Cause to Rejoice

A year and a day ago, I spent time with my Allen grandchildren while their parents were celebrating their anniversary.  We fixed dinner for the missionaries!  What a sweet memory and an interesting thing to think about.

Tomorrow we will fix dinner for the missionaries, but there will be eight of us senior missionaries and 2 young elders.  We were in Church Sunday and the elders approached us.  One said, "President Sederholm told us if we didn't get an invitation to spend New Year's Eve with someone, we should ask the senior couples if we could join them....and we haven't gotten an invitation!"  We were absolutely delighted to tell them we would love to have them come.

We will eat well....play games, put together puzzles and then go up on the roof of our 6-story building to watch fireworks over the lake at midnight.  We will go pick them up from their apartment around 5 and take them home around 1 a.m.  It is not safe for them to be out on a night when people typically get very drunk.

They are both 18 and I can't even tell you how much joy it gives me to have them here with us.  I just love these kids.  We inspected their apartment this morning early.  They live on the top floor of an older apartment building.  Monday is their P-day and the "tradition" is that every Monday for breakfast they go down to the little corner bakery (in their building) and buy a pastry.  I am thinking we ought to start that tradition.  Well...it is a lovely idea anyway.

Going into their apartments is so interesting.  When you consider how the average 18-year-old spends his time, it is a wonderful thing to see these guys sacrificing so much to be where they are.  They are doing their own laundry, their own cooking, their own cleaning, their own ironing (more or less) and scheduling their days in learning a foreign language and trying to teach people about Jesus Christ.

These two elders are teaching a lady who stopped and talked to them at the town square a couple of weeks ago.  She is reading the Book of Mormon and has come to Church twice.  She is 60 years old and they absolutely cherish her.

A year ago today, our son spoke in sacrament meeting and gave a thought provoking talk about optimism.  It can't have been that long ago!  As 2013 comes to a close, I feel more optimistic than I ever have I think.  I am so grateful for the sacrifice of the Savior and for His love for each one of us.  I am grateful to be in a position to see that love manifested in the lives of so many dear people here in Denmark.

Among the random sights seen along the way was a horse and carriage.

This is 10:30 a.m.   The clouds sweep by very quickly here.

+