OCR Text |
Show Interesting Letter Comes From Denmark Missionary The following letter was received by the Herald this week and we are sure that every reader will enjoy en-joy reading of the experiencs which Elder James Sumsion is having in the Danish-mission Danish-mission of the LDS church. We take this opportunity of expressing express-ing our thanks and appreciation to James and invite every other missionary mis-sionary or other reader who is away from home, to write us a letter. "The purpose of this letter is mainly to notify you of my change in address but I would like to take advantage of this opportunity to tell you a little bit about my new field of labor. "I was transferred to Svend-borg Svend-borg after laboring 17 months in Aarhus. I enjoyed working in the big city but I also like it very much here in this smaller town. "Svendborg, whose population is about 21,000, is located on the southern-most tip of Fyn, Denmark's Den-mark's second largest island! The entire island is very flat; the highest high-est point being only 564 feet above sea level. The land itself is very fertile. So much in faot that it is called "the garden" of Denmark. In addition to the extensive fields of grain and potatoes, grazing pasture, and orchards of fruit trees, there are large' fields of Tulips. These, however, are not located on the main island of Pyn as are all the rest. They are found on the small island of Turx lying just outside of Svendborg's harbor. har-bor. My companion and I were over to see them while they were in full bloom and they were indeed outstanding. Those acres of blossoming blos-soming tulips in all colors, shapes and forms would certainly create a great deal of excitement and wonderment won-derment of they could be transported trans-ported to Utah. The Danes claim that Svendborg is one of the most beautiful places in all Denmark and I can readily agree. Because of its rare beauty in the spring and summer, Svendborg is well known to tourists. It is visited by many people both from Denmark and other countries here in Europe. "The town itself is built on the sides of small rolling hills which extend almost out to the sea. For this reason we walk more than we ride our bikes. There are many new modern buildings being constructed but the old sections of town still exist which stand just as they are described des-cribed by Hans' Christian Anderson Ander-son in his beloved fairy tales. These old parts of town with their half-timbered houses and cobblestone cobble-stone streets add a picturesque and interesting note to the beauty of the town. "The people as a whole are quite polite and friendly but most generally gen-erally indifferent to our message. The old antagonism for the "Mormons" "Mor-mons" does not exist as it did many years ago, however, we do not have any members yet but we do have several good possibilities. "When the missionaries first arrived ar-rived after the war, things were almost at a' standstill because there were neither missionaries nor contact with the General Authorities Author-ities during the war years but the mission is now back on its feet again. We have about 160 American Ameri-can missionaries in Denmark at the present time and there is marked mar-ked progress over the entire mission. mis-sion. . "Now in closing I wish to thank you very much for sending the Herald during the past 20 months. It has been a source of enjoyment and enlightenment by keeping me in remote contact with Springville Spring-ville and what is happening there during my absence. I'm sure that all the Springville missionaries appreciate ap-preciate your efforts in this respect. re-spect. "I also wish to express my deepest deep-est appreciation for the letters and packages which I have received re-ceived from my many friends. It is always a joy to be remembered while being so far away. Thanks a lot." Sincerely James C. Sumsion |