I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go

Dear family and friends,

Wow, so much to say... so I will try to say as much as I can.

First, to explain the photo of the little flag I drew on my name tag. We are supposed to try to speak as much Danish as we can (SYL- Speak Your Language). Last week, Brother Pullan walked in and told us that he had a dream that he came to work and we all were really violent and a threw something at him and he realized that he needed to challenge us to go on an English fast. He told us that the next day and so that day, we tried very hard to only speak Danish. The little flag (we each still have it on our name tags and will keep it there until we leave the MTC) is a reminder that we need to continue to strive to do that. Because, the Lord wants to help us, but we need to do our part first.

So on Monday, my district and I got really excited because April Fool's Day was coming up. We wanted to play a prank on our teacher. So we tried to brainstorm, but nothing came to mind. The morning of, we decided we would switch all our desks to be sister, elder, sister, elder (you are not really supposed to do that) and then we would switch all of our Danish flags with the Icelandic flags. Elder Knudsen wrote in Icelandic on our chalkboard. Also, we were going to try to not talk much and act tired (well, I didn't really want to act tired, so I just tried to not say anything at the beginning of class). Anyway, we went to breakfast, came back and Brother Pullan looked confused and asked why we were acting so weird. At one point, he looked at the chalkboard and stared at the date. It looked like it finally clicked in his head and he said, "Oh, it's April Fool's day!" Somehow, we felt an minuscule fulfillment of success, that we had tricked him.

Throughout class, Brother Pullan would periodically glance at his phone. He doesn't usually do that so it seemed a little odd, but not really. Also, I am pretty sure I heard a notification sound go off a few times on his phone. One of the times though, he looked shocked as he persisted to read an email. Then, he read it out loud. It said that due to increased security in Denmark, we have not received our visas and would be temporarily reassigned to Rapid City South Dakota. He read the whole email and we each looked at it to verify that it was from the Missionary Travel Department. We were definitely not expecting it, but I think we all took the news well. The rest of the class we questioned each other about South Dakota, etc. There was a small feeling of disappointment since we did not feel like we had any connection to South Dakota, but I think we were all ready to serve. I asked if we could sing "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go" for the closing song because that would help everyone get in the right mindset and excited to serve. We sang, prayed and then Brother Pullan left. When he walked out, I blurted out, "wow, I was kinda hoping that would be an April Fool's joke, but it's all good. I'm kinda excited we get to experience preaching in English." Immediately, Brother Pullan walked back in and told us we needed to be speaking in Danish and then said, "by the way... April Fool's!" Ha ha ha ha ha ha! It was SO great! He really got us. At that point, we had no idea what to feel because we were so bombarded with unexpected thoughts about the future.

Anyway, pretty great. Later in the day, Sister Nielsen joked that she was pregnant and we TOTALLY believed her, too! Ha, we are so gullible. Hopefully our teachers had some good laughs

On Wednesday, it was our last day of class with all of our teachers there. They are all so amazing and each have different strengths that, combined, helped us prepare to be where we stand now. I don't know if we would ever feel ready for the field, I doubt anyone does, but I could not ask for better instructors who are attentive to the spirit and live Christlike examples. I'm going to miss all of them so much! Our last class consisted of teaching our final lesson, grammar, individualized help and reading. Then, I tried a song I wrote for our teachers as my companions beat-boxed. It was kind of embarrassing, but it was still fun. After that, we got to see Sister Nielsen's photos from her mission, take pictures with our teachers and say our final goodbyes! I felt so sad walking out of the room because they felt like family. I am going to miss them so much and am so grateful for all of their help.

Yesterday, we checked and we found out that our visas actually have not come yet. So we were going to be temporarily reassigned. Ha ha, good one, right? However, it is the truth. If we get our visas tomorrow, we will go to Denmark on Monday. If we don't, we have been called to be temporarily be assigned to serve in the... Tennessee Nashville Mission. We will most likely serve there for a full transfer (6 weeks) and then will head to Denmark. So, life changes, in the blink of an eye, but one thing is for sure: The Lord knows us- He knows our strengths. He knows our weaknesses. He knows how we can best share our talents. He knows what our learning styles are. He knows who He needs us to strengthen. He knows who will strengthen us.

So, there is no doubt in my mind that serving in Tennessee will be a blessing. I know that I will learn many things that I might need to learn before I get to Denmark and that the Lord needs me to give Him my all.

Two spiritual quotes from the week:

1. "Love is a celestial respiration of the air of paradise" and that investigators must feel loved by us and their Heavenly Father in order to commit to change. -Gerald Causse

This helps remind me that love is a gift we have been given and we must strive to love our investigators because when we do, we will be more eager to share our message with them and will rejoice as we witness them change.

2. President Harold B. Lee said that the most important missionary work that you do will be within the walls of your own home.

This makes me think about how if we can help the Lord get the gospel to one person, how it can have positive effects on their family and impact them for generations, especially when they can go forth to share it with their families. It also makes me think of my siblings who are striving their hardest everyday to teach their children to live and love the gospel. I am so grateful for their examples and my parents. They are amazing missionaries.

Love always,

Søster Orgill