Week 20 - What a Wonderful Kind of Day

You know, because my life has basically been just a ton of street contacting as of late, I've been thinking. Every day when you're walking down the street, everybody that you meet-has an original point of view.

Sometimes it can take time or be difficult to look past differences in this complex world of conflicting opinions. But the miracle is, when Søster Shults and I are contacting out here on good ole Lyngby Hovedgade, we often find opportunities to see past superficial differences and build on common ground.

I love when that happens. And when it does, I say, Hey! What a wonderful kind of day, where you can learn to work and play-and get along with each other.

Like the other day when we met an engineering student from Brazil, I mean, his life and opinions couldn't be more different from ours. But we had a way good conversation about how we as people can find truth and learn from each other (and God). And now we've learned a little from each other and gained a new facebook friend. #takfernando

One key tool you gotta use for finding is OBEDIENCE. Doesn't seem like it would directly affect it but lemme tell you it does. You need the Holy Ghost (a spirit that helps God communicate with you, feel he love, and show you what is right) to find people who are ready. And the holy ghost can only be with you if you choose to do what is right. After that, it comes down to listening. Praying and listening. You got to listen to your heart, listen to the beat, listen to the rhythm,
the rhythm of the street. Open up your eyes. Open up your ears.

It's so great when Søster Shults and I can get together and make things better by working together. For example, the other day in our lesson with isabella (last one before she's baptized #jotak) we finally found 'our flow' we went over again what it really means to be baptized and it was STRAIGHT FIRE. No awkward pauses. No interrupting each other. No weird tangents. Just FIRE. And yeah, it was all in Danish, no big deal. But yeah I was way glad it went well, especially cause we had it at President Olsen's house. But anyways. She's ready, she shared her testimony with us and said she just feels so ready. Jo tak.

Søster Felt and Søster Shults on FIRE

The gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives. You can SEE the happiness its brought Isabella. Shes a whole new person. And to think it all started because a couple missionaries were brave enough to try and share what they believed in with her.

Sometimes sharing your testimony can be difficult. But you know, it gets easier the more you share it, ponder over and study what you believe. And your testimony doesn't have to be anything big or huge or crazy. As long as it's a simple message and it comes from the heart. Believe in yourself Well, that's the place to start.

Hey!
What a wonderful kind of day

I ate some more ice cream in Copenhagen today and sang old hymns in a older than old Danish church.

Where you learn to work and play

Like sister Shults and I asking ridiculous questions to make our work more fun when we're trying to start conversations. Such as, "Why won't people here talk to us?" That led into a 20 minute conversation about who God is and how he can help everyone.

And get along with each other

I mean Søster Shults and I always 100% agree on every little thing so that's not a problem;) haha on the real though she is super sendy and loves the gospel shes the best!

Søster Shults

Hey!
What a wonderful kind of day

Okay, keep Christ in your hearts and a smile on your face:)

Jeg Elsker dig!

Med kærlige hilsen,

Søster Felt

Pics from P-Day today:

Dåb means baptism

Week 19 - We're Gonna Find It

Truth be told literally can't remember anything that happend this week so I'll just give you a sjov list of random Denmark culture stufffff:

Lyngby Sø (Lake)

- Every danish person says "I believe there's something between heaven and earth but I don't know what it is," I don't know how they all come to that conclusion. Who came up with that? How did they all adopt that same exact phrase? It remains a mystery.

- Because Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe in giving blood-sometimes Danish people put "give blood" or "blood donar" stickers on their front doors to keep them away. You know- kinda like garlic and vampires. So basically whenever we see a door with the sticker on it we just know their gonna love us.

- Danish Guide to eating dinner: Take one bite, sit back, talk for twenty minutes, then repeat. If you don't then where's the hygge?

- One of Denmarks favorite queens once chose the Daisy as "her flower" as a result almost every Danish women has either a necklace, earrings, or ring with a daisy on it.

- The underrated food staple here really is the kebab. Shout out to all the middle eastern men here for providing the Lord's missionaries with all the cheap Shwarma we could ever desire. They're the real heros in Denmark.

-The perfectly rated food staple really is the pastries. Yup rumors confirmed. They are as good as people say.

Oh wait I just remembered something that happened-We taught this guy Christian for the first time. He came to church last sunday and told us it is his new favorite religion because it is the most similar to the theory he believes-one that involves the world being created by a computer program. interestinggggg...

-Rain boots/jackets are NOT to be worn unless it is actually raining-and you will get made fun of if you are seen wearing them in not rainy weather. Which is interesting considering the weather literally changes every two seconds here.

-Danish people also say, "There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes,"

Susanna (in glasses) in Lyngby Ward
She was in my Aunt Barbara's ward when they both lived in California

Okay,, SERVE this week. If your sad, glad, or mad SERVE. It's how you can serve Christ, come to know Christ, and BE like Christ. Put others needs before your own. My mission president shared something that I loved in his letter to us this week. It says,

"I read a quote by C.S. Lewis today and right away I thought of each one of you. “Don´t shine so that others can see you. Shine so that through you, others can see Him.”

Christ in the Sermon on the mount says it this way: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.“ Matt. 5:16,"

Just something to think over:) Have a great week! Jeg Elsker dig!

Søster Felt

Søster Brown, Søster Webb, Søster Felt
Go Mustangs!

Week 18 - Glorious

What even was this week I can't even believe it actually happened.

Pretty view of the ocean in Hellerup

Okay so first of all Tuesday was freaking lit because we had SØSTER KONFERENCE !!!! It was on Fyn in Odense and every sister in the mission came (minus the two in Iceland who joined us through facetime) it was soooooo fun. Præsident Olsen geared the whole thing towards what sisters tend to struggle with on the mission. He told us, "I know that you all don't really struggle with what the elders do, and we tend to gear our meetings towards them, but you guys are just as important and we need you here! So we are going to try and do this more often!" What a dope guy. It was way fun to be there together and they spoiled us with rich people food. yeah boiiiii.

My old mtc comp Søster Hepworth!! Got to see her at søster Conference :)

We taught Shao again this week and he gave Søster Webb and I these mysterious dumpling akti asian food they were straight up disgusting. I can't really describe the texture or smell but Søster Webb and I have been referring to them as the "shrimp flavored fetus dumplings" if that tells you anything. But on a more important note,,,, Shao is still trying to figure out the whole prayer thing. He kinda gets sassy about how we can't "make decisions on our own" but he promised us he'd still try so that's something. We tried to teach him about repentence, because of how much he wants peace, but he doesn't really believe it will work for him. He also decided that for some reason he needs to know what could make "people like us" feel guilty so everytime we meet with him he insists that we tell him the worst thing we have ever done,,, and when we say no shao that's personal,, he just says c'mon I won't judge you "Even if drugs-even if you kill someone- it will mean nothing to me- see you can tell me," yeah sorry Shao as much as I wanna sit and talk about my deepest darkest sins with some random chinese guy in a pubic library im gonna have to say tak but nej tak.

We met with this other gal Laura this week, she's about 20 years old and tells us "I'm really happy with my life right now, but like, I figure I could learn about this just in case I wanna settle down and do the whole mormon thing when im 30," but by the looks of her marked up book of mormon I'd say she's a little more invested then she let's off. I'll keep y'all updated on her.

Saturday was literally sindsyg. First: TRANSFER CALL. President informed us that Søster Webb would be going to Vejle (all the way over in Jutland unfortunately :'( ) and I would be staying in Lyngby. My new companion is Søster Shults and she is straight up awesome. She is confident, clever, and gets the job done. She knows what she's doing, and its a good thing to because Lyngby might've fallen apart if it were just left on me lol. She's a little nervous because she's just been in farmland her whole mission and now she's in the city, but I'm showing her the ropes and I think she'll be jusssssst fine.

My new comp! Søster Shults!

After we got the call Søster Webb and I took Isabella to a baptism in København, street contacted a bit, took Isabella to a members house to eat, then took Isabella to a concert at our church. Were waiting for her to get sick of us but it hasn't happened yet lol. Oh yeah and the concert at our church? It was DAVID ARCHULETTA. yup the latino zac efron himself. The concert was so good, let me tell you, that boi has the voice of an angel and the testimony of a strippling warrior. We all loved it. All the missionaries on Sjælland came with friends and we got to sing along to real music wayyy weird but so fun haha. We all stayed way late with the members to help clean up and at one point Isabella looked at Søster Webb and I and said, "you both look.....way tired," yeah so we looked around and turns out all the missionaries eyes were straight bloodshot. But it was just the missionaries and everyone else was fine. We don't get out much lol.

Blåbærre tart pa Lyngby Hovedgade

Sunday was even more sindsyg. Backstory: Isabella is the only not member friend of ours that comes to church on Sundays. And when she can't make it we sit alone staring at the door and it is wayyyyy sad. We have been trying so hard to get more friends in church and invite more people but it just wasn't working. BUT THEN this sunday we are waiting by the door and this old lady we invited to church randomly shows up ??? and after that this dude we met on the street who talked to us about how he believed the world was created by a program walked in ??? and this other cute pregnant girl who we had been trying to get in contact with ?? and this lowkey crazy man that we met who doesn't have any teeth ?? and Isabella ?? What? That's like FIVE PEOPLE. That's like ONE MORE THAN FOUR. I didn't even know what to do I was just running around trying to find them places to sit. Not to mention it was Søster Webb's last sunday so all the members were trying to talk to her so it was basically only me that COULD help them. oooof. I somehow got them seated with some members and ended up sitting with the cute pregnant girl,, who is from Brazil and can't speak Danish. And yeah you know what else? Her translating device wasn't working half the time so I was translating stuff for her. Yep I am definitely qualified for that job......... anyways you know what else? Søster Webb had a goodbye talk to give. And you know what else? The speaker following her was DAVID ARCHULETTA. Yeah its fine he also sang "if the savior stood beside me" on the pulpit. My nine year old self died.

My friend group

Also had we a dinner appointment that day with a member family and it was a REAL sunday dinner with all the works and a berry pie for desert. They had like four kids and it felt like a Utah family. Yeah doesn't sound that memorable but i'm telling you I'll probably remember that dinner appointment forever because it just felt like home.

Yep so now I'm here in a library with my new companion Søster Shults typing this email to you all and all I can tell you is that life is crazy. One day you're 9 years old sitting in your basement watching a mormon boy on American Idol with your parents. The next day your in the middle of scandinavia and that same mormon boy comes to your ward and talks about æbleskivers, repentance, and his friend Kanye West. Yep thats just life kids. Have a great week and remember, keep Christ in your hearts and a smile on your face:) Jeg elsker dig!

Søster Felt

Søster Webb and I with this cute old lady that feeds us
more chocolate than we can stomach

Week 17 - A Song for the Life

This week on, Lyngby: a Story of Love, Loss, and Adventure.

Søster Felt prayed harder than she's ever prayed before, saw someone feel the spirit for the first time in their life, made some way good banana pancakes, met Poland, and, as usual, sucked at speaking Danish.

Here's an update on the glorious work-

Johnny: Called to let us know he would not be interested in meeting with us again. Desværre.

Felix: Appointments keep falling through, waiting for a text back.

Shao: Opened up to us during our lesson about Gods plan for us. He really wants peace. He tried to understand the whole "praying" concept but it was really confusing to him. He couldn't bring himself to do it. We tried to explain who God really is and he had a hard time with that to. We said a prayer together and the spirit became strong. After the prayer we waited in silence for a while and then asked him how he felt. He said "comfortable and peaceful" we told him that's God trying to communicate with you. It was way cool. He's going to try and pray on his own.

Isabella: Still planning on being baptized on October 5th. Went to a YSA convention this week and LOVED it. She's going to tell her mom today that she wants to be baptized. Keep her in your prayers.

Random Old Lady on the street: Says we come from a horrible land, spits, and tells us we should educate ourselves on the real truth, communism.

Thanks for all your love and support! I feel so happy to have you all backing me up from home!

From Corinne's Mom:

Søster Felt spent a day (Sept. 7) proselyting on the Danish island of Bornholm. She and the other sisters she was with rode a bus from Copenhagen to Sweden and then took a ferry to Rønne, Bornholm. This is especially significant to our family because her great-great-great grandfather, James Morgan Keller, was born and raised on Bornholm near the town of Klemensker. He and his wife joined the church there and later immigrated to America, settling in Brigham City, UT and Mink Creek, ID. His parents, siblings, and several children are buried in Bornholm. Below are pictures from her day as well as a short note from Corinne: 💗

Bornholm was legendary. Beautiful farmland. Kind people. Spirit strong. We contacted our booties of and found some people for the elders to teach. Kinda stresses me out that I didn't do enough but hopefully one of them will progress

Text from STL's with travel instructions.

Sunrise in Sweden

Rønne

Nylars Church - Built in the 12th century

Nylars Church

Week 16 - Life is Short, Make it Sweet

Life is good here in Lyngby,, people are finally getting home from their 10years long summer vacations so we're finally starting to have some lessons-lots of first lessons-we're praying some of these people will meet with us again.

Here's the people we met with and got to know this week:

Johnny- an older Danish man who has met with people from many other religions before. He is very believing (which is unusual for a Dane) but isn't sure if there's a way we can know what is true for sure (not unusual for a Dane). He actually came to church and contacted us,, said he really wanted to hear more. We taught him about the restoration of the gospel on Wednesday and got to know his thoughts and concerns. He talked about how complex the universe is,, and how he thought there was no way the existence of our little world could simply be an accident. He then explained that it's hard for him to understand why suffering occurs if God does exist. He was very sincere and wasn't trying to prove us wrong or anything, just wants answers to his questions. He was really excited to study the book of mormon to try and find answers, we're hoping he'll continue to meet with us.

Felix- Another Dane (?!???!!) Maybe like 30 idk. I found Felix's old teaching record when we were going through and organizing paperwork. He had met with missionaries a lot back in 2010 and a few more times in 2017. We decided to try and give him a call. He was really excited to hear from us and was eager to meet up soon. He told us he just lost his dad and could really use our message again. We met with him on Friday and taught him about God's Plan for us and talked to him about his experiences with missionaries and what he believes in. He told us that he liked reading the Book of Mormon (which he still had) and he liked what he had heard, but after he was taught the word of wisdom he decided our religion wasn't for him. He told us, "then a couple of months ago I stopped drinking coffee, and I actually saw a change in my life. Then I was like oh shoot maybe those guys were right," he said "yeahhhh it's not a coincidence you guys called me when you did," it was pretty cool. I mean it's not like he's 100% sure about it all he still has a lot of questions and concerns... but at least he's sincere and actually interested. Det er hvad vi kan lige.

Sister Webb fixing her bike chain. Again.

Shao- This guy is hilarious. Straight up kills me. He is a student at Denmark Tech university (a college in our area) from China. He is always way down to come to church and asks us if he can bring his friends from other countries so they can come see the, "only nice Danish people,". Lol after church one day when we were trying to make an appointment with him he told us, "wow this is going to be so fun, hey you know muslims, well I've got a Muslim friend, and not to brag or anything, but I got him to eat pork once. Yeah so basically that's how I know anything is possible," good ole shao. He way bad wants us to come see China one day and he wants to come see Utah. He's really excited for our next visit and is planning on bringing us "real Chinese food" lol we'll see how that goes. All laughs aside though he is actually genuinely interested. At the start of our meeting with him he said, "okay so I have like two questions,, they're kinda big but it's really what I'm hoping to here from you,". 1)he wants to know how someone can find out truth for themselves when there's so many different beliefs 2) he feels a lot of guilt about the person he was in the past and wants to know if we have a way that he kind find peace and let go of those things. "That's why I have studied so many religions," he said "I dont like the person I used to be and I want to let go of that somehow". Shao knows little about Jesus Christ. I just wayyyy bad want him to get it. I know Christ and his gospel is what will give him that peace. Repentance through Jesus Christ will free him from the weight of sin. He told us he's willing to try anything. We taught him how to pray and gave him a Book of Mormon. Not gonna lie I have high hopes for this one.

Søster Webb and I spent today learning how to make Danish food at this old ladies house. So fun. She spoiled the heck out of us. She also spoke about 100mph and had both of our heads spinning trying to understand her. So cute. We made and ate lunch together, then she and her husband took us to a cute icecream shop by the ocean, and then we made and ate dinner together. Definitely one of my favorite days here in Denmark.

Okay so there's also this restaurant in our area that I'm kinda obsessed with. It's called "Granny's Place". The inside is literally decorated like an ugly grandma house and they serve the best baked goods nogensinde. A member took us there for a quick treat while we were out finding and oh my gosh so cute.

In my studies I have been reading a lot about Jesus Christ and his ministry. In both Jesus the Christ and the New Testament it is repeatedly mentioned that Christ alone was truly "free". He being the only person to have lived a sinless life was thus the only person to experience true freedom. Supes often people say, "why the commandments? What's with all the restrictions". But you guys,,, this plainly shows that the commandments of God are not restrictive,, but in fact they are the exact opposite, they are the only thing that can grant us true freedom. Sin is what holds us down. Repentance is the key to freedom. And the commandments are a map to happiness. Remember that!!!!

Have a good week!

Jeg Elsker dig!!

Søster Felt