It's Not Easy Being Green

Happy Monday everyone :) You're all super great! I love hearing from you!! :)

It's been a much better week, in comparion with the past few! I have been feeling ship-shape and have had a great time going out and being a missionary :) 

With the start of the new transfer, our little District has been totally changed up! Each area, except for ours, had a companionship change, and some were pretty big. We have 2 new greenie elders in Herning and in Kolding, and good old Elder DeMordaunt is both training and was just made District Leader! It's a little stressful, but he's been handling it wonderfully!

It just so happened that the day the new elder in Kolding (Elder Jensen) arrived in his area, we had been in Kolding at an appointment with an investigator the elders handed over to us. Before the appointment, we had enough time to run by the Elder's appartment and deck out their door and drop off some ''Welcome to Denmark'' treats!!

After that Fun little adventure, and the wonderful decorating skills being exhibited, we went to an appointment with a wonderful elderly woman. She's been investigating the Church for almost a year now, and believes it's all true. She's just having difficulty giving up Smoking and drinking Coffee. It's really rough, but she's a sweet old woman, and she is working very hard at quiting :)

Later in the week, we met the rest of the new members of the District. Elder Eisert is still here, with Elder Zelewski (I have no idea if that's how it is spelled) are chilling in Fredericia, and Elder Kinch is staying in Herning with his new greenie Elder Halversen. It's a grand ol' group, and we're excited to keep the work going in the District :)

It's really entertaining speaking Danish to the new elders. I remember perfectly well how overwhelming it was for me, but I just cannot help myself! In District meeting, someone cracked a joke in Danish, and we all laughed, but I could see how incredibly jet-lagged and confused the new elders where. And then, talking on the phone to one of the new elders, he couldn't understand the Danish, so I switched over to English. After asking my question, he was silent for a few second, then asked, ''.....uh, was that English???'' Hahaha, I won't pick on them, but it's interesting to see the difference between a greenie and a 6 month-er. I'm looking forward to this next year still speaking Danish every day :)

So Yesterday was pretty exciting for me :) I actually translated in Church!! Sometimes, you really don't know how much of a language you know, until you have to translate from one to another to someone who doesn't understand it at all!! It feels really good to actually see how much my ability to Danish has progressed (jeg kan dansk!!! :D ) I was able to translate about 95% of what was said (except for one man's talk, who has an incredibly deep voice, speaks monotone, and mumbles and rumbles like an earthquake.....). Thank you so much for your prayers and support, they work!! :)

We had another exciting happening this past weekend, too! One of the investigators down in Kolding got baptized on Saturday, and confirmed on Sunday :) He's a very amazing man, and he is so happy to finally be baptized :) The baptism was wonderful, and we are so happy for him :)

And good news - the man who was baptized a few weeks ago is allowed to stay in the country! He was going in for his immigration interview the week he was baptized, and it's been great to see him at Church still in Denmark :) He will be receiving the Priesthood Sunday after next, because next Sunday is General Conference!!! :D

I'm really pumped to see Conference this weekend!! On the 4th, the Relief Society sisters are having a get together to watch it all together, so that's something great to look forward to :)

With Easter coming around the corner, I would like to remind you all about the new video that just came out this past weekend -  It's titled ''Because He Lives,'' and you can find it both on YouTube, and also on the homepage HeLives.mormon.org . It is a beautiful video, and it brings to our remembrance the true reason why we celebrate Easter - Because our Lord Jesus Christ lives :) This next week, I challenge you all to share the video with a friend, and to spend time pondering what the Savior's life and sacrifice has meant to you. The Savior means the world to me, and that is why I am here on a mission, teaching people about Christ. 

I know that my Redeemer Lives. I feel His love, and I know that he loves you, as well! As you take the time to learn more, not only about Him, from from Him and of Him, you will learn more about yourself, and feel His love :)

I love you all, and I wish you all the best :)

Med Kærlig Hilsen, 

Søster M Soelberg

#1 companionship :) Sometimes we get a little artsy

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Transfer 4 in the Land

Hello my dear friends and famiily :) <3 you're all so great!! I love hearing from each and every one of you at the beginning of the week!! Thanks for all of the love and support!! :)

This has been a really interesting week, but it's still been pretty great!!

Our week has been interesting combining Vejle and Horsens, and it would have been pretty hectic if one of us transfered! But luckily, we're all staying the same :) We found out who was going where in the mission on Thursday at our Zone Conference, which went wonderfully. Sister Woster and I are together for another transfer here in Vejle, and we're pumped to continue working with our darling investigators, and finding new people :) We went to the Refugee camp again this past week, and taught a lovely Burmese family, and they're excited to learn more!

But sadly, not a lot of work was completed in Vejle these past 7 days :/ I was sick Tuesday and Wednesday, so sadly, we were inside all day. After going to the doctors and getting my blood tested (everything is normal) I've been on the upward mend, while still having weird health issues. But Hopefully, all will be 100% normal soon! I feel pretty normal right now, which is a miracle after this past week!! hahaha

We got a lot of work done in Horsens, though :) We found a few more investigators up there, and stopped by some lovely people :) It's always interesting working outside of your own area. I feel like I always have the most success as a missionary when I'm in Horsens, as opposed to Vejle! Hahaha, it's really weird. Maybe I'll serve there at some point on my mission, but we'll see! As for now, I get to hit my 6 month mission mark in Vejle :D I love it!

There's not a whole lot to write about this week, sadly. It's been pretty low-stress, and highly fun :) Sister Van Orden is such a doll, and all three of us had a blast together. Being in a tripanionship is always a blast :)

At Zone Conference last week, we got to see ''Meet the Mormons'' finally! Not bad!

I really don't know what to write about...... So, I love you all :) Have a great week!! 

(sadly, no pictures this week, because I really didn't take any.....)

MKH,

Sister MBS <3

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Crazy Elders

​Elders Madsen, Eisert, and Higby

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Castles make us happy!

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​Sister Van Orden and I being crazy princesses in a castle!

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Feeding the Birds

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It just keeps getting better!!

Good news - I'm still alive :) But sadly, the problem has not, as of yet, been discovered! 

Last Mandag, I headed to the Doctor after buying our groceries, and I had an EKG (electrocardiogram) done, but of course, my heartrate was completely normal when they took it. Apparently, going to the doctors is very calming (what??). hahaha, but of course, I haven't had any improvement since. The doctor didn't know what to tell me, because I'm not dehydrated, my diet is fine, and I rest enough. I'm thinking it's just all boiling down to stress -  now I only have to find out where the stress is coming from!! Hahaha

But in any case, I'm keeping an eye on it. You'll probably find out if I die.... just kidding. But really....

But it's been a better week than the best weeks :) So that's fantastic! Søster Woster and I headed to a refugee camp this past week, and the second door we  knock on played out like this-

Missionaries: ''Snakker I dansk??'' (Do you speak Danish?)

Family: ''Do you speak English??''

M: ''Yes, we do!''

F: ''Then come on in!! :) ''

We had a great lesson with them :) The family was from Syria, and they absolutely loved talking about religion with us. The husband spoke a bit of English, and the children spoke Danish, and they all spoke Arabic, so they chatted together, and it was so wonderful. After we shared our message and set a day for a return appointment (the family told us we were Welcome to come whenever we were in the area, but we still set a day), they suddenly invited us to stay with them and eat Lunch with them and their friends. The Husband, H, said to us - ''we would absolutely love for you to meet our friends!'' so of course we stayed and met them all and they were all so sweet, and my good golly, that was the most delicious food I had ever tasted! 

I find it so amazing to go out into the world and find people who are just so happy to meet others, and become such fast friends with them! There have been so many people over the past few weeks who are gladly willing to set aside their time to meet with us for a minute or two. It always makes me so happy to meet people who want to talk with us! hahaha, it's sad to say, but there are so many people who don't give us the time of day-but at the same time, I love them still :)

We had a baptism in our District this past sunday!! :D A darling man named Mohammad, who is from Morocco, was baptized and given the gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday, and he was so happy :) Sister Woster has been able to translate and speak to him in French, and without her gift to do so, the Elders teaching him had no idea how strong his testimony was!! His story really is a miracle :) Maybe I'll be able to write about it better in another email! But the baptism went great, and I even sang at it! Wowza, that was exciting! We made cake and all, and everyone loved our American brownies that we brought, and it was just beautiful and cheery all around!!! :)

This week has also been super fun with just the missionaries in the District! Last wednesday, for our district lunch after district meeting, we headed to the beach :) It was only about a 5 minute walk from the gågade, and it was SUPER gorgeous :) Pictures galore!!

​lovely ocean beach :)
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We also headed to that ginormous Castle in Kolding (pronounced Calling) today :) Koldinghus! The story about it is fascinating! If you have any time to spare, and want to study up on Danish castles, I would recommend it!!! The experience of seeing all of Kolding was wonderful, but in the process of taking a group picture, my camera fell off from the fence I had it propped up on due to the wind, but luckily it only fell about 5 feet onto the roof of the castle, and not all the way down to the moat........ That wouldn't have been too fun.....But all is well :) And I have pictures!

nothing like a view of Denmark from atop a castle. And of course, Elder Madsen makes the picture so much better​

To end the glory of this past week, Sister Woster and I are combining our area with another area for the last week of the transfer. We are now combined with Horsens, because one of the sisters, Sister Barett, has finished her mission (and extension) and went home today, so we get to enjoy going back and forth between Vejle, Fredericia, and Horsens multiple times this upcoming week!! Wow!!

But here's to a fantastic week!! I hope you all have a great one, because I know I will :)

I love you all!!

MKH,

Sister Soelberg

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Sleeping Arrangements

​Best apartment I've ever stayed in!! :)

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There is Truth!

You just gotta look inside the book!

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The Biggest Flakes Ever

​We found some snow

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What to Say?

Here we are again, a lovely monday, forgetting all the things I wanted to talk about in my letter!! Haha, but I'll try to keep my memory jogged as I get going!

I'm not feeling the best today. It all started just last night! We were biking back from visiting a less active in the hospital- It was about a 10 minute bikeride, a good amount uphill, and we had been fasting all day, so Søster Woster and I were just naturally feeling a little physically run down. When we got in for dinner, I sat down, and my companion graciously made me some chicken and fetched a couple home-made cookies. I felt really weak and as if my blood sugar was just really low. After eating, I was still feeling exhausted, so I layed down for the rest of the dinner hour. At the end, we were about to head out again, when I felt really light headed, so we rested for another half hour, but my heartrate was going crazy!! So we stayed in, tried relaxing, drinking fluids, going through all my symptoms, but my resting heart rate was at abound 80-100 bpm. This morning, after not being able to sleep all night, it was at 100ish, and after walking around and getting ready for the day, it was up to 120 bpm, and after riding my bike to the library just now, it was 144. My companions exercise heart rate is the same as my resting heart rate at the moment. So. I have a doctors appointment set for later today..... They're not too really concerned on the phone.

I don't feel stressed at all, so I have no idea what's going on. Just a foggy head, slight chills and clamminess, dizziness, and a crazy fast heart.

I'll keep you updated... I'd love to have an update right about now, too.

On a better note, I had a wonderful time here in Denmark this past week! We had some wonderful exchanges up in Horsens, which I am convinced is my favorite city in Denmark! It's so adorable, the people are friendly, and I just felt so alive up there! It could have been due to the fact that we stayed in a Castle that night!! No lie!! I'll send a picture :)

We walked and talked all day ( as usual!) We tried not to do anything too strenuous or walk to far though, because I've been having issues with my feet and legs. I had a doctors appointment last week, who reffered me to a physio-therapist to help relieve the uncommon but severe pain that has resulted from me having shinsplints. Walking and biking as a missionary doesn't help at all! The doctors gave me stretches and told me to keep off my feet if I want to move around without the limp-inducing pain! 

Psh! This is missionary life!! Can't keep me down!! 

I'm trying my best though to take the bus as often as possible. I just feel like my body is breaking down after only 5 months on the mission (my 5 month anniversary was yesterday!! :D )

But back to the positives :) This week has been absolutely spectacular in being able to find people to teach! They're all pretty positive, and all have very strong personalities, so it's always enjoyable to see them and talk to them! We've also been having spectacular weather up here in Vejle! The sun is out, and birds are chirping, which brings people outside to talk to :D Det glæder mig til forår!! :)

​The flowers were blooming all over in Horsens!!

Some funny/noteworthy experiences this week that I just don't know how to explain:

We met a German guy on the street who told us he is out and about, backpacking Europe and telling people he's seen Jesus, and wants everyone to know! We had a great conversation with him, but he had strong symptoms of paranoia, as he was constantly looking over his shoulders and mumbling that people were after him to kill him. I hope he has a continued safe trip around Europe.

One of our lovely people we work with who has Schizophrenia broke down during our appointment on Tuesday. She slipped into her second personality, which just so happens to be Jesus. We stayed there at her apartment with her, listened to her, and chatted while we waited for her Doctor to come and pick her up. We've since visited her in the hospital, and she's doing better, but is still secured in the facility.

While in the Psychological department on our visit, we were instructed to take off our scarves for our safety. And Both Søster Woster and I were hit on by some of the patients on two seperate occasions. It was an intersting day....

On our way to Horsens for exchanges, we accidently took the wrong train. It was on the same track, but arrived 3 minutes before ours. We didn't realize it until the ticket man was asking for tickets, and very disagreeably accused us of trying to trick the system by using our tickets to Horsens to get us to Aarhus. The woman sitting with us in the booth tried helping us explain it was an honest mistake, but in the end we had to pay for another train ticket to Aarhus, and then another ticket to take us from Aarhus to Horsens. Fun. But we had great conversations on our extra hour of traveling around Denmark.

I can't think of any other funny/noteworthy experiences at the moment....

So all in all, it was an interesting, but very fun week! We were going to head up to Kolding today and meet up with the rest of the District at an old castle, but as my health is not being agreeable, we've decided to take it easy. But fear not, eventually, I will hae a great castle tour while here in Danmark!! :)

I hope my email was a bit exciting! My mind is kinda frazzled and all over the place, so I hope you could understand it :)

Have a great rest of your week, and I'll talk with you all next Monday!! :)

Jeg elsker jer!! <3

MKH,

Søster Morgan B Soelberg

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Meeting Elvis

​Yup

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The sequence of getting a good picture

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The Vejle V!!

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With a Backpack of Faith

It's been a great week here in Vejle :) Thank you so much for all the prayers and lovely messages!! I love hearing from each and every one of you :D <3

To start the week off, we had a fantastic lesson with a man we met while knocking! If anyone tells you nothing ever comes from knocking on people's door, you can just tell them ''Kind sir, you're absolutely bonkers!''

The man we found, T, looks like the typical driver of a Harley, with a heart of gold! Our appointment last Monday was so touching, and we definitely felt the Spirit. We stopped by later in the week to drop off some good old American Orange Rolls, and we have another appointment with him this evening :) It's going to be great! 

We then knocked on some doors in another part of Vejle, and found M, another really positive man with the most tatoos I've ever seen on one person before! We actually knocked his Girlfriend's door, and she told us that while she wasn't interested, we should come back and talk to her boyfriend, who is very religious. So of course we took the invitation, and we have an appointment with him again later this week :) And remember that man from last week, Justice? We saw him on the gågade on our way home for dinner. We had felt to take the 45 minute walk home rather than take the 5 minute bus ride, and on the way, ran into Justice again, this time, Sober! He remembered us, and we set up an appoinment for later this week :) These 3 men are so deligtful to talk to, and we're looking forward to these great lessons with them :)

In connection with this week's title, we had a little adventure this week! Our Saturday had been left open all week for finding opportunities, so we took the chance to head out to one of the smaller villages in our area - one where missionaries haven't been in a while. We decided on Give, a little town with not much going on. We broke out the backpacks, and stuffed them with copies of the Book of Mormon, water bottles, and of course, Faith :) We were so stoked to head out! 

So here we are in little old Give. We knocked on a little under 100 doors (yes, we counted), and the whole time, could only find filthy rich people, or little old senior citizens who didn't want to talk to us. We decided to take our lunch break around 13:00, and after our hour, we headed out again. As we started knocking in a new area, we ran into a whole lot of Jehovah's Witnesses! No wonder all the people we were knocking either weren't opening their doors, or would slam it in our face after peeking at us! We had been knocking the same neighborhood the Jehovah's Witnesses had just knocked! So we headed to another area, had 0 success, and decided to go home to Vejle for dinner, and try our luck there. 

So after knocking for 6 hours in Give, and not having any success, we planned on heading back out for the last 3 hours of the day to knock, and contact the man who's girlfriend said to come back on the weekend. And boy, were we blessed! M was so open, and just deligtful to talk to! We know that even though it didn't feel like we were having any success at all that day, at the very end, we were so receptive to the Spirit that we knew exactly what to say, and we were able to convey the importance of the gospel message to M :)

I was thinking about this experience we had on Saturday during my studies this morning. I was reading the last chapter of 2 Nephi, and the first 2 verses stood out to me. 

1 And now I, Nephi, cannot write all the things which were taught among my people; neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking; for when a man speaketh bythe power of the Holy Ghost   the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men.

 2 But behold, there are many that harden their hearts against the Holy Spirit, that it hath no place in them; wherefore, they cast many things away which are written and esteem them as things of   naught.

As I was reading these verses, I thought about how there are so many people we talk to throughout the space of the day, and even though we Speak Gospel truths to them, they never seem to care. I know that I feel the Holy Ghost, and that what I'm saying is true, so it's soo frustrating when these people brush us off and chuckle away! I think to myself, '' why don't these people realize the importance of our message?? Why aren't they feeling that these things we're saying are true??''

The Holy Ghost is here with us. He is carrying the message to their hearts, but they're not letting Him in. It is a personal action to allow the Holy Spirit to work on your heart and understanding. I know that what I am doing is right, But what can I do better?? haha, all of these questions just keep coming! All I can think is, 'agency man, it's a kicker!!'

But I know that as I keep working hard, I will see miracles in these people's lives! At least all these people we talk to are now introduced to the missionaries, and maybe someday, they will remember and be interested :) JUST KEEP SWIMMING, like McKenzie's new fish, Peesh!! ;)

But all in all, we had a really great week! We found 3 new investigators, and a whole lot of potentials! We had a phenomenal lesson with a less active woman, and she came to Stake Conference yesterday! :D

Guess who else I saw at Stake Conferece?? Søster Sorensen, AND!!!

​SØSTER WILLIAMS!! :D It was wonderful!! She gave me the biggest hug right when I walked in, and I was sooooo happy to see her :) Welcome to Denmark, my dear friend <3

I hope you all have a fantastic week, because ours was wonderful, and this next week will be even better :) We even saw a rainbow this morning :)

I love you all!!! 

Vi snakkes!!

-Søster Sølberg

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