SIGNS OF SPRING

Now here is a sure sign of spring.  Every Easter, Emily and Jordan take their children for pictures all dressed in their spring finery.  Add some bunnies and you've got spring at its best.  Couldn't resist sharing all this cuteness from across the miles.  We chatted with Shay and Tacy and their families who celebrated and worshiped together (their Easter baskets were a bit out of control, though),  saw other family activities on Facebook,  and read an e-mail from Elder Long who shared a powerful testimony from the mission field with the family.  Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Spring is struggling a bit here in Copenhagen.  The weather is a flirt.  Just as you get feeling brave and put away the winter scarves, the wind sneaks in from the north and brushes cold fingers down your neck.  The next day, with scarf firmly wrapped, you nearly suffocate from warmth.  Fickle.  The weather makes the  daffodils a tad timid:  taking their time raising their heads high enough for the cold wind to ruffle them, and hugging close to the ground for protection.  They are short, but colorful splashes of sunshine against the still-green grass.  The crocus are more brave.  There are no rules for them.  They bloom in beds, against buildings and right in the middle of the lawn if they wish.  Big puddles of purple. Cheeky.  It's like they're laughing at you.  But, we all smile indulgently and walk carefully around them anyway.

Easter means pots and bunches of blooms are back on the sidewalks.   Ramped up from winter.  Every grocery has flowers spilling out the doors onto the brick. Trays and crates of them.   Bright splashes for pots and window sills.  Every block has a florist, as well.  Or two.  More exotic blossoms lure you in to shop.  Eye candy for flower lovers.

The top picture is the grocery store just below the mission office.  The intense color of the primroses actually hurts your eyes.  They should be declared illegal.  The bottom picture is one of three floral shops on our street.  Almost every pedestrian has a bundle or pot of flowers carefully cradled to take home and plant or display in windows.

We have enjoyed our Easter here in Denmark.  It's a week-long celebration starting with Palm Sunday and ending the day after Easter Sunday.   Many business and shops are closed for most of the week.  Even the grocery stores.  And schools are closed.  You do see Easter eggs, but not like the states.  It's really a holiday from school and work.  It seemed fitting to have Easter and Fast Sunday together this year.  The testimonies were about the Savior and his atoning sacrifice for us and were truly touching. One brother in our branch was diagnosed just a month ago with terminal cancer.  He is relatively young, though his children are raised.  His testimony was strengthening, inspiring and up-lifting.  He and his wife are facing the future with determination and strength based on everything we celebrate at this season.  Lovely people.  In addition, the church web-site was a treasure trove of Easter messages and thoughts and music and brought Easter joy to this little corner of the world.  God Påske!

ROUND TOWER

Great news this week!  Kendell and Ruth have purchased tickets to come see us in September! Anissa, Courtney and Jackson, and Kenzie are coming in May!  Wahoo! We have great plans for you all. Can't wait. We have been in Denmark now nearly 7 months and are ready to see some family.  Or friends.  Or both. We are praying for safe travel and mild weather.

March is Relief Society Birthday season, and our little branch celebrated last week.  Ours was very low key - no fighting for an open night at the church, no practicing and decorating and  kitchen duty or major clean-up.   Nope.  Just Relief Society history and dessert.  We started with stories of some past General Relief Society Presidents, then moved on to favorite Relief Society memories.  The memories were as varied as the ages.  This is a small, but close knit group from 19 years to 80.  Some members told of being introduced to Relief Society as children watching their mothers help each other soon after World War II, and some are converts with memories still to be made.  No matter.   They love to get together and chat, just as Relief Society sisters have done for over 100 years.   Our testimonies and membership in the church spans the continents and years and unites us as sisters in the gospel.   But, one thing.  I'm pretty sure they never made bunches of glass grapes or bottled pineapple zucchini here.

After our little program, we had dessert.  My assignment was rolls, butter and jam.  To go along with the layer cakes, of course.  I am serious.  For dessert, first you have a dinner roll, buttered and jammed.  And then you have the cake.  In Denmark you can buy very thin (about 3/8 inch) yellow cake rounds. You layer four or five of these with fillings.  The fillings are cream based (real cream) and flavored.  One cake had a nut crust on the bottom, then 4 layers of cake alternated with fillings. Each different:  lemon cream, licorice cream (really!)  then white chocolate cream  and topped with more licorice cream.  All in the same cake.  I N T E R E S T I N G.  The Danes are crazy over their salty, black licorice.  Bleh....  But I was assured that this filling was not made with the salty, black stuff.  You just use a little liquid licorice flavoring and whipped cream. Viola. Licorice cream.   Apparently these cakes are a big tradition for the Relief Society Birthday.  I steered toward the lemon, white chocolate and strawberry cream cake. Overall,  I quite enjoyed the simplicity of the whole evening.  Clean-up time:  10 minutes flat.

We try to do a little sight seeing each weekend.  Last Saturday we visited the Round Tower, a popular spot located in the heart of Copenhagen.  An old medieval watch tower.  Fancy entry, included.

This old tower was originally built in 1642 and rises 209 meters in 7 tight spirals inside, to the top. One big ramp.  All made of brick with gothic windows on each level. The ramp floor is old, uneven brick and the inside walls are white-washed.  Apparently, this watch tower was built so that soldiers could fly down the ramp on horses to deliver news of invading enemies seen from the heights. Well, that is the story.

At the top of the ramp are shallow steps which lead to a narrow, 1-person spiral staircase ending on an observation ledge giving a 360 degree panoramic view of Copenhagen.  I love this view:  acres of red-tile  roofs, blocks of apartments, green, copper domes and modern skyscrapers all in a miss-mash of colors and shapes.  Little penciled drawings tacked to the observation fence, outline the roof-scape. with names of land-mark buildings  penciled in, so you can get your bearings in any direction.

Far below, people stream down the street, bunching and knotting, then flowing on out of sight.  It's an almost spring day with music floating up from a small park below, and little, bell-shaped flowers sprouting everywhere on the ground.

The pulpit is perched there on the left.  It is always on the side, not in the front.   The priest enters from the back. through a little archway.

Oh, and a bonus:  a little golden chapel juts from the tower out the back.  Trinitatus.  Complete with filigree- encased, gothic arches, and choirs of cherubs and angels adorning the pulpit and organ loft.  Gated wooden pews march down the center and sides, and a marble gate protects the way to the altar. Not to mention the chandeliers.  Wow.  For our visitors:  put this on your list. Something you need to see in person.

THE REST OF THE STORY

I posted a picture on Facebook last week of an Elder who lost a small wager with me.  So here is the whole story.  It went something like this:

Elder Fairbanks:  Sister Buxton, if I shoot this (holding up a ball of paper) over my back and into the garbage can over there, will you wear a piece of BYU apparel for a day?

Sister Buxton:  Hmmm........ on one condition.

Elder Fairbanks:  What's that?

Sister Buxton:  Well..... if you lose, then you have to wear a piece of USU apparel for a day.  I happen to have a brand new game-day shirt that will fit you just fine.  

Elder Fairbanks:  (Groaning)  I may regret this.  

Sister Buxton:  You realize this could be quite painful if you lose.

Elder Fairbanks:  Yeah, but  I've played a lot of basketball.  I can do this.

Now you have to understand that Elder Fairbanks is from the heart of BYU country; from a staunch, obsessive, true-blue, multi-generational BYU family.  He bleeds BYU blue.  Season tickets and BYU sports are a big deal to the Fairbanks.  I'm afraid wearing anything labeled USU would be a criminal offense to this clan.  Pictures below.  Self explanatory.

You'll notice what he was wearing under the Game Day shirt.  Just couldn't help it. Brother and Sister McEvoy - you were inspired to send this shirt to us.

The good news is that this fine Elder kept his word and wore a USU shirt all day.  And it was painful. The really bad news is that he may be disowned.  Bless.

But he did repent.  For the wager.

We have had a crazy two-weeks with zone conference, and a batch of great missionaries coming and going.  Last  week we also met Stephen, a huge man from Ghana, who was scheduled for baptism. The sisters had found him a few months ago and taught him the discussions at the church and at the president's home. He came into Copenhagen with a friend to borrow a baptismal suit from the temple, since the Gladsaxe Ward did not have a suit large enough for his big frame. 

President O'Bryant told us this miracle story:  one night at the president's home, they were discussing the Book of Mormon and the president opened a cabinet to show Stephen some old, dusty, Books of Mormon stacked in there.  He pulled one out and handed it to Stephen.  Stephen opened the Book of Mormon, paused,  and turned in amazement to the President and said, "This book is written in my language,  Twi."  The president had never heard of Twi, nor did he know that it was Stephen's native language because they had always spoken English with him.  Stephen was thrilled to be able to read something from the church in his own language.

We are so happy that Stephen has found the church.  He has all the makings of a faithful member. As so often happens with those who  commit to baptism,  he has  had his share of trials lately.  He has not been able to get a work permit or find a job in Denmark, so has had to return home.  The day we met him in the office, he had come for a blessing from the President.  He had just learned that his 3 year old daughter had been electrocuted back in Ghana.  We were so sad for him.  We know that the Lord will bless him.  The President has been in touch with his Ghana church brethren and they are waiting to welcome him into the fold.

And Stephen's friend who came with him into the office?  He is also being taught.  He is a big man as well, with a bright smile and outgoing personality.   He tried to teach me how to say Twi, the name of their language.  If you say it right, it comes out somewhere between a whistle and a spit down in your throat.  He laughed every time I tried to pronounce it.  And, this was after he tried to convince me that their language is easy to pronounce, unlike Danish.........Ha!  We are praying that he, too, will join the church.