Monday, February 27, 2012

Week 2 In The Field--11 Overall

Hannah Morse hannah.morse@myldsmail.net to me, Bryan
show details 10:14 AM (9 hours ago)

Kære familier,

1. Jeg elsker København.
2. Jeg elsker vores undersøgerer.
3. Jeg elsker missions arbejde.
4. Jeg elsker wienerbrød.

It's so nice to be able to do the proper letters without having to enter some James Bond worthy sequence of codes on the computer. The keyboard layout still throws me off though, so between that and Danish killing my English spelling, this will be a fun letter to decode! I'll try to be careful.

Week 2 in the field (11 overall) went very smoothly. We had specialized training and leadership training back to back, so that took up two days, but they were great - all the missionaries from Sjæland and ... Er ... I can't remember! The other major island, whatever it's called. Anyway, we were all together in one room and Søster Andersen gave us wienerbrød (pastries - actually, my first Danish pastries!) and we had kebabs for lunch (which is the amazing kebab meat shaved into a pita with sauce and lettuce and onions and tomatoes, rolled up like a taquito the size of your forearm). That was also my first proper kebab. Danish food is delicous and, thanks to all the walking and the wonderful members, the missionaries get to eat loads of it! We also had a fun Scripture Chase game. It was just like in Seminary, but far more intense since it's all missionaries. However, Søster Ronstrom and I were the hands down winners, scoring 19/14, getting all the scripture references and principles based on the pictures, but also finding each one Præsident Andersen referenced. We were pretty proud. Not in a sinful way though. Okay, maybe a little. The other Ældster were really competative!

I love contacting and meeting with all of our incredible investigators. We currently have 3 progressing. One Catholic who's not about to give it up any time soon, 1 with a baptismal date (more on that later), and one who wants to be baptized, but isn't sure when will be right. We'll be talking with him this week. The best part is seeing the differences the gospel makes in their lives.

We've also redoubled our commitment to contacting. As you said, courage is doing something you're afraid to do. Neither of us is bold when it comes to talking with strangers, but we've been praying for the strength to do so. This is the truth. Jesus lives. God knows us and listens to our prayers and blesses our families. Yet the standard response to our initial contact is to cut us off mid sentence with "Jesus? No thanks." I'm sure you know exactly what I mean. It's a bit disheartening. Not being rejected. That we expect. But seeing these people as children of a Heavely Father who wants nothing more than to bless their lives with all that He has, but who know nothing about Him or His Son. Coming to a better understanding of that as we talk has helped us begin to take advantage of every opportunity. Thomas S. Monson also said that "Sometimes courage is that quiet voice at the end of the day that whispers, 'I'll try again tomorrow.'" We'll keep trying.

I could go on forever about missionary work, but I'll get back to our investigators. Not really a huge topic swith (still missionary work), but ah well.

There is the great lady who was the first investigator I ever met here. I didn't know she was even an investigator. I'd just met Søster Ronstrom earlier that afternoon and we were all at the CUV (Youth Center) openhouse. She's the one I talked about last week who wanted to be baptized. We worked it all out for the 9th of April. She wanted it to be the 9th (an important number for her in her life or something, I'm not one to judge. I'm a missionary, not a priest), and the 9th of March was too soon for her. We got a text yesterday in church for her, saying that she knew this was true and there was no point putting it off any longer, so she'd like to be baptized the following Sunday (her 20th birthday), if that was alright. We were so excited! Drama always follows though, doesn't it? The super missionary active family in the ward knows her very well. Their son's inactive (but really sweet and participates in our lessons sometimes to share his insights into the gospel), and he and Mathilde used to date. Hm ... Well, she decided she was going to keep the law of chastity and so she moved out (I think that was in the last letter). James told his mom though that her good friend (He's named Kim, and they're not dating, she says) is now not going on a mission perhaps in part of something that she and Kim did and so Søster Stewart found out about Mathilde's baptismal news and was of course worried and going on and on and on and on and on and on about it all. Later that night when we met with her and ran through the baptismal interview questions with her to prepare her for the real interview, she says she can really see the change that keeping the commandments has made in her life and she's so excited. She knows this is true. She has a new light about her. When we walked in to meet with her she'd made a cute case like Søster Ronstrom's for her Triple Combination we bought her for her baptismal gift last week (back when it was the 9th) and was busily marking up Moroni 10. She says nothing's ever happen and it's all sorts of drama because we think she's fine, Søster Stewart is still worried she's going into it unworthily, meanwhile, this investigator is a bit hurt because her boyfriend (who is so open--thank goodness. They're still good friends) confessed that his mom was worried, and we just don't know what to do. Præsident Andersen is interviewing her on Wednesday though, so that should clear it up. We all trust his judgement.

Would you just pray for everyone involved (especially P. Andersen and the investigator) so that everything works out in the way that will be best for her?

Moving on.

I love our little ward here. Seriously, all the members would fit in the chapel back home three or four times. Only one of the people passing the sacrament (all four of them) doesn't have facial hair. Probably because he's about 14. The rest are at least 25. Everyone is so quirky and unique and so welcoming. Most are converts who bring such a sweet testimony.


With lots of love from a very wet Denmark,
Søster Morse



Mom - I love you! I hope you got the personal e-mail! Would you mind forwarding my letters to kendra.arbon ... at ... I can't find the at symbol ... anyway, kendra.arbon at myldsmail.com? My old MTC comp. We're swapping letters. Would you forward hers to me to? I also haven't gotten any e-mails from Katie. Would you get those from the O'Very's? They're probably super busy.

Dad & Cheryl - I love your e-mails, and I responded to them.

Katie & William - Expect letters soon.

Supreme Mugwump - THANKS FOR YOUR LETTER! Yep, that merrited caps. Søster Ronstrom has starting calling you my "kæreste", pretty much a boyfriend/girlfriend/
significant other because of the long letter I wrote and how excited I was to get your letter. Man, I really miss Rancherito's right now. And Psych. But tonight is a Castle night here. Well, actually, it's a 1 Nephi night. That's still pretty exciting though. I totally get what you mean when you wrote that the BoM takes on a whole new level of awesome out here.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Denmark is Awesome

Hej alle!

I can't find the question mark on this Danish computer, the keys are different and spell check is freaking out, so sorry if this is unintelligible.

First things first, Denmark is awesome. Getting to Denmark was ... an adventure. We almost missed our flight in Paris, lost a suitcase (Søster Taylor's), and had an Ældste throw up the first day here. President Andersen and his wife are absolutely indescribably kind. Our first day here we contacted in the street (that went as well as could be expected), ate kebabs (well, really pitas because the order was messed up, but since it was the first real food we'd had in almost a day, it was delicious anyway), and went to visit the Copenhagen temple, the chapel behind it and the baptismal font there, and Frederiksberg Castle. Dad. You wouldn't believe it. Sure, we saw some Block paintings and the stunning chapel and the Kings prayer room and all that, but we turned at corner and it was right there. I wasn't prepared. I may have stopped breathing. The Bayoux Tapestry. No one else was as thoroughly impressed as they ought to have been, but I know for a fact I teared up a bit. The Bayoux freaking Tapestry!! Okay, I'm a dork, but life's more fun when the little things (even though this is by no means little) make you happy.

And thanks to your excellent upbringing, I actually knew all the scenes from the Bloch paintings. No one else really did, which was odd, but I blame the jet lag. I'm with a pretty smart group.

Okay, so now the good stuff you've all been waiting for. At least, I like to think of you all waiting with baited breath back home. It makes me feel better.

I've been assigned to the Frederiksberg, København area. Copenhagen includes other little cities inside it, not unlike the boroughs in New York, and Frederiksberg is there. My comps from the MTC ended up in Slagelse and Odense. Google 'em. Included in my area is the Youth Center, so we do FHE and Institute there every Monday and Thursday and get to work with a lot of really fantastic youth. I also go to church in the chapel behind the temple, and go past the temple every week. Google those too. They're stunning.

My companion is Søster Ronstrom. I canøt actually write her name correctly, since the last o has two little dots over it and that doesn't exist in Danish. Or English. She's Swedish though, so that makes sense. She's from Stokholm, so she totally gets the big city vibe of Copenhagen, and speaks nearly flawless English and Danish. She was only at the MTC for one month before coming to Denmark. She's been here 14 months. I'm really blessed to have her. We get along really well. In fact, the other day it was sunny (miracle of miracles - it's freezing here (seriously, it's totally normal to wear two or three pairs of tights)), and we were twirling across the train track overpass singing "the hills are alive with the sound of music" at the top of our lungs. Don't worry. No one was around.

Oh, and Søster Andersen is a fantastic cook. Our first night there she made a whole table full of traditional Danish food, more than I can eat, including røde grøde med flode, which I can almost say correctly and which is incredibly delicious.

I've also been blessed with a lot of great investigators and less active members to work with. My first day here at a Youth Center openhouse evening, one of the investigators came up to Søster Ronstrom and told her she'd decided to be baptized. So I get to see one of our investigators baptized my first transfer! I had nothing at all to do with it, and I am so happy for her. It hasn't all been perfect, but that's only to be expected. On Thursday I was actually going to ask one of our investigators to be baptized (again, I have nothing to do with it, but Søster Ronstrom was going to let me invite her), but she cancelled that morning. She'd broken up with her boyfriend and was drinking with her neighbor, so she didn't really want us there teaching her that day. She's a recovering alcoholic. That was really tragic, but it made us that much more dedicated. We also have another couple we're working with who are less active. She's American, so it was all in English. They're working on getting to the temple and have had a lot of trials. We taught them how to do FHE on their own and made them a really cute little FHE assignment chart where they can move their names around. Søster missionaries. What more can I say? (YES! I found the question mark!) We have quite a few others, but those are the only one's I'll go into now.

Danish isn't actually nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Everyone here speaks better English than I do, so they're really thoughtful and understanding. They're helpful with learning the language too, and correct my pronunciation and teach me new words. I can understand almost everything when people speak slowly, and I can communicate for the most part what I want to say, even if it may take a lot of circumlocution and pointing at stuff. Family, do you remember in the blessing when Pres. Scorsesby blessed that I'd learn Danish so well that people would be shocked? In church last Sunday I was chatting with some members (for any teacher who reads this, one was Ældste Perkins' girlfriend), and they were really impressed with the MTC program and how much I could speak and understand. President Andersen also said that this group from the MTC has been incredibly impressive. Tak for alt, Bror Stacey, Bror Birk, og Bror Pullan! Vi kan forstå mere end vi kan tale, men det er godt nok for os! Well, that may just be the only sentence not totally underlined by spell check. Oh! I've also started translating my journal entries into Danish. On Friday I didn't even have to stop and consult a dictionary (or Søster Ronstrom)! I'm so excited to keep working at Danish!

It is nice though when I hear a little English. We have a goal to speak only Danish outside the apartment unless it's critical that I understand everything said, but today while shopping for groceries, etc. I heard "Tongiht, Tonight" by Hot Chelle Ray and got so excited. That song always reminds me of you, mom. Plus, it was English.

I've also invested in a huge, face-enshrouding scarf. Almost everyone here wears them and they're almost essential, so that's one more thing to send a pic of. I include this mostly to tell Dad that I think of his huge scarf from England and also of Dr Who whenever I wear it. Oh, I hope you appreciated the Dr Who hat at the MTC I sent a pic of. If I could have, I'd have hugged that elder.

Contacting has been great. Again, Google pictures of Copenhagen. I'll try to figure out how to e-mail some of mine. Yesterday night we went contacting (a lot of people walk just to walk on Sunday nights, so it's a good time to visit the pretty walking areas) around a lake in the city that was absolutely stunning. There were seagulls walking on the ice too, which was an interesting juxtaposition. Ah well.

Jeg elsker jer!



Mom - They actually provide a giant feather quilt and a pillow. Sooo warm and sooo huge. Well, not provide. They just take payments out in istallments from our mission fund, but I'm totally fine with that since they  only make us pay half. I'll check my e-mail for the personal e-mail I sent you last week and see if I can re-send it.

Dad - I think I said everything in the other little e-mail I sent, but this is just one more chance to say I love you!

Cheryl - I'm so glad you got to share that story. That huge scarf also reminds me of you, since it's something I could easily see you in. I'm glad to that you enjoyed the articles. I'll have to send some recipes for Danish breads. Actually, google might be best for that. They're delicious and super healthy, often with seeds inside or baked on top. Totally something you'd love.

Greg - How's life? Sorry, I don't actually know what's really going on with you right now, so I don't have much to ask about.

Katie - Thanks for the big e-mail! I'm trying to print it to read it later, but I did see that it included updates of shows. Yay! Hm ... could you maybe send just the lyrics to Hallelujah (check Rufus Wainwright as the artist) and The Cave by Mumford and Sons, Arms by Christina Perry, and some of the other songs from that Dusk, Dawn and Everytime in between playlist or my New Mood playlist? Anything you remember me listening to often or that has poetic lyrics. Any of your favorite songs too! It seems like you're doing really well, which is always good to hear. Hopefully school isn't killing you! Oh, and I hope too that you enjoy your fantastic shoes! I have yet to see a picture, but they sound cute.

William - Man, I really want to give you a big embarassing hug right now. I don't have much to chat about (except how's your newest semester of school), but those always made me feel better. I O U one embarassingly large hug. I'll just start keeping a tally now, shall I?

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Greetings From the Denmark Copenhagen Mission--Safe Arrival



Greetings from the Denmark Copenhagen Mission!

We are sending you an email to let you know that your missionary arrived in Denmark, safe and sound.

We are very excited to have her here.  She looks excited to work and serve the Lord in Denmark.  Thank you so much for preparing your missionary for this time.

Missionaries in the Denmark Copenhagen Mission usually have their preparation days on Monday and will email home at that time. Just know that they are here and safe.    
When you send packages:  A) send them to the office at the address below.  B) Do not send a package worth more than 50 dollars, or they may have to pay an additional tax to receive it.  Missionaries love to get mail.  All mail comes to the mission office and we forward it to them. The Danish Mail will no longer let us forward packages from here.  If you need to get something to your missionary in a hurry, have her give you the address where she is currently serving.   A problem with this is that she may have a transfer before she receives the package.  Make sure that you visit with your missionary about future transfer dates and when you are sending a package.  Otherwise, send it to the mission office and we will get it to them at our monthly Zone Conference, Specialized Training, or when someone is traveling to that part of the mission.
Søster Hannah Morse
Danish Copenhagen Mission Office
Borups Allé 128, 1tv
2000 Frederiksberg
Denmark

Søster Morse  will be serving in Copenhagen  with Søster Ronstrom.
Her current address is:
Vestre Allé 11, 1 sal,
2500 Valby
´
The trainers are the best of the best!  Your missionary will have an amazing trainer that will help start off her mission in the right way! 
We hope all is well with you.  Have a wonderful day!
Denmark Copenhagen Mission

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

My MTC Stay Has Been Unique

Dated 2/12/2012

My MTC stay has been unique, to say the least.
1. Mary in the Christmas program
2. Example teachers in opening workshop for new missionaries
3. Soster Taylor and I prayed in Relief Society today

More on #3. We rock, paper, scissored it, as per the rules, as she won so she said the opening. Just before the speaker's closing remarks (Sister Cook-1st counselor in YW), a girl in the audience has a seizure. If there was ever a time to be called to say the closing prayer...

The snow today was a huge blessing. Sister Cook said she was glad for it because it meant her husband could some. I'm not sure of the cause/effect there, but I am glad. Because of it, as soon as he saw chairs clearing, he ran down the stairs and, as the only Priesthood holder in the room, he gave the girl a blessing on the spot-even before the paramedics got there. Ordinarily, we'd have
had to wait for a security guard to get there.

The whole thing happened while watching the Mormon Message about the football player struck by lightening whose coach, 18, only a Melchizedek priest holder for 39 days, blessed him as the other coaches tried to revive him while he was in cardiac arrest. Talk about an object lesson!

Her sister was there too, which is another miracle. The panic on her sister's face though as Sister Brown asked if there was a Sister Northup there. She pushed a chair away and sprinted across the auditorium. We were all praying as the room was still except for the people around the girl. I got this calm, totally confident feeling that it all would be okay. She was fine.

At last the paramedics stabilized her and we concluded Relief Society and I went to the microphone in a totally silent, tense room. As part of it, I prayed for her, saying that she was in the Lord's service, asking Him to heal her, to fulfill the purpose He'd called her to. Again, I felt totally peaceful. It's definitely strengthened my testimony of the Holy Ghost, priesthood, and all of God's, tender mercies, like a snowy morning that brought a worthy priesthood holder to Relief Society.

Plus, I got a hug from the YW 1st Counselor!

My Address in Denmark

Soster Hannah Morse
Denmark Copenhagen Mission
Borrups Alle 128, 1 TV
2000 Frederiksberg
Denmark

(just a reminder that international mail is 3 US stamps)

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Hi From the MTC for the Last Time!



Hej fra MTCet for den sidste gang!
Hvordan gør det? Det gør fint nok for mig her. Jeg kan lide MTCet, men virkelig jeg ønsker kun at undervise de danske folk. Jeg er så spændt at gør til Danmark! Jeg ved at Jesu Kristi Kirke af Sidste Dages Hellige er sand, at Gud gengav sit evangelium gennem Joseph Smith, og at på grund af min Frelsers kærlighed for alle Guds børn kan vi kende dem personlig og komme tilbag til vor Fader i Himmelen.
Essentially:
Hi from the MTC for the last time!
How are you? I'm well enough. I like the MTC, but really I just want to teach the Danish people. I'm so excited to go to Denmark! I know at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true, that God restored his gospel through Joseph Smith, and that because of my Savior's love for all of God's children can we come to know them personally and return to our Heavenly Father.
So, Danish is coming along well. Last night we got to teach in English for the first time and it was SO weird. Our first day at the MTC we went to 3 rooms in a big group and watched as a set of missionaries began to teach an acting investigator. Then they left and it was our turn to teach him/her as a group of 40 or so, just taking turns speaking when we had something to say. It was a disaster. Last Friday we found out that our teachers got an e-mail asking for volunteer missionaries for teaching and our teachers volunteered us. Flattering, really, but come on! The first one was okay, but the second one ... the mediator/host warned us "oh, by the way, this guy can be kind of hard." and then ran away. The paper made him seem like a kind, loving guy who'd talked with his friends and said we could come visit him. This is how it went down.
"Hi, are you Daniel? We're missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and your friend Jeremy said you'd be interrested in meeting us."
"I don't know any Jeremy."
That's a pretty good indication of how the night went. We eventually kept talking and sort of bullied our way in, where every question we asked was met with ridicule and every explanation was turned into a personal insult. He once even told Sister Arbon, "That's a stupid question." when she asked if his family was important to him. Again, we eventually got him to answer the freaking questions and stick to the point and just when he gave a real, sincere answer to my question about prayer, he had to follow it up with, "You know, it's weird being asked these sorts of questions ... by a woman." He paused and looked me right in the eye when he said it too. The mediator cut it off then. Could have been worse. The mediator later told us that the two Elders before us (two of our friends from the Dutch district) stood outside the door for almost 20 minutes trying to talk to him. We were in in under 5.
Okay, so you all know the travel plans? Good. I'll call from SLC at about 7 (I think ... between 6:30 and whenever I said the plane left). Thank you all so much for your help and support here.
Will you (mom and dad) DearElder me the numbers you'd like me to call at? Without my cell phone I'm lost. I think I remember them, but that would be a really bad time to figure out that I don't.
Will someone steal the lyric list from Katie and DearElder me even a few of those song lyrics and quotes? I was hoping to have them compiled before I left so that I didn't have a billion loose pages floating around (and because some people here wanted them), but I'll take what I can get at this point. Katie, you're fired. However, I'm glad to hear you've passed your major tests and school is going well. Maybe now that you have time again you can send me some of them before other people steal the list and become my new favorite. Just an idea.
Oh! really quickly in the last minute I have. Our teachers have told us to just lie on mailing packages to Denmark. Label it as something under $50. Don't declare medicine or any food or anything new. If they're new shoes, rub mud on the bottom. A shirt, take of the tags. Pills, stuff them in socks. Bror Stacey had to pay a $350 dollar fine because his grandparents mailed him a bag of Cheetos, which are illegal in Denmark because of some of the preservatives. So be creative. Some people pop pills like candy. It can therefore be defined as candy. Oh, and Bror Stacey never did get those cheetos.
Jeg elsker jer!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

We Get Our Travel Plans Tomorrow!

WE GET OUR TRAVEL PLANS TOMORROW!! I love the MTC, I really do, but I can't wait to actually be out there in the field. Every time our teachers mention Denmark the whole class is suddenly on edge. Earlier they were just cool stories. Now we are having a hard time and counting down the days is just setting us all on edge. (12 days, as of this morning, but who's counting? Uh ... well, everyone. It's on the class board and in all our planners. Were we a villain from The Princess Bride, we could count it on our hands!)
A few big things this week.
First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MTC! That's right. The MTC turns fifty this year. To commemorate it we sang a breathtaking (literally) version of "Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer". Maybe you can find the rearrangement on Youtube. It's stunning. Plus, we had reserved seating in the auditorium itself since we were in the choir. We were all waiting with baited breath to find out who was speaking, since they weren't sharing that until the last minute, but it was worth it. Elder J. R. Holland opened for Elder R. M. Nelson. They both talked about missionary work. Holland talked about our committment to keep our covenants and represent ourselves as missionaries. "Be what this church thinks you are." It is our solemn duty and oath to be at the forefront of the church around the world, and people are looking to us and our standard. It was a beautiful talk. Nelson told stories of the MTC and its history and the history of missionary work. Harriet Nye is officially one of my heroines - the first Sister missionary. I may never be like Dan Jones or Samuel Smith, but that shouldn't stop me. "We all stand tall on the shoulders of the giants who came before us", right? Then AEldste Petersen pointed out that, one day, ours will be the shoulders that the next generation of missionaries stands on. If that isn't humbling, I don't know what is. He then gave the dedicatory prayer for the 5 renovated buildings at the MTC and even though it was the longest prayer I've ever heard (beating out even Pres. Hinckley's, but only because he gave a mini bio of the person for whom each building was named), it was also the most powerful. The Spirit was almost tangible as an apostle of the Lord communicated with the Savior. During the District Discussion metting afterward, many of us were in tears.
We've decided to keep our AEldster too, by the way. They actually made it to the temple session on time today and ate breakfast with us afterward. AND they even saved us seats at their table. It was really special, being in the Celestial room with my companions, my AEldster, and the Dutch district. Our whole zone. We've all become incredibly close. Katie, you can expect a poem from Elder Romer soon - and that's all the heads up you're getting. After hearing me describe you, Elder Douglas kept pestering me to set him up with you. He's only 19 ... Hm ... Anyway, and the Zusters come over and we swap cookies and nail polish and all the gossip one can collect at the MTC. Usually it's along the lines of:
"I really liked AEldste Swenson's tie."
"The red one?"
"Yeah, that one."
"Oooh, it used to be Elder Taylor's, but he traded for AEldste Swenson's blue one."
"Really?!"
"Yeah, our Elders are so cool."
We usually have picnic lunches with them on P-Day's while we do our laundry too, rain, shine, or snow. We've had unfortunately beautiful weather here, so it hasn't been a problem. Once it devolved into a snowball fight, which is, apparently, illegal. However, gleefully tossing an armful of powdery snow in the air when you just happen to be right behind an Elder who really ought to be paying better attention to his surroundings is totally kosher.
We also had two of our "investigators" commit to baptism this week. The other, who was a complete moral relativist (a small degree is healthy, but this was so far out of the ballpark) has started prayerfully reading Mormons Bog and asking questions, not just trying to debate religion and philosophy. I feel bad. AEldster Peterson and Christensen have one who is in a band and won't commit to church on Sunday because he'll "probably have a headache that morning, if you know what I mean." He says he'll come to church when they come to his concerts. He gets so distracted whenever they do lessons outside. "Yeah, that's great, but look at that tree! There's a bird in i- *gasp!* two birds in it!" Apparently, there are a sad amount of Danes like that. I'm so excited for Denmark!
12 days. Only 12 days.
Really quickly, I'm almost out of time. I had to/ got to give the talk in church in Danish and it went really well. It was on the Atonement, even though no one understood.
Jeg elsker jer!
Mom - I love your packages. My teachers walked in, saw the Valentines hearts on the board, looked at me, and shook their heads. I have a reputation, I guess. I'm excited to give the Valentines cards to my zone. Big plans. Oh, and thank you for your answers in your letter. I loved what you said about God allowing good things to happen to bad people and how the way He shows His hand in it is to give all men their agency, but offer them relief if they choose it. Why will you be in California? That's cool. And I'm sorry about your teacher, but really excited about the new family plan. I don't think I need anything right now except what I listed in my last letter, but I'll try to let you know with enough time.
Dad - I LOVE your letters about the boys. I've had to share them with everyone now. You have a knack for taking every day stories and recognizing that "all things testify of Christ". That's something I've been trying to work on.
Cheryl - Thank you for the cookies! I don't remember if I thoroughly thanked you enough. I love the shirt too, and the pin is proudly on my coat. The boys have good taste. Thank you too for your card. Sorry it's so delayed (I keep finding new things to put in it), but expect the package for you all within the week! That's easy, since I leave right after that. Andrew's cake sounds absolutely incredible. I kind of want my 22nd birthday to be Angry Birds now ... Tell him I say happy birthday and give him a big hug for me! Matt too!