I am SO excited to skype on Sunday! 6 days 'til we can see each
other agian! :) I can't believe how fast the time has gone. And as far as
details go, all 6 of us missionaries in the area are going to one member's
house for skyping on Sunday. It'll be anywhere from 3 to 5 in the afternoon our
time, so 7 to 9 am for you (sorry it's early, and also it might be cutting into
sacrament meeting).
I am so excited to see you! Don't make fun of me 'cause my
face is chubby! ;) I don't think I'll be able to skype for as long as I did
last time, I think 2 hours at the most (haha that is a long time!) is what is
acceptable. Plus I don't know how many computers there will be, so we shall see
how it goes! I am just so excited to see y'all!
Part of the Library. |
That sounds like such a nice Sunday! So hyggeligt. We had
chocolate chip cookies yesterday too, because we had this new idea to make
cookies for every member who has a birthday in the ward and stop by the day
before their birthday to say hi and wish them a happy birthday. But of course
we had to eat some as well. :)
So far the idea has been bringing a lot of
success though, on Saturday we stopped by an inactive woman who was born in
Denmark, then lived in the states for most of her life, then moved back to
Denmark last October and hasn't been to church since. When she first opened the
door it was barely a crack and she told us we didn't need to give her anything
for her birthday, but then we told her it was fresh-made cookies and she opened
the door a little further, and we started talking and getting to know her.
She
opened up (literally! she opened her door wider and wider the longer we were
there, and by the end of our conversation she was just standing and talking
with us!) and told us a lot about her life, which has been really challenging. But
it was just a great experience and we're praying for a miracle so we can start
meeting with her more and bring her back to church!
Church was SO fun yesterday! I bore my testimony since it was my
first Sunday in the ward. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming, I feel like
I've been here for a lot longer than one week! (In a good way! :) )
Søster Hadley and Søster Barrett with some sweet spring flowers. |
Okay and
Søster Hadley and I are seriously twins. At first it was funny things, like
that we are both really good friends with elders serving in Spain and we like the
taste of vinegar, but then we started noticing that we have the same exact
toothpaste and floss, the same brand of face wash, and I used to have the same
kind of toothbrush that Sister Hadley has now. We both worked at little
hometown ice cream shops through high school and in the months leading up to
our missions.
Sometimes we say the same thing at the exact same time. It is so fun!!! We're doing so much work and
basically laughing all the time. I love it! And I am learning a lot from Sister
Hadley - she is so sincere and so good at finding the good in everyone we meet.
Also, every week she tells her family something she learned from Preach My
Gospel, so I think I am going to start doing that today because I think it's a
good idea! So here I go. This week we started studying chapter 10, How to Begin
Teaching. We study a new chapter every month and I always start off by reading
through the chapter and color-coding all of the principles and
promises/blessings given in the chapter.
Something it said right in the
beginning of the chapter really stood out to me - everything I do in my studies
and throughout the day (developing Christlike attributes, studying the
missionary lessons, improving my ability to speak Danish) is done so that I can
teach with more clarity and power. It is so true! In the past when I am working
on becoming better at doing something, I do it so that I can be a better person
- and yes, everything about being a missionary has made me a better person, but
the core purpose of everything I do is to teach well so I can invite others to
come unto Christ.
And the more prepared we are, the more we are aware of
opportunities to speak with people, which leads to teaching, which leads to
bearing testimony and inviting people to learn more, which leads to more people
learning about Jesus Christ, which changes lives! It's really motivating me to
learn the scriptures better and talk with everyone.
This week we had some great miracles! On Monday night we walked
past the temple (super great perk of serving in Copenhagen! The temple is in
our area and we walk past it several times a week!) and saw a man sitting near
some of the flowers, smoking a cigar and drinking a beer (hehehe).
We decided
to talk to him, because anyone who wants to sit on the temple grounds has to
have recognized how special that building is. We told him what the temple is
and why it's such a beautiful place, and ended up having a great conversation
and getting to know him really well. His name is B, and he has been out of
work for a long time and gone through a lot of hard things. He said it is
really hard to find his way when the world can be so bad and confusing.
I asked
him if he wanted something that could help him find his way when life is hard.
Sister Hadley pulled out a Book of Mormon, and we bore powerful witness to him
that the Book of Mormon can guide him and bring him closer to Jesus Christ,
whether he is a member of the church or not. The Spirit was so strong!! He took
the Book of Mormon and told us we were the sweetest girls he's ever talked to.
I believe it made a difference in his life, and I know the experience made a
difference in mine. I know that just being on the temple grounds made B more open to hearing our message and we were able to bear testimony with a lot
of power.
A blurry photos of me near the canal. |
Throughout the rest of the week we gave out 5 Books of Mormon
(maybe a small amount for some places, but more than I've ever given out in a
week on my mission!), and talked to sooooooo many people! We take a lot of
trains and buses here, and on Monday I was already feeling motion sick from all
of the driving and stopping and going.
So I said a prayer to Heavenly Father,
and told Him that I was really worried I would feel sick the whole time I
served here in Copenhagen, but that I would talk to people on every train, bus,
and metro we took if he would bless me to not feel sick. Well, Sister Hadley
and I have talked to at least one person everywhere we go, and I haven't felt
motion sick since! And I'm getting a lot better at contacting and bringing up
the church on s-tog trips where we only have 3 or 4 minutes to talk to the
person sitting next to us before we have to get off again. It's really really
fun! I have met so many people!
Ahh basically it's been the greatest week of my mission. I wake
up every morning feeling so happy! Sister Hadley is the most amazing companion
and I am so grateful I am here.
Our apartment is fun and has definitely been well-used by sister
missionaries over the years. We had the great pleasure of cleaning out the
bathroom drain because the shower flooded the entire bathroom, and it was
pretty gross. Also, our toilet is clogged so today we will be buying a plunger
and taking care of that! Hahaha, I'm pretty sure my mission has turned me into
a plumber.
The YSA's are awesome! We have an investigator, J, who came to
institute on Thursday night which means we got to go to, and there are so many
amazing young adults in this area. A lot of them are either return missionaries
or preparing to go out on their missions, so we have lots of people who want to
go out and do the work with us.
HC Anderson's Grave |
A really cool gravestone with Runes all over it, in the graveyard. |
And once a month we have a night where we go
out on splits with some of the girls in YSA, which we did this week and it was
very fun. Only one girl was able to come, so we didn't actually go on splits, but
it was really nice to have her come to our lesson that night!
And the best
thing about this area is definitely having the temple so close by. We're going
to go during the week of the temple's 10-year celebration, and since we can go
once a transfer and my birthday falls right after next transfers, I'm hoping we
can go to the temple on my birthday! Woo woo happy birthday to me! :)
As far as
birthday gifts go... I think my dream gift might be a new camera because
something weird happened to my camera (mehhh! Sorry Christensens I somehow
destroyed your gift to me for my mission!), and I don't know if you've noticed
but all of my pictures are slightly fuzzy and warped. But that's just my dream
gift! I am sure I will survive without it! :)
I don't think there's really a
worst part of this area. Maybe that on Friday nights lots of drunk people are
on the trains? But that's just funny, so I don't think there's really anything
terrible about Copenhagen! At least as a missionary!
I love you all so much! I hope you are having good missionary
experiences, because I know that missionary work goes a LOT better when it's
done with the members! :)
And I really miss you but I hope you know I am working
as hard as I can. Sister Hadley and I are trying to work on being more obedient
to the schedule because sometimes we just start chatting away and the next
thing we know it's 10:30 and we're not in bed! The hardest part about having a
companion that's practically my twin sister is that we have way too much fun
together. :)
Søster Hadley and I with HC Anderson's grave |
Today we're also going to see the Kristus statue in Vor Frue Kirke and Strøget (I don't know how to spell that), a huge gågade in Copenhagen with lots of fun stores!
I can't wait to see you on Sunday! I hope you have a great
week!!! I love being a missionary. :) It's so much fun!
See you in a few days!
Love,
Hannah
I love that you found your twin Hannah! That's so fun, an immediate best pal! It sounds like Copenhagen is a great place and that you are learning so much! Love ya sista!
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