It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Dear family and friends,

Maybe I always say this, but holy cow! Time is flying SO quickly! I have already been here for a month and TOMORROW I will get my FLIGHT ITINERARY for Denmark! :)

Let me explain what could happen visa-wise though... I have NO idea if my visa has come yet. Tomorrow they will make sure we have flight arrangements and such (even if we are still waiting for visas to come). Midweek, next week, we will find out if our visas have not come yet. If they have not come, we will probably be temporarily reassigned to some place in the U.S. for a little bit. Your guess is as good as mine. A sister we met was reassigned to Montana while waiting for her visa in Norway, another was reassigned to Ohio. So who knows, it could be anywhere. Next Thursday, I should know what the status is though. So I will keep you updated. But whatever happens, the Lord is in charge and knows what we need most and how we can best serve others and learn at the same time :)

So recap of the week. Last Thursday was Ældste Earl's birthday. It was way fun for a couple reasons. First of all, Brother Pullan had taught us one of the 10 or so birthday songs that they sing in Denmark. Before he taught us, he prefaced how amazing birthdays are in Denmark (and Holidays). Apparently, when it is your birthday, they decorate with TONS of Danish flags and wave them around as they sing songs to you and basically it is just awesome. Plus, the songs are super loud and catchy :)

The one we learned, you sing the song three times and pretend to play instruments in between each time you sing it. You also wave flags while singing "Hooray" to the tune at the end. So, I love Denmark already!!! :)

Okay, back to Ældste Earl's birthday. We sang the birthday song at least three times to him and wrote him fake love letters from made up girls. We had mailed them the day before and since he is district leader, he is the one who checks the mail. It was so fun to see the confused look on his face. He had NO idea who they were from and was very creeped out and didn't want anyone to know. We ended up confessing it was us the next day and he was shocked and started laughing :)

So, on p day, we get sack lunches because it is quicker and then we don't have to change (you have to wear church clothes in the cafeteria). We usually sit on this one particular bench near where the laundry is and watch people walk by. There is a sort of wedge on the sidewalk that is not noticeable right where people walk over there... this is the reason why we go there. Awesome entertainment. People never expect the wedge and tend to trip a little as they are walking by. It never ceases to make us laugh. Ha ha.

Oh and on Friday, it SNOWED! It was so beautiful. I don't know why I love snow so much. I just think it is gorgeous. I guess 3 and a half winters in Provo was not enough for me. But yeah, on Saturday, it looked like it was winter, like Christmas was just around the corner. I was so happy. Brother Pullan was not the biggest fan. I said something about it being a beautiful day in class and he jokingly told me that I was being too optimistic. However, I did ask him if we could sing a Christmas song to open class and he said yes! So we sang "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" in Danish. Pretty awesome.

By the way, I LOVE singing in Danish! I think one of my favorites right now is Come, Come Ye Saints (Kom, Kom Guds Folk).

Side note, I am sorry about the disorganization of my emails sometimes. It is hard to remember everything in order quickly as I type. Plus, this computer is really slow at letting me go back to previous paragraphs. But hey, at least I can fit in all the stories, right?

Okay, so Sister Nielsen, once again, let us write stories during our grammar time (in Danish, of course). In my story, my district was playing Duck, Duck Goose (And, And Gås) at the park and then a real goose started to chase us, then Ældste Peterson tried to feed it bread and then it tried to kiss him so he screamed and ran away. We all wrote pretty crazy stories about each other. Søster Peterson's (she is not related to the elder as far as we know) was about her and Søster Pearson debating about who I was going to marry. Ha ha. Like I said, it was all really random and crazy, but they were all fun stories.

Mistake of the day: I forgot my name tag when we went to the temple and I think it was confusing people why I seemed to be hanging out with other missionaries. We went back through the gates and the security guard asked if I was really a missionary. Oops. But I guess that's what happens when you try to get out the door by 6:10am to head to the temple. So that's my excuse haha.

Highlight learning experience of the week: This past week, we have talked a lot about promptings and acting on promptings. Brother Pullan encouraged us to get a small notebook and write down the promptings we have. The more we recognize them, more will come and our Heavenly Father will trust that we can fulfill the work that he needs. Sometimes we don't know whether promptings are spiritual guidance or our just our thoughts. Elder Bednar gave a talk on this (not sure when), but he talked about how regardless, we should follow through. We may never know why were prompted to do something, but if we are trying to be a good person and follow through with the things we feel prompted to do, the Lord will direct our paths to help others and protect ourselves.

Last thought: Yesterday, we had class in the afternoon. For some strange reason, all of our teachers showed up. They all arrived at different times. I was already in a good mood, but once all of them were in the room, I just felt so safe and comforted. I feel they have become a family to me. You can see the love the have for the Savior, the gospel and for each one of us. I hope I can stay in touch with them for they have truly been amazing friends and teachers. They are outstanding examples and I love them all so much. The Lord has truly blessed me to be here at this time.

I love all of you so much! Next Thursday is my last p day. If you send me a Dear Elder before Wednesday at 1pm or if you send me a letter that gets here by Wednesday, I will be able to write you back in before I leave to Denmark. Otherwise, I will write you back once I am in Denmark.

Until next week...

Love always,

Søster Orgill