SENIOR CONFERENCE

Each summer the mission holds a 2-day conference just for the Seniors.   It is a time to meet new couples, renew acquaintances and get some training by the president.  Since we just received 3 new couples, we decided July would be a good month for the conference.  My first question was, "So, who is in charge of this?"  Well......good question.  No one seemed to know the answer, but had a lot of good advice from last year.  Long story short and by process of elimination, (couples too new, couples too far away, couples out of town ) we won the honor.  Our first plan was to get on a cruise ship to Norway and stay two nights.  Lots of space there for conferencing.  Lovely meals.  Relaxing. The mission president's response:  "Great idea.  But you better buy one-way tickets."  Taking that as a "no," we came up with an alternate plan.

The first day was play day.  We met and drove to Kronbørg Slot in Helsingør to tour the castle and catch short scenes from Shakespear's Hamlet.  This castle is know as Hamlet's Castle or Elsinore, because it is believed that Shakespeare used Kronbørg as the setting for his play.  Hamlet, if you recall, is  the Prince of Denmark.  Well, for the 400th anniversary of Hamlet, the castle celebrated by producing short scenes in the very rooms where they took place in the play.  Duels,  murders (half the cast dies) a crazed queen and even a ghost.   Between scenes, the actors strolled about and interacted with the tourists. Here is our favorite:  Polonious.   True to form, he's self-absorbed, long winded and comical - like the kind of dad you don't want your friends to meet.  He was appalled at our slaughter of the Queen's own English and tried coaching us with no success.  Funny guy. Booming voice.

Forslunds, Polonious, Buxtons

We strolled around and caught whatever scenes we could.  The times were posted, but some overlapped.

Confrontation in the King's Apartments

Halmet's mother meeting her demise with a drop of poison in her wine

We climbed  the tower ( the Danes do love their circular stairs) and took a picture with our backs toward Sweden.  After weeks of rain, the weather actually cooperated for us.

Kronbørg Slot from the roof

Tunnels under Kronbørg

We took the President down in the maize of tunnels to see Holgar Dansk.  It was so dark in one stretch that he hit his head on a low doorway.  Ouch.  Apparently, the soldiers were quartered underground in caverns which open up from the tunnels you see below.  Hardly any light and the floors are not cobble-stones, but ankle-breaking rocks.

The legend is that someday Holgar Dansk is to wake and rescue Denmark

We stayed  until the castle doors closed, then walked  to a Chinese Buffet and stuffed ourselves full of sushi and shrimp, and pretty much cancelled out any calories we burned climbing up and down castle steps.

The next day, we ate breakfast and held meetings until lunchtime.  The good news was that there is a handy-dandy conference room in our apartment complex just two doors from us.  The bad news:  it was way too easy to talk ourselves into making the food for both meals.  No one wanted to haul catered food from miles away.  Marathon cooking  after the castle trip, but lots of help.

Much to President O'Bryant's surprise, senior missionaries are not given training in the MTC on how to interact with young missionaries.  So we talked about big things like, "Do not mother too much or a missionary will leave the mission still needing a mother," and "Don't be too quick to solve their problems.  Let them figure it out by going to the Lord," and "Don't give counsel opposite from the President and APs even if you think missions back in your day did things better,"  and "Marriage after a mission should be on the Lord's timetable, not some arbitrary time period suggested by you."   We also talked about little things like dignified hand shakes (one hand) and calling them Elder and Sister instead of  'you guys'...... guilty.

We also received inspired council about what we are "becoming"  as missionaries.  We get so tied up in "doing" that we quit "becoming."  It is ultimately what we become, not what we do that will exalt us.  Here's a good thought:  we are all like Peter - we start out a little rough but can grow to become strong witnesses.  We should see all missionaries and ourselves as the Lord saw Peter.  Remember he was named Peter the Rock early in his ministry and grew into that name.

And a final thought:  "A testimony of Christ has the power to remove fear and change the world."  We need that today, don't we?

Ended with a temple session and a picture on the temple steps.  Couples left to right (new couples in bold):

President and Sister O'Bryant, Elder and Sister Michaelsen (Iceland), us, Elder Bryner (behind us) front: Elder and Sister Ottley, back:  Elder and Sister Shurtliff; front:  Sister Johnson (Bornholm, husband not here) middle behind her:  Elder and Sister Larsen, back: Elder and Sister Yates.  Front: Sister Warnsdorf (husband not here), middle:  Elder and Sister Brookes, back right:  Elder and Sister Forslund.  The Shepherds from Iceland were also not here.