Another Pre-Denmark

prepping for the Cold

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The MTC zone! 'Til we meet Again!!

Companions

​This is what we do after placing a Book of Mormon. Actually, no, but we did it because Søster Køster had never tasted a honeysuckle!!

This is at the very top of the Hill we live on, not far from the Windmill

Søster Sørensen is amazing

​Søster Sørensen had this lovely Picture of us all with the original Kristus!! <3 Søster Sørenson (left), Søster Mann, Søster me, and Søster Ripa (right)

Welcome to The Land

The wetness is all from a drizzle!! We got soaked!

The windmill at the top of our hill. You can see it in the distance
This is on the Gågade, a strip mall like thing not too far from our apartment

THE LAND * Week One

Alright, first Things first - this Danish keyboard is horrible!! The keys are all different, and the computer keeps saying my Words are all spelled wrong, and it'll randomly capitalize Words!! hahaha, but here I am, in a Danish library, surrounded by Danish speakers with Danish books, and the sun blinding me through the window! Which I guess is really a good thing - the sun is still shining! hahaha, I'll miss it in a few weeks!!

But why on earth am I starting like this?? In case you haven't been updated in a while - I'm in Denmark!! I am actually physically literally in The Land!! And my good golly, it feels great!! A Little chilly, but totally great! It really does look like a fairy tale everywhere here, and even though I have absolutely no idea what the signs say or exactly where the buses or trains are taking me, I could walk around outside for hours!!

But I guess to start Things off right, I'll give you the Little rundown of the goings on ~~~

Mandag - Goodbye MTC!! It's been great, and I beat the MTC experience steriotype by actually losing weight, despite all the icecream and burgers! hahaha, but that luck probably won't last for long! Everyone was super sad that the two Little Danes were leaving, but we're all super excited! The Nords head out to the field today (the monday I'm writing this! Good luck everyone!

So Monday rolls along, and Sister Mann and I left super early, and even though we had a bit of a stressful morning making sure we had everything, we made it to the airport and somehow caught all of our flights! Definitely tender mercies in that experience! While we were waiting for our flight to London, we made it to our almost empty terminal, and were a Little confused about where we should go. We kept on hearing a mans name being called (he was the last passenger they were waiting for) to the terminal NeXT to us (like, seriously, his name was called about 4 or 5 times), also going to London, and we eventually realized our flight was merged onto that same flight. We ran over, and the mans name was being called Again, but it wasn't until the woman at the desk realized we were supposed to be on that flight and had given us tickets for it that the man showed up. We definitely realized the Little Blessing that had been.

And then we flew across The Pond.

Tirsdag:  Welcome to Denmark!! And by golly, were we tired!! That day, we were greeted by Pres and Sis Sederholm, and had delicious Danish food :) No lie, it's a good thing all my skirts have growing room ;) hahaha

We met up with two sisters who would be our companions, but we wouldn't know until the Next day, but we walked around Copenhagen, and actually did some Danish street contacting :) it was a really neat experience, and definitely not a horrible experience!! We also went to that really cool Church (I'm so horrible, I can't think of the name of it right now) and saw the original Kristus statue, and the statues of the Apostles as well!! And I'm such a cool kid that I left my camera in the car about a block away! hahaha, but fear not, I shall obtain some Photo evidence of it eventually!!

Onsdag: Today is the Day we learn who our companion is and what area we would be in first!!! There were two options : we would either Stay on Sjælland, in København (Copenhagen), or head to Jutland, in Vejle. I'll let you guess before I tell you. That's a horrible thing to do on an email. Don't worry, I'll be smarter NeXT week - I'M IN VEJLE! A cute Little town that's just wonderful :) A fun Little fact for you - the hill we live on is illegal to bike Down because of how steep it is. So that's exciting. And the name of the street adjacent to us is perfect - ''Lille Bjerggade'', som betyder ''Little Mountain Street'' på engelsk. Woah, some Danish popped out. That's cool!

The train ride from København to Vejle was pretty long, but I actually found out I'm in a Tri-panionship right now. Søster Sørensen is my trainer, and Søster Køster is a Dane who just got her Visa for her mission. She's headed to the New Zealand MTC on the 2nd to serve in  Australia Sydney South! But it's been uber great to have her with us :) she helps me with my Danish, which everyone says is impressive for a greenie, but I'm 100% sure they're just being nice!!

Torsdag-Lørdag: I probably really shouldn't mix this all together, but honestly, it's all mushed together in my brain. It's all been a lot of appointments and street contacting, and getting caught in the rain without pina coladas

 

we got a Little wet in the misty drizzle of death. hahaha, this is going to be great!!

Oh, I had my first Door Approach in Denmark Saturday night!! It was just after we had a really good lesson with a woman from another door approach, so I was in a good spirit! hahaha, I rang on the doorbell, and the Second I had eye contact with the man opening the door, I said ''Hej!!'', but he was already closing the door before he said ''Nej!'' and locked the door. Haha, soooooo that was my very first Danish Door Approach experience! But I'm still willing to do more! Even though mostly no one wants to hear from us on the street, we keep our heads up, and keep working!!

Søndag!!: Sunday was great! We headed to Kirke, sang in the kor, og had a great tid! hahaha, dang, Little Danish Words! Whichever language has the shorter Word, that's probably the one that will come out of my fingers!

But anywho, Sunday went great! All the Little old ladies kept wanting to speak English to me, but I try to respond my best in Danish! But one really cool thing - I was speaking to a woman ( I can't believe her name just slipped my mind!!) who was asking me about some other Sølberg missionaries! Søster Sørensen was certain we weren't related, until the woman mentioned that they were an elderly couple about 15 years ago, when I realized they were talking about Grandma and Grandpa Soelberg!! They were so excited to hear that they knew my Grandparents! This couple I was talking to were actually Grandma and Grandpa's Mission President and Wife when they were serving here in Denmark! I'll be sure to get a Picture with them! We're setting up a meal appointment this week! :)

And here we are on Mandag Again! We've got a full Schedule of only essential pday activities, because we have our District Activity on wednesday! so that's going to be great! Lots of grocery shopping, and a few Things we need for the apartment. Hahaha, I wish you could all see my computer right now, pretty much every Word has the red squiggle underneith, so I have no idea what's spelled correctly and what isn't! So forgive me if I write like a pre-schooler, I have English, Spanish, and Danish jumbled up in my brain right now.  hahaha

Until NeXT Pday!!

-Søster Sølberg <-- I'm totally getting a nametag with an ø in it! then all three of us in our Tripanionship will have ø's in our names :)

You should all know that the licorice here is the craziest thing!! I'll try to get some sent home for Christmas soon! You've never tasted licorice until you've had Ammonium-Chloride enhanced licorice! your mouth will probably die, and you'll suffer, but you'll be so happy you did!!

Toodles!!
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MTC Week 5!!

Good Morning everyone :) Ah, what a great day!! Pday is always a treat in the middle of the week, but Guess What!!?? And don't say "Chicken Butt!!" because that's not MTC approved!! hahaha, but seriously, I do have something to say - THIS IS MY VERY LAST PDAY IN THE MTC!! The next time you hear from me will be in a week and a half!! But I'm getting ahead of myself here... ahem. Let us continue.

I was better this week and actually planned out this email by writing down things each day hahaha so even though it's not tooooooo exciting, here ya have it:

Onsdag (Wednesday, last Pday after I emailed): Right after finishing my emails, I get dressed up for lunch and the Temple, and you would not believe who I ran into!! S i s t e r  M e l i s s a  K o r m y l o :) Ah, it was so great! She was on her MTC orientation tour, and I was headed somewhere, so we didn't have time to stay and chat. But during this past week, we've been able to see each other some more :) It's kinda sad that I'll be leaving so soon after I get to see Elder Brazell and Sister Kormylo, but it's just time to head out. We'll get some pictures before I leave though! She has some on her computer, but our Pdays are different, so she hasn't had the chance to email them to me before today. I'll get some on my own camera though :)

Torsdag: I RECEIVED MY FLIGHT PLANS AND MY GOOD GOLLY AM I EXCITED!! :) I fly out on Monday, at 3:30 IN THE MORNING. I'm not going to share everything on here, but I do have a 4 hour layover in the States where I can call home for a bit, and then I have another 2 hour layover in Europe before finally getting to Copenhagen Tuesday Morning. So Mom and Dad, don't be busy Monday around Noonish!! I'm so excited, but it doesn't feel 100% real yet!! Aah, my good golly, it's amazing!

Fredag: We got to teach our Teachers as themselves: just Bror Williamson and Søster Taylor though, I don't think we'll get the chance to do it with Bror Whitlock. But it was really amazing! This past week we've been focusing mostly on TEACHING PEOPLE, NOT LESSONS, so I really appreciated the time they put into our scheduling to let us experience them as themselves. 

Lørdag: WE JUST HAD PRETTY MUCH THE BEST LESSONS IN THE WORLD!! I love teaching our investigators, even though they can be stubborn and difficult!!

Søndag: Today was the first Sunday where we were expected to give our talks entirely in our mission language. It was interesting, seeing that there are 6 languages in our Zone, but it was really pretty cool. Søster Mann and I didn´t speak, so we´re totally expecting to Next Sunday. But two Nords spoke, and they were great, and we can actually understand Norwegian, so it was really awesome :)

Mandag: Nothing too exciting, other than it being the last Monday in the MTC

Tirsdag: Today was the Last Tuesday devotional in the MTC!! We sang ''Praise to the Man'' in Choir, and I got to sit beside Søster (or Irma/Sister) Kormylo, and it was really great!! The Spirit was so strong in the meeting, and I'm thankful for the things spoken! We heard from Dean M Davies, 2nd counselor in The Presiding Bishopric and his wife, Sister Darla Davies.

and back to Onsdag!!: well, this is my last Pday in the MTC!! I can't believe it's already gone by so fast! Sis Mann and I have a lot to do before we leave: we just bought our Prepaid Phone Cards for the airport, and we're figuring out if there's anything we want to send home before flying out. We only have One lesson left with each of our investigators, which is sad, and I'm admittedly a little nervous coming into an actual persons real life once I get to the field! THIS IS THE REAL DEAL! But I know that The Lord will help me as I put my Trust in Him!!

As always, I love hearing from all of you :) I wish you the best this week! As soon as I find out what my new address is, I'll let my parents know, or if you want it directly, I'll send you a message :)

Ég elska Þig (''I love you all'' in Icelandic!!)

Just a quick note, because people have asked: I will not be going to Iceland because it's only open to Elders right now! And it's a specific call to the Danish Mission, Icelandic Speaking :( so sad, haha, but, Danish is cool too ;)

MTC week 5 pictures

The computer is being silly, and won't let me rotate the picture the proper way, as it is in the camera, but we can all work those sternocleidomastoids and turn our necks to the side ;)

These are all the missionaries in the MTC headed to the Danish mission :) Two Danish speaking Sisters, and Three Icelandic speaking Elders! Wish us luck!!

MTC WEEK 4

Good morning!! I hope all is going well!!! :) Today marks the completion of week for in the MTC!! Can you believe that??? I certainly can't! There are so many wonderful people here who I have become so dear friends with, that it's sad to think that in a week and a half, I'll be leaving the MTC and leaving all these great people behind! Our zone is pretty much the best one in the world ;) Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Belgium, and the Netherlands are getting some pretty great people in the next few weeks!

So last week we gained 22 more missionaries in our Zone! 3 Icelandic Elders, 11 Dutch Sisters, and 8 Dutch Elders! The Dutchies have been really isolated their first week, mainly because they're going to all of the orientation meetings, so hopefully Sister Mann and I get to know them a little better before we leave in a couple of weeks! 

The Icelandic Elders are a hoot! One is from UT, the other, I'm not so sure, but the 3rd Elder is actually from Denmark! He's been such a great sport helping Sis Mann and I figure out words and pronunciations! We learned a brand spankin new grammar rule 2 days ago, and we feel like our Danish is a complete flop right now because we just realized we've been saying things pretty wonky this whole time! Haha, but it's coming! I'm sure once we're completely immersed in the Language in Denmark, the rate of learning, because of necessity, will skyrocket!! So that's exciting!

OH! SOMETHING REALLY COOL! Sister Mann and I met Sister Sederholm (President Sederholm's wife) this past Sunday! She had to come to UT on family business, and figured she'd stop by and say hi :) She's so sweet, and she gave us some Kinder chocolate as a late Halloween gift!! I can't wait to see her again with Pres Sederholm in less than 2 weeks! We should be getting our flight plans this week, which is SOOO exciting!

Sister Mann and I finished memorizing The First Vision in Danish this week!!

Jeg så en lyssøjle lige over mit hoved, som var stærkere end solens glans, og som dilede gradvis ned indtil den faldt på mig. 

Da lysset hvilede på mig, så jeg to personer, hvis glans og herlighed trodser enhver beskrivelse, stående over mig i luften.

Den ene af dem, talte til mig, kalte mig ved navn, og sagde, mens han pegede på den anden, <<Det er min elskede søn, hør Ham.>>

So there you go! If Google says something's wrong, I probably just spelled something weird, but I can say it by memory! Danish can be tricky just because you don't pronounce anything the way you'd expect it to be pronounced! But the more I learn of it and how to speak it, Danish sounds so calming and natural to me, which I definitely appreciate!! 

This past Sunday, in devotional, one of the speakers mentioned how we can ask for help by specific angels! I know without a doubt that I have felt Grandpa Soelberg's help with this language, and I am so grateful to have this connection with him, especially since growing up away from family made it hard to have really any memories of spending time with him. But I have definitely received strength, and I can testify that the Gift of Tongues is real!!! <3

We were assigned a new Branch President this past week, and he's already been making some changes to the way our Branch works! Since there are 6 languages learned in our district, our Sacrament meetings have been held in English, and our individual talks have all been in English as well! But our new Branch Presidents wants us all to start saying our talks in our respective mission languages!!! My good golly, this next Sunday will be an interesting one!! And  we don't even know who gets called on to speak until the moment you're called! Wish us all luck!!

As always, my mind is really all over the place, so I'm not sure what I've left out!! Next week, I'll definitely work better at preparing these before I sit down to type it out! Hahaha

I love hearing from all of you! I love hearing about what's going on in your lives!! I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors!!

Kærlighed,

Søster Morgan Sølberg

MTC WEEK 3

Wowee, my goooood golly, this has been an amazingly beautiful week full of frustration and companionship tears, but also full of laughter and happiness, feeling the amazing love that our Heavenly Father has for all of His children. He really does care about all of our lives, and wishes us success and happiness.

Over this past week, Sister Mann and I have had the privilege of teaching our three new investigators, Solveig, Joakim, and Hans Erik. Now, I know, you're probably telling me, "Sister Soelberg, you do realize that those aren't "real" investigators, they're just your teachers pretending to be other people!" But sirs and ma'ams, let me tell you something! Our missionary service doesn't start once you get in the field. It doesn't even start once you're set apart. It starts the moment you hear the Gospel and the Holy Ghost testifies to your heart of the truth. The moment you see someone in need, and you realize that that someone needs the Savior's loving touch. I am now set apart as a servant of the Lord, by the power of the Lord's Holy Priesthood, and I will do everything in my power to be a missionary at all times, but I hope you take the opportunity to be a representative of the Lord wherever you are, whoever you're around.

I personally know that this is something I need to do, and I am so thankful to be here at the MTC to better understand how. I have learned sooooo much in the past 3 weeks, not only about how to speak Danish, but also how to be a better missionary and representative of Christ.

I'm so thankful for my teachers. I had the privilege to hear from two of my teachers yesterday, on two separate occasions, about how our lessons, although taught through simple Danish, have gone deep through their facade of an investigator, and touched their own personal hearts. There is power in sharing personal experiences while teaching, as lead by the Spirit. We all gain experiences in this life, and whether they're joyful or heart-wrenching, they enable us to learn and grow, and in turn help others.

I know without a doubt that I am meant to be here right now. Even though I'm sooooo exhausted, it's a good exhaustion, if that makes any sense. I'm pretty sure the only reason any of us are still alive and healthy is because of the Spirit and the importance of the work we're doing. We have to do this. The Savior's work was never easy for Him, so why should it be easy for us?

I'm so thankful for all of the messages I've received!! :) They brighten my week!! And I love all the letters, too!! I wish I had more time to write hand-written letters, but it's just not possible with our schedule right now to get a lot out. I've actually been working on a letter since last Thursday when I have time, and it's still not finished yet!! hahaha

This week we get 22 new missionaries for our Zone!! 19 Dutchies, and 3 Elders headed to the Icelandic portion of the Danish mission :) That's so exciting!! We still need to come up with a nickname for the Icelandic Elders, haha, so if you come up with any, shoot 'em my way, and we'll start a tradition! Sister Mann and I wish we could have more Danes, but we've realized what a blessing it is to be the only 2 Danes in the MTC!

Oh, before I forget, I made 2 Swedes cry yesterday ;) haha, well, I guess it was technically because the Spirit was so strong in our District meeting, but it made me appreciate the tenderness of Elders. They may be right out of High School, but they're not children. These Elders know why they're here, and their Determined to do everything they can to do it right.

Another thing!! I absolutely LOVE praying in Danish!! It's probably my favorite thing to do here!! It just feels so natural, and it's such a soothing language to me :) I really hope I can find someone going to BYU-I to help keep up my Danish after I come home! One of the Nords, Elder Phipps, is headed up to Rexburg when he gets home 6 months after me, and since the languages are so similar, maybe we can help each other with that. Sister Mann is headed to Provo when we get home, but maybe another companion will know which school is really better ;) hahaha

Oh, and I'm now District Sister Training Leader! Since it's only Sister Mann and I in the district, we just switched our roles halfway. So Now I'm District Leader and Junior Companion, and Sis Mann is Sr Companion :)

Let me know if there's anything else you want to know!! Send me Dear Elders!! It's great hearing from all of you :)

Jeg elsker jer!! :)

-Søster Soelberg