How much dairy could a Danish dude drink if a Danish dude did drink dairy?

Trick question because Danish dudes DEFINITELY drink dairy

Hello hello hello!! I got to go to Copenhagen this week for a "30 Day in the Land" training which was a blast!  So fun and so crazy!! We learned so much and ate so much.  Somehow, quite miraculously, President and Søster O'Bryant managed to fit 26 people in their home for 2 nights.  That's the biggest group they have every had!! Our training basically consisted of lots of note taking and lots of snacks.  I'm pretty sure I gained like 5 lbs in those two days NO JOKE.  We had kebabs the first night, nougat bites (a very popular and very delicious cereal here.  Basically a better version of Krave) for the 9 o'clock snack, breakfast burritos, McDonald's, Roast and Potatoes, more nougat bites, and gooey french toast. I still fit into all of my clothes so it's alright.  We had a ping pong tournament which I won AGAIN (!!) (well, one of them...) and just had a blast with the other missionaries.  It was so great to see my MTC buddies.  They are all doing so great!! Changing so many lives!! It's really inspiring to see.  We also got to go to the temple, and the session was entirely in Danish which was an adventure to say the least, but I was pretty impressed with how much I could actually understand.  Maybe Danish really is coming! Hahahahahahhahahaha we'll see.  Søster Acosta had her "My Plan" meeting because she is going home NEXT transfer so I got to go on splits with the Copenhagen sisters.  It was way fun and we had some pretty cool conversations with random people on the street.  One of the sisters I was with said that we could go get some pastries if another sister invited a stranger which she did because she is one bold soul.  The stranger declined but we did get pastries so WOOT WOOT!!  Hahha quick funny story... So on the way back to Hammerum we accidentally missed a train connection and didn't get back until like 11.  I was exceedingly tired.  

We also had an eating appointment with a cute elderly member here I finally had Smørrebrød (opened faced sandwiches).  She wanted me to have a very Danish experience so she made me eat liver paste which actually wasn't terrible, and many other meats that I couldn't tell you the name of.  

On Saturday we had a KILLER day.  We play Fodbold every week and we invited these two young chaps we met contacting a few weeks ago to come AND THEY DID.  They are from Eritrea and had a BLAST playing soccer with us!! We must have seemed like a fun and diverse bunch.  We had 3 Americans, 1 Hungarian, 2 Persians, 2 Eritreans, a half Dane, and a Spaniard all playing fodbold.  So. Fun.  We also had an unexpected great contacting session on Saturday! We originally had an appointment scheduled with a former investigator but he burned us (didn't show up) so we decided to try our luck on the gå gade.  We ended up giving out 2 Mormons Bog's and making a future appointment!! I found that asking people what they thought of my name tag is actually a great conversation starter.  

Your girl Søster Esplin is doing great!! One of my goals this week is to open my mouth.  That never used to be a problem back home because Americans are nice and I love talking with people.  It's a liiiiiiittle harder when you don't speak Danish and no one smiles, but I honestly have been doing SO MUCH better.  I've just started to learn how to get a conversation going with a Dane.  Just a few days ago I started a 30min religious discussion with a middle aged couple because I asked them if it always rains like this in Denmark.  We learned more about Islam from an Albanian because we wanted icecream and I asked her what kind I should get.  I could go on, but the point is that I am learning everyday and I am really starting to love missionary work.  It's stressful in ways that I never anticipated and never experienced, but I can already see the great change it has wrought in me.  I am so appreciative of the amazing experiences I've already had and I'm anxiously waiting for those to come.  On that note, I want to invite you (because I'm a missionary I have to invite EVERYONE to do something hahaha) to read the scriptures for at least 5 minutes everyday this week.  Just 5.  Then send me your favorite scripture that you read and WHY it was your favorite! 

Jeg elsker jer og jeg ved at Jesus Kristus elsker jer også.  Have en rigtig godt uge og tak for jeres kærlighed.

Søster Esplin
raya.esplin@myldsmail.net


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Here's to the Best

Image
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...
Read more

How to Win Friends and Influence Danes

Image
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...
Read more

Glæde Jul Folks!

Image
December 26, 2017 Danish word of the day: sjov. it means fun/funny. pronounced like the english ''show'' Danish fact of the week: Danish people love to sing This week was mega fun Monday was spent doing normal PDay activities, such as cleaning, buying groceries, emailing, and practicing for a musical number.  A very normal day that was still quite amusing.  Tuesday: Due to the fact that transfers are technically suposed to be on Christmas, we had what we call a ''mini transfer.'' We sent a batch of missionaries home and picked up 4 from the MTC today.  These new missionaries are going to wait in temporary areas until ''real'' transfers on the 27th.  One of them gets to stay with us! We picked her up today! We drove to the mission office in Copenhagen and waited there with other missionaries until President decided who would go where.  The entire process took about 2 houres.  But it was worth it because I love our baby.  Her name is Sø...
Read more