It's Beginning to Look a lot like CHRISTMAS
December 18, 2017
HELLO HELLO DEAREST DARLINGEST!
Danish Word of the Day: Nissemænd. Nissemænd are Christmas Elves, and they are everywhere. I have a picture with them from Tivoli in my folder if you care to see what they look like. They're awesome and I love them.
Danish Fun Fact: Danes dance and sing around the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.
Alright so this week was way fun! I am now officially 20 yrs old! You know, I don't feel quite that old. Maybe I will in a few years. We went to Tivoli to celebrate this joyous day of my birth and it was AWESOME. Tivoli was the inspiration for Disneyland and is just as magical. The Birkerød Elders and us started out on a big drop ride that we went on a few times and then slowly made our way around the big rides. One of my favorite rides was a big swing one, like the one at Lagoon but BIGGER. You sat down in swings and the ride took you up and up and turned you in a big circle, letting you see all the beautiful Christmas lights in Tivoli from up above. It was freezing, but stunning. We ended up running into other missionaries too! We joined and stayed with them the rest of the day. We were lucky and it was only sprinkling snow most of the day, but around 6pm it started really snowing. We drank som killer hot chocolate to warm ourselves back up and got lost looking for a crepe shack. We found the crepe shack thankfully and ate delicious nutella filled crepes. After a few hours everyone figured out it was my birthday and sang me ''Happy Birthday'' quite loudly waiting in line for the bumper cars. We spent the rest of the night going on roller coasters with snow pelting our faves. We were soaked to the bone and so very cold, but so very happy. I was glowing the entire day, morning to night. Best 20th birthday ever!
I'm not the best at Danish. My English even struggles sometimes. But I do fully understand one language, and that is the language of happiness. We ate lunch this week with a man in our ward. He's from Bornholm and is subsequently a little hard to understand, but we still had a good time. His wife died a month ago so he currently lives alone. It was fun to go over and visit him to get to know him. He's a funny and cheerful guy and we spent a lot of time laughing. It was quite inspiring to be around him.
Our week has been stuffed to the brim with appointments, investigator and member alike. We ate with a half Danish, half American family this week and it was way fun! They served us chili and cornbread and I felt right at home.
We also went on splits in Copenhagen (specifically, Rødovre). It was mega fun, and interesting being back on a bike! Søster Holbrook (my STL) and I talked to some really cool people. We stopped a police officer who had just gotten off work for about 20 min. He told me that I reminded him of Judy Hopps from Zootopia. He said I could totally still be a cop, even with my 4'11'' stature. I thought that was quite amusing. I'm thinking about a career change now :)
A highlight of the week was an eating appointment we had with a part member family. They are originally from Russia and have lived in Denmark for the last 15 yrs. The mom and the 13 yr old daughter are the only members, but most of the family was there for dinner! This appointment was so fun! They made FANTASTIC food and every conversation was hilarious. They all lovingly made fun of each other and of us. At one point in the night Søster Day shoved me into a room and held me hostage. She was acting way strange and just told me to relax and look at the books. I was so confused. I thought she was going insane. She finally let me go out and I walked into a dark room of people singing ''Happy Birthday!'' To me!! I had mentioned in passing that my birthday was on Monday, but they took it to heart and put birthday candles in a cake and sang to me. It was so sweet of them!!
One of the greatest lessons I learned this week is that Christmas has a real magic. The yuletide spirit seaps its way into the hardest of hearts and pries them just a crack more open. The magic of this time of year comes directly from the Savior. We celebrate Christmas because of Him. We give each other gifts because of Him. We sing and dance and hygge because of Him. He is why we live and love and laugh. He is Joy, and even the most anti-religious of people can feel it. I love Him. It's been incredible to celebrate Christ's birth through the eyes of a missionary- it just reminds me what Christmas really means and why it's so special. Jeg elsker juletid fordi af Ham. Han har gjort hverting muligt så vi kan alle sammen vende tilbage til Ham. Jeg elsker jul og jeg elsker min Frelser.
Jeg elsker jer, og forsæt at have en god jul!!
Søster Esplin
raya.esplin@myldsmail.net
HELLO HELLO DEAREST DARLINGEST!
Danish Word of the Day: Nissemænd. Nissemænd are Christmas Elves, and they are everywhere. I have a picture with them from Tivoli in my folder if you care to see what they look like. They're awesome and I love them.
Danish Fun Fact: Danes dance and sing around the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.
Alright so this week was way fun! I am now officially 20 yrs old! You know, I don't feel quite that old. Maybe I will in a few years. We went to Tivoli to celebrate this joyous day of my birth and it was AWESOME. Tivoli was the inspiration for Disneyland and is just as magical. The Birkerød Elders and us started out on a big drop ride that we went on a few times and then slowly made our way around the big rides. One of my favorite rides was a big swing one, like the one at Lagoon but BIGGER. You sat down in swings and the ride took you up and up and turned you in a big circle, letting you see all the beautiful Christmas lights in Tivoli from up above. It was freezing, but stunning. We ended up running into other missionaries too! We joined and stayed with them the rest of the day. We were lucky and it was only sprinkling snow most of the day, but around 6pm it started really snowing. We drank som killer hot chocolate to warm ourselves back up and got lost looking for a crepe shack. We found the crepe shack thankfully and ate delicious nutella filled crepes. After a few hours everyone figured out it was my birthday and sang me ''Happy Birthday'' quite loudly waiting in line for the bumper cars. We spent the rest of the night going on roller coasters with snow pelting our faves. We were soaked to the bone and so very cold, but so very happy. I was glowing the entire day, morning to night. Best 20th birthday ever!
I'm not the best at Danish. My English even struggles sometimes. But I do fully understand one language, and that is the language of happiness. We ate lunch this week with a man in our ward. He's from Bornholm and is subsequently a little hard to understand, but we still had a good time. His wife died a month ago so he currently lives alone. It was fun to go over and visit him to get to know him. He's a funny and cheerful guy and we spent a lot of time laughing. It was quite inspiring to be around him.
Our week has been stuffed to the brim with appointments, investigator and member alike. We ate with a half Danish, half American family this week and it was way fun! They served us chili and cornbread and I felt right at home.
We also went on splits in Copenhagen (specifically, Rødovre). It was mega fun, and interesting being back on a bike! Søster Holbrook (my STL) and I talked to some really cool people. We stopped a police officer who had just gotten off work for about 20 min. He told me that I reminded him of Judy Hopps from Zootopia. He said I could totally still be a cop, even with my 4'11'' stature. I thought that was quite amusing. I'm thinking about a career change now :)
A highlight of the week was an eating appointment we had with a part member family. They are originally from Russia and have lived in Denmark for the last 15 yrs. The mom and the 13 yr old daughter are the only members, but most of the family was there for dinner! This appointment was so fun! They made FANTASTIC food and every conversation was hilarious. They all lovingly made fun of each other and of us. At one point in the night Søster Day shoved me into a room and held me hostage. She was acting way strange and just told me to relax and look at the books. I was so confused. I thought she was going insane. She finally let me go out and I walked into a dark room of people singing ''Happy Birthday!'' To me!! I had mentioned in passing that my birthday was on Monday, but they took it to heart and put birthday candles in a cake and sang to me. It was so sweet of them!!
One of the greatest lessons I learned this week is that Christmas has a real magic. The yuletide spirit seaps its way into the hardest of hearts and pries them just a crack more open. The magic of this time of year comes directly from the Savior. We celebrate Christmas because of Him. We give each other gifts because of Him. We sing and dance and hygge because of Him. He is why we live and love and laugh. He is Joy, and even the most anti-religious of people can feel it. I love Him. It's been incredible to celebrate Christ's birth through the eyes of a missionary- it just reminds me what Christmas really means and why it's so special. Jeg elsker juletid fordi af Ham. Han har gjort hverting muligt så vi kan alle sammen vende tilbage til Ham. Jeg elsker jul og jeg elsker min Frelser.
Jeg elsker jer, og forsæt at have en god jul!!
Søster Esplin
raya.esplin@myldsmail.net
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