with her every day. She lives close to the spirit and always has some great ideas. Too bad so many of our tasks every week are refreshments as she really dislikes the burden of coming up with new ideas every week – twice a week. She always succeeds though.
Love, Dad.
We had an interesting missionary discussion on Saturday. The young woman (one of the young adults who has been attending regularly, (although she was out-of-town all of July) has been meeting with the missionaries for some time. She participates in FHE and institute and seems to believe the principles of the gospel thoroughly—but has a few questions. She responds in class just like any of the other students and has been dubbed by our mission president as a ‘dry Mormon.’ She is very comfortable around the other young adults who love her as well. She had written out her testimony the night before our meeting on Saturday, which she read to us. She moved us all to tears with her complete and simple faith in God and Jesus Christ. She has been looking for something her whole life—she seeks light and truth and intelligence. Even more, she has felt the spirit on many occasions testifying to her that the things she has learned in our church are true.
The last few missionary discussions with her have addressed various concerns she has—chastity, and one other that we can’t remember. Today they were addressing her concerns about homosexuality. The elders (AP’s) showed her the news conference interview with Elder Christofferson when he talked about the changes to the handbook of instructions. The explanation about how the church wants to protect the children who live in homosexual homes from confusion or disloyalty if they were asked to choose between home or the principles of the gospel. When they become of age and are on their own, they are better equipped to make those choices. All the blessings of church attendance, priesthood blessings, and participation in other church meetings are available to them. The young woman felt comfortable with this explanation and understood that this policy is not directed only to homosexual homes, but any situation outside the laws of God. She was quick to understand that God’s laws do not change. The response of the church is to obey God’s law; the church doesn’t make the law. Man may change the laws of man, but they cannot change the laws of God.
Elaine (the young woman) then showed us a You-tube video made by a Mormon who walked in an LGBT protest parade in California. He was showing his support and in fact is writing his thesis on Mormons and the LGBT issue. Her concern was fairness and why people didn’t feel comfortable being in the church and living a gay life. I explained that all people are welcome in the church—we love all people just as Christ loves, and as God loves all His children. No one has committed any sin if they share their feelings or inclination towards homosexuality. Just like someone who is heterosexual has not broken the law of chastity until they act out on it before marriage or in an affair situation, homosexuals have not broken any law until they act out on it. I told her there are just as many situations (that don’t make it on You-tube) where homosexual people are very good members of the church. Elaine then asked what if someone believes everything about the church and knows it to be true, but has just one thing they don’t want to change—whether it is their feelings for LGBT issue, or Word of Wisdom, or whatever. Dad then shared a remark from President Hinckley when someone asked him if God would keep him from the Celestial Kingdom over just a little thing like a cigarette. President Hinckley turned it around and said, “Would you let just one little thing like a cigarette keep you from the blessings of eternity?” So in the end, it is just like Jared said in his letter—we are our own judges—we determine our own consequences by our own actions. God’s laws do not change.
The missionaries asked her if she was ready to be baptized. She would not commit to a date. She is the kind of person who, once commited, goes all the way. She said she is worried that once she is baptized she will need to keep the commandments all of the time—she would be committed. She said that now before her baptism, she doesn’t feel the same commitment—wouldn’t feel the same guilt. I wanted to ask her if she is hurting Christ any less if she sins before baptism, as she would be after. I believe God weeps for His children all over the world. We have glimpses of what He must feel as we love our children unconditionally, but because of that we also have the greatest of sorrow when they make choices that will lead to unhappiness, just like we have the greatest of joy when they make choices that lead to happiness. Ultimately, we want our children to be happy. That is what God wants for us. He wants to bless us with the greatest blessings He has. He gave us His Son to help us on the journey, knowing we will stumble, but providing a way so that we can come back through the atonement. Such love is almost comprehensible. We finished the discussion with asking Elaine to pray and seek the spirit in her decision. Dad told her that the spirit she feels from time to time can be with her constantly once she joins the church. That is a wonderful blessing in itself. She is going out-of-town for a few days, so we will see what happens.
Another young adult investigator, Martin, has also been attending FHE and institute for more than a year. He is a wonderful young man—a deep thinker, a bit shy, but a full participator in discussions at our UV activities. He is also being taught by the AP’s. We chatted with him last Thursday night after most of the Young Adults had left from institute. He wants to be baptized, but his biggest hurdle is telling his father. His father and mother are separated; he lives with his mother and doesn’t see his father that often. He is worried about his father’s reaction and the verbally abusive way he might treat the church and his decision to be baptized. You could see the pain in his heart and mind. He doesn’t want to cause any conflict. We told him we would pray that he will find a way and that his father’s heart might soften. We learned yesterday from the missionaries that he has set his baptismal date for this Saturday. I’m not sure what has been resolved with his family (mother knows and is supportive—in fact she came to church with him yesterday), but we are very happy for him.
We did our first apartment inspection this week. We have 10 apartments to inspect every 3 months. I decided to take a plate of cookies with me to ‘soften the blow’ if we had to make them clean something. For the most part, it went well. I can definitely say that I am glad we don’t live in missionary apartments which are really studio apartments—small kitchen, bathroom and bedroom/living area. I guess returned-missionaries in the family can all relate. I made some suggestions about cleaning the bathtub better, and asked them to wash their shower curtain.
I went to the Additional Relief Society Meeting on Saturday. It was held at a member’s home. There were 9 of us there—all knitting away. I am impressed that the Danes like to knit. Many were working on their own projects, but a few like me were working on baby hats for NICU babies in the hospital. I had finished one this week and was working on another one. They were all curious to see my American way of knitting. I should have listened better to my mother who knits ‘the right way.’ Nevertheless, I have managed to produce some lovely knitted items in my lifetime—but I will never be as prolific as my mother. I really appreciate the many treasured knitted and crocheted sweaters, buntings, dresses, hats, blankets, curtains, doilies, and washrags she has made me over the years. It was fun to be included in this group, although I could not understand a word they were saying. They were nice to speak English to me every once in a while, and they liked my finished hat, but they are much more comfortable speaking Danish.
The missionaries asked her if she was ready to be baptized. She would not commit to a date. She is the kind of person who, once commited, goes all the way. She said she is worried that once she is baptized she will need to keep the commandments all of the time—she would be committed. She said that now before her baptism, she doesn’t feel the same commitment—wouldn’t feel the same guilt. I wanted to ask her if she is hurting Christ any less if she sins before baptism, as she would be after. I believe God weeps for His children all over the world. We have glimpses of what He must feel as we love our children unconditionally, but because of that we also have the greatest of sorrow when they make choices that will lead to unhappiness, just like we have the greatest of joy when they make choices that lead to happiness. Ultimately, we want our children to be happy. That is what God wants for us. He wants to bless us with the greatest blessings He has. He gave us His Son to help us on the journey, knowing we will stumble, but providing a way so that we can come back through the atonement. Such love is almost comprehensible. We finished the discussion with asking Elaine to pray and seek the spirit in her decision. Dad told her that the spirit she feels from time to time can be with her constantly once she joins the church. That is a wonderful blessing in itself. She is going out-of-town for a few days, so we will see what happens.
Another young adult investigator, Martin, has also been attending FHE and institute for more than a year. He is a wonderful young man—a deep thinker, a bit shy, but a full participator in discussions at our UV activities. He is also being taught by the AP’s. We chatted with him last Thursday night after most of the Young Adults had left from institute. He wants to be baptized, but his biggest hurdle is telling his father. His father and mother are separated; he lives with his mother and doesn’t see his father that often. He is worried about his father’s reaction and the verbally abusive way he might treat the church and his decision to be baptized. You could see the pain in his heart and mind. He doesn’t want to cause any conflict. We told him we would pray that he will find a way and that his father’s heart might soften. We learned yesterday from the missionaries that he has set his baptismal date for this Saturday. I’m not sure what has been resolved with his family (mother knows and is supportive—in fact she came to church with him yesterday), but we are very happy for him.
We did our first apartment inspection this week. We have 10 apartments to inspect every 3 months. I decided to take a plate of cookies with me to ‘soften the blow’ if we had to make them clean something. For the most part, it went well. I can definitely say that I am glad we don’t live in missionary apartments which are really studio apartments—small kitchen, bathroom and bedroom/living area. I guess returned-missionaries in the family can all relate. I made some suggestions about cleaning the bathtub better, and asked them to wash their shower curtain.
I went to the Additional Relief Society Meeting on Saturday. It was held at a member’s home. There were 9 of us there—all knitting away. I am impressed that the Danes like to knit. Many were working on their own projects, but a few like me were working on baby hats for NICU babies in the hospital. I had finished one this week and was working on another one. They were all curious to see my American way of knitting. I should have listened better to my mother who knits ‘the right way.’ Nevertheless, I have managed to produce some lovely knitted items in my lifetime—but I will never be as prolific as my mother. I really appreciate the many treasured knitted and crocheted sweaters, buntings, dresses, hats, blankets, curtains, doilies, and washrags she has made me over the years. It was fun to be included in this group, although I could not understand a word they were saying. They were nice to speak English to me every once in a while, and they liked my finished hat, but they are much more comfortable speaking Danish.
I listened to a talk this week that referenced some scriptures from D & C 88. I particularly liked the speaker’s insights to verses 77-78: “And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom. Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things, that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand.”
The speaker asked what that scripture was not saying. It didn’t say ‘teach ye diligently that your class may be instructed more perfectly.” It said that “you may be instructed more perfectly.” Now you could argue that it is a collective you that the Lord is talking about, but it is interesting to think of it the other way. Whenever we prepare a talk or a lesson, we are definitely instructed more perfectly in theory, principle, doctrine, etc. Why do we study? Why do we read the scriptures? It helps us. We should always be teaching—teaching ourselves and learning all that is ‘expedient for [us] to understand.’
Well, on to more baking this afternoon. I shop and I bake and I do some knitting in between (on the car rides). I’m still working on Danish, too, and manage to wish there were more hours in a day. (Of course there are district meetings, stake meetings, temple service, office meetings and studying all thrown into our days.)
We are continually amazed at the strength and responsibility these young people exhibit. Sometimes we worry, but for the most part, they come through—and do so with flying colors. FHE this week was writing letters to all the missionaries serving in the stake. It was great to see the young adults participate in an activity that might not be considered ‘fun.’ Of course I had some snack/finger foods on the table to help make the experience more hyggelig (a Danish word meaning coziness, homeliness, etc.—not a good translation into English). Yes, I’m always shopping or baking…..
Med kærlighed,
Mom
Kære Familie,
I spent several hours this afternoon and tonight (Sunday) playing with Memes on both the laptop and IPad. Up until Festinord, I had never heard of a meme but one of the workshops was on creating memes to increase the church's presence on the web. I presented that idea to the YSA council as they were planning their 2-month calendar and tomorrow night we are having an FHE activity to create memes. Mark will lead and teach it (what good YSA’s we have) but today was my effort to get up to speed and learn the software the church recommends that everyone use. It was actually fun to do but very time consuming and my 2 efforts are pretty elementary with just a scripture, a picture and standard text. The one that Mark made as an example and posted on the FaceBook page is much more impressive. He said he spent a lot of time on it as well but the youth do have a natural talent with technology that we lack. [A meme is pretty much like a Mormon ad that you create yourself. The church wants to flood the internet with them at Christmas time.] I think the activity should be very interesting to see how they respond.
We attended the Roskilde Ward for the first time today. They had both a missionary homecoming and farewell and a child getting baptized after church so the chapel was full. The bishop had us sit on the stand and then introduce ourselves and bear testimony before the missionaries spoke. We both used a little Danish but I would not say mine has improved any since the first week we did that in the Gladsaxe Ward - maybe the words came a little easier and I knew what they meant but it was more or less still a memorized testimony with the MTC phrases. Every week I commit to making faster progress in my spoken prayers and testimony but it does not seem to be very measurable.
On Saturday, at 5:15, we met up with the temple president and his wife and 2 temple missionary couples and drove to Kronberg Castle to see a live Shakespeare play by a touring London company. This is the same castle we visited during our senior missionary conference a few weeks ago and saw the vignettes from Hamlet performed in different rooms of the castle. This time the performance was outside. The stage was set up in the courtyard of the castle which made for a very beautiful and interesting backdrop. The play itself was set in 1966 and had a musical hippy theme to it. It was well done but we would have liked a different theme. The music was weird and featured drums, a saxophone and several guitars. The actors were also the musicians and that part was fun as they shifted from speaking to playing. Several of them played several instruments though the night. The play was Two Gentlemen from Verona. The play has a lot of messages/notes that are passed around and they did that by making the notes a 45 rpm record that they put on a record player and then the band would play while someone sang or recited the message to the music. That part was clever but again the music was not very appealing.
A word on the weather and sun over here now. When we came it was light up to 10:30 pm. We commented on that. Already, it is now dark at 9:30. We have been surprised at how quickly the season seems to be changing. We have been waiting for summer to come and get really warm and it seems like we are headed very quickly into Fall. I think we missed summer as we were expecting it.
I guess it gets more windy and cold in Sweden than it does in Copenhagen but attending the play gave us a sense of what the winters will be like here with cold and icy winds. We will need to start shopping for some warm down coats.
The Thursday District meeting was fun because we have a set of sisters now, a new assistant and another change in a companionship. Change is always nice to break monotonies. One of the questions that came up was what to do with a young man who is willing to be baptized but his testimony of the Book of Mormon is not of real events. He believes it is an inspired book like parables but that they did not really happen. Hence, he can accept Joseph Smith as a prophet and accept the teachings of the book as being prophetic, true and important for us to follow, but he just feels that these people did not actually exist. Interesting twist on things. Some in the district were willing to baptize him under those circumstances. That makes me nervous as the BofM is so basic to our doctrine. I suggested going back and reteaching Moroni 10:4 and challenging him to sincerely pray about the divine origin of the book and the claims that underlie it. Jean suggested they also study the preface of the book and the claims of its origin. I always feel, that if someone understands how quickly it was published and how little education Joseph Smith had at the time, they would quickly realize that the book has to be an ancient record, translated by the gift of power of God. There is no other way it could have come about.
We studied PMG about the spirit and receiving revelation for all that we do. I need to pray more about our daily decisions so that we are directed by the spirit in our actions. The district set goals to continue emphasizing involving members in their lessons and that each companionship will strive to teach 11 lessons this week. (A bit less than the 20 our Houston mission had as a standard.)
Institute had a turnout of about 13 plus 2 missionaries. A little less than some weeks. It will be nice to have summer over for that reason as everyone expects attendance to at least double in September. The lesson was on Elder Cook's conference talk, See Yourself in the Temple. It was taught all in Danish, except for actually listening to a portion of the talk in English. I feel bad that we miss out on the discussion and comments from the youth. It seems like they contribute a lot but it is really hard to follow and get any sense of what they are saying. In my preparation, I tried to identify principles of the gospel that he discusses about temple and family history work. There are many of them and it is easy to see why temples are such an important part of this latter day work. I guess the biggest principle is really two tied together: our ancestors must have temple ordinances done for them and we cannot be saved without them, otherwise the whole earth will be wasted, meaning that the plan put into place for the salvation of all mankind would be frustrated and Satan would win the final war for men’s souls. We know that is not going to be the outcome.
We also had a leadership meeting with the stake Wednesday night. These young people are very capable and they have put together good plans for the weekend conference, Golden Days, that they are planning for September. They expect about 250 to come and several countries should be represented again. It is not the scale as Festinord but should be a good activity for a weekend. As we asked what we could do to help, the answer was just to come and help support it as needed, meaning I suppose the role we played at Festinord with mostly meal assistance. They are using paper plates however so no dish washing machines! My ankles get sore in these meetings as mom kicks them a lot. I think she thinks I ask too many questions, give too many suggestions or just seem too nosy. Her policy is “hands off and let them run their stake”. My policy is to “offer help and see where we can add value”. My ankles are at the cross roads of the two policies and take the bumps when they intersect. I am thinking about buying some cushioned socks as that seems to be the only solution.
Well, I guess that is it for this week. What a great mom and missionary companion Mom is. It is a pleasure to be with her every day. She lives close to the spirit and always has some great ideas. Too bad so many of our tasks every week are refreshments as she really dislikes the burden of coming up with new ideas every week – twice a week. She always succeeds though.
Love, Dad.
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