3/15/25
Hello, Friends! We have had some adventures this week and I’m so glad you’re here to enjoy them with us! However, they are not Iceland adventures. This week we were in Denmark! Todd and I got to take a trip to Copenhagen and spend a few days with our mission leaders, President & Sister Davidson. So let’s explore some new territory together, shall we? Warning, this is a picture heavy post. I don’t think I’ve ever used this many pictures in one post! Get comfortable.
We packed up and flew to Denmark on Tuesday. It really felt adventurous to leave Iceland, which is strange because Iceland is a very exciting place to be! But it felt like we were running off to skip class. (Don’t worry, there were meetings for us to attend in Denmark too. 🙂 ) Our travel day was uneventful. It is about 1400 miles between Reykjavik and Copenhagen which takes about 3 1/2 hours to fly.
Reykjavik airport —
We flew over Iceland heading east to Denmark. Todd got great pictures of Vatnajökull, the largest glacier in Iceland.
We’ve never been to Denmark before. I have a lot of family history from here. Both of my parents have ancestors who immigrated to the US from Denmark. We didn’t really have time, on this trip, to go to where my relatives are from. But maybe someday we will be able to do that.
The Davidson’s picked us up at the airport and gave us a lift to where we are staying — the mission home! They had spent all day in a zone conference, then they drove across the city to get us at the airport. They drove us back home and we sat visiting for a while that evening. I’ve always known that mission leaders do a lot of work. Let me tell you, this week has been even more eye opening. They do A LOT of work. I admire them so much for their faith in Jesus Christ, their dedication to their missionaries, and their efforts to fulfill their callings.
We got a tour of the mission home, which is – essentially – a nice family home. It has been remodeled in some ways to accommodate the needs of the mission leaders. There are a couple of guest rooms, 4 1/2 bathrooms, 2 washers & dryers, a nice kitchen & dining room. There are offices for both sister & president Davidson. And, there is a bunk room for when missionaries are passing through. I don’t think we realize how much cooking and laundry the mission leaders do.
Fabulous Danish breakfast – muesli, fruit, yogurt, and pastry!
On our first full day in Denmark we explored downtown Copenhagen. President & Sister Davidson were in interviews all day so they gave us a car to use and sent us on our way. Copenhagen is a big city full of cars, pedestrians, bicycles, and other traffic in every form. It was fun to see and interesting to navigate! It’s a beautiful city. We started out where everyone should begin — at the little mermaid. She’s there on her rock, posing for her picture!
Copenhagen is a city full of sculpture and art. Many of the sculptures commemorate important people or events in Danish history. I don’t know what all of them represent, but around every corner we found sculptures and statues to admire. Here are a few of our favorites:
As we wandered the city we also enjoyed all of the different architectural features and textures used in building. There is so much variety, color, and texture! It was fun to look for them.
We stumbled upon Christiansborg Palace which houses the Danish Parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Ministry of State. Royalty used to live there and it is an impressive building.
We didn’t take a tour but we enjoyed the lobby! These pillars are incredible.
Next we walked to Nyhavn. This is one of the places I had been eager to see. Every time I think of Copenhagen this image comes to mind. And it did not disappoint! In person it looks exactly like the pictures. And here are some of the pictures we took!
We walked along the canal and took an hour long canal boat tour to see more of the sights of Copenhagen. We couldn’t understand a word of what the tour guide was saying – although it was in English the speaker system wasn’t the best – but the ride was lovely and the sights were beautiful. It was a fun hour.
On our way to Nyhavn we walked past a waffle shop and I could not get those delicious looking waffles out of my head. After we finished the boat tour we made our way back up the pedestrian streets, through the shops, and to the waffle shop. It was worth it! Delicious!!
Our final stop downtown was at the Church of our Lady. In this cathedral are Thorvaldsen’s sculptures of the Christus and His apostles. It is spectacular. I would have loved an hour in there alone! Lots of people were there to enjoy the church and the sculptures. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hold this statue and image in special regard. We love Jesus Christ and this representation of Him.
We spent the next day at the Syd Sjælland Zone Conference. It was different and fun to attend a zone conference in Denmark. The missionaries welcomed and included us. We spent some time getting to know the senior mission couples in this zone as we spent the day together. Below are a few of the young missionaries we met — I don’t know anyone’s names!
We met in a beautiful, unique church building that I loved. They have a Christus statue in their building lobby, just like we do in Iceland. It is beautiful.
After zone conference we attended a session at the Copenhagen Temple. We haven’t been able to attend the temple since before we left on our mission and we have missed it so much. (If you’d like to know more about what we do in our temples, click here.) Inside the temple is lovely. I couldn’t take pictures in the temple, but click here to see the official photos of the rooms inside.
Just as you walk into the temple there is a desk with workers welcoming you and checking you in. Standing at the desk was a man named Randy Olsen. He and his wife are serving a temple mission in the Copenhagen Denmark temple. Randy and his wife, Jerri, lived in Fairbanks, Alaska the same time we lived in North Pole, Alaska! We knew them there and were shocked to come across them in Denmark! They are wonderful people and we had fun catching up.
The temple is gorgeous and peaceful and we spent a couple of happy hours there. I met the sweetest Danish woman in the dressing room and she helped me find my way around and feel more comfortable. She was at the temple to celebrate her birthday and I’m glad I could join her in her celebration! It was a great day to finish our day.
For our final full day in Denmark we went with President & Sister Davidson to a town west of Copenhagen called Roskilde. They had missionary interviews to do for the morning so they dropped us off at Roskilde Domkirke. This cathedral is unique for so many reasons. It is the burial spot for all Danish royalty. “It has 1000 years of history behind it, and 40 Danish kings and queens are buried in the church’s chapels and crypts. The history of the monarchy is a gold mine of dramatic Danish history, of bloody battles, epidemics, high treason, jealousy drama and conspiracies, but also love.” You can read more about it here (have your computer translate the Danish to English). We loved exploring the cathedral.
As I mentioned earlier, I have a lot of Danish ancestry. While we were in the cathedral I opened up my family tree app to map where my ancestors lived. You can upload this app to learn more about your family history. You don’t have to be a member of our church to use it and it is full of fascinating information about your family. Click here for help finding the app. If you’d like to know more about what family history is, click here.
Once I opened the map I found that my 4th great grandfather through my father was christened in this very cathedral in 1796! His name was Ib Larsen and he was born 1 mile away from the cathedral. It was moving to think of my family, long ago, being in the very same place. We asked one of the Lutheran pastors how old the baptismal font is and he said it is from the early 1700’s. So my great-great-great-great grandpa was christened in this font! (Probably! Maybe?) It was very exciting. We hadn’t planned to do any family history while we were in Denmark and yet, we still had this sweet experience. It made both of us want to return one day and learn more about my Danish roots.
The cathedral is full of tombs, some more elaborate than others.
There were also beautiful sculptures and carvings everywhere. Here are some of my very favorites:
I was also drawn to ceilings and floors. Can you tell which is which by the pictures?
After the cathedral we spent some time roaming Roskilde. It’s a charming town full of interesting things to see and we loved our morning there.
We had lunch with the Davidson’s and enjoyed a Danish smørrebrød. It’s an open faced sandwich on rye bread. We had fish and shrimp on ours and it was delicious!
Here are our extraordinary hosts Jamie & Judy Davidson.
They have welcomed us, fed us, cared for us, and helped us appreciate them even more than we did before. We love the Davidsons. Spending three days with the them was such a pleasure. Pretty much every hour of their day is spent doing something for their mission responsibilities. This summer they will be one year into their three year leadership assignment and you can feel the work load that they carry. If you would like to know a little bit more about what mission leaders do you can read about it here. We pray for the Davidson’s daily and we love and honor them.
On our last evening in Denmark we enjoyed this sunset from the mission home deck:
And we enjoyed dinner with the Davidson’s and Elder & Sister Larsen, a valuable office couple in our mission. It was fun to get to know them a little bit more over a delicious meal. In case you were wondering, we chose “not two beer”. 🙂
Our dinner was around the corner from Tivoli Gardens. It is closed this time of the year so we didn’t get to explore. That’s just another reason for us to come back to Denmark another time soon!
We loved our week in Copenhagen but we are happy to be back to Reykjavik and our little band of elders. Now it’s time to settle back in, do some laundry, get some groceries, and get back to work! Be sure to check out Todd’s social media pages listed below. We took so many pictures and videos this week and he’s got them there. There is a lot to see! We hope you’ll join us again next week for more adventures. See you then!
Todd’s Facebook page:
Todd’s YouTube page:
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