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!

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.

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!

MTC Sweet MTC (Taken Directley From Hannah's Email Heading)

First things first. JEG ELSKER JER!!

E-mail works two ways, like a telephone. I know it's easiest to just dearelder me, but my poor district leader AEldste Swenson is getting sick of going to the post office three times a day to get all my letters. Maybe e-mail will help him save his shoes. Usually we can print the e-mails out in the morning, read them, then take the remaining 28 minutes to answer, so don't worry about taking up my precious 30 minutes on the computer. I love hearing from you however I can.

P-Days are beautiful. Today we accidentally (sorry, Danish is killing my spelling. Blame Scandinavia. I do. Every day.) slept in until EIGHT!! It was insane and beautiful. The one person who heard an alarm (we have four, so I don't know how this happened) decided to lie in until Zuster Stout turned on the light. Then Sister Campbell came and knocked on the door to see if we were done with breakfast and ready for laundry. How embarrassingly wonderful.

So, my district. I've told you the names of my AEsdster (plural of AEldste), but I haven't told you much about them. This is a pity, since they're absolutely hilarious. Every last one of them. And my Sostre. Last night Soster Arbon came in from the bathroom with a new Scripture Mastery memorized (we have a goal to do 2 a week). When she went to recite it to Sister Arbon, she started off "Second Nephi ... something." Soster Arbon had just taken a drink and totally lost it. She sprayed all over Soster Taylor, who started jumping around and shrieking, looking for a towel. Soster Arbon was laughing so hard she literally peed her pants a little. I saw the whole thing while reading my scriptures (or as Soster Taylor would say, my scrippy-scrappys). We've been laughing about it ever since.

One of our teachers instituted a policy that if you're late to class, you have to contact to get in. If your introduction and mini presentation is good enough, you can come in. If not, you're mocked and sent back outside to try again. We've adopted this policy to get into our dorm too. The best was when all four AEldstre were late with our more strict teacher, Bror Stacey. I'll write it in English, but bear in mind that this all took place in terribly broken Danish.

*knock*

B. Stacey opens the door - "What do you want?"

AEldste Christiansen - "Hi, we're missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of the ... uh ..." *looks down at his name tag*

B. Stacey closes the door.

*knock*

B. Stacey opens the door - "What?"

AEldste Swenson - "Uh ..."

B. Stacey closes the door.

*knock*

B. Stacey opens the door - "What?"

AE. C. - "Hej hej!"

S. - "If you say so." (Hej means hello, but saying it twice means good bye)

B. Stacey closes the door.

*knock*

B. Stacey opens the door - "What?"

AE. Petersen - "Hi, we're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day -"

AE. S. - "Did anyone order a pizza?"

B. Stacey closes the door.

*knock*

B. Stacey opens the door - "What?"

AE. C leaning on doorframe seductively - "Why hello there."

Eventually AEldste Holyoak got in with Swenson, but it took another try for Petersen to get Christiansen in. We were dying the whole time. Then they had to sing "As Sisters in Zion" in Danish. And when Bror Stacey laughs, he squeaks. He looks like a brunette version of the giraffe in Madagascar. And that's not being mean, he told us that's what he's always compared to. I would almost say he's my favorite teacher, but Bror Pullan and Bror Birk are amazing. They all teach so differently and so well. I can understand how missionaries come out of here nearly fluent in Danish.

Oh! And fantastic news! I said the prayer yesterday and Bror Birk (a native Dane from Odense) said he couldn't hear my French accent at all! I've been working really hard on that, parroting the teachers whenever possible and reading my Danish Book of Mormon aloud every night. I'm still in Nefis Forste Bog, and I understand about every fifteenth word. Mostly because every thirtieth word is a form of God. Bror Stacey said my teaching is coming along very well. When we have to practice contacting them to gain pretend investigators it seems like I have no trouble with the language. It's odd, because Soster Taylor and Soster Arbon are better at Danish in the classroom than I am (I'm so distracted trying to get the accent that I tend to forget word order), but it comes to me so naturally during lessons.

Yesterday we had a workshop here that explained in concrete terms the change in my Danish fluency over the last week. We were to ask a question, study a few passages about revelation, then pray to receive our own answers to the questions. I asked how I can be a more effective teacher, despite the linguistic limitations. The answers/promptings I got were to:

1. Love the Lord and the people, then let that love show in everything I do.

2. Search the stories of Paul in Acts.

3. See how the Savior taught and study his teachings in the Gospels for the method, not the message.

4. NEVER forget that the Lord is the one who is really teaching. I realized that I'd asked the wrong question, but He was answering the one I should have asked. "How can I step back from it all and let the Savior teach more?"5. Don't even worry about the language. Just keep working on it steadily. Regardless of language, the people you're teaching are all God's children and the Spirit will teach them without words. I also felt that this revelation came last for a reason.  It's true. When I focus on what I know or how to say it all in Danish, I lose that fluency and confidence and the lesson dies. When I focus on the investigator and try to puzzle out what they need to hear most, the language just comes. I've read all the phrases and vocab before, but I need to teach by the Spirit (not by Danish) in order for the Lord to "bring all things to my remembrance."

It hasn't always been easy, but the MTC has really changed how I view missionary work and the gospel.

Merry Christmas From the MTC--Letter From Sister Hannah Morse

Glaedilig Jul, familie!

 

Just a heads up, I've been sending my e-mails to my lovelyladyluck013 address too. I guess I got your address wrong on the last one, but I'm sending them to your kcstar23 now, as per your request. Please make sure you forward these to Dad, as well as any other letters to the family I send. I want to be sure he's in the loop without having to send duplicates of everything. If possible. Oh, and will you send my letters to the O'Very's so that Katie can get them? Thank you for sending me all those addresses. It might be a little late for Christmas cards, but I'm excited to write them. We gave cards to our teachers and Elders though, so they all came in handy.

 

Christmas at the MTC has been one to remember. We had a full on surprise Christmas Nativity Pageant last night, and guess who was Mary? Uh huh. Guess when they told me? The night before. They called me out of class and my companions were teasing me about being in trouble. Serves them right. They were assigned to be angels. They'd been scouring the MTC for Mary's and someone had walked past me that morning and seen my name tag. I didn't have to say anything, just move around the stage, sit there looking serene. People around here (people I've never seen in my life) keep calling me Mary. It's kind of become a thing. I can't wait for it to die down with New Years. We also got to watch A Christmas Carol (the George C Scott version) and I've never appreciated or missed the relative maturity of my friends and family so much. Yes, Ignorance and Want are under the robe of Christmas Present. It's a metaphor! Deal with it! I did, however, appreciate when Christmas Future came on screen and half the audience yelled "Expecto Patronum!" Seriously. Half the audience of two thousand missionaries. It was beautiful.

 

This morning we brought all the Christmas food we'd received and all the chocolate milk and donuts we'd been hording from breakfasts into the common room and had a huge Christmas Breakfast Junkfood Feast Extravaganza with the whole floor - Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, German, Phillipines. Everyone but the Swedes, who decided they'd rather have cereal in the cafeteria. Psh. Swedes. We sat around our tiny little Christmas trees and open all our presents. You'll be pleased to hear that I was well represented under that tree. Thank you for everything! This has been one of my favorite Christmases ever. I could wish for only three things right now - my family, music, and snow.

 

After Music and the Spoken Word (a Sunday tradition I want to keep up), a surprise apostle came to speak. There was much anticipation and speculation, but as soon as Elder Bednar's name appeared on the screen, the audience broke into cheers. It was one of the best talks I've ever heard. He talked about developing Christlike Character. "The Character of Christ is to turn out in love and compassion when the natural man would turn in." The scriptures are full of examples, like in Matthew 4, the temptation of Christ. See the footnote in verse 11. After all that, he sent the angels to John. After suffering in Gethsemane and all he went through, he still took the effort to heal the guard's ear - his enemy's superficial wound. I would've told him to grow up. Clearly I've got a long way to go. He also taught the difference between having a testimony and becoming conterted to Christ. A testimony isn't enough for anyone. You can still fall witha  testimony. But if you have faith in Christ himself, nothing anyone or anything can throw at you will be enough to make you fall away. He sealed an apostolic blessing upon all of us that "According to our desire and diligence, we will learn the character of Christ unto the developing of any gift for which we ask and that in so doing, we will never fall away from the church." Best Christmas present EVER!! It's true of anyone though, I feel.

 

Ha ha! An elder behind me just wrote something poetic and proclaimed himself a modern day Cassanova. His companion asked, "Uh ... Elder? Do you know who that was?" "Yeah," he said, "some poet dude." Not here, Elder. Not here. Everyone cheered when Bob Cratchet kissed his wife in the movie. Oh dear.

 

I love you all and can't wait to see you!

 

 

 

O'Very's - Thank you for the fudge and the socks! I'm so excited to wear them! The socks, that is. Not the fudge too.

 

Katie - Thank you for the unbelievable socks! I've been wearing them all morning and getting lots of compliments. Your long letters and gifts arrived just in time for Christmas (Dec. 23. How lucky is that?). My whole district (even the Elders) have listen to that card a million times. That's only mild hyperbole. Thank you for the music, for giving it to me.

 

Mom - How was playing the flute? How was Christmas? Can I see any good pictures you took? Did you get snow? Thanks for sending me all those bags! The Mission President's wife here has taken to given motherly hugs to all the sisters whenever she sees us. They're good, but not yours. Oh, and one of my good friends here, Sister Campbell (Norway-bound) is in Grandma and Grandpa's stake! She played with the Pridy (no idea how to spell that) girls too. I've also met the Nally's, who used to be the stake president there. I don't know if you know them, but they know G&G very well.

 

Greg - Did you get to do the turkey rotisserie this year or did you deep fry it with the ... uh ... I forget whose. I miss real meat!

 

Katie - I'm so sorry you were that sick! And I wasn't even there to read you Secret Garden. Expect a belated get-well card as soon as they open the mail here. I could only find one without cats. How was the Psych mid-season finale?

 

William - SatW, please! And maybe an appropriate failblog or two. Or XKCD? I miss real-world humor that isn't based on something the Elders did (though those are always funny. I'll share some in my next e-mail on Wednesday) or the cafeteria food. We did learn some fun Danish ones though. I'll have to teach you when I get back. They're really only funny in person. I wish you could see how perfectly all the districs have already fallen into the cultural stereotypes.

 

Dad - I'm still dying a little over those last two Dr Who episodes I missed. Quick question - Has George C Scott done any Sherlock Holmes anything? The Swedish elder sitting by me swore he recognized him from something along those lines.

 

Cheryl - Thank you so much for the photo book. I look being able to see some of my family whenever I want! Thank you for your letter too. That was a fantastic quote. I had to share the cookies and Tiger Butter with the Elders in my district and they greatly appreciated it. It must've taken forever to make all those. Can you send some photos from Christmas?

The MTC Drop Off

We picked her dad up and entered the MTC grounds. We pulled up to the drop off zone and by the time I turned the car off, popped the trunk, and walked to the back of the car, the Elders had the luggage unloaded. A few quick pictures and a hug for her mom and dad and she was off. The whole process took about 5 minutes. They have this procedure down to a science!

Last Minute Pictures Before the MTC

We took pictures before she entered the MTC. As I  was getting back in the car, I turned in time to see her waiving. I said, "That was so cute. Let me get one of you waiving good-bye." She was facing the MTC and I said, "Honey, you need to turn around." She replied, "I'm not waiving good-bye. I am waiving hello to the MTC!" She was so excited to be a missionary and she wanted to get going.