S10:E06 "Demons and Rummikub"

Another week has come and gone. Twas a pretty good week. Things are still pretty down to earth here in our area, and what I mean by that is that we don't have a whole ton going on. Besides finding. 

Well then again, on Monday we went and cast some demons out of a house. That was pretty exciting. We just got this referral where someone wanted us to bless there house because one of the kids was complaining about this spirit waking him up. So that's what we did, just went then said a nice prayer. We had a good chat with all of them, they were super friendly. It was just weird when the member called us and was like "hey, I need to you go cast out an evil spirit". But I mean, you gotta do what you gotta do as a missionary. 

We had a good lesson with Cecilia, we just talked about getting answers to prayers, and how it comes. That was a way good chat. Once again it's just a discussion and she asks a lot of questions about why we believe and how we got that belief. She is still super positive and searching for truth. She got sick this week though so we were only able to meet that one time. 

We were able to talk with a priest for a little bit about the church. That was fun. He ordered the restoration movie, and when we dropped it off we just started talking about what we believe in. He wasn't interested in becoming mormon, because he would have no job, but he thought it was interesting in any case. 

Ummm... We had a crazy lesson, with Finn. Finn would not have any of the gospel. It was like talking to a brick wall, and I finally just threw in the white flag. He is just a guy who is pretty drunk most of the time, who wants someone to vent to, which I would be okay with if he would listen to what we had to say as well. But he was just too stubborn. I felt way bad for the member that came with us. 

We had a lot of appointments cancel again, but we had some good fun appointments with members. Got to know them better. 

Gosh, that's about it. Yesterday we were with some members and played some Rummikub with them. That was way fun. It was one of those families that I could just joke around with them the whole time. I was pretty hard on the father of the family. But he started it. haha. It was way fun. 

Nothing too crazy has happened.... I wish I could write more, but I can't really.

I love you all, hope you have a good week!

S10:E5 "Cream balls of DOOM!"

Hello everyone, once again I am writing to you about what has happened in this past week, and I will have you know, it wasn't a whole lot. Lots of cancelled appointments, so that means lots of time out in the cold. But it builds character right?

We started off the week last monday by going to Lan Le's, another girl from Vietnam that just feeds us ridiculous amounts of food. So I guess that was a good start to the week. We also got to sing karoake with her... interesting appointment.

Moving on we got burned by someone, which was lame because we had a member with us when it happened. It made it even lamer because it was Cecilia that burned us, our most positive investigator. 

We knocked for a long time this past week. Nothing too crazy came from it. 

Ummm.... oh, that was a fun experience. We knocked on this guys door and he starts yelling, then right before he opens the door he yells "I'm gonna kill ya!" That was fun. He thought it was his neighbor knocking on his door, and apparently they have that type of relationship as neighbors. haha. We ended up having a good conversation with him and actually kind of got to teach him. So that was one plus of this week. 

We were able to meet with Cecilia once this week though! That was a really good lesson. We just focused on how to get an answer to prayers, and how that really is the key to everything that we are talking about. We also talked a lot about marriage and stuff. It was a pretty good lesson if you ask me. 

Charles bailed on our appointment, but we were finally able to get in with a guy named Adam. He is a less active and hasn't gone to church since he was like 13. He wasn't super interested, but at least we got to talk to him. 

All in all, that's about everything that happened. Recently I have been trying to make these though. (http://chocolat.dk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/fl%C3%B8deboller1.jpg) Flødeboller. It's been quite the process learning how to make them. But I'm getting closer.

I love you all, the church is true! Never forget that.

With loves,

Ældste Swan

S10:E4 "Kungfu death brownies"

Hey family,

I'm still doing well, still hanging in there. It's not too cold yet, which is way positive, hopefully that means it won't be cold for very long, instead of being a late winter. But I've been successfully countering the cold with a ton of unhealthy food. 

Ummm... this week was alright. We had a lot of plans, and most of them changed and got cancelled. Last monday was a good day though. We were able to meet with a girl named Cecilia, and we had a good chat with her about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and what it means for us to follow him. She is super sincere when it comes to investigating the church. Most of the lessons we have with her are just answering really good questions. So after having that good lesson, we went with her to a members house and ate dinner. That was fun. This was familien Ildskov, a younger family and their youngest kid who is probably like 5, is just completely hyper. So that was probably a fun introduction to the mormon household for Cecilia. 

The next day was lame. We had 2 appointments in the morning that got cancelled. Which was a lame way to start the day. Then nothing really happened. Then I got a way bad migraine that night. Not very fun. But while I was sleeping my companion made death brownies. So that was a plus of that day. 

Wednesday we had zone training. That was alright. It was weird to be there and not have to do anything. Just as a normal missionary. It was fun to see some of the friends again though. Then after we got back, we went to another appointment, and he opened the door and told us that he couldn't meet. He had a good excuse though, he was passing a kidney stone. So once again, dissappointing. But after that we met with our good friend Kim de king. So Kim de King has that name because he changed his name. He changed his name because of his love for the king, Elvis. So, he is a pretty interesting dude. But I love meeting with him, 1. because he always gives us way good hot cocoa, and 2. because he is actually a way nice and smart guy. So we have had quite a few good conversations with him this week about the sacrament and some different things. Sadly he hasn't been to church in a while, but he has a strong testimony of it. 

We also got to meet with Thomas, the guy in a wheel chair. I always love meeting with him. Just super sincere the whole time. But this time was a little different because he found someone who wanted to get visited by the missionaries. So we talked to him about that and figured out what we can do to help him. So that was fun. :) yay member missionary work. 

We taught Cecilia again as well, but the last time it was on commandments and why we have them. We also talked about the protection that comes when we read the scriptures and come to church. So that was a good lesson as well. 

Oh man, we went to an eating appointment with 2 brothers, Erik and Lee Jepsen. So much fun.So Lee is married, just a young couple, and Erik has been back from his mission for about a year. The eating appointment pretty much consisted of them showing us all the new video games and just having some super nerdy talk. It was great to have that again. It had been awhile. That was loads of fun. Then we talked about having a missionary mindset always, and being able to see oppurtunities to share the gospel. 

We also met with Charles, a kungfu master from New York. That was another fun lesson. Talked about baptism, and authority and all that fun stuff. He had been baptized 4 times already in different churches so he told us that he probably shouldn't be baptized again. But we'll see what happens with that. 

So everything is going well in Denmark. :) Love you all!

S11:E3 "You're as cold as ice!"

Well the time has come where it's gotten very cold here. But.... it had to happen some time. But other than getting bombarded with ice shards the past couple days, we have had a way good week.

We have been working with Shayrone and Patricia, and they totally came to church on Sunday! That was awesome. We just saw Matthew (Shayrones 4 yearold son) Run through the rain and into the church. They had a good time. We had a good chat with them about the plan of salvation, and we tried to answer the infamous question of "why do bad things happen to good people?" That was a good discussion we had, and that's one thing that I love teaching because I know that we are here to develop and to get better, and even though it's not very fair between everyone. It's like the parable of the talents. We just have to make do with what we have. 

We have also been working a lot with Kim de King, the nice less active guy who always gives us hot chocolate. We have some really good chats with him about what it means to do your part with your whole heart, and not to do anything half heartedly. Sadly he wasn't in church, but he seems to slowly be progressing. 

We have also been finding quite a few new investigators this week. That's always a good thing. Mixes it up a little. 

I was able to go on splits with an elder named elder Wright. That was fun. He taught me how to do a head stand. It was actually pretty wild, because we were knocking down in his area, and we found someone who is a really good friend of Shayrones! So we ended up talking to her for awhile. 

Well, I actually ran out of time on the computer, so sadly this is all I will be writing for today. My bad family. I will makes sure to write more next week!!!! 

Love you all!

Ældste Swan

S11:E2 "Chandlers new year"

Hello family, everything is good over here! Still just trying to get settled in to Odense. It's not quite as good as Århus was, but it's still not bad.

First things first, I totally went to a wedding! That was exciting. My first one. What made it even better is that we got to sit on the stand, right behind the happy couple! We are probably going to be in all of the pictures. What makes it EVEN better is that I didn't know them at all. :D way fun experience though. It was strange having this queasy feeling watching two people make such a huge commitment. I don't think I will ever be able to do that. But, nothing like crashing a wedding as a missionary. 

We had a way sweet lesson with Shayrone the first day I was here. (Yes, she is black and I'm pretty sure it means Sharon.) We just talked about where are church comes from, a good first lesson. Then I played with the kid and just hit a balloon up into the air at him for a bit. Good ol' goofing around. That's what life is all about. 

We work with a guy named Thomas here in Odense. AMAZING guy. He has serious muscular distraphy, so he is in a wheel chair and can only move two of his fingers. He got baptized a little while ago and has the most amazing testimony ever. He is just someone that radiates sincerity and also hope. Sounds awesome right? But we just go over there and talk to him every once in a while and share a message with him. Way good guy though. 

New years was fun, we were with Ken Hall. Now Ken Hall lived in springville for like 3 years. So he is pretty much American, he acts that way anyways. He is well known around the mission for making missionaries do stupid, but fun things. So that was fun. He had bought like a kajillion confetti cannons and we just obliterated his house with these. We also launched off some fireworks. One of them was stuck in the ground and exploded there... that was exciting. 

Ummmmmm.... we had an investigator come to church. Anne Cecilia. She is way positive. She is the investigator that we are working a lot with. That was the first time I met her, so I don't know a whole ton about her except that she is Norwegian. 

Yeah, not a whole ton of crazyness is going on with me... these emails seem to be getting shorter and shorter. That's how it usually works when you have been out for a while right? 

Well love you all!

S11:E1 "The beginning of the end"

Well, I finally got moved. :( I'm gonna miss Århus. But Odense shouldn't be that bad. I'm with someone I knew from my highschool, so that should be pretty fun. I'm looking forward to getting to know the people here.

This past week was just eating loads of candy and hanging out with members and saying bye to people. Nothing too crazy happened. I can just give a final wrap up on people. 

Ashley is alcohol free now, moving to Iceland in 9 days, then he will be travelling to the states after that. He is doing well, and going strong. 

We visited Roy on the 25th, and that was great. He really enjoyed the visit. It was great to see the change in him, because the first time we met with him he said "I think God just wants me to cut all strings with people" but this past time we saw him he was like "You made me realize how much I like people, and want to spend time with them." Solid stuff, I'm glad that we could help him in the ways that we have. 

Frank has been one who has changed a lot as well. He told me flat out that it's crazy he is in church and that the most important thing to him is his family. He isn't looking super close to baptism or anything, but he is making good progress and learning a lot on the way. Getting good at ping pong as well. 

Ummm... Boy... miss that area already. Such great members. 

We hadn't seen Fred or Isaac or anyone in a while sadly. So I'm not sure how they are doing. 

Christmas was fun though, nothing too wild happened. 

It was nice talking to all of you again. Happy new year!

Sorry for the short email, don't have a whole ton to say this time.

S10:E11 "We wish you a merry jingly"

Hello everyone! I've had a pretty good week, nothing too crazy though. We went out carolling yesterday as missionaries with 2 others, that was a blast. Just good time fun when you go out spreading Christmas cheer.

Monday we went to the Trap Nielsens house. They are a super funny family, who are way nice to us missionaries. We will actually be skyping from their home. But that was just a fun time that we had with them. We actually sang to them yesterday, and it was a great plan. One of the girls who went with us knew the code to their house, so we opened the front door and just started singing. It was a nice little Christmas surprise. 

We have been meeting with Frank still, things are moving forward with him. He really likes the church services we have here, and he tries to come just about every sunday. We have had some good chats recently about commandments, and the last time we met with him we talked about the word of wisdom. So hopefully he will be cutting down on smoking, because it is something that he wants. So that's going forward. Oh, and Elder Ludlow and I are getting ridiculously good at ping pong. So much fun though. 

We also got to try Gløgg the other day (alcohol free) AMAZING. You need to try it this christmas season. Well... it's kind of late. But you can buy it at Ikea, and it's a way good warm christmas drink. If you want to make it even better, with the ikea one in any case, you mix like a cup of apple juice and a cup of black currant juice with it. Then put raisins in the bottom, and chopped almonds on top. :) Yummy stuff. (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50218780/) There ya go. 

We got to meet with Roy this week. He is still himself, just hard to communicate with because he likes to talk. But we still have nice times together. We learn a lot from each other. 

Ashley is doing a lot better. He is clean now, has a plan, meeting with us frequently, and was in church yesterday. So thank you for all of your prayers and everything. They must have been the trick. So that's good news.

I think I may have forgotten to mention this which is kind of sad... but last saturday I went to the baptism of Lise Lotte. The girl we were teaching a while back who had all the marriage problems that we got dragged into. They are doing way well and it was a spiritual baptism. But the best part is that Simon, her husband, is trying way hard to quit smoking and drinking, and he hasn't since wednesday. Pretty solid stuff. 

All in all, I'm still doing great. We find out transfers next monday though, that'll be kind of sad. :/ it'll be sad to leave this place. I love it here in århus. 

Love you all, have a great week filled with jingly merry fun.