Senior outing to Gisselfedt Slot
Tree lined entrance drive
The slot
Garden and greenhouse
Mom and fountain with frogs
Mom and waterfall
Pond and me
Mom with the pacifier tree
Tower at Jægerspris Slot with Dad
Church at Selsø Slot with Dad (too bright to open his eyes)
Selsø Slot
Mom and Dad in front of Jægerspris Slot (with the deer)
Kære familie, 9 April 2018
We had stake conference yesterday and with it the culmination of weeks of practicing for me. I am a firm believer that there is no substitute for ‘Practice makes Perfect.’ And while my playing was not perfect, I was pleased with the outcome. For one thing, preparation brings confidence, and I felt a lot more confident in playing this time as opposed to six months ago, when I got the music for stake conference with just a few weeks to learn it. Originally, I was only going to accompany three of the musical numbers this time, but I ended up doing six of them. The music was not difficult, but accompanying a choir is more than just learning notes. The choir sang two numbers during stake conference—I only accompanied the closing song— “Nearer My God to Thee.” There was a pre-conference concert between 10:15-10:45; I accompanied five songs for that— ‘How Gentle God’s Commands,’ ‘We are Sowing,’ ‘Sweet is the Work,’ ‘Jesus the Very Thought of Thee,’ and a medley of “In Humility” and “God Our Father, Hear Us Pray.” Four of our YSA girls sang the last song; the others were choir numbers. The other concert numbers were from the youth in the stake (all 25 of them) who sang the youth theme song for this year which one of our YSA young men accompanied, and two women sang a beautiful version of “If You Could Hie to Kolob.” I was surprised at how many people came to listen to the pre-conference prelude—the chapel was full and most of the cultural hall by the time we started. I think music plays a huge part in our meetings and brings me great joy. The added benefit, beyond the music itself, is the wonderful people I got to know through this experience. They are very kind to me and appreciative of my efforts. I hope that future senior missionaries will come to Denmark who can help with the music. It is not that they don’t have good musicians in the stake, but either availability, or commitment, or willingness seems to keep them from participating. Sister O’Bryant played the organ for the Sunday meeting and I think she plays for the other stake as well when they attend their stake conference. She is an excellent organist, but again, the stake has some good organ players as well, because I have heard them when we attend other wards.
I enjoyed stake conference very much. We were under the impression (from the temple president) that much of the conference would be in English because we had a visiting Area Seventy coming to make a change in our Stake Presidency. But that was not so—only the temple president and the matron (who are Swedish) spoke in English as well as Elder Axel H. Leimer, our visiting authority. On Sunday someone translated for him at the pulpit, but on Saturday night, only those Danes who do not understand English received headsets and listened to translation simultaneously. I was touched by a story that our temple president told about one of his ancestors. The mother gave birth to 14 children and only one lived to adulthood. As the president told the story, he would say, ‘A boy Nikolas was born. Two years later a girl, Anne, was born. She lived two days and died. The next year a boy, Andreas, was born. He lived two years and died.” And so it went. The parents actually named 4 of their children Andreas and each one died—all in early childhood or a couple of days after birth. One boy lived until he was 16. The only child who lived to adulthood married and had 9 children—all of whom also died in infancy or childhood. In two generations, only one child lived. I just can’t imagine the heartache that the parents must have felt. The president stressed the importance of doing the temple work for these ancestors. Although many of them were children and do not need all the ordinances, they do need to be sealed together as a family. I can imagine the great rejoicing when that mother and father could put loving arms around their children and know that they were an eternal family. The temple president quoted Wilford Woodruff who said that he believed few if any of our ancestors in the spirit world would choose to reject the message of salvation when they heard it. That may mean that many of our ancestors have received a testimony and are just waiting for us to perform their ordinances. I feel there is a great need to accomplish this work.
Because I had choir practice on Saturday from 10-noon, and then Stake Conference beginning at 6 p.m.—a dinner provided by the stake, we decided we would use the small window of time to plan a short excursion. We invited the Wheelers who are more than happy to come with us because we have a car. They are good company. We drove north to a small town across the Roskilde Fjord, Jægerspris (Hunter’s Praise) where there is yet another castle. We love the history behind these castles—this one was originally built in the 13th century and belonged to the monarchy for most of its history. I am always amazed at the lavishness of royalty. They can’t just have a simple summer house or hunting lodge—it has to be a large and spacious castle. This one was used as a retreat for King Frederik VII and his morganatic wife who was a ballet dancer before she married him. They lived here to be away from the controversy their marriage caused in Copenhagen. It was his 3rd and only lasting marriage. He had no children by any of his wives. After the king’s death, Countess Danner (a name given to her to raise her status), opened part of the castle as a public museum to commemorate her husband’s life. Later, she founded the Frederick VII's Foundation for Poor Women from the Working Class. On her death, she left Jægerspris Castle "to the benefit of poor and destitute servant girls". We were able to visit the museum in the castle where the rooms are furnished pretty much as they were in the 1860’s. The outer buildings are still used as an orphanage today. The castle is surrounded by a large forest and supposedly there is a tree on the property dating back to 100-400 AD. It may be the oldest tree in Denmark, but we were not able to find it. The forest was quite expansive and would have taken us the better part of the afternoon to walk through it. A gardener on the property who didn’t speak English told us that it was about 8 kilometers that way and pointed. But I’m not sure if he even knew what we were asking. We got in the car and drove along a narrow road through the forest, but we didn’t see the old tree—just a lot of trees. We did discover another ‘pacifier’ tree on the property, though. Just not as exciting as an 1800-year-old tree.
We decided to drive down the Hornsherred peninsula looking for a very old church and also another castle. We saw a lot of the countryside, which is always beautiful, but never found the old church. It was a nice day for the most part, but still quite cool. We saw the Selsø castle, which is really more of a manor house and now a museum, but it is not open for visitors until May. So, we just had a quick look before we needed to head back to the stake center for conference.
It was nice to have stake conference right before we leave. We got to see and talk with a lot of people in the stake. I am amazed at just how many of the people we have come to know in two years. It was with a heavy heart that I looked around and realized that I may never see these people again. The memories we have from our mission are so much more than castles and old churches. Those things don’t really matter. It is the people we have grown to love and cherish. They have been so good to us. They never treated us like intruders or temporary borders. They encircled us with friendship and love. Those are the memories that bring me joy. One of our young adults spoke in conference—she is preparing for a mission. I think her papers are already turned in and she is awaiting a call. I first met this young woman at Festinord 2016 when she was just 18 years-old. She is very striking with below-the-waist long straight hair, super thin model-like body, and beautiful dark eyes. She and her boyfriend attended a class on Oral Family History. My job was to introduce the speakers and call on someone to pray. I remember going up to her and asking her if she would give the opening prayer. She was shy and shook her head. The class only had about 10-12 people in it, so it should not have been very threatening. I got to know her a lot better after that as in September she became the Stake YSA secretary and she attended all our meetings. She was still very shy and reserved but dutifully took notes and shared minutes and meeting reminders by email. I have watched her go from little participation to speaking up and making valuable contributions. Her growth in the gospel and her testimony has really blossomed. During the 2017 Festinord, she was outgoing and very active. She shared in her testimony that last summer one of her leaders told her to prepare for mission. That wasn’t something she had even thought of. But when she prayed, she knew she was supposed to go. She has attended our Missionary Prep class and is very excited to serve the Lord. It is almost hard to believe that this was the same shy, reserved girl I knew two years ago. She has grown into a beautiful confident and capable young woman. She compared herself to Esther who was willing to forget herself and do the will of the Lord. She will go forth as Esther did with faith that the Lord and His angels are on her side to help her. She will make a great missionary.
Those are the rewards of our mission. We have seen many of our young people grow and mature. I don’t think we have done anything to aid in their progression, but we have been witnesses to it. I can rejoice because of the great love I have for them. It is like a parent (grandparent) who rejoices in the good things he sees his children doing, as I have witnessed many times with each of you and with our grandchildren. Thank you for that. It truly brings me the greatest joy.
Med kærlighed, Mom
Kære Familie April 9, 2018
Monday, was a Danish Holiday, the “2nd day of Easter”. Stores were closed (many were closed Thurs, Fri, Sun and Mon – it made shopping a little tricky as grocery stores were mainly just open on Sat.) The mission office was closed as well and the Jensons were free as the archives are closed. Elder Johnson suggested an outing but it turned out to be up to us to decide what to do. We spent some time researching some options on Sunday and then presented them Monday morning when no one else had any ideas. Wheelers also decided to take the day as a holiday to join us, so we made a 2-car caravan again for a road trip. We left at 9:15 to pick up Wheelers and then drove to the area of Haslev, about 1 hour south of Copenhagen. Our first stop was the Gisselfeld Kloster or Slot. It is the 5th largest estate in Denmark and is owned by a family with noble ties. We took pictures of the Manor House that is surrounded on 3 sides by a moat and on the 4th by a lake. We then walked around several man-made lakes, a fountain, a waterfall and a greenhouse. Unfortunately, we could not go inside the slot even though the Internet said it would be open for tours on the holiday, but it was a very pleasant time on the grounds.
Our next stop was Bregentved Slot. It is privately owned manor house about a 10-minute drive away from Gisselfeld. Once again, the slot and the surrounding little village was closed to the public. But it was surrounded by acres of park land that we could walk around. It had a big lake and multiple ponds with a connecting stream, foot bridge and an Obelisk Monument with other statues. Snow was still on the ground and it was very picturesque.
We had lunch in Sorø at a pizza place (most eating establishments were also closed for the holiday) and then found another site we wanted to see. It was a round church like the ones on Bornholm, only this one is not painted white (Bjernede Rundkirke). It is the only one on Sjaelland and dates from the 1200's. It is closed on Mondays, so our luck with going inside of places was complete for the day. The weather was very nice and sunny with blue skies. I needed my sunglasses but our heavy coats still felt nice.
Tuesday, we woke up to a snow storm. After the nice day we had on Monday on our outing, it was quite disappointing to see colder weather and snow again. I intended to run but settled for a T-25 session. The weather on Wednesday was truly a taste of Spring. It got up to 51 degrees and the sun was shining most of the day. 51 feels very warm to us after the cold temperatures and just a jacket can feel nice enough. I did a morning run and a later walk around the lake just to soak up the sun. Most of the city seemed to be doing the same thing and lots of people were sitting on the steps opposite our apartment and just sunbathing. The swans and ducks have paired up and are starting to make nests on the edges of the lakes – a sure sign that Spring is trying to come. Spring flowers are starting to poke up as well.
We went to Jensons at 6:00 for dinner and then he helped us look at the Carter's (family in the Cypress Creek Ward) genealogy that they sent with us. We have put that off. They have a Danish ancestor who came to America in 1847 as a 9-year-old. He was a cabin boy on a ship. They have never been able to take that line further back to his Danish ancestors. We poked around a bit but discovered that without any names for parents, uncertain dates, uncertain spelling of the name and only a memory from someone that he was born in Copenhagen, we could come up with very little. Right at the end, Family Search gave us a link to the Danish 1845 census and a name that could be the right one is listed on the census as a foster child to a family. (Karl Hansen instead of Charles Hanson – but a distant family member thought he had changed his name coming to America – right birth date). I think it is plausible that a foster child might immigrate to America by himself. If true, it might be a lead but could be a dead end for them trying to identify his parents. I don’t know where to go from here (birth records from the many parishes?). This is the fun of family history research!
We read a BYU Forum for part of our companion study this week, as President O’Bryant suggested it in his Zone Conference training. It is a 40-minute podcast and is very deep but also very interesting and thought provoking. I will not remember all the conflicts it points out in the doctrines of Christian religions about the purpose, allowance, and existence of evil in the world, but it left me very grateful that we have more revealed doctrine about the Plan of Salvation through the prophet Joseph Smith that we can use. You might want to check it out.
“Joseph Smith and the Problem of Evil”
David L. Paulsen Sep. 21, 1999 • Forum
From <https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/david-l-paulsen_joseph-smith-problem-evil/>
While searching around in Family Search on Wednesday afternoon, I noticed a ‘cousin’ who was baptized, confirmed, had their initiatory, and was sealed to his spouse. He was not endowed however or sealed to his parents. These ordinances were reserved and sent to the temple department in 2014. I sent an email to the unknown relative, saying I would do the ordinances if he would release them. He did that Thursday morning and I was able to reserve and print the cards before we left for the temple for a missionary session. I did the endowment on Thursday and then the sealing on Friday during our normal temple sessions, along with 2 other sealings that have been waiting a few years. It felt good to have this work complete and it seemed important to me to act on this. I hope that perhaps a 4-year wait is over for this ancestor.
We had our Stake Conference last weekend and the stake had a dinner for the adults before the Saturday evening session. During dinner, I spoke with Henrik Bryder, our HP group leader, and kidded him about being released soon. I joked that he was going to be the new EQ president. He laughed a little awkwardly. We then spoke about my teaching assignment to the HP on the 29th. He was kind of indicating that it could still happen even with the combined quorum, but mom pointed out that it was a 5th Sunday and the RS has scheduled the bishopric to teach the lesson that day. He was surprised but said of course the brethren would follow that same schedule, so I am off the hook (I think) for a final lesson in Denmark. To finish this little tale, Sunday (next day) he was sustained as the new EQ president for the ward, so he was actually trying to conduct some official business with me by confirming my teaching to the new combined quorum. My little joke about a new calling for him was totally inappropriate and another of my foot-in-mouth moments.
As part of the stake business in the Sunday session of conference, President Olsen was released as the 1st Counselor (he will be our new mission president on July 1st), President Jesper Paulsen was moved to 1st counselor and Brother Petersen (Emma's father) was sustained as 2nd counselor. They then did something a little unique that made a lot of sense, but I was so impressed that the stake presidency was able to act so quickly. They released as a group (not individually at all) every high priest leader and EQ presidency currently serving. They then went by ward and had all the men stand up and sustain an EQ president in each ward. Our HP group leader, Henrik Bryder is the new EQ president in our ward. I did not recognize names for the other wards so I don't know how much change this represents and where they were serving before. They were going to be set apart right after the meeting. Henrik mentioned in our discussion Saturday night, that all the releases were done both by phone and in person, so they didn't need to get everyone to come in to accomplish all these changes. I suspect that this week, they will be working on the EQ counselors, who can be called and set apart by high councilors this coming Sunday.
We mentioned that we had an unexpected opportunity to bare our testimonies during Zone Conference. That has made me think often about the last 2 years. There are so many experiences, friends and memories. We know that it will never be repeated and we likely will not cross paths with many of these people again. I have come to know that the saints here are as good as anywhere in the church. They are faithful, trusting and obedient. They are excellent leaders. They love the Lord and try to share the gospel as well or better than we do. They have accepted us into their lives and sometimes into their homes, even knowing that we will pass on and some other couple will take our place. I wonder if I wouldn't become a little hardened, have a shell around me with so many American couples passing through, so that I wouldn't get too close and thereby be hurt repeatedly, by them leaving. I don't detect those feelings among the members here at all, however. They are so gracious and kind to us.
Karlee Marquardt had a major oral exam Monday this week to end the semester and she asked me for a priesthood blessing Sunday night to help her anxiety over it. It is a pleasure to serve these kids and I was happy to do so. President Nelson's conference talk about using the authority of the priesthood to bless someone and not just saying a prayer was on my mind. I am grateful to have an opportunity so close to conference to exercise my priesthood and authority in that manner and I hope I blessed her with what she needs as well as with the blessings the Lord wanted her to have. It was a special moment I think for the 3 of us and built a bond that will strengthen her. She told us that this trip to Denmark has been life changing for her and she never imagined she could have such a good time and make so many friends in a foreign country. She lives for Mondays and Thursdays when she can be at the Center with the YSA. We hope that all the YSA feel that way: welcomed, loved and blessed with opportunities to learn the gospel among friends and grow their testimonies and be strengthened by each other. We have seen our 17-year-olds blossom from hesitant, shy, not being sure they want to do this Institute thing, to loving the experience of participating each week. Many have prepared themselves for missions and are now serving or are preparing to go. That is a highlight of my mission.
Love, Dad.
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