The Trinity (don’t think this is a fairytale)
Paper Boat
The Butterflies
The Flying Suitcase
HC Andersen in his traveling clothes
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
Little Mermaid
Water Fountain of Gefion near the Little Mermaid
Rosenborg Slot, Great Room
Karl Bloch painting in St. Jakobs Kirke, in Ordrup (Copenhagen)
Kære Familie, Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Sorry about just getting to last week’s letter. Our house guests kept us pretty busy and there was never any time to sit down to write, other than the time we used to Facetime about the flooding in Houston. That is the experience that is most on my mind. It was pretty scary for us because we have lived through it so many times that I could share the pain and worry vicariously. The pictures and images are just heart wrenching. I have not checked but I wonder how many of our ward members have been affected, such as the Rogers and Fees in Westador and other old friends along Cypress Creek from Old Oaks to Inverness Forest? Sometime through this, maybe Monday I guess, we decided that our house was probably going to flood as the reports looked so grim and we heard talk about another 10 feet of water rising. That made me wish that Clayton was still in the house to move everything upstairs. We do have flood insurance, but the thought of losing important papers in the desks, picture books, old family videos, etc. was depressing for a while. It certainly wasn’t worth risking anyone’s safety to get to them however. We were feeling grateful we have carried flood insurance for so many years when we have never had to battle flood waters. At least the furniture could be replaced and the walls rebuilt but I worried about how the tear out and construction could happen while we were over here. Then a feeling of resolution settled in that it was all just “stuff” and could be replaced or wasn’t that important in the large scale of things. We were at peace after that and ready to accept whatever might happen. Another thought I have had however, was that we were promised many blessings because of serving this mission. I began to hope and pray that one of those blessings might be that you would all be ok and that our house would be spared the flooding. I don’t know whether that prayer was directly answered or not but I am very grateful and will act and accept that it might have been. I am sorry that the temple got some flood waters. I hope the damage can be repaired quickly. So often temples are protected from natural disasters but sometimes they are not. There will be lessons and blessings that come from even that I think.
This whole week and a half have been weird as we have tried to have fun with our house guests while keeping up our missionary work. Stephanie and Ali went with us to some of our usual assignments and they also visited some on their own when we were tied up. FHE last week was supposed to be a Greek night, then was changed into a German night, but ended up being an improvisation night as the other people fell through, I think. The missionary committee did a good job with their first monthly message night; Rebecca Stewart had prepared a PowerPoint on bringing friends to UV activities. One or our new changes is that one Monday a month will be focused on missionary work with a special message and an activity that will be welcoming to anyone who might come with a friend. This night everybody made pretzels in the kitchen. It proved to be fun. There was time to talk and interact while they shaped their own pretzel and prepared it for cooking in the oven.
One of the girls requested a blessing tonight. She was feeling really stressed about school and didn't want to wait 5 days until this weekend when she would see her father. I am glad some of the UV's feel comfortable in asking me for a blessing and I hope I am spiritually in tune to give them healing, peace or whatever they need at the time. The UV's took off early so we could have left a little after 9:00, but Sarah Stewart and Thrina were talking together so we hung around until Thrina left. Sarah still seemed reluctant to leave but as Jean was saying goodbye to her, she sort of broke down because she didn't want to go home and be alone by herself in her apartment. She lives alone. She just got home from 4 weeks on a humanitarian trip to South Africa and got used to lots of people around her. She was finding it hard to come home to her present lonely life it seems. School will start up for her in a couple of weeks and that should help her be busier.
Tuesday night we sandwiched a visit to the Frederiksborg Slot in between our language class and a Golden Days meeting. We got home at 6:00 and had to eat and turn around and go back to the Allerød church (very close to where the palace is) for the planning meeting. Golden Days is the YSA conference we will have here on September 15-17th. There were 13 YSA present plus us and Brother Ringheim and I think all the committee heads were there this time. We reviewed the status of the assignments each group has and though many things are underway, there is a lot of detail that still needs to be worked out. Brother Ringheim has been involved with 4 of these and is concerned that the committees are not where they need to be at this point (the temple has not been contacted yet, not all the workshops have speakers) so he scheduled a separate meeting for Saturday morning with the stake chairmen to focus on what they need to do in the next few weeks to move everything ahead. That meeting ended up going 6 hours and Jonathan said it was very detailed, down to what kind of paper plates and cups they should use. That could be called micro-managing but he was training and passing on his experience to these 3 stake chairmen so they can then work with each of the committees. We toured the school between 8 and 9:00 pm and got a firsthand look at what the facilities will look like. The school is much newer than last year and the gym is huge and state of the art. The area for dances and eating will probably not be as nice as last year as the best spot seems to be the gym, so it will be hard to decorate and make it as cozy as last year. We have invited the Yates to come and join us at this event for the 3 days so we will have a small cadre of senior missionaries to lend support in the kitchen or wherever they need it.
We had 39 at Institute and around 30 for dinner. It was a great turnout and they had lots of energy and excitement. It perhaps signals that summer really is over and everyone is getting back to normal. In terms of teaching, the opposite scenario played out on us this week. We prepared the final Finance lesson as arranged with Brother Andersen. He was there to observe and participate. We put in 3 to 4 hours of preparation with our slides in PowerPoint. Maya showed up about 6:45 prepared to teach as well. It is the first time we have seen her since the end of June. She was on the original schedule to teach lesson 10 and 11 tonight and Brother Andersen was going to do 12 next week, but because of the changes he made a couple of weeks ago to start the BofM next week, everything was moved up and he decided that we would teach 11 and 12 this week to wrap up. He had neglected however to inform Maya of the changes. So, he surprised us for a couple of weeks having us teach the entire class at the last minute; tonight, he let her teach at the last minute. It appeared that she only did lesson 10, so much of it was a repeat for the regular attenders. Half of them were here for the first time though, so it didn't really matter to them. She also did the bottle, rocks and sand demo that we tried to do a few weeks ago, but didn't when my sand was too wet to pour. That was a good thing as well so the students didn’t have to smile through it twice. I felt bad about not teaching as I thought we had some good principles to cover and there will not be another opportunity to discuss them. The upcoming fireside this month is a musical performance. We thought everyone would go home early after the lesson but several groups were practicing their numbers, so we ended up staying until 10:30 when the last 2 left. It is interesting that they just expect us to be around until they are ready to leave -- or maybe it is just that we are always willing with a smile! We spotted the carpet while we were waiting for them so at least we used our time wisely. Steph and Ali cleaned up the dishes for us during the lesson and then they walked home early.
Sunday, mom played for the choir practice and then the organ again in sacrament meeting and then was enlisted at the very last moment to play for the EQ, who sang the rest song, when their pianist didn't show up. They sang the same song as the opening hymn, so that was strange but helped her as she only had to switch from the organ to the piano with the same music. Quite a few members came up to talk to Steph and Ali so I was glad the ward was so friendly to them. We all attended the YSA SS class and the YSA teacher decided to teach in English with all of us there, so that was nice as well so they could understand and get something from the lesson.
I taught the HP the Teaching for Our Times lesson which was Elder Ballard's, "Return and Receive" from April conference. I over-prepared once again but only had about 30 minutes after the opening exercises and quorum business. I hope I used it well. I felt good about the lesson and it seemed to be received well with good comments from the men. I also used the worksheet activity that I had prepared for the YSA on a Life's Mission Plan since the talk was on our mission, goals and tactical plans. The worksheet fit in perfectly - I modified it a bit to make it fit with Elder Ballard's teaching - and gave them the last 6 minutes to start filling it out. I am excited to complete the worksheet for myself as I intend to have a somewhat detailed 5-year plan and then some goals for the next 25. I hope I have a mind and the health to get everything accomplished that ends up in my plan! Not a good track record from my father’s life.
After church, we drove to the Frue Kirke and found a parking place to leave the car. We enjoyed the statues of the Christus and Apostles again and discovered an upstairs museum and ruins in the basement that we have not seen before. We then, on the spur of the moment, decided to see the church at Christianborg Slot that is only open on Sundays to the public, so we have not had a chance to see it. We also walked across the street to see Holmen's Church, which is the official Navy Church for seamen. Both are spectacular with very fine marble or woodwork interiors. We felt visiting these churches on Sunday was a pretty good way to keep the Sabbath. By this time, it was close to 4:00 and 2 YSA were coming to cook dinner for our monthly fireside. We decided I would walk over to the Center, which is just a few blocks from where we were, to open it up, while the girls would walk back to the car and go home and get the dessert mom had prepared and left in the fridge. I had time to eat some yogurt and get a short nap on the couch before the youth started arriving.
We had a great turnout for the fireside - 35 youth - plus adults. The room was full. This was musical fireside and we had 45 minutes of singing, piano and guitar from quite a few of the youth. They did a good job. Some of them like to use their talents and perform. I never did see how this got organized as it seemed to come together in the last week. So, I was surprised at the number of participants and the quality of their music. We got a text message at about 3:00 asking mom if she would give a spiritual thought on music in our family to set the tone for the fireside. This was a good example I thought, on how this was pulled together, but it may have been that someone fell through or the thought was just a detail that the planners forgot. In any case, mom came through and gave a good message without any preparation time outside of our walking between churches.
I am feeling the effects of all our walking and steady activity since Steph arrived. My body and mind seem a little worn out and I don't have the stresses that mom has had with the visitors, food, shopping and extra things like piano and organ. She is a trooper. I think we both need some down time to get our lives back to our mission work. I haven’t ironed in a week and am wearing a shirt today for the 2nd time so that is the agenda for tonight.
We are so glad you are all well and have weathered the storm. It pains us that so many have had their lives torn asunder but it is a great opportunity to serve and help those in need.
Much love, Dad.
K֥ære familie, 31 august 2017
I felt the distance from home again this week as the weather in Houston unfolded. There was nothing I could do but pray for you and hope that you would all be safe. As I read messages about the flooding in Westador, I began to wonder if this was the 500-year flood that I never thought would come; but we dodged it again. There were many who were not as fortunate. My heart goes out to them for the weeks, even months, of inconvenience and heartache as they try to get their lives back together. Just the clean-up alone is overwhelming and then as you assess what is lost, damaged, and irreplaceable, it is completely devastating. But the silver lining in such disasters is seeing a community come together to help each other. People reach out to each other, and try to lift others’ burdens. It’s what we do when all the facades are torn away—true charity and love come out. I am grateful for your safety, but I am also grateful for your service as you help those in need.
On Monday, we drove to Roskilde to see the Domkirke and the Viking Ship Museum. It turned out to be a full day and we got back to Copenhagen with no time to spare. Dad went over to the center to open it up, while Stephanie, Ali and I made a quick dinner. We walked over to the center and arrived just in time for FHE. I received a text earlier in the day asking me to pick up some ingredients because we were making pretzels for FHE. I was also told that someone else had the responsibility of making the pretzels. That part wasn’t exactly true. One of the young women had texted the recipe to another young man who just turned it all over to me. But because the recipe was in Danish—and made the Danish way, i.e. grams and liters, Gismo Borup said she would help make the dough. I left the kitchen to play the opening song for FHE and when I came back the dry ingredients were all in a pile on top of the counter. Gismo told me to make a hole in the pile and she would pour the liquid in while I kneaded the dough. What was wrong with the bowl I had gotten out to mix it in???? But I did it her way. I kneaded and kneaded until the dough popped—and just before my arm popped off! There was no time for the dough to raise. Stephanie and I divided the dough into 32 balls and we put them in a warm oven to raise, but within ten minutes the FHE activity was done and they were in the kitchen ready to make their pretzels. Surprisingly they turned out pretty good. It was beyond ‘last minute’ but I didn’t have time to bemoan the poor planning—I just had to pitch in and make it work. And somehow it did.
We went to language class on Tuesday and Wednesday while Stephanie and Ali visited museums in Copenhagen. But Friday morning Dad announced that he didn’t really want to go to class so we joined them for a visit to Rosenborg Castle. It was a pleasant morning—loved the history and all the royal memorabilia, but then we went someplace even better than a castle. We went to the temple. The session we attended had mostly American visitors, so we were able to have the session in English. It was very nice to be able to do the work for some ancestors.
On Saturday was Hans Christian Andersen day. We drove over the big bridge to the island of Fyn to the home of his birthplace, Odense. We have never really stopped to visit this town except the one time we saw the church with a Carl Bloch painting as an altarpiece. Even then, we were just passing through on our way home from Århus. Our plan was to see the H.C. Andersen museum and then go on a treasure hunt. The treasure hunt took us all over town to see 15 different statues honoring H.C. Andersen and his fairytales. Our path also took us to various buildings, churches and homes that played a part in H.C. Andersen’s early life. He lived in Odense 14 years, which was longer than he ever lived any place else the rest of his life. He died at age 70, having never married, but becoming one of Denmark’s most beloved celebrities. He found love three times, but love never found him, so he remained a bachelor. He had lots of friends, however, and traveled extensively all over Europe visiting them. He would entertain them with his fairytales and paper clippings. The children especially enjoyed his fairytales. It is too bad he never had children of his own. For as famous as H.C. Andersen is, I find that I don’t really know very many of his fairytales. I will have to start reading them to the grandchildren when I come home. We had fun on our treasure hunt and didn’t quit until we had found all the statues. It was especially crowded in Odense as this was a special weekend celebrating H. C. Andersen. But we made it through the crowds anyway. We finished the day with a nice dinner at Hard Rock Café in Copenhagen—you just can’t beat good ol’ American food!
We visited some places in Copenhagen that we haven’t found the time to do yet—I guess that is what happens when you have company. We visited the Little Mermaid and the Gefion Fountain—something we haven’t done since we were here 4 years ago with Jared and his family. We also saw the statue of Kristine, in memory of the Danish L.D.S. immigrants who came to America. We saw some churches that we may never have seen and this week we even visited a cemetery and saw where H. C. Andersen is buried. We walked through parks and gardens and even went to Tivoli—which we haven’t done yet this summer even though we have a season pass. I worried that there wouldn’t be enough to do for the time Stephanie and Ali were visiting, but I’ve found that there is much, much more than I ever thought. I learned, for example that you can visit a museum in Amalienborg Castle—I thought that you could just see it from the outside because it is the residence of the Royal Family. So, it was fun to discover and see things anew.
I’m sure with the excitement of the hurricane, you probably haven’t had time to listen to podcasts, but this one by Lynn G. Robbins is a ‘must hear.’ It is on being responsible, forgiveness, and the atonement. I love the principles he teaches and the example of Edmond Dantès from “The Count of Monte Cristo.” I certainly needed to hear this message.
Med kærlihed, Mom
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