A Day Appointed Unto Us.....

Sundays are particularly enjoyable.  Our little branch is always a  joy to attend.  Our numbers are few, but the members are so dear.

Today Sister Hansen gave a beautiful talk about the Savior and touched my heart.  She even read a quote from an Ensign article that Lia put together last year!  She and her husband will be leaving in 10 days to return to their home in St. George.  They have been a mainstay in the mission for a year and a half, and we - like everyone else - have come to depend on their wisdom and knowledge.  I am certain that they are weary and need to go home to rest, but they will nevertheless miss Denmark.  They have loved it since Elder Hansen was here 50 years ago.  They have Danish ancestry - Hansen - and have visited the sites of their forefathers.  Their children have a strong Danish identity, because they have been raised with stories of Denmark.

Our Sunday School lesson was given by an intelligent and intense young man who thinks deeply and passionately about life.  He led a thought-provoking discussion about manna.  He asked why some individuals, and perhaps all at one time or another put "food" ahead of God....meaning anything that we place our priorities on.   He also wondered why people complain...about manna (they remembered the food they had once eaten) and why people who seem to be living a righteous life sometimes complain when things don't go their way....(theoretically saying, "I am tired of manna and deserve much better). I always enjoy it when he teaches.

After church, Elder Thorne drove us home and took a detour through some of the sunlit countryside near the church, specifically the beach that looks out across the water to Sweden.  It reminded me of long lazy Sunday afternoons when I was young and our father and mother would load us into the car to take a drive....for the sheer joy of it.  Our mother loved it, and Dad was only too willing to oblige.  And it seems like all of the rest of us loved it too.

Elder and Sister Thorne and SK and I had a nice Easter lunch....ham and funeral potatoes (Would the Israelites have complained about funeral potatoes?), and then while SK took a much-needed nap and the Thornes went for a walk, I read my scriptures and studied a conference talk.

I am learning what I can do today to try to be perfect.  It is soooooooooooooo hard to even attempt it, but there is a way to begin that even I can do.  I'll let you know how it goes.

There are preparation days, and then there are preparation days but Sundays can prepare our minds and hearts for the coming week better than any other day.  I hope that while we serve as full-time missionaries we can harness the power of the Sabbath Day.