Have you ever thought
about the noise around you? When I was a
little girl, I loved to wake up to a morning when the world around me had been
covered with a thick blanket of snow. I
knew before I ever opened my eyes because of the sounds, or lack of them.
The noise here in Copenhagen is different than other place I
have been in. It is obviously a large
city, with traffic and people everywhere.
But the noises are muffled and it is quiet. When you go in stores and restaurants you
don’t hear music blasting louder than the conversations. When you go to bed at night, there is a
stillness that perhaps I heard when we moved to Gilbert 38 years ago. I like it.
It’s not that people are quiet. When people get together they laugh and talk
and have a great time. Did you know that
Denmark is considered to be the happiest country on earth? And I think it has been judged to be that for
at least a couple of years if not more.
And there are probably great reasons why that is the case, but I
personally wonder if the peace brought by silence has something to do with it.
For those of you who
have requested more information about the brother Stan and I contacted this
week:
50 years ago, while Stan was a missionary here, he and his
companion tracted out one family and wanted to return and visit. They returned many times and found no one at
home and finally gave up. One day while
they were out working, both missionaries had a very strong impression to go
back to this family. They did…the family
was home…..they were golden (they were ready for the gospel) so the
missionaries taught them. Unfortunately,
Stan had to go home just a couple of weeks before they were baptized.
He received a couple of beautiful and spiritual letters from
the wife – Sister Johannessen, and then lost track of them. One of his fondest wishes was to find them
again and find that they were still strong and active in the gospel. His wish came true this week…with a bit of a
twist.
The husband and wife divorced a few years after their baptism, and one of
their sons died. Each remarried. Their son didn’t stay active, but the
daughter married an LDS and raised an active family and so far, has sent two of
their children on missions. Bro.
Johannessen and his second wife are active and happy. Sis. Johannessen is not active.
Stan still has the letters she wrote to him all those years
ago, and is hoping that we can find her and give her those letters. He wants to ask her if she can remember how
she felt back then, and then to reassure her that she can feel that way again.
Well that is still wonderful news to find some of the family still strong in the gospel and the twist gives you some additional goals to work on while you're there!
ReplyDeleteThat is such an interesting thing for me to think about the "white noise" in Denmark. There are 2 restaurants here in AZ that we avoid solely because their music is too loud--the food is excellent! While I'm thinking about it, I can't think of a single store or restaurant that does not have background music. I wonder why. Noise pollution and lack of peace. I like your musings!