Coming Out

The first flowers of the new year are so exciting.  I saw this patch of little yellow ones while I was out on my bike today.  Our weather has been warmer than usual so they may be a bit early.  But they are so welcome.

And speaking of coming out, our special session with the Frederiksberg and Roskilde Wards tonight was totally full - 21 sisters and 19 brothers.  A good night.

FHE at the Taylors

It was so fun to see how the Taylors have fixed up their apartment at Family Home Evening tonight.  This is the first time we have met there since they arrived.  They went rug shopping and found a great deal.  Rugs make such a difference.
 

   Dorte, being a native  Dane, fixed real ablekage, which is crushed macaroon cookies layered with cooked apples and whipped cream.  It was delicious.

Social Sunday

Sundays are usually a quiet day for us.  Today we were super social.  I met Amanda at the church and we had a good visiting teaching appointment. It is the only time our schedules match.  We had company for dinner, then we went home teaching to the Bishop's

Finally we had invited our neighbors that live directly below us, Hanne and Gregars Knjudsen up for cake and ice cream with their neighbors and our missionaries, the Hoges.  It was fun to get to know them.  They were so nice when our grandchildren were here at Christmas,
  Their apartment has the same layout as ours, but they have cut the space up differently.  It was so interesting to see.

Heaven's Direction

One of the great joys of working in the temple is talking to people and hearing their stories and how the Lord has been involved in their lives.  Every person I talked to today had a great story.  I will share a couple and save some for another time.
     We had a 25 year old young man come to the temple for the first time.  He has worked hard to come back to the church and prepare to receive his endowment.  His mother was so happy.  (Aren't we all when our children make good eternal decisions?) She was married in the temple, the husband started criticizing church leaders and fell out of the church and the marriage, and then proclaimed he was gay.  Three of her four children have now managed to hold fast.

These are the missionaries that have worked with him. He is working on submitting his missionary papers.  He was so thrilled with the whole day. It was wonderful to be part of it.

These two I introduced as they were walking out the door.  They are both temple workers but I made the connection today that they are both in physics.  She is a post doctoral researcher in laser something and he is working on his masters .  They both commented on how they love the films and marvel at all the laws of physics involved in the creation.  They walked out of the door chatting  about the wonderful world of physics.

Internet Down and a Tiger Pick Up

WE came home from the temple last night, already to get caught up on the news and I was ready to blog, and our internet was down.  I'm not the most technologically advanced or even technology dependent person, but it is amazingly how cut off you feel when you can't get on the internet.  One of the great joys of working in the temple is that we have a temple engineer who handles all those sort of problems and had it up and working this morning.  Thanks Allan.
   On a brighter note, I'm sharing some of the new items at our neighborhood Tiger store.  For those who have been here, you will appreciate the fun things and for those who haven't, think a step up from the Dollar Shop.

  The colors are delicious!

Patrons - YSA

We have noticed an increase in the number of people who are trying to come to the temple every week. It is all ages which is wonderful.
  There was a couple tonight and he has really been touched with the Spirit of Elijah in finding names and coming to the temple weekly.
  I thanked one of our workers who came when it wasn't his shift and his response, "I always try to come when I have the time."  I loved the idea that when you have extra time you choose to go to the temple.
    Sister Meilsoe, a widow often comes two times a week, sometimes meeting  her daughter or grandson there.
   We also have Young Single Adults that  come regularly.  It is such a great way to keep grounded and on the right path when there are so many challenges.  You can see the joy in their faces.

Line Dancing

When I am in Utah I go to a line dancing class at our ward.  It has been going for 20 years.  I talked to Lis Andersen in the ward here and we were all ready to start a class today.  However, her mother was operated on so she couldn't come, But Pam Hoge, being the great sport that she is, came with me to the church in case anyone else came.  Sure enough someone else came -- missionaries for zone conference. We ended up back in the apartment, rolled up the rug and I had a great time remembering some of my favorite dances from the DVD the group made for me 10 years ago.