Week one in Odense

I am doing great today, other than that the internet is a little sketchy so I am worried this email won't send :O But at least you know I'm alive, and that's what's important! 

Odense is lovely and for the most very sunny! And VERY windy this week, whew. It's a good thing I've started wearing bike shorts under my skirts, otherwise the Danes of Odense would probably be scarred for life by Sista B's legs! 

Me with a binky tree - in Denmark when a little kid outgrows his binky, they take it to this tree and hang it on one of the branches.  And then the little kid gets a little bit of money, kind of like the tooth fairy!

Søster McVey is doing great - we have a lot of fun together! It's fun getting new companions, because everyone is so different so you learn how to work and live a little differently every time. It's fun and interesting switching companions, because Sister Packard and I were very excited to be out talking with people every minute of the day, biking as hard as we could, - whereas Sister McVey likes to take it a little slower. There are so many different ways to do missionary work, and as long as you're following the rules they're all right! So it's really good to get different perspectives (although I miss biking as hard as I can ;) ).

Having an apartment with 2 other sisters is nice! It's like being in college again with roommates - but I'm a lot better at doing my dishes now than I ever was at school ;). Mornings are a little hectic because there are 4 of us trying to get ready with 1 shower and 1 hour to get it all done! But it always works out.

Cool scrips from Domkirke

The ward is awesome! Everyone is really nice and I actually know a couple of people already because they've visited Aalborg or I met them at Stake Conference a few weeks ago. 

The Domkirke, where there are lots of fancy people buried.

My bike is fixed! For now... The elders tried to convince me to let them fix it but I held my ground and took it to a bike repairman! And he fixed it very nicely and very quickly. :)  And I do get to ride on cobblestones actually, which is an exciting adventure every time - everything gets all shaken up!

We work with a wonderful family, the H family. They were recently reactivated. B, the husband, is Danish, and S, the wife, is from Spain! Which I think is very cool. I tried to speak a little Spanish to her but I can barely remember anything anymore! It's so sad!! Their son M got baptized yesterday! He is 9 and the cutest kid ever - they also have 3 daughters who are seriously so cute and fun to be with. A, the youngest, found out that I like to sing and so at our eating appointment on Friday night she kept making me sing the same song over and over again. Haha! 

A statue of Hans Christian Anderson

The Ivies, the Ægtepar here, work with the H family too - and Elder Ivie confirmed M - in Danish! Which was amazing because the Ivies didn't serve missions in Denmark when they were younger (Elder Ivie was in the Northwestern states and Sister Ivie served in Argentina), but as Elder Ivie gave M the blessing his voice got stronger and stronger and he didn't hesitate and it was all completely understandable! How cool is that? Sister Ivie gave the closing prayer for the program and the same thing happened with her! 

The church we went to today was so cool!  At the church they had this globe, with a candle in the middle that burns all day long which represents the light of Christ.  And you can light a candle to set on the outside of the globe, because you are the light of the world!  I thought it was really sweet!

Other than that, we work with a couple of recent converts and less actives, and we are focusing a lot on finding. And, amazing miracle! We found 3 new investigators this week! We have appointments with two of them this week and one of them next week. 2 of them we found while street contacting using our Family History fan charts - President Sederholm has asked us to start using family history in finding and it is working SO well!! We ask people what their family means to them, and then if they have done any family history. Most of them have or they have a random uncle, cousin, relative of some sort who has - then we show them our fan charts, and invite them to come to the church to print out their own! 

A bad picture of me in a giant shoe

With M, a girl who's maybe 18 or 19, it led into a discussion about what is different about our church and we gave her a Book or Mormon. With S, a woman we met in the park, she told us that she loves visiting different churches and would love to learn more about her family history. Danes are really into family history so starting off with family history has been really successful and people have been very open to it. 

Home-made æbleskever, made by yours truly! :

We have some more finding activities planned this week so I will let you know how it goes! :)

Why do Emily and John look so grown up? They're growing up without me, wahhhh! Emily looks so beautiful and John looks so handsome. I wish I could have been there for the concert!!! and tillykke to both of them for doing so great in auditions! That's awesome!! And oh my gosh, Emily's dress is amazing. Can you sew a dress like that for me sometime? ;) Just kidding, but really it looks amazing.

I love reading anything and everything about the family and what's going on at home!!

I miss you and I love you! 

Love,
Hannah