Matilda Frederiksen Larsen
Excerpts
from the Personal History of Delores Larsen Allen (her Daughter)
(This was
all hand written by Delores L. Allen in a red notebook in the late 1970's or 1980)
My mother
Pauline Emilia Matilda Fredericksen was born April 23, 1872, Sindal Denmark,
daughter of Christain Fredricksen and Flora Spaanheden. Mother at the age of
thirteen, and her sister May, age eleven, left their mother and home in Denmark
June 13, 1885 and came to America with the Mormon missionaries after being
baptized May 18, 1885. They arrived in Ogden, Utah July 8, 1885. She and my father Niels
were married in the Logan temple, Oct. 1, 1890.
I shall
write briefly of my parents -- grandma and grandpa Larsen as they were called,
or Tildie and Nelse to the neighbors.
Mother was a
shy little lady, short and stocky in build. She didn't have much to say while
in church but if you we talking to her alone she could really preach you a
sermon. And she had many favorite scriptures/sayings she liked to quote -- such
as:
"Stay
close to the Lord so he will be there when you need Him."
"Never
let your right hand know what your left hand is doing."
"The
Lord loves a cheerful giver."
"I the
Lord am bound when you do what I say, but when you do not what I say you have
no promise."
"Seek
ye first the kingdom of heaven."
"Endure
to the end."
"A chapter
of scriptures a day keeps Satan away."
After father
died and she was alone she made her home here with us for seven years when she
quietly passed away after being ill for only two days. She left me the most
prized possession, her testimony of the gospel.
She said she knew the gospel was true the first time she heard the
missionaries preach in the building near their home in Denmark. And that our
Heavenly Father was her dearest friend, especially when she and he younger
sister came to this country at the age of eleven and thirteen. They couldn't
speak English, had no friends nor relatives and were strangers to everyone.
That was why
she was kind and friendly, all the rest of her life, to new people when they
moved to our neighborhood. She took food, quilts and clothing to the needy and
never let anyone know about it. She was indeed an angel of mercy, always
helping someone when they needed help most.
We didn't
have much of this world's goods, but we had a roof over our head, never went
hungry and had enough clothes to keep us warm in the winter. Best of all we had
parents who cared and gave us the help and security we needed. They were truly
an anchor in our home.
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