“The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.” – Fa Zhou, Disney’s Mulan
My mom used to tell me to “Bloom where you are planted.” I disliked this phrase immensely; mostly because I grew up and lived in small-town Idaho. I am a big city girl at heart with a spirit that yearns to travel, experience new cultures and things, and discover hidden treasures of the world. I recently came across a saying about flowers that reminded me of what my mom used to tell me. “Flowers don’t compare themselves to other flowers, they just bloom.” The fortuitous finding of this saying was much needed in my life at this moment.
As I have grown and learned more about who I am, I have come to learn that “Bloom where you are planted” refers to more than the physical location I reside in. My understanding has been opened to recognize that I need to grow into the best version of myself, regardless of where I live physically, but also regardless of where I am emotionally.
Meet Anny Magdaline Jensen, born in Norre Alslev, Falster, Denmark, 5 July 1855. She was the youngest of five children born to Jens Pedersen and Petronille Margrette Nielsdatter. Born into a poor family, at the age of ten, Anny was sent to live elsewhere to help contribute to the family income, where she learned to be a hard and dependable worker. At the young age of seventeen, she joined the Mormon church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She was disowned by her family and friends, but she had been given the gift of the true gospel and she could not deny within herself the witness by the Holy Ghost of this truth. Shortly after she joined, her older sister, Christine (Kirsten) joined and they both longed to join the Saints in Zion (Utah). Anny was able to secure passage with a mother and her three young children who needed help on the passage across the ocean and United States to Utah. Once she arrived in Utah, she found employment which paid fifty cents a week, saving everything she could to send to her sister still in Denmark. Christine was able to join Anny within about five months, which was a joyous reunion for both sisters.
In 1875, Anny married Otto Emerick Johnson, the eighth of nine children born to Nils Skjott Pedersen and Anna Christina Granlund. When Otto was around twelve years old, his family was introduced to the gospel of Jesus Christ and the whole family accepted this new faith. They immigrated together to Utah shortly after joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Otto and Anny were the parents of twelve children, all of whom lived to adulthood. The legacy of Otto and Anny was beyond measure and all loved and respected them for their stalwart faith, determined pioneer spirit, and devotion to their family. Many stories could be shared of Anny and how she learned to bloom where she was planted; however, her life could be summed up by a letter she wrote to her parents…
“I know it has been many years since you have heard from me. Please accept this letter. I was just five feet tall and a mite over 100 pounds, but after I heard the words of those elders my heart and soul did so swell that I had no fear of anything…not of being disowned, not of being alone, not of boarding a ship to sail the Atlantic to America. I know it was not just the thick dark hair I got from mama, or blue eyes from papa that attracted Otto Emerick. He was too good of a man to be won by just a “pretty face.” I think he recognized that I loved beauty and goodness and kindness…and life, because so did he! We were married in February, the middle of winter. I could not wait to start a family of my own. 12 children! All healthy! How Heavenly Father loves me! Here is a description of my first home: A dug out built on the bank of a creek, 6ft wide and 10ft across, covered with bullrushes, brush, and tree limbs, sealed with sod grass and soil. I had a grass bed and an iron stove and when it rained muddy water poured in. But we were as happy there as in any of our finer homes in Snowville, Logan, or Preston; and all of our homes have been filled with music, love and testimony. I have lived with lice and Indians and without just about everything else I though was essential in Denmark. I have thought about you just about every day of my life. When each of my children was born, Mother, how I wanted you there. And Father, how you would love this rugged land. I am sorry for the pain I have caused you, but I will not deny this gospel. It is my life. I hope you will accept this letter and the love that comes with it.
Your daughter, Annie”
Anny, has helped me to know what I want to become. I hope that I am able to become more like her as I continue to learn to bloom and grow into the best version of myself. I am grateful to be part of Anny’s great posterity. She has left a legacy of goodness which I hope to emulate as I learn more about of each of my ancestors and share their stories.
An in-depth history of Anny’s life can be found at https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KWC8-2FV
3 Trees Genealogy Studio 