Speak a Little, Talk a Little

The day began much too early for me.  I had gotten into bed late because I was working on the dreaded sacrament meeting talk.  SK had gone through it several times with me...bless his heart.  By the time I got into bed, I was beginning to think I ought to throw the talk away and just go for it in English....which would have been entirely comfortable for me.

I slept soundly...just not enough.  After getting ready to go to church, SK went through the talk with me one more time.  At church, there were two speakers on the program, Elder Hansen and me.  The Hansens will be leaving for their home in St. George by month's end, and so this was his last talk in Amager Gren.

I sat through the opening announcements and the singing and the sacrament.  I prayed for help....I prayed that the Spirit would be there to fill in all of my mistakes and to give understanding to those who listened.  I looked out over the small congregation and realized with a warmth that stole over me...these were all my friends.  That calmed me immediately.

When my name was announced I stood, walked to the pulpit and read my talk....every word in Danish.  I think I did the best I know how to do as far as pronouncing (that isn't saying much).  I finished and sat down.  I am pretty sure that I didn't commit any egregious errors.  I knew it wasn't a masterpiece, and I knew my Danish wasn't flawless, but I felt OK about it.

After sacrament meeting, so many kind people complimented me....on my pronunciation and on the organization of the talk, and on the talk.  I guess I don't need to tell you how happy it made me.

My prayers had been answered.  It is a little like the food we fix for the YSAs.  I always pray that it will taste good to them, and so far those prayers have always been answered in the affirmative.  How kind the Lord is!

And you know who got the most out of the talk!  I learned some Danish...better than I would have for a class.....and I got to study a conference talk.  Win/Win

Elder Hansen spoke for the remainder of the meeting, and did a wonderful job.  We will miss them. He reads and studies for the sheer joy of it.  Conversations with him are always interesting because he knows so much about so many topics.  He is especially well-versed in history, and the history of Denmark.  Sister Hansen is a great partner to him...she is has a sparkling wit and is in lock-step with her husband in conversations.  They are great people.

After our block we took the bus across town to attend another ward.  We try to do that once a month, so that we can visit each ward/branch in the stake to see the YSAs in their home wards.  Most have a YSA Sunday School class.  It was a small class....only 3, and in Danish!  After my own experience with speaking Danish, I hoped I would understand more, but I didn't.  I got just enough to know what the lesson was about, but it was fun to be with the 3 YSAs.

Have I mentioned how much I love this mission?