Ben Hur...Where Are You When I Need You?

Tuesdays, on two days a month are our P-days when we do not have to go anywhere either day or night.  I do look forward to them....especially the evenings.  The days are actually getting shorter now, with the sun setting before 10 p.m., but a hush begins to hover over the atmosphere earlier, making it feel like the days are ending earlier than before.

We have not yet reached our half-way mark....that will occur in about 5 weeks, yet I am still fascinated by each season.  Everything is new to me, and probably will be until we leave.  23 months is a great amount of time to get to know a place...the rhythm, the personality, the sounds, the smells, the special places, but I am not sure I could come to know Copenhagen if I were to have many years.

We lived in the same house in Gilbert for over 30 years, and over that time Gilbert changed enormously.  Nevertheless, I was comfortably familiar with the neighborhood and surrounding areas.

I am comfortably familiar with Copenhagen, but it is a large place.  Perhaps that is why I love it so much.

I have a huge ironing to do....it looks pretty daunting, but I guess I just need to work at it a few pieces at a time.  No matter what I do, everything comes out of the washer or dryer needing an iron!  In what we thought was smart, we purchased enough white shirts for SK to last 2 weeks.  That is great when they are lined up and ready to wear in the closet.  It is not so great when they are lined up waiting to be ironed.  Add to those his three sport shirts and slacks and my blouses, and I could probably watch Ben Hur while I am working and still have some left over.

A few more Festinord pictures and I'm off to do the ironing....without Ben Hur.

These are some of the people from Denmark.

Two of these girls will be on missions within a few months, another will be in Paris as an au pair.

The goalie for our team.

Can you believe the Swedes had matching shirts with their names printed on the back?  How can we possibly win with such shenanigans going on?

Meanwhile in the stands, we were all having heat stroke!....OK just I was having a heat stroke.

I adore these two!

And these YSAs!

Aren't they cute!  I just love them.

The game was getting tense.....we wanted so much to be the champs.  We lost to the Swedes.

Rainy Day and Monday - Revisited

We are getting old.  SK and I slept in and still craved sleep.  We got up and moved through our day in slow motion.  Laundry needed to be done, unpacking, cleaning and shopping too. 

Most of the morning it rained.  Is there anything as lovely as rain?  The gentle tapping on the panes of the open windows (they open on a diagonal) as well as the steady downpour bouncing a variety of sounds off the different surfaces outside combine in a delightful harmony of soothing sounds.

When the rain ceased, we walked to a nearby grocery store to pick up a few things, and to pick up a package from home.  We were excited to get a book that Melissa and Lia have been working on... a history of my father.  Actually it is a chapter in his book, but what a chapter.  They have labored for some time on the research and editing, and the book is a treasure.  It is a hard-cover book from Shutterfly and tells of a pivotal point in his life.  He was a teen and in trouble.  A kindly principal took him under his wing and awakened a love of poetry and literature in him that absolutely changed the course of his life.

It is a beautiful book....one that will long be treasured by each family they gave a copy to.  I am so grateful that they invested the time to put it together. 

We didn't have much time to look through it before we had to leave for the center, so I was very grateful to get home to slowly peruse its contents.  It made me very happy.

At the center, a few young people came early.  By the time we started family home evening, we had 25 or so....which is a good number normally, but especially during the summer vacation time.  We had 2 visitors from America (one of them had served here on a mission 3 years ago) and a young woman from China whom the missionaries just found today.  She seemed to enjoy being there.

Among other things, we watched the wonderful Danish Viking video that our YSAs put together for Festinord.  It is hilarious.  One of the Vikings also did the editing and special effects.  Simon is very good at those things.  I am sad that this week he will be leaving for London, where he is hoping to get some work with a musical group.  I hope he succeeds for his sake, but we will miss him here.  He is a great young man.

After the video and the message, they played Fruit Basket and had a grand time.  Then they assembled for a strawberry trifle....2 really loud and rousing games of CRUD and then they left to go to a pool party for Simon.  We thanked them for the invitation to join them, but politely declined, and then cleaned up and came home.

Fruit Basket can be pretty lively!

Alex was there tonight and we all said goodbye....we will miss him too.  I know he will be an outstanding missionary, but we hope we will see him again.  He said he and his brother would come to Arizona on a road trip....that would be so fun!

A few more pictures from Festinord ....Look at these YSAs....are they beautiful or what!

The pretty young woman in black just received her mission call to Australia, and she will be a great missionary.

This dynamic young woman has been called to the Colorado North Mission.  She is so fun and so full of energy and enthusiasm.

Alex will be leaving this week for his mission in South Africa, and Phillip his brother just returned from a mission in England.

These young women found a very comfortable spot to relax.

Yes...that is SK.....couldn't find a game of CRUD.

Back in Denmark!

We attended church in Roskilde today to hear Alexander speak.  Even though it was Fast Sunday today, he was given time since he will be leaving for his mission this Wednesday and there was simply no other time.

It was an excellent meeting.  Alexander is movie-star handsome and an all-around great guy.  I loved his talk....he told about baptizing his cousin a year ago, and how a scripture touched his heart in relation to that privilege.

Nearly every testimony after that referred to Alexander in some way....what a great example he is, how he will be blessed, how good a friend he is, etc.  It was a wonderful send off to him.  Between church and his open house, we hurried back to our apartment - picked up some things for someone else - and headed back.  Roskilde is about 40 minutes away, so attending the block, the open house and the running back and forth took the better part of the day.

It couldn't have been better spent.  All three meetings were excellent and the ward is exceptional.  The open house was a great get-together with some tasty and interesting food...South African.  That is where he will serve.

The temperature today was in the mid 80s and will continue like that all week.  That is very warm.  With no air conditioning, that can be quite oppressive, and wears me down.  It makes me so grateful that I wasn't called to a tropical climate. It is booming with thunder right now....lightening keeps streaking through the sky, and the rain is pelting all of the windows.  I hope it will kind of cool things off.

I will post a few pictures of the the dance on Friday evening....a dress-up affair, and then call it a day!

On the Road Again...Spectacular Sweden

We were up at five so that we could pack our things and be at the ferry by 7.  This time we paid attention to where we parked!  We had some breakfast, watched the beautiful land of Finland fade from view and then went to our little walk-in closet/cabin to sleep.
SK was pretty tired and slept for several hours.  I slept and read, which felt like luxury.
We visited with several YSAs.  We love those young people.  Before going to our cabin, we stood on the deck watching the water, the islands and the other boats....and we were both tired.  SK said,"I don't want to go to sleep....there is so much to see."
He is funny, and amazing.  It is now about 11 pm and we are still 2 hours out of Copenhagen.  He is driving and I am trying to write this post on the phone.
SK is munching on licorice and cherry cola, occasionally muttering about something in the road.  We watched the sun go down over a very large lake....he was almost as excited about the beauty of the sky as he is at winning CRUD.
I guess posting pictures from Festinord will have to wait another day.
Signing off from somewhere in Sweden....

Fatigue on Last Full Day (Friday) of Finland Festinord ‘14

Today was definitely the high point (as well as the low point) of the week.  High point because we had an incredible time with a day packed full of wonderful things.....low because I hit a point where I simply could go no farther.

We met the bus at 6 a.m. along with 53 other people and rode two hours to the Helsinki temple.  We were taken right in where we attended a special session scheduled just for us….at least most of us.  The rest did baptisms for the dead. (By the way, 3 YSAs were standing there by the bus waiting…..they hadn’t signed up in advance to go on the temple trip but got up early early and got ready and stood there waiting to see if there was room.)

The temple is magnificent.  The interior was so lovely and peaceful.  I especially loved the Celestial room where the ceilings must have been 30 feet tall with a crystal chandelier that was awesome.  We sat there for a few moments and then hurried back to the dressing rooms to change into street clothes.  A member of the temple presidency met with all of us for about 15 minutes before we boarded the buses to return.

He was delightful. 

One the bus during the ride home, we had a testimony meeting.  Many individuals moved to the front of the bus and spoke for less than 3 minutes.  Nearly everyone started by introducing themselves and then saying “I love the temple.”  They often gave reasons why.

One young man said that the baptisms are significant to him because every time he is buried in the water and feels the water swirling around him, he thinks “Someone is getting another chance.”

Another said, “Going to the temple is like going home…..it reminds us of our potential.”

And another:  “The ancient prophets saw our day and looked forward to it….why?  Because of all of the temples.

We got back to Festinord at 2:00,  just in time to sneak into the back of the great cultural hall, where a general authority spoke to the YSAs.  There was a great lineup of speakers and music.  Our visiting authority, Elder Jose A. Teixeira gave a magnificent talk about not letting the tyranny of the "now" highjack our future..specifically our eternal future.  

That meeting ended in time for us to get to a 4:00 meeting with all of the YSA senior missionary couples.  It was most informative….hosted by the couple from Frankfurt Germany who coordinate all the European centers….a huge job.  We  had a great discussion that was very helpful to us. 

We hurried from that meeting into the kitchen where we got our assignments for dinner.  By this time it was 5.  We were supposed to serve dinner to 600 young people --  most of whom were in formal or very dressy attire.

Setting the tables in the great hall for a sit-down dinner proved to be quite daunting.  We had a dozen or more people but it was 7 before the first people went through the line to get salad….and easily after 8 before they got through the line again to get the main course.  Many ended up waiting outside for the bus to take them to the dance center.

It was a huge undertaking.  I was supposed to clean up and go to the dance, but by the time we got the hall cleaned up it was after nine and I looked like a mildewed dishcloth.  I had worn the same outfit all day and all evening, and it has been very warm….I felt like I had sat in a sauna – fully clothed – all afternoon.  I actually felt a little like Cinderella!

Not only was there no time to get cleaned up to go to the ball….but I was utterly shot.  I didn’t want to go anywhere.  There were 3 other senior couples who stepped in after the meal (even though they hadn’t been assigned) and worked hard til the hall was clean.  They had already gotten cleaned up, but they worked away in suits and nice clothing.  They were wonderful.  One of them was Elder Hicks who had a birthday today.

I had just barely enough energy to make it out of the building, down the hill, across the street and up the hill to where the hostel is.  I am wrung out!

Where was SK you ask?  Beside me all day, doing the same things I did….but when I came home, he went to the hall and took pictures.  As I write, I am nodding off…..I hope he will get some sleep tonight.

But it was such a marvelous day, and everything was done well.  The Finnish people were unfailingly kind and helpful, all of the senior couples so willing to assist in any way, and the young people were beautiful and handsome.  These Scandinavian people are truly beautiful.

But I hit the wall, and now I must go to bed…..pictures to follow tomorrow …..if we can access the wifi on board the ferry.