Thursday, January 1, 2015

Glædelig Jul - 2014!

Merry Christmas Everyone and a Happy New Year! Thank you to everyone that sent letters, gifts, etc. They all were so greatly appreciated!!

I really can't believe 2014 is coming to a close. It's really flown by so quickly, yet so many things have happened. It's pretty hard to believe that in 2014 I've been in Randers, Odense, Copenhagen, and now on Bornholm. 2014 will always be my mission year; the only full year spent serving a full time mission.

"Rodger Buckethead"
The Square Snowman we built on Christmas Day!
It was so great to see you on skype on Christmas! The Mogensen girls just kept talking about how nice and awesome you all were! It's crazy that that's the last time that we'll be skyping, but I don't know that that's really hit me yet. The Mogensens really made Christmas great for Ældste Horrocks and I. They gave us great gifts, great food, and showed great love to us. We love the Mogensens!  We also experienced the Christmas miracle of receiving our first snow on Christmas Day! And ever since then, it's been snowy and cold! But we were so happy for the snow!

So, I'm here in the Church with Ældste Redd now! Transfers were crazy, we had to leave Sunday evening on the ferry to Sweden and then Monday morning Ældste Redd and I had like 6 hours in Copenhagen with all of his luggage. So we decided to rent a locker out and walk down Strøget to see if there were any great after Christmas Sales. And boy was there ever! I found my post-mission suit and its ssoooooooooo nice! And because it was during the January sales which are crazy in Denmark, I got it for even less money than either of my suits from Mr. Mac! So now it's sitting in my closet being stored away until that future day comes.

But I almost lost Ældste Redd in Sweden! We needed to seperate so that he could ride his bike onto the ferry, like I had to do, but the people forgot to tell him to get on with the cars and started to leave him behind until he yelled out to them to not forget him! He was the very last person onto the ferry, and I was freaking out because it was time for the ferry to take off and he still wasn't on! But luckily we are both here, safely, on the island. I can already tell we're going to have a great time and look forward to the miracles that are going to happen!

Because of the Christmas season it was easy to stop by people and just drop off Christmas cards to make them happy. We stopped by the elderly in the branch and they were very appreciative about that. We even had a couple people that were referrals from Copenhagen to me that we were able to visit, drop off cards, and give them a "He is the Gift" card as well!

We also had the great opportunity to go to S1 and S2 for a birthday dinner for Elder Horrocks. There were a lot of guests there that we got to talk to. Unfortunately, most of them lived in Copenhagen, but hopefully some missionaries can find them in the future. Anyway, S1 had read Moroni 10 which led to a great discussion with everyone there about God, spiritual gifts, and the church in general. Then, as we were leaving, S1 shared with us about how our discussions about prayer have made a big impact in her life and she was so grateful for that. I have high hopes for S1.

The 24th of December turned out to be a miracle. Let's just say, just about everything went wrong. We had to have everything moved out of the old house by that day and Knud was already stressed. The oven started smoking and the food didn't turn out right. Some of us were sick. It all kind of climaxed when we left to see a gudstjeneste [worship service] with the Mogensens and their dog, Sandy, broke into a cupboard and ate 500 kr. worth of candy, all of the candy to fill the kid’s stockings with the next morning. Everyone was frustrated, irritated, and just kind of down. We all surrounded the table to eat, and Knud decided that he wanted to be the one to say the prayer. He started to pray, paused, and then started to break down into tears as he asked God to help us remember what Christmas really was about and asked him to watch after his two sons out on missions. It was so powerful, and from that point on everyone was just smiles, laughs, and having a good time with each other. I'm still not entirely sure how it happened, but we were able to remember the Spirit of Christmas and it ended up being the best Christmas I've ever had. I learned that Christ can always find place in our hearts if we are but willing to let him in. Any situation can change if we just remember him.

Next time we write it will be 2015! I wish you the best New Years ever and love you all!!

MKH,

-Ældste Wawro

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