Monday, April 2, 2012

Week 7

Hello, everyone!

Apparently waaay more people read this than I thought, since I've gotten a few letters from various family members who've mentioned my letters. Huh. Maybe I ought to be more careful of what I write ...

General Conference was definitely the highlight of the week. Elder Oaks' talk on sacrifice was one of my favorites, along with Elder Eyrings about trials. The two go very well together. The less active member we've been meeting with that I mentioned last time was there with her husband, and that was exactly what they needed to hear. I looked over at them a few times and he had his arm around her as she wiped away tears. Afterward she gave me one of the longest hugs I've had in my life and invited us over to dinner. Things are really turning around in their lives. It's easy to see. I also really liked Packer's, though it's heartbreaking to see his body deteriorate while his spirit is as strong as ever. I love the quote from his talk, approximately that "Life was never meant to be easy or fair, but the hope and peace of the Atonement makes it all worth it." Holland's was also beautiful, especially in the light of missionary work seeing conversion happen first-hand. When Russel M Nelson said the line about the Big Bang, the whole audience just froze. I even heard a few whispers and Søster Ronstrom said, "Uh uh. He did NOT just say that." Utchdorf's, however, was my favorite. It was exactly what I needed to hear for me personally, not just for the investigators or general mission field.

Søster Ronstrom and I were nearly giddy when the first session started. We all gathered in the stake center to watch the first session on Saturday night as a live broadcast (in English, thank goodness, though they do offer it in Danish), then came back on Sunday to watch the second and third session. They don't air the final session here, but many members watch it online and we'll get it in the Liahona when that comes out. So to all those of you who don't pay as much attention the the final session since it's a lot to handle after 6 hours, please at least enjoy it in behalf of the other half of the world that doesn't get to see it. And who have to gather in chapels to sit in folding chairs in church clothes for four hours. We did get a 2 hour lunch break between the sessions on Sunday too, and it was really great to *hygge with the investigators and members all together. We actually had all three of our progressing investigators there!

N and Søster Andersen (Præsident Andersen's wife) got along really well. She studied to be a dietician, so they talked a lot about his pre-med schooling. M was there with her boyfriend, K, who is "prepetually preparing for a mission", as one person said, and they really enjoyed it. M2 was also there. She's a really sweet woman who had a seizure and lost the use of one of her arms, but the setback only strengthed her faith and dependence in Christ. She's devoutly Catholic though, so not really making much (any) progress. Being and GC was good for her though. A was the other investigator there. She's good friends with Pres Andersen's sister in law (who is in our ward. Pres Andersen's brother is the stake patriarch too. Really incredible family.), so they sat together and really enjoyed it. A even borrowed paper and a pen from me after the first talk so that she could take notes. She had never before considered the possibility of prophets on the earth today, and was a little sad she didn't get to see Monson talk in the session she went to. She read all about him in the Liahona and really thinks very highly of him. (Insert Søster Morse and Søster Ronstrom doing a happy dance here)

Actually, I have more to say about A. She's so unbelievably sweet. She's the one we invited to baptism last week who had concerns about Warren Jeffs. On Friday we visited her after a crazy week. She always has tea and sweets and is very open. As she said the prayer at the end of the lesson she began to cry. She explained that it's been a dificult time for her, and, in summary, that the light we bring when we visit her makes such a difference in her life. She's in her 50's and doesn't have any children of her own, but said that she counts us among her nieces, whom she loves very much. I'm so excited to keep meeting with her. Her religious traditions mean a lot to her because of her father, so she won't admit to herself how much progress she's making, but she really is beginning to soak it all in. We recommended to her to read in the Book of Mormon whenever she needs comfort and shared a few of our favorite comforting scriptures. I think that's going to be the change. It really is such a powerful testimony of Christ that people cannot help but be affected by it.

Okay, now for the crazy week. On Tuesday we contacted 100 people! Yay! That a first timer for me. On Wednesday we went out to Slagelse for splits with Søstre Redd and Arbon. Contacting with them was fun. Slagelse has a reputation. And not a good reputation. However, among the four of us we gave out 9 Books of Mormon in the three hours we were out. It was also great to contact with Søster Arbon. If only Brother Stacey could've seen us! We had some pretty crazy contacting approaches in the MTC when we practiced, everything from Søster Taylor's "Hey, I like your tie. Woah! It's blue! So's this book we're giving out. You should take one. They match!" to me standing on a bench Hyde Park style and yelling "Have you been saved?!"

On Thursday we were on splits again. Back to back splits? That's just insane! The second set though was just with the Lyngby Søstre, which is the area right next to ours. These were proper splits too, so Søster Moore came down to Frederiksberg and SR went up to Lyngby with Søster Olsson. Søster Moore taught French before coming, so we borrowed a French to Danish dictionary from the CUV and had the best tri-lingual language study ever. Introducing ourselves on the street was so fun. "Hi, I'm Søster Morse and this is Søster Moore, and we're out talking with people ... (insert contacting approach)."

Friday was Interviews with President Andersen and then the District Meeting. It was all great, but we had to leave early for an appointment with N, then rushed across town to A, then rushed back to meet with the Telfords for dinner. They're the senior couple at the Center for Young Adults (CUV). We went out for Vietnamese and had an absolute ball. They're so fun. I love senior couples. To all my grandparents, Walker and Morse, I'm so excited to hear more about your time as missionaries when I get back and we can talk. The temple missionaries are in our area, since it includes the Copenhagen Temple.

Jeg elsker jer!
Søster Morse

Sorry I can't really do personal messages. I'm out of time!

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