Answers to Prayers

It's amazing just how much God knows us personally!

I remember just a few years ago, I began to understand the true meaning of that beautiful truth. I wondered how on Earth can God know each and every one of us perfectly, and love us so completely?? There are just so many people! And we do so many different things, and have so many different interests and loves and joys and goals and plans and fears and struggles and pains, and yet God can take each of us and guide us smoothly and perfectly in a way that seamlessly affects the world around us. How?! I just couldn't comprehend it. But I believed it. I believed it because I felt that it was true, with the peaceful and sweet feeling of understanding and love that the Spirit speaks to my heart and my mind.

I have thought a lot about this concept in the past few weeks. We work with a young man here in Slagelse named Sandor. He has been through a lot in his life, and doesn't know if there even is a god, let alone the Loving God that we as missionaries teach and testify about! Well, Sandor has asked us questions about how he can come to feel such a love for and from God- the love that he can see in our eyes and our hearts every time he meets with us. So naturally, my mind has been a little more inclined towards this topic as I've tried to know how to perfectly help Sandor- and if I can't help him perfectly, I can still work as hard as I can and allow the Spirit to truly teach him of the Truth.

Last P-day, we ended the day with the Young Adults with a ''Family Home Evening'' activity, and right there, in that night, I recieved an answer to prayer :) The Elders Bradshaw and Dickson shared the spiritual thought, which they pulled from the 3rd Book of Nephi in the Book of Mormon :) In this chapter (ch. 13) Christ has appeared to the Nephites, the people living on the American Continents after His ressurrection. Christ gives the Sermon on the Mount to the people there as well, and in verses 25-34 (found also in Matthew 6), tells the disciples,

''Remember the words which I have spoken. For behold, ye are they whom I have chosen to minister unto this people. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, even so will he clothe you, if ye are not of little faith. Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient is the day unto the evil thereof.''

As we read these verses, I felt the Spirit speak so sweetly to my sjæl, and I knew that it was a message I needed directly from the Lord. The scriptures we have before us are for our benefit and learning, and we can recieve direct answers to prayer through them :) The many prophets that have written their testimonies and experiences have done so with our benefit in mind- and there have been countless men and women in the history of the world who have put down their lives just so that we as a whole world can have the Holy Scriptures available for everyone and anyone at any time! So please, read the scriptures, and use them for what they are meant for- to strengthen your faith and the faith of those around you!

This week, we as missionaries around the World had the opportunity to watch a special Missionary Broadcast :) We didn't get to see it live here in Denmark, but we did see it the day after it was broadcast- we can recieve so many personal answers for our own lives and the lives of those we have a responsibility for as we listen to and apply the messages and divine guidance we receive from our inspired leaders! I don't know about the rest of you, but I am STOKED for General Conference in just a few short weeks!! (even though it will actually be my last weekend as a Full-time Missionary...) I challenge all of you to prepare yourselves for the great Spiritual experience that it is to listen to the Prophet and Apostles and other leaders that we are blessed with here in this dispensation :) <3

Another part of this week that helped me to learn a great deal of my eternal and divine potential was the tender experience of partaking of the Sacrament. For such a simple ordinance, it has such a huge impact on our lives. There was something about my experience yesterday at church that just made the Spirit touch my heart so deeply and intensely as I partook of the Sacrament. I can't explain what I experienced, but I know how I felt and I cannot deny the love and peace that rushed through me as I turned myself once again to the Savior. I am forever grateful for the opportunity we have every week to renew the blessed covenant of baptism- to promise again to always remember and follow Christ, and to do all that we can to be even better in the coming week!

As I have learned and grown in the past few years, I have come to learn that our Father in Heaven is all knowing and ever able to direct us, because He is our Father :) We lived with our Heavenly Parents before we came to this earth, and They raised our young spirits as long and as lovingly as they could before we were ready to take the next step in our eternal progression by coming here to Earth and experience Mortal Life :) As our Parents, They knew our mannerisms and the way we think through things and make choices, making it possible for our Heavenly Father to understand how events in the world will play out, all based on our own choices. God doesn't force things to happen His way, but He knows and understands how things will all work out. Because they will all work out :) We don't need to worry about the future or the past, because God's plan of Happiness encompasses us completely from Eternity to Eternity :)

It is my prayer that all of you I have this weekly contact with will always reflect on the Wonderful Message of the Gospel, and apply it to your lives every day :) Consider the Lillies, and consider your own blessed and important existence!! 

I love each and every one of you SO much :) and I hope that you all have a splendid week full of understanding and peace and success in all that you set out to do <3

Jeg elsker jer så højt, og jeg håber at I kan føle den kærlighed der kommer fra Gud hver dag! Ha' det godt, og vi snakkes næste uge! <3

Med kærlig hilsen,

Søster Soelberg

​​Us four missionaries in Slagelse (Elder Bradley Dickson, Sister Andrea Keller, me, and Elder Jed Bradshaw) have all started our own band- and this is the first look at our first album cover ;) hahaha, complete with a selfie-stick!!

​Sister Keller and I enjoyed a cute little snowy path on the way home the other night :) Denmark is just so darling!!

Miracles All Over!

Hej Friends and Family!!! I hope you have all had a wonderful week! 

Life has been very busy here in Slagelse! I've only been here for a little under a month, but I honestly feel like I've been here for a year :) The people are all so kind, and so wonderful!

I'm sorry that I never sent out a letter last week! Miracles have been happening all over, and there just isn't enough time to write them all down! But I would like to encourage you all again to focus on writing in your journals! They really are quite the source of inspiration and de-stressing! So be sure to use them! 

But in any case, I would highly recommend recording down your personal and everyday miracles :) I've got a few in my head that I would like to share with you- ones that inspire and encourage me to always follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit-

About 2 weeks ago, Sister Perkins and I were having a day full of failed plans and frustration! We had a set appointment later on in the day, and we were constantly exploring new ideas and rearranging plans, but nothing we were doing was seeming to work. I distinctly remember biking up a cold, icy hill and saying a prayer of frustration in my heart, asking God why nothing was working out as planned, and why we weren't having any success that day. This though process caught me off-guard in the very moment, because as missionaries, plans rarely end up going according to plan! I pushed aside these feelings of negativity, and Sister Perkins and I both felt that we should bike into the central square of the city and try and contact some previous investigators that lived in the area. I said another - more positive- prayer in my heart, asking the Lord to help us to be able to make a difference in someone's life that day.

So Sister Perkins and I hopped back onto our bikes and made our way down and up another hill (in denmark, you always end up biking uphill, no matter where you're going)- we were passing an apartment complex when all of a sudden, I felt my shoelace get caught on my bike pedal and pulled over as quickly as I could. Funny enough, I had just tightened and tucked in the laces on my boots before we started biking again, but somehow, when I wasn't looking, the lace popped back out and got stuck in the joints of my pedal, making it impossible to bike further. I hopped off and attempted to release the catch as gracefully and quickly as I could when we heard an excited gasp and someone running over to us while saying, ''Sisters!! Yes, Sisters!!'' We turned around to see a less-active woman, Christiane, scurrying over the ice to us. She had just been praying that someone would be able to help her out- she was trying to move some chunky boxes from her apartment over to a friends house, but only had her one bike- but now she had 3 :) We helped her out, and ended up being a direct answer to prayer in that moment. I said another prayer in my heart, this time one of thanksgiving and humility. The rest of the day continued just as before, but this time, both Sister Perkins and I felt positive and happy and ready to do anything.

The second miracle happened this past week, with the exact same woman! Funny how that happens!

In the mean time, Transfers have happened, and I am now companions with Sister Andrea Keller :) You'll get a picture in a bit!

We had an hour left of the day, and Sister Keller and I decided to stop by an investigator just to introduce them to each other- but on the way there, we passed by the same Christiane's apartment, and I felt that we needed to stop and go say Hi to her- she also hadn't met Sister Keller yet, so we would have a good excuse for stopping by un-announced.

So we knock on the door, and it turns out that Christiane had found herself in another stressful situation again, not really knowing what to do and hoping that someone would be able to come by and help her- but she didn't know who to call! So Ta-da!! The Missionaries just happen to stop by :) We were able to help her out and get to know her a little bit more, and we had such a great time being able to be with her again.

The next day, we stopped by the investigator we had been on the way to before seeing Christiane, and it turns out that they know each other! And we didn't even know! But it turns out that Christiane had already told our mutual friend, Marie, about us coming by and being an answer to prayer! Marie really liked and appreciated that :)

I hope I'm able to convey all the happy feelings correctly without leaving out too many details- I just feel so blessed to have been able to help the people around me in ways that I didn't expect, and all thanks to feeling and acting upon the small promptings that come into our hearts and our minds. Sometimes we don't understand all the things that happen in our lives, but as we react positively to all of the small and instinctual impressions we receive, we can find ourselves in situations where we are able to help others in ways and times that we don't expect!

I hope that you are also all aware of the influence you have on the lives of others- especially me :) there are many of you who have had a strong impact on my life without you even knowing it! So thanks for all the love and good cheer that you spread- and keep going! You never know how far your warm heart can reach!

I hope you all have a great week! I'll try to have a better email for you all next week!

med stor kærlighed-

<3 Søster MBSoelberg

The Elders (Curtis and Dickson) surprised us with a snowman two weeks ago! But we caught them in the act!

​​Sister Keller!! She just finished getting Trained, and I'm excited to feel her contagious missionary spirit!! She's great!

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

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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