Hymns of Zion

Clyde and I received our materials to learn Danish.  We have a tutor that we Skype with for several hours a week from the MTC and soon we will have a couple that will speak Danish with us for 1 or 2 hours a week, also supplied by the MTC.  (I think this is what you were doing Marianne, when you were helping with German).  Brother Birk, our Danish tutor, always begins each session with a hymn, a thought and a prayer.  We sing from the Danish hymnal.  The literal translation of the Danish hymnbook title is "Hymns and Songs".  By looking at the notes, I have figured out quite a few of the hymns.  As with ours, the first three hymns are: "The Morning Breaks"; "The Spirit of God"; and "Now Let Us Rejoice".  When I saw that - I found it strangely comforting.  The day we finally had our materials in hand, I was feeling very overwhelmed.  Then I picked up the Danish Hymnal and knew everything was going to be okay.  I guess that music has always brought peace to my soul. 

Because I am a bit frantic right now with moving in 93 days, having to spend 2-3 hours on Danish and getting my exercise in daily, I hadn't realized I had pretty much eliminated music.  The other day as I was dusting and packing, I put in a classical music anthology.  I got more done and was more content than I had been in a long time.  It is obvious.  Music is important to my well being and I have to make time for it daily - just like reading my scriptures.

Happy Birthday Carl and Dane!

I apologize for the post being a day late.  Sundays are a mess around here lately.  This is a picture from last summer of Dane eating a lemon.  He wouldn't stop and yet by his face it looked so painful.  I see this picture and laugh!

This is a pretty good picture of Dane and wonderful picture of the back of Carl's head.  This is the only picture of Carl we got from last summer.  I think it is wonderful that these two share a birthday.  Carl has been a very special part of our family for a long time.  When I met Carl, I knew he was the perfect fit for Carianne.  The Lord has blessed us with his addition to our family.

Dane is a sweetheart and now we are heading to reside with other Danes but because that is their nationality - not their name.  I wonder if you had decided on one of the other names for Dane, would we have gone to Holland?  Happy birthday to two very special guys!

The Good We Do

During General Conference, we are always told about the humanitarian aid the Church has given and where it has gone.  I remember hearing stories as a young girl from Ezra Taft Benson about when he was in the Eisenhower cabinet and distributing goods to war torn Europe after WWII, how the Church's pork and beans were the favorite cans because there were very few beans and it was mostly pork.  For people that had been living off the land - that canned meat tasted pretty good. 

Tuesday mornings and I go to an open knitting class.  There is woman the comes that was born in Germany during WWII.  She remembers Marshall Law and the hardships.  She remembers that when she did her catechism or got a new dress - for several years it came from boxes from the states.  When she heard I was going on a  mission for the Mormon Church to Denmark, she lit up.  She told me that our Church sent the best boxes.  The clothes were new - not ragged hand me downs and quilts were thick and fluffy.  But her favorite memory was the pork and bean cans.  She said it said there were beans on the can - but it became a family game to see how many beans (or how few) were in a can.  She said sometimes there would be as few as 4 beans - just so it could say - 'Pork and Beans' she supposed.  She supposed right.  Her family loved getting that can of pork or a can of Spam because they could do so much with it.  It was the story I had been told as a youth but now I had a recipient tell me her side.  I love it and I wanted to share.  We do real good and should be proud of the work we participate in.

What Our Mission will entail

One of the frustrating things about this mission call has been lack of information.  I would call the mission offices and ask and they would send me to the family history center.  No one knew what we were doing or what was expected of us.  When I told one sister that the dress for my husband and me was 'business casual' and I would be wearing pants on occasion - she actually wondered if we had a 'real' mission call.  I assured it was signed by the First Presidency.  Finally early Tuesday morning, Clyde received an email with the job specifics in it.  We are going to learn how to operate digital cameras for the purposes of microfilming important documents in Denmark.  I cannot tell you how relieved we were to just know that much.  In the letter it affirmed so much but it also explained that we report to the Church Offices for one week of intensive training.  That was suddenly like a bell went off.  We have received subsequent correspondence and found that this particular calling is from THE Church offices.  Partly because it falls between a mission and family history and partly because it goes under the historical records department.  We funnel into three departments just by the nature of what we are doing. 

This next part is whining - so if you have listened to me lately you can quit reading.  Danish is HARD!  I want to say it with a German accent and I want the words to be pronounced as the would in German.  It doesn't work.  I am feeling like President Uchtdorf when he said his mouth was not made to speak English.  Well, my mouth is not made to speak Danish!  The other thing that Clyde and I have learned is we are not very patient with ourselves.  We want to be able to do things perfectly immediately and that just doesn't work in this setting.  However, I did find out that a bunch of the place names in my ancestors genealogy were spelled wrong.  I am thinking that is why we  have never made headway in those lines.  I am sending the corrected spellings to my parents so they can fix them and possibly move forward now.

We are fine...

We have spoken with a few people that realized that this is our temple day.  We never made it to Boston because of the lockdown.  So we spent the day doing things to get ready for our mission and the move.  The temple has been closed until further notice.  We are far enough away that there should be no problems.

What kinds of extracurricular activities did you participate in after school?

I pretty much focused my high school career on music (even my first few years of college - both times).  If it had to do with choir, ensemble, or the musical - I was in.  Especially when we lived in Frankfurt am/Main Germany, I would quite often be gone from the time we left for Seminary until after 11 pm.  I would go for weeks like that.  Some of my best high school memories were during that time.  My Senior year, the choir director would not allow me even to audition because I had been in Melloteens in Frankfurt and their choir could not compete.  I just wanted to sing.  I didn't care if it was an honor choir.  I immersed myself in the Church that year and participated in the plays that popped up and competitions that came along.  I even managed to embarrass my sister horribly on a temple trip by taking over the microphone on the bus and singing a song that Leslie Lassiter (MaryLynn Hopkins sister) and I made up about the trip.  Good times.  Hard to believe that I was that outgoing then.

Headphones

Clyde and I have been trying to learn Danish.  For some reason the materials have been slow coming from the MTC and we are on our own with the online materials.  The problem with that is that they are not very clear.  For example in the word af the f is silent but there is no explanation about how to pronounce the a.  Is it long, short or pronounced like an umlaut.  So we started listening to the audio version that was sent us.  We realized - when we both were pronouncing words differently and I was adding a b in front of a word (that didn't belong) and Clyde was adding endings that I wasn't hearing - that we were missing something.  So Saturday we went and got some Bose headphones.  We will eventually get a pair for each of us because unlike the young missionaries, we can have them on our mission.  Also we have been told that some of the work can be very tedious and to have music to listen to listen too helps to move it along.  We will both have to get something to listen to music on before we leave but that just made sense to me.  Also listening to Danish with the headphones on, you hear the nuances and it is so much clearer.  Plus with both of your ears covered you hear what you are saying back and can correct yourself better.  Now my next problem - retain what I am listening too!  Thankfully a lot of it is the same as German.  Gymnasium is High School, Universitat is University and lehrner, etc, are the student teacher nouns.  Danish months are pretty much spot on with German months.  The word day is spelled dag but pronounced day.  So when you say good day you sound like your are from Australia because it becomes G'day.  Good morning is G'morn but you make the o long.  I am enjoying this.  This is how all missionaries are learning the languages now.  You do courses at home with a tutor on Skype and do hours of homework.  This way the time in the MTC is cut shorter because they are more prepared (hopefully) when they get in there.  We, as senior missionaries, can go for a week before we report to the MTC and do an immersion process at the MTC - where we speak nothing but Danish for several days.  Clyde and I are seriously thinking about doing that.  Younger missionaries - if going foreign speaking go in for 6 weeks and sometimes are sent to the MTC in the areas close to where they are reporting.  The young man that was helping us work out our language needs said the Church could very well double our missionary force from last October to this October.  That is pretty phenomenal. 

Moving Right Along

I have long lists and short lists.  I am losing my lists because I am writing things whenever I think of them on whatever I find.  I finally decided that I would keep all of my lists in one spot and designated a little notebook to be my list notebook.  It can be a grocery list or my packing list but it exclusively my list book right now.  I can then flip through and see where we stand for moving, the mission and my day to day activities.  It is not a day-planner because that is not what I needed.  I have one of those.  I just needed somewhere to put my to do list for the day, what I am packing for Denmark, what I am packing for this summer, what I am doing today, etc.  Finally I think I am getting on top of things. 

I am supposed to take 18 months worth of prescriptions with me.  I now know which pharmacy I am using and how to go about that.  I also remembered that I needed to take my diabetes testing equipment, so I need lancets and strips enough for 18 months.  Another expense but a necessary one.  This too goes down under the Rx and drug list.  Just knowing that it is written down and where it is written down, means I don't have to try and remember it anymore and I can move onto the next thing.

I also found my briefcase/purse that I will use on my mission.  They want me to have a huge purse that I can carry things in (no matter what - sister missionaries do not carry backpacks).  Clyde and I went to an outlet mall Saturday and went into the Wilson leather store.  In there I found a red leather bag that fits the bill perfectly.  It was on sale for $40 and I had an in-store coupon for another 60%.  That was a good deal!  Clyde and I also have to carry our passport and visa on our person at all times.  We are trying out the belt packs and the neck pouches to see which ones we like.  I already like the neck pouch so much better than the belt that I know that is the way I am going.

What would you like to be remembered for?

I have been looking at this question for weeks now and can't decide how to answer it.  I want to be know as a wonderful wife, mother and grandmother.  I guess that is all I care about really.  It is a totally self-absorbed question.  I don't know how people even think of me in life.  They can take me  or leave me for who I am.  Hopefully I have a made some kind of impression.  I am always surprised when someone uses me as a good example.  I am usually one of those people that melt in the background and no one knows is there.  It was exhausting being the bishop's wife.  I had to be in forefront a lot.  That was hard.

Chipping away...

I haven't blogged for several days because I have so much to do.  It seems like our list for things to do for the move and to get to Denmark is getting longer, not shorter.  I check off one thing and it seems two more pop up.  I will be glad when it I actually check off things and the list starts dwindling.  But questions are getting answered that have been weighing on me and we finally met our language tutor.  He is actually a native Dane.  I think they may have given us a national because of some of the terms we need to know.  He is really excited to be able to tutor in his own language.  We will start next week. 

It is raining and miserably cold today.  I just cannot seem to get warm.  Maybe it is in part because I finally have had a day to let down. 

For a small fee...

It has become a joke with Clyde and me that every time we turn around, this mission is costing us money that we had not budgeted for.  For example - we had not planned on having our passports expedited (well I hadn't even planned on passports - so there!).  That was where the joke started:  "For a small fee..." in the booklet we got.  Every time we have to pay some money on paperwork, etc., Clyde and I smile and each other say, "For a small fee...!"  I had also very carefully been collecting dresses and skirts, knowing that for the next 2 years that would be my dress code.  Imagine my surprise when I found out that I will be wearing pants.  I am suddenly looking at pantsuits, dress pants and sweaters to smarten up my wardrobe to business casual.  We will never get out of the mid-70's for highs and can get as cold as -20 for lows, so there is not need for broomstick skirts anyway.  Another 'small fee'.  Clyde's dress too is business casual but that is easy, he wears that every day.  However they are suggesting long sleeved polo shirts for him  Try and find those in the springtime in the US!

We were also thinking of something that I thought at the time was really weird.  For those you that don't know - Clyde's last name was changed when he was a child.  In the infinite wisdom of the Virginia courts, they changed his name on his birth certificate too.  We spent 6 months trying to get that clarified and back to Bailey.  Finally, just before we sent our papers in, Clyde got a certified copy of his birth certificate and we were good to go.  He also had the premonition to get a certified copy of our marriage license.  We will need that for our visas.  I am glad someone was listening to the Spirit in this household.

Peace, Peace, Be Still

For some reason, ever since I walked into the temple on Friday afternoon for our shift, that phrase has been running in my head.  I have been nervous and anxious about this mission call.  When I walked into the temple - as always - a peace came over me and I immediately calmed.  It helped immeasurably to talk to another couple that are on a records preservation mission here in Boston until the end of May.  I was able to discuss with her what she wore, what they did and who they interacted with.  She gave me hints on what words we would need to know and things we need to be aware of before we went. 

Friday, we also linked up the with the MTC and will soon get our language tutor to help us with Danish.  I need to find out what letters are silent and proper pronunciations.  Clyde downloaded a Danish dictionary with sound - so we have been practicing with that but I am not hearing the same thing as Clyde and words alone do not sound the same as phrases or sentences.  However, I had peace as I spoke to the language coordinator and knew we could do that too.

Conference, as always is bringing me peace.  What a blessing it is to listen to these people that have been called of God.  I have been lifted up so much already.

This week, I will go in and see my Dentist plus make an appointment to talk to my Doctor.  Clyde does not see how I can get 18 months worth of RX but I say, if the Church says do it - DO IT!

Oh, our tentative flight date out is Sept 10.  This is subject to change, however (because of problems with visas, etc.)

What special thing did you do with your father?

The thing that pops in my mind first is attending the symphony and occasionally the opera with Dad.  He always bought 2 tickets and then 3 for the symphony so one of us could go with him and Mom.  (Later on it became Grandma Tuttle, Dad and one of us).  Marianne and I would take turns and I loved it.  I know that is why I love classical music to this day.  I was reading how there were outdoor classical music concerts all over Denmark in the summer.  I am looking forward to that.

Dad took us to historical sites wherever we lived.  In Europe it was mostly the castles - because that is what Mom wanted to see.  If it was just Dad and the kids, then we would go see museums and go wandering around in parks, etc.  We did more outdoor things and tended toward the less touristy things in Europe, if Mom wasn't there.  Then we moved to the Washington D.C. area on the Centennial of the Civil War.  We saw more battlefields than I can remember.  I loved Williamsburg and Jamestown, Virginia - they were not battlefields - but the rest I could have done without.  I take that back.  Valley Forge was quite fascinating but only because of the Pennsylvania Dutch and the Amish factor. 

No matter how busy Dad was - he always took the time to talk to me.  If I needed him - he was/is there.

The other thing I did with my dad was read.  Because of my observance of him studying and reading every morning - I too picked up the habit of reading the scriptures everyday.  Our family is a family of readers.  Both of my parents instilled that in me.

41 Years Ago This Week

41 years ago this week, the Brugger family - along with my fiance' - Clyde, went to Denmark.  It was a memorable trip in many ways.  First of all: March and April is not the time to go to Denmark.  There were gale force winds blowing the whole time we were there.  It rained almost every day - actually sleet - and the temperatures never got out of the 20's or 30's.  Weather wise was not ideal.  To keep us quiet, Dad kept telling us we would not camp that night but find a hotel.  He never intended to do that because he didn't want to leave hundreds of dollars of camping equipment unattended while we were in a hotel.  We had seen other people take their tents down and a couple had blown away and one actually ripped in half as they tried to fold it.  If Dad had just explained this to us instead of telling us that  'this night will be better', it would have been better to take, I think.  Dad didn't confess that to me until just a few years ago!

However, I got my dream of seeing my favorite author's home and getting his collection of books.  Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved Hans Christian Andersen.  My mother had bought a little blue collection of books and I wanted the same collection going into my marriage.  I was thrilled to be able to do that.  I wanted to see the 'Little Mermaid' statue in the harbor in Copenhagen and see the original statue of Christ that Thorvaldsen created.  Those are the things I remembered.  I remember thinking that the people were extremely friendly and the even though the weather was awful, the towns were beautiful.  My sister, Marianne, once said that nothing could make that a pleasant trip.  I am sorry she feels that way.  Though the nights were horrendous, the day trips were wonderful and I guess that is what my selective memory has chosen to hang on too. 

I am overwhelmed with this calling.  I keep thinking it is going to sink in and be fine but so far it hasn't.  I still feel like I am floundering.  It isn't that I feel incapable - I guess I am still in shock.  I like to know everything - I really don't like surprises.  I like to be well prepared so that there aren't surprises.  This has all of the markings of too many surprises for quite a while.  I will not be in a comfortable spot for quite some time.

Give one word on how to live life successfully.

Christlike

What changes in technology have you seen in your lifetime?

When I was a little girl, televisions were black and white and the biggest screen was about 6 inches x 6 inches.  TV shows started at 7 am with shows like Howdee Doodee and ended with the Star Spangled Banner at 10pm and the question - "Do you know where your children are?"  Meaning - every child should be home and safely tucked in bed.  We got our first colored television when we moved to Denver, Colorado in 1966.  Even then, not all of the shows were presented in color.  It would be announced at the beginning of the program if the show was in color.  That is how NBC got that colored fan - which is in truth a peacock.  It used to be proud as a peacock before the 'tail' went Technicolor.  Color was saved for the big budget and top 10 shows.  Soap operas and other shows were much slower to go to color.  It was big deal that one of soaps premiered in color, because then all of them had to switch.

When I was 8 years old, I wanted a transistor radio more than anything.  I got one for my birthday and it was orange.  I hated the earphones so when it wasn't just beside me, I would listen to it under my pillow.  I loved that radio.  I literally used it until it wore out.

When I was 12, I got my first stereo record player.  That too was my pride and joy.  I listened to records every night to go to sleep.  When the last record played it had an automatic cut-off that usually worked.  I had that until Carianne was born, then my brother, Bob wanted it.  We have now gone from records to reel to reel tapes, to 8-track to cassettes to CDs and I-pods.  That is quite a change in really just 40 years!

I remember when I was taking typing in High School on an old fashioned, manual typewriter (the cheapest kind they could find)  - dreaming of day when you could type and automatically correct what you were doing before it hit the written page.  Imagine my delight when we got our first computer and printer - even though it was a dot matrix printer - that my dream had come true.

It is amazing to me how we have gone from huge computers that literally filled rooms to computers that literally fit in our hands.  Technology has made life so much easier as far as genealogy and other Church programs but it has also made it easier to bring negative things into our homes.  Parents have to be more vigilant than ever with the media.  These are truly amazing times.