Family and friends,
I'm still trying to get to used to living in a big city. It's quite different than Horsens and it's fjord.
One thing that happened this week: Our phone died, so we had to wait until we were back home to turn it on again. An hour later I realized I accidently left our mapbook at the 7/11 when we went to look up directions to an address. We had to go back to get the mapbook which ended up changing our plans, but it was awesome because the person we went to visit said she was expecting us! Apparently, she had called us to comeover and just thought we would even though our phone had been off! She had a friend who was excited to hear about the Book of Mormon and they invited us to come back this week.
I know that all of that was a part of Heavenly Father's plan for us to meet her :)
Things are going well hear in Gladsaxe area. I live about a 25 minute bike ride from the temple and church (there is a building that is closer, but it is being remodeled, so the church building is actually outside our area).
Sister Peterson and I are really trying to work hard on our Danish. We try to only speak Danish all day until 9:30pm.
I'm going to try to learn this area as fast as I can and work really hard on my Danish.
Love you all so much! I'll try to write more next week!
Med kærligste hilsener,
Søster Orgill
Monday, May 5, 2014
Climb Every Mountain... well, I guess there is only one in Denmark... okay... maybe it's just a hill.
Well, I now live in Gladsaxe... basically Copenhagen.
I just dropped off my suitcases about 2-3 hours ago and now we are running around doing preparation stuff.
I will really miss Horsens. It's weird how quickly it became a home to me, but I want that to happen here in Gladsaxe.
I don't have a lot of time, but I sent a lot of pics to my mom from this week.
We had a district activity on Himmelbjerg! The highest point in Denmark. Ha ha, there are NO Mountains here. It was pretty much a little hill with a tower. We took our bikes to the city Ry and then biked around 11 kilometers (I think, I can't remember) to get there. It was great! Really pretty!
I already met someone from Romania here! She was really nice.
I sang the song, "Savior, Redeemer of My Soul" with Elder Ockey in Sacrament meeting and bore my testimony since it was my last Sunday.
We taught Institute class this week. It was on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sister Pearson and I shared a story we made up and then related it. It went well :)
I know this is part of Heavenly Father's plan for me to now be in Gladsaxe and I am excited to find out what. Maybe even just to find the Romanians here, who knows!
Love you all! It's sure crazy it will be May in a few days!
Søster Orgill
 |
| Elder Lawless and I were the only ones brave enough to stand in the chilly lake. |
 |
| As missionaries, we just can't go deeper than knee deep unless it's for a baptism. |
 |
Throwing my boots away and trying
to not touch the trash can!
|
 |
| Watching Solveig ride a horse! |
 |
Me, trying on a riding helmet
|
 |
District activity, on our way to the highest point in Denmark!
|
.JPG)
 |
| The lake by Himmelbjerg (Heaven/Sky Mountain) |
 |
| My parrot that Elder Ockey and Elder Kinch got me for my birthday. I named him Perry. |
 |
| Ruslan wanted to celebrate my birthday. He bought me a cake and my friends came :) |
 |
| I'm going to sure miss my friends in Horsens! |
 |
| With Roby |
 |
| With Michael |
 |
| With Ankhaa. |
 |
| With Søster Pearson :) |
 |
| A group selfie! (I've heard there is a new song called, "let me take a selfie?" or something like that). |
 |
| With Anna Holbech at church. |
 |
| Other photos from my last Sunday in Horsens... |
 |
| We dropped by our Romanian friends on the way home |
CURVE BALL!
Familier og venner,
So, first off, Denmark really likes their holidays. The library was closed from Thursday through Monday because of Easter break. That's why our preparation day was switched to Tuesday.
This week in Horsens:
-We got to see Solveig ride a horse. She also shared with us her commitment to be unselfish, applying what she had studied in the Bible from last week. She's awesome.
-We met with our investigator, Daniel the Dane. This is the one I met on splits like 8 weeks ago and him and his friends invited us in immediately and we prayed with them. He wants to practice his English with us before he goes to Spain for a vacation next month and he also wanted to learn more about the purpose of life. He had a new friend over. Her parents are from Bosnia. She wanted to hear about the Book of Mormon. We invited them to read Alma 34. We'll be back this week.
-A less active that had not been active for the last 8 years... we've been meeting with him once a week and he came to Institute this week and helped clean the church since it was the YSAs responsibility this week! It was so exciting!!!!! :)
-We got to go to a YSA Bowling activity since our investigators were going. It was so much fun :)
-We had a baptism for a branch that was held in our building. We invited some of our investigators to come by texting them and telling them what time it was at and what day. One of them texted back, "I don't want to be baptized" and signed his name. We were laughing so hard because that is not what we had asked. Ha ha :) He did come to the baptism. We showed him the font up close afterwards. He hugged the wall because he was scared we were going to push him in. He's great though! Then he asked one of our other investigators if she was going to get baptized... this happens a lot.
-We went on enchanges in Odense
-We invited Roby to come with us to the Bishop's house for dinner. Lisbeth in the ward came, too. She can only speak Danish. We had to keep switching languages for them. I was trying to explain to Lisbeth that Roby can only understand English. It turned into a monologue and I didn't realize I was speaking in English to her. Everyone started laughing at me once I realized it. It was pretty funny, but I felt way embarrassed. Then later, I asked Roby a question in Danish and didn't realize I was speaking in Danish.
-We invited Rado to dinner at the Holbech's in the ward. That went great as well and we invited him to read 2 Nephi 31 about baptism and authority from God. He talked to us about how he has been baptized before. We talked about authority from God. He is going to pray about getting baptized again.
-Service projects from this week- winding embroidery thread and pulling weeks :)
-We met with the guy we found last week as a result of us speaking Danish to each other. It went really well and we are meeting with him and his girlfriend on Sunday. The spirit was really strong in their apartment.
And last but not least, President called yesterday and told me that I will be transferred on Monday to one of the three Copenhagen areas. I will be in Gladsaxe 1st Ward. I'm not going to lie, I am really sad to leave. I have only been here two transfers and was NOT expecting this at all. I mean we have some AMAZING investigators and less actives that are so close to coming back here... Plus, I just feel like I have also become good friends with all of them and more here as well. But, it's okay, I will trust that it is part of the Lord's plan and that there are people I personally need to work with in Gladsaxe. I'm excited for a new adventure even though I will truly truly truly miss Horsens. My new companion will be Sister Peterson. Yes, she was my companion in the MTC, and in Roskilde. When President told me, he said, "third time is a charm." Ha ha :)
Life is good. I firmly believe that there is a REASON in everything. It is all part of the Lord's plan. Even the curve balls, such as packing up and leaving your best friends to a new area. Gladsaxe will be amazing. I know it. I will love it! I'm excited to meet the people there and will do all I can to serve and love my best! I am excited to see and tell you about the miracles that come there!
Med kærligste hilsener,
Søster Orgill
P.S. I will send pictures later when I am at the library to print off our ticket for exchanges. We emailed at the church this morning.
P.S.S. I will still be serving as a Sister Training Leader along with Sister Peterson when I am transferred, but it will be for the other half of the sisters in the mission.
So, first off, Denmark really likes their holidays. The library was closed from Thursday through Monday because of Easter break. That's why our preparation day was switched to Tuesday.
This week in Horsens:
-We got to see Solveig ride a horse. She also shared with us her commitment to be unselfish, applying what she had studied in the Bible from last week. She's awesome.
-We met with our investigator, Daniel the Dane. This is the one I met on splits like 8 weeks ago and him and his friends invited us in immediately and we prayed with them. He wants to practice his English with us before he goes to Spain for a vacation next month and he also wanted to learn more about the purpose of life. He had a new friend over. Her parents are from Bosnia. She wanted to hear about the Book of Mormon. We invited them to read Alma 34. We'll be back this week.
-A less active that had not been active for the last 8 years... we've been meeting with him once a week and he came to Institute this week and helped clean the church since it was the YSAs responsibility this week! It was so exciting!!!!! :)
-We got to go to a YSA Bowling activity since our investigators were going. It was so much fun :)
-We had a baptism for a branch that was held in our building. We invited some of our investigators to come by texting them and telling them what time it was at and what day. One of them texted back, "I don't want to be baptized" and signed his name. We were laughing so hard because that is not what we had asked. Ha ha :) He did come to the baptism. We showed him the font up close afterwards. He hugged the wall because he was scared we were going to push him in. He's great though! Then he asked one of our other investigators if she was going to get baptized... this happens a lot.
-We went on enchanges in Odense
-We invited Roby to come with us to the Bishop's house for dinner. Lisbeth in the ward came, too. She can only speak Danish. We had to keep switching languages for them. I was trying to explain to Lisbeth that Roby can only understand English. It turned into a monologue and I didn't realize I was speaking in English to her. Everyone started laughing at me once I realized it. It was pretty funny, but I felt way embarrassed. Then later, I asked Roby a question in Danish and didn't realize I was speaking in Danish.
-We invited Rado to dinner at the Holbech's in the ward. That went great as well and we invited him to read 2 Nephi 31 about baptism and authority from God. He talked to us about how he has been baptized before. We talked about authority from God. He is going to pray about getting baptized again.
-Service projects from this week- winding embroidery thread and pulling weeks :)
-We met with the guy we found last week as a result of us speaking Danish to each other. It went really well and we are meeting with him and his girlfriend on Sunday. The spirit was really strong in their apartment.
And last but not least, President called yesterday and told me that I will be transferred on Monday to one of the three Copenhagen areas. I will be in Gladsaxe 1st Ward. I'm not going to lie, I am really sad to leave. I have only been here two transfers and was NOT expecting this at all. I mean we have some AMAZING investigators and less actives that are so close to coming back here... Plus, I just feel like I have also become good friends with all of them and more here as well. But, it's okay, I will trust that it is part of the Lord's plan and that there are people I personally need to work with in Gladsaxe. I'm excited for a new adventure even though I will truly truly truly miss Horsens. My new companion will be Sister Peterson. Yes, she was my companion in the MTC, and in Roskilde. When President told me, he said, "third time is a charm." Ha ha :)
Life is good. I firmly believe that there is a REASON in everything. It is all part of the Lord's plan. Even the curve balls, such as packing up and leaving your best friends to a new area. Gladsaxe will be amazing. I know it. I will love it! I'm excited to meet the people there and will do all I can to serve and love my best! I am excited to see and tell you about the miracles that come there!
Med kærligste hilsener,
Søster Orgill
P.S. I will send pictures later when I am at the library to print off our ticket for exchanges. We emailed at the church this morning.
P.S.S. I will still be serving as a Sister Training Leader along with Sister Peterson when I am transferred, but it will be for the other half of the sisters in the mission.
.JPG) |
Johnes version of the Tree of Life, he has it up year
round in his living room!
|
 |
| Exchanges with Esbjerg! We met Johnes and he gave us some of his special spices :) |
 |
| Swings in middle of the market street in Horsens!
They play music as you swing on them. I had to try it for a second! :)
|
 |
| Walking back from meeting the Elders (headed to Ankhaa's) called for a picture |
 |
| Ankhaa's Mongolian/Russian Food and the birthday cupcakes we made. Perfect combo. |
 |
Birthday dinner at Ankhaa's with Roby
|
 |
My boots have officially died... just in time for
Spring!
|
 |
Birthday breakfast! Thanks Sister Pearson! :)
|
There is Still Power in SYL
Kære familier og venner,
Wow, does anyone else seem like the road to Easter is a long one this year? I guess that's just what happens when it is on the 20th of April.
What happened this week?
-We asked if we could meet with one of our less actives again, the same time next week. He already had put us in as a reoccurring event on his phone! Ha ha :)
-Ankhaa brought a friend to Institute and we taught the Plan of Salvation in our English Institute class.
Rundown of my birthday:
-Sister Pearson made me buttermilk syrup, pancakes, eggs and bacon
-We visited and shared a message with a less active member
-We made cupcakes to bring to Ankhaa's since she wanted to make us dinner later and we decided we'd give some out to random people on the street, too :)
-We helped Solveig clean out her basement with the Elders
-We met with Roby, but ended up having to take him with us to drop off a rejsebon (kind of like a check to buy a train ticket) to the elders.
-We met with Ankhaa and she had made us dinner. She found out the day before that it was my birthday and bought me heart earrings. She is so sweet! Then we watched some Mormon message videos with her and Roby :)
A miracle from the week---We had given Ruslan a Book of Mormon in Bulgarian and invited him to read Ether chapter 12. Unfortunately, the Book of Mormon was an old translation that did not have the whole book. Luckily, there is a newer version. He told us he would not be home and we could not meet for a whole week since he had work all week, but that we could drop it in his mail box. We came by, were just writing a sticky note to leave on top of it and he walked out of his apartment building! He ended up not having to go into work. He said himself that it was a miracle that we crossed paths because he was just going to leave and so were we! Instead we were able to meet with him right there on the steps of his stairwell and have an impromptu lesson about the plan of salvation.
And another great miracle :) Every week, we have weekly planning. It last around 3 hours. During weekly planning we make goals for who we will meet the next week, what we will teach or share with them, how many lessons we want to teach, etc. At the end of weekly planning, we make goals of what we could work on to help ourselves be better missionaries. One of our goals this week is to speak Danish as often as possible because we have been slacking on that. It's kind of hard since the majority of our investigators are from different countries and don't speak Danish. But, we had remembered that we had been called to preach Jesus Christ's gospel in the Danish language, so we had better keep practicing.
On Saturday night, we had a lesson with an investigator in English. It was 9:15 p.m., so we just headed to unlock our bikes so we could get home. As we walked to our bikes, a man passed us. We said hi to him and he said hi back. Hi in Danish is, ”hej,” which sounds the exact same, so it is pretty universal and we could be speaking either language with that. I wanted to remind myself and Sister Pearson that we should speak Danish so after the man had passed our bikes, I bent down to unlock my bike and looked over to Sister Pearson (the same direction as the man who was passing us) and said, ”og, vi skal snakke dansk.” Meaning, ”and, we should speak Danish.”
The man heard me say this and turned around looking curious what we had said since he thought I was talking to him. He looked interested in what we had to say. So we began a conversation in Danish. We told him that we had just finished meeting with someone in the area and talked to him about God and Jesus Christ. We told him we were missionaries. Then we asked if he was studying here and he said he is actually a teacher at the university. We asked him where he was from and he said Romania, so I pulled out my limited Romanian vocabulary and said, ”bună ziua” meaning, ”good day.” We continued to speak in Danish until we asked him what churches he had been to. He told us that he wasn't sure how to say all of them in Danish and asked if he could say them in English. We told them it was fine and that was our first language. Then, he asked why we had been speaking in Danish since he was better at English. Ha ha! So we switched to English. We got his number, and he got ours. He wants to meet sometime this week! What a miracle. I know that it was because of the goal we set and that the Lord wanted to help us accomplish it. I really don't think we would have ended up having a conversation with him if it weren't for the commitment we had made that day to speak Danish.
Jeg elsker jer!
Søster Orgill
P.S. SYL stands for Speak Your Language which they would encourage us to do at the MTC so we could learn the language faster by practicing
Wow, does anyone else seem like the road to Easter is a long one this year? I guess that's just what happens when it is on the 20th of April.
What happened this week?
-We asked if we could meet with one of our less actives again, the same time next week. He already had put us in as a reoccurring event on his phone! Ha ha :)
-Ankhaa brought a friend to Institute and we taught the Plan of Salvation in our English Institute class.
Rundown of my birthday:
-Sister Pearson made me buttermilk syrup, pancakes, eggs and bacon
-We visited and shared a message with a less active member
-We made cupcakes to bring to Ankhaa's since she wanted to make us dinner later and we decided we'd give some out to random people on the street, too :)
-We helped Solveig clean out her basement with the Elders
-We met with Roby, but ended up having to take him with us to drop off a rejsebon (kind of like a check to buy a train ticket) to the elders.
-We met with Ankhaa and she had made us dinner. She found out the day before that it was my birthday and bought me heart earrings. She is so sweet! Then we watched some Mormon message videos with her and Roby :)
A miracle from the week---We had given Ruslan a Book of Mormon in Bulgarian and invited him to read Ether chapter 12. Unfortunately, the Book of Mormon was an old translation that did not have the whole book. Luckily, there is a newer version. He told us he would not be home and we could not meet for a whole week since he had work all week, but that we could drop it in his mail box. We came by, were just writing a sticky note to leave on top of it and he walked out of his apartment building! He ended up not having to go into work. He said himself that it was a miracle that we crossed paths because he was just going to leave and so were we! Instead we were able to meet with him right there on the steps of his stairwell and have an impromptu lesson about the plan of salvation.
And another great miracle :) Every week, we have weekly planning. It last around 3 hours. During weekly planning we make goals for who we will meet the next week, what we will teach or share with them, how many lessons we want to teach, etc. At the end of weekly planning, we make goals of what we could work on to help ourselves be better missionaries. One of our goals this week is to speak Danish as often as possible because we have been slacking on that. It's kind of hard since the majority of our investigators are from different countries and don't speak Danish. But, we had remembered that we had been called to preach Jesus Christ's gospel in the Danish language, so we had better keep practicing.
On Saturday night, we had a lesson with an investigator in English. It was 9:15 p.m., so we just headed to unlock our bikes so we could get home. As we walked to our bikes, a man passed us. We said hi to him and he said hi back. Hi in Danish is, ”hej,” which sounds the exact same, so it is pretty universal and we could be speaking either language with that. I wanted to remind myself and Sister Pearson that we should speak Danish so after the man had passed our bikes, I bent down to unlock my bike and looked over to Sister Pearson (the same direction as the man who was passing us) and said, ”og, vi skal snakke dansk.” Meaning, ”and, we should speak Danish.”
The man heard me say this and turned around looking curious what we had said since he thought I was talking to him. He looked interested in what we had to say. So we began a conversation in Danish. We told him that we had just finished meeting with someone in the area and talked to him about God and Jesus Christ. We told him we were missionaries. Then we asked if he was studying here and he said he is actually a teacher at the university. We asked him where he was from and he said Romania, so I pulled out my limited Romanian vocabulary and said, ”bună ziua” meaning, ”good day.” We continued to speak in Danish until we asked him what churches he had been to. He told us that he wasn't sure how to say all of them in Danish and asked if he could say them in English. We told them it was fine and that was our first language. Then, he asked why we had been speaking in Danish since he was better at English. Ha ha! So we switched to English. We got his number, and he got ours. He wants to meet sometime this week! What a miracle. I know that it was because of the goal we set and that the Lord wanted to help us accomplish it. I really don't think we would have ended up having a conversation with him if it weren't for the commitment we had made that day to speak Danish.
Jeg elsker jer!
Søster Orgill
P.S. SYL stands for Speak Your Language which they would encourage us to do at the MTC so we could learn the language faster by practicing
 |
Sister Wright and I with ice cream from Robert's
Is, the best ice cream place in Denmark
(located in Vejle)
|
 |
Sister Pearson and I after North Jylland Zone Training in Aarhus.
|
 |
We ate bread with an investigator and they had sugar cubes on the table.
It reminded me of being in France with the Texas Children's Choir and
when it became a trendy to eat sugar cubes after breakfast.
I took one and ate it in memory.
|
Thank You, Again, Tennessee
Summer is on its way… how do I know this? We were having
companionship study this morning and this medium-sized spider scurries
hurriedly parallel to our table. My first reaction? I scream! (Although I am
glad that it was not a roach, I would have literally died if it was). I saw it
run into a crack in our floor. Sister Pearson then says, “it’s probably fine, I
bet it will go into our neighbor’s apartment below us.” I was not settled
though. Paranoid, I ran to the bathroom, grabbed some foam cleaning spray and I
squirted that stuff down the cracks until the spider jumped out, ran towards me
and I squashed that thing with my slipper as I stomped and slid my foot across
the floor. It’s dead. I’m sorry, I am not a bug person. The Lord knew this,
therefore he sent me here : ) The only thing I have to conquer here are
occasional spiders and fruit flies.
Well, let’s see. We went on exchanges this week (surprise,
surprise) in VEJLE! Also know as the place of my mission birth in Denmark! Oh,
it was fabulous to be back. I felt like I was home! I got to be on exchanges
with Sister Wright, she is a brand new missionary who is loves to speak and
really learning Danish fast, plus she is pretty fearless! We had an appointment
with Marianne who I used to work with when I was there. After we read
scriptures, she asked if we could help her with her dishes. Of course, just
like old times! She was so sweet and in her pray she prayed her and I could
keep in contact. She is a beautiful, talented daughter of God. I promised I’d
keep in touch.
Then, Sister Pearson had our first zone training together.
This month, as a mission, we are studying the Book of Mormon section in Preach
My Gospel. We realized what the mission was lacking, the inspiring role plays
like we would always have at zone conference, training and meetings in
Tennessee. Yet another Tennessee blessing! :) So glad I got to serve stateside!
So we came up with a role play where we had 4 groups of two chairs,
missionaries would line up behind each chair. When it was their turn they would
sit down. If the chair had a pass along card with the Savior on it, the
missionary’s role would be missionary. If the card had a picture of people,
then they would be an investigator. The missionary would testify of a principle
of their choice, then the investigator would give a concern. The missionary
would answer that concern with a scripture from the Book of Mormon and then
bear testimony. It can be intense, for sure, but it really helps prepare for
when we might be in that situation in real life and might get asked that exact
question. Preach My Gospel talks about how the Book of Mormon answers questions
of the soul. It was neat because that seemed to be the theme of our lessons the
rest of the week. We met with Ankhaa and talked about Heavenly Father and how
the gospel blesses families. She has begun to read the Book of Mormon. We asked
her what she thinks of it and she said she feels the book is guide to life.
That’s exactly what we had been talking about the day before at zone training!
Other events from this week:
-We made tiramisu for a less active in our ward (with cocoa
instead of coffee) and he was impressed and said it tasted great. It was
actually the first time we had ever tried tiramisu ha ha.
-Ate cake and watched Finding Faith in Christ in Italian
with Lorenzo
-Watched the first session of General Conference at Michael,
Cosmin and Justin’s place. We brought carmel popcorn. The last talk of the
first session was President Eyring. He said in his talk that some of the people
watching conference were invited by missionaries. And some of those were
invited by the missionaries to be baptized. Michael looked at us and we looked
at him. He rejected the invitation, but that’s just for now : )
Conference was really great. Ankhaa and Ruslan came to watch
it at the church. My favorite talk? Probably President Henry B. Eyring or Gary
E. Stevenson.
We got a cold front last week, so winter felt like it was
coming back, but it's warmer today, so spring round 2 here we come!
Med kærligste hilsener,
Søster Orgill
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)