Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Gotta Love Sister Missionaries



Pictures for Week 15 Letter




Fun Photos




Week 15




Kære Alle Sammen,

The week has been full of miracles. For one, it's been amazingly beautiful in Copenhagen! It's said that Denmark has two weeks of true summer and two weeks of true winter, and no one knows what the other 48 weeks are going to be like. May as well enjoy it while we can, right?

First, the biggest news of the week. Da is a beautiful young woman, early 20's. I mean absolutely stunnig. She was an investigator from Søster Ronstrom and Søster Olsson's area when they were companions, but kind of fell out of contact with the church about 2 or 3 months ago. S Ronstrom was in Frederiksberg with me by that point, and it broke her heart to hear about it. Da said she thought it was true, but didn't know if she could live up to it - especially since she was living with her boyfriend and he would definitely not support her keeping all of the commandments. That was it until last week. She came to the monthly sacrament meeting at the CUV and wanted to talk to Søster Olsson. During the talks (which were absolutely amazing - there's definitely something special about the CUV) she was listening raptly. At the end she was very quiet and thoughtful, and a bit teary. She said she wanted us to meet with her since she didn't think it was allowed for her to be taught by boys, but wasn't sure how to work that since we were so far away. When Søster Olsson explained that it was perfectly kosher for her to be taught by the Elders, she was so glad. She then told Søster Olsson that she had broken  up with her boyfriend, been reading in the Book of Mormon, and wanted to be baptized. As soon as we were out of sight on the way home Søster Olsson literally started dancing for joy down the streets of Frederiksberg. Da is such a miracle.

And on Saturday Tr (one of the AP's investigators) was baptized. She came to hear her friend give a talk in church and in the Guest Class later they talked about baptism and repentence and the peace that comes from it. She though, "You know, that might actually be something I want. I think I'm going to go for it." Told her friend, met with the missionaries, and set a baptismal date her second appointment with them. That was back in February. She set it so far ahead because she wanted to be baptized in May (it's the most beautiful month here) and because she wanted to read the Book of Mormon the whole way through before being baptized so that when she was a member she'd be able to be a good one. I absolutely adore Tr. She proves that God really has prepared some of His children to recognize the truth when they find it. Another miracle.

NOTE: If possible, Google all of the places I'm talking about. They're stunning.

That was just the finale of a fantastic week. On Thursday we went out and contacted around Nyhavn with all of the colorful houses right on the port, then worked our way up to Østerport, which is a beautiful district of Copenhagen right by the sea. It also happens to be where Queen Margrethe lives, if that puts the area in perspective for you. After walking past Amelienborg Plads where she lives so that Søster Guesne could learn some of the landmarks of the area, we took a ten minute break from contacting in the heat to step inside. The closest public place was actually Marmorkirke, the royal cathedral and my favorite church in Copenhagen. Except ours. I've included pictures of it before.

After a while of contacting around we hit the coast and decided to just take the harbor bus back down to the train station. We missed the bus because some tourists asked for directions, but instead of being irritated we decided to just smile it off and contact some more. We made our way up near Kastellet. I've felt like we ought to go into this church near there, St Alban's for a while, which is weird because we're obviously not allowed to proselyte around other churches. However, we decided to go in. This little church is beautiful. Oddly, it's also Church of England. The only one in Denmark. Two sweet women greeted us at the door with information brochures about the church and lo and behold, one of them was a less active member of our church! Her husband had died a few years ago and because St Alban's was his church, she felt it was where she ought to be. We got her info and plan on inviting her to some ward activities so she can start rebuilding bridges. The other woman also lost her husband a few years ago and is the quinticential chatty South England traveller. She was interrested, so we gave her a card with our info on it. We plan on going back this week during splits to "show the other missionaries how pretty the church is", which translates to "follow up inconspicuously" in missionary lingo. What a miracle!

Then we actually managed to catch the harbor bus, which just felt like God's little reward for 1. being friendly and helping the tourists in the first place and 2. following the weird prompting to go into another church. And before anyone asks, yes, we are allowed to take boats when necessary. When you live on the coast it's often the fastest way to get around. Being on the water again was wonderful too - breezy and cool and a nice break from the normal confinement of the city.

We also played basketball on p-day with Da and a bunch of the Elders and you know what? I wasn't terrible! I didn't even hurt anyone! Plus, a few times I was even useful. Yet another miracle this week.


Jeg elsker jer!
Søster Morse
I mean Hannah.
I'm never sure which one to use.


Dad - What's Grammy and Grandpa's address? I want to mail a letter to them, but can't find it. Please send Katie O'Very all of the pictures of Juliet and the kittens. Technically, she's her cat, and she's dying to see them. And from what I've heard of Kristian Kjeldsen, the missionaries in the area don't know him, but a member here said that's because he hasn't been to church in a while because of health problems. She promised to get me his info. I'll keep you updated!

Mom - I'm so sorry you've been sick! I hope you're feeling better. That iron you sent really helps, by the way, especially on days when we have to fast or don't really get a lot of time to eat. I haven't had to use the other medicine you sent yet, but we'll see. By the way, have you activated my card yet? I need to buy stamps so that I can use all of the fun pens and paper you sent me to write home!

Katie - Everyone's mentioned your piano duet. It must've been good! Can I just tell you how impressed/jealous I am of your schedule next year? It sounds like you'll be learning loads, plus you'll have Shelley, Beeson, and Atwood. As far as thoughts on the Atonement go, I'll just tell you how I explain it to investigators. Hopefully some of it is useful. But first, I love Elder Holland's: talk http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/04/none-were-with-him?lang=eng , especially what he says about Christ being forewarned of what he would go through, but perhaps not fully aware or prepared. We don't know how difficult it was to bear, but we do know that he went into Gethsemane three times, coming out twice before it was finished to seek comfort from his friends. Yet even they could not be the comfort he needed then. Although it had to be something he went through entirely alone, God even broke and sent an angel to be of some comfort to him. Most touching of all, the reason he went through all of that alone was so that we don't have to. He did it out of the pure love, deeper than we can comprehend, I believe. Because of that, we never have to go through life without hope. We can always turn to him because he knows exactly what it is we're going through. There were two parts of the atonement. "And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." Alma 7:12. 1. To conquer the physical and spiritual death brought on by the fall of man and to which we are all subject. 2. Suffering not only the consequences of sin and death, but also all of the lonelyness, guilt, and despaire that plague mankind so that he would know how to succor us. "Succor" goes back to the Latin suc + currere, which together mean to literally run to the aid of someone in order to lift them up. I cannot even begin to imagine the love the Savior must feel for each of us after knowing our lives so personally in the Garden of Gethsemane, but I know that because of it we can have hope. "And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise." Moroni 7:41. That is what the atonement means to me.
If you wouldn't mind, would you maybe clean up that messy mind dump of spiritual thoughts and scriptures and put it on my blog? And include the last three paragraphs of Holland's talk at the end?

William - That would have been so fun to help out at Mom's Field Day. How'd it go?

Supreme Mugwump - They think our notes are cryptic? Do they remember our conversations? Hamburger! You'd better not actually hold it hostage. The only reason I haven't mailed yours off yet is that I had no stamps and I needed to photocopy some of the things I was sending you. I'm mailing it today. It's in my bag, addressed and stamped and everything.



Week 14

Kære Alle Sammen,

It was great to be able to talk to you all last night. Letters and e-mails are great, but not the same as face-to-face conversation. Everyone looks like they're doing really well.

Between talking to everyone just yesterday and being stuck inside the whole week, I unfortunately don't have much to report. P-Day, Zone Conference, then on quarantine for the rest of the week.

Søster Guesne got sick on Tuesday, so we stayed inside for a bit and went absolutely mad. By Thursday I'd gotten sick too, but by that time we were professional indoor missionaries, so we managed to get a lot of work done and stay sane. A witness of the power of Calling. Most missionaries hate taking that hour or so a few times during the week to call potential and former investigators to try to schedule appointments, but this week we only clocked seven hours of proselyting time, but managed to find FOUR new investigators. If that ratio carried over to street contacting, for every 40 hour week we'd have 22 new investigators. That's almost South America!

There's a running joke that for every door knocked on in Europe, someone is South America gets baptized. Sadly, it's almost true.

We tried to go to church on Sunday, but the members told us we looked like death and needed to just go get back in bed. Gotta love that classic Danish bluntness.

Actually, I do love that bluntness. Søster Olsson made an appointment with a member to give her a Family Mission Plan and as she went to hang up said, "I'm excited to meet with you !" The woman just snapped, " Why should you be? You don't know me." In Danish culture you're considered an invasive freak if you walk up to someone and say, "Hi, how are you?" You only ask someone how they're doing if you've been accepted into their circle of friends and you genuinely care about the answer. They also don't even have a word for "please". Totally foreign concept. I think that straightforwardness is part of the reason why the gospel has amazingly strong roots in Denmark. Once it's accepted, it sticks.

Back during last transfers (about a month ago), Præsident Andersen said there was something he wanted to talk to me privately about. Timing has never worked, and I just found out what it was last Tuesday during Søster Guesne's One Month meeting. He wasn't sure how long I'd stay in Frederiksberg as part of this tripanionship, and if things had gone according to his original plan, I would have been transferred this week. To Odense. On Fynn. Odense's beautiful, don't get me wrong, but I do NOT want to pick of a Fynnsk accent thankyouverymuch. I've come to love Københavnsk (Copenhagenese) - talking a million words a minute and dropping the endings of half of your words. I'm really going to miss Copenhagen when Præsident actually does decide to transfer me. For now though he said he feels like Frederiksberg is where I need to be. I couldn't agree more. I just get the feeling that there's more for me to to in this area before I'm transferred, especially with An. It wasn't even on my radar when I contemplated where I'd be sent on my mission, but the Lord knew what he was doing when he sent me to Denmark. When I saw the Danish flag on the missionary mantle at Dad and Cheryl's I got a little wave of patriotism. Odd, but Denmark has been my home for three months as of today.



Jeg elsker jer!
Søster Morse


Mom - HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!! I already e-mailed you, but I just wanted to say it again. With you being on Bev's benefits thing, should I expect to see you in Salt Lake or Copenhagen first?

Greg - I am so impressed by how the basement is coming. How's life with Mom jetsetting around the country?

Dad - I loved seeing your Danish flags up in your office. I'll keep asking around to see if anyone knows your companion here. It was so fun to hear you say "Jeg elsker dig". When you texted it to me was my first real experience with Danish. I remember reading it and laughing. Not laughing anymore though.

Cheryl - Sorry your foot was hurting. Have you changed your hair since I left? It looks great! Happy (Step) Mother's Day! I love the missionary mantle with all of the flags (and Denmark represented twice because of Thorvaldsen's Kristus statue). It's inspiring to see the global gospel going forth represented to so visually.

William - I still can't get over the thought of you going to Japan for a year. That's so cool! It also just seems like the right thing to do right now. What a cool opportunity! The library I'm in right now has FMA in Danish. It's on a display stand near the door.

Katie - You've grown up WAY too much in the past 5 months. I command you to cease this instant. I'm glad to hear your AP exam went well though. Do you know when you get the results?

Andrew - You've got a really cool deck put together. How exciting that you're almost out of school! Thank you for showing me the kittens!

Matthew - Your cast is awesome. I wish I could sign it! Seems like it isn't slowing you down though. Can you still practice for baseball with it though? The kittens are so cute!

Supreme Mugwump - It's been almost a month. Everything okay over there in Renton? I'm contemplating holding your next letter hostage. Say hi to your new Hermana for me!

Week 14

Kære Alle Sammen,

It was great to be able to talk to you all last night. Letters and e-mails are great, but not the same as face-to-face conversation. Everyone looks like they're doing really well.

Between talking to everyone just yesterday and being stuck inside the whole week, I unfortunately don't have much to report. P-Day, Zone Conference, then on quarantine for the rest of the week.

Søster Guesne got sick on Tuesday, so we stayed inside for a bit and went absolutely mad. By Thursday I'd gotten sick too, but by that time we were professional indoor missionaries, so we managed to get a lot of work done and stay sane. A witness of the power of Calling. Most missionaries hate taking that hour or so a few times during the week to call potential and former investigators to try to schedule appointments, but this week we only clocked seven hours of proselyting time, but managed to find FOUR new investigators. If that ratio carried over to street contacting, for every 40 hour week we'd have 22 new investigators. That's almost South America!

There's a running joke that for every door knocked on in Europe, someone is South America gets baptized. Sadly, it's almost true.

We tried to go to church on Sunday, but the members told us we looked like death and needed to just go get back in bed. Gotta love that classic Danish bluntness.

Actually, I do love that bluntness. Søster Olsson made an appointment with a member to give her a Family Mission Plan and as she went to hang up said, "I'm excited to meet with you !" The woman just snapped, " Why should you be? You don't know me." In Danish culture you're considered an invasive freak if you walk up to someone and say, "Hi, how are you?" You only ask someone how they're doing if you've been accepted into their circle of friends and you genuinely care about the answer. They also don't even have a word for "please". Totally foreign concept. I think that straightforwardness is part of the reason why the gospel has amazingly strong roots in Denmark. Once it's accepted, it sticks.

Back during last transfers (about a month ago), Præsident Andersen said there was something he wanted to talk to me privately about. Timing has never worked, and I just found out what it was last Tuesday during Søster Guesne's One Month meeting. He wasn't sure how long I'd stay in Frederiksberg as part of this tripanionship, and if things had gone according to his original plan, I would have been transferred this week. To Odense. On Fynn. Odense's beautiful, don't get me wrong, but I do NOT want to pick of a Fynnsk accent thankyouverymuch. I've come to love Københavnsk (Copenhagenese) - talking a million words a minute and dropping the endings of half of your words. I'm really going to miss Copenhagen when Præsident actually does decide to transfer me. For now though he said he feels like Frederiksberg is where I need to be. I couldn't agree more. I just get the feeling that there's more for me to to in this area before I'm transferred, especially with An. It wasn't even on my radar when I contemplated where I'd be sent on my mission, but the Lord knew what he was doing when he sent me to Denmark. When I saw the Danish flag on the missionary mantle at Dad and Cheryl's I got a little wave of patriotism. Odd, but Denmark has been my home for three months as of today.



Jeg elsker jer!
Søster Morse


Mom - HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!! I already e-mailed you, but I just wanted to say it again. With you being on Bev's benefits thing, should I expect to see you in Salt Lake or Copenhagen first?

Greg - I am so impressed by how the basement is coming. How's life with Mom jetsetting around the country?

Dad - I loved seeing your Danish flags up in your office. I'll keep asking around to see if anyone knows your companion here. It was so fun to hear you say "Jeg elsker dig". When you texted it to me was my first real experience with Danish. I remember reading it and laughing. Not laughing anymore though.

Cheryl - Sorry your foot was hurting. Have you changed your hair since I left? It looks great! Happy (Step) Mother's Day! I love the missionary mantle with all of the flags (and Denmark represented twice because of Thorvaldsen's Kristus statue). It's inspiring to see the global gospel going forth represented to so visually.

William - I still can't get over the thought of you going to Japan for a year. That's so cool! It also just seems like the right thing to do right now. What a cool opportunity! The library I'm in right now has FMA in Danish. It's on a display stand near the door.

Katie - You've grown up WAY too much in the past 5 months. I command you to cease this instant. I'm glad to hear your AP exam went well though. Do you know when you get the results?

Andrew - You've got a really cool deck put together. How exciting that you're almost out of school! Thank you for showing me the kittens!

Matthew - Your cast is awesome. I wish I could sign it! Seems like it isn't slowing you down though. Can you still practice for baseball with it though? The kittens are so cute!

Supreme Mugwump - It's been almost a month. Everything okay over there in Renton? I'm contemplating holding your next letter hostage. Say hi to your new Hermana for me!

May Issue of Denmark Mission Newsletter

<http://morse.cs.byu.edu/Family/Hannah/May%202012%20Danske%20Banner.pdf>

Monday, May 21, 2012

Week 13

Kære Alle Sammen,

This week was great! We taught two new investigators for the first time on Friday, Cl and Fl. Cl is an American who married a Dane and has been here for a while. She's very Christian. Just to give you an idea, when Søster Ronstrom and I stopped her on the street, we felt bad because she had headphones in. Guilt soon turned to glee, because she was listening to a podcast prayer hour, and thought it fitting that she was stopped by two missionaries just then. She's curious about our church and likes to keep up with what's going on in the world, but from the sorts of questions she asked, it seems like below the surface she's also looking for something more. She's Catholic, but open-minded (yes, it can happen!). At the end of the lesson she and I had a rapid-fire Q&A session.
"Christ?"
"Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer."
"Repentance?"
"Through the atonement of Christ, conditional only upon a broken heart and a contrite spirit."
"Confession?"
"Nope, it's between the person and God, unless further restitution needs to be made, then the leader of the local church offers advice."
"Grace or works?"
"Both."
"Interesting ..."
And so on. It was like a doctrinal tennis match. Maybe not the best way to teach, but a really fun exercise. It's also made me realize that although I have the 13 Articles of Faith memorized in Danish, it might help to re-learn them in English. We teach a surprising amount of English-speaking investigators. It's a bit embarrassing to not even know it in your own language.

Fl is a miracle. The missionaries talked with him before I came, but he's been hard to contact. When he finally did answer the phone, he and Søster Olsson had a half hour discussion. He was so excited to meet with us. He's deeply Christian as well and truly loves his Bible, more than just about anyone I've ever met. He's about 40-45 and teaches computers and mathematics here in Copenhagen. He was raised Danske Folke Kirke, but knows that's not right. He's confused as to why there are so many different Christian churches, all teaching about different versions of Christ and none fulling living up to what the Lord taught in the Bible. Can you say "golden"? He'd read all the way through Second Nephi since he received the Book of Mormon about three months ago, but didn't understand what the Book of Mormon even was. He thought it borrowed heavily from the Bible to teach about Christ, but was probably true in the way it taught it all. When he learned that it was additional scripture, his eyes just lit up. He said that he can really feel the testimonies we have, and we seem to just have this peace and security about what we know. He wants that too. He loved Moroni 10:3-5, and broke it down with us phrase by phrase after reading. He says he knows that's the only way to get an answer, though it's not something he's ever really tried. He already prays the way we try to teach investigators, and said we had given him a lot to pray and think about, and that he wants to meet us again. I left that appointment on cloud nine.

In other news, Søster Guesne has mastered the "flirt to convert" tactic. The guy, Ax,  actually stopped her on the street near the church and was happy to have us show him around the chapel. The only problem? We're pretty sure he's a drug dealer. Weirdly enough though, when he borrowed our phone to call his "dog" (his yes-man, basically) to say he was going to be late because he was visiting a church, we already had the number in our phone! He was a former potential investigator we stopped on the street and took a Book of Mormon, and we haven't been able to contact since. Ax said he'd come to church if Søster Guesne called on Sunday morning to remind him. He never showed up. We're not sure whether or not to be happy or sad. Every soul is precious to God. However, some really ought to be taught by Elders.

We haven't heard from Ni in a while. We asked him to play the piano at the baptism of one of the Elders' investigators, but his parents wouldn't allow him. We're no longer counting him as a progressing investigator, and moving his record out just about broke my heart. Please pray for him.

The Lord works in mysterious ways. Ap and Em haven't spoken to us in about 3 weeks, ever since they had an argument during a lesson and the whole thing exploded. They haven't returned any of our calls either, so we figured it was best to give them some space and let them call when they wanted. We were visiting a referral we'd gotten from a Senior Couple a while ago. It was almost too soft of a referral to follow, which is why we hadn't really tried. All we knew was that she worked in a second hand shop here and pointed out the Senior Couple's name tags. We felt we ought to try though, so we went on Tuesday. Lo and behold, as we were wandering around the shop and wondering how to strike up a conversation about the gospel with the man at the register, Ap called. She wanted us to visit when we could. What's more, the shop was literally right around the corner from their apartment, which is not an area we go to very often. Because someone asked about a name tag, two good Senior Missionaries talked with everyone they could, referred all they knew over to us, and we followed the prompting to go, no matter how fruitless it seemed at the time, we were in a position to be tools in the Lord's hands. It wasn't at all what we were expecting, but the Lord knew the situation. "Coincidences are when God simply chooses to remain anonymous."

A quote from "Lectures on Faith", which I would highly recommend to everyone:

"We here understand, that the sacred writers say that all ... things were done by faith. It was by faith that the worlds were framed. God spake, chaos heard, and the worlds came into order by reason fo the faith there was in Him. So with man also, he spake by faith in the name of God, and the sun stood still, the moon obeyed, mountains removed, prisons fell, lions' mouths were closed, the human heart lost its enmity, fire its violence, armies their power, the sword its terror, and death its dominion, and all this by reason of the faith which was in him. Faith, then, is the first great governing principle which has power, dominion, and authority over all things. By it they exist, by it they are upheld, by it they are changed, or by it they remain, agreeable to the will of God. Without it there is no power."

Jeg elsker jer!

Søster Morse



Dad - Præsident Andersen knows Kristian Kjeldsen! He's in my stake. I'll talk to the missionaries out in his area and see what I can do! I remember you mentioning you'd be teaching a BoM class soon. I wish I were there to sit in on it! Maybe you'll teach another one while I'm back. At the rate I'm going, that'll just have to be in the next decade. I need to step it up. It's not my fault that BYU offers so many interesting classes! If ... no, when you get any epiphanies from your extra study and teaching, please feel free to pass them on to someone else trying to teach about the Book of Mormon. Or, as we affectionately call it, Mormons Bog.

Mom - Thank you so much for the fun package! I opened it, but am saving all of the wrapped things until my birthday. I love all of the office stuff, and the pens were much needed. And so fun! I think I'm set on journals for the next four transfers though, at least. They're so cute! You have good taste. And my companions and I had a great time launching the frogs across the table. It was great to see you too on Mothers Day. I'm glad everyone seems to be doing well. Thanks! I don't mind wearing a skirt, and I have a great mission wardrobe thanks to my wonderful mission stylist ;) and who knew a 30 kroner (about 6 dollars) scarf would be so wonderful? If you want any specific color, let me know. They'd be great souvenirs to bring back. I love my name tag too. I promise, I'll be sobbing when they make me take it off. Katie is growing up WAY too fast. She's already far more grown up than I remember, and she's still got a year to grow before I get home! I wish I were there to celebrate surviving your first year of being a principal - and it was a pretty crazy year. But everything seems to be going really well with the school now, so that's a major accomplishment. I owe you a celebratory lunch or something. How's next June sound?

Supreme Mugwump - I got your letter, but I really need to reply to my grandparents. I'll write back to you when I get more stamps.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Week 12

Kaere Alle Sammen,

As of Wednesday I'm officially no longer a Greenie. I don't know ... wait. I know exactly how I feel about this. AAAAAAUUUUGH! Something like that. Maybe with a few tears. I love being a Greenie. I can be clueless and over enthusiastic and have an excuse. Now I'm clueless, over enthusiastic, and excuse-less. That, and it means I only have 13 more months on my mission. That is NOT okay. Why do the Elders get 2 years? Don't get me wrong, I love you all, but I sympathize with Alma. "O that I were an angel ..."

Does anyone have anything interesting about the reading invitation or the Family Mission Plan?

I've heard May is the most beautiful month in Denmark, and they weren't kidding. It's been about 15 degrees C outside lately, and there are more wildflowers here in the city than I've ever seen, even in the mountains back home. There are these little daisies that grow everywhere. They're called "marguerite", and Queen Margrethe adopted them as her symbol back when she was still a wee little princess. They're beautiful. 

So the situation with Mother's Day calling is still being sorted out, but the Senior Couple who works at the CUV here (the Telfords - remember the pic I sent home of the crazy smiling senior missionary? They're so fun.) are letting us come over to their apartment to use their computers to Skype home. Yes. Not just call. We get to Skype. So I'll get to see you all! I'll probably have to split the time somehow between both of my wonderful families (especially since I didn't get to talk to Dad at the airport), but it'll be fine. We get a whole hour!

We met with Al last night and went to President Andersen's monthly open house. He loved it, and not only did he agree to meet with us tonight too, but he's also bringing a friend! Better yet, they're both 28 so they can come to the CUV! That was definitely a mental happy dance moment. He's from the northern border of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and really has an interesting take on life. His family home was taken by the Taliban and his brother and father were refugees for a while. It's entirely lawless, torn between the Taliban and the Pakistani Army. He said that part of growing up there is learning how to use a weapon. All the children can. He and his brother are actually really good shots, he said. He supports the Pakistani Army, but would never say that because the next day the Taliban would be knocking on his door. He was raised Islamic, but really has a more open view of religion. He has a very strong faith, but has never found a religion that quite worked for him. He's completely new to Christianity too. We had a few lines crossed because he thought the picture of Nephi and his family on the boat was the boat he'd heard about with all the animals on it. He's applying to different PhD programs in Europe, so we don't know how long he'll be here. In the hour or so hygge time after the open house though he asked so many questions that we ended up teaching brief overviews of all of the PMG lessons, including the Word of Wisdom and Chastity. Hey, he asked. We all have a really good feeling about him though. He said that I remind him of his little sister back in Pakistan. 

We also started teaching two new progressing investigators this week! I didn't go because I stayed home sick with Sister Guesne (also sick), but the Slagelse Sisters were in town for splits, so it worked out perfectly. Be met with the missionaries five years ago, but doesn't remember much, so she's pretty much a new investigator. Her daughter Pr, 11, also joined in the lesson. When Sister Olsson and Sister Taylor opened to a scripture from the Bible, she got so excited and ran upstairs. She came back down a few seconds later with a worn and tattered Bible. She read from it every day and loved every page of that book. Her mom had told her to leave it upstairs, since the missionaries would probably only be using the Book of Mormon. They lesson went really well, and both of them are excited to come to church. The only downside is that Be's husband is not at all fond of our church. The first time we tried to contact her he slammed the door in our faces. However, there are two of them and only one of him. Plus, the Lord is on their side. I'm excited to see where this goes.

We dropped Mi, the Catholic one. She said it herself. "I like investigating lots of different religions, and yours is interesting, but I don't see myself every really making any progress the way you all seem to want me too." Well, that was the concise answer to weeks of prayer. It's sad, but we'll still keep up occasional contact with her and she comes to Ward Choir every once in a while.

Ni is amazing, as always. He wants to read the entire Book of Mormon before making up his mind as to whether or not it is the word of God, but he said that he really likes what he's read so far and it has a ring of truth to it. His favorite scripture is 1 Ne 3:7. Sister Olsson quoted it in our lesson and he just looked at me and smiled. He's quoted it to us a few times too. With him it's just a matter of time, I think. He did agree to pray about the Book of Mormon though, and really did seem anxious too. He has that eager light back that he'd been lacking the last few meetings. I think it's the Book of Mormon that's making a difference. He's already into Alma.

An is also doing really well, and has also agreed to keep reading and pray about the Book of Mormon. It really is the foundation to a solid testimony and the hinge of a true conversion to Christ. Interestingly, the Danish word for "to convert" is "at omvende sig", which also means "to repent" and "to turn around". Each time we repent and use the power of the Atonement in our lives really is another conversion, and nothing stresses that connection quite as much as the sacrament. It is such a blessing. The Lord has given us a few minutes every week to turn around, repent, and renew the promises we made at our conversion. He blesses us even more abundantly in turn when we live up to those covenants we renew. Even if our investigators have been a bit over- (or occasionally under-) whelmed by our church services, they all enjoy the sacrament.

More next week about life as a missionary in Denmark. But before then, I'll actually be able to talk to you "face to face, as a man speaketh with his friend". Exciting!


MVH,
Soster Morse

P.S. I'm using an American laptop, so I don't have all of the crazy fun Danish letters. It's a shame.


Dad - That's so cool about Juliet! What are your plans with them? Do the boys just absolutely adore them? I know they both love kittens, and would frequently pretend to be cats. I think they might just both turn out to be cat people. Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup? Huh. Katie and William's aren't that much better. I think one should be named Loki. Or keep up the Shakespeare tradition and pic a name from there. You could name one Romeo. That'd be cute. That's hilarious about Baldwin playing a role like that in Castle. What a nice little reunion.

Cheryl - Matthew is so cute with his cast. How's he doing? Their letters had me cracking up. It's so descriptive of their personalities. Good luck with the marathon! I don't know if I could ever run one, especially with having two children and working full-time. The thought of giving up bread and sugar is torture. I'm sure it will pay off though, especially with training. I've been cutting back on bread so that I can fill up on more nutrient-rich food, and even that little bit has been making a difference.

Matthew - I'm sorry that you broke your arm and had to go to the hospital, but it's really cool that you have a cast! I wish I could sign it. I hope you can still have fun with soccer. Juliet's kittens are so cute! 

Andrew - Congratulations on the Seven Peaks pass! That'll be so fun! And it's cool that you can use the washing machine. There are some Elder missionaries out here who are 19 years old and still don't know how. William's really good and Yu-Gi-Oh, so he'll be a good teacher. Sounds like you have a pretty good deck too. I'll be able to talk to you on the computer on Mother's Day, so I'll see you soon!

Mom - How is Beverly doing? Send me updates about the baby! Have they chosen a name? It seems like you've been traveling a lot. California, Kansas, Texas. You'll probably log more miles than I will during my 18 months here. Has the bank told you what my pin number is? I miss having that. I'm so excited to see you on Mother's Day! 

Katie - I love those quotes! And yes, the women are winning. Really though? You named the cats after Transformers? I'm guessing that was William. And the boys named them after Powder Puff Girls? We're such dorks. You should go up to the bit where I wrote to Dad and see my input. I like Loki, Astrid (as in the Viking name, not as in "Tardis"), and Romeo. And Bumblebee. That one's cute. I feel like Megatron and Optimus Prime would be good dog names though.

Supreme Mugwump - You got transferred?! Somehow I always pictured you staying in Kent, even though we both knew that wouldn't happen. Renton sounds great though. You'll get the Renton Mercados. Shut up. I'm going to be 21 forever! You, on the other hand, will be 23 1/2 when we see each other again. I actually have been lamenting the lack of mail, but with transfers you're totally excused. I know there is a weight limit, but I have no idea what it is. In Denmark it's 50 grams. That you would ask makes me very excited to see your letter though. Sister Olsson watched Psych. I finally have someone who will get my quotes again! Problem is, I've forgotten most of them. So sad. Wait. You have a trunk?