Fanø Part 1

Fanø is an island just off the coast of Esbjerg, a 15 minute ferry ride and an easy distance to cover with a bridge.  The people of the island do not want that much traffic from the mainland. They now have a delightful, out of the way, calm, simple tourist destination.  There are many vacation homes and apartments to rent.

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 Three little cities dot the 8 mile long island.  The main one on  the north end is Nordby and the one on the south, Sønderho, and a little one in the middle Rynby (I think). All were so fun to walk around and just casually enjoy the little shops and picturesque homes and gardens.

 Downtown.

 It's a good thing the floor drops several inches once inside this house or there could be a lot of back problems..

 Such magnificent flowers and gardens all over the island.....

There is a famous slagter or butcher in Nordby....an interesting window display.

Ribe

Ribe is the oldest town in Denmark.  It is mentioned in records from 854 A.D.  It is famous for it's church and many old buildings.  We spent the afternoon there and here are a few pictures to give you a feel for what a lovely,  place it is to visit.

 This restaurant is from the 1500's

The flowers were in full bloom all over town and made almost every view picture postcard quality.

Esbjerg Weekend

I took 190 pictures this weekend. It will be hard to pick just a few to share, but I will try.
  It was a great weekend and we enjoyed being with Paul Erik and Anne-Lisse Buur in their lovely home on the ocean in Esbjerg.  Esbjerg is on the West side of Denmark.(You could actually catch a 30 hour ferry from there to England.)
  Their home is fabjulous with huge windows to enjoy the view and you can walk directly to the beach.

Which we did this morning.

Sunday we spoke to the combined Relief Society and Priesthood at the Esbjerg Ward.  It is a good strong ward and we enjoyed meeting many of our great temple workers and patrons.

We enjoyed smørbrød (buttered bread with various toppings)

 on their lovely deck.  The weather was perfect...I didn't even need a sweater!

Graveyards

Note: We are off tomorrow to Espberg on the west coast of Denmark until Monday  I may or may not be able to post..

We celebrated the 4th of July by working in the temple all day.  But there were several Danes who mentioned it.  It is also vacation time for Denmark so many of the people we have coming are tourists which makes up for the Danes who are somewhere else.
 This graveyard is close to the big Grundtvig Church and really a lovely place, a lot like a huge park..

Hedges often separate the lots and they even provide watering cans you can use.

Note the cute little figurines on the top.  Some were permanent and made of stone.

Arrivals

Our second new missionary couple, Pam and George Hoge arrived today.  We are so excited to have them.  They served with us when we were in Denmark before.

They have moved into their apartment on the floor just below us and I assume are sound asleep in preparation for the introduction to the temple tomorrow.

I was also excited for this surprise arrival that came via a missionary's family.  Thanks to whomever was involved in getting it here.  I was on the last drop of what I brought and I really like this for my contact lens.  People are so nice.

Grundtvig's Kirke

Today I rode out on a new adventure to find Grundtvig's Kirke, a huge church build to honor a prominent Danish priest of the nineteenth century  It is huge and of mixed modern and traditonal style.  Certainly a monument.

                                                                          Front

Back

Inside

The Bishop's Mother-in Law

Bishop and Amy Vestbø had a baby daughter on June 14.  It was pretty traumatic and ended up being a C-section.  Not only that,on Monday, she had surgery for bowel complications. She is still in the hospital.  Amy is from America and she and Andreas met on an LDS Singles site and have been married ten years.  She was teaching a choir at Harvard.  They are both fabulous musicians and add so much to the church here.
.Gail, her mother, came over a week ago and has been house bound with the new baby and their 5 year old son who has Down Syndrome and autism.  You can imagine she was ready for a break.  She came to dinner tonight with the Hansens and we had a delightful time.