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Homecoming

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December 9, 2018 Good morning! You know, sometimes I am really grateful that I am short. I was especially grateful whenever we went to visit Minna, because there were spiderwebs covering the top half of the doorway that the other missionaries ran into every time, but I escaped them every time thanks to my petite stature. I am also really grateful for Minna. Minna is a sweet, elderly lady that we got the opportunity to bring the sacrament to every week. Minna battles illness upon illness, and so fragile and frail that I was worried a slight breeze would knock her right over. However, even in her little frame Minna has not only completely altered my mission, but also my life. To ignorant eyes Minna may appear weak, but she is strong and mighty. My first week there I took a place on the couch, right across from Minna in her wheelchair. We 4 missionaries opened with a song and I watched as little Minna folded her arms, embracing her delicate body and closed her eyes tight in humble pra...
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Here's to the Best

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Mom Note:   This is Raya's last email as a missionary.  She comes home on November 27th!  Her Homecoming will be Sunday, December 9th at 9am.  Please come hear her report and then join us at our home afterwards for some yummy food and to give Raya a big welcome home hug.  Thanks for supporting her in this work! November 19, 2018 Wow this has been the best adventure of my life.  I am forever grateful for your support and love and prayers.  They have been needed and they have been felt for these last 18 months.  I love you all more than words have the ability to describe.  Thanks for it all. Danish Word of the Week:  Vi ses.  See you. Danish Fun Fact: Denmark is the best country ever.  that's a fact. I have had the most incredible week.  I don't have time to write about the various events, but it was one for the books.  This is my last email as a missionary, and I just want to express how this has changed...
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How to Win Friends and Influence Danes

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November 12, 2018 Danish Word of the Week: Syg.  Sick Danish Fun Fact: Christmas begins nov 1 in Denmark WOW what a week.  So much happened.  Too much.  This is going to be short because I have 0 time, but we're going to see how much I can get done.  I woke up on Tuesday and felt pretty sick (still), so we took the day easy.  Had some planning to do, had a few lessons, but we laid low.  We had a wonderfully hyggeligt eating appointment with one of the members in our branch.  She taught us how to make Frikadeller and showed us one of the most famous danish flute songs (taagen letter by Carl Nielsen), and it was so fun.  Food and flute, my 2 favorite things.  On Wednesday we went out to a little bitty town north of Viborg called Aalestrup because we received a self referral!! He is a really cool person.  He wants a change in his life and thinks that this could be it.  Super positive!! We also met with T, which went re...
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MISSION CONFERENCE

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October 29, 2018 Danish word of the Week: mål - goal Danish Fun Fact: the high this week is 7 degrees. What a week.  We had so much happen this week that I don't know if I will be able to adequately put to words the events and emotions that transpired in the past 7 days. We had some pretty intense appointments.  One of them was with C.  C has a really really strong testimony.  We taught her the word of wisdom this week, and that was a little hard for her to accept.  She does have some issues with that, so she asked if she could think it over.  When we came back a few days later, she told us that if God doesn't accept her as she is, with all of her flaws, then she can't accept Him.  We told her that God accepts us exactly as we are, and that these commandments are here to help us be safe and become better.  She knows that God loves her, and she knows that everything is true.  We need a lot of prayers for her, so that she can find the d...
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Mustaches Make Everything Better

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Oct 22, 2018 Danish word of the week: Ubetinget Kærlighed = unconditional love Danish Fun Fact:  Most churches here close at 3.  Don't make the mistake we did today and show p at 2:59.  They will kick you out. I love Viborg.  It is the cutest little city and has a lot of people very ready for the gospel.  I also love Søster Van Wagenen.  We have a shared love of classical music, so that makes me really happy.  This is going to be a good 6 weeks :) This week was great! I many of the amazing people we are working with and my testimony has grown so much.  One of the great people I met this week is Connie.  Connie met the missionaries about a month and a half ago and absolutely did not believe in God.  Her dad had died a few months before and she wanted nothing to do with religion.  However, for some odd reason, she let the sisters in.  When I met her this week, she told me that she 100% believes that there is a God.  ...
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The Whipped Cream Wars

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October 15, 2018 Danish Word of the Week: Flødeskum.  Whipped Cream Danish Fun Fact: Everything is cute and adorable here. We had a marvelous week.  Only a few bike problems got in the way of the power companionship of Søster Esplin and Søster Calame.  We brought our mission president's wife to an appointment.  She and our friend really got along and the Spirit was strong.  We had to walk all the way to that appointment thanks to our wonderful, yet incapable bikes, but Søster Olsen gave us a ride home, which was a big tender mercy. One of the fun happenings of the week was an appointment with a part member family.  We played a game called ''pie face,'' which is where one puts a large and daunting amount of whipped cream on a plastic hand, and the two players compete to see who can push a button faster.  The loser gets a slap of whipped cream in the face. I don't think that i've ever laughed more in my life.  Our dear friend and her 4 child...
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Conference, Calamities, and Coughs

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October 8, 2018 On monday Søster Calame and I went to IKEA for pday.  We planned our future homes and talked about different styles and stuff we liked.  It was actually pretty fun! We also ate dinner with an adorable member family that have the CUTEST baby in the whole world.  I loved monday because I love families. On tuesday we cleaned some windows for a member, taught Sune the word of wisdom (which he is already holding), and, of course, talked to people!! I loved that day because I know that the Spirit is working through me.  The member we cleaned windows for received some bad news and I felt the Spirit tell me to not give the spiritual thought we had planned and instead to do something different, and I had the faith to listen.  Wednesday we had our district council with the district and learned some good things.  We also ate with a newly wed couple in our ward and it was super fun and cute.  I loved wednesday because I love the people I serv...
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Knock Knock Knock, It's the JWs

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October 1, 2018 Danish Word of the Week: Folkekirke:  The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark or National Church, sometimes called Church of Denmark, is the established, state-supported church in Denmark. Danish Fun Fact: You don't have to believe in what you preach to be a priest in the Folkekirke.  This week was crazy and I don't have a lot of time so buckle up!  We went on splits in Rødovre.  Søster Tanner and I find for a solid 6 hours.  It feels great.  We contacted a lady walking her dog.  Something she said sparked my memory and after she left I immediately pulled out my camera.  Grandma Pat had emailed em about one of her Danish friends and emailed me a list of all of his relatives in Denmark.  I had taken a picture of that list a few weeks ago and remembered that one of the relatives lives in Valby, which is exactly where we were.  There were 2 problems:  1, the street name didn't exist so we just went to...
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The Cake That Couldn't

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September 23, 2018 Danish Word of the Week: Kage - cake! Danish Fun Fact: Most danish receipes are in weights (such as grams) and in dl, ml, etc. Fun Danish Mission Fact: Our apartment is not equipped with such measuring instruments.  This week was a great one so BUCKLE DOWN.  The Assistants to the President were in Jylland all week, so we got to use their car! She be niiiiiiiice. WAY too nice for a mission car.  Her name is Zoe.  She's a hybrid and boy is she smooth.  It was really fun to be able to drive a car, a luxury I miss and don't miss all at once.  We had her for a wonderful 2 1/2 days.  It was lovely.  We did a LOT of finding this week.  Many of our appointments cancelled, so we hit the streets and met some pretty interesting people! It felt good just to spread the word.  On Thursday we had to give the car back (hej hej Zoe) and we took Koo to SUV! SUV (Stavens Unge Voksne = YSA basically) is dinner and institute co...
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It's The Little Things

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September 17, 2018 Danish Word of the Week: Tilskyndelse = prompting Swiss Fun Fact: There is a kind of soda called Rivella that can only be bought in Switzerland. We had a wonderful week.  Going through this week felt normal and quite uneventful, but looking back I can see just how many wonderful things happened that I didn't notice before.  Heavenly Father does bless us, but sometimes we need to step back to really recognize his hand. On monday we ate with this adorable couple.  The husband served his mission in Switzerland, and pulled out a bottle of Rivella that they got last time they visited.  Søster Calame almost cried.  She was so happy to have a little bit of home, and even happier when they let her take home a bottle.  It didn't last more than a few days :) We didn't have the usual tuesday bike problems which was a blessing, but instead our bikes troubled us on friday and saturday.  Søster Calame and I have had 7 flat tires since be...
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