The Journal of Peter Christian Geertsen 1855
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THE JOURNAL OF PETER CHRISTIAN GEERTSEN 1855 - 1864 TRANSLATED BY RICHARD L. JENSEN (Oct 1855 – June 5th 1860) AND ULLA CHRISTENSEN (June 6th 1860 – Feb 1864) EDITED BY JEFF GEERTSEN 1 Editor’s Note: The Journal of Peter Christian Geertsen was transcribed from microfilm copies of his original books, which now reside in the LDS Church Archives. About two thirds of the journal was translated in the 1990’s by Richard L. Jensen, who was unable to complete the work due to other assignments by the Church History Deprtament, where he is employed. I am very grateful, therefore, to have made contact with Ulla Christensen, who graciously volunteered to complete the translation. A native of Denmark, Ulla currently resides in Nevada, and is a descendant of the sister of Jens Jensen Gravgaard, the father of Jensine Jensen, the wife of Peter C. Geertsen Jr. Her translation is a seamless continuation of Richard Jensen’s work, and the completed journal is now a very readable witness to Peter’s early life and church work. The account begins with a biography and ends just before Peter and his new wife Mariane Pedersen left Denmark to come to Utah in 1864. Peter returned to Denmark twice as a missionary, and journal accounts of those missions, written in English this time, have been transcribed and are available as well. It will be helpful for the reader to understand the notations used by myself and the translators. Missing and implied words were placed in brackets [ ] by the translators to add clarity. Unreadable words are indicated by [?]. Words in parentheses ( ) were in parentheses in the original. Footnotes have been added to provide context and explain some terms, and to clarify the relationships of some of the family members that Peter visited. A blank space, _____, indicates a space left by Peter, where he forgot a name or place. Jeff Geertsen Mesa, AZ May 2011 2 MY LIFE WRITTEN BY MYSELF PEDER CHRISTIAN GEERTSEN I intend on the following sheets of paper to record my birth, extraction, upbringing, and life, followed by a diary beginning with 14 October 1855, in order that if the Lord should allow me to live and have the joy of receiving offspring they may have a reliable account of what has happened to me from my earliest childhood and of what I have accomplished in life, which I know will please them as well as others who at some time might wish to know my origin. Oh Lord, wilt thou help me and help me remember the things which I wish to record, and wilt thou give me thy spirit so that it may be interesting and yet concise, so that I myself may receive joy and pleasure from it and so that this record may be taken home with me to Zion in thine own time, is the prayer of thy servant, oh holy and almighty Jehovah, for the sake of thy Son, Jesus Christ, Amen! I Peder Christian Geertsen was born in Gjøttrup, a country town located in western Hanherred, Thisted Amt in the kingdom of Denmark in Europe, 26 July 1837, to parents Geert Larsen and Ane Marie Larsen, neé Knudsen. They were both reared by poor parents with little school education. They worked for other people to acquire the necessities, but by means of God's direction they had become possessors of a farm which was not so small compared with other peasant farms. My mother was married to two men and had eight children by them, but when the last died she married my father, G. L., who then became stepfather to her 8 children and had in addition to them three sons with her, of whom I am the youngest. He was good- natured and treated us all with love, both stepchildren and his own, so we all considered one another as full brothers and sisters. However, if he was provoked he would lose his temper. We loved him very much, and he was well thought of by all his friends and acquaintances, but particularly by us, who often remember the loving care he had for us as his children in trying to look after our welfare. Yes, dear Father, we long for your presence and long to put our arms around you; yet, we do this in the hope of seeing one another in the morning of the resurrection with an even greater joy. He suffered from illnesses for many years and finally passed away in death 11 April 1847. He died without hearing the gospel, for at that time it had not been sent to our land (Denmark). On the other hand, my mother was more stingy and wrathful and provoked both him and us to anger. Because of her unwise and unloving ways, we received a poor upbringing. We lived in mutual strife and disunity and did not pay much attention to her counsel and admonitions, but were disobedient toward them. I now understand our mistakes and feel to pray to thee, Lord, for forgiveness for my offense. We grew up among these my parents. When I was six years old it happened that I became lame in my right foot, so lame that I hardly touched the ground with it but walked with 1 and sometimes 2 crutches. At one time 3 there were 15 holes in my foot simultaneously, from which I still have some scars. My parents sought much advice, but nothing helped before I was 8 years old. Then I began to throw away the crutches. That was at the time my father died. I was enrolled in school when I was 8 years old, and from that time until I was 14 I diligently attended school and made rapid progress in the subjects which were taught, and in particular I was very interested in arithmetic. I soon caught up with my peers, who had begun school a year before me, since I had been excused because of the above-mentioned weakness in my foot. The school teacher's name was Christen Christensen, and he was a man who took all possible pains to teach us the knowledge which relates to school instruction, and I loved him very much; yet, I was often bad and was sometimes punished for it by him. I did not understand the necessity of the punishment then as well as I do now. The doctrine I was taught was the so-called "Lutheran," and at that time I did not know of any other one in that area. On the 18th of April 1852 I was confirmed in Kjettrup Church by the minister of the parish, J. R. Damkjer. Here I made the promise to renounce all the Devil's ways and acts and believe in God, his Son, and the Holy Ghost. I had strange feelings at the time I gave this promise, for I feared that I could not keep it. I saw that as people grew up, their sins increased, and the thought of this caused me to burst into tears, like several of the others. I considered it not a little thing to be saved; yet, without knowing of what this salvation consisted, I believed that it could not be gained without keeping the commandments of God, and I then made the decision to live a godly life. From the above-mentioned minister I received the following grades, which were very rare, namely, "Very good indeed for knowledge and for behavior very good." With good feelings and the determination to serve God and do his will, I left the church and was accompanied home by the school teacher and his son. He (the school teacher) encouraged me to continue as heretofore to seek knowledge and educate myself to become a school teacher and attend the teachers college. He spoke about this to my mother and my older brothers and sisters. My mother liked the idea, partly because I was lame and because she thought that in this way she could see me raised up and honored among men, and other motives which brought it about that I might follow his suggestion with her permission. I myself wanted to do that. I continued to study the knowledge I had obtained earlier, but at the same time I took part in the amusements which are found in the world. In particular, I liked dancing very much, and the thought of God dwindled away little by little. Yet, when I was alone, at different times I could become very moved by thinking about the future, and when I went to the altar to partake of the sacrament I was sorrowful and resolved to avoid sin, but I lacked strength every time. When I read in the New Testament I thought, "Oh, if only I had lived at the time when Jesus and the apostles lived, then I would have been happy." The big question was in my mind: why doesn't the Lord reveal himself in our day or send angels to mankind? I could not answer it myself, and I did not speak to anyone about it. I could almost have thought that no such thing had ever been given, yet I did not dare believe that. In July 1854 I went to the examination at Ranum Teachers College to be accepted there as a student. At that time I was 17 years old. The director of the teachers college was named Lundal, and he was a minister for the Bjørnsholm and Malø parishes. He had little desire to accept anyone so young, yet he said that as far as my knowledge was concerned he might 4 well have had reason to accept me in preference to many of the others.