Thursday, January 19, 2012

Not Much To Write About This Week :-)



Hej familie,
Er .. so I really don't have much to write this week. We've hit roadblocks with most of our "investigators", but that's part of the learning experience so we'll keep praying and studying. My companions are ridiculous, but that's not too far out of the norm for them. Soster Arbon and I were juggling oranges this week. I've almost almost almost got it, and we only had two explode. Only AEldste Swenson is sick, so that's unusual I guess. Usually it's at least 30% of the district (which for a district of 7 is pretty impressive). It hasn't snowed much except for about one glorious minute about ten minutes ago. The best food here is actually at the temple, so if you ever find yourselves there I highly recommend the omlettes (spelling? dunno, but they're cheesy heaven with REAL EGGS!! That's a novelty here), the quiche, and the waffles. They put a whipped cream smiley face on them. My companions and I played with the Play Dough today and made all the Spongebob characters, plus Pac Man and the Little Mermaid. We were even able to have a picnic again with the Dutch district, which just shouldn't happen in January but is amazing nonetheless. That's a really long compound word. Oh, speaking of, I'm so looking forward to the Danes. They sound amazing. A few phrases:
The news reports occurances of "car unhappies", which is where one car hits another car.
To say there's no problem, "De er ingen ko på icen." = "There is no cow in the ice."
Until the 1990's it was totally kosher to put a little "fire wine" = "vodka" in baby bottles to help them sleep.
It's common to just see groups of strollers outside shops where mothers just leave them on the street while they shop. Don't worry, they come out and turn them over ever once in a while. And from what I've heard, they're pretty quiet. This happens all during church too.
We also learned the best birthday song ever, which I'll sing belatedly in William and Greg's honor when I can call from the airport. It's pretty much fantastic.
Two versions of enie menie minie mo:
   Bip bop bu,
   Hvem lughter nu?
   Det går du!
   Bip bop bu,
   Who smells now?
   That's you!
   Okke gokke gommi klokke
   Erle perle pif paf puf
   ... I forgot the last line
   Okke gokke rubber clock
   Erle pearl pif paf puf
   Out with the bad air.
   Our teacher from Denmark taught us this, and he says no one there knows what it means either. It's just fun to say.
Things to do in Denmark:
Hamlet's castle (I cannot express my excitement. It's right on the coast by Sweden, and there's a reason it's the top of my list.)
Kristus (which they apparently take us to on the first day)
Some point in northernmost Denmark that starts with an S where you can actually wade out and see where the North Sea and the Baltic? Sea currents crash into each other going different directions. That is, if you aren't a missionary and you can go in the water.
The larger than life statue of an old Viking king (Holgar the Dane or something like that. Google will know.) in the basement of an old castle. Legend has it that in Denmark's greatest peril, he will rise from his throne, burst through the castle, and save the country Godzilla style. My question: Did he not hear about WWII, or does it have to be bigger?
The first Lego Land
Uh ... I'm out of things to say. And I still have 12 minutes?! How did this happen?
I'm sending some pictures, so expect those before too long.
Jeg elsker jer!
MKH,
Søster Morse
Mom - Thank you for the amazing package! And Katie can't have the bag back. I love it too much. It's better than anything I could have hoped to find on my own. Thank you! And thank you for being so persistent with the shoes. Feel free to open the box I sent, since the bag to return is in there. There are also some things from Christmas that I want to keep, but can't take with me. Feel free to use them next year as long as I can use them again in time for my Christmas make-up day in July with Katie O'Very. Oh, and the chips and salsa were a godsend. In this case a momsend, but you get what I mean. Oh, and there are 7 missionaries and 3 teachers in my district. Bror Stacey doesn't really like sweet things, but usually AEldste Christensen takes one for the team and eats his treats like a true friend. Or AEldste Swenson. Or Bror Pullan. We're all super close here. And I don't know where you found that yo-yo, but it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Second only to the chapstick, which I pretended was the real thing while putting it on. It's perfect. And the bookworm? He's now a sea monster attacking the little figure of that viking king in our classroom. AEldste Christensen and I made one out of packing peanuts hooked together and drew a face on it, but Bror Stacey saved the king and killed it. This time my money's on the Danish speaking book worm/dragon. No contest.
Greg - Thank you for your message in the card. It was great to hear from you, and I hope things are going well with the basement!
William - Ah, the prodigal brother writes at last. It really was great. I hope you got my card. Totally reminded me of you. I have NO idea why ... Anyway, I'd love to hear about what's going on in your life. Seriously, letters and the breakfasts at the temple once a week are all I see of the outside world.
Katie - Hahahahahaha! I loved that card. I think I've listened to it about half a billion times already. And that bag is beyond adorable. Thanks!
Dad - I'm glad to hear Grammy's birthday went well and that everything got there in time. I'll write a real letter in response later.
Cheryl - I sent you some coloring pages from the Friend to color with the boys. There are lots of other fun activities on there too. It's no Club Penguin, but maybe it's a nice Sunday alternative. Give the pudges hugs and big raspberry kisses for me!

Monday, January 16, 2012

What a Week

Okay, so last week my e-mail wasn't working. IT fixed it though, so we're all good, but my time has started over again at 30 minutes, when I took 10 minutes signing in over and over and trying not to swear at the computer. I wanted to e-mail so badly! Ugh, this week was an adventure.
 
So, backstory. The week before last all our Elders were out with the flu for a few days. That was nice. The Sisters got so much done! With that and my killer cold though, the other districts have started calling it "The Danish Plague". Yeah, it's as bad as it sounds. On Monday it hit me. Yeah. Despite my flu shot. Ah well.
 
In class we were trying to work in a "Union Break" into our schedule on the board. We get the occasional break to go to the bathroom, but other than that it's pretty much straight study and planning  from 8:30 until 9:30, with time for dinner and lunch. AEldste Holyoak used the wrong word and accidentally scheduled a "Conjugal Break". Bror Pullan sent a picture to all the other teachers! I rushed up to fix it, but then when I went to slide back into my desk I hit my head on the wall. You know me. Does this surprise you? Anyway, I guess I hit it harder than I thought. When the letters started blurring though I went and checked my eyes in the bathroom and they were dilating normally. No concussion. But then the queasiness I've been fighting off for the last few days hit. I could barely speak or read (in English, let alone Danish). One Elder had just been hit by the reality of the next two years, so he wasn't in class after lunch and the schedule changed without any notice, so neither was the teacher. That's when the vomiting started. We wrote on the door "Gik hjem pa grund af Dansk Pest" with a white X just like the Black Plague, then my comp's and I went home to sleep.
 
Four blissful hours later, they called us to chew us out for not being in class. Then made me go to the clinic. There they did all sorts of mean things like making me jump up and down and stretch. How on earth a trained physician thinks that's a good way to test the person in front of you for the flu is beyond me. Especially when they're RIGHT in front of you. It was almost really bad. Their prognosis? I had to go to the hospital. TO HAVE MY APPENDIX CHECKED! I was panicking after William's experience, but pretty sure it was the flu and a mild concussion at worst. The doctors agreed, but not until 2 catheters, 4 hours, and more bodily fluid tests than I care to admit. And then they sent me home with a prescription for ibuprofin and an anti-nausea pill. I know that my teacher who ratted me out and the clinic nurse were just trying to help, but all I wanted to do was sleep. That would've done as much good as the medications.
 
We did get to go to Rite Aid though. Hello, world!
 
I must confess, I did lose patience at one point. I snapped at a sweet nurse. She was poking around my catheter and I said, "Ow!" She asked, "Oh, does that hurt?" and kept poking. Before I could stop myself, I sweetly replied, "Oh not at all, I just like to say 'ow' for fun sometimes." That got me the evil eye. Come to think of it, that was when I got my second catheter. Oh no she didn't!
 
My wonderful companions were so patient and kind through the whole ordeal, and the next afternoon when the teachers sent me home sick. I've never seen Bror Pullan look so stern.
 
So all is well. The bruises from the catheters are almost gone. I'm perfectly healthy. I still have my appendix. Comforting though - when you go in for surgery you're allowed to call your family first.
 
Everything is going well with our "investigators." How do you explain to someone though that even though they were already baptized and that will always be special for them, it just simply isn't enough and they need to be baptized again? Or when they wonder why ours is the only church allowed to have the full truth and priesthood from God? Or how we can believe in God when there are so many terrible things happening in the world? The answer to all of them takes a lot of faith, and we're working on that, but any suggestions would be helpful.
 
And I wrote you all letters, so expect them soon.
 
Jeg elsker dig!
 
MKH (not MKF, I was wrong),
Hannah
 
P.S. I have 10 minutes left, so I'll write next Wednesday, deo volente.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Letter From Hannah 1/4/2012

Hello, Everyone!
So, you know what I said about how e-mail works both ways? Don't worry, it still does and I got all your cherished messages, but ... I miss Dear Elders! Feel free to drop me a line any time! About anything! I love hearing from you! We always hear about how much missionaries love mail, but I never quite believed it until now. It's literally your only line to the ouside world and your family. Everything here is one, long, spiritual, sleep-deprived blur. I love it too, don't get me wrong, but those random communications from you were such a blessing that I didn't even realize.
The blog sounds so cool. I wish I could see it! Never before have I been unable to see my own blog. Weird. By the way, Josh Tobler (remember him?) saw my blog post on facebook and wrote me to say that he's gotten his call to the Japan, Kobe mission. I'm so proud of him.
I love all the great Elders here who are so sincere and spiritual. And tall. What on earth do they put in the water in Idaho?! When I got sick this past week they were all right there with every remedy known to man and God. Don't worry. It was just a cold. Still, you can't speak Danish with a sore throat, so that sucked big time. AEldste Holyoak gave me his miracle meds and and one of his cloth hankerchiefs. He noticed that my nose was dry and peeling, and now he won't let me give it back, even though he and all the other AEldster were quarantined to their dorm for 4 days with the flu. One Elder in the Christmas Pageant convinced me to get a blessing, which they performed about two minutes before we had to go on. They are all such wonderful ... guys? Elders? Teens? Priestholders. Yeah. They are all wonderful priestholders. Every last one of them. And the Sister Missionaries are all so sweet. We've kind of banded together, since there are so few of us.
You all need to read (or re-read) "The Women in Our Lives" by Gordon B Hinckley and "Unleashing the Dormant Spirit" by Something Enzio Something-or-other. It shouldn't be to hard to find. (I put this in your card, Mom, but I think everyone needs to read them.
Uh ... I have seven minutes left and I can't think of anything to write. At all.
I love hearing all the stories and updates from you all. Except William. If you sent me some I'm sure I'd love them, but we won't know until we try, will we? Keep 'em coming!
We still haven't worked through all the food from Christmas and New Years. It's great to have though because dinner is at 5 and we get hungry again by 9.
That reminds me. New Years! It was so fun. We couldn't stay up 'til midnight, but we stayed up until 11! Bed time is 10:30. Heh heh ... Oh come on, it was New Years! Soster Taylor's mom sent her a package too with funny crown hats. Bror Pullan is from Vegas and when we wore them in class he said "Oh hey, girls wear those where I'm from too!" We got him to put one on. I'll send you a picture. I need to print off a bunch to mail home. Anyway, back in the dorm that night we ran around the common room on our floor wearing the hats and blowing the little horns you sent. We ran into about six other groups doing the same thing. It was chaos. Noise-makers, photos, bowling with oranges and water bottles, and all the left-over Christmas food the Sisters had in their rooms. Later, back in the room, Sostre Taylor, Arbon, Campbell, Stout, Palinikova, and I toasted the New Year with the Martinellis you sent and the champagne glasses. Then we made a fantastic mess with the poppers and streamers. It was beautiful. Truly beautiful. Thank you for helping make the holiday. Now I want to hear how you all spent it!
MKF (Med Kaerligheder Folelser = with loving feelings - that's how the Danes sign letters),
Hannah
Mom - I found the perfect card for you, and I'm mailing it today. Expect it soon. I will mail home a package, but would you send me my black flats whenever you can? They can just be in an old grocery bag. It won't matter. It'll be something from home! They should be in my closet in the shoe hanger. If you can't find it, let me know.
Dad - Way to take one for the team, spending so much time 'working' in your office. Congrats to Rene and Big Matthew! They're both amazing people.
Cheryl - Thanks again for the christmas cookies. My district is still working though them, can you believe it?! They're a great break during class, and our teacher has started turning a blind eye to the fudge as long as we eat it in the stairwell or over the trash can with napkins.
Katie - Thanks for all the comics and your sweet letter! I'll write you back today! The comics got passed around the district and they were a total life saver. Would you see if Will can find some Scandinavia and the World Humon comics? That'd be perfect for here. I've already taped up some of the comics you sent me up on my wall. Tell me all about your first week with Atwood and tell him I say hi. He went to the Netherlands, right? We're friends with all the "Dutchies" here. They're in our district. They call us the "Danishes". It's really cute.
Will - Hey. No mail? Not cool. How's school going? It started today, right. Work? Friends? Yu-Gi-Oh? Global warming? Anything?
Gunky - I loved your massive letter! I'll mail my equally massive response today. Promise. Complete with a few doodles and a card. Sorry I went so long without writing to you!
Mom again - Don't worry that I'm writing Katie so much. I get a lot from her and most of it is totally random. I love you all!