FHE activity at Island Brygge
A Danish game called Konges Spill
Institute party at Frederiksshund
YSA swimming in the rain in Roskilde Fjord
City in the background at Frederiksshund
Kære Familie Sunday, June
11, 2017
I feel exhausted by this
week. There has been something major
almost every day, though most of it has been fun and not very hard or stressing
– just busy. We volunteered to move out
of our apartment for 3 nights this week because Yates have family with them and
they wanted to spend some time in Copenhagen.
We felt it would be easier on all of us if we moved rather than compete
for space and beds with 8 additional people (4 kids including a 1 yr old). We saved them the hotel cost. The mission has an empty apartment in Valby,
about 20 minutes away from us. It used
to house the Ottleys before they went home in November and has been kept as a
spare apartment since then. That is so
nice of us! It took us until 4:30 on
Monday to clean our apt and pack clothes and food that we needed and make a
trip there to drop it all off. I also
went to Tivoli to let the Bornholm elders in on my season pass.
We started FHE at the Center
for the spiritual thought and then walked over to Island Brygge, which is a
park by the canal about a 15-minute walk away.
A YSA gave the spiritual thought in preparation for our Outreach Night
on Thursday. She used a youth video that
is very cute about a YM who is assigned by his bishop to invite an inactive
priest to church. It uses the Deja View
approach to play the same scenes over and over until he gets it right and
develops a friendship that eventually activates the young man. It was a good preparation for our
visits. Unfortunately, there were only 8
there to see it. We gained 3 more at the
park for 11 total. A small turnout but
it was a national holiday and many likely had family obligations. We played a
couple of games of Konges Spill, which is national game with wooden blocks and
pegs, and played something on the order of boules. It was quite fun. A lot of the time was just hanging out, not
my favorite way to be in a park. We
really need to have a set of Spike Ball, to liven things up a bit.
The weather started out nice
but as the sun went down it got very chilly.
At about 9:00, we went back to the Center and had popcorn and popsicles - not too cold when you are inside. The girl assigned forgot about refreshments
and the stores were closed for Grundloven Day (Constitution Day). We just made do with what we had on
hand. We left the Center at 10:00 and
made it to Valby by 10:50, walking to our apartment and then driving to
Valby.
Wednesday after language
class, we went to our apartment so mom could make 6 dozen cookies for
Thursday's visits. The Yates were out
visiting with their family so we went in and out while they were gone. At about
4:00, we went to the Nitivej Chapel to use the internet. We worked on our Danish homework till about
7:00.
The hardest thing about being
out of our own apartment has been not having WIFI. We tried to get a Hotspot from the office,
but they did not have one that was not being used. Therefore, we felt cut off from humanity when
we were at Valby and that is a hard feeling.
I am still addicted to looking at my phone many times a day to check
news or messages. Mom is doing much
better as she does not have a smart phone and she has broken the
addiction.
I should mention some other
details about the Valby apartment. We
have been spoiled. I can’t believe that
the Ottleys lived there for about a year and had an even smaller apartment
before that. We have been treated very
well in comparison. Mom and I kept
bumping into each other because the apartment is so small, especially the
kitchen bathroom and hallway outside the kitchen. There is only enough room for 1 person. If the bathroom door is open, no one can get
by. The kitchen is very narrow so you
can work on both sides at the same time using both hands. The shower is tiny and the water from the
very small basin runs onto the floor of the shower from a drain hose. There is
hardly any water pressure. There is a
knob that turns the water from the sink to the shower. Both cannot be on at the same time. The lighting in the bedroom and living,
eating area was quite dim and bothered me a lot. I like bright lights. Anyway, the president heard we were staying
there and asked us what we thought of the apartment. I cautiously told him that I thought it
needed some upgrades before it was suitable for a long-term stay. He had heard other reports about it and
decided on the spot that he was going to close it immediately. It is very expensive to keep open for the
little it is being used. By Thursday,
they were already taking steps to notify the land lord that the mission was
letting it go.
School
is wrapping up this month and all of those in school are finishing up exams,
mostly by this week and they are looking forward to 2 months of freedom. It seems like quite a few of them will not
work but just play for the summer and take vacations with their families. The government pays them for 12 months I
think when they are in school. I gave 2
of our YSA’s blessings this week as they were feeling nervous about the exams
and wanted some additional blessings.
David Borcutti, our Romanian
friend baptized in January, brought his roommate and friend, Freddy, to both
activities Thursday and Friday. He is
also from Romania but of Jordanian descent.
He is a Medical Doctor and has been certified to practice medicine in
Denmark, but cannot be hired by anyone until he learns Danish. He is working on it but that is the typical
problem for the emigrants here, as we have learned in our class. It takes a
while to learn. I have not asked his
age, but he seems older and should be, with a medical degree and the
internships he has already done, but he seems to enjoy the group and I think is
willing to see the missionaries. He is
Muslim, so it will be interesting to see if he is really interested in the
Gospel or just curious. He is friendly
and outspoken and dresses in a suit both times I have seen him. Last night the normal dress was shorts and
David was in shorts. I gave David 2 more
copies of the BofM in his language so he can continue his missionary
efforts.
For the Grandkids:
In between
Sacrament Meeting and the start of Primary, the Primary President grabbed me
and asked if I would relate a story to the children about when I Chose the Right. I decided to tell my cookie story and the
first time I remember telling a lie to my mother. I was less than 8 I think, and my mother had
made some cookies for some event. She placed
them in a glass dish and put them in a cupboard shelf where they were out of
sight and temptation. I could smell them
however, and when no one was around, I dragged a stool to the counter and
climbed up on the counter to reach a cookie or two. In the process, the cookie dish fell on the
floor and broke into many pieces. I was
so afraid of getting a spanking or being grounded. I cleaned up the mess with a broom and then
hid the cookies and glass and then tried to pretend that nothing had happened. Mom found the cookies missing and asked all
the children who had taken them. I lied
to her and said that it was not me and had to be one of my sisters or
brother. Then I felt awful and knew that
I had now done something terribly bad. It was the first time I remember telling
a lie. I struggled with my feelings for
a while and then had to go to my mother and tell her what I had done. She was upset at me of course, more for lying
than what I had done to the cookies, but was very happy that I had decided on
my own to tell her the truth. I felt
wonderful and a great weight was lifted from me for telling the truth and
finally choosing the right. I decided
right then that I never wanted to feel that bad again and have always tried to
tell the truth and choose the right since that time.
----------------------------
Zone Conference
-- Twice a year, the mission has a longer conference. Christmas and June. Normally they are 4-5 hours. This was a full day conference.
The format of the conference was this:
Soccer games from 9:00 to
10:30 -- We did not see any of these. We
prepared food and got tables ready
Talent show from 11:00 to
12:20.
Lunch until 1:30
4 hours of training
Conference ended at 5:30
The conference training was
mostly around Elder Andersen’s visit.
What did we hear and feel? What
will we do differently? What will we bind
ourselves to do as a result of what we experienced? [I think we can say this about any meeting or
general conference. How often do we
change? We hear good things and feel
inspired and think we will change something, but then in a few days or weeks we
are back to where we were before.]
Our goal is 60 baptisms for
this year in the mission. 5 per month.
Through May we have 24 – 1 short. We
join daily in prayer for those on date that we may reach our goal. President reported that he got a phone call
from a stake president on June 1st or 2nd. He is baptizing a 9 yr old of an inactive
member family and the question was who should take responsibility for the
baptism service. A 9 yr old is a convert
baptism so it becomes one of ours, making 25!
It was presented sort of humorously, but the message was that as we are
obedient and faithful the Lord will help us meet our goals. All but one of these baptisms come from these
3 groups: Young adults, emigrants, or
those in transition following death, marriage, new baby, etc. These are our focus groups where baptisms are
coming from. Elder Andersen also talked
about every missionary’s dream is to baptize an intact family. His message was don’t stop searching but
realize that doesn’t happen very often.
We baptize those the Lord has prepared and often those are the humble,
searching souls – 1 in a city, 2 in a family (Jeremiah 3).
That is all for this
week. Love, Dad.
Kære familie, 11
June 2017
We hope our letters find you safely at your various
destinations. We are thinking about all
of you and hope it will be a good week.
We attended Seminary Graduation tonight. It wasn’t particularly on my radar, even
though we had talked about it at our last Stake meeting. Our YSA representatives were planning to go
and give a ‘welcome to YSA’s and institute’ talk to all the graduating seminary
students. No one said anything about us
going so I hadn’t given it another thought.
But Dad thought it was important that we go to see who was moving up to
our group. And he was right. There were 9 seminary graduates in the
stake. Each one bore a testimony during
the program. It was good for us to put a
name and a face together. The stake
president spoke as well. Towards the end
of his message, he asked us to stand up.
He paid us a very nice tribute and thanked us for our service. He said we had left our home and family and
come here at our expense to help the young people in their stake. Somehow, I don’t see it quite in those
terms. For me it is another calling,
another way to serve and build the kingdom.
It is not a sacrifice, but a privilege.
That is not to say that I am not missing my family—I know there are many
ways I could help at home as well. But I
also feel needed here—and not just to make food. There are little ways that I can help—a
conversation here, a caring hug there, a listening ear, and some advice when
asked. It is being at the ‘crossroads’
all over again. Don’t ever underestimate
the importance of crossroads. We spoke
to each of the graduates, congratulated them and invited them to
institute. I was glad we were there,
even if it was warm (no AC in our buildings) and there was no translation.
The Bishop asked me to play the organ for sacrament meeting
today—about 10 minutes before it started.
I had no idea what the songs were, so I just played prelude. The chorister came over while I was playing
and told me the opening song was #76. I
said okay, but still had no clue what it was.
Even when I translate the titles of songs, I still don’t necessarily
know what song it is, because the words may be completely different. So, I began the introduction and realized
that not only did I not recognize the song, but I would need to count to play
the rhythm right. I played 4 miserable
verses of the song, eventually just following the chorister who sang
loudly. It was a Danish song which we
had never sung before. It turns out that
the congregation didn’t know the song either, so it was painful for them as
well. The Bishop thanked me later and I
apologized for not knowing the song—but he assured me that next time they would
pick a song that everyone knew. That
wasn’t all—I played the wrong song for the sacrament hymn. I began the introduction to #114, but the
song we were supposed to sing was #115.
I realized my mistake when I looked at the chorister’s face and quickly
stopped before I finished the wrong introduction. That mistake really doesn’t help invite the
spirit for the sacrament. The choir song
and the closing hymn went much better, so perhaps we ended on the right
note?!?! I also played in Primary today
as well.
I did a lot of cooking this week. It began with Zone Conference on
Tuesday. We had Café Rio salads. My responsibility was to make 10 cups of pico
de gallo, make cilantro rice, and cut up fresh limes for the salads. The other sisters made the pork and more rice. Because we planned to be at the church at 9
a.m. when the Zone Conference started, I began making the pico just after
6:00. I thought it should be fresh. After we got to the church, I spent most of the morning in the kitchen
helping to get things ready. We chopped
up over 20 heads of Romaine lettuce. The missionaries played soccer from 9-10:30,
then they cleaned up for the conference.
We had a talent show for about an hour and then lunch. A typical zone conference doesn’t include the
sports and talent events. This is an
annual event and it turned into a whole day-affair. The Zone Conference began about 1:30—we
missed the beginning of it as we were in the kitchen cleaning up—and ended
about 5:00. The president then had interviews with some of the missionaries
until after 6:30 when we left. The lunch
was a lot of work, but the missionaries loved it! The president’s wife made cilantro dressing
and guacamole dip. We had strawberry
shortcake for dessert. One elder
commented that it was the best lunch he had ever
had. It was a special meal for a special
Zone Conference.
The second cooking activity was in conjunction with institute
this week. I didn't cook the food, but I
made a lot of chocolate chip cookies.
Instead of a lesson, we made visits to the less active and incoming
YSA’s throughout the stake. This
required some changes to our normal routine.
We changed locations—we met at the Nitivej chapel, by the temple. I think it is because it is more central and
there is free parking. Members of the
stake presidency and high council joined us instead of their usual high council
meeting. After dinner, we split into
groups, using the adults as drivers, and began our rescue. One of the young women, Gismo Borup, had made
cookies and packaged them so that the groups could deliver them on their
visits. She had asked me to make cookies
as a thank-you to the high councilors who helped us. So, I made cookies. She forgot that she had asked me and had made
plenty of cookies (275 cookies by herself).
She told me to save my cookies for another time; I froze them and we will
eat them tomorrow for FHE. We didn’t
have a huge turnout this time—I think a few of the youth were reluctant to make
what they saw as missionary contacts, but we made use of the 25 who came. Gismo, who was in charge of the activity,
made the groups for visiting. Dad and I
were split up. I went with Gismo and
Emma Østergaard—but first we cleaned up after everyone else had left for their visits. We only had time for one visit—an incoming
18-year-old. We had a good visit with
her and extended an invitation to come to institute this summer. She is a very active young woman so I have no
doubt she will get involved. Still, I
think it is nice to receive a personal invitation. It makes you feel wanted and needed. Many of the groups tried to visit two or
three YSA—some were not home, others had moved, but there were also a lot of
successes. One young man commented that
it made him feel like a missionary again.
We all met up at an ice cream store at 9 p.m. for some hygge. One group of YSA rode their bikes to their
visits. I was impressed—but then I felt
sorry for them as they had a 45-minute ride back from the ice cream shop to their
homes—in the rain. I’m sure they were
soaked when they got home.
I also baked on Friday. We had institute graduation/end-of-institute party on Friday night. Jens Andersen hosted the event at his home in
Frederikssund—nearly an hour’s drive from our home. The activity began at 6:00, but Brother
Andersen asked us to come earlier. As a
result, we didn’t serve in the temple that day. Instead I baked cakes after language
class. I should have just brought the
cookies from the night before, but Brother Andersen had specifically asked that
I bake 2 cakes. We had an excellent turn-out to this event—36
YSA. The counselor in the stake
presidency was there as well to give out the certificates of completion. Not everyone ‘graduated’ from institute, but
I was pleased with those who stuck with it—not just in attendance but in the
reading and other requirements. We had
grilled hot dogs for dinner and a tossed salad.
Danish hot dogs are twice the length of our hot dogs, but just as
skinny. The buns are the same length as
ours, so the hot dog sticks out on both ends.
I have been reluctant to eat them, but I was hungry tonight. I ate half a hot dog—the usual size for me. Brother Andersen grilled more than 100 hot
dogs, and the kids devoured them. I watched as many of the YSA, girls and boys,
ate 3, even 4 hot dogs. Dad said he
missed all the ‘sides’ like baked beans, potato and jello salads, and
chips. We had cake and ice cream for
dessert—they finished off both cakes that I brought. We had nice weather for the activity, cool,
but windy, up until about 9:00. But that
is when we decided to walk down to the beach—about
a 15-minute walk. Frederikssund is
located on the Roskilde fjord. We
grabbed our umbrellas because the skies looked ominous and walked with the
group. Sure enough, about halfway
there, it began to rain, but this did not dampen our spirits. We walked on in the rain and when we got to
the beach, 11 of our die-hard YSA’s (mostly girls), jumped into the water. It was only about 60˚ outside—too cold for me. They played for about ½ hour—threw a Frisbee
around, and then we walked back to the house.
Even with an umbrella, I was wet and therefore cold. I can’t imagine what the swimmers felt. But I think the Danes are a hardy bunch. They think
summer even if it is not. Today (Sunday),
however, brought temperatures in the high 70’s, clear skies and a beautiful
day.
Our Saturday began early with a trip to a missionary
apartment. The apartment in Holbæk has
housed elders in the past. Now 2 sisters
have moved in. We have visited this
apartment once to drop off some needed item, but Elder Bryner (the senior
missionary over apartments) has always inspected it. Now that there are sisters in the apartment,
we will take over the inspection. The
sisters came to us during Zone Conference with some needs. After learning that the mission is closing
the Valby apartment (where we stayed three days this week) we realized that
many of the sisters’ needs could be met from some items in that apartment—an
area rug, a mixer and a door mat. We
also purchased a few things that weren’t available from that apartment and
headed out Saturday morning by 7:30. While Dad put up a new white board for the
sisters, I inspected the rest of the apartment—there are a great many needs,
including a better way to hang the shower curtain, the oven door handle was
broken, lights over the kitchen sink didn’t work, the dresser and the couch
were in very bad shape (we can replace those from the Valby apartment), and
they have no window coverings. We will
set out to try to fix these concerns—just another way we can serve.
We also went to lunch on Saturday with Miho Nakazawa to say
good-bye. She is a YSA from Japan who
has been a member for about 10 years.
Her first year in Denmark was spent on Jylland going to an art
school. This year, after running out of
money, she worked as an au pair here on Sjælland. That is when we met her. It seems, however, that one year is about all
you can take as an au pair, so she is off to Ireland next year working for the
government using her Japanese language in some way. We didn’t see much of her at our YSA
activities because she often had to work in the evening. But she came to a few things on Sunday—her
day off. We tried to include her and
give her a sense of belonging to something.
We always invited her to our activities.
After lunch, I encouraged her to get involved with the YSA’s in
Ireland—how else can you stay strong in the church? It takes a calling, nourishment and friends! My life experiences have been so
sheltered—nothing so adventurous as Miho has had. She left home at an early age and went to
Canada where she found the church. She
has been many places since—always pursuing her dream in art, but always having
to put it on-hold while she earns money for the next phase. Her parents are not very accepting of her new
religion, but have softened somewhat.
She is going home for a month to visit them, but I don’t think she is
particularly excited about it. She just
had nowhere else to go. Luckily, during
the 2nd month of her break (she starts work in August), she will
visit friends in Indonesia and then in Dubai.
When you have lived in many places, you meet many people and make
‘friends’ who take you in when you call and ask if you can visit sometime. All you have to do is come up with
airfare.
We didn’t have time for much exercise this week, but I did
take a couple of walks around the lake—to clear my head—and listened to the BYU
and BYU-I devotionals. Good stuff!
Med kærlighed,
Mom
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