Date night for Mom's birthday: Annie Get Your Gun
FHE Activity: making paper temples
Kære Familie Sunday,
October 29, 2017
We went off of Daylight Savings time
today (fell back an hour) so for this week we are 1 hour closer to you than
normal. It also means that it was dark
at around 5:00. Ugh. I didn’t really
notice until about 8:00 when it felt like it should be bedtime and I was
surprised it was still so early.
Coincidentally, it also seems to be a lot colder today and like winter
is setting in. It was still around 50°
but it felt much colder and tomorrow is supposed to be a high of 45 and a low
of 37°. Time to break out the hats, gloves and heavy coat. How was the campout
for Jared and Clayton – pretty cold?
We
were the only non-Danish speakers in church today and since the ward now
believes that mom understands Danish (since she spoke last week) the main
translator asked if it was ok that she not translate so she could just listen
and enjoy the meeting. Of course, that
was ok with us, but it doesn't mean we understood very much. I should say I, as mom's recent priesthood
blessing is being realized I think and she is picking up a lot more than I
am. I did not get very much out any of
the 3 meetings today. I understand words
and sometimes some phrases but most of the time I struggle to even know what
the topic of a talk or testimony is about.
I realized today, that I was picking up on more words, depending on the
speaker and how loudly or clearly they talk, but I am still not understanding
conversations around me. Mom now has
more people coming up to her in the hall and chattering away. I don’t know if she is smiling because she
understands or is confused! They don’t
do that to me yet, so I guess I need to give a talk in church and confirm to
them that I am still primarily an English speaker. I did have a nice conversation with a young
man in SS today (all in English) who is about 31-years old and single. He was on the border of being one of ours
(YSA) when we moved in. The conversation was about his work (a construction
engineer, 5 years out of school) and a little about getting married. I wonder what has kept him from finding a
wife. He seems like Morten (who we have talked about with the dating hang-ups)
- very interested but not much action over the years. His comment to me is that it takes 2 to make
a marriage and if it was only up to him, he would have been married a long time
ago. Maybe that means that he needs to
make himself spiritually and in other ways irresistible to the girls he dates
or that he just needs to date a lot more! I suggested that we ought to go back
to the days when parents picked the spouse to solve some of these
problems. His mother, who is the YSA
advisor in the ward, jumped on that and said she would love to. His reaction was not the same at all.
For
FHE this week, we only had 9 come out again. That makes 3 weeks in a row where
our participation has gone way down. The
activity tonight was making paper temples in teams of two. The attendance
decline is getting to be concerning as it seems to be continuing, starting with
3 weeks ago when we met to prepare for the culture night. Is it possible the missionary activity killed
the enthusiasm we had going? Mom talked
to the FHE chairwoman about it tonight and she just mentioned all the
advantages the old Center had over the current one; there was more room, it was
cozier, there were places to hang out and to study, etc. That doesn't explain
why we have the sudden dip now however.
We need to brainstorm with the leadership about how we can recreate
excitement and attendance. The activity was making temples out of paper and
tape. We worked in teams of two and had
something like 30 minutes to construct them.
I will enclose a picture of the final products. Several of them turned out quite nice. In my humble opinion, ours was 2nd
best to one that had a lot of creativity and intricate design.
We
went back to language class for all 3 days this week after having last week
free with the Fall holiday week. I had
quite a negative, stressful feeling about it and it spilled over to my attitude.
The classes were not as bad as my anxiety, but we did have to do a lot more
talking with each other this week. I prefer
grammar and writing lessons to the forced conversations. Wednesday’s class was particularly
frustrating. We did not do any grammar at all but spent most of the whole time
on conversations with a partner. Our teacher intentionally broke us up and I
was talking with Karia, a liberal American woman, instead of with mom. She is
way better than I am and did most of the talking, so when I would chime in with
a comment, it seemed so childish compared to her comments and vocabulary. I
also only understood about 70% of what she was saying. Our teacher also talked a lot and it seemed
very fast and I probably only understood 60% of what she said. In addition, we
were discussing current trends in family life, which meant a lot of stories in
our language book and 2 TV documentaries about these trends. Naturally, the discussion was about
homosexual couples, divorces, alternate families, sperm banks for children,
single moms, etc. - very little that I could or wanted to speak about. There was nothing about traditional
families. It was a perfect fit for the Proclamation
on the Family, but I could not speak to that with my limited vocabulary and
it would have been a hard sell in this setting.
We
celebrated mom’s birthday finally on Wednesday this week. It was like the first
opportunity we have had. We went to
dinner at a nice restaurant and then to the musical production of Annie Get
Your Gun. It seems to me a bit
strange that a Danish audience would be receptive to a Wild West type show, but
it seems to be getting a good reception.
The performance was outstanding with great singing, acting, staging,
dancing, props, scenery, etc. They
really did a 1st rate job at putting it on and all the lead performers seemed
perfect for their roles. It was of
course all in Danish – that must be a challenge to get the words to fit with
the music. It really helped that we had
watched a U-tube version of a high school production in preparation for it, or I
would have been lost. I think I have seen it once long ago when we lived in
Sandy, Utah. As it was, I understood
very little on the dialogue or singing, but at least I had a general idea of
the story line and could therefore pick up more of the language. There were a
lot of catchy lines and lots of laughter around us and it was unfortunate, that
we could not share in that. We were
walking home at 10:25 and were most likely the first ones’ home since we are so
close. The theater is across the street
from us. That was nice.
For
Thursday, 2 of the girls volunteered to cook dinner. They made chicken tacos with hard and soft
shells. They did not come until almost 5:00 so there was some time pressure
after they came. Mom needed more flour
for some brownies, so I went to the store 1 time just after we arrived. Then after the girls arrived, Mom did not
think they had enough cheese or fajita spices, so I went to the store again to
get those things. Netto is about a 7-8
minute walk up the street by the city center.
Still with all of that, we started dinner almost on time at 6:00. We had 32 YSA for the class and fed almost
that many with us and Brother Andersen.
We
did not have a single English speaker come, so there was only the Danish
class. We were looking forward to our
approach on this lesson, so we felt badly we did not get a chance to teach, but
the preparation is always good for us and it makes our study time together more
focused on understanding the deeper doctrines.
The lesson was 2 Nephi 28 – 33.
There is some wonderful doctrine in those chapters about the last days,
the coming of the Millennium and the Doctrine of Christ. Maya taught, and it seemed that her lesson
was dry with just reading and answering questions. Jens was there observing, and I wonder what
he thought, because his lessons seem to be more interactive with varied
approaches and more comments that we heard tonight. Christopher translated for us for a while and
then Joachim took over. We told them
both it was not necessary, but I do appreciate it when they want to help us
out. Dessert was brownies, ice cream and hot chocolate sauce. It is always a favorite. Mom needed to practice the piano for the
stake conference music and, so we stayed, and I had the cleanup. We did not get home until 10:30, later than
normal lately. I had expected to have at
least an hour to work on Danish at the Center as we had a listening homework
assignment for Friday, but I did not get any time and we decided that it was
too late to concentrate after we were home.
On
Saturday, mom drove with Sisters Johnson and Jensen to the women's conference
in Odense, a 2 hour drive over to the Island of Fynn. They left at 8:45. It was
a combined conference of both stakes. I had planted the idea on Friday of an
outing with the men left behind, but nothing was decided for sure. One idea was driving an hour to see
Stevnsfort and the area cliffs around it.
It is an army installation dug into the cliffs along the coast to
protect one of the straits leading to the Baltic Sea. I visited it a year ago, but these men had
not seen it yet. The other idea was to
meet the sisters after 2:00 and drive to Silkeborg and the lower coast of Fynn,
just to see some new territory. Both ideas
flopped. There wasn't any enthusiasm for
the 2nd idea that I could detect for after the conference, but we will try to
do that on another Saturday. The weather
was cold, a little rainy and very windy.
It did not seem like the best day for hiking around the coast, exposed
to the full wind. Also, Elder Johnson
had a hard sleeping night and I could sense he was agreeing to go only as we
needed his car and he didn’t want to be the party poop. Mom later said that Elder Jensen was really
looking forward to an outing, so that he was disappointed that I canceled. They
go home in April before we do so they may not get a chance to see it,
especially as this was the last weekend it is open until the Spring. It was
likely a bad decision on my part, but I enjoyed the quiet and peaceful time I had
at home. The last few weeks have been a
rush.
We
have been following the Astros each morning after they play. I am glad that mom shares this passion and we
spend time reading the box scores, some rehash by the sport writers and
watching the video highlights. I glory
in the wins and agonize at the losses. It seems uphill for the Astros at this
point and it looks like good pitching may win out over the good hitting. The difference may be the Dodgers bull
pen. Hope springs eternal however and
that is why games are played. Go
Stros!!!!.
Love,
Dad.
Kære familie, 29
October 2017
I attended a women’s conference on Saturday for all sisters
in the two Denmark Stakes. I really
enjoyed the conference even though there was a lot I didn’t understand. Unfortunately, some of the translation
equipment kept fading in and out, or didn’t work at all. But I did my best to understand. I suppose it wasn’t a great turn-out when you
consider two stakes were involved, but for those who were there, it made a
difference. It was held at a school
because the ward building in Odense is not large enough for such a gathering. Odense is located on the middle island of Fyn
and seems central to the country. It
took us a little more than 1 ½ hours to drive there. I was the driver and took Sisters Johnson and
Jenson with me. We visited non-stop
going and coming. There was a gusty wind
that day which made for a scary bridge crossing. I kept my hands gripped to the steering wheel
and was glad when we were safely across the ‘longest suspension bridge in
Europe’. The crossing going home was
much better.
The theme of the conference was ‘Lord, I will follow thee.’ The stake president from the Aarhus stake
began by talking about following in the footsteps of the Savior—studying His
words and then walking as He walked. Other
talks were about being stressed and finding ways to cope with that stress. Spending time in the temple and finding quiet
moments each day go a long way towards feeling peace. Two women shared their stories where they had
to face a difficult challenge. One spoke
about the loss of her infant boy shortly after birth. The other shared her harrowing experience of
having her three-year-old son snatched from her hands one day while they were
walking. The kidnapper was the boy’s
American father (the couple was divorced) who then took him to America. It took over a year before she was able to
get her son back. In both instances, the
mothers finally turned their sorrows and tremendous burdens over to God. They had to trust Him. “For my thoughts are
not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.” (Isaiah 55:8)
This scripture helped one of the mothers as she finally realized she may never
make sense of her trial, but the Lord knows her and knows her
difficulties. Her trial taught her many
things—to be humble, to pray with an open heart, and to forgive. She said that her desire to forgive became
stronger. She also learned the principle
behind President Ezra Taft Benson’s statement: “Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He
can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their
joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift
their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort
their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life
in the service of God will find eternal life.” And that is what she did—turned her life over
to God.
We also watched this
video about President Eyring talking about trials as ‘mountains to climb.’ I don’t think there was a dry eye in the
room. This was in English, of course, so
the one thing I fully understood. (A
Danish translation of the text was included in our program for those who don’t
speak English.) Still, the language of
the spirit has no boundaries—the spirit speaks to the heart in all
languages. We all felt that today. There is also a feeling of unity with the
sisters. I know so many more sisters
this year. My mission experience has
taught me (just as with my Houston experience), that when you embrace the
people around you, when you love and serve them, they become family to
you—God’s family. That is why we call
each other brothers and sisters in the gospel.
We are truly just that. I will
miss the many wonderful people I have come to love here. Perhaps I, too, am experiencing just what
President Benson promised.
Last week I was asked to accompany the choir for stake
conference which is coming up next Sunday.
I didn’t get the music until Monday night, so didn’t have a lot of time
to practice—just about 45 minutes after all the YSA left on Monday night. I received a bag of music which contained
three pieces of copied music and four Hymplicity books. One of the songs was a copy of “Be Still My
Soul” from the English hymnal. I found
the expanded version of this hymn in one of the Hymplicity books and
figured that we were going to sing that.
The other two pieces of music were complete accompaniments. I mistakenly assumed that these were the
only pieces of music we would be singing so those were the only ones I
practiced. I never looked through the
other books—if I had, I would have seen a paper inside the book marking a song
in each book. I just assumed that three
songs from the choir was enough for a stake conference. But when I got to the choir practice on
Tuesday night, I was so wrong. We are
singing nine songs—a kind of ‘Music and the Spoken Word’ concert before Stake
Conference begins. We sing from
10:15-10:45 and the conference begins at 11:00.
Needless to say, I was unprepared for our practice. I ended up playing the other songs from the
hymnal because I had not looked at the Hymnplicity arrangements. It was not difficult music and I could
probably have stumbled my way through, but the choir director had also expected
me to copy the music so she could direct from the Hymnplicity
books. Only one of us could use the
books—and that was her. I wish someone
had given me more explanation of what I needed to do. We are also singing two songs from the
Primary songbook, and one Danish hymn from their hymnal. It turns out that “Be Still My Soul” is not
in the Danish hymn book, which is why I had a copy of that in with the other
music.
I enjoy being a part of the choir and love these wonderful
hymns. I seem to be using my piano
skills a lot more than I ever thought here on our mission. There are many more talented musicians here
than myself, but I am available and willing, so I guess those are my unique
qualifications. I do wish I was a better
pianist and could sight-read better. And
so, I encourage my grandchildren to keep practicing—the Lord will use your
talents to bless others in ways you haven’t dreamed of. But He can’t use them if you have not
developed them fully. I have been
practicing all the music since
Tuesday, but I have more effective practicing on a real piano which isn’t
always easy to manage. I will give it my
best!
Dad mentioned that we have been doing a unit in our language
class about lifestyles. We are not
learning about lifestyles as much as we are learning Danish. But in order to practice Danish, we need to read something. So, our text
book is divided into topics with articles and activities around that topic. Typically, we read an article and then discuss
it. We will also use the text to learn a
grammar principle and then do an exercise on that. In addition, we have listening exercises
that might be a conversation between two people, or just someone explaining
their opinion on the environment, what they like to do for fun, or what they do
for work. We listen to these on line
with no text and then try to understand enough to answer questions. One of the reasons I like our Danish class is
that I have learned a lot about Danish culture, history, education, work,
family life, etc. We answer questions together in class and
there are always a few who dominate the discussion. They are not afraid to talk. We are not one of those. But the teacher also does a good job of
directing questions towards those of us who don’t speak as much so we all get a
turn. We also take turns reading aloud the
various articles. But that is also why
we do a lot of work with our neighbor.
We will often spend 10-15 minutes answering questions, giving our
opinion, and telling why we agree or disagree with the text. Dad and I are partners most of the time, but occasionally
the teacher splits us up. It is
obviously meant to help us speak in Danish, but also prepares us for our
upcoming oral test. We will have to
speak about a topic for about 2 minutes and then answer questions from the
teacher. We will also need to discuss a
topic with a fellow-student. The teacher
will be looking to see if we can converse and understand each other. The other part of the test will be reading
comprehension, grammar, and writing.
The past week we have been reading about alternative
life-styles—single parent, communal families, blended families, etc. I think these discussions give me a chance to
share my beliefs and views. I respect
the views from other members in the class, but likewise I feel they respect my
views. Some of our more interesting
discussions come during our break—we get a 20-minute break about 10:00 and a
10-minute break at 11:30. I usually stay in the classroom as well as
most of the others—after they go buy something to eat at the school’s coffee
shop. We are a very diverse group and it
is interesting to hear their opinions.
During the break, we talk in English.
There are several who are married and have one child. They tend to be more conservative in their
views about family life. We have had
some good discussions about education, the Danish welfare state—high taxes,
free healthcare and free education, and politics in general. I always find it interesting that many
people feel that paying high taxes is not the same as paying for education and
healthcare yourself. One way the
government holds your money and pays your bills; the other way you keep your
money and pay your own bills. I am not afraid to express an opinion about my
beliefs and my views on the family. I am
learning how to do that in Danish, so it can’t all be bad….
I have enjoyed watching the leaves change colors. Many of the colors are so vibrant. But winter is rapidly approaching as
evidenced by the tree right outside our upstairs window, overlooking the lake,
which has now lost all its leaves. I
love to see pictures of your family.
This is a fun time of year for the children—somehow dressing in costumes
is almost better than Christmas. We
will miss our ward trunk-or-treat on Friday because we will be serving in the
temple, but that is a good place to be.
We have Zone Conference and Stake Conference this week so a lot to
anticipate. As a missionary, I can
understand now why these conferences are such a highlight during a mission—not
only is it a break from the routine, but a chance to be spiritually nourished
and refilled.
Have a great week!
Happy birthday Bryson!
Med kærlighed,
Mom
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