The Greatest Mission in the World

It was to have been a pancake extravaganza!  Kasper was going to make Danish pancakes....which is suspiciously much like what we call crepes.  And I was going to make American pancakes.

I left for the center an hour earlier than usual.  While SK went shopping with Kasper, I mixed up as much as I could of the pancakes, without adding the liquids.  This I thought would make it possible to leave as much room as possible for Kasper to work his magic.  I was just starting on the buttermilk syrup when Kasper called to say that one of our YSAs, Victoria was bringing extra food from her work.  She works for a caterer and some days there is a lot of food left over.

Today there was a LOT.  It was a wide variety of salads, baked pork and baked fish.  What a feast! And how very kind of Victoria and her boss.  It was quite lovely, but I have a lot of buttermilk - as well as all the dry ingredients for a big batch of pancakes all mixed together.  I am thinking that I will serve it Saturday at the center for anyone who shows up after the YSA temple day.

I think most are unfamiliar with American pancakes, so it may be an interesting experience for them. It sounds kind of fun!

I had six people in my English-speaking institute class this evening, and it was the perfect number to have some really good discussions.  There were thoughtful comments and good questions.  I thoroughly enjoyed the give and take.  We are studying the D&C, and although I covered 5 sections, we didn't get off the first page of my outline.  But I felt like we covered enough.

After class, we had the pancake cake Kasper had put together.  He stacked about 10  crepes on a large plate with a cream filling, bananas, crushed macaroons (not at all what you think of when I say macaroons....they are a very crunchy, light and airy confection that when crushed and smothered in cream doesn't lose their crunch.) and chocolate.  Then it was sliced like a cake.

After class I visited with several of the young adults.  They are so wonderful.  One young woman was recently baptized and told us her conversion story.  She has had some difficult times in her life, but has a loving and supportive family. Her teeth didn't come together in front....only the back ones touched.  Corrective surgery was advised that would involve some major reconstruction of the jaws.
The doctor advised her that some people never wake up from the surgery.  She felt somewhere in her heart that that would be nice....to be with God....and no more pain.

She has always known there was a God and that there was a place for her where He lives.  But she didn't know much else about Him, and felt such a keen sense of frustration and alienation.  She prayed - a lot.  She came to Copenhagen for the surgery and was here for a couple of weeks recuperating.  During that time, she decided that she would live, and she would be as happy as she could possibly be.  She often soothed herself to sleep thinking "God loves me more than I can imagine, and all He wants is for me to be happy.

One afternoon, she was sitting on a bench, when two young elders approached her.  The talked a little bit about life in general, why the young men were here in Denmark and their church.  Then one of them said to her, "I testify to you that God loves you more than you can know, and all He wants is for you to be happy."

She had already felt something very special about what they shared with her, but that touched her deeply.  They made other appointments and taught her, and her heart drank up the messages.  She is so happy now.  She beams joy.  She said she can't imagine being on a mission because she is so shy about talking to strangers....but her heart is so full of gratitude that she feels it is one way to show it to our Father in Heaven....so she is entertaining the idea of serving.

Doesn't that make you want to hug a missionary??????

We left about midnight to walk/ride the bus home.  As usual, there were a lot of people out.  As we walked by the town square, the mournful toll of bells rang out their hourly tune.  (They ring out every fifteen minutes....but the toll on the hour is longer.)

This is the greatest mission in the world.