SUMMER HOUSE and GOODBYES

The city locals have a very Danish solution to bring a little "summer country living" into their apartment dwelling lives.  You know,  a retreat, a get-away, a place to hang out in the summer, a reprieve from the noise and traffic of the city.   They call it a Summer House.  Now, you might think this is not a unique idea.  Many people in the USA have cabins, campers and RV's which they flock to in the summer for a way to escape the summer heat  and yard work.  Well, this is the same, but different.  Our friends, the Warnsdorf's have talked about their little summer house and how they love to go and get away.  Often they go for the afternoon or for a day, and invite friends for dinner.  She told me that it was near a lake and had a garden and beautiful flowers.  Country living at its best. Couldn't wait to see it.

She invited us for dinner at their summer house a week ago after we closed the office.  We picked up the Brookes, and after driving for about 5  minutes, Elder Buxton started looking for a parking spot. Not a good time to run an errand when we are already late, I thought.  He told us all to hop out, and I stared first at him and then out the window, blankly.   All I saw was a big park properly hedged  like all good Copenhagen parks.  We piled out and headed toward a smiling Elder Warnsdorf standing by a big, red gate in the hedge.  Filing through,  I realized that what I thought was a park was actually a cluster of little summer homes  screened by a tall,  green hedge.  I was totally fooled. I had driven by this place a dozen times.  We single-filed through a maze of paths between smaller hedges which separated each miniature cottage and garden.  Glad for a guide, I was lost after the first 2 corners.   There must have been at least 30 little households in this rabbit warren of paths, and yes, there was a miniature lake.   A tiny,  summer cottage village hidden right smack dab in the middle of the city! This is Danish compactness at its finest.

The Warnsdorff's Summer Cottage

After a half-dozen turns, we opened a small, private gate and saw their little home at the end of the walkway. Perennials bordered one side and grass the other.  The  yellow clapboard house had white wooden trim, and a tiny picket fence front porch with a table for dining.  Decidedly quaint and totally charming.

Front porch of the Summer Cottage

Inside, it's one summery room.  Living room and kitchen.  Light furniture.  Floral patterns on every fabric, plate and dish towel.  No bathroom and no bedroom.  REALLY.  They never stay overnight.  It is just for a day visit.  Oh, my word.  (There are charming tiny bathroom buildings outside along the paths; each shared by about 4 households who take turns cleaning.)  You would never guess you were in the city, except for a glimpse of buildings above the hedge; and near-by church bells chiming during dessert. What a fun evening.

Tiny, but fully decorated Danish style

GOOD-BYES

We did say good-bye recently to some very dear friends here. First to leave was the Johnsons.  Polly Rae and Stanley.  They were  the MLS couple on Bornholm and stayed with us every time mission business brought them to Sjælland.   What a wonderful couple!  Stan is a quite a successful artist and a student of the gospel.  He was the branch president on Bornholm.  And,  Polly can do absolutely anything. One of those high energy, has-to-keep-busy kind of women.  And that she did.  Took care of the branch members, the missionaries and every investigator with love and a happy, positive outlook.  In her younger days she rodeoed (you know the lady who rides two horses standing up), raised 9 children, and before the mission supervised fire crews in southern Utah. Yeah,  one impressive lady.  They have returned home to Parawon, Utah and we miss them.

The other couple who left last week was the Brookes.  Not only our wonderful friends, but our neighbors and Denmark exploration buddies.  Sister Brookes searched out all the cool things to see and Elder Brookes led the way.  We have done a lot of sightseeing and train riding with them.  Salt-of-the-earth type of people with generous and kind hearts.  They also attended our Branch with us.  We tried everything to get them to stay, but nope.  They had been here two years preserving records at the Frederiksberg Commune and made big friendships with all the Danish people there. Sister Brookes especially needed to get home to the grandkids.  I understand that.  They headed home to Orem, Utah after one last train ride with us.  We shall miss them.  We do miss them.

One of our last outings with the Brookes (right) and Ottleys.  Elder Ottley, true to form, was off exploring.  Jor, Em, Shay and Addie will understand.

Meeting and making new missionary friends is an added bonus of missionary service.  The Lord has sent some of the best people found in the church to us!  They become like family.

??????

It's been a very busy couple of weeks here in the mission.  Unexpected things happen when your mission president goes home for a few weeks for surgery!  I'll explain sometime.  Hope everyone had a fantastic August.....