This is a holiday or carnival that is popular in the Scandinavian (predominantly Lutheran) countries. The holiday occurs the week before Lent and ends on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (when Lent begins). The name literally means ‘fast evening’—or the night before you begin your fast. Our ward had a Fastelavn social on Saturday. One of the traditional Danish events is called slå katten af tønden ("hit the cat out of the barrel"). It is similar to what we do with a piñata, except you only get one shot at the barrel, then you go to the back of the line and wait your turn again. A wooden barrel is used, which is full of candy and has a picture of a cat on it. In the old days there was a real black cat in the barrel, and beating the barrel was considered a way of warding off evil. (I can’t imagine how the poor cat felt—if it survived.) After the candy pours out, the game continues until the entire barrel is broken. The one who knocks down the bottom of the barrel (making all the candy spill out) becomes kattedronning ("queen of cats"); the one who knocks down the last piece of the barrel becomes kattekonge ("king of cats"). There was a ceremony after all the barrels had been broken awarding the kings and queens of each barrel. There was a barrel for children, a barrel for women (you will see me take a swipe at the barrel), and one for men. Dad took a swipe at it, but I didn’t get a good picture. The men lined up but the barrel was destroyed before half of them got to hit it. It took several rounds for the women, and many, many rounds for the children to destroy the barrel.
Sisters Beattie and Andrew (sister missionaries in our area)
Rasmus Sveistrup and Sarah Lunddahl (getting married in April)
Another tradition is dressing up—similar to Halloween. All our missionaries came in costume. One of the missionaries had an extra pair of gym shorts and more or less dared Dad to participate. You can see by the pictures that he did. Many/most of the adults were also in costume. We had lunch and they had games and activities for the children. I think the children also do a kind of trick-or-treating where they sing a song at a house and get candy or small coins. We didn’t see that.
Kære Familie, February 26, 2017
It has been another busy Sunday. We just got home from our monthly stake YSA fireside. We had a record turn-out of 35 people to our fireside/dinner tonight—which was the same record turn-out of last Thursday at Institute. Our numbers are increasing which is wonderful. We had two inactive young men come out tonight who we haven’t seen at activities before. We had an investigator. We had a couple of young women who are older and don’t normally join in the YSA activities (28-ish). We had 2 of our recent converts, so that is good as well. The only problem is that we needed a miracle—the 5 loaves and 2 fishes-kind. I had planned stuffed baked potatoes with BBQ roast beef on top. I baked 26 potatoes which were all very large. When I saw the numbers, I cut them all in half. I had bought a 7 lb roast and put it in the crock pot to cook all day. I thought there should be plenty of meat (1/4 lb. each), but I was worried it wouldn’t stretch for 35 people. Somehow it did. I made broccoli and a waldorf salad to go with the dinner. That is the one thing I do differently than the youth when they cook—I have ‘sides;’ they just do the main dish. I also had some oranges and one of the girls offered to make ‘Fastelavn broller’—which is a special kind of roll that is eaten this time of year in honor of Fastelavn. She only made 28 rolls—again not enough to go around, but somehow we made it. A few people shared their roll. So we made it through dinner and I think everyone had plenty to eat.
I decided I needed to give the potatoes plenty of time to bake—given the size of these potatoes. I decided to start them cooking after church—I wanted them all done by 4:00 so I wouldn’t disturb the Fastelavn broller chefs. So in my organized, plan-everything-down-to-the-detail mind, we dropped by the YSA center on the way home from church with some potatoes to bake. Dad drove around the block while I took the potatoes in. Imagine my surprise when I tried to unlock the door only to have it opened by one of our area authorities. I was disturbing the coordinating council meeting! Luckily by 1:30, when I arrived, they were just finishing up, and eating lunch. I was so embarrassed, but the stake president greeted me warmly and also the wives of the stake president, temple president and mission president. They assured me that I had not disturbed anything. The stake president even apologized for not letting me know that they would be using the YSA center for their meeting today. I quickly put my potatoes in the oven and left. When I told Dad, he said that at least they know I am doing my job…..
I mentioned the large turnout for institute. One of our young men made the meal—it is a popular Danish dish called ‘Burning Love.” You boil and mash root vegetables—in our case potatoes, parsnips and carrots. You put a huge helping on your plate, top it with fried onions and bacon bits, and have a side of pickled beets. That was dinner—and yes we ran out. The cook used about every pot and pan in the kitchen and just left it to be cleaned up by me. But that is okay—that is what we are there for. One of the girls helped by emptying the ‘first run’ of the dishwasher and loading it up again. Then it didn’t feel like quite the mountain of dishes I originally thought I would have to wash. We were at the center until quite late anyway as three of the young men were having a great gospel discussion (one was a recent convert, the other two returned missionaries) about seeking and receiving revelation. Then one of the young men went home and the other two visited, played the piano, and then tried to fix a ‘sticky’ note on the piano. It was nearly midnight when we suggested they head home and call it a day. I suggested we get a professional piano tuner to come fix the problem.
Luckily we drove to the center that night—which is unusual for us, so we didn’t have another ½ hour walk home. It wasn’t because we had a lot to bring with us (just cupcakes for dessert), but it was raining and the weather forecast was not good for the night. The forecasters were correct, as the temperatures dropped significantly and the rain turned to snow. Most of the YSA’s left home in the morning with lighter jackets (temperatures were in the mid 40’s) and showed up at institute completely soaked and covered in snow. The snow was very wet—good for packing and making snowballs. So all the bikers’ pants were soaked as well as their shoes, socks and gloves. There was all sorts of clothing draped over the radiators and actually dried by the time they went home. Those with wet pants sat next to the radiator and they dried out as well. One young man changed into a pair of spandex yoga pants that belonged to one of our young women—quite a sight. It is amazing to me with that kind of weather we would have such a great turn-out. It doesn’t take much inclement weather for the Houstonians to stay away from a RS additional meeting?!?!? But I realize that these kids would rather be together than go home to an empty apartment. The center is really their ‘home’ while they are living on their own. It is the gathering place for their friends ( who are their family). So we are glad that it is available to them.
We have at least two English-speaking regular attenders at institute now. Our institute director, Jens Andersen, had suggested in our last stake meeting that we should probably start an English class, but we didn’t take him seriously. Two weeks ago when he observed us teaching, I now think he was really evaluating our teaching skills. I guess we passed, because when he arrived about 6:45, he said we would be teaching the English class in his office. We had 15 minutes to collect our thoughts. Early that morning, I had a strong impression that we should review the lesson in our couple study. We had studied the institute lesson Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, but had spent the rest of the week studying the Sunday School lesson Dad taught today. I ran over the institute lesson quickly and remembered a story from one of the supplementary talks that I thought we should listen to. It was enough to refresh my mind about the subject (Being Instruments in the God’s Hands), and the lesson went very well. We were joined by a Danish young woman (Anne Marie who was my translator last Sunday) who said she preferred a smaller group, as well as Shantay Carr from Montana (au paire) and David (Romanian convert of one month). Within ten minutes, we were also joined by two sister missionaries and their Indian investigator who didn’t speak Danish. It was a good group. By asking inspired questions, we got the group talking and sharing. That is what made the class. Two stories that are worth sharing:
Anne Marie shared a time when her father was losing his testimony of tithing. He had seen some things in the church where he didn’t feel the money was being used wisely. He had decided to not pay tithing anymore. Anne Marie, who was a teenager at the time, reminded him that he didn’t pay tithing to the Bishop; he didn’t pay tithing to the church; he paid tithing to the Lord. She felt that she had been inspired to explain it like that. Her Dad told her later that it was just what he needed to help him reverse his path that would surely have led to inactivity. She felt that she was an instrument in God’s Hands at that moment.
Sister Player, one of the missionaries, shared a story from her youth. She was an excellent swimmer and swam for her highschool team. Her coach was a member, but inactive from the age of 14. She was very understanding when Sister Player said she couldn’t attend practices before school because of seminary. Sister Player suffers from debilitating migraine headaches from time to time, and on a particularly important swim meet, she got a migraine headache. She was nauseous and could hardly walk. She knew she couldn’t compete that day. She told the coach and was just trying to stay on her feet long enough to get in the car to go home. But her coach surprised her by saying that she needed to stay and swim. “Go ask your father for a priesthood blessing,” she told Sister Player. “Then you will be okay to swim.” That was pretty remarkable from someone who no longer believed in the church and its doctrines. So Sister Player went and did just that, even when it was all she could do to not throw up. She had faith that she could be healed, but honestly hadn’t thought about a Priesthood Blessing. But when her coach suggested it, she felt that this was the Lord using her to strengthen her coach’s faith. Her father was at the meet to watch her swim that day and gave her the needed blessing. She still felt sick and light-headed when she got up on the block to swim her event, but once in the water her mind cleared and she had an excellent swim—she took 2nd place in State. The coach was touched by this experience and decided that she needed the church back in her life and for her children. She led herself, her husband and the kids back to church and today they are very active.
So you can see we just needed to get our students to talk—and they taught the lesson better than we ever could. These are the blessings of our mission—the individual experiences and testimonies of faithful members of the church. That is what combines to strengthen our testimonies. We hear about them almost everyday. Two of our sister missionaries had a baptism on Saturday—they have seen the tender mercies of God help a man overcome a lifelong habit of smoking so he could receive the blessing of baptism. He brought non-member friends to his baptism and one felt the special spirit in the meeting so much that she told the missionaries she wants what her friend has. Hopefully this will be another teaching and missionary opportunity.
There is something special about the gospel. When we step back from our everyday lives we see how the Spirit of the Lord works in our lives. We often see the BIG ways He shows His Hand in our lives, but He helps so much more in the small details of our lives—even with toilet training???? This is the my testimony that I want all you do know that I Do Know.
I hope you all have a great week. Kærlig hilsen, Mom
Kære Familie Sunday, February 26, 2017
Time is racing by and the days and weeks all run together. It seems like every week we resolve to do something new and different – i.e. make more visits to less actives – and the week is over before we know it and we have not made any progress on that new goal. Of course, the last 3 weeks have been filled with apartment inspections. They take a lot of time with the driving we do and then the shopping for items that always comes up. So, between our language study and the apartments, the last 3 weeks have been very busy. The inspections are done for 3 months so we will have a bit of a breather until the next round.
We had our last apartment inspection on Thursday at 9:30 am in Roskilde at the sister’s apartment. They had an issue with their washing machine that was not draining water and it gives off a slight electric shock. I looked at it but couldn't find anything that I could work on. I knocked on the owner’s door upstairs and explained the problem with the intent of getting her to call a repair man. She asked if I had checked the drain and filter which sometimes get clogged with lint. (I didn’t know there was such a thing.) I went back, found the filter and sure enough it was clogged with lint and debris, including 2 plastic collar inserts from a missionary shirt. As I pulled the guck out, the water gushed onto the floor. We should have scooped it all out first. I think that fixed the washer, though the electric shock may still be present. They also had the dryer exhaust hose that had come apart inside the apartment and the range exhaust fan and light that were not working. I could repair both of those items. The exhaust needed some cleaning and adjusting but the biggest problem was that the outlets have an on/off switch on the wall light plate that they did not know about. It just needed to be switched on and then the range light and exhaust fan worked.
We had a 30-Days-In temple activity on Thursday afternoon with the new missionaries. We just made it back in time from Roskilde to participate. They did it in Danish which surprised us and the Buxton's who led the session. He had to stop the film to get us some headsets. Mine quit working after just a few minutes so I did the session in Danish, rather than stop the session again to get another headset. I surprised myself that I could follow along for most of it because I know it so well in English. I also took about 4 missionaries through the veil in Danish and my comfort is growing every time. I think I could work on pronunciation with a Dane and make some further improvement now that I understand the sense of it all and am no longer scared of the big words.
On Tuesday, we went to the Knudsen's home for our monthly senior missionary dinner. They served venison, small potatoes, brown sauce, an apple salad (Waldorf?) and citron fromage for dessert. Delicious as always. I liked the venison but I don’t think mom cared for it much, but with the brown sauce (gravy with lots of cream) anything tastes pretty good!
Elder & Sister Forslund (who came out with us along with the Yates) are in town from Herning and went to Knudsen's with us. It was good to see them. It sounds like they are doing some good in their branch. Unfortunately, they have a family emergency with one of their children and have received permission to go home for two months so they can assist the family. They fly out Wednesday morning. They are leaving items and clothing here so they are sure they will return. We hope that is the case for them. We don’t know if 2 months will be tacked onto their mission or if they just lose that time. They are scheduled to go home with us.
A couple from the Frederiksberg Ward was also there. They have just been called on a 2-year local service mission to replace Elder and Sister Warnsdorf in the office working with the visa process and cars. We know them slightly and their English is good. They have already served a mission to the Stockholm and Freiberg temples. They spent a year in each temple and worked with 18 languages. That would make the veil experience rather exciting!
As we got home from the dinner, Elder Buxton asked us if we had any aspirin. He confided that he has been having a racing heart and dizziness for about 2 1/2 weeks. President O'Bryant heard about it yesterday and gave him orders to get to a doctor or the hospital to get it checked out. He was going to the hospital in the morning but his heart was beating hard tonight so he wanted to take an aspirin. We volunteered to find some for him. At 8:30, we went to Føtex (grocery store) which closes at 9:00 but they do not carry Aspirin. (They had Ibuprofen and Acetamin but not Aspirin. I’m not quite sure why they make a distinction and you have to go to a pharmacist for the latter.) We next walked to an Apotek (apothecary) close to Tivoli that I knew is open 24 hours. They had it, of course, but we had to find a Danish word for Aspirin to verify that we were getting the right thing. They call it something entirely different. I truly feel blessed for my health when I am around other senior missionaries. Having a need for sleep all of the time seems like a minor problem compared to other things.
Elder and Sister Pettit from Stockholm were in town this week. They are self-reliant missionaries for the Nordic Countries and their assignment is to visit all the stakes and help them get the self-reliance program up and operating. They came to FHE with us and gave the 15-minute message and presented the 4 different Church courses available to build self-reliance in education, well-being, self-employment and job searching. I was pleasantly surprised that the YSA seemed to have some interest in them. The Pettit’s then came to our apartment on Wednesday afternoon and spent about 2 hours orienting us on the program. Mom was exposed to it a bit from her RS calling and I had seen it a bit through her and stake meetings. This may be something else we may get involved with but it is not clear what role we may have. The Pettit’s are hoping we will take it on and be trainers for facilitators among the YSA, as we push them to have groups involved in the lessons. We emphasized to them that we don’t think our stake will work that way. We would get our hands slapped if we just pushed ahead as they are very strong on Priesthood Lines and sponsorship. I am sure the stake will call a coordinator over the program and let them roll it out through the wards. The Pettit’s were meeting with stake leaders after they left us and I think some of this will be clarified. They likely needed to reverse the order of their meetings to get insight from the stake first before meeting with us. In fact, we were able to talk with Jens Andersen (CES Director) Thursday night after Institute and it turns out, he also has a calling as the stake self-reliance director. He told us plainly to back off and let the stake decide how to handle it. He also wants the stake YSA committee to discusss it and decide how to roll it out with the YSA’s. We may still be involved but it will be slower than if we just jumped in, as the Pettit’s would wish. Jens also said a lot has already been done. Each ward supposedly has a ward SR director and they have been holding classes. We think these are 6-8 week SS classes and the Pettit’s told us this is not the way the church wants the program to function. It should be outside of the meeting block and should function more as self-help groups with a facilitator to lead discussions. So this is a case, where the church has a suggested way to run a new program, and the Danish think that their culture demands a different approach. Again, part of this is due to the government safety net program where everything is provided for them and they just pay for it through their high taxes of 40-60%. In the Danish view, part of their self-reliance and emergency preparedness is paid for by the government.
I taught the YSA SS class on Sunday morning. Mom was playing piano in Primary. I had fun and I think the class was very effective, even though I over-prepared and only got to half of the material I wanted to cover. The lesson was #8 on the Restoration and blessings of the Priesthood. I had a few “inspired” questions. There was good participation, so by my definition that seems to be a good lesson.
Sister Player first shared her experience (that Mom explained in her letter) in Institute, and then again, at my request, in our SS lesson. I think everyone, as I was, was touched by her humble story. It was perfect to end my lesson with as an example of how the priesthood blesses our lives in many different ways. I challenged the class to consider the last time they had requested a blessing, consider their current needs and stresses, and ask someone close to them to exercise the priesthood in their behalf. I hope they will do it. I felt inspired to make that request of them. I wish I was home to get a blessing from my sons and son-in-laws. That would mean a lot to me at this time. Thanks for being righteous priesthood bearers.
Have a great week. I love you all very much. Dad.
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