S6:E9 "Running businesses in frozen lakes "

Hello everybody, I hope that you all have had a good week. Mine has been chill, and fun. Nothing too wild has happened. (Even though it was Valentines Day) I'm still alive, going strong.

 

But on Monday, we went to check out two churches, one of which has this way cool Tower at the top. We were hoping to be able to go up there. But sadly... it was closed, and is until March. So that was a Little dissappointing. Then after getting lost in Copenhagen like we always do when we go into the city, we found our way to our eating appointment with the Eriksens Again. They are pretty much our Family, and I'm way appreciative of that. We had a nice chat, just about how we can become better and how we can reach our goal of finding someone to teach. We also talked about music, and just all those random Things. Actually, lots of the conversation was about marriage, because their daughter is getting married in a month or two, so they are dealing with all that planning lameness, that I do not look forward to.

 

Tuesday rolls around, and we have a way good district meeting, and president was there, so that was exciting. But it actually went way well. We just talked about how we can study more effectively, and Things like that. Then we played a game where they had to answer questions after studying a Little something out of PMG. So that was fun. But after that we stopped by Rosa Haagensen Again, and we were able to meet the last of her daughters, and we had a good chat with her, they are always way nice. She actually came from Sønderborg, so that was a nice surprise, and she also knew a Whole ton about vikings, and when we were leaving she was like "Møjn" and I was like oh my goodness, that Sønderborg slang, and I miss it. But then we had another eating appointment, which was a lot of fun. It was with the Leits, and they have a way fun Family. We shared a good spiritual thought which included the sisters. We just talked about the power of being an example to others. :D Then they gave us some of the delicious orange whip cream stuff Again.

 

Wednesday rolls around and we just did a Whole ton of stop bys. Nothing too special happened. Although we did throw some Sticks at a frozen lake trying to break it. Other than that, I can't think of anything that happened.

 

Thursday was splits, I went out with elder Pitts, it was a lot of fun. We did a lot of finding and stop bys. It was a lot of fun to get to know Elder Pitts better, and he knew a Whole ton about business and computers. So we had some good conversations about the future. Nothing too special happened during the day though. We watched some kids graffiti this wall while we were finding. That was fun.

 

Friday rolls around, we started off by finding, and knocking this way tall Building. Whilst there was a soccer game going on below us, so that was cool to Watch inbetween doors. Then we did our weekly planning, then we stopped by this list of potentials that we recieved. That was cool. Then we had yet another eating appointment, this one was in memory of Elder Pitts, because he is going home soon. So we had a way good lesson about how the atonement changes us from the worst of situations or people, to the best. I tried to make it a romantic day, but Elder Christensen wouldn't accept my love.

 

Saturday comes around, and we spend the morning finding Again, then we stopped by a way positive potential and set up an appointment with them. Then we had a way sweet appointment with Ibrahim (Moizoos) and that was a way long chat we had, just talking about what we believe in. So we learned alot about islam, which I think is way interesting. My companion was probably hating himself in there. But I enjoyed it. Then we ate dinne, and went finding some more! Woot! :D all in all it was a good day. A large chunch of it was with Ibrahim.

 

Sunday, we had church which was good. It was actually a missionary farewell, which was weird to see... It made me realize how Little I remember of mine. haha. But the cool thing was that there was this random guy in church, and I was able to talk to him for a long time. He just said that he is going through a lot right now, and that he wanted some Peace in his life. Sadly, he said he had too much on his plate to learn about the gospel now, but he said that he would be back. :D Then we had another eating appointment at the bishops, which was a lot of fun. They are always a fun Family. They remember me because of one comment I said last time... that was that I hadn't had vegetables in 3 months. haha so now they just give me the vegetables. :)

 

Now I'm here, just played some handball and some floor hockey, which was way fun, and about to go out and eat some food. WOOT! :D I hope you all will have a great week, and remember that my loves is with you!

 

Ældste Swan

S6:E8 "Being taught by someone special"

Hey everyone, I hope you all have had a good week like I have! I'm pretty sure I gained 10 Pounds in the past week, so... that's just a sneak peak into what happened.

 

Monday, we had Essentials because we wanted to go to the temple. So we wrote home, then stopped by some less actives. We stopped by Rosa Haagensen and had a nice chat and lesson with her. Then we had an awesome eating appointment with the Paulsens. I love this Family so much, they are way pumped about missionary Work as well. So we just had a good time, hearing stories about how they sleep talk and walk. Then we got Down to the nitty gritty of how we can Work better together, as members and as missionaries. So we ended up planning a fire side with them, where we can invite investigators, as well as splits with them to stop by less actives. It was one of those appointments where I was like "Members are awesome!"

Tuesday, Way good day. We started off the day by being taught by Jesus in a zone training... and by Jesus, I mean the person that plays Jesus in the testaments. (He's Danish!!!) So that was way way cool. He is a spiritual giant. He talked a lot about how we as missionaries should remember that they still have needs. Then he talked about how missionary Work for members isn't a job, it's a mindset. That we as members should read our scriptures every morning, get a Little boost, then looking for oppurtunities to mention it. It doesn't have to be a big thing, like knocking on doors. So I was just like "YEAH!!!! You tell us!" So that was way awesome to learn some more from a Dane. Then I got to see Elder Holbrook Again, which is sweet. he is such a cutie. Then we played sequence with a less active and her boy friend Again. The only difference is that Kim and I won both times this time!!! :D

 

Wednesday rolls around and I wake up feeling kinda sick. But we had a way cool appointment planned with a new Family. Which bailed... then all of our plans bailed... it kinda sucked. So here I was feeling kind of sick, trying to think of what we can do instead. So we stopped by David Barrett, and shared a good message, and just had a good time chatting. Then he came with us to a different eating appointment. Which was yet Again a lot of fun. Even though it seems like everyone makes fun of me... I always seem to be the center of attention.

 

Thursday comes and we actually stopped by a dropped investigator WHO was like "I've been waiting for you" and we were just like, oh snap, this is the end of us. But he was a way nice Muslim that just wanted to talk, and talk, and talk. So I learned a lot about Islam, and their beliefs. So that was cool. Then we had an eating appointment with President. Which was fun, and odd to be back there. The one time I had been there before was when I first arrived in Denmark. But it was still cool, and Sister Sederholm makes amazing food. Then we went with David to the stake priesthood meeting. It was a way fun day. The priesthood meeting was all on missionary Work, and how we as priesthood bearers need to lead the charge.

 

Friday was our p day because we found out that we couldn't go to the temple T.T but we had a good day. We went to the taco shop, and ate some mexican food. Then we did something. I can't really remember what. I think I made a pastry or something. But we finished off the day by weekly planning, it was kind of a lame day.

 

Saturday rolls around and this day was all knocking pretty much. We had one stop by in the morning, where we talked with this 91 year old guy. It was like a knife in my Heart, when we were leaving, he grabbed my hand and he was just like "come back" and I was like "we definitely will" It just made me realize that missionary Work is caring for people, not getting numbers or anything. So that was cool. Then we went bonking, and nothing too special happened. We found a Lutherin that knew his bible way well. So it was cool to hear his theories. Then we went to the bus stop to go home, and there was a girl from the Phillipines. We got talking with her and ended up talking for 40 to 50 minutes. So that was way cool.

 

Sunday was a good day. We had church, and David Barrett blessed the sacrament! I had like tears in my eyes. It was just cool to see a new convert, helping build up the church in that way. Then we had the oppurtunity to teach a primary class on short notice! It was awesome to see how stinkin smart those kids are. We just talked about what the Book of Mormon is, and why it's important. Then we talked about how we can share what we know with others. It went way well. After that we had an eating appointment with Jo Jansen. This guy, he's a really nice guy. But he served a mission, and did way well on it. Then he got married and went inactive. He has a super strong testimony, and he can't deny it. He is just being super lazy. So that's our job now! So we had a good lesson with him. Just kinda reminding him what's up.

 

2 a.m I wake up feeling way sick, and I'm in the bathroom trying to puke for 20 minutes. But then I ended up just going to sleep

 

This morning, we played handball with like 14 missionaries. It was a Whole ton of fun. That sport is the bomb. Super Rad.

 

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

 

Ældste Swan

S6:E7 "A winter wonderland"

Hey everybody! I am doing well over here in the land of Vikings and Heroes! I've been eating pastries, too often, I'm actually getting a little sick of them. (Literrally) but that's okay. It's getting warmer, and brighter out side!

But last monday, after writing home, we ended up stumbling upon this awesome park in copenhagen. It was way pretty, and while we were walking through it taking pictures, Elder Christensen made the genius comment of saying "This is a perfect time for a date." and I just stopped and looked at him, and of course he was like "That's not what I meant!" but, we all know what he meant. So that was sweet. Then after a nice park trip, we went to an eating appointment with Famlien Eriksen. We had a way good time up there, eating some tacos. Then Søren Eriksen sits us down and he is like, "okay, now the reason you are here" and he went on to say that he wants someone they can teach in their house, so we set a goal to find someone to teach by the 15th, and we were going to pray for it. So that was a way cool experience, just to have a member so pumped for missionary work, and this idea is awesome, because it gives the missionaries more of a purpose going out finding. Oh, and they gave us Æblekage, which was heavenly.

Tuesday rolls around, had a good district meeting, then we tried stopping by the Eriksens parents... who sadly weren't home. We tried stopping by some people, with no luck. But we had another eating appointment where we just talked about what we as missionaries can do better, and what they as members could do better to hasten the work of salvation. So that was a way cool lesson.

Wednesday, was a good day. We took Elijah, a new convert to an Elders house. (He is home now because something is wrong with his foot) and we had a good lesson. We have been focusing on Elijah a lot because he has been watching lot's of anti mormon crap that has confused him alot about what to believe. But we had a good lesson just on how we can use prayer and the scriptures to find our own answers. And avoid the confusion that comes from outside sources. Then... yet again... we had an eating appointment. We had a good lesson on how prayers can be answered. We focused on how it takes work, and diligence to recieve the answer to our prayers. So that went well.

Thursday come around, Elder Christensen is taking his language test (3 months early), but as a good senior companion, we take a train that will get us to the town at 9:15, and his test started at 9:15. So we get off the train and I start running. He starts running behind me. 5 minutes later, I realized that we were running the wrong way. haha. So turn around, and run back. We got to the testing center like 10 minutes late, and luckily they were nice enough that he could still take it. :D then we had some authentic mexican food with some elders I hadn't seen in a long time. Then we tried stopping by less actives, who were oddly enough, not home. (They were the reliable ones!!!)

Friday, we attacked DTU, offering free english and Danish classes. So that was fun. Then we weekly planned, ate a pastry. Then we stopped by Karina, which was interesting. This is the girl that has come to some of the church activities. She told us about how she has visions about people and things. Then she said that she can't accept the gospel right now, because it's not the time. (She didn't even take the pamphlet we wanted to give her.) So that was interesting. But she is still a way cool lady. Like, not crazy.

Saturday was a cool day. We planned to go to Gl. Holte, where Familien Eriksen lives, to find the person that can be taught at their house. So we started off the day by each of us looking at a map, and praying to find 3 roads. When we both did that, we compared our lists, and there was one in common. So that was the road we went to. The very first door we knocked on, was a way nice family that let us come in, and was interested in the gospel. We shared with them the first lesson, and when we bore our testimonies, the mom was just like "It sounds nice to have a belief to fall back on", then she invited us over to eat on wednesday! :D so that was an awesome miracle that happened with us.

Sunday, we had church, then we went to a fireside that was at presidents house. It was a lot of fun. We just went with David, he is pretty much my bro. So we had a way good time, I ate like a kajillion snikkerdoodles. Then went home and slept like a baby.

Now I am here, typing this email. I hope that you all have a good week, and that you will have a great week full of love and joy!

Ældste Swan

S6:E6 "Præstedømmet? Jo tak!"

Hello everyone! I had a lovely week, even though it's still way way cold. But I'm keeping strong, eating my pastries. :D

But starting with Monday, after writing home, we went to the church and played handball for three hours with some other elders. That was way fun, I don't know why we don't play handball in the States. But after that we stopped by a potential investigator, who actually let us in because it was so cold! So we were just talking, and getting to know her and her son. Then we invited them to the "Beach Party" that was going on at the church that weekend. So that went well. We got some tea and things like that. That was a little blessing for us, and of course it was the very last thing we did that day.

Tuesday, we had a decent district meeting in the morning. Then we tried stopping by some people, with no luck at all. But that's okay, because that night, we had the ward council meeting, where they got completely pumped for missionary work, and they set the goal for a baptism to happen on the first of March... so we have a lot of work to do, and a lot of faith to show. But this is the most hyped up I have ever seen a ward with missionary work. I really hope the fire catches on and doesn't just die down. So that was way cool to see as well. We are visiting a lot of members now, and trying to get them on board the missionary train.

Wednesday we had a lot of stop bys, and one of the people we stopped by is this 93 year old woman named Rosa, and this time we stopped by and were just talking with her, and she said "some days, I just pray and pray for help, and you guys seem to show up" so that was awesome, just being able to be an answer to someone's prayers. So that was way awesome. After that we did some more stop bys. Nothing special happened. But we had a way cool eating appointment at a girl named Jennifers house. David Barrett and Elijah were there (The 2 new converts) and it was awesome, a way fun night. Consisting of my and David trying not to burn a picture because the candle was on our end of the table right under the picture. So we couldn't bump the table... But that was fun.

Thursday, cold day, started off by stopping by some old school "come backs" but none of them were positive. :( Then we worked in a town called bagsværd, stopping by lots of different people, and knocking and things. The worst thing was that I had bought a pair of gloves the day before, and I left them on a bus... so I was gloveless this whole day. But that's okay. We had some good conversations with members, and one of them actually loaned me a pair of gloves. So that was sweet. Then we talked to someone else in the ward, and he dropped this one on me, he just said "did you know, we have so many inactive members in copenhagen, that if they were active, we would have another stake here?" I was just like... :O lolwat? Are you serious? So we have a lot of work to do, that's for sure.

Friday rolls around, we weekly plan, and then we had a way good lesson with Mikkel. Mikkel is David Barretts friend, and we just so happened to teach Mikkel with David. It was so cool to see a new convert teach so powerfully. David is one of the strongest spirits I have ever met. So that was another way cool experience. After that we stopped by Rosa again, just to see how she was doing. So that was just a nice little stop by.

Saturday! This was a 'cool' day. Most of it was spent setting up for the ward Beach party, then we went home and did some language study, then we met up with that potential from earlier (Karina) and we all went to the beach party. We had a way good time there. Full of water balloon volleyball where Elder Christensen and Elder King nailed a kid in the back of the head, Leg contests, brother Paulsen exploding a whoopy coushin.  :) It was over all just a good night.

Sunday, was church, straight forward. After church David got the Priesthood which is sick!!! That was way cool to see. Then we had a fun eating appointment with a family with lots of little kids. So that was pretty exciting. I was way tired, and I didn't know why, so I didn't say a whole ton that appointment. But I still had a good time.

Now I am here. Seriously debating on eating a pastry soon, and maybe some ice cream. So I hope you have a good week.

Love you all with my chocolately, butter soaked heart!

Ældste Swan

S6:E5 "David blev døbt"

Hey everyone, my week has been way good. As you all will shortly see.

 

So monday, we had a way good pday. It was really Cold so yet Again we went to the mall and went shopping, where my companion spent yet Again more Money. After that we went to the CUV center (center for Young adults) and brought David with us to the Family home evening activity. So that was way fun, I made elder Christensen participate and hang out with the kiddos there. Then we went home and slept. p.s. it snowed... quite a bit. So it wasn't very much fun to be outside.

 

Tuesday we started off with a good district meeting. Talking about how we can find more families to teach, and why the Family is so important in the gospel. How the Family should support and help eachother on their personal paths. Then we went out and visited this older couple that we found in dropped records. We had a nice time, a nice Little lesson just getting to know them. Then they said that if they had found the Mormon church earlier in their lives, they probably would've become members. It was a way sad thing to hear... because it's like they have given up hope on it because they are older. But after that we stopped by an older less active woman, just to kind of see how she is doing, It was cool because her daughter showed up and started asking lot's of questions about the church, and we had the oppurtunity to teach her about the plan of salvation. Sadly all of her questions made us late to our eating appointment, but the members understood... I hope.

 

Wednesday, we started off just looking for people, then we ended up going and visiting David because he didn't have the best day at school, and it was leading up to his baptism, so we thought we could support him and all that fun stuff. So we headed over there and shared a good lesson about the gift of the holy ghost, and what it will do when he get's it. It's cool for me to see how much a Little gospel lesson like that can change someones day from bad to good. Then we had another eating appointment with Thomas Hornslet, one of my most favorite members ever. Even though he said I eat like a bird because I eat so much... -.- see if I ever eat their food Again... haha But that was a way good night.

 

Thursday was another chill day. We cleaned the baptismal font for a long time... then we had an eating appointment which went well. I ended up leaving my scriptures there. But then we just stopped by a few people and invited them to the baptism. OH yeah, and we sprinted and out ran a bus, it was the best bus catch I have done on my mission Thus far.

 

Friday was one of the greatest days ever. We started off the day by having a meeting for all of the new Guys in the mission which meant free lunch, and we got to go to the temple. So I started off by going through the temple, then it was time for the baptism, so we filled up the font, and got everything ready, took Pictures with David, and then we had one of the most spiritual meetings I have ever been in. It was so cool because David is one of those people WHO is truely converted. And knows what he is doing right now. So that was one of the best days on my mission so far.

 

Saturday, we weekly planned and then did something else... I can't really remember.

 

Sunday I had the oppurtunity to give David the gift of the holy ghost. That was a cool experience. Although it was one of those moments in life where everything in my mind goes blank, so I was trying to speak in Danish, without thinking. So it was a Little shaky Danish wise, but still a very good experience. Then we had a way good day at church with David, and after that we tried stopping by some people, less actives, but they weren't home, so we just went trodding through the Cold snow for... experience.

 

But now I am here, about to eat some food and play some handball. :) I hope you all have a wonderful week.

 

Loves,

 

Ældste Swan

 

 

 

S6:E4 "Family connections"

Hello everybody! I have yet again had a wonderful week. It was a good week as well. :D

Monday, consisted of making way greasy burritos, eating ice cream, me buying a way european out fit, then an awesome eating appointment with the Eriksens. So this was Søren Eriksen, the brother of Thomas Eriksen from Sønderborg. So that was way sweet to hear their stories and see how they related to eachother. It was interesting because Søren became a member of the church first, but kept it secret from his family. Then one day his wife was just like "You need to tell Thomas about the truth" So that's what they did and they invited him to a thingy where an apostle was talking, and they both really enjoyed it, then after Søren took Thomas up to meet the apostle. When they got up there and shook his hand, Thomas was like "I have a question I want to ask you" and Søren was expecting something like 'How do you know the church is true' but then Thomas busts out "What happened to Cains seed during the flood of Noah?" But the apostle must have said something good, because Thomas became a member. :D We also got a referral from them for their parents.

Tuesday rolls around, and it's zone conference. Which means we sit there and get told how to do things. This one was on talking to people on busses and trains. So that was alright. Then we got some dominoes pizza. mmmm. Then we met up with a member, Chris Perkins, to go and teach a lesson to David Barrett. (The guy getting baptized) and they went way well. Then we got a big burger with Chris and talked about video games and all that stuff because he is a fresh RM. I just want to toss in there that I got the Obama burger, and it was delicious.

Wednesday we did lots of stop bys with not a whole ton of luck. But we had an eating appointment where we ate yet again dominoes pizza! But they are a way cool family. The mom is from England but moved here 20 years ago, and they are just one of those energetic, interrogate the missionary families. Then after this we started splits with the zone leaders, and I was with Elder King.

Thursday splits was... interesting. It was the most serious splits I have been on just because we talked about the mission the whole time, and never really had those fun pillow talks about eachother. But we just tried finding some dropped investigators, some finding, some knocking, things like that. It was a lot of fun. And while waiting for a train we got talking to this muslim guy who was way nice. We got his info and sent away a referral to some other elders.

Friday was a good day filled with contacting, weekly planning, then visiting Thomas and Søren's parents. It was way awesome. We knocked on their door, and I just started a normal knock approach, then I was like "I know your sons" and they were like "no way" Come on in" so we just talked with them for a while, and they were literally the nicest people ever. Because Thomas served a mission, and they thought that it was hard on him, they gave us lots of chocolates and things like that. But the coolest thing was that we invited them to the baptism that is happening this friday, and they said that they will be coming. :D Which is awesome.

Saturday was another good day, we started off by meeting with a potential. He wasn't super positive but he invited us in, and let us say our thing, then he was like... I don't need it in my life now, but you never know. So that was... cool that he let us in and was so open to hearing who we are.  Then we tried stopping by a few people. Then we stopped by a less active who was like come on in. Her and her boyfriend were about to play some Sequence. So we ended up playing with them, and eating peanuts. It was way fun, and she came to church the next day, so even playing sequence is missionary work.

Sunday was a good day, church, getting things worked out with David. He asked me to do the confirmation on Sunday. (Sweet, ja tak) Then we went to an eating appointment with David. That was also fun and I ate until I nearly exploded. (It was orange chicken, panda express style) But all in all that was a good day. 

I hope you all had a good week. And that you have a good week. Remember who you all are, and smile! :D You never know what it will do for people.

LOVES and all of the above

Ældste Swan

S6:E3 "Explosions everywhere"

Hello everyone! It's that special time of week Again where I get to write a Little somethin' somethin' to you all! I hope you all have had a good week, and a good new years! Welcome to the big number of 2014... I turn 20 this year... that's how old I'm getting...

 

But anyways, on to the fun part of the email. We bought a jacket for Elder Christensen last P-day, then tested it out, trying to walk somewhere and visit a less active, WHO wasn't home. So that was... meh.

 

NEW YEARS EVE! Elder Christensen started the day off well by eating some ice cream for breakfast! (Young kids... -.-) we did lots of stop bys in the morning, with no luck. Stopping by a refferral WHO wasn't interested. But then we went to Familien Arces for New years. We watched the Queens speech, which was cool. Then we ate lot's of food, and ice cream, then we played Uno, and had a way good time. But Denmark on new years, is one of the coolest Things ever. Everyone just get's plastered and buys TONS of fireworks. So it literrally ends up being a war zone. There are just fireworks blowing up everywhere in the sky, and there isn't a second that goes by where you can't hear an explosion. It was a dream come true :D I took lot's of Pictures. I also started a new thing that I will continue forever, called "Hipster new year" because nothing says a new year like being a hipster. But after that, we had the toast to the new year, and went home and I slept like a rock.

 

New years day, kinda boring in comparrison. We spent the Whole day cleaning our Apartment. I think I inhaled enough Chemicals to change my dna, but other than that. Our house was all clean which is a huge Blessing. :D After cleaning all day, we tried stopping by 2 "dropped" investigators. One of them was fairly positive. The other one moved. :P All in all it was a good day.

 

Thursday, we worked a lot. We had district meeting in the morning. Where we talked about the similarities between apostles and missionaries. That was neat. Then we went and stopped by dropped investigators. (We got lot's of old teaching records from the zone leaders, and they all live in our area) so that was our focus for the day. And we stopped by some more of them later that day. 2 of them invited us back, which is awesome! One of them was a member and I felt way dumb for stopping by, because she opened the door and it was like... "oh no... she is a member not a referral" but I covered it up pretty well by saying that we just wanted to see how she was doing. I crashed way hard this day as well... lot's of Work makes Ældste Swan tired.

 

Friday we had a training meeting. All those people WHO are district leader, or zone leader got summoned to be taught how we should do Things. I learned a lot about training, and how fast the Work is progressing. We have a big job here in Europe, but we are doing it! Then I got to go to the temple, in Danish. It was way way way cool. :D Definitely an experience. So that was an awesome day for me.

 

Saturday, we did a lot of Work Again. Stopping by drops.We met a guy that spoke to us prophetically pretty much. He was like "I can't join a church" Then he was like "You can't enter the Lord's temple with evil thoughts!"Then he was like "Your church has the Lord's tithes, don't Waste them" It was way weird. But he spoke truths.  Those are some of the exciting Things that happen to me on a mission. Sadly he wasn't interested in joining the church, even though he pretty much said it was true. -.-

 

Sunday was a good day. Church with David, WHO is getting really close to his baptism. Then we tried stopping by someone, an old lady. But she didn't answer the door. :( Then we went home and ate food.

 

That was that. I just want to point out that this Winter, Denmark has been way warmer than Utah. So... you are allowed to be a Little jealous. :D

 

Love you all, and keep being awesome!

 

Ældste Swan