Nu Begynder Vi På et Nyt År!

::disclamer- this email will be a little rushed- we're on a tight schedule!!::

Hi Friends and Family!! I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas!! I've actually had a very exciting week filled with unexpected challenges, lessons, and blessings!!

The week started off fantastic! (don't worry, the entire thing was fantastic!). I met up with my 2 new companions after Sister Moseley- Sisters Lyman and Floyd :)

Monday and Tuesday passed by full of joy and happiness- we went caroling and enjoyed an amazing District Meeting about Christmas :) We also hijacked the Elder's Christmas Presents at the Mission Office in Copenhagen in order to create an ''Operation Santa Clause'' later in the week :) We had a goal of making this Christmas the best Christmas in the Elders' lives :)

Wednesday comes up, and we get a surprise phone call from the Mission President, President O'Bryant. This is how that conversation played out-

::phone rings::

::Sister Floyd answers the phone::

-Hi, this is Sister Floyd :)

-Hi Sister Floyd, this is President O'Bryant

-Hi President O'Bryant! What can we do for you

::at this point, all three of us are looking around at each other. We don't usually get phone calls from the Mission President::

-Well, I would actually like to talk to Sister Soelberg; does she have a moment

-Sure thing!

::the phone gets handed over to me::

-Hi! this is Sister Soelberg!

-Hi Sister Soelberg, President speaking. Do you know Sister ________?

-Well, I've only met her once or twice. I don't know her too well.

-Well, Sister Soelberg, sister _______ has gotten sick and is heading home tomorrow, just in time for Christmas. I need to you take her place down in Slagelse. Be prepared to head out tonight or tomorrow morning. I would recommend getting your bags packed by 17:00 this evening.

::we all have blank faces::

-Yes, President, I can do that, of course!

-Thank you Sister Soelberg. Merry Christmas!!

::phone call ends::

........

so, long story short, I got ''EMERGENCY TRANSFERED-'' we went about our day, said goodbye to the elders and a few of the members/investigators that we saw that day, went home, packed my bags, and took the train out to Slagelse the next morning. And by the next morning, that means the 24th of December.

Some of you may remember me saying that the 24th is the day that Danes Celebrate Christmas, which it is! The 25th is also celebrated, just not as much. But with that said, this is the biggest holiday of the year in Denmark, which means that nothing is open, and no one is outside! This is important information for what is coming up next-------- be prepared.

I get into Slagelse and have just enough time for our Gudstjenste (church service on Christmas), and then we head out with the elders to go to our Christmas appointment- well, the GPS ends up freaking out, and we end up on a dirt road, which leads to this---->

We got the car stuck. We can actually make this into a perfect lesson though, and it's a Christmas I will never forget :)

We got ourselves into quite a Sticky situation, complete with muddy clay and a good hour'r worth of hard work trying to get ourselves un-stuck! We eventually had to have a Member come and try to get us out, but that didn't work, so in the morning (on the 25th), the elders called the towing company and had help getting out.

Later that day, on the 25th, we all had another appointment together, so they came to pick us up, and we stopped by the carwarsh on the way there. The car was having difficulty driving correctly with all of the dried mud and clay underneath. Well, here we were, our car covered in Mud- we got to the carwash, and after a struggle-fest figuring out how to get it to work, we drive in and prepare for a nice clean-up. Our nerves were all pretty high-strung at this point, as we were already running late.

Well, while parking the car inside the wash, I look up on to the machine that will soon save our lives (or at least just make it so our car looks and runs better), and this is what I see--->

We all just looked up, flabbergasted. And then we started laughing! And then we appreciated everything that we had been going through :)

Compared to our own lives, this funny Christmas story is very applicable, and very much a parallel!

Sometimes we drive ourselves down wrong roads and get into a sticky situation. A situation that we ourselves are powerless to overcome without the help of another! We spend quite a bit of time in frustration and failure, and eventually make the choice to call for help. When we turn to the greatest source of help, Our Father in Heaven, we will always come out of the struggle, but we don't just stop there- there are more lessons to be learned, and God knows that!

Even after getting out of the trouble area, our lives are still greatly affected by what we have gone through- we still have the messy mud and clay weighing us down and causing some difficulty as we continue along down the road of life. We need to be cleansed of all of this mess- and that's where Christ comes in :)

Because of Christ, we have the chance to be completely clean again! After doing all that we can to make our situation better (like us removing the large chunks of clay from around the tires and under the car), we can receive a total cleansing through Christ.

This was a pretty funny thing to experience on Christmas day- one that none of us expected to happen! But all four of us came away from it feeling uplifted and our testimonies strengthened.

Despite the stressful situations, we did have a wonderful Christmas :) I spent my first night in Slagelse with a wonderful couple- Tina and Francesco! Tina is half Danish, half Italian, and Francesco is Italian, and hardly speaks any Danish (so it was funny trying to explain what happened and know what to do when he came to try and pull our car out of the mud). So our Christmas eve was a lovely blend of cultures :) haha

and of course, Christmas day came around and was absolutely lovely :) It was great to be able to skype home and enjoy speaking face to face with my family <3 It feels really weird that this is already my 2nd Christmas here in Denmark! Time flies by so fast!!

I hope you all have a fantastic week, and that you are all prepared for the New Year! I have already started writing my new list of resolutions, and I'm excited to see what the next year will bring :)

I'll talk to you all again next year! :D

merry Christmas! Complete with really tiny Italian breadsticks!!

-Søster Morgan B Soelberg

​

Glæde Jul!! :D

Dags!! It's been a way great day today :) and last week was absolutely amazing :) Sister Moseley and I made sure that she had her best week ever (really, it was only her last few days), so we visited a lovely member family (we'll also be with them for Christmas!!) and spent the pday with them :) they're way sweet, and probably my favorite people in the world!

Tuesday rolled along, and we had an eating appointment with our Bishop, who lives up in Hillerød. Guess what else is in Hillerød. Castles. Beautiful castles. Castles like Frederiksborg. Which is the castle which contains all of the Carl Bloch paintings

It's beautiful. I almost started crying. But I didn't. All is well.

We didn't have a chance to go inside, but it's definitely on my list of things to do while I'm in this area (which I'm pretty sure is the rest of my mission!)- so that's a great thing to look forward to :) There are a couple of castles in my boundaries up here on North Sjælland, so expect some exciting pictures <3

After the great eating appointment with the Elders and Bishop's family (and a little bit of bus problems), sister Moseley and I made it safely home in time for her to finish packing her bags- the poor babe was having a little bit of a stressful night, but we got it all taken care of, and she successfully got everything put in it's place (well, almost everything....I've found a few things that need to get to her from here....we'll figure that out in a little bit...). The next morning, we embarked into the crisp December Morning Air (by the way, it's only been about 50 degrees here in Denmark- way great, but way weird! Where is winter?) and made our way down to Copenhagen!! We had our Christmas Conference, which was wonderful and beautiful, and we all enjoyed it so much :) Christmas is just such a beautiful season of miracles and happy feelings all around <3 we even got to watch a movie at the conference!! We saw the new (ish..... it's new to all of us) pixar film ''Inderst Inde'' (also known as Inside Out, I believe...I've only seen Danish advertisements for it!), and it was so cute :) haha, but it was extremely weird seeing a movie that wasn't Jonny Lingo or the Testaments! hahaha!!

Sister Moseley left that night to stay at President's house, and I headed down to Gladsaxe to be companions with Sisters Mann and Hadfield for the rest of the week. We had a blast! All of the people they work with down there are absolutely stellar, and soooooo amazing :) their faith and progress are so inspiring, and I hope to be able to see them all again :) I'm writing about it all in my journal tonight!!

Fast forward through a lot of great appointments and meeting so many wonderful people, and we finally get here to Today :) The 21st of December 2015. It's the shortest day of the year!!! the days only get longer and lighter from here on out, and in only 90 short days, it will be Spring again :) super exciting!! <3

In one of our appointments down in Gladsaxe, we were talking about the joys of Christmas, and how wonderful it is to read about Christ and Mary and Joseph in the Bible :) I absolutely love reading the Christmas story, and feeling the love and peace that radiates from the words. Whenever I think about the story, I feel such an strong gratefulness for the blessing of parents!! Just think about all the trust that our Father in Heaven had for Mary and Joseph to raise His son, the Redeemer of all mankind!! That's a huge responsibility!! and Mary & Joseph must have done something right, because I think all of you would agree with me that Jesus became a pretty great guy :) hahaha! So ''Thank You'' to all of those Mothers and Fathers out there; past, present, and future!!! It's the greatest responsibility anyone can have, and I look forward to my own opportunity someday!! :) (here's a special shoutout to Mom and Dad!!! xoxoxoxo, y'all are amazing!!!)

Anyway, as we were in this lesson talking about Christmas, I brought up and out the Christmas story found in the Book of Mormon!! The people on the American continent were also looking forward to the advent of the Savior of the World, and had many prophecies on how they would know that He had come- one of those prophecies being that on the night of His birth, there would be a Day, a Night, and other Day of light, which would all appear as One Day. As the time grew closer and closer, many people began to doubt, and some of the unbelievers became quite violent to those who did believe. Well, on a very difficult night, the prophet Nephi prayed to the Lord, sharing all his concerns for the wonderful people, when He received the glorious promise that he and his people didn't need to fear, but that the Lord would be born that night, and the sign would come for all in the land to see.

and Lo and Behold, the Lord's promise came true (because it always does :) we never need to doubt Him!!). That night, the sky was filled with light, even after the sun had visibly gone down, and everyone knew that the Savior of the World was born :)

The World keeps on getting darker and darker. I personally have NO IDEA what is going on in the world, but I can see the effects that it is having on all the people here in Denmark. People are afraid and worried about the future. But they are also more and more open to having faith and trusting God. 

But even though the world is getting darker, we have Christ's light and love to guide us through rough times!! Christ's birth was marked by a star that led the shepherds and wisemen to the small, lovely family in the manger. It was also marked by bright lights in the heavens and tidings of joy to people all across the world! I know that Christ's influence can have the same exact effect on our personal lives!! He is the Light and the Life!! He is everything we have ever needed and will ever need!!

It may be the darkest day of the year, but we have the blessed opportunity to be a bright light of testimony and love to others around us :) I love you all, and I know that you all have other people in your circles of influence who need your light and your love! keep being strong, and keep being a source of happiness for your friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, students, classmates, and fellow citizens. 

I hope you all have a fantastic week :) here in Denmark, we have 3 days of Christmas celebration!! For a complete synopsis, I will quote darling Sister Williams email:

Beginning den 1 December, the decorations are up and lit. the gågade is covered in lights and pine and the Christmas market is up and all hyggeligt. Although the air is filled with Christmas cheer and magic, the traditions are what really get me. 

The first thing is the fact that the Danes have 3 Christmas days. Juleaften (24th), Første Juledag (25th), og Anden Juledag (26th). But their BIG celebration, and the day that is actually Christmas for them, is the 24th.

The second thing is the Christmas tree. The Christmas trees here are decorated in burning candles, songs, nissemænd, angels, hyrdestokkene (candycanes) and julehjerter (Christmas hearts). Everything has a special symbolic meaning. And then you might ask, "Oh wise Sister Williams, why do they have SONGS on the tree? What is the meaning behind that?" Well, let me tell you, folks. Because everyone holds hands, and dances around the Christmas trees with these songs. You then run around the house in a glorious christmas train of singing and joy and you run through every room and end up back around the Christmas tree. We do indeed sing and dance as they do in Whoville. After they have danced around the tree, Santa comes and hears them singing and comes in and delivers the presents. They then open their presents and go to bed. The other two days are just chilling with family and friends.  

We also eat a HUGE dinner of fleskesteg, rødkål (red beets cooked in vinegar and sugar), bread, chips, brown sauce, sugared potatoes, potatoes, basically anything that could make your heart stop in one sitting. We then follow it up with Ris ala mande, which is rice pudding with chopped up almonds in it served with a topping of warm cherry sauce. There is one whole almond in the entire batch, and whoever gets it gets a special present. 

The hearts of the people here in Denmark turn to Christ on Christmas, and they all have special church services on the 24th, even us! Everyone is super open and happy and just really nice at this time of year. 

Christmas time is such a special time here in Denmark. There really is no better place I would rather be than here in the land of fairytales for this wonderful time of year. 

I am going to end off with a challenge to you all. Earlier this year, I asked you all to study the last week of Christ's life for Easter. Today, I am going to do a similar thing. I invite you all to take one of the gospels and study the coming of Christ. Think about why this time is so special and take to heart a story of the baby Jesus. 

Glæde Jul og Godt Nytår

Søster Williams

And there you have it :) Sister Williams is such a pro at saying all the right things :) <3 we all love her!!!

Here are a few photos to end it off!! xoxoxoxo!! I'll talk to a few of you on skype this Friday!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Sister Moseley's farewell picture :( Sister Williams and I are super sad she's leaving!!


We taught the Young Women on Sunday :) here's a white-board full of Danish!! :D


​Danish Christmas Cookie Swag. Shoutout to Sister Hadfield. She's a babe.

MED KÆRLIG HILSEN XOXOXOXO

-Søster Soelberg

​

Jul er tilbage! :D

Well, another week has gone by, and I'm back in this lovely Library in Copenhagen! haha, someday I'll email from Birkerød, but since we're so close to the big city, why not come down and enjoy the sights?? :) Sister Moseley is headed home this week, so this is her last pit stop in good ol' KBH before she ships out!! We'll be sure to make it a good day :) So this weeks email is going to be a little short!! But here's the weeks highlights!! <3


Greatest Challenge of the Week:

hearing the next door neighbors start their Star-Wars wind-up!! We could hear them through the wall watching the Phantom Menace during our daily planning session! :[ Life is so rough!!

3 Best Parts of This Week:

1. Getting in FREE to Tivoli (an amusement park right in the middle of Copenhagen!)!! It was great to ride roller-coasters again!! 
2. Going to the Ward Christmas Party and enjoying the awesome Danish Christmas meal again!! haha, ward members like to give us a Danish meal, so we pretty much eat the same thing every time we go to a members house
3. Hearing the Traveling Missionary Christmas Choir <3 they're so talented

​Tivoli :)

Elders Porter, Baadsgaard, Geslison, Dickson, and Gudmanson (haha, I don't remember how to spell his name...whoops)

Sisters Mandla, Lyman, Van Orden, and Floyd

They're all Dolls <3
​

Best Quote of the Week:

''Today is part of Eternity''
So make sure that you're spending your eternity in the best possible way!! <3 Go out and spread a little more love and joy ;)

So there you have it! It's been a pretty festive past couple of days, and The Christmas Season is still winding up!! I hope you all have a fantastic week, and I'll talk to you all in 7 days (and then Skype on Christmas!! :D)

MKH,

Søster Soelberg, MB

Howdy, all! :) It's been a grand week, once more, here in the frozen land of Denmark! We had our first snowfall of the season just a few days ago, so one can indeed say that 'it's beginning to look a [smidge more] like Christmas!'' The Christmas lights in the city are lit, and the giant tree in the Square is shining in all it's grandeur!!  :) Sadly, I don't have any pictures with me from it, so that'll have to wait until next week: but then it won't even matter because I won't be emailing from Odense next week!! That's right!! Another transfer has flown by, and I'm getting kicked out of Odense :( But it's okay!! It's been a fabulous 12 weeks here :)

I'm headed back to Sjælland for what appears to be my very last area on the mission! I'll be serving in Birkerød (have fun pronouncing that one!! It has an 'ø' in it!!), which is an area that actually just opened up for Sisters this past transfer! So it's all pretty fresh :) Transfers are really weird for me this time, though; I'm not leaving Odense until Thursday, because I'm wating for my new companion to get back from Iceland!! Sister Lyman (and Sister Reed) has been up there teaching the Elders in Iceland how to use genaology in their Missionary work :) So that's fun :) I get a few more days in this delightful little city!! I'm going to miss all of the tributes to Hans Christian Andersen all over the place! But it will always hold a special place in my heart :) <3

I hope you have all had a fantastic week, because I sure have :) Life, and all of the experiences it brings, is sooooooo great :) We enjoyed a wonderful week, starting off last Monday with finding a man who is soooooooooooooooooooo super spiritual! haha, we had a great conversation, and he wants us to come back, which is awesome!!!

That night (monday), all the missionaries here on Fyn (Elders Amos, Dibble, Howe, Jeppsen, Jensen, Murphey, and Perkins, and Sisters Ackerman, Landvatter, Orr, and Soelberg)  had dinner with Elder and Sister Turpin!! It was so great! I'm going to miss them :)

we also found this sign on a door, addressed to us:

​a sweet little note from a guy telling us that he wasn't really interested in us coming back. Well, at least he let us know when we came by again!

On Tuesday, we were actually feeling under the weather, so nothing tooo exciting happened.

Wednesday rolled along, and the health was back!! So we went out and did our darling missionary work :) really good night!

THURSDAY WAS THANKSGIVING and it was wonderful :) We all headed up to Aarhus, and had a great time :) we had a fantastic Zone Conference, complete with Thanksgiving dinner, a talent show (graced with my new-found talent of ukelele playing), and some good ol' American football!!

I also ran into this guy:

Elder Ericksen!! What a champ!! :D It was so great to see him! It may end up being the only time we see each other on the mission, but hey, IT HAPPENED!! We'll all just have to come back and visit in a big huge family reunion sometime in the future!! :D

On the way home from Aarhus, we caught a ride from the Turpins- a trip that should only have taken 1 ½ hours took a whopping 4½!!!! All thanks to late night traffic due to road work! But we got home (eventually), and snuggled up with hot chocolate and a ukelele :) great way to end the day <3

Friday was super awesome!! We had back to back appointments all day long, and had a great time :) I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!! Everyone you meet is soooo great and loving, and I love seeing them progress in their own testimonies and faith <3

Then Saturday happened- we ''enjoyed'' a couple hours of weekly planning, then did some genaology work during our lunch hour, and rode the train down to Svendborg to eat one last time (for me, at least) with our dear friend Maria Hartmann! She's soooo sweet, and I'll miss her a lot!!

On the train ride back from Maria's, miracles were happening!! I sat down in the train in a different spot than Søster Orr (it's easier to talk to as many people as possible that way), and as soon as I sat down, the man across the isle starting asking me about my nametag and the work I do here- he was actually interested in learning more, so he gave me his number, and we'll see him again!! He was particularly interested in Family History, so it's a good thing we've all been brushing up on that! 

When the man got off the train, two women came on and walked past, but after a bit of time, they made their way towards me again and took the empty seats right across from me. They chatted for a while and finished their beers, and I just let them hygge while reading out of the Conference Liahona we had just gotten on Thursday.

I had been reading Sister McConkie's talk from the women's conference about being a light to others around us, when all of a sudden, these two women in front of me started talking to me asking about who I was, if I was a nun (how many times has this now?? haha, I promise, I don't look like a nun....), and what I've been doing here in Denmark! I had another fantastic conversation with them about faith and the Word of Wisdom (they asked about it, I didn't bring it up at first ;) hahaha).

I found it so exhilerating to be so easily recognized as someone different, and someone strange to other people! Both of these occasions started because people saw that I was acting differently and doing something different than the usual slew of people we run into!! I want to continue to be so recognizibly different after the mission!

We read in the book of Psalms that the word of The Lord is a light on our path, and that we can trust the Light that He is. We know that He is the Light of the world, and that as we strive to exemplify Him in all we do, we can also become a light to those around us!!

One of my favorite songs sung by Josh Groban has a quote in it that says, ''When darkness blinds you, I will shine to guide you!'' haha, don't think I'm being cheesy here, but I like to think that this is something Christ says to us all!! He will be the light to break the darkness around us, and we can be the same for our friends, collegues, and acquaintences!!

I hope you all have a fantastic week, and that you can all continue to build your priceless faith in Jesus Christ- it is the one thing in this life that really even matters :) and your faith will lead you to great things <3

I love you all!!

Med kærlig hilsen,

Søster Morgan B Soelberg

​

Gå ud og skab lidt Magi til Minderne

It's been an increeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedible week!! I feel like I have learned and experienced soooo much these past 7 days! <3 It's been absolutely incredible!

The week started out a little slow and down, but that only means that it can go straight up! Last Sunday (Nov 15) I was thinking a lot about some things we had been talking about in Relief Society about life and goals, and I got thinking about how much I want to do with my life with soooooooo little time to do it all! But alas, in the moment of utter despair (which wasn't really soooo utter despair-y) I sat down and penned out some intense goal setting! Haha, it was super weird, but super fun! I would really recommend it to you all to do that once in a while; review previous goals and make new ones! And with the New Year coming up right around the corner, it's the perfect time and season! I loved what President Monson has just said in the latest Liahona -->

''There is yet time this year to extend the helping hand, the loving heart, and the willing spirit—in other words, to follow the example set by our Savior and to serve as He would have us serve.''

 I Think this season is the perfect time to truly become that miracle to other around you (shoutout to Mosiah 8:18, one of my favorite scriptures!!).

There are so many people around us, every day and in every place! One of my biggest goals on the mission has been to make people smile, no matter the situation! It has taken a lot of effort and learning to be able to express my own personality in Danish, and while the language still isn't perfect, I have had so many wonderful experiences helping others to see that I am my own person, and that I have a brain and feelings! There is no greater joy than that of testifying to others using the song of your heart. We are all 100% individual, and we can all influence other people in specific ways! 

My challenge for you all this week is to recognize a talent that you have, and use it to help and serve someone else! Maybe you can help each other out by acknowledging one anothers talents and coming up with a ''game-plan'' on how you can do better to help the family/community around you :) ''Gå ud og skab lidt magi til minderne!!'' (Go out and create magical memories!!)

Three of my favorite things this week:

Hearing the Primary sing and testify during Sacrament meeting

Meeting with one of my favorite best friends in Denmark- Jacqueline!! She's from Nigeria and is studying here in Odense! Her sincerity in learning the gospel is so amazing <3

Eating my most favorite pastry in Denmark. At last!! I have found the best pastry ever!! It's called a ''Julehorn,'' so it's a Christmas specialty, complete with Marcipan, Orange, and Chocolate!! I shout out to the film '' the Swan Princess'' as I ask, '' What else is there??''

I hope you all have a fantastic week, and A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!! I look forward to hearing from you all next monday!! 

xoxo

Søster Soelberg

Vær et Mirakel til Dem Omkring Dig- Idag!!

We had a wonderful day in Church yesterday :) I had the opportunity to hold a talk, and I think that it went very well indeed :) It's amazing to me how we can come to the point where Danish just comes naturally, and while there were things I tried saying that didn't quite fit with Danish wording, I was able to find ways around the different grammar structure! haha, it was really fun :)

This week has been incredible in the miracle department! We have had SO MANY wonderful opportunities to jump in for a second into the lives of other people, and be that means by which God reaches out to His children. In many of the street and door contacts we have made, we have really had the chance to make a difference in the life of the individual we were talking with. One of my favorite contacting experiences(ther are really too many to list) from this week was just this past sunday morning- there are two wards here in Odense that meet at different times, so we don't have church until 14:00-17:00 ; that gives us a lot of time to contact outside in the morning hours :) So yesterday morning, we were out talking to lovely humans when we started talking to a man about how he feels about his own personal relationship with God. As the conversation progressed, his face lit up with the spirit, and we could tell in his eyes that he could feel the Love of God, which we strive so hard to let these people feel. A lot of people in the world believe that these Scandinavians are hard and cold people, but I have found quite the opposite :) they are actually very sensitive when placed in a comfortable situation, and what is more comfortable than on a wooded path by a river?? :) haha, thank goodness for beautiful scenery!!

I have found so much joy this week in going out and spreading good cheer- and I'm super stoked for this upcoming Christmas season in Denmark! The Christmas lights are all up (but not turned on yet), and New Years fireworks have already started going off! haha, these Danes sure do love their holidays! They go all out!!

Greatest Challenge of the Week:

• Litterally like, 30 minutes ago- realizing that my little sister will be going to college with me the next time I step foot on a university.......Life is rough

3 Best Parts of This Week:

1. Singing a duet with Sister Orr at the Single Adults activity on Thursday :)
2. Testifying to a train full of people (like, literally standing up and explaining to mulitple people) the joy and love I feel through living the Gospel of Christ and Why on earth I'm giving 18 months of my life as a full-time missionary declaring the Gospel!
3. Feeling the Holy Spirit testify to my heart bits and pieces of answers to questions in my heart :) It's always so great to come one step closer to understanding the big picture!!

Favorite Quote of the Week:

''Vi har kraft nok for at vælge vores ønsker, og hvad vi gør med tiden vi har.''

​Playing UNO with the Sister Training Leaders (In total, we have [clockwise] sisters Landvatter, Ackerman, Mandla, Soelberg, Sorensen, and Orr) after Daily planning- if you look close enough, you can see the appearance of a christmas tree on the table, and a stocking hanging on the door :) we're getting the season started a little early!!

I hope you all have a fantastic Week!! <3 I love you all!!

-Søster Soelberg

Den niende Nov

Dags! I hope y'all have had a great week since you last heard from me :) because I sure have!! It's so amazing just how great one feels when healthy!! Remember to never take your health for granted!! And do everything you can to keep it up!

I had a great day in church yesterday, and I hope you all did, as well :) I don't have toooooooo much time to write up this email, so I'll just copy and paste what I wrote down yesterday during Sacrament-

''I feel like it's such a beautiful day today!! :) This morning, we headed out and contacted in a large, beautiful park for a couple of hours (because church doesn't start until 14:00). The sun was shining, and we had wonderful conversations with all of the lovely Danish people out and about for a walk! The opportunity gave me a chance to really count my blessings, one of those definitely being my chance to be here in Denmark! I absolutely love it, and I'm soooooo happy! And I'm even more grateful to be here in Church today ;)

[during the passing of the Sacrament] I'm want to know how on earth I can be better to ''always remember [Christ]'' in my daily life- how I can be an example of Christ to those around me! We are all here to help one another along our path, but how can we know what to do? What if I make a bad choice?

It really is an amazing gift to have the Atonement available every day of our lives, and to be our own agents and choose to follow Him. FAITH, AND OBEDIENCE, ARE CHOICES. It's all, 100%, up to us to work hard to strengthen our resolve, and to nourish and nurture the seed of faith within us all (reference to Alma 32).''

Just as Dallin H Oaks of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles said, ''the healing and strengthening power of Jesus Christ and His Atonement is for all of us who will ask.'' Help is just a prayer away! And the Atonement of Christ is not only for when we need to patch up and repair something we did wrong- the Atonement strengthens and builds us up to a level we never imagined possible :) God loves us so much, and he provided this tool for us to master our weaknesses and turn them into strengths- to help others and serve them, and in the process learn more about our eternal worth and the Love God has for us each individually. I testify of Gods Love and promise that as we learn more about our Savior Jesus Christ, and understand more about just what He has given us, we will come to love ourselves even more, and to be able to share that love with others :) BE A LIGHT!! The world is dark, but not if you're glowing :)

Sorry I didn't have a lot of time today - I really do love you all, life is just tooooooooo exciting to be cooped up in the library!! I hope y'all can forgive me, and enjoy these pictures from this beautiful city of Odense :)

Autumn is in full swing, and I'm loving it!!! :D remember to take some fun pictures with the leaves before they're all dead and gross! ;)


Sister Orr is a master with the camera!! She snagged this shot for you all :)


​I wood post a picture of me and some wood....... but that wood be weird, woodn't it? ;)

Have a great week!! Med kærlig hilsen,

Søster MB Soelberg

Kristi Kærlighed

Greetings ye citizens of the far away land called ''the Rest of the World.'' I Hope you have all had a fantastic week, and that you've been able to accomplish new goals and experience new blessings in your lives :) This life is a time for us to gain experience and understanding, and a time for us to learn more about who we really are and reach the Potential that God completely understands and sees in us :) One of my favorite things to learn and study on my mission has been the eternal and priceless worth of souls. Every single human being who has ever been on the earth, is here now, and will be on the earth is a Beloved Son or Daughter of our most loving and caring Heavenly Parents. We lived with God before we came to this earth, and in that time, we knew God, and He still knows us perfectly. He knows our desires and our ambitions. He knows and understands our sorrows and our weaknesses. But luckily, and thankfully, He also knows our strengths and talents, and provides ways for us to learn more about and appreciate ourselves. The Gospel that God has taught to mankind throughout the generations is given to us to provide Identity and Direction. As we learn more about Who God Is, we can learn more about who we can become. Isn't that amazing?? :) I think it is! I know it is! and I love it!

I am sooooooooo incredibly thankful for the Love that God offers me each and every day! The opportunity I have to learn and to grow and to change is of so much value to me! Sometimes it takes courage and trust, but we can make it! We read in the Book of Mormon, in the Book of Moroni, chapter 8 verse 16 that ''perfect love casteth out all fear.'' That perfect love that Christ has for us, and that we can have towards Christ, enables us to do anything and everything without being paralyzed by fear.

Yesterday, we had an amazing Fast and Testimony meeting. In the meeting, one of the young adults in the ward, Anne, bore her testimony on the importance of being in tune to the Spirit of God. She told a experience/story as an analogy: She overheard some missionaries discussing among themselves in English, and as a Dane, she was usually resolved to answer back in Danish (it's very nice when they do this- so helpful!! (: ). But on this occasion, she joined the conversation, speaking in English. The missionaries were caught off guard and missed all of what she said, because they weren't expecting her to respond in English. Anne likened this to the way that we can receive answers from God- often times we will receive and answer to a question, but because we are not expecting to be answered in a specific way, we can miss the answer itself!

May we all have the courage and faith to keep our ears, minds, and hearts open to all of the whisperings of the Spirit. Sometimes, one may feel as if his answers are not being heard and answered, or her answer may seem completely off topic and out of application- but God always answers perfectly according to what we need!

This past week has been a struggle for me. I was ill and inside all week long with brief moments of going outside and being able to work. Wow was that rough and I hated it! But at the same time, I am also very grateful for the opportunity to have a short pause. I tried to focus my attention on what I could do inside that would help me be even more prepared to do what I needed to outside- and while I'm still figuring out all of the lessons I have learned this week, I am growing so much! God works in mysterious ways!!! haha, and I know He does the same to you!

This morning, as I was trying to figure out waht to write about (because let's be honest, nothing super exciting happened this week while I was indoors healing), I was suddenly bombarded with TONS of topics to write about. But then Sister Orr reminded me of the sweet testimony of Anne, and I felt inspired to share that today. I hope I was able to explain the thoughts and feelings of my heart correctly,and that someone looking at this can feel my love and appreciation :) I love you all, and I'm thankful for the love you all show me :)

I don't have any pictures of this week, so I'll leave y'all with one of my favorite quotes, from C S Lewis:

"Isn't it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different..."

I hope you all have a great week, and that you will find those small whispers of the Spirit, and do all you can to follow those promptings. I testify that God knows and Loves you, and that you can know Him just as well :)

-Søster Morgan Soelberg

an old picture of the sunrise a couple of weeks ago :)
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It hasn't snowed yet!!

Hello darling humans I call mine!! haha, I hope you have all had a stellar week, because life is great and full of happiness!!

I had a bit of a rough time this morning figuring out what I wanted so share with you all - I kept getting distracted by a million different things and topics to think about!! But luckily, I just spent the past 30 minutes reading emails I sent out from the beginning of my mission, (it was super fun, but took more time than I intended), and I found this old post where I used this helpful idea my dad sent me (shout out to you, you amazing human!!! <3). So, I'll let you know how this week played out with this little template :) enjoy!!

1. What has been your biggest challenge this week?

Probably trying to practically white-wash the area. That means that Sister Orr and I are working in an area that we have practically no experience with or ideas on what to do..... yeah, it's pretty fun, but we've actually been having a lot of success! :D The Lord really does provide, and He works miracles in the perfect way He does things <3 So really, there hasn't been toooooo big of a challenge, because the Lord is always with us :)

2. What has been your biggest concern?

Being as good of a missionary as Sister Orr!! She's such a babe!! She's such a strong missionary, and I've already learned so many new things from her!! It's amazing just how much you can learn from the people around you, and even more amazing when you've only known them for a week!!

3. What has been your biggest success?

I was hit with a strong bout of happiness yesterday during Church. The Young Women in the ward held a program during Sacrament meeting where they presented the difference YW values and spoke about them. One of the YW, named Naomi, and I had the chance to go on splits together down in Svendborg the week previous, and yesterday, during her talk, she mentioned a conversation we had while together which I had completely forgotten! Apparently, I said something to her that greatly (and thankfully positively) impacted her view of missionary work and her desire to serve a mission herself! I had entirely forgotten that brief moment, and when Naomi spoke about it, I felt so thankful for the companionship of the Spirit. I know that as we closely follow the promptings the Spirit gives us, we will be a blessing to those around us, and even be the means by which God can speak to His other children (slight reference to one of my favorite scriptures Mosiah 8:18). It was pretty sweet :)

4. Who has been your favorite person this week? Why?

Who isn't my favorite person!? haha, there are so many wonderful people, it's hard to find just one to talk about! haha, but I would probably have to say our beloved Sister Turpin. She and Elder Turpin are the Senior Missionary Couple here in Odense, and they are just the sweetest things. Sister Turpin has been through a lot in her life, and was even diagnosed with Cancer (which since has gone into remission) while here on the mission. But through all, she always has a smile on her face, and she makes everyone feel like the bees knees every day! If I could be one person, I would love to be her :) She's also very reliable and loving in the event of an emergency!!

5. What has been your most significant tender mercy (I'm going to name 2!! (: )?

Being able to be with Sister Sorensen on splits!! She's a new Sister Training Leader up in Horsens, and this past week they came down here to Odense :) It was great to be with her again, and to enjoy her sweet spirit!

ALSO!! Being able to speak to my darling cousin Elder Ericksen!! I got permission to call him last wednesday after he arrived in his first area, which is in Aarhus! It was great to be able to talk to him on the phone!! We're in different Zones, so we won't see each other too often, but we will be able to see each other on Thanksgiving up in Aahus at our Zone Conference :) I look forward to it!! FAMILY IS AWESOME!!

6. What are you looking forward to this coming week?

Having soooooo many more funny and happy moments with the Sisters here in Odense!! It's so fun to live in a 4-(wo)man apartment! 

7. Do you have a goal set for this coming week? Tell me about it.

Of course I have a goal! Missionaries always have goals!! haha, this one is pretty silly, though! I haven't been good at all with writing in my journal, so that's the #1 thing I want to work on in my spare time. But also, I want to continue to improve the ability to speak Danish! It's such a beautiful language, but even more so when it's spoken correctly!! hahaha

8. Which scripture has had the biggest impact on you this week?

I'm still absolutely loving Job 37:14 (note, this is the correct reference. The ref I sent out last week in my email was incorrect!!! whoops!!!)

It's been really great to think more and more about this scripture, and to be hit with such thanksgiving for the beautiful world we live in!! I am constantly pinching myself because I just cannot believe how beautiful this country is!

So there you have it! There are quite a few random things to talk about, but I hope this suffices to tell you all about how great life is here in Odense :) But to illustrate it even better, here are pictures from this week!!

Down in Svendborg, the cutest little city in the world!!

Silly street signs! That's not even a Danish word!!

The leaves are still changing up here :) Winter is coming, slowly but surely! I personally think it's cold enough!!

I found some more cats!! This one looks just like our little Butterscotch!! 
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Have a great week!! I love you all!! <3

-Søster Soelberg

Job 36:14

Sometimes here in this life we get a little bit worked up about everything going on- and though it is good to be busy, oft times, you just need to take a chill pill. And throw some leaves up into the air :)

It makes life pretty exciting!! :D Fall is so beautiful here in Denmark!! It's really amazing to be here and to ''consider the wonderous works of God'' here in this wonderful country, just as it says in Job [I refer you to the reference in the title of my email].

But what is it, you ask, that would make the life of a missionary a little bit stressed?? Well, darling, let me tell you!! Once every 6 weeks (or in this special case, 7 weeks), we have what one calls ''Transfer Monday!!'' And dear friends and family, today was that day! Sister Ripa is safely arrived in Copenhagen, ready to fly out tomorrow to her own home in the USA. It's definitely a different experience with a companion heading home - this is the first time it has happened to me! It was interesting watching her go through all the stages of preparing herself to leave, and I'm definitely not ready for that emotional rollercoaster! Good thing I don't have to worry about that for a while!!!

BUT CONTINUING WITH TRANSFERS! I'm gong to tell y'all what happened in Odense at the end of this email :)

We had our Zone Training this past week - we talked a lot about stress and how to cope with everything stressful in the mission, and we also found out about transfers ;)

​SydJylland Zone! Yay!

We had a REALLY EXCITING WEEK. It was super uber duper fun here in the grand ol' city of Odense. It may e the home town of Hans Christian Andersen, but every year, the people here have another reason to celebrate for two whole days - we had the  Harry Potter Festival!!! haha, how many cities do you know of where the entire centrum is decked out like the world of harry potter?? Not very many, and to be honest, it wasn't fully decked out - you have to go to that Harry Potter World place to enjoy that specticle - But it was actually pretty fun :) All 13 missionaries here on Fyn (if y'all remember, it's one of the islands that make up denmark) got together in the Center of the City and enjoyed the day of Harry-Potter-ness. We used the pday hours that we didn't use last monday for it, and it was totally worth it! We met all of the Harry Potter characters (but they didn't have Ron or Hermione.....weird, I just realized that.....) and got pictures with just about all of them :)

​here we are blessed with the presence of Sisters Ripa, Ackerman, and Soelberg, and Elders Amos, Gifford, Lee, Perkins, Dibble, Poff, Murphy, Jeppsen, and Turpin, along with our friendly neighborhood Voldemort and friends. And a miny wizard photo bombing in the background ;)

It was a blast!! I ate a bug and saw a magic show, wached Elder ''Harry Potter'' Amos get chased by a troll, ate at a Mexican restaurant, and all in all, enjoyed it. WE EVEN PLAYED QUIDDITCH

​It was hard to get a good quality photo while we were playing, but Sister Turpin got this gem of our friend Mads Held and I. We were the ''Smashers'' on the Ravenclaw team....I don't remember what ''Smashers'' are in English <-- that's the danish name for it.... Beaters or something?? And yes, Ravenclaw beat Gryffindor, thank you very much ;)

The next day (last saturday), all the missionaries on Fyn + 2 more from Fredericia (zone leaders), and a member to every missionary (so there were about 30 people in all) came down to Svendborg and had a ''blitz'' down there. Everyone went tracting (knocking on doors) and contacting in the city, and we ended up having 17 lessons in the 5 hours of doing it :) It was a blast!! Working together is always the best way to get things done!! With everyone's combined efforts, we were able to do a lot more work than we could have ever done alone, and it was fantastic!! 

​Then Sunday rolled along, and we had a great day of church :) And by day, I mean all 6 hours of it!! But sadly, that is no longer our privilege!!! SPLITS HAPPENED, and there are now two seperate sister areas in the City!! So 4 sisters instead of 2 = two seperate companionships, but still in the same apartment.

We got Sister Ripa sent off

AND GOT 2 NEW SISTERS. SISTERS ORR AND LANDVATTER!!!!!!! It's going to be such a party!! My new companion is Sister Hannah Orr, who just came down from working with Sister Woster, and before that with Sister Sorensen!! So that's exciting! And Sister Ackerman is now with Sister Aubrey Landvatter, and y'all already know just how much I already love her :) I feel so happy and blessed to have this addition of two new sisters into our everyday lives, and we've already had a blast together!! It's just interesting trying to focus on one half of what I've known these past 7 weeks in Odense! I'm assigned to work in the Odense Second Ward instead of both, so now I only go to one 3-hour-block of church! Super sad, but super great to have more time opened up to spreading the gospel!! :D

Since there are 8 Elders here in the 2 Odense districts, it's pretty common that the districts get changed a bit every transfer. Since I'm going down to Odense 2 with Sister Orr, that's the only change. Elder Perkins and Elder Dibble are still being tained, so they're staying put with their trainers Elders Lee and Murphy, respectively.

Odense 1 district, on the other hand, is getting some changes! Sister Landvatter is coming in with sister Ackerman, Elder Poff is transfering out, and Sister Ripa and Elder Gifford and heading home - and Elders Jeppsen and Amos are going to be training new missionaries! So the news is - there are two open spots for my dear cousin to come into here in Odense!! He could be trained in Seden or Odense and I would see him just about every day - or he could go to any of the other 10 areas in Denmark expecting a new missionary. So the chances are kinda slim, but hey, there's a chance that the Soelberg blood can meet in the same city for at least 6 weeks :) Elder Ericksen is probably getting onto the plane there in Salt Lake City as this email gets sent out, and we'll all find out tomorrow where he'll be serving :) I'm super stoked!!!
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Sooooooooooooo, there you have it!! :)

Have a great week!! And I'll talk to you all in 7 days :) <3

MKH,

Søster Morgan Sølberg

​ODENSE!!! <3

Gør de små ting

Goddag!! Jeg håber I har alle haft en fantastisk uge, og at I blive ved med sådanne! Denne uge har været vidunderlig, og jeg ved slet ikke hvor jeg skulle begynne!! 

But hey, I guess I could start off by quoting my dear cousin Ældste Ericksen, who will be joining the ranks here in Denmark next week!!! :D I learned a fun tidbit about how our family connects to two of the new Apostles who were just called this past Conference: 

''To start off With the the new apostles being called I would like to tell you this: When My Aunt Barbara was working as an accountant, she worked for a firm that audited the Huntsman Corp.  She had to work with Bro, now Elder Rasband to complete the audit.  She said he was wonderful to work with, very professional, honest, and kind.  Bro. now Elder Renlund was my Grandpa Soelberg's surgeon for his last pace maker/defibrillator. My uncle Mark said that after the surgery, he came out and talked with him and Granny, explained how everything went during the surgery, and set my granny's mind at ease.  That little machine gave Grandpa 8 extra years he definitely would not have had here on earth.  So there you have it--a couple of personal connections to the new apostles.''

I love learning more about my family, and about how small this world really is :) Elder Ericksen and I have already made common acquaintances from the world of missionaries (like Søster Østergaard, who came out teaching with Søster Landvatter and I a couple of times), which is absolutely fantastic :)

I have had a fantastic week!! It started off with a wonderful pday and going to a members house- Their daughter, Søster Højholt, is awaiting her mission call to come in the mail any day now!! We're all expecting it tomorrow, or on onsdag (Wednesday). Tuesday was filled with fun as we went out on member splits with this lovely lady from Finland, named Ewe 

​ Sadly, she's moving back to Finland in a few weeks, but for the time being, we'll keep her close by :) She served down in Greece, and returned from her mission a little over a year ago- and she's a stellar missionary! She has also learned so much Danish in her short few months down here :)

On wednesday, we had interviews with President O'Bryant, District meeting, and then both districts here in Odense met up at the Senior Couple's house and we all watched the last session of General Conference together :) Conference was fantastic, and I'm still trying to listen to it all the way through again to learn even more out of it!! I'm stoked to get a copy of all of the talks next weeeeeeeek!!!!

THURSDAY WAS MY YEAR MARK! Super crazy!! The time has been flying by so incredibly fast!!! It does not feel like I've been a missionary for an entire year already!! We spent the day doing service and visiting a lot of people, helping them feel the light and love of Christ!!

Friday was weekly planning, which is always a solemn experience when the planning is for the last week of the transfer! Sister Ripa is going all the way home next week, so it was interesting watching her focus on this very last week of her mission. She's such a strong missionary and woman, and she's definitely going far in life!!! :) We love her!!!

Saturday was fantastic!! We got a surprise phone call in the morning from a member needing help decorating a cake for the wards talent show which was happening that afternoon- so we went and decorated her cake like this:

She showed us how to do the ''brush embroidery,'' and then we took control :) it was super fun, and really exciting!! Definitely something i want to try again at some point in the future!!

We also had a great Talent show, which we all called the ''Høstfest'' :) (that means Harvest-party). Sisters Ackerman, Ripa and I performed an arrangement of ''Jeg På Kristus Tror'' (I Believe in Christ), and it went really well :) we had a piano and a guitar and everything! We're also singing in both wards this coming sunday, so we're trying to figure out what to do for that!! I'll let y'all know how it goes next week!!

Sunday (yesterday) rolled along, and we had a fantastic day at church :) I actually absolutely love being in Church for 6 hours!! It is so amazing to hear so many people's testimonies and to feel the Spirit so strongly all day long!! The Sabbath really is a Delight!!

We had our Fast and Testimony meeting in both wards yesterday, which was very wonderful. One of our investigators even felt to share her testimony, which was beautiful :) She expressed her feelings about the seemingly small things we do in the gospel, and how they really aren't that small after all. 

Når vi bliver ved med at gøre de ''små'' ting (fx bøn, tjeneste, skriftstudium, at gå i kirke, og sige opløftende ord), er vi i stand til at føle ånden endnu mere i vores personlige liv, og så vide hvordan vi kan styrke vores egen tro, og troen af dem omkring os.

I'm thankful for this opportunity to be here in Odense, and so be around so many amazing people who love to share the gospel. We had an eating appointment with a member this past week on friday, and in the middle of the dinner, her daughter and son-in-law came by with their 3 week old daughter. The darling member, named Else, was so quick and happy to share with this little family and her own non-member husband the joys of the gospel, and she even invited them to come and see/participate in the ''høstfest'' the following day, which they did :) As a result, this entire family has strengthened their faith, and feeling the love :)

Wow, it's been so amazing to think over this past week again, but I sadly don't have enough time to keep on going!! I hope you have all been able to feel my love and appreciation for each and every one of you, as well as these people in Denmark!

We find out about the upcoming transfer this wednesday in our Zone Training, and then transfers are happening on Monday :) I'm expecting to stay here in Odense, but one never knows!!! 

Have a great week!! And continue to apply the things talked about in General Conference to your personal life!! I would recommend going into lds.org (or using the Gospel Library app on your devices) and reading/listening to the speakers again and again! I'm thankful for our beloved Prophet and Apostles, and for the time and energy the spend in helping us better know how we can strengthen our personal relationships with God and His Son, Jesus Christ. As we get to know our beloved Savior even more, we will be able to learn about ourselves, and even perhaps be the means by which others can receive that same inspiration and guidance.

I love you all <3

Med kærlig hilsen, 

Søster M B Soelberg