Tivoli
Notice the flowers on the roof of the little shop/boutique
Easter decorations at Tivoli
Band at Tivoli—looked like Junior High School age students
Dad in Rosenborg Slot Gardens
2 pictures from the Marble Church
Ribe Cathedral dating from the 1250’s—inside and out
Two churches we visited in Aalborg
Kære Familie, Sunday, April 23, 2017
After the pace and excitement of last week, this one has been the opposite. With the exception of stake conference last night and today, the week has been pretty calm. However, Wednesday at 2:00 started something a little unusual. We were shopping for our Institute meal when Elder Buxton called. He asked if we had time to entertain 2 elders from Iceland until 5:15. Elders Mitchell and Jacobsen are part of the new missionaries this transfer and did not have to be to the airport until later to fly to Iceland. He suggested we take them to Tivoli. He dropped them at our apartment at 3:15 and we started walking towards Tivoli. On the way there, we decided we would visit Christiansborg Slot [home of the parliament and prime minister] first so they could see some of Copenhagen. We climbed the tower and they were way impressed with the city roof-top view and 360 vantage point. From there, they decided they would rather see some more of Copenhagen rather than an amusement park, so we set out and the tour unrolled as we went. We went inside the Marble Church, which we had not seen yet, then to Amalienborg Slot [home of the queen and the 2 princes and their families for part of the year], then over to the park around Rosenborg Slot [where the crown jewels are kept] and then the slot itself. We then had to hustle home and got there after 5:20. All in all, we did about a complete circle around the central part of the main town and we able to visit a church as well as the 3 major castles in the city. It was a lot of walking but gave them a good sense of this beautiful city. I was impressed that they preferred doing that to the amusement park. There was a lady guard at the tower checking bags through an x-ray machine. She really liked one of the elders (I felt a bit embarrassed for him and bad for the other one – they were both cute – they looked like Drew and Caleb with light shining from their eyes]. She asked him several times what made him different, why he was so happy, if he was always this happy, and if all ‘our people’ were this happy! We were all bad missionaries as none of us had a pass-a-long card, brochure or BofM to gift her. I explained quickly that we were happy because we had a purpose in life and knew why we were on earth and where we were going afterwards. I then asked her if she would like to know about that and that we could have a couple of missionaries come to visit her. She responded that wouldn’t work because she was Jewish. I didn’t have a good comeback for that unexpected comment but I am not sure how it applies. Anyway, she then gave this young elder a present of a lapel pin Danish flag that visitors normally must buy. She wanted him to remember that he was special. [Thus, you can see why I felt bad for the other elder who was not singled out.] [I later found out that it isn’t a good idea to display the Danish flag in Iceland because they are not on the best of terms, even though Iceland is a territory of Denmark.]
We had our monthly stake DVI Meeting on Wednesday night. Pres Olsen was there this time and he adds a lot when he is present as he has large ideas. For instance, as we were discussing how we could reach out to the 17-year old's and the less actives to invite them to Institute and activities like Hyttetur. He suggested we take a night and arrange visits. He will get the stake to provide 15 cars and drivers to match up with an equal or greater number of YSA and we will blitz and make something like 3 visits with each team. We will make personal invites to Institute with cookies and a flyer. That’s going to be June 8th to give us time to identify the best ones to visit. With regards to a Hyttetur next year, he suggested we try a normal weekend and have a Friday to Sunday retreat that may involve more people as we stick to a weekend and avoid a holiday with its many conflicts.
These meetings are very effective and they are fun to attend. Decisions are made to take initiatives and they are normally followed up on. Have I said before that the leadership in our stake is equal to anything we have in Houston? They are very valiant, experienced and wonderful leaders.
Brother Ringheim's spiritual thought was on not prejudging people. He gave an example of a branch in Majorca that his family attended on vacation. [Majorca seems to be a very popular vacation spot for the Danes. It is an island off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean.] They started their Sunday meetings 15 minutes late with 20 people at the beginning and ended it with 45. The branch president was 5 min late and the stake president was even later. It would have been easy to make some negative prejudgments and perhaps ruined the meeting for him, but they had a Fast & Testimony Meeting and he was spiritually enriched by the testimonies and the spirit that was present. It turned out to be a great little branch – maybe with just some Spanish influence tendencies of being laid back!
I thought I would share an example of our Danish struggles. We spent a lot of time one morning on a homework assignment for our Danish class. We listened to a short narrative over and over again trying to write down the words. It was very fast and difficult and even after listening up to 10 times, there were words or phrases that we could not understand. We found out on Friday, that some of what we thought we got right was still missing some little words. When they speak fast, which is most of the time, syllables and words all run together and I find it nearly impossible to distinguish them.
We had a visiting Area Authority Seventy for stake conference. He was Elder Adonay S. Obando. [Born in Costa Rica, baptized at 15. Now lives in Spain.] He was a refreshing speaker. He does not speak Danish obviously, so he was translated the same way we are, with a translator sharing the pulpit with him. It is annoying as it breaks up the train of thought and takes twice as long, but he dealt with it well. He spoke from the heart without any apparent notes and captivated the audience with his stories and bright and joyful expressions of love for the people and for the gospel. He quite often would start his next sentence before the translator was finished with the last one, so you got a sense that he had a lot he wanted to communicate. I got the feeling he wanted to touch our hearts and make sure we were understanding the intent behind his words even though he was limited in the language. His English was excellent (though accented). He used the word “dichotomy” at one point and that threw the translator off his rhythm.
One thought: We need short and long term goals. We should set them now but then allow them to change over time as our priorities change. Recently, he was going to buy a stereo system because it was on his list of important things to accomplish, from 30 years ago. His wife asked him if he really needed or wanted it. After a little reflection, he realized neither was true. So, he crossed it off the list and moved on to other things. The only time he listens to the radio is in the car and that is all he needs.
2 quotes: Elder Ballard, “things have a way of working out.”
Anonymous, “When a man is worn out from work, turn him around and wear out the other side.”
Elder Obando was called as bishop at 23 in Cost Rica. At that time, he was offered a job in another country that would have been 5 or 8 times his current salary. It was a great job that he was excited about. But he felt like he needed to talk to his stake president before he could accept it. He sought him out and described his situation and asked for advice. The president said they were going to form a ward out of his branch and his name had been submitted to be the first bishop. He turned the job down and served as bishop for 7 years while he went to school for a bachelor's degree, worked and ran a small business and had his family. They were poor but happy in the service. He learned that he could do many things beyond what he thought he was capable of.
Another of his thoughts: Priorities change. Don't speed up your lives. Put the Lord first and he will provide all that is necessary for you. So many of us are listening to Satan, in the sense we are seeking a bigger house, nicer car, a summer house, etc. These are not wrong if we can afford them, but we should not burden ourselves with debt that will hold us back and keep us from serving freely. There is nothing wrong with living modestly. He quoted an applicable Scripture - lets run with patience this race which is appointed to us. And leave time and effort to build the kingdom of God.
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2
I also liked his testimony about Tithing and he shared this personal story. He met with his branch president about 10-12 days after his baptism to be interviewed to receive the Aaronic Priesthood. He was asked if he had paid his tithing. He responded not yet but that the envelope he would use to pay it was worth more than the amount that he would pay in tithing. The branch president responded it doesn't matter how much he pays. They Lord does not care about the amount but about his obedience and he would receive the same promised blessings as someone who paid much more.
The blessings are the same whether we pay a lot or little. His tithing has increased every year since he joined the church at 15. He stressed that is not automatic but is common for faithful members of the church. That statement made me pause. I think it is the same or nearly so for mom and me. There was a year I took a cut in pay to change jobs and some years where bonuses were small or eliminated and that would have made my total salary fluctuate. But basically, my salary increased a bit every year and we have always had “sufficient for our needs” and much more. I often wish I had the memorable tithing experience to share in missionary discussions, the kind where you had to make a choice between paying tithing and feeding your family (Elder Valeri Cordon, Sat. pm session of conference) but I can’t remember having one of those. I can testify though that the windows of heaven have always been open for us and we have been very blessed. I attribute that directly to our obedience to the law of tithing. I know that the promises in Malachi are very real.
Love, Dad.
Kære Familie, 23 April 2017
We had the three office elders for dinner tonight. It is interesting to see the dynamics of such a group. There are two seasoned elders and one who has been out for only 6 weeks. I think it would be difficult to spend your first couple of transfers in the mission office. Missionary schedules are disrupted; you are at the beck and call of the office; and you don’t get to do much missionary work during the day. Still, I’m sure it breaks up the long hours of talking to people and trying to find someone to teach. Typically, they only spend two days a week in the office, but inevitably if they drop by the office for something, the office couple has a job for them to do. So, there is no sure fast schedule. Elder Jensen will go home next transfer, so then the office will be back to two elders. Elder Jensen is going home two months early so he can have some surgery. That way he will be able to start school on time. The mission president must consider all such needs for missionaries in planning future transfers. It can get very complicated.
We had stake conference this week end. A few of our YSA decided they wanted to do a musical number for the Saturday evening session. They decided this last week end at our YSA cabin trip. One of the young men’s mother is the stake music chairman, so it was fairly simple to arrange, I guess. (I wonder what musical number had been planned before the YSA volunteered their services—maybe nothing?) The group asked me to accompany them. They wanted to meet on Tuesday night to practice, but I never got their text or phone call because our phone accidently got left in the car all night. I didn’t get the message until the next morning. The next practice was to be on Thursday at Institute, but for some reason all the girls in the group were at the church on Wednesday night. I was there as well because of our Stake YSA meeting. So, I stayed and practiced with the girls—going over parts, etc. The song was “Homeward Bound” and the words were Joseph Smith’s First Prayer. The music wasn’t too hard, but the copy was bad. The staff lines were faded in places, making it difficult to read the notes. We practiced with the boys the next night after Institute and I did parts for them. There were 4 girls, 4 boys—two on each part. All the participants are returned missionaries, including the most recently returned missionary, who has been home 6 weeks. We practiced one more time on Saturday night before conference. The musical number went well, and it was nice that they asked me to help, when there are other young adults who could have accompanied them. But maybe they weren’t available.
One of our YSA girls had a birthday party on Saturday afternoon, before conference. We got invited via Face Book. I felt we should go because this was the young woman who planned my surprise birthday party last fall. Everyone was supposed to bring some food to share. So I made a chicken pasta salad—which, of course, is very different from the salads they eat. But they ate it—they always do. We just thought we would drop in for a short time. The party was supposed to be at a park, but when we called to get directions, we learned that the party had been moved to one of the girls’ apartment—just in case it rained. (But it turned out to be a lovely afternoon—cool, but sunny.) The YSA are always nice to include us but I wonder if we just made them feel awkward. There was no place to congregate as the apartment consisted of 3 bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen. The best place for us was the kitchen. But the kids were in the various bedrooms talking. It was a ‘chill’ party with no activities or games planned. We visited with several of the youth and listened to a few conversations and then left. There are times when I’m still trying to find my place in this mission.
Because last Monday was still considered part of the Easter holiday, we didn’t have FHE. So, with a free night, we got together with the Jenson’s and the Buxton’s and walked over to Tivoli. It was a cold night and we were all bundled up in our warmest coats, scarves, hats and gloves. I suppose it wasn’t that cold, but because we were spoiled with a few days in the high 40’s and low 50’s, it seems very cold to go back to the 30’s. People were still riding the rides, but it is too cold for me to even want to do it. The spring flowers were beautiful and the Easter decorations were well-done. There were several peacocks walking freely through the park—the females are not nearly as beautiful as the male birds. There were also pens of chickens and sheep, but no rabbits. After wandering around for about an hour, it ceased to be fun because we were so cold. We stopped at a café to warm up and get some hot chocolate. That did the trick and we warmed up enough to walk home again. It was dusk as we walked home at 8:30. It is amazing how our days have lengthened in the past few weeks. Supposedly we add a half hour of daylight every week. It is hard to remember the weeks when we only had 7 hours of daylight.
No one had signed up for dinner last Thursday, so the food committee asked me to do it. I made Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas which were a huge hit. I made 4 pans of enchiladas. It makes for a full day when I plan a meal, go shopping, prepare the dinner and the dessert, teach an institute lesson, and then have a 1 ½ hour music practice. I was very tired by the time we got home.
The institute lesson was on preparing for the Second Coming of Christ. We showed a scene from “The Testaments” for part of our lesson this week—the destruction at Christ’s death and His appearance at the temple—when we talked about 3 Nephi 11. I hadn’t seen that movie for a long time, so it was kind of fun. I like the way we teach doctrines from the Book of Mormon and then make applications for our lives today. We talked about Samuel the Lamanite’s prophecies—the people had plenty of warning, but most did not heed the warnings. What was the difference for the people who survived the destruction? Are we any different today? Have we not been warned? Will we be prepared and be numbered among those who witness the Savior’s coming? I like the following quote from Elder Oaks: “What if the day of His coming were tomorrow? If we knew that we would meet the Lord tomorrow—through our premature death or through His unexpected coming—what would we do today? What confessions would we make? What practices would we discontinue? What accounts would we settle? What forgivenesses would we extend? What testimonies would we bear? If we would do those things then, why not now?”
The 1st Counselor in the Stake Presidency talked about a struggle he went through a few years ago when he found his life reeling out of control. Somehow his work had upset the balance in his life and the result was depression. What can we do when we literally ‘can’t do it all?’ He realized that He needed to get balance back in his life. What he needed was the Savior. It made me think of Elder Oaks’ quote. What things do we allow to replace our relationship with the Savior—what changes do we need to make now? Having our priorities centered in Christ was the real theme of the conference. When we put the Lord first, everything else will fall into place. The question we were to ask ourselves is what things are preventing us from putting Christ first.
I am so grateful for all of you. The love I have for my family truly gives me motivation to live the gospel. It is the promise of eternal families that gives meaning to life. It is the desire to be an obedient and faithful daughter of God that helps me see right and wrong clearly. It is the love I feel from God that gives me the hope and courage needed to get through hard times. I will close with a story told by the counselor in our temple presidency about one of his ancestors. When their first daughter was born, she lived only one day. A year later, another daughter was born but she also died after living only a few days. Another year passed and the couple was pregnant with their third daughter. She lived 2 ½ years and then she passed away. Recently our temple counselor was able to seal this family together. There must have been great rejoicing as this family became one. The tragedy that they suffered those early years in their marriage can be turned to joy as they become a forever family. That mother will now have a chance to raise those babies. The gospel does give hope. The blessings of the temple give purpose. I feel this each week as we serve in the temple. Miracles take place every day there.
Kærlig hilsen, Mom
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