S6:E2 "Elders in Denmark, sang as they ate, and ate, and ate..."

Hello everybody! I hope you all had a great Christmas! Because I sure did. :D It was also nice talking to you all, and having a nice video connection so you all can laugh at my accent. Haha.

As for the run down of my week, we had a good Monday, we spent most of the day looking at coats for Elder Christensen, then when he found a coat, we found out that he can only use 80 dollars a day... so he couldn't buy it, but has been pulling out money from an atm every day since. After that we just tried stopping by Jesper Dahl and some other less actives.

Tuesday was Christmas!!!! YAY! So this was an exciting day. We had a little church service on that day, and this started at like 1. So after doing all our studies, we went out to catch a train to the service. Then I thought the trains weren't going because it was Christmas, so we decided to ride our bikes... all the way to Søborg. So we rode, and rode, and rode for 50 minutes, then we got to the church just in time for the closing song! :D It was awesome. But we say David Barrett and his Dad there! Which was sweet. So we talked to them for a little bit. Then we went over to our Christmas appointment. Where we played the one pirate dice game (Davy Jones and stuff) which was fun. We all talked like pirates. Then we ate a ton. (A ton of American candy) and stuffing, and Flæskesteg, and everything good on this earth that is edible. Then we read the christmas story in the scriptures, and actually had a way in depth conversation about the time line of... everything in the world in relationship to the scriptures. That was also fun. Then we danced and sang around the Christmas tree. (I will bring this back to the states) And we ate risalamande (Another thing the states needs) Then I got a huge tub of peanut butter because I found the almond in the risalamande. After that we went home, and lit a candle and had a nice Christmassy chat as a companionship.

Wednesday, Christmas! (American style) I woke up and opened presents!!! Thank you for everything that you sent me. I am enjoying all of it. We played the bible trivia game for our companionship study that day. After that we went caroling with the sisters in our area to some less actives, which was fun. Then we went to our Christmas day eating appointment, Where we talked, and ate some open sandwiches. Then we got to skype home... which was weird. It was a clashing of two worlds, and it almost made my mind explode. But it was also nice talking to all of you. :D Then we went home, and I passed out.

Thursday, we started off the day by having a sweet district meeting. Talking about diligence in missionary work. After that we had apartment checks so we went home and cleaned, then met the ægtepar who was going to check our apartment, and that went pretty well. (We hid everything well enough) Then we had yet another eating appointment with the Hornslets. This is a family I love, he was the first person I went on splits with and had some good conversations with. So we ate, and ate, then played some games, then ate some more.

Friday, was one of those empty days, where we went finding, but didn't really feel anything. We found a sweet kolligium, but only had time to knock one door. Then we went home from that area.

Saturday, we stopped by a way nice less active named June, and dropped off some cookies. Then we tried to stop by a way nice lady named Gertrud Jensen, who wasn't home. After that we went to another less active, with the sisters because they told her that we were good at cleaning windows. So we did some service for her, and ate some cake and drank tea and stuff. Then we stopped by David Barrett. To give him some strength to never give up, and we also talked about the baptismal program, and how it will go down. All in all it was a way good day.

Sunday, we went to church, David and his friend Mikkel were there. We had 9 guests in church overall that day! Our district is on fire. So we had a way good guest class on the plan of salvation. We think that Mikkel is awesome, and he is interested in coming back again and also hearing more about the church. Then we tried setting up some appointments with members, then went home. :)

Now I'm here, and doing well. I hope you all have a good new year!

Ældste Swan

S6:E1 "A new baby, +20 pounds"

Hello everyone! So I'm not sure how long this email will be because I am watching poems, and we will be talking in 2 days, but I can say a little about my week.

Monday was good, we wrote home, then we went and hung out at a big mall, because Elder Petersen was going home, and transfers were happening. So we just walked around and talked for the day. After that we ate some dinner, and went searching for a less active to talk to, with no luck.

Tuesday, we had district meeting. Which was fun. This last district felt more like a family than a district. So I decided we would just kinda do a testimony meeting. It went well, although it was sad to say bye to some of the people. After that we went finding, then we had an eating appointment, where we ate dominoes pizza and ben and jerry's! :D How awesome is that??? Then we went to a little ward coordination meeting.

Wednesday I said bye to my icelandic friend, but he was quickly replaced by a new kid. His name is Elder Christensen, from Orem, Utah. (Crazy am I right?) So we went through the little orientation meetings, then got SOME MORE DOMINOES!!! I ate like a kajillion pieces again. Then we headed out to our area. Where we started off by stopping by a less active named Jesper Dahl, and we talked for a while. (or I talked, and he tried to stay awake) Then we ate some dinner, then went knocking for an hour or so. He knocked his first door, the first day he was here. :D Because that's what jerk trainers do...

Thursday,  we spent most of the day in the police station. Just because they had to get my fingerprints so I could stay in the land a little longer. So that took a really long time because our train got stuck in a place for an hour. But on the train we talked to a nice lady, who sadly wasn't interested in the church, but offered us over to her house for a cup of coffee. :3 Then after that we went caroling for like 30 minutes, which was a fun experience. Our caroling involves a christmas card from a friend (A member) but on this particular one, they rejected caroling, AND the card from her friend. So that was exciting. Then we had another eating appointment, which was a danish christmas.

Friday, we go to the commune to check in Elder Christensen to the land. So that took our morning. Then we weekly planned. Then we went to yet another eating appointment. And it was Danish Christmas again. But this time, it was the best food I have had in Denmark thus far. So I ate a whole ton of food. Then we went home and slept.

Saturday we had choir practice in the morning, then as a district we went to a busy walking road and started singing while 2 elders were giving out Book of Mormons, wrapped as presents. So that was a lot of fun. Then we ate a nummy sandwich. After that we stopped by a half deaf less active, where I finally got the point across that we weren't Jehovas Witnesses. So we had a nice chat, and took a huge step forward with her. Then we had yet another eating appointment, where it was flæskesteg sandwichs. I ate a lot of those too. Then we stopped by some random chick we knocked into and invited her to the concert that was happening the next day.

Sunday rolls around, David shows up to church and he has his family with him. :D So that was sweet to get to meet them and teach them a little bit about the church. We had a way good lesson in guest class on prayer, and I definitely could feel the spirit there. Then we had the concert that night, and it was awesome because all of David's family was there, as well as that random chick from the night before. So we sang, then ate some refreshments, then got home and slept.

Now we are here!

Just so you all know, I will be calling from skype on the 25th, around noon. (Thats noon for you guys, 8pm for me) I hope that works out for you all.

Love you!

Ældste Swan

S5:E6 "Lights, a baby, and Christmas!!!"

Hey everyone, I hope you are all doing well. I'm doing great over here in the land of vikings! We had quite the exciting week, so I will share some bits with you all.

Monday, I sent home a Christmas package, so that should be arriving sometime soon. (hopefully) Then we went caroling. We started off our splits that night as well. I went on splits with Elder Pitts, and it was his birthday, so we celebrated by eating some Æbleskiver, lighting sparklers, and talking. It was fun.

Tuesday rolls around, and we Work way hard. We spent most of the day just finding, but we found quite a few nice people through bonking on doors. After that we tried stopping by some members, and less actives, but no one was home. :P and to close it all off, we had an eating appointment, which was a lot of fun, and we shared a good message about the power of prayer, and that we all need to pray for the same goal.

Wednesday was Tivoli!!! :D We started off the day by having a district meeting, then eating some asian food that I made for the district. Then we headed Down to Tivoli for a day full of adventures. Sadly I was lame and didn't get the all rides pass. So I was just walking around taking Pictures and talking to two other missionaries. But I plan to go back Again and ride the rides. (I hope anyways) Tivoli was way pretty. It was so Christmassy, there were lights everywhere, and it was just a happy place. I have put a ton of Pictures on a drop box, you can... some how deal them out. There was a way awesome light show that we saw at tivoli too. But that was pretty much our Whole day, just stalking santa, and seeing deers and Things. We also found out transfers this day, big surprise!!! I'm training! Yet Again!! Always training :D

Thursday we went to the hospital so my companion could get some blood tested Again. then we ate some lunch and tried stopping by some people in Søborg, but no one was happy to see us or home. So we started street contacting, and didn't have a super positive experience, but we talked to some nice people. We finished the day off with an eating appointment with our bishop, which was fun.

Friday, we had weekly planning, and caroling. So we sang a lot, and that was a lot of fun. We had a way awkward visit because the sisters wouldn't commit to it, so I ended up having to take over... I don't like when that happens haha.

Saturday was a good day. We started off in the morning inviting lots of people to the Christmas concert we will be having at the church, so that went well. Then we went to holt and found a less active WHO wasn't interested in coming back. :( Then we walked in Copenhagen a Whole ton trying to stop by potentials. We also partied it up with Elder Petersen WHO is going home soon, and a recent convert named Elijah. That was fun.

Sunday, church day. David Barrett was there of course. He hasn't smoked in 2 weeks, and he told us that he is getting baptized in January. So we are excited for that. :D Church went well, and right after church, all of the missionaries had an eating appointment, which was a lot of fun. Eating lot's of mashed potatoes and beef. Then our bus didn't come for 40 minutes, so we got home way late.

And now I'm here :D as for calling NeXT week, plan on the morning of the 25th, I'm not sure when, because I haven't found a place to do it. It will be via Skype though.

Love you all, have a great week.

Ældste Swan

 

S5:E5 "A little something to make me sweeter "

Hello friends and Family! Happy 9th of December! I hope you all are having a good time with snow, and shoveling it.

 

Monday was a sweet day, we wrote home, then bought some food, then we had an eating appointment with a way cool Family that told us one of the funniest proposal stories I have ever heard. Luckily we gave the lesson that night so we got to stay for an hour longer. This was also the first night I had real Æbleskiver, before I only had the frozen ones. So Monday was a good day.

 

Tuesday was Zone conference, so we talked about the characteristics of Christ a lot. It was very spiritual, and I learned a lot about how we should act, and how we can become better people through Christ. I also learned a lot about Christ's love for all of us, and that we all have the oppurtunity to show others that love. After the spiritual uplifting, we ate a Danish Christmas dinner, Again. It was way good, as it always is. Then we watched a movie called "Ephraims Rescue" It's a pretty good movie, so that was a lot of fun. After that happened we went on splits with another Ward and just went around home teaching. I love doing that, because I get to hear other members' testimony on the church, and their experiences.

 

Wednesday we started off the day by going to the hospital because Elder Gudnason had to get some blood taken out to make sure that he is doing okay. Then we went out finding for a bit, and found this fairly positive girl that had met with missionaries before. She said that she wasn't super interested, but she said that we could talk with her some time. Which was nice. :D After that we had another eating appointment, where we got interrogated by the Family about our lives. Which was fun as well because we got to toss eachother under the bus on certain Things.

 

Thursday rolls around and we start off the day by visiting the bishop and eating some lunch with him. (Standard rugbrød lunch) and we talked with him for 2 to 3 hours about less actives in the Ward, and also testimonies. So that was a lot of fun, and he taught us about how important it is to study our living prophets Words. After we left the bishop's house, we got a phone call telling us to go home because a huge storm was coming in. So that's what we did, and I ended up making a way nummy home made lasagna. (And ate some turtles) :D

 

Friday, we were inviting people to the Ward Christmas party that was happening the NeXT day. Sadly no one was home, so we shoved the flyers in their mailboxes because that's what good missionaries do! ;) But after that we went to the office to pick up some Things for the district and for Elder Gudnason because his Family dropped off some presents. Then we stopped by some people up in Holte, where we found out that a referral moved, and that a less active is decently interested in the church. So that was a good night.

 

Saturday, we try finding in the morning, then we go eat some Ice cream at IKEA for Sister Pearson's birthday, then we go to the Christmas party. It was a lot of fun and David Barrett was there, which made it even better. David pretty much already is a member, especially because he hasn't been smoking since last Monday!!! I'm way pumped for that! So we sang and heard a Christmas story, then ate some delicious flæskesteg sandwhiches. After that we went out carolling with the other missionaries, which was fun as always.

 

Sunday, we had a good day at church. Talked to David there, met some other people. Sang in Choir. During sacrament meeting I had to translate for a Group of girls from the phillipines. I never realized how hard that is until now. So that was exciting. After church we had a missionary meeting in the Ward, then we went out caroling Again to an old folks home to 2 less actives there. It was a lot of fun to see them, and give a Little bit of Christmas cheer away. :)

 

Thanks for everything that you all do. Thank you for the prayers and emails.

 

Love,

 

Ældste Swan

S5:E4 "Legends of the Satan Worshipping Priest"

Hello Again! Happy December everyone! It's finally that time of year and I bought a Kinder Christmas Calander to celebrate it. But I had a pretty good week. Although, I've been feeling weird recently. :3 I think because of the change, and transfers, I lost part of my soul, and I don't feel at home here. But I'm working on it, love and prayers are appreciated though!

 

So Monday, our eating appointment bailed so I made, and ate a Whole ton of cookies to cheer me up. So our back up plan was going out and finding. So that just meant knocking on some doors which was... alright.

 

Tuesday was a good day. It felt like it was the first day of actually working here in my new area. We started off the day by stopping by a less active. WHO wasn't ready for the day, so we couldn't talk to her. Then we went finding Again, and I had another experience where an older teenager opens the door, and we start talking to her. Then right before giving her a book of Mormon and all that, her mom gets off the phone and says that they aren't interested. -.- I hate it... the teenagers believe in God and their parents are what kills there faith. It make me sad everytime it happens. Then we stopped by David Barrett, this is the guy WHO had a baptismal date when I came here. He has such a strong testimony of the book of Mormon, and of the church. The only thing that's holding him back is smoking and drinking. So that appointment we just talked about what the gospel can do for us, and has done for us. It was one of the test the Water lessons for me. After that we had an eating appointment. It was Danish Christmas food! :D Way good. Lot's of potatoes, pig, and sauce. It can't get any better than Flæskesteg and Brown potatoes.

 

Wednesday we had district meeting, where we decided that for december we are going to go around caroling to people. So that's something I'm way excited for. A part of that was giving out some Joy to the World dvd's so me and Elder Gudnason went to the office to pick those up. then we ate a kebab and tried to stop by some less actives.

 

Thursday we went to the Hospital so my companion could get an IV for 2 and a half hours for his Chrons disease. So that consisted of me drawing some Things, writing some Things, and taking a nap. But then the nurse was way nice and gave us roll Things.  Then, once Again our eating appointment bailed, so we spent the rest of the night finding, with no luck.

 

Friday, a relaxed day where in the morning we stopped by some members. Then we went and helped this potential move in to his Apartment. Sadly the potential left half way through it, but his friend was still there and we talked with him for a long time. He had a way strong testimony about Christ because of this preacher he once heard WHO used to worship satan and then had a change of Heart. (That's the super shortened version) But he was willing, and wanting to share the message of Jesus to everyone that he meets. He was actually a way good example for what a missionary should be.

 

Saturday we knocked and actually found someone positive! He was just like, "I'm going to Work right now, but you should definitely come back a different day" and that was the first come back, the first positive thing we have found during finding. Then we went caroling to members, to show them what we are doing, (Living Christmas Card) so we could visit there friends for them. Then we met a way cool less active named Jesper Dahl.

 

Sunday, Jesper Dahl felt well enough to come to church! And David Barrett was there! So we went with David to the guest class and he said that now is the time to stop smoking. So Elder Gudnason gave him a Blessing, and you could see a physical change in David. It was such a spiritual experience. He said that he is done, and all of his cigarettes are gone now. :D Then we had a sweet fireside at presidents house that night, where I played a saxaphone and found out I was pretty bad now.

 

But that was my week, it was pretty good. :D I hope you all have had a good week, and email/write me plz. I like love!

 

Love you all!

 

Ældste Swan

S5:E3 "Illnesses, and surprises!"

Hey everyone! Sadly this email will be kept pretty short because... we didn't do a whole ton this week. But I'm still doing well. Nothing wrong with me!

Monday was alright. We went into the city, after emailing and buying food to check out a church there. But it was closed right when we got there... after that we had an awesome dinner appointment which consisted of 6 missionaries and one family. It was... different from what I am use to. But still a lot of fun. After that we started splits. I went with Elder Petersen, a kid from Idaho who is going home in a couple weeks. So we had some really good conversations about plans after the mission.

Tuesday morning, we eat some Petersen eggs. Which is Rugbrød with spicy mustard on it, then a piece of ham, then a fried egg. It is suprisingly good. After that we had district meeting... that I had to teach and lead. That was fun. We talked about the differences between love and charity, and what both of those words mean. After district meeting, we ate some lunch as a district, then me and Elder Petersen went out and got a referral from the office, then we gave the guy a book of mormon like he wanted. On our way back from doing that, elder Petersen wasn't feeling well... so we went back to his apartment and he just laid there and we talked a little.

Wednesday we spent the day stopping by two potentials investigators. One of which moved, the other one wasn't too interested. Then we tried stopping by some less active members to no luck. And to close the day off, my companion was feeling sick, so we went home early.

Thursday, we were stuck inside all day because of illness. Until night time, then we went to choir practice. Which was fun. One of the members rage quit because he felt that the choir director was blaming all of the mistakes on him.

Friday, we made some cookies and gave them away. We talked with a 92 year old woman, who has lived in the same house all of her life. :o she told us about when she became a member a long long time ago, which was cool to hear about Denmark way back when. For the most part we were just trying to stop by some less actives.

Saturday, trapped inside again, this time it was all day. I wrote some letters, drew some random things, studied my scriptures, thought about life, and all of that fun stuff.

Sunday was a good day. We went to the church and had choir practice, then we had the normal church services, with our investigator named David Barrett there! After church, there was a little ward eating thing, then we had choir practice again right before the concert. Then the concert happened. Which went really well. David Barrett came to that as well. Right after the concert is when I ran into Sister Robertson, a member from my home ward. It was a big surprise, and it took me a long time to realize who it was. But we ended up talking for awhile about the home ward, and people back home and how everything is going. It was a nice random encounter.

That was my short, fairly uneventful but still fun week. I hope you all had a great week, and have a great week.

Love,

Ældste Swan

S5:E2 "Shoe shopping"

Hello everyone! It's that time of week Again! By some miracle I am still alive, and willing to write to you all today!

 

So the area here is getting better. I'm slowly getting a handle of how the Work should go, and how the companionship will Work, as well as the district. I'm still having fun with my companion, but the Work is quite... tedious right now. But it will only get better. We had quite the exciting week, so without further introduction:

 

Monday, we wrote home, then we worked because we had the zone thanksgiving dinner later that week. So we wrote home, finally got a vacuum cleaner!!! Which is a huge bonus, I enjoy a clean Apartment every once in a while. Then we went and tried finding some less actives. Sadly we didn't have a Whole ton of luck on Monday. We also ate dinner with the Sister missionaries in our district. (By my companions request) which was fun, but they just asked him lot's of questions about eating horse over in iceland.

 

Tuesday was fun. We started off the day by playing football as a zone, in some freezing Cold weather. (Standard turkey bowl, am I right?) after that we had a good Little zone conference, and our zone leaders gave an uplifting lesson. Then we ate, and ate, and ate. It was nice to eat some stuffing, it felt very American, and took me back to the good old days of 'freedom'! Right after the dinner fest, there was a talent show, but sadly, I don't have any talents so I didn't do anything... maybe NeXT year I will end up doing something. After the zone activity we had a lesson with Jonas and Shi Xin. Jonas is a member, but has been less active for quite some time, and Shi Xin is his non-member girlfriend. This lesson was bad because we didn't really have anything prepared, because I have never met them, and my companion didn't have a Whole ton to say. So the member that we brought with us ended up taking over the lesson, which ended up being really good. But it made me feel bad because I couldn't help out a Whole ton. But he is an awesome member, and it made me see that I was in a really good Ward.

 

Wednesday, we started off by knocking some doors, then stopping by an old lady in our Ward, WHO gave us hot coco and sweets. :) It was a way nice break from the Cold, she also has a super strong testimony and has been a member for a very long time here in Denmark. After that we went looking for less actives Again, and trying to get in touch with them. We found one really positive older lady, that told us to come back, but that she was sick so it will have to be NeXT week. So we are definitely following up on that.

 

Thursday, I bought some shoes, and a measuring cup, and some other Things that I/we needed in the Apartment. Sadly we are still missing a lot of Things in the Apartment, and I don't have the MSF right now to buy everything for it. So hopefully NeXT month it will be all completed. But after buying some shoes, we had splits with 2 members. It was awesome! I went out with a Thomas, a very strong member. We had really good discussions in the car to appointments. We also had some very good appointments with members. (Home teaching) He seems like one of the members that I can just turn to whenever I think help with something. 

 

Friday was not a productive day. So in the morning we went to the office to pick up some Things for our Apartment, then we ate lunch with the sisters, which ended up with a super grumpy neighbor of theirs yelling at us. Then we went to our Apartment, to find that we didn't have the keys anymore... So we went back to the office to get the spare keys, after getting those we go back to our Apartment, and go right inside the door to the opgang, to see the keys on the bulliten board. So we go Upstairs and drop off the stuff, then we go and talk to a less active, WHO says that he has a problem with the history of the church, and that we can't do anything to help him. Then we went home and weekly planned. Although, the best part of the day was the delicious cinnamon rolls I made that night. It was the first time I felt that they actually turned out well. So that was a Blessing. :D

 

Saturday, we played some soccer! I even had shoes for it this time so my toes didn't just die! That was a lot of fun. After soccer we went home and showered, ate some food, then went out and delivered some cinnamon rolls to some members. Sadly, none of them were home, so we left them on the doorstep. Later that night we had a really good lesson with Jonas and Shi Xin. It was more of a hang out session than a lesson. My companion was teaching Shi Xin German, while I talked to Jonas about what he believes in, and what he wants in life. I felt that it went really well, especially compared to the last appointment we had with them.

 

Sunday was the Primary program in church! Which is always enjoyable. But what made it even better was the Jo, a less active showed up, with his non-member wife, all because their daughter wanted to be in the primary program! (Kid doing missionary Work!) After the program I talked to Jo and he said that he really wants to come back into the church, and we need to help him read every night and all of that. So for my first time meeting him, he seems way promising. Then after church we had a missionary meeting, where we just told the Ward mission leader about our investigators. Then we stopped by a less active, WHO turned out to not even be a member which was super awkward for us. But I'm glad we got it figured out.

 

Now I am here! Still going strong (Enough) I hope you all have a great week!

 

Love,

Ældste Swan

S5:E1 "Transfers, hospital, and turtles"

Hello everyone! I hope you all have had an exciting week like I have. Transfers went decently. I eventually made it to Virum, which is the North part of Copenhagen, where all the rich suburbs are. So I guess I will start of talking about my companion then I will go through my week.

 

My companion is Elder Gudnerson, from Iceland. He is coming up on 19 soon. He played a lot of video games. (Skyrim) He has always been a member, he has actually lived in Denmark for 4 years of his life. So he knows about half of the members that we see, and almost everyone knows his dad. He is a quiet kid, that enjoyed that sanctuary of his computer. He was born in Germany, then moved to Denmark when he was 11 or so, then moved to iceland. He is really smart, and really funny. (In a European way)

 

But anyways, onto the week:

 

Monday, it was my last p-day in Sønderborg, so we bought some stuff, and stopped by some people to say bye to them. Then we closed the day off with an eating appointment with Familien Eriksen. That was a lot of fun. We took the last Picture of "The LDS assassination squad" which is a little sad, but that's okay. After that it was my last time stopping by Tai, my lovely nerdy friend in Sønderborg. I will miss all of them, such a great area down there.

 

Tuesday rolls around, and this is train ride day. We stop by Andrea, the girl that was baptized to say goodbye and give her some of the death brownies I made. That was sad, but we will definitely stay in contact. Then we saw our mission leader one last time. We ate some rolls with Tom, and said goodbye and talked about the future, and coming back to visit and all of that. Then we were off, and a 4 hour train ride. When we got into Copenhagen we ended up eating at Hardrock café,which was awesome. AMERICA!!! Then we spent the night with some other elders in Copenhagen.

 

Wednesday, I say goodbye to my son, Elder Holbrook leaves me to go and get my grandson. Then I head up to Virum which took 2 hours because we got lost driving up there. I meet my new companion, say goodbye to his companion because he was going home. Then we had a missionary meeting with the ward, so we saw some of the priesthood leadership, and got to meet them.

 

Thursday was an alright day, because we were literally left with nothing to work with when I got here, we spent all day trying to find some less actives. Sadly none of them answered. But our day was still fun because I had an awkward encounter with a girl on a bike, who ended up laughing at me :( and elder Gudnerson got the bus doors closed on him.

 

Friday, was the same as Thursday, tried finding less actives, and they were all sick, busy, or not home. We knocked a little just because I started to realize that we have nothing to work with... nothing too exciting, although I saw the nerd shop here! It has all the comics and card games you could ever want, I am excited to go there.

 

Saturday we had something different!!! We woke up and played some soccer with the ward in a gym. That was a lot of fun. Although I was wearing these super wimpy shoes that just felt like cardboard and gave no support, so right now my shins feel like jelly because of shin splints. After playing soccer with the 3 sisters and the ward we went home, I tried to fix up the terrible blister on my toe. Ate some lunch and showered, then went to the church for choir practice. We practiced, then got some dinner, then Elder Gudnerson was supposed to play piano for the bishop and his family. (Accompany) So he wanted to practice a little bit. So after the practice and everything we went into stake conference. Elder Gudnerson said that he had a really bad headache, and I kept asking if I could do something, he finally stands up and goes out side and he says it's hard to breath, and he ended up hyperventilating. So I went back into the chapel where the bishop and his family was sitting at the microphone, and I just told them that my companion was sick. Then I got the mission president and we went to the hospital, because my companion wasn't doing well at all... So we get to the hospital, this super nice nurse calms him down, puts the back on his face and everything. Then we sat there for a long time while he got over the feeling of shock, and after getting home at 11:30, I made him take some ibuprofen and then we slept.

 

Sunday, he was feeling a lot better, but we still had a chill day just to not risk him dying or anything. It was still stake conference, so we went to that, and sung in the choir, which was a lot of fun. After stake conference we got to see a ton of people. I got to see lot's of missionaries that I haven't seen since the MTC which was cool. After that we had studies\me taking control of this area and trying to figure it out. Then we had the fun choir practice. They were singing in English :D and it was just our ward. So we had a way good time with that, then for refreshments for it, they brought some brownies and things, but the kicker was a box of 45 chocolate turtles. I ate at least 4 of them, and I was very happy. :) We also ate dinner with the sisters, and they pointed out that elder Gudnerson kept using the word hyperventilate, and joking about that. (sisters -.-)

 

But now I am here. Still alive, still going strong. Looking forward to Christmas, and livening Virum up, because it is dead. Thank you for your prayers and everything. I miss you all and hope you have a great week!

 

Love,

Ældste Swan

S4:E12 "Far far away, to the suburbs"

Hello everyone!!! I hope you all have had a fantastic week. Here in Denmark has been really Cold, and really stormy, but still really good. We got some big news this past week about transfers. We found out that I am going to Copenhagen, the suburbs of Copenhagen none the less, as district leader, and training some goober from Iceland. So I am excited for that, but it will be way different. I'm leaving my nice small farm town of Sønderborg and going to one of the richest parts of Denmark. That's the big news of the week, so I am making a long move this wednesday and my address will be changing. As for my week:

 

Monday was a good day, we had the elders in our district Down here just to have fun together. But it was super duper stormy. It was actually the biggest storm that Denmark has ever had. (At least the windiest) We were just walking Down the gågade almost getting blown over and getting hit by leaves in the Wind that felt like razer blades because of how fast the Wind was. But it was all for experiences sake! :D We also played on a playground and got super Dizzy, which was fun. Then we went to Familien Kuntz and ate dinner with them, and sadly said good bye to them. I love that Family so much. Also, the trains weren't running because of the storm, so Esbjerg elders were stuck with us for that night.

 

Tuesday, we finally got the other elders out of our Apartment! Then we cleaned for 2 hours because we had Apartment checks. After cleaning we went up with Andrea to teach Andrea's cousin. That went really well, although she lives really far away. We just went over the basics points of what we believe, the first lesson. She said that she just believes that everything is one, and if it gives you hope, then it is good and true. So that was an interesting perspective to hear. After that we drove home and gave Kenneth a tour of the church, and just talked about how the services run Down. He was just bashing the Danish Folk Church the Whole time, and was supporting the Things we did. After the tour we read a Little bit in the book of mormon and he was super interested to see what it was all about. After that we watched some of the "Hastening the Work of salvation" broadcast with Andrea, and ate some lemon cake.

 

Wednesday, this was the day we got the transfer call, so I was quite sad the Whole day. But we stopped by Eileen and shared a lesson with her about why we have church, and what it does for us. After Eileen we took our last Tønder trip to visit Emil. Like usual it was awesome and we ate a lot of good food. Then I just told them thanks for everything that they have done for me. The Ward became like my Family here.

 

Thursday came around and that was a district activity! Our district came Down to our turf for Halloween, and the plan was for them to take a bus to a place called Åbenrå, but sadly, the tickets didn't Work, so we ended up cramming everyone into our small car. (Including one in the trunk) Once we got to the magical town of Åbenrå we played some football on the Beach even though it was really Cold, then we walked around the town and just gazed and it's beauty. After that special moment we went to the same chinese resturaunt that we ate at last week and got some food. We played some basketball, talked a lot about our pasts, then drove home and got some icecream before they had to take off. It was also my last time seeing them, so that was a sad moment to say bye to them... but oh well, that's how it goes. After they left we went up to Peters to visit him. He is finally done with Kemo which is good, but he is still sad because of his wifes death. It was a super sad meeting just because we were sad that I was leaving. After that we went over to Rubitas, WHO is an 18 year old girl, WHO was just stressed because of guy drama, so we ended up talking with her about highschool drama the rest of the night. Which was... fun.

 

Friday, I didn't write anything in my journal so I will try to remember what we did. I packed a Little bit, then we stopped by Maria and heard her Little rant about how we need to set our own limits so we can improve. We also stopped by Tom and that was the last time for me cleaning his house! Umm... we had another appointment but I can't remember that right now.

 

Saturday was a good day, we made our Little weekly newsletter, then we weekly planned, then we had dinner with Familien Steen. We read with them and talked about their testimonies. Anders said that he is 80% sure that the Book of Mormon is true. Then we brought up that the last step is to pray about it. I love that Family so much. We said goodbye, hugged it out, dropped a few tears, then we went home.

 

Sunday, last day in church, said thank you to the Ward for everything they have taught me, and also had to say bye to most of them. After that I packed some more, then said bye to Maria, went up to Nordborg to return a book to John Sundahl, then we had an eating appointment with Familien Cullingford. That was a really fun time, just chatting and playing some Cards with the Family. Then we said bye to them. And now we are here! :D

 

So that was my super lame run Down of my week. I hope you all enjoyed it, and be constructive with your feedback, please. :)

 

Much love for you all,

Ældste Swan

 

 

S4:E11 "Chinese explosion"

Hello everyone! It's that time of week Again! EMAIL TIME! I hope you are prepared for this, because I am.

 

Monday!!!!! Wasn't that special, we spent most of our time putting up some blinds and talking about past girl drama with one of our investigators. But we did give a good lesson about why it's important to pray and read the scriptures, Then we tried to stop by Yaseens house, but sadly he wasn't home so... we ended up trying to find him because he had no phone, but sadly it didn't Work.

 

Tuesday, we finally were able to meet with a referral we got. Her name is Margit, and it was a good lesson. She is this super nice older lady WHO has travelled pretty much everywhere! We talked about religion and talked about why we have the book of mormon, and why we have a church on the earth instead of just worshipping by ourselves. After this we went ate a chinese buffet. We both ate 4 plates of food and then 2 bowls of icecream. It was nummy, but afterwards we walked to the car and Elder Holbrook wasn't feeling too well. (Neither was I, but that's not important) So Elder Holbrook went off on his own and tried to get himself together, and while he was doing that I found some cats!!!! There were 5 stray kittens that I just got to love and pet! But after Elder Holbrook puked, we went on our way and stopped by a potential named Jette, and finally made an appointment with her. But get this, she also had kittens, and I got to pet those as well. Then we had a good lesson with Kenneth. Lot's of cigarette smoke, but we talked about the book of mormon, and why we read it. Good day.

 

Wednesday, we went up and worked on setting up the blinds Again, and had a really good lesson about church and everything. (I can't really remember) Then we stopped by Inge-lise WHO is this less active member, and she was feeling sick so sadly we couldn't see her. Then we went to an eating appointment with Familien Cullingford. Sadly... they bailed and Quinten forgot to tell us. But his wife is super nice and gave us some dinner anyways. So we ate that, then we stopped by some college kids, did the usual chat about video games, then set up an appointment with them.

 

Thursday, we had district meeting, then we had splits. Me and this sick kid named Elder Hansen did 6 hours of service at their church! We were just helping a member take care of the grounds and everything. We had a lovely chat about past relationships and games and all of those fun past Things! After that we at some pizza, then some waffles with ice cream on it.

 

Friday, traveling home, but our train got cancelled. So we were just hobo mode at a train station. We had our blankets over us because it was freezing, and we just stared at everyone that passed us. We had an appointment, but we didn't have time to change into our missionary clothes, so we planned on just going up there and telling her that we won't be able to make it. But she invited us in, even though we were all stinky and stuff. Then she unloaded on us. We heard her life story, and it sounded a lot like a horror film. An ex husband that just went crazy on her. So that was exciting. After that we had a sweet lesson with the Steens, where we read a chapter in the book of mormon with them. The thing is, Anders read it before our appointment! So it's getting to them, and they are enjoying reading it!

 

Saturday we met with Andrea Again to fill out some paperwork for her baptism, after that we had a really good lesson with Yaseen, and ate some food with him. It was a chill day because of weekly planning. Andrea is so cool, she told us that she wouldn't be a member of a church if it didn't mean doing something. So she is already a super active member of the church and willing to help out in any way possible.

 

Sunday, It was a good day at church, I talked with some of the members about transfers... because we think that I will be leaving Sønderborg. It was sad to talk about it, this is my home, this is where I learned everything, and I love the people. I think it's sad because I'm not sure if I will be coming back any time soon. :P But tranfer calls come on wednesday, so NeXT week I will let you all now what is going on. After church, we went up and stopped by a less active named John, WHO sadly is upset because he doesn't have a calling. So he doesn't want to come to church even though he has a super strong testimony. Then we had a lesson with Ernzt, WHO read 200 pages in the book of mormon! It was a great surprise. We taught him about prayer, and how to recieve the answer because he asked us about it. After that we ate with Tom, and had our Little missionary meeting.

 

Now I am here, with Esbjerg elders by my side because they wanted to spend pday with us. So I hope you all have a good week. Love you all!

 

Ældste Swan

S4:E10 "Going Down"

Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a good week! I have had a Wonderful week, filled with a many Things.

 

Monday was sweet. We found out that it was Canadian thanksgiving via email from my sister. So we had to hurry and buy some doughnuts and bacon for that. Before our dinner we gave a church tour to an investigator, then gave a quick lesson to Peter, WHO wasn't too happy because he was hungry. So we went home, ate 300 grams of bacon, 6 sausages, 6 doughnuts, mash potatoes, and 2 liters of coke. It was a lot, but you have to make sacrafices for celebrations!

 

Tuesday morning, woke up with some hardcore bacon heartburn... which wasn't too delightful. After calming that Down with some milk, we started the day off by walking in the rain to a less actives house named Maria, and had a nice Little conversation with her at the door, then told her to Watch a talk from general conference. We later went and stopped by Andrea, and just gave her a Little comfort lesson, getting her ready for the baptism. Then we went up to Yaseens and spent the last Little bit of the day with him, even though it wasn't that fun because everyone was drunk and smoking and my leg hurt because of my bacon blood.

 

Wednesday, we finally got in with Muslim Mom. This lady that we have stopped by over 20 times, and every time she tells us to come back another time. So we went in and started talking to her about the gospel. We found out that she met with missionaries 12 years ago in Afghanistan and read the book of mormon. She also talked about how she was a muslim, but not a crazy muslim. We didn't get to teach a Whole lot, but at the end of it, she brought up witch-craft and what we believe with that. She told us to come back NeXT time prepared to talk about that. :P After that we went up to Peters house, but he bailed on us :( So we went up to Åbenrå to look for some potential investigators. That is the prettiest city, holy cow. If there is one city I could just be in, it would be Åbenrå. After that we drove back to Sønderborg and helped Tom clean up his house a Little.

 

Thursday, District meeting, followed by really good pizza from one of there investigators that owns a pizza shop. Then we took the train ride home and met with Peter, WHO showed us his beautiful dance moves to some 80's music.

 

Friday, we wrote our testimony in a triple combination we were going to give to Andrea after her baptism. then we stopped by lots of people, to no luck. Had a good lesson with Andrea, once Again just to get her ready for Saturday. Then we read a chapter with Familien Steen. They really like doing that, and they apply what they learn in their lives. Now we just need to get them doing it on their own instead of waiting for us to stop by.

 

Saturday came around. We started off the day by driving Down to Germany, and getting lost. After finally finding the church, we talked with the German elders for a Little bit and made some cookies in preperation for the Baptism. Then the magic happened. It was a really good program, we heard a talk from our branch president, then Ældste Holbrook baptized Andrea, and that went really well. I was super proud of Elder Holbrook... I'm not entirely sure why. I guess it is just because I am his mission father. Baptisms always make me feel the spirit. It just get's me thinking about the covenant you make, and what it Means. Which leads to me thinking about the eternal perspective of Things, and the hope of returning to God with a Family. After the program, we ate some food, and the branch welcomed Andrea in really well. Then we hit the town of Flensborg, looking at some German clothes and the crazy people Down there. We found an awesome store called Gandalphs that had every nerdy thing you could imagine (Warhammer, manga, anime, magic the gathering, etc.) But sadly it was all in German. I ended up buying 2 scarfs and a tie. Then we ate some subway which took me back to the mapleton days, getting the free cookie for being a student. To top it off, we bought some Dr. Pepper, because they don't have that here in Denmark either.

 

Sunday, we went to church and I was asked to bless the sacrament. While up there I was talking to the other member that was going to bless. I asked him if the confirmation happens before or after the sacrament. He said that if he remembers correctly it's after. So I was a Little surprised when the branch president announced it before. But it went really well. It was perfect Danish, but I feel that I did the job good enough. :P As long as the spirit is there, then it is okay. Then I got to bless the sacrament in Danish as well which was really cool. After that we stopped by Familien Thorngreen, some members here and they were all sick except for the dad. Then we had an awesome eating appointment and had a super fun Family home evening with Andrea and familien Vestergård. We ended the day by going up to Peters and teaching him the basics Again. That God is our heavenly father, and how we should pray.

 

Now we are here. :D That was my week. I hope to send some Pictures because they tell much more than my lazy English typing.

 

Love you all

 

Ældste Swan

 

 

 

S4:E09 "Jesus had some cactus"

Hi everyone! I hope everything is still going fantastic with you. Denmark is still the best, although it is getting awefully Cold. I am now armed with a scarf and a big coat, because the Wind is unbelievably freezing. But I have the fat from pastries to keep me warm throughout the Winter.

 

On to the week! Monday was a good day. We helped Yaseen move some random furniture from the middle of nowhere up North. Then we went to an áwesome eating apointment with Familien Eriksen, where they had this fancy grill looking thing in the center of the table, where it was more like a Cook your food while you eat thing. It was super intense, and way good. There was some chicken, beef, vegetables, deliciousness. Then we had an awesome lesson with them where we talked about how cool conference was. We also found out that Tomas (the dad) could have been a professional ballroom dancer but went on a mission instead!

 

Tuesday, we had a good lesson with Andrea. Every time we teach Andrea we sit under an acorn tree. So, whenever it is windy we can bombarded with acorns. During this lesson one acorn fell and nailed Andrea in the face. But other than that, we were just finishing up getting her ready for baptism. Then we met with Peter, WHO wasn't doing so well. He has to go through kemo Again, so he was not happy with life and was sick of how he was living. He was still awesome, and still a boss, but he wasn't his happy self then. After that we got this Deep dish pizza to make us feel better, then we stopped by Tai and had a really good discussion with him on the purpose of life, and why religion. Sadly Tai is still being himself, and not really giving it a chance because of what he already believes, but I still think he is the coolest guy ever.

 

Wednesday comes around, and this was zone conference. So I got to see Elder Larsen, Elder Eisert, and Elder Hawkes Again. I also got to see Elder Durrant, which was awesome. Yet another kid from Mapleton that I knew before the mission. It was a really good zone training, where we talked about faith. The Elder Larsen (Grandpa Stewie) shared his last testimony with the missionaries because he is going home after this transfer. It was kind of sad, and really weird for me to see another person I know leave. I'm starting to become one of the old farts here on the mission. After an awesome familiy reunion except for Elder Walch, me and Elder Holbrook went back to the South, where we went up to Yaseens and ate some yummy rugbrød. It's the Classic Danish open sandwhich. But the last one Elder Holbrook ate was made by Yaseen, and it had a Whole ton of mayo on it... I'm still impressed that he ate it. Also, there was this random teenager there, WHO was definitely high, but we started talking to him about religion. He was like, "In the bible it says Jesus was on acid", then he said that he got the effects from a cactus. It was one of the weirdest Things I have ever heard. But... oh well.

 

We had splits the NeXT day. Going out with our Zone Leader, Elder Hansen. He is a cool guy, so we tried to stop by some people, WHO sadly weren't home. Then we had the baptismal interview for Andrea! Where of course, she is ready. Then I got Elder Johnson, and we walked, and walked, and walked. We tried stopping by person after person with no luck, then we got some ice cream and ate dinner. Then we walked even more to stop by someone WHO wasn't home. Then we ended up getting lost because I took the wrong turn. I'm pretty sure I walked more than 10 miles that day. I was so pooped that night.

 

Friday comes around, we had weekly planning. Then we served Tom, vacuum and clean up outside. Then we had an awesome lesson with familien Steen, where we read a chapter with them in the book of mormon, and just discussed what we liked and what we learned from it. They absolutely loved this. MaryAnne started marking her scriptures and just going ham on it. Anders felt really loved when he taught us something from the chapter. After that we went up to Yaseens and ate some nummy Soup, and talked about alma 32, and how we need to give place for a seed of faith.

 

Saturday was good, we met with andrea, to try and finalize everything which was good. We found out that Ældste Holbrook with baptize her, and I will be giving the gift of the holy ghost. I'm a Little nervous, just because It will be in Danish, but I know that it will be okay. After that we stopped by some college kids and talked video games with them  (The new pokemon looks sweet), then talked a about the gospel with them. Then we stopped by Maria, and Dorthe the supposed witch. Then we ended the night by eating a shepards pie.

 

Sunday was a good day at church. 3 less actives were there, 2 investigators, one of them being MaryAnne Steen. Andrea gave such a good testimony on her conversion story, and how excited she is to be baptized. Then after church we waited and met with our branch president and Andrea to finalize the program. So now it is all set in stone, and we are way excited for the baptism. After that we went up to Yaseens and watched the Uchtdorf talk with him, which was good. Yaseen gave me this random porcelin donkey that looks pretty sweet, I will have to take a Picture of it. Then we ended that day by eating lasagna and ice cream with Tom.

 

Thank you for the love and prayers! We are super excited to go Down to Germany on saturday. I will let you know how it goes, and how much Money I spend Down there. :D

 

Loves,

Ældste Swan

 

The last picture is with Andrea, the girl that will be baptized. :D 

 

S4:E08 "How is Work going in 'textiles'."

Hello all! The weeks just seem to fly by. I swear I was here writing you all a couple days ago. Everything is going well in Denmark, although in the newspaper it said that the sun comes up at 7:40 and sets at 6:30... so the day is definitely getting shorter, and darker... and colder. But that's not a problem when you have a scarf! (Man mode!)

 

Anyways, on to the weekly report:

Monday, after writing to you, we went shopping. I FINALLY found the famous cereal. It's called nougat bits. Its chocalate pillows, with a chocolate creme filling. They are super duper dense, and taste like Rainbows! (That's how good they are) They reminded me a Little bit of the cereal Matt sent home from Russia, but these are a lot more dense. So that made my monday pretty good, After eating some of those, we stopped by Christian (American investigator) and read a chapter from the book of mormon with him. Then we drove out to Tønder which is an hour road trip there. We stopped by a less active WHO lives out there named Jessy Witt (the only reason she is less active is because it is so far away) Then we have an awesome Family out there as well named the Nielsens. So after Jessy, we stopped by Emil Nielsen, whose wife wasn't home, so our dinner consisted of hotdogs, and ice cream (Sounds like the first time I was there) But once Again, it was absolutely fantastic. We talked to him and his kids about Christ, and why he is so important so us in our lives. 

 

Tuesday, we started the day off by taking the rest of our p day, by going to the mall that opened that day. :D I ended up spending a lot of Money... but I bought a darn nice suit! As well as some slacks! And some shoes because I lost one of mine on a train. :( The suit was 65% cheaper, and it was a nice European suit, so I couldn't resist. After that shopping spree, we stopped by John Sundahl, WHO is pretty much our Grandpa here in Sønderborg. We talked with him for a while, just about how it's going. Then we had the class that night, (Grundlæggende principper af Mormoner) the one we have every week, and 2 people showed up Again! It was Andrea, the girl that is going to get baptized, and none other than John Sundahl, the less active! It was so awesome to see John get out of his house and actually do something. He also has a really strong testimony on prayer, which is what we talked about. It was actually a really good lesson. We compared it to an iceberg, and the only way to get under the Water and see the bigger Picture is through prayer. (Like Joseph Smith) after the class we ate some cookies with them, then tried to get John to sing Elvis for us, but sadly, he didn't.

 

Wednesday, We stopped by Karen, WHO is this old member in the branch. She was born with this problem in her eyes where she is pretty much blind. She can only see a tiny dot right in front of her, so she has no peripheral vision. But she had translated all of the Book of Mormon, and Pearl of great Price, into brail! It fills up 2 rows on a book shelf of 3 ring binders. It is absolutely amazing! She also has a super strong testimony of the gospel, and also on temple Work! After that we served Tom and helped him clean his house. Then we had a good lesson with Andrea, we talked about her baptismal program and kind of how it will run Down. Andrea is so awesome, she has such a strong testimony already. She listens to hymns every night, reads every night, loves church, comes to our class every Tuesday. It is also crazy for us to see the change that she has experienced in her life since she has found the gospel. After that lesson with Andrea, we had an awesome lesson with Anders Steen, where we talked about reading the Book of Mormon. But it was more of a we are on the same level as you, we want to read the book of mormon with you and talk about it, kind of like a book Club. He was excited about this, and really enjoyed reading a chapter with us. Anders also told us that he still is planning on getting baptized eventually. Familien Steen is so cool, they really will make strong members, and I can't wait to see them make the first step! To close up the night, we went up to Yaseens where he made us "Authentic Chinese fried rice" Which ended up like super American fried rice in a Soup thing. But it tasted really good. 

 

Thursday, weekly planning. Then we had an awesome chat with Tai's girlfriend, Julia. Where we just talked about thinking in the big Picture. That we are here to learn and grow, and that there is a life after this one where we continue to learn and grow. After that we said goodbye to Amalie, because she is moving to Odense. We had a really good lesson with her and Rubita. We just shared our favorite scriptures, then talked about how much reading scriptures has helped us in our lives.

 

Friday, District meeting, twas fun to meet the new missionary, and our new district leader, Elder Hansen. I also found out that another one of the goobers at my schooled arrived. Ridge Durrant is being trained by my grandfather, Elder Larsen.  Which is sweet. But after district meeting we stopped by Tai to see how he is doing. Then we went up to Familien Kuntz, where we had an awesome dinner with Andrea there. Afterwards we shared our baptism experiences and it was a really awesome lesson. We also had a good time with Tobias Kuntz, the 13 year old. Talked to him about videogames and all that fun stuff.

 

Saturday was a very relaxed day. We woke up, made the weekly newsletter. Ate some pasta for lunch. After that we had another lesson with Andrea, where we talked about how to pay tithing, as well as addressing concerns and going over the baptismal interview. After that we stopped by some people, then headed up to John Sundahls to Watch conference! It was sooooo awesome! If any of you missed it, I highly encourage watching it! (this was live for us, 8 pm)

 

Sunday comes around, the first thing we did was head to the church, make some crepes, then Watch the saturday night session of conference while eating some breakfast. After that we had an appointment with our branch president, Quinten, and Andrea. We had a nice brunch with them, then shared a lesson on conference and how important it is. After this we stopped by Christian, WHO sadly said he wasn't interested anymore. So we went back to the church and watched the priesthood session. Then we went up to Ernzt, WHO is doing well! For being over 90 he read 8 chapters in the book of mormon. So we had a good lesson with him. His concern was that the bible isn't translated correctly, and also that he isn't sure if the book of mormon is translated correctly to Danish. :P But after that lesson we went back over to Johns and saw the Sunday morning session! It was a really good week, and I hope you all saw conference!

 

Thank you for the love and prayers! I hope everything is going well! Remember to keep the faith, and that which is shared, is kept!

 

Love,

Ældste Swan

S4:E07 "A new piano"

Hi everyone! Another week has come and gone! I hope it has treated you all well! This weeks email won't be exceptionally exciting, but I hope you can still find some joy in it. As of right now I am sitting in the library with the smell of B.O. seeping over from the guy NeXT to me playing facebook games.

 

Last monday for p day we stopped by a Whole ton a genbrugs, which is pretty much thriftshops or second hand stores. That was fun, although sadly I didn't find anything, but my companion found some good finds. Then we tried to stop by some people, WHO sadly were not home.

 

Tuesday, I went to Copenhagen!!! I had to take this language test so I can stay in the country when my permit runs out. So Elder Eisert, Elder Walch and I set off to Copenhagen. When we got there we at some mcdonalds, then we took another train to where the testing place was. But inbetween the train station and the testing center we had to follow directions for 2 Blocks. Of course we went the wrong way. I ended up having to ask someone where the road was we were looking for. Naturally it was the opposite way we were going. But after FINALLY getting to the testing center, we got all checked in and took the test. The test wasn't hard at all. Most of it was language, which was easy, but the last section was land history... which I probably failed hard core. After that we went back to Copenhagen, where this sweet Black guy came up to us and started talking to us about religion. He was a legit Muslim that actually lived it! So we actually ended up giving him a book of mormon, and he wanted me to write a note in the front of the book. Sadly we didn't have time because our train was leaving soon. After that we went to Odense where we spent the night with Grandpa Stewie (Elder Larsen) and we went to Bull Again where we saw Martin.

 

Wednesday, we took a train home, ate some lunch, then taught a lesson to Andrea, the girl that was prepared to be baptised before we even met her. That went really well. Then we had a sweet eating apointment with Familien Thorngreen, which is pretty much the funniest Family ever. They gave us some really good ice cream with raspberry sauce.

 

Thursday we took another train to Horsens, for a zone training. Which took all day. I learned a lot about how I should train, and how I could be a better missionary in general from president Sederholm.

 

Friday, we got super excited about the mall that is opening on Tuesday here. We are planning on checking it out, even though it is expected to have a Whole ton of people there. After that we celebrated a less actives birthday, and we were there for way too long. Although we made them some frikadellers and mashed potatoes. It wasn't bad. After that we had an eating apointment with the Steens, which was awesome. It was some really good Danish food. But the lesson afterwards that we shared with them was what was special. We took a different approach this time, where we just talked about how much we care for them. As well as how much the Ward here cares for them. Then we talked about how that is the only reason we invite them to read in the book of mormon, because we have felt the Blessings of what it can give, and we want to share it with everyone. MaryAnne during the lesson leaned over to Anders and said >>Wow, they are actually being nice today<< But it was an awesome lesson.

 

Saturday, we got a piano from our branch president. So know we have this old, out of tune piano in our Apartment, which is super awesome! Then we got to eat some breakfast with him and his Family. After that we had an awesome lesson with Amalie, where we taught her like we taught the steens. We talked about how much we cared for her, and that she really is a friend of ours, and that is why we invite her to read from the book of Mormon. It actually turns out that she is moving to Odense, which is the same place Elder Hawkes (My last companion) Is getting moved to. It's crazy because Elder Hawkes spent a Whole ton of time teaching Amalie, and they were close friends.  Then we stopped by Tais, and we ate some pancakes with Tai and Julia, his girlfriend. They are the cutest couple ever, they just play video games all day! :D After eating pancakes we went up to Yaseens and he made us dinner as well. Then we shared a really good message about what the gospel can give us if we live it and take the time and sacrafice to live it.

 

Sunday was awesome. We actually had to give a talk in church, which went pretty well. But after church we had a Little branch brunch. There were a Whole ton of people there. We had many less actives and even the Steens showed up to it!!! We had some good food, and a very good time with each other. After that we did weekly planning, then we taught Christian (The American) and he surprised us by reading three chapters from the Book of Mormon. And he had quite a few questions about it. Our lesson was on how to apply the book to our lives today, and we also talked about how God answers prayers. After that we had dinner with Tom, our mission leader, then we went home and watched the restoration video before bed.

 

Thanks for everything you have done for me! I hope you all have a wonderful week!

 

Love,

 

Ældste Swan

S4:E06 "Darker than ever"

Hello everyone!!! I hope all is well over in the land of freedom and eagles! Everything is fantastic in the land of pastries and vikings! I'm a Little dissappointed no one got the song reference last email... but alas, THIS WEEK!!!:

 

Monday, after writing home and buying food. I made some cookies and we hung out with one of our investigators and talked about video games. After that we went and tried finding in Kær, but it is getting ridiculously Cold, which makes me sad. It's also getting dark around 8, and bright around 8. (When I got here, I saw day light the Whole time I was awake.)

 

Tuesday, We had an appointment with a Family we though was going to be super promising. But, they burned us. Which was a Little dissapointing. after that we went to the church and watched the first half of the Work of salvation broadcast because Elder Holbrook has never seen that before. Then we had an awesome lesson with our less active named Maria. She is from Maraco or however you spell it. She told us a Little while back that she felt that the church was just helping her, and that she wanted to help. So we have been trying to give her Things to do. One of which is helping us run a class we hold every Tuesday, which she is excited about. It makes me realize that it's true. A part of serving is allowing others to serve you. We also have started inviting her to come with us to lessons, which has been going really well, and she was in church last sunday and really enjoyed it! It is actually a really big Blessing for her, because she just lost her job, and really wanted something to be stable in her life. :D after that we went up to Yaseens ("Sassy Yass" himself) and, like usual, we helped clean up the plague house. After that, we helped him make some dinner, he is actually a really good chef for almost being always drunk. It's scary watching a buzzed man cut vegetables with a really Sharp knife. I don't even trust myself with a Sharp knife. After a fast dinner, we took off to catch a train to the promised land, Odense. We were going over there for a zone training thing, but my grandpa (trained my father) and great uncle(trained by grandpa) serve there, so we spent the night with them. The first thing we did was go to an "American Resturaunt" to get a burger. After ordering and sitting Down, the cashier comes up to us and asks us WHO we are, so we talk about how we are mormons, Americans, all that fun stuff. Then we eventually get on the topic of what we do in our free time. And he plays Starcraft 2. So we had quite the conversation about starcraft, and I also got his email address to keep in touch, so hopefully I will serve in Odense and be able to teach him about the gospel.

 

Wednesday was the zone training. Where we got a lesson from the mission president, and learned a lot. It was all about finding people to teach, and that we just need to open our mouths. Go out there and talk to people. It was really good. But that pretty much took up our Whole day because of the train ride.

 

Thursday we started the day off by visiting a less active member WHO was in the Family History Center. (He pretty much lives there) which was good. We just talked about how we can make the branch here better. Then we saw one of the members in the church, so we went inside and saw that she was cleaning the church, by herself. So we asked if we could help her out and did that for a while. After that we ate lunch, then served our mission leader, by cleaning up his house. Tom made us some food after we had our missionary meeting, and we had a good time with him. To close the night off we stopped by a less active member WHO told us she didn't want to take her names of the records of the church!!! Which was fantastic news. Then she actually told us that she wants to get all the lessons Again, and get refreshed in the church! It was a Little miracle from the Lord. She also gave us delicious tasting cookies, which was a Little bonus to that.

 

Friday, we had an awesome lesson with Andrea, the woman that is ready to be baptized and is getting baptized on the 19th in Germany! (I'm excited to go Down there for a day!) But with this lesson we brought the less active member, Maria, with us. It went really well. We talked about why we keep the sabbath day holy, and what it Means to keep Sunday holy. Maria is such a good member, she walked 30 minutes to come to that appointment. After that we went around inviting our investigators to church, then we took a train up to Esbjerg for a district activity the NeXT day.

 

Saturday rolls around, and we as a district go to a park and have a nice district meeting about asking for referrals and finding people to teach. Then we ate some delicious food, and played some soccer and just had a nice time with each other and getting to know how the others Work in the mission field. We found out that Elder Berry, the district leader is getting transfered. Which is a Little sad. I am the only person left in the original district when I got here... everyone else as moved on to other Places.

 

Sunday was an awesome day. We had Maria, Andrea, and Yaseen in church. We also had an awesome talk on temples in sacrament meeting, and an awesome lesson in sunday school on WHO Christ is to us. We also had 3 families invite us and Andrea over for dinner in the coming 2 weeks, which will be fantastic. I am excited for those. After that awesome day at church, we stopped by a less active, named John Sundahl (Sunny D) and we just kept him up to date with what's happening in the church. Then we taught a really good lesson to the American we found about reading from the Book of Mormon and praying to find the answer. We compared it to Enos, and how he had to have a wrestle to find the answer, that it didn't just come immediately.

 

But.. that was my week minus the pastries and cake I have eaten. Thank you all for the updates, and the prayers! I hope you all have a fantastic week, and eat some food in memory of me!

 

Ældste Swan