LAST GASP BEFORE WINTER WITH KENDELL AND RUTH

Fall has plunked itself down with a thud.  It came suddenly after summer fizzled and left with hardly a whimper.  Shy as a wall-flower, summer never really tried to be friendly.  I kept asking everyone when it would arrive - all through June, July and August I wondered.  "Well," everyone stalled.  "You just never know."  I'll say!  NEVER being the key word here.  A few sunny days masquerading as summer in August does not count.  A smattering of a few warm weeks in September does not count.    Stingy Season.  One thing I worried about was our final visitors of the year:  Kendell and Ruth.  They scheduled their trip for the last of September and the first of October.  With summer so fickle, I just prayed the weather would hold until they came.  We were already fighting a few tourist-type downers:  1. Tivoli closed for the season  2.  Temple closed for fall break  3. Church cancelled because of General Conference  (we love GC, but wanted them to see our branch)  4.  Days shorter  5.   Visiting hours for tourists sites reduced.  So I was a little worried that they would not have enough to see.

Well.  not to worry.  Kendell and Ruth are ideal tourists.  Curious as cats, they scoured the travel books and poured over the maps, looking for out-of-the-way places to visit and ways to minimize travel and maximize sight-seeing.  They became experts on Frederick the 4th and Christian the 5th and read every historical word in the museums.  They knew far more that we, and ended up educating us!  Cool.  And the weather was miraculously cooperative!

We try to have all our visitors see some things that the others do not.  So in keeping with that, we visited Grundtvigs Kirke here in Copenhagen.  This massive cathedral, made entirely of bricks, is not old, but styled with  a classic combination of medieval battlements, Gothic pillars and pointed arches. Simplicity.  Dizzying heights.  Light spilling in from the high windows making the ordinary, yellow brick walls look glossy.  I don't know how many bricks were used, but one solid pillar contains 30,000 - the most bricks used in any one building in Denmark.

We did all the basic touristy things and then Kendell and Ruth went out on their own.  Went to Sweden on a ferry,  poked around Copenhagen's warren of streets,  and even rode bikes.  Brave souls.  

L-R  Hans Christian Andersen's home street,  Fredericksberg Slot,  Nyhavn,  Christianborg.

Selfie stick,  people.  I want one. They snapped this gorgeous roof-topped pano of the city from a church tower.

As for Danish food:  Kendell and Ruth loved the smørresbrød.  So Danish.  The restaurant below is famous for their open faced sandwiches.  Yes, we  they had liver....... more than once!

L-R Baltic Sea at Stevns Klint, Rosenborg Slot, Carl Bloch paintings at Frederiksberg

We went over the Big Belt to Fuenen and Ruth found her ancestral church.  She was really exited about that.  We went to Odense and strolled down the street where H.C. Andersen was born.  (Famous fairy tale guy here.)  Stuccoed houses with roses climbing the walls.  Charming.  

On one excursion we found a Halloween shop and even though Halloween is not huge here yet, this shop had all the good stuff.

On Sunday we went to our version of General Conference: a  mixture of recorded and live sessions at really strange times.  The mission president and a good group of missionaries met for conference and ate chili dogs provided by the senior couples.  It was wonderful to watch conference with family and hear the inspired words from inspired men and women.  Conference uplifts and boosts lagging spirits and helps keep us focused on the important things in life.  Facebook had a flood of quotes and praises about Women's Conference and the Saturday Sessions so anticipation was high here, and we were not disappointed.  All too soon,  Kendell and Ruth had to return home,  but we were so glad they came and loved having them.  

ANCESTOR CHURCHES AND FRIENDS

One of the unique things about living in Denmark is that we can actually go find the places where our ancestors attended church.  The churches were called parishes and almost every village had one. These remarkable buildings, cherished by the locals, are well-tended and preserved at great expense today.  And, generally stay open so you can wander around inside.  In order to find your church, you must know the county and the town of your ancestor.  In the states, records are kept in the counties, so the name of your county is all you need.  Just knowing a county name won't help you here,  and I'll show you why.

This is a map of Denmark and all the counties.  Look for Maribo, bottom right.  My Christensen line came from this county.  (Københavns on the far right is where Copenhagen sits.)

Map of Denmark

Below is a detailed map of Maribo County and all its little parishes.  Yes.  There are 109 and yes, most of them have their own parish church with their own records.   You will notice Stokkemarke - the home parish of some of my Christensen ancestors.

Maribo County with Stokkemarke Parish marked green

So here is the good news and the bad news:    If you know the name of the Parish and the county of your ancestors, you are in business, because their church records are marvelous and date back into the 1600's.  The bad news is that if you have a county where an ancestor lived, but don't know the name of the parish, it's almost impossible to research 109 parishes hoping to get lucky and find your people. Stab in the dark, since most records are not indexed.  Families didn't move around too much, so once you find them, you can do quite a lot of research.  Most parishes have on-line images of their original church books.  No index.  (The trick is reading the old Danish script.) 

So, while friends Doug and Claudia Larsen were visiting (we had so much fun!), we decided to take a drive and find Doug's and our ancestral churches.  We were actually close enough to find both in a day.  Below is a picture of the Stokkemarke Church, parish of the first Christensens to come to America.  

Stokemarke Kirke

Stokkemarke Kirke Cemetery

The picture above is the grounds - actually a graveyard surrounding the church.  Beautiful, manicured graves sites - often bordered with clipped hedges, are found outside literally every church in Denmark.   You will not find your ancestor's graves here though, because the old graves were removed long ago.  In Denmark, you  pay a grave fee and have to help with the upkeep to maintain the site, and over the years, neglected graves were given to someone else. Sometimes you see old, removed  headstones lined up along the fence.  You rarely find a grave dated earlier than the late 1800's, even though the churches are much older.

Arriving and Departing a Town.  Efficient.

Ancestral church of the Larsen family

Both churches were unfortunately closed, but we are nothing if not resourceful.  Doug had a selfie-stick.  I wish I had taken a picture of him window-peeking with his camera.

Doug and Claudia were here for about 10 days, so had a lot of time to take in all the sites and not be too rushed.  We escorted them to a few things and they did a lot on their own.  They got pretty good at figuring out their route amid the myriad of confusing streets here. Claudia is a natural navigator. Literally has a map in her head.

Canal Boat Tour.  They had absolutely fabulous weather while here.  The best weather of the entire summer.
Nary a drop of rain.  No wind.  No chilly humidity. 

Danish Pastry.  A must-try.  In the parking lot of the national museum, Frederiksberg Castle.

We had plenty of time with them to visit a Frilandmuseet.  There are several of these open-air museums in Denmark.  The one in Lyngby contains virtually every kind of Danish country dwelling imaginable.  The buildings (over 100) have been relocated to the museum from all over Denmark and are examples of rural architecture from cottages to grand manor houses, furnished and decorated in keeping with the period in which they were built.  It takes a full day to see it all because they are arranged into 40 groups with lots of walking in between.

You can see everything from windmills to fishermen's cottages to manor houses.

This architectural style is called half-timbered.  You see it all over Denmark.  Note the thatched roof.  Thatched roofs are still very common in the rural areas.
I think it is a law that these must be preserved - if you have one you do not replace it  with tile.

One of the older dwellings.  They arranged their farm buildings into a square-shape with cobble-stoned courtyards, often with a well in the center.  The animals and farm equipment were kept inside in attached buildings.  Handy for the long, cold winters.  Kitchens had huge stone ovens, but not much work space.

A room for lace work.  You can see the bobbins on the pillows.  The glass balls were arranged around the room to catch the candle-light and make the room brighter.  I cannot imagine doing hand work in these dark little rooms in the winter!

Claudia and I trooped through most of the houses.  The men kept disappearing to find the nearest bench or stone wall.

We poked around and they found parking spots.

We also had a visit from the Aagards - some temple friends touring Scandinavia.  It was wonderful to see them and the Larsens!  We hope they will look back with fond memories from this beautiful land. We loved sharing Denmark with them.

MORE VISITORS FROM HOME

We were so pleased when Jordan and Emily decided at almost the last minute to come visit.  Airline prices dipped suddenly and they snapped up tickets.  And Shayna and Adeline (granddaughter, yeah!!!) were able to coordinate with Jor and decided to come too. Schedules matched, timing matched and with a few key strokes on the internet all was arranged.    Our visitors  had planned a tricky itinerary which involved Utahans and Texans meeting in New York,

Just a little tired!

sharing a 7 hour lay-over, then flying to Copenhagen via  Dublin, Ireland (overnight stay plus tour).   Complicated, but do-able on a normal day.  But normal flew out the window when  the Delta hub went down and people and planes all over the world were backed up like a Los Angeles freeway on a Friday.  Just hours before departure time.  Could things  be worse?  Well, yes they could. Shayna discovered the night before leaving that Addie's passport had expired.  To make a long story short, miracles occurred.  Did you know that if you can find some place open to take your passport picture in the dead of night,  (the hardest part) you can obtain a passport in person in Dallas?   In hours?  And Jordan was actually able to get on an earlier flight;  Shayna a later one, and both ended up in New York in time to catch their flight to Ireland.  All was good.  Hurrahs.  Just one last catch:  most of Shayna's luggage booked a different trip.  A 5-day trip.  And not to Denmark.  We adjusted.

They wanted to see it all, so we got right to work!  The first day they fell in love with Danish hot dogs.  They are called pølser and you get the best ones at little wagons on the street.  Just pick your sausage, add dried onions, pickled onions, relish, mustard, ketchup and remoulade (a peculiar Danish condiment) and tuck in.  Served on a napkin.  Kind of sloppy, but yummy.

This picture was actually taken by Kendell on a later visit, but you get the idea.  Kendell and Ruth fell in love with a different Danish dish.  Future post.

We tried to show each set of visitors a little something different.  On a trip down the coast to Stevn´s Klint, we detoured and found an unusual Danish church.  I love the churches in Denmark.  Each one is unique on the inside, but most are generally white-washed or red brick on the outside.  But this one was unusual:  yellow- that unique mustard color found on old houses here.

This wonderful church and cemetery was found in Gammel Havdrup.

Every churchyard has a cemetery, manicured and lovely.

Seeing and playing in the freezing Baltic Seat at the Klint (cliff) is always a big hit!

Lovely harbor village, Rødvig

On our way back, we found a cute little couple hitch-hiking.  Or rather, they found us.  They had docked a boat, then walked 12 km along the coast to Stevn's Klint and needed a ride back to their boat. Their crew mates were getting worried.  Since we had a van, we stuffed them in with us.  As a result, we found a cute little fishing village, toured the harbor, and climbed aboard our new friends' sailing boat.  What a way to travel Europe!  They were from Germany and were crusing the coast.

This little cutie came all the way with her mom.  We loved having her and introducing her to her ancestor's homeland.

We saw all the castles and  took bunches of pictures.  Jor arrived with a  selfie-stick and it worked wonders, but you can't use them inside the museums.  Museum people are afraid you will stumble into  prized artifacts and break them.  One does tend to get a little silly  with selfies.

Adeline and Grandpa at Frederiksberg Slot garden.

Christiansborg palace where the current Queen holds receptions - hence the cute shoe covers.  These relatively new tapestries tell the whole history of Denmark.  Fabulous.

Another stop was Christiansborg .  I had never been to this one.  This is where the parliament meets currently, and formal receptions are held in majestic rooms. 

Jordan answering the phone in the copper-potted kitchen.  The butler wanted the soup brought up NOW!
And the royal horses having baths.

You can also visit the kitchens (not in use now, but full of copper pots.  Oh, the copper!)  and the stables,  Emily's favorite part.  The horses get the royal treatment and live in marble stalls.  Yeah.

Besides the Fish Kiss Spa, Adeline and the crew couldn't wait to get to Tivoli.  Tivoli is a very compact amusement park with beautiful flower gardens and restaurants and rides.  One of the rides pulls so many G's that you can't scream.  Of course they tried it.  But, Shayna freaked out most on the sky swings.   Grandpa and I just held the popcorn and said, "Have at it."

Even super moms and dads need a break.  So glad they could come and have a little vacation.

One evening this crew joined us for the missionary couples monthly dinner at the Knudsens.  You know, the place where we had kangaroo.  They met our office friends and mission friends and had an authentic Danish meal crowded  in a tiny Danish apartment.   Another evening we went to the temple where Adeline and Jordan did baptisms for the dead.  Addie and Jor were able to perform baptisms for some of our ancestors born here in the 1800's.  Our family also attended the branch where we proudly introduced them to as many as possible.

Thank goodness the Ortman clothes showed up in time for church.

After sacrament meeting we had a special experience with our family.  We drove to the mission office where Elder Buxton was set apart as the interim Mission President by Elder Sabin (from the Area Presidency in Germany)  and President O'Bryant.  After that,  President O'Bryant was given a priesthood blessing since he was leaving within a few days to go to Salt Lake for a heart procedure.  It was wonderful to see my two men worthy to stand in and assist.  What a great blessing for all of us.

And, we got the following announcement a month early:

We'll be home in time for the big event!!!!  So excited.  It was hard to see our visitors go, but school was starting soon.  Love having family visit and sharing Denmark with them!

DESTINATION ICELAND

Iceland is one of those places which was never on my bucket list of countries to see.  Not even remotely. I am just not enamored with...... well, ice and cold and anything resembling either.  Our Mission President goes once every 6 weeks, at least, because after all, it is part of The Danish Copenhagen Mission and we have 2 couples and 8 elders serving there.  Iceland Elders are actually called to serve in Iceland, learn Icelandic at the MTC, and even stay there an extra 2 weeks  because the language is so difficult.  We have recently had to send a couple of elders to Iceland on temporary emergency transfers and the Danish elders line up to go.  Beats me.  And, with the Icelandic soccer team being so popular in the Olympics, and good advertising and marketing, Iceland has become THE VACATION DESTINATION.  Did you know that they have free layovers for up to 4 days with Icelandic Air?    So hop off the plane in Reykjavik, stay a few days, and hop back on and finish your trip.   Everyone here asks, "Have you been?" or "When are are you going?"  Pressure.

So, armed with brochures, travel guides, maps and information from the Brookes and Anissa (took advantage of the lay-over in May), we decided to take the plunge and bought tickets for July.  My thinking was that Icelandic weather in the dead of summer can't be too bad?  Surely?  How cold can it be in July?  Can I just say that it was a good thing I took a coat........... and an umbrella.

Iceland is not very close, considering.  It is a 5- hour flight through two time zones.  But, other than the cold, rainy weather, I was quite pleasantly surprised.  Things are different there.  For starters, Reykjavik is not an old European city like Copenhagen.  It is a newer, sprawling town, with houses of startling colors and surprisingly flat-topped roofs, lined up on sloping streets.  The sharp smell of the sea saturates the air.  The Shephards, a record-preservation couple from Springville, UT picked us up at the airport and squired us around the city. Nice people.

City of Reykjavik as seen from the tower of the Cathedral shown below.

Hallsgrimskirkja 

The Reykjavik Cathedral (Hallsgrimskirkja Church), the main landmark in the city, sits atop one of the small hills within the city and can be seen from almost anywhere. It is massive and was inspired by the fascinating shapes and patterns formed when lava cools into blocks of basalt rock.  Inside is a humongous pipe organ and outside a statue of Leifur Eirikkson.  It is believed that Eirikkson discovered America 500 years before Columbus. We stayed in a cute little inn, just 100 yards from this beautiful building.

You can't beat Iceland for bizarre and fascinating landscapes.  The place is literally lava rock, spongy moss, waterfalls and glaciers with hot thermal vents thrown in for good measure.  Geothermal fields dot the landscape with miles of white pipe zig-zagging across the landscape and along the highways into the cities.  Houses in Iceland are heated by pumping this hot water directly from the geothermal fields to your radiator.  The water is so hot, that cold water has to be added and then, residents keep windows open in the winter so the heat doesn't suffocate them.  Of course, hot water from the tap is REALLY hot and has a faint sulfur smell. Thankfully, cold water is really cold and delicious.

Geothermal  steam vents

First picture shows  a huge steam vent.  These spout off everywhere.  The picture just above shows the hot water pipes zig-zagging across the hills.  This pattern keeps the pipes from breaking during earthquakes.  You can see the "spongy" moss -covered lava in the foreground.  Many areas are off-limits for walking because this moss takes a thousand years to form and one step ruins it.  BIG fines if you are caught traipsing around the moss.

Since we will probably never return to Iceland again, we took the plunge and did two tours.  The first was an 8-hour guided tour along the southern coast and was called The Golden Circle Tour. Massive tectonic plates from the east and west meet here amid huge waterfalls and rings of ragged rocks. (þingvellir National Park)  Everything was soooooo green.

The rocks jutting up beyond  the black sand shore are called The Three Sisters

The Golden Circle Tour

Our second tour was a bit more grueling.  Fourteen hours on a small bus.  Our very Scottish guide was superb -  entertaining, funny and supremely knowledgeable about all things Icelandic.  He knew everything from the peculiar gait of Icelandic horses to the stories and fables of the trolls who live in the hills.  He chatted for about 13 of the 14 hours.  We stopped at many places and trooped about, then climbed back in the bus, wet and dripping.   I swear, the humidity on that bus was over 100 percent.  Surely. We stopped for lunch and had lamb stew - a very popular food.  One highlight was the Jökulsarlon Glacier and bay where we got up close and personal in an amphibious boat.

Jökulsarlon Glacier and bay 

Because the ground is volcanic with a thin layer of soil you can't dig 6 feet down.  So the graves sit above gound with a light covering of soil.

The waterfall on the top right is the inspiration for the Cathedral in Reykjavik.  (The water fall is in Sveitarfelagið Hornafjöður.)  You can see how the basalt was formed into abrupt, shingled chunks of rock when the lava cooled.   The whole cathedral was constructed to mimic the rocks around the waterfall and the shape of the waterfall itself.  Both are stunning. I can see why tourists want to visit this most unusual country.

On Sunday , the Elders picked us up and took us to Selfoss, a small town with a tiny branch of the church outside Reykjavik.  We were the speakers for sacrament meeting and enjoyed meeting the Icelandic Saints in this small, cold corner of the world.  We even have 2 Elders in the north in Akureyri, located about 49 km from the Arctic Circle where they go for months in the winter without having the sun rise above the mountains.  The Akureyri Elders have had several baptisms this summer.  They are so excited with the work. The Elders who serve here absolutely love the people and the country. When they fly to Copenhagen for meetings, they cannot wait to return.  The love of the people and their homeland seems to be universal with missionaries in the church.  It is a simple truth.  You love those you serve.

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.....