ISOLATION - AND CATCHING UP ON SVENDBORG 26 OCTOBER -2 NOVEMBER 2019

One year ago we had barely moved into our new home here in Pleasant Grove. Besides putting our belongings in the correct rooms we were finalizing our plans for our family history trip to Wales [UK], Germany, and Denmark. Before we left we flew to Denver for a few days to  see our 2 daughters and their families who live out there. Always love to see our family!

But that was a year ago and now the whole world has changed. There are those who wondered why we would leave on an extended trip when we had just moved into our new home but we felt like that was what we needed to do. And now we know that if we had postponed our trip we could not have gone and we would have missed so many wonderful memories.

We apparently are in the 'high risk' category since we are both in our 70's and I have Type II diabetes. Our church services have been cancelled world wide, our temples are closed, our General Conference which occurs every April and October will be closed to the public this time and will only be broadcast through TV, etc. 

Grocery stores shelves are often empty of some basic food items. Thankfully we have been methodically restocking our food supplies since we arrived home in January so we have what we need. A couple of weeks ago when we discovered that we had only one roll of paper towel left in our supply and that  our Costco store did not have any more paper towels I ordered and received paper towels and toilet paper from Amazon. We also have a good supply of rice, beans, sugar, etc that we have stored for some years. So, we can eat well enough for a few months if need be. But we would miss fresh produce and dairy. We are grateful for the counsel that we have received for many years as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to keep at least 3 months of food stored.

So, aside from some medical appointments we are staying home. And it is also nice to see some of our close family. We have lots of books to read, lots of sorting to do, a blog to catch up, and I have begun to write my autobiography. Somedays I feel like I have a bit of 'cabin fever' but I can go outside and take  walk if I want. We  even drove to Utah Lake yesterday which was food for my soul.

It is crazy that it has been 4 months since we were in Svendborg! We loved our time there. And now Denmark is closed to anyone who is not a citizen! It was so great to reconnect with my cousin and my aunt and to take a side trip to the tiny island of Strynø where my grandmother's ancestors had lived in the 1700's.

We are here in Pleasant Grove, enjoying our lovely new home and trying valiantly to get our belongings organized. It was not our plan to change locations until well after we returned from our mission. But as things often go, we make a plan and then Heavenly Father has other ideas. So we found ourselves selling our home in Blaine and beginning construction on our new home here in Pleasant Grove while we were yet on our mission.  Everything had been in storage while we were on our mission and then hastily put in various rooms after we moved into our home. Our new home is 1/3 smaller than our home in Blaine which means we need divest ourselves of 1/3 of our belongings. 

Downsizing is an interesting and sometimes painful process. We have so many books. Some we have read and many we haven't. In fact if I had read all of our books I would know so much and be so smart. It is still my goal to read most of our books but there are also many we just need to discard. Our office has many linear feet of bookshelves all filled up. And we brought many more books home from Wales, Denmark and Germany that need a place to live. And then there are my many family history binders and the numerous binders full of family photos. There is just a lot of work to be done. I think I must live until I am 120 years old to get all of my projects completed!

It is so lovely that we have been able to spend time with so many of our children and grandchildren in the past 2 months since we have been home. We love it! And they help us with things we cannot do ourselves like putting together IKEA shelves and hanging pictures with precision. 

Another of our grandsons has reported to the Mission Training Center in Provo where he is learning Cambodian preparing to serve in the Phom Phen Cambodian Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. He is the third of our grandsons currently serving missions. There is an Elder Jenkins in the Argentina Cordoba Mission, an Elder Olenslager who is serving in the Utah Salt Lake Mission Spanish speaking and now an Elder Jenkins who is learning Cambodian. We are grateful for their testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and their willingness to spend two year of their lives teaching about Jesus Christ. Now we will see if the Argentine mission will be shortened because of the virus and whether the Cambodian mission will happen or if he will be reassigned State side.

But I want to catch up on our amazing time in Svendborg. We stayed in a lovely place close to Svendborg right across the road from the bay. There is just something about water that speaks to my soul, and I probably take too many photos when we are by the water. I wanted to connect to where I lived so many years ago and where my ancestors came from centuries ago. Of course it is impossible to really see things as they were. Because the family history research I have done causes me to live in the past it is always a shock when I am faced with the present.

Grethe and I have corresponded since 1994 and she is great at writing letters. It was so nice to spend most of the week with her!

Our view across the road.

The sun always makes it more interesting,

Our flat was just to th left of the trees.It was connected to the main house. We had 2 small bedrooms, a living room , kitchen and bathroom with laundry.

Yes, it was fall and the apples had fallen from the tree.

This is the chapel for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Odense. We had to drive for almost an hour so we could attend church. There was a pretty large congregation and the feeling there was very good.

Almost as soon as we entered the chapel we were approached and asked if we needed translation and when we said 'yes' we were given these translators items and a kind man translated the whole service into English for us.

My grandparents, Willy Carl Max Grawe and Astrid Petrine Jorgensdatter became members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in April of 1950 so they would never have seen this building although they must have known it was in the works. When they lived in Svendborg and wanted to attend church they had to take the train to Odense which was about 50 km away. Because of the train schedule it was necessary to travel on Saturday, stay over with friends, attend church in the rented rooms in Odense and then take the train back to Svendborg. It was their great desire to be amongst other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and to be sealed to each other in a temple. Since the closet temple at that time was in Switzerland and because the family of one of the missionaries would sponsor them they obtained permission to immigrate to the United States. They were in their 50's and very old fashioned yet they sold my grandfather's cabinet shop and made their way to the United States and settled in Union, Oregon. It is because of them that some years later my mother began to study the Gospel which led to her baptism and she taught me much about the Gospel which was the beginning of my testimony that has shaped my life.

A street in Odense. 

On the road to Brylle.

Brylle is a small town that lies a little south east of Odense. We drove back to Svendborg through this town because that is where I was born. The town is VERY small and I do not know which house the nurse/midwife lived in but my mother went to her a little before I was born and stayed until it was time to bring me home.

It is beautiful country around there.

My father worked near Svendborg at the time so when he heard I was born he rode his bicycle to Brylle just to see me and then rode back to work -  a round trip of about 100 km [62 miles] That is a long way on bicycle!

When you leave the town boundary there is a cross through the name of the town indicating that you have left the town.

I like the look of these white houses with the wooden frames.

That fall was definitely very rainy and very often we saw fields that were saturated with water as this.

Sunset 

This little red car lived in the same apartment complex as my cousin. Note that there are only 3 wheels.

This ship was in the harbour next to the office where Steve went to get a prescription for eye drops. The optometrist was very kind to just write the scrip for him. We were able to get his eye drops without any trouble and were also able to pick up some of the very effective anti itch cream  for mosquito bites  which we cannot find in the USA. It contains mepramin.

We spent part of an afternoon driving around the area where my grandparent's home had been. But inhere home and shop had been a casualty when a new road was built and the bridge erected.  My great aunt and uncle's home had also been torn down. But we did find the church where my mother had attended as a young girl and where my parents were married.

The erection of this bridge facilitated easier travel between two islands

Still loving the view across the road from where we stayed.

Traveling back and forth to my cousin's house we saw a sign for Christiansminde. Christiansminde is a place where my mother often went as a child and as a young girl. I believe it was at a dance hall at a family dance where she first saw my father many years ago. This cottage is on the property.

Flag at Christiansminde.

At Christiansminde.

Christiansminde

Christiansminde

Christiansminde is really a lovely place for walking and swimming in the  summer.

A lovely place to walk!

This house was built by my grand father Henry Nielsen and my father helped.

This little gray house was where I lived with my parents for a short time in my early life.

Love this view!

The weather had been beautiful but chilly. There was ice on our windshield the 30 of October.

We picked up my cousin and drove to Rudkøbing to catch the ferry to Strynø. The water was smooth as glass.

Here comes the ferry.

It was a very small ferry carrying only about 1/2 dozen vehicles.

The ferry also carried the Royal Mail as indicated by the insignia on the flag.

And there is Stynø the home of my 6th great grandparents Axel Andreasen and Birthe Clausdatter who lived in the early 1700's. The records do not go back far enough to say which other of my ancestors lived there but I suspect there were some other generations further back. It is a very small island only 1.88 sq miles [4.88 sq km]. the town is in the center of the island with the land holdings going out from there.

Seen on a car window.

The harbour on Strynø with the glassy water. We could not have picked a better day to go.

I wanted to know where my ancestors had lived and our tour guide Kjeld Hansen  did a great job of  showing us around the island and also where my ancestors had actually lived. This is one property which is quite close to the water. At one time the house - a white one with the wooden cross boards - was dismantled from town and reconstructed on the property.

This is another view of the property. Obviously the house is now gone but it was nice to know where it had once stood.

The property now houses a special high school where students come to live while they attend school. They learn a lot of hands on lessons and are not taught in the traditional way.

This is town center with the maypole and the only store in town. It is a general store with food but a few other necessities as well. Several roads come together at the maypole.

I think this is an old school. They have a larger building now for the early grades but the older kids go off the island to Rudkøbing for school.

This is the church on Strynø. This is too recent for my ancestors since it as built in the early 1800's but some of the descendants would have gone there.

A typical ship in the chapel

Although the church is newer this font was original and would have been where my ancestors were christened.

Looking across to a neighboring island. There was a lantern set up to give signals of when a boat would be coming across the water. Look at how clear the water is!

Another view. Can you see the other small islands in the distance?

Still a working windmill

Here we are with Kjeld in the Historical Archive which is housed in the local school. While having lunch with Kjeld we learned about a book and then while visiting with Skjeld the archivist we learned that there was another  book both written about Strynø. Who would have thought that there would be any books about this small place let alone two of them.

I was determined to buy both these books. And I was fortunate to find them. Skjeld sold me what I think was his copy which lists all of the people who lived on Strynø from the earliest records until 1940 and it is printed in pedigree charts. I have not yet had the time to go through it but I am certain I will be able to find more relatives because of the way it is set up! Excting stuff. The colorful book is a history of the houses and farms on Strynø. My ancestors are listed as well as many descendants so I am certain I will be able to learn more about my family when it get into it as well. But that will have to wait until I get things organized in this office.

Here I am standing along side of the property where my ancestor Axel Andreasen lived. That is not his house but his house did stand  on this property many years ago.

Somewhere on this property was the house of Jens Axelsen the son of Axel Andreasen. It also is gone and I think that is the house that was dismantled and rebuilt on the property shown above that now has the school.

Although it is a small island it is still along walk to the harbour. There was  an old man who struggled to walk and yet walked to the harbour and back each day. The people of the town got together and made 2 benches, one on each end of the walk so there would be a place for this old man to sit and rest.

We had collected a few items including our rather unwieldy lawn ornament that we bought on Rügen. We were finally able to find a box that was big enough for the lawn ornament and then we filled it in with a lot of other stuff and mailed it off to our son's house. It was very expensive to send it off but it arrived safely.

The beautiful woods near our place.

Steve was checking the ground for something.

This is the Langeland Museum. Langeland is the name of the larger island where the town of Rudkøbing lies. Strynø is in the municipality of Langeland and this is where we had to go to buy the book about the houses and farms on Strynø

An old stove found at the museum.

Rudkøbing

A cool door in Rudkøbing.

Rudkøbing

Rudkøbing

Svendborg shopping center. I was looking for a new pair of shoes because I had literally worn out my regular shoes. We went all over town and I finally found a pair that would do but it was kind of hard with my high arch to find some that would work. I forgot to take a photo of my old shoes before I threw them away but the soles were letting water in and with so much rain...

Church in Svendborg. 

Svendborg

Svendborg

Svendborg

And just like that our time in Svendborg was over and  we were on our way to Mors. It was 289 km or about 180 miles and a little over 3 hours.

It was back to rainy weather again.

The landscape changed a lot as we drove along.

Still raining!

And that was the end of our time on Fyn and in Svendborg. There were many other places where ancestors lived around there that we could have visited but there really was not enough time.

What an amazing time we had! Looking through these photos has brought a smile to my face as I remembered all of the wonderful experiences we had. So very grateful for our time there. So grateful for our trip and that we took it when we could. Thanks for reading about my memories. I will try to get the rest of our trip blogs caught up while we are still inisolation.