We Saw The Queen This Week

Guarding The Queen

Soaking In The Rays

Spring in Copenhagen is like Spring anywhere else.  The sky is full of billowy clouds.  One minute the sun is shinning and the next it’s snowing.  It rains for a while and then it hails.  The clouds move hurriedly across the sky and the temperature drops.  The wind blows and then it stops.  All this is going on while the grass starts to turn green and the small trees and shrubs begin to sprout.  The daffodils and crocus bloom and there is hope in the air.

On Thursday, the spring conditions seemed calm enough to go for our morning walk.  I had an idea in mind.  We took the subway down town and got off a couple of blocks from Rosenborg Castle.  Knowing that on such a nice day the likelihood of the Danish Royal Guard marching in the streets was good.  We hiked to the castle and sure enough the band was playing in the distance.  They march from Rosenborg Castle to the Queens residence at Amalienborg Castle by way of the “Walking Street”, Kongen’s Nytorv, and Ny Havn.

Portals

We were just in time to march along with them.  It’s easy to get in the spirit and step to the music.  It’s about a mile’s journey.  This is the first time we had followed them all the way.

When we arrived at Amalienborg Castle the band participated in the changing of the guard.  We had never seen that before.  As we were about to leave after the changing of the guard, Norma overheard a policemen tell a tourist that someone important was going to drive through a particular portal.  We went over there to see who it was.  While I was trying to get the camera set for a movie, the Queen drove out of the castle portal right in front of my nose at about 40 mph.  I missed the whole experience on film, but Norma got a good glimpse of Her Majesty, Queen Margrethe.

Sidewalk Cafe

While we walked back to the subway, we passed the Walking Street and saw crowded sidewalk cafes.  Another sign of spring.  They’re open during the winter, but only one or two hardy visitors would eat out in the cold.

We had a nice experience at the Temple Baptistery this week.  We coordinated a Family Baptismal Session.  This experience could only be had in a small Temple like the one here in Copenhagen.  An adult daughter of an acquaintance of ours arranged the session to celebrate the 51st anniversary of her parents.  There were the required seven priesthood holders in the family to manage the ceremony and ten grandchildren to be baptized.  It was wonderful to see such unity in a family (reminded me of ours).  Work for 200 was completed that night, and everyone had a spiritual experience doing it together.

Sidewalk Cafe

We hosted the monthly High Priest social last evening.  We had about eighteen in attendance.  Our apartment isn’t very large, so it was filled to capacity.  It was on personal histories (what else?).  We started out by one of the High Priests reading his life in ten minutes.  The rest had the opportunity to talk about themselves for five minutes (they were all over ten minutes).  Earlier in the week I had asked Jørgen Warnsdorff to write his story and crop it down to five minutes.  He wrote back and said it couldn’t be done in less that ten minutes.  I said OK.  His wife had asked me on Tuesday if I had given him the assignment because I knew something about his story.  I said no, of course, and she said I would be in for a surprise.  I was.  I have asked him for a copy so I could share it.  He wants to edit it a little more, but would gladly send it to me.  I will share it when I receive it.  Norma served layered nacho bean dip and tortilla chips.  It was a success.

Bye for now.

Mom and Dad

Elder and Sister Larsen