TRANSFERS AND TRIFLE

We had a busy week with 8 missionaries leaving and 14 elders arriving.  Ideally, Church Travel books the departures so that you can take a batch to the airport, then greet the group coming in without much wait.  Well, that's the plan, unless flights are delayed in Chicago and 14 green missionaries end up sitting all day at Heathrow in London.  And since the group is big, they have to be booked on two different flights and straggle in all evening long. The itinerary at the mission office goes out the window and you end up with lots of food to give away. Never fear. Missionaries in Copenhagen for transfers and new elder pick-ups get the word and Viola! Thirty open-faced sandwiches and pastry disappear in seconds.  So much for introducing new missionaries to their first Danish food.  The menu for day 2 (new missionary orientation) is pizza.  So sorry.

There are 5 elders you cannot see.  And yes, they are a little punchy.  Transfer day is a little like Christmas:  excitement and suspense with just a little dread thrown in.

So, we had to cram two day's activities into one.  By afternoon, the new elders were glassy-eyed and by evening, probably fell asleep playing ping-pong.  (The mission president's  attempt to keep them awake all day.) We do get some sharp ones in the mission,  and this is an exceptional bunch.  The new Elders  are blessed with excellent, dedicated trainers (even though the picture might shed some doubt.)  We expect great things. 

                                                             

We love being invited into a Dane's home for dinner.  Let me introduce you to the Knudsens.  Sister Knudsen was a missionary in Denmark years ago and has a fondness for the couple missionaries in the stake.  She and her husband invite us all to dinner each month.  Now this is not just any dinner.  He is a master cook and really puts on a feast for us. They have this tiny apartment just across the street from the S-tog (train) stop.  Many of the couples come by train.  Just hop off, go across the street, up one story,  and here you are.

The train stops here, then slowly rolls pass  so everyone can eye-ball each other.  This picture is taken through the glass window, so you can see the little patio and the reflections in the window.  I like sitting right here in front of the window.  Yes indeedy. It's a free show.

Arriving, we pile our shoes (a courtesy in Denmark) in the tiny entry and squeeze past bodies to lay coats on the Knudsen´s bed.  One person at a time.  The bedroom adjoins the entry hall (cubicle?) and there must be all of 6 inches to maneuver between the bed and the wall.  Off the entry is the midget, galley kitchen where two people cooking is too many.  The dining tables barely fit into the dining/living room and you sidle sideways to get to your seat.  The room is full of  Danish bric-a-brac:  a glass cup collection in a tiny cupboard, old relatives posing on the walls next to an antique harbour hatchet, and of course, books and more books. I've not been in a home yet without seeing some sort of library.  Potted plants and orchids perch on window sills and in corners and a white buffet full of serving pieces anchors one end.  The table setting is beautifully candle-lit and everyone enjoys catching up for the month.  And the food:  a whole leaf lettuce salad with a creamy dressing,  crispy roast beef, Danish potatoes with gravy and steamed green beans.  Dessert is an Apple Cake Trifle topped with stiff, unsweetened whipped cream the way the Danes like it.  This is one recipe I am bringing home.  

Sister Knudsen is in the pink sweater at the top.  I asked her if she liked the convenience of being so close to a train stop and she said, "Yes, but I generally ride my bike."   Really.

The man on the left is President Williams, the Temple President.  The other couple is our new neighbors from Alborg who are serving a 3-month calling in the temple as well.  The Rovn-Peterson's. Lovely people.  She helps me with Danish genealogy.

So full we can hardly move, we try to get our shoes on to leave.  Have you ever seen 15 people struggling to put shoes on in a 3 x 5 ft. space?  It's like playing Twister, but having to tug on shoes and boots, besides twisting and balancing to avoid all the other shoes on the floor.  The good thing is that if you toppled over, you'd hit a wall before the floor.  It gives me the giggles watching every time.  I love going to these dinners and so appreciate the good food and good company.  The Danes are such generous people.

MISSIONARIES AND PUMPKINS

We had a fairly slow week.  I had days with oh, maybe two things I had to do.  Yes, we are finally getting control of our life at the office.  Feast or Famine it seems.  It will all change Tuesday when 14 new, fresh, Christopher-like missionaries arrive.  I want to hug them all and pretend they are him. I have made binders for them and readied their paperwork.  We will copy each passport and driver's license, check contact information, let them e-mail home, and feed them.  They will also get an interview by President O'Bryant and go out street contacting.  They will be falling asleep in their soup by evening.  After a night at the president's home, they will be back for orientation, then shipped out to their new areas. The AP's have been working on transfers and have bought tickets for all the criss-crossing of elders and trainers by train and ferry through-out Denmark.  Took them three days to figure it all out.  Transfer day is like Christmas. Excitement, suspense and tension.  Some in the area find an excuse to come into the office and sneak a peek at the transfer board............which is never updated until everyone is re-assigned.   Nice try!   It is truly amazing how things seem to work out with lots of prayer on the part of the mission leadership.  I'm impressed at how they keep so positive and upbeat and eager with the very low baptism rate here, but in every newsletter, they all have "miracle stories" to report of their work.  

So. We do stay busy in our little branch.  This is Relief Society work meeting.  I thought I would post a picture of the Pumpkin Parade.  Halloween is really not a thing here in Denmark, but is slowly gaining traction.  These ladies are such good sports.  Lots of laughter and Danish chit-chat as we carved and scraped and pulled out the stringy, slimy innards.  Gah...    The UTAH sweatshirt owner is a Dane.  ??  Another misisonary, Sister Ottley is standing second from the right.  The Ottleys are Records Preservation Missionaries.  They are from Kenniwick, WA and I am glad she speaks English.  Can you guess which one is the ballerina?  Bishop's wife is second from left in back.  Sister Olsen. (Mother of the ballerina)

Our ballerina is center front.  Kristina.   Prima Donna for the Copenhagen Ballet a few years back.  Now has two cute little boys and still dances regularly.

THE PATH IS NOT ALWAYS GREENER.........

We really enjoyed conference last weekend and have been trying to listen to the last session this week.  Conference here, live, started at 6 in the evening, so it was a little different than home.  We tuned in on the internet and loved the messages we heard.  We were  so sad to see our prophet's strength ebb because he has always seemed so strong.  I can't help but think of the weight of the world he must carry on his shoulders, and especially know he agonizes over members like those who come to conference to voice their non-support.  We can support him and lift him best by lifting those around us and by living the best we know how.  One can see how he has literally worn out his life in service.  I hope he is with us next April.

WHERE I WALK

We live where you see the red tab.
Several mornings a week, I slip outside to walk around the lakes which back our apartment building.  The lakes are in blue on the map and I don't always go around all of them, but at least three so I can see the swans. 

The path from our kitchen window.  We live on the 2nd story,  but the patio is on ground level.  People walk and talk and run and bike early 'til late.

I can't get to the path from the patio, so I skirt the side of our building and climb shallow, cobbled steps to get on the walking path which circles 5 lakes; separated  by busy streets.  Bikers and runners each own a path and you risk your life if you cross over without looking behind you.  These people are serious about their work-outs.  And, they don't warn you.

The  large vertical tiles on the left are for bikers who don't want to bump their bikes down the shallow steps on the right..

Walkers and runners beware

 As I walk, a hedge brushes my left shoulder and pigeons wait until the last minute to rocket from my feet to the chimney tops. Stately brick homes peek out behind their shrubbery and once in while the path widens into a small, cobbled rest area with benches.  

I would sit, but am generally in a hurry to get to the office.

White and grey swans accompany me as I walk; sometimes many, sometimes few.  Last week, a pen (female) and her cygnets lifted off behind some trailing willows and startled me.  It took me a minute to figure out what caused the muffled, rhythmic, thrumming sound.  They flew low and sailed into the next lake. It also solved a mystery about how the swans were there one day and gone the next. Who knew. 

Sometimes they tuck their head and necks under their wings and float and snooze, and sometimes they dive for food with their backside in the air and their little black feet dangling down to the water. 
 Comical.  And they all do it together.  Apparently, everyone gets the memo at the same time here.

As I cross a busy intersection to get to the next lake, the sky lightens in the east, back-lighting the clouds and silhouetting the city roofscapes behind a blush of pink: church spires, domes and flat roofs ripple in the water.  Jet trails pencil the sky and flocks of black birds wheel in the air.  If I'm lucky, church bells peal as if to welcome the day.

I love the ripples in the water as the wind picks up right before sunrise.

By the time I circle around, the sky loses its blush and the sun brushes the building fronts with light; the wind dies, the ripples flatten, and the lakes become glassy.

The spire you see is the Catholic Church whose bells ring all day.  The sliced tube-like building is a planetarium.  We look directly across at it from our dining windows.

Can I add that this dangerous moat is 10 to 12 inches deep.  ??

It's not quite the same as climbing toward the mountains in Mendon with dear friends, ............but, I will be sad if it gets too chilly to walk.

OFFICE ANTICS

The winner of the most unusual piece of mail is..............Morty.   The Moose.  Yes, Morty came in the mail just like you see him here.  The postage was stuck on the top and the address squeezed on the side.  How he got to Copenhagen in one piece and unsmeared and readable is a big mystery.  The postman, grinning from ear to ear, proudly plopped him on my desk.   Messages are scribbled on every centimeter, even the bottoms of the hoofs. The big, block "Y" on the chest betrays the family's loyalties. We were really tempted to write "Go Aggies" across the nose.  Really tempted.  Who would know?

Morty the Moose

The AP's are regular visitors to our little office.  Elder Reimschussel and Elder Mogensen.  We love these two loyal, hardworking and faithful servants. But they are not perfect;  sometimes they FORGET stuff.    On this day, they were driving to Jylland for zone conference - a three hour drive;  their car loaded with teaching materials, clothing, and loads of mail packages and supplies for the missionaries.  This picture was taken after the FOURTH return to the office, as proof that they were finally on their way..........and then they came back.

They look a little sheepish don't they? You should have seen them when they came back the FIFTH time.

The Fredericksberg sisters wander in from time to time offering to help and looking for treats.  This day we invited them to come for lunch.  Would you believe there is a fabulous, tempting, way-too-near, pizza shop almost next door?  They have this chicken pesto pizza..............oh my.   Sidenote: These girls can put away the food.  We are loosing almost all these sisters in January and February. They are fabulous missionaries.

Sister Reed ( front), Sister Harrison (from Logan), Sister Mosely  (top left) and Sister Dunn (top right.)