On Being a MorMor (Danish for Mother's Mother)

The order of the day was shopping, preparing, cleaning, weeding (still working on that tiny little patch of land) and studying.

Tomorrow is a holiday here so we will not have Institute.  I will not miss cooking, but I will miss seeing all those young people.  They are fun.

It has been windy and cool, and just watching the tall trees outside our apartment gracefully bend in the wind brings a sense of calm.  What is it about trees?

A dear sister from our branch came for dinner this evening.  It was fun to have her here.  We are learning about Danish traditions.  In our Danish class we were told that if you are invited to come for dinner at 6:00, Danish custom dictates that you arrive at 6....not 5:55 nor 6:05 but 6 sharp.(Lone (pronounced Loan-uh) arrived at 6.   Another custom is that you bring a gift with you (only the first time), which is usually flowers or chocolate.  Lone brought a beautiful bouquet of red and white flowers.

We covered a great deal in our conversations of the evening, and it was both inspiring and enjoyable.  She converted to the Church in 1989.  She was an alcoholic at the time.  She had decided that she needed to quit just before the missionaries found her.  She had been to the doctor and had started a detox program.

When the missionaries began teaching her, she believed what they taught...and she started reading the Book of Mormon.  When they invited her to be baptized, she hesitated because as much as she liked the message, she couldn't be sure it was true.  She set a date, but as the date drew near, she had doubts.  One of the missionaries (a good friend) handed her the Book of Mormon and told hear to go somewhere where she could be alone and read and pray.

She agreed, but felt doubtful that would help.  She read and prayed, and was flooded with a sense of God's love.  That was over 20 years ago.

I love to hear these stories from faithful saints.

Lia called and let us gaze at little Rebekah for a few minutes.....watching a beautiful little newborn sleeping gives you a sense of being in the presence of angels, even on Facetime.  I long to gently run the back of my index finger down the smoothness of her cheek.

Sunday in church I was with an older woman I admire very much.  We were walking out of the relief society room when she saw her grandson sitting outside the clerk's office.  He is in his mid 20's, he has served a mission and served in the Danish military and he has the bearing of a soldier.  She walked over to him and rubbed the back of her index finger down the side of his cheek!  I just had to laugh.

I guess grandmas are the same everywhere.